What the hell is the Xuan Ye Dynasty doing? Zhao Chuan slid to his knees at lightning speed.

"The Black Fiend Sect actually built such a secret and massive dungeon within its grounds?"

"And they've captured so many people and imprisoned them here."

"What exactly are they doing?"

Looking at the scene before him, Lin Mo was completely stunned.

What kind of operation was this? A human farm?

A preliminary estimate suggested that at least ten thousand people were imprisoned here!

Judging by their tattered, patched clothing, they were clearly poor common Mortals.

So, the question was, what exactly did these beasts from the Black Fiend Sect want with so many Mortals?

Were they refining some evil Medicinal Pills?

Performing blood sacrifices?

Or had the performance metrics for Evil Path Sects become so competitive that they resorted to human trafficking?

That didn't make sense either!

Many outlandish guesses flashed through Lin Mo's mind, but none of them fit.

Unable to figure it out, he decided to approach someone and ask.

To his surprise, as soon as he got close, the people in several nearby cages shrieked as if they had seen a ghost, scrambling into the corners in terror.

Their terrified expressions made Lin Mo somewhat doubt himself.

Do I look that scary?

That shouldn't be the case!

Helpless, Lin Mo stopped, trying to make his voice sound a bit more gentle.

"Don't be afraid."

"I'm not from the Black Fiend Sect; those scoundrels have all been killed by me."

However, his explanation had no effect whatsoever.

Those people still looked at him with terrified eyes, as if he were some man-eating monster.

Lin Mo understood.

To these people, who had been tormented into numbness, any stranger could be a new Devil Head.

Empty words of explanation were useless.

He sighed, and with a flash of his figure, he disappeared from the dungeon.

A moment later, he reappeared, casually tossing the bodies of several Black Fiend Sect Disciples onto the open ground in front of the cages, like garbage.

"Do you believe me now?"

The dull thud of the bodies hitting the ground silenced the entire underground space for a moment.

Then, upon recognizing the faces of the corpses, a strong commotion erupted among the crowd.

"Ah!!!"

A simple-looking middle-aged man gripped the iron bars tightly, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at one of the bodies, trembling with excitement.

"It's him! It's this beast... he took my Cui'er... took my Cui'er and...!"

The man's voice was hoarse, filled with endless hatred and pain.

The next second, he seemed to have been drained of all strength, his legs giving out.

He knelt directly towards Lin Mo, his forehead hitting the cold ground with a heavy thud.

"Immortal Master! Thank you, Immortal Master, for avenging this great hatred for me!"

"I, Wang Zhu, bow to you!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"No need for this." Lin Mo gently raised his palm, and a soft force lifted the man named Wang Zhu. "These scoundrels are utterly depraved; everyone has the right to kill them. I merely cleaned up some trash in passing."

Pausing, Lin Mo continued, "Why were you imprisoned here?"

With the bodies as proof, the prisoners' wariness of Lin Mo finally lessened considerably.

Wang Zhu wiped away his tears and choked out, "Replying to Immortal Master, we were all abducted by the Black Fiend Sect from various villages. As for why they captured us, we... we don't know."

"I only know that every so often, a group of people is transported away from here, but where they are taken, I don't know..."

Wang Zhu didn't know, but a white-haired old man in an adjacent cage spoke up tremblingly.

He had been captured much earlier than Wang Zhu, and he was so thin he was just skin and bones.

"This old man... this old man once fortunately overheard a few Devil Heads gossiping."

"They said... in a while, they would send this batch of ours... to some... Xuan Ye Dynasty..."

The old man seemed to have not spoken for too long, his voice dry and hoarse, but the information he revealed made Lin Mo's spirits lift.

Xuan Ye Dynasty?

The intelligence matched!

The information provided by the Xuanxing Chamber of Commerce had previously mentioned that the Black Fiend Sect was suspected to have the backing of the Xuan Ye Dynasty.

Later, the trump card that Blood Fiend used before his death also largely confirmed that he had someone supporting him.

It now seemed that everything happening here was indeed related to that Xuan Ye Dynasty.

But Lin Mo still couldn't understand.

Supporting a Black Fiend Sect within the territory of the Ancient Spirit Dynasty, just to capture commoners and send them to the Xuan Ye Dynasty?

What kind of baffling behavior was this?

What was the point?

Was it just to spite the Ancient Spirit Dynasty?

That would be too idle.

Or did these common people have some special use for the Xuan Ye Dynasty?

But didn't they also have common people within their own territory?

Was it worth coming to the Ancient Spirit Dynasty to 'procure' them?

Lin Mo's mind raced, but with too little information, he couldn't deduce a clear reason.

"Forget it, this mess has little to do with me."

"If anyone should worry, it should be the Ancient Spirit Dynasty."

Unable to figure it out, Lin Mo stopped thinking about it.

As the saying goes, 'it's none of my business, so I'll hang it high'.

The common people within the entire Ancient Spirit Dynasty were nominally protected by the Dynasty, not to be arbitrarily bullied or killed.

Now, the Xuan Ye Dynasty had extended its hand into someone else's territory to cause trouble, which was an affront to the Ancient Spirit Dynasty, not him.

He was very busy right now, needing to gather Materials for Gu Zhiyun and also figuring out how to help Great Xia advance the dao ancestor plan. Where would he find the time to deal with this international dispute?

"Immortal Master, please save us!"

"Immortal Master, have mercy!"

Just as Lin Mo was lost in thought, a chorus of cries suddenly erupted from the surrounding cages.

The formerly numb prisoners, now clinging to their last straw of hope, knelt down in a vast crowd, desperately kowtowing and pleading with Lin Mo.

"Don't worry, everyone."

Lin Mo was a bit overwhelmed by the scene.

"Since I've encountered you, I naturally won't abandon you."

He raised his hand, gesturing for everyone to be quiet.

"It's just that there are too many of you here, and I can't take you all by myself."

"How about this, I'll trouble you all to wait here a little longer."

"I will immediately report this matter to the Ancient Spirit Dynasty."

"Within half a day at most, someone will come to rescue you."

After a moment of contemplation, Lin Mo offered what he believed to be the most reliable solution.

It wasn't that he was being overly compassionate and determined to save people.

Mainly, he had stumbled upon this situation, and if he were to just turn and leave, he wouldn't be able to live with himself.

But for him to single-handedly lead tens of thousands of old, weak, and sick people across this mountain range, infested with venomous insects and Yao Beasts, was pure nonsense.

He could guarantee that less than one percent would make it out alive.

Therefore, having the Ancient Spirit Dynasty handle it was the optimal solution.

Because this was inherently their responsibility; his act of helping to report it and notify them was already considered doing his utmost.

"Alright, you all just wait here patiently."

With that, Lin Mo didn't give these people a chance to ask further questions or plead. His figure flickered, turning into a streak of light and flying out.

He knew very well that his words would surely make these people uneasy.

But he didn't have the time to stay in this dark, gloomy place and provide psychological counseling to each of them.

Instead of wasting time here, it would be much better to quickly fly to Tianyun City and get things done.

Wasn't this much better than wasting time here?

Flying out of the deep dungeon crack, Lin Mo identified the direction and, without hesitation, flew at full speed towards Tianyun City... Tianyun City.

Inside the City Lord's Mansion.

Zhao Chuan, the newly appointed City Lord, had been incredibly busy and constantly on his feet these past two days.

To prevent a repeat of the disastrous incident that almost cost him his life last time,

He had not only carried out a ruthless purge of his subordinates with swift and decisive action over the past two days.

But he also had to patrol the city several times a day like a security guard.

As soon as he spotted any signs of bullying, monopolizing trade, or abusing power, he would immediately strike hard and personally enforce the law!

The effect was immediate.

Indeed, in just two short days, everyone in Tianyun City knew that the new City Lord was a fierce character who abhorred evil and tolerated no injustice.

For a time, the previously rather chaotic Tianyun City saw its public order and atmosphere improve by several notches, practically becoming a model civilized city of the Ancient Spirit Dynasty!

"Sigh, I just want to finish my term peacefully, gain some experience, and then leave."

"I hope these bastards in Tianyun City don't cause any more trouble for me!"

"If something like last time happens again, I might really lose my life here!"

Inside the City Lord's study,

Zhao Chuan, who had just returned from his patrol, slumped exhaustedly into his chair, picked up his teacup, and let out a long sigh.

However, just then, a figure appeared in his study without any warning.

Zhao Chuan had just brought the teacup to his lips when he caught sight of the figure out of the corner of his eye, and his entire body instantly froze.

The next second, his mind buzzed as if ten thousand thunderclaps had exploded simultaneously.

In utter terror, the teacup in his hand clattered to the ground, shattering into pieces.

And he himself, with a 'thump', reflexively slid off his chair, kneeling on the ground in an extremely standard posture!

This incredibly smooth series of actions made Lin Mo, who had just landed, completely speechless.

"No... buddy, what are you doing?"

"Is it really necessary?"

"I just came to report a crime!"