253: Chapter 253 The Mist, the Disappearance

Zhao Tie frowned, his eyes filled with confusion.

Li Qing also looked guarded, his palm resting on the hilt of his blade.

"Brother Chen, there's something strange about this temple; you must be careful."

Although they knew that Chen Ran was quite capable, this was, after all, his first time hunting demons.

It was still necessary to pay some attention to safety.

Chen Ran nodded slightly.

"I know. Since we're here, let's go in and take a look."

He spoke indifferently and took the lead, walking toward the temple.

Zhao Tie and Li Qing exchanged glances, gritted their teeth, and followed closely behind.

Pushing open the ajar wooden door, accompanied by a teeth-grinding creak, a gust of cold wind rushed toward them.

The wind was mixed with the smell of old mold and the faint scent of incense.

The light inside the temple was dim, as if the moonlight was being blocked outside by some invisible force.

On the walls around the main hall, some mottled murals were vaguely visible.

What was depicted in the paintings seemed to be some kind of ancient sacrificial scene.

Chen Ran's gaze swept across the hall and landed on the altar in the center.

The altar was built of wooden bricks, its surface covered with the marks of time, carved with some indistinct patterns.

Those patterns were complex and obscure, not like ordinary Daoist or Buddhist runes.

What was surprising was that there were still a few sticks of burning incense on the altar.

The incense flickered, emitting wisps of blue smoke that curled around the dim main hall.

It looked as if someone had been worshipping here not long ago.

"This incense... who lit it?"

Zhao Tie looked at the smoldering incense, his expression grim.

"Didn't all the people in this village disappear?"

Li Qing also had a grave expression, his eyes fixed firmly on the altar.

Chen Ran stepped forward slowly, his gaze passing over the altar to look behind it.

The spot where gods or Buddhas should have been worshipped was now empty.

No, it was not completely empty.

On that pedestal, a pile of broken stones was scattered.

From the outlines of those stones, one could vaguely identify that it had once been a statue.

It was just unclear what kind of power had shattered it, turning it into ruins all over the floor.

Chen Ran narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at the rubble.

The broken edges of the stones were extremely smooth; it didn't look like they had been smashed by external force, but rather cut instantly by some extremely sharp Sharp Weapon.

He reached out and lightly touched a piece of rubble with his fingertips.

It felt icy to the touch, carrying a chill that seeped into the marrow.

That chill was not ordinary cold, but carried a trace of evil energy.

It was as if some unspeakable evil entity had once resided within this stone.

"Brother Chen, did you find anything?"

Zhao Tie asked softly from behind.

Chen Ran withdrew his hand, lost in thought.

This temple, this shattered statue, and the burning incense.

Everything carried an indescribable sense of eeriness.

"I think some kind of incident happened here."

Chen Ran was about to turn around to tell the two of them his findings.

However, when he came back to his senses and turned his head, he found that there was no one behind him.

The two Demon-Slaying Squad members who had been following closely behind, Zhao Tie and Li Qing, had disappeared without him knowing when.

In the empty room, only the mess remained.

Those two living people had just disappeared silently into this dim main hall.

Chen Ran's face darkened slightly. After looking around, he saw that there was still no sign of the two.

He gripped the hilt of his blade at his waist and walked slowly out of the hall.

The moment he stepped across the temple threshold, the scene before him made his eyes narrow slightly.

At some point, the entire village had been enveloped by a layer of thick white fog.

The mist was not ordinary mountain fog, but carried a ghastly pale color, thick as if it were congealed haze.

Within his line of sight, he could see no more than a few yards.

The houses and trees in the distance were all swallowed by this white fog, turning into blurred phantoms.

The surroundings were terrifyingly quiet.

Even Chen Ran's own breathing seemed to have been absorbed by this thick fog.

Sound lost its medium of propagation here.

Chen Ran stood quietly at the temple entrance.

He tried to circulate his True Qi and called out in a low voice.

"Captain Xia An."

His voice left his lips, but like a clay ox entering the sea, it was instantly swallowed by the surrounding white fog, without stirring up a single ripple.

He called out Junior Sister's name again, but there was still no response.

Captain Xia An was gone, and Junior Sister was gone.

The entire Demon-Slaying Squad, dozens of elites, had actually disappeared silently into this eerie white fog just like that.

As if they had never existed.

Such means had already exceeded the scope of ordinary martial arts; it was more like some kind of eerie Formation or Demonic Technique.

To be able to trap a powerhouse at the Peak of the Return to Truth Realm like Captain Xia An without a sound, the strength of this thing in the dark was absolutely not to be underestimated.

Chen Ran stood on the stone steps of the temple, his cold gaze fixed on the churning white fog ahead.

He keenly sensed a trace of anomaly.

The thick white fog was spreading wantonly throughout the village, swallowing everything.

Only the dilapidated temple behind him seemed to be a Forbidden Ground.

The mist rolled toward the temple, but stopped abruptly three feet away from the stone steps.

It was as if it had encountered some invisible barrier, or as if it had deliberately avoided this place.

Chen Ran's lips curled slightly, his black eyes looking into the distance.

"Interesting. Did it choose to avoid me on purpose?"

He muttered to himself, his voice sounding exceptionally clear in front of the empty temple.

Such means were definitely not naturally formed.

There must be some demon making trouble in the dark, having set up this eerie trap.

Since the other party wanted to play, he would play along with it.

Chen Ran loosened his hand from his blade and slowly raised his right arm.

He covered his face with his hand.

His True Qi circulated within his body, and his [Painted Skin] talent quietly activated.

In an instant, his face underwent an earth-shattering change.

Crack, crack.

Accompanied by the slight sound of bones shifting and facial muscles wriggling.

In the blink of an eye, he had switched into the appearance of a young man with a handsome face and an evil Aura.

Since he had to act deep within the Luoxia Mountain Range, he naturally couldn't use the identity of the Demon-Slaying Squad.

Changing his identity would make things more convenient.

Chen Ran lowered his hand, feeling the surging True Qi within his body.

"Boom!"

The next moment, an invisible wave of Qi exploded from him as the center.

The powerful True Qi fluctuations turned into a gale, sweeping in all directions.

The thick white fog that had originally stayed outside the stone steps was instantly torn apart under the impact of this violent Aura.

The churning mist, as if having encountered a nemesis, rolled violently and retreated backward.

Chen Ran slowly drew the long blade from his waist, his sleeves fluttering loudly under the agitation of his True Qi.

His gaze pierced through the thinning mist, staring straight into the depths of the village.

By the time he spoke again, his voice had changed compared to before, becoming exceptionally cold.

"Playing gods and ghosts."

"I'd like to see what kind of sacred being dares to show off its trickery before this seat!"