48: Face

"Don't make a move on this matter for now; I will report it to the Headquarters first."

Although Qi Longhu was a brute, he still had a bit of brains to be able to sit in the position of Hall Master.

"Let the Headquarters investigate first, and we will talk after confirming the location of those cultists."

"Then, after the location is confirmed, who shall we send to handle the matter?" Qi Qing put away the map of Qiyang City and looked up at Qi Longhu.

"Who do you think is suitable to send?" Qi Longhu asked in return.

"If it were up to me, I would let Vice Envoy Chen go."

"Vice Envoy Chen's strength is formidable; even an Anomaly is no match for him."

"Moreover, if we want to promote Vice Envoy Chen, we need a new merit, don't we?" Qi Qing smiled, as if he had seen through Qi Longhu's thoughts.

"Good, then we shall do as you say." Qi Longhu was very satisfied with Qi Qing's proposal and immediately agreed.

"It just so happens that I unintentionally wronged him once; I'll consider this as compensation for him."

"Come with me to the Headquarters tomorrow, and bring the map."

"Yes, Father." Qi Qing bowed and said.

Meanwhile, at the mine in the north of the city.

The moonlight spilled onto the somewhat old brick houses, casting twisted and creepy shadows.

"Brother Yagyu, I'm going to use the latrine."

A gang member who looked to be in his twenties said to Yagyu Han.

"Remember not to go too far; this place is truly not safe."

Yagyu Han watched the miners still working under the moonlight, and a chill went straight to his scalp.

"I know." The young gang member nodded and walked to the side of the mine pit to unbuckle his belt.

"Good grief, don't these people know how to be tired?"

While relieving himself, the gang member watched the miners working in the mine pit.

Under the faint moonlight, he vaguely saw those miners working busily without stopping.

Their bodies were thin, their faces pale, and their eyes were hollow and devoid of Life Qi.

Wearing tattered, hole-ridden clothes, they moved mechanically as if they had been cursed, not at all like living people.

The puppet-like miners swung the hoes, pickaxes, and hammers in their hands with extraordinary speed, producing dull and teeth-grinding knocking sounds.

Every time they chipped out a piece of Ore, the miners would unhesitatingly throw it into the dilapidated handcart and continue working.

They seemed tireless, with only monotonous and mechanical repetitive movements.

"What kind of hellish place is this..." The young gang member couldn't even finish urinating; he shivered twice and prepared to return to continue guarding.

But just at this moment, he discovered that the surroundings had become pitch black, and even the faint moonlight from just a moment ago had disappeared.

"Brother Yagyu, where are you?"

The gang member groped around aimlessly, trying to find an exit.

"What kind of place is this?"

At first, he tried to find a way to leave this place, but it was to no avail.

Gradually, he discovered that everything around him had stopped, including his own time.

No matter where he walked, he seemed to remain in the same spot.

Soon, the gang member's breathing became rapid, as if a piece of phlegm was stuck in his throat.

A sense of loneliness and fear enveloped him; he shouted almost maniacally, but there wasn't even an echo in the surroundings.

The boundless darkness even swallowed his voice, and the gang member had fallen into an abyss of despair.

His body and mind began to collapse, losing the last bit of strength to struggle.

...

Yagyu Han kept watching the back of the gang member, fearing that something might happen to him.

Strangely, after the gang member shivered twice, he didn't move anymore.

He tilted his head and stared blankly at the hazy moonlight.

"Qiu Hao, what are you doing?"

"What's the matter, you can't finish urinating?"

Just as Yagyu Han finished saying this, Qiu Hao moved.

He walked into the mine like a puppet, picked up an iron pickaxe, and started working.

Yagyu Han immediately realized something was wrong and got up, wanting to go and drag Qiu Hao back.

But he had only taken one step out before retreating.

"What... is this thing?"

Yagyu Han looked at the place where Qiu Hao had just relieved himself, and a vivid, twisted human face had appeared there.

And that human face was none other than Qiu Hao.

"It's over, something has happened..."

"Stop sleeping, everyone get up!"

After waking up the sleeping gang members and instructing them to stay put, Yagyu Han planned to go find Chen Heng.

Now he couldn't care about Qiu Hao, who had turned into a puppet; he ran as fast as he could toward the Chen Family Courtyard.

The mine in the north of the city was not close to the Inner City; even though Yagyu Han was an Inner Strength martial artist, it would take him over an hour to run there.

And he couldn't rest at all.

...

Just as the sky was beginning to brighten, Chen Heng was interrupted from his Nine Revolutions Longevity Art by a commotion outside.

"Big Brother, something has happened!"

Just as Chen Heng opened his eyes, he saw Yagyu Han rushing in, covered in sweat.

Behind him followed a few confused Household Servants and maidservants.

"Young Master, we couldn't stop him." The Household Servant said cautiously.

"It's fine, you all may leave." Chen Heng waved his hand, and only then did those Household Servants and maidservants dare to leave.

"What happened?" Chen Heng frowned slightly and picked up a kettle to pour a cup for Yagyu Han.

Yagyu Han drank the entire pot of water in one breath before recounting what had happened last night.

"He turned into that just from going to the latrine?"

Chen Heng's frown deepened; he knew the mine was not right, but he hadn't expected it to be so eerie.

A person could just disappear from urinating.

"And a human face appeared on the ground..."

Chen Heng got up, put on his clothes, strapped on the black fiend blade, and left without even washing his face.

"Go to the Vermilion Bird Hall." Chen Heng did not go to the mine immediately.

According to Yagyu Han's account, it would be useless for him to go now.

He didn't even know how Qiu Hao had met with such an incident; going there would just be clueless.

Therefore, going to the Vermilion Bird Hall to figure out what was going on was the top priority.