155: Chapter 156 Mysterious Ruins, Midnight Upheaval

"Captain Yang!"

Old Man Shen's voice was neither cold nor warm, but every word seemed to carry thorns.

"You only took a few glances and said there was no anomaly? Back when you were investigating that anomaly in Cangyun Town, you were the one leading the team, weren't you?"

"And the result?"

"Three out of five people died, and the remaining one went mad."

"If you, Captain Yang, had the ability to determine whether there's an anomaly with just one look, then why would the Commandant need to come?"

Upon hearing this, Captain Yang's face immediately darkened.

"Old Man Shen, you're talking nonsense. Last time it was because..."

As the saying goes, do not expose people's shortcomings; Old Man Shen was hitting him right where it hurts!

"What 'you' about you? Can't people talk about your mistakes?"

"Enough."

The Commandant's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a bucket of cold water being poured down, making the scene quiet down instantly.

The Commandant didn't offer any reprimand; his gaze kept scanning over the ruins.

"Whether there is an anomaly, we need to go in and investigate once to know."

The Commandant's tone was very flat, but it carried an unquestionable quality.

"Arguing back and forth here, what result can you possibly achieve?"

Captain Yang lowered his head upon hearing this, not daring to speak further, and Old Man Shen also sensibly shut his mouth.

The Commandant dismounted and strode toward the center of the ruins, with the others quickly following.

Old Man Shen walked to Lin Ye's side and said in a low voice, "That guy surnamed Yang has always been at odds with me. Back then, he made a mistake, and I reported him, causing him to be demoted by one rank."

"Later, a new Commandant was brought in from the outside, and he was never able to regain his original rank."

"I didn't expect that after all these years, he would still be holding a grudge."

"His targeting of you this time is likely aimed at me as well. Don't take it to heart."

Lin Ye nodded, feeling somewhat speechless.

After all that, it was a case of the gods fighting and the Mortals suffering.

However, he could also understand; Old Man Shen was quite old and had a straightforward personality, so it was perfectly normal to offend a few people in officialdom.

...

The group traversed through the ruins.

The Commandant walked at the very front, his pace neither fast nor slow; his gaze never left the ground, as if he were looking for some clues.

The five Captains were scattered on either side of him, forming a semi-circular alert formation.

Lin Ye followed at the very back, carefully observing everything around him using the Tracking Technique as he walked.

These ruins were much larger than he had imagined.

Judging from the remains of the collapsed houses, there were at least one or two hundred households.

The layout of the houses was also very regular, arranged in a row along the foot of the mountain, with a main road running through from north to south.

But now, everything was destroyed.

The group spent nearly an hour searching the ruins inside and out, but the result was nothing.

Captain Yang's face also changed from gloomy to smug.

Although he didn't speak again, his expression said it all:

"See, I told you someone was reporting false military intelligence."

The expressions of the other Captains weren't great either.

Having rushed all the way from the county town, thinking they could earn some merit points, only to come up empty-handed; anyone would likely be unhappy.

Lin Ye stood in place, his brows tightly furrowed.

Not right!

He always felt something was not quite right, but he couldn't say exactly what it was.

He operated the Qi Observation Technique to its limit, but everything in his vision remained unchanged.

The ruins were still those ruins, without any evil qi or other auras, unnaturally clean.

But that "wrong" feeling became even more intense instead.

Wait!

Clean?!

Yes, it was too clean.

There was no Demon aura, nor even any traces of wild animal activity.

But this was clearly impossible!

Even if no wild animals visited the place, nature's own restorative power would be enough to turn it into a weed-choked forest within a dozen years.

But here, let alone trees, there wasn't even a single stray weed, as if time had been completely frozen a dozen years ago.

Lin Ye opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

Just then, the Commandant suddenly stopped, his expression turning solemn.

Clearly, he had also realized this.

Indeed, this man's Mental Energy was even more powerful than his; it was only normal for him to sense something was wrong.

"Everyone withdraw from the ruins and find a place nearby to camp. We'll leave tomorrow morning."

The Commandant's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.

Captain Yang was stunned, the smugness on his face freezing.

"Sir, there's nothing here, why waste time..."

"I said camp!" the Commandant directly interrupted him, then scanned the ruins with a serious tone.

"Furthermore, some anomalies only appear at specific times.

Since no anomaly was found during the day, we'll stay for a night before leaving."

This time, no one had any further objections.

The group found a high-ground clearing about fifty zhang from the edge of the ruins.

From this angle, the entire ruins could be seen clearly.

If any abnormality appeared, it could be discovered in time.

Old Man Shen untied a bag of unknown jerky and a canteen of water from his horse and handed them to Lin Ye.

"Here, eat something to replenish your strength."

Old Man Shen's tone was very serious.

"If what the Commandant said is true, tonight might not be peaceful."

"Thanks."

Lin Ye took the jerky and took a couple of bites.

It was actually quite tasty, and the energy was very abundant.

Soon, the sky darkened.

Night in the mountains comes much faster than in the town; in an instant, the sky became as black as spilled ink, and it was so dark one could not see their own hand.

Of course, for their group, seeing in the dark as if it were day was a basic operation; their vision was not affected at all.

Lin Ye held the black iron heavy staff in his hand, his gaze fixed on the direction of the ruins.

His perception had been raised to its maximum, like an invisible net spreading out in all directions.

Although it couldn't reach the ruins fifty zhang away, any movement within ten zhang could not escape his perception.

Should danger appear, he could react in time.

The night gradually deepened, and a bright moon hung coldly in the sky.

Suddenly, Lin Ye's hand holding the black iron heavy staff tightened, and the staff's body emitted a low hum in the night wind.

He felt it.

The surrounding environment seemed to have changed!

This change could not be perceived through the senses; it was as if an invisible door had been silently pushed open.

"What's wrong?" Old Man Shen noticed Lin Ye's abnormality, his hand already gripping the hilt of his saber.

Lin Ye didn't answer, his eyes staring fixedly at the direction of the ruins.

In the vision of the Qi Observation Technique, something was slowly condensing above the originally empty ruins.

It wasn't evil qi, nor was it Spiritual Qi, but a kind of grayish-white mist he had never seen before.

The mist rose from the ground of the ruins, seeping out from every broken tile and every piece of rotten wood, and then began to converge toward the center.

The speed of condensation became faster and faster.

The concentration of the mist became higher and higher.

The range of its diffusion also became larger and larger.

In just a few breaths, the entire ruins were shrouded in that layer of grayish-white mist.

"Not good!"

Lin Ye's expression changed drastically.