141: Chapter 141 He is Chen Shanzhi!

The night wind was like a blade, scraping through the waist-deep wild grass outside Shi Village.

Chen Shanzhi and the others successfully followed their original route and crept near the entrance of the dungeon on the south side of the village.

However, along the way, it was strangely quiet.

There were no hidden sentries, no patrols, and not even the sound of a dog barking.

The entire Shi Village seemed as if everyone had died out, exuding an extremely uncomfortable sense of eeriness.

“Isn't this a bit too smooth?”

Jiang Feiyu lowered her voice and muttered, “My greatsword has been thirsty for a long time; is it not even going to give me a chance to chop someone?”

Beside her, Ouyang Wanqing also frowned slightly, a hint of vigilance flashing in her beautiful eyes.

This kind of silence was too abnormal.

When things are abnormal, there must be something fishy going on.

Chen Shanzhi’s gaze was fixed on the tightly closed iron door of the dungeon dozens of meters ahead.

In the original game settings, there should have been at least two Xuan Guan Ten Apertures elite mobs guarding the outside of this dungeon!

Now, it was completely empty outside the door.

“Something’s not right.” Chen Shanzhi narrowed his eyes, the ominous premonition in his heart growing stronger.

“Who cares what’s wrong? With six of us at Xuanguan Peak backing us up, can’t we just charge in and fish them out?”

Shen Lingfu hid behind her three guards and urged in a low voice.

Chen Shanzhi ignored her, just about to make a gesture for Zhao Er to scout the way first.

Suddenly!

“Boom!”

A dull, thunderous roar erupted in front of everyone without warning!

In front of the previously empty dungeon iron door, the seemingly level ground suddenly collapsed!

Fortunately, Chen Shanzhi and the others sensed something was wrong and hadn't moved forward.

Immediately after.

“Swish, swish, swish!”

From the surrounding wild grass, behind abandoned earthen walls, and even from the few withered trees overhead.

A dense circle of dark red torches, like netherworld ghost fires, instantly lit up!

The flickering firelight illuminated Chen Shanzhi and the others with perfect clarity!

“An ambush!”

Uncle Biao, the bearded guard from the Murong Family, reacted the fastest. He let out a low roar as his violent Xuanguan Peak True Essence instantly erupted.

Like an iron pagoda, he valiantly blocked the way in front of everyone, his broad back directly shielding Jiang Feiyu and Ouyang Wanqing.

The other five Xuanguan Peak guards also drew their weapons at almost the same time, surrounding Chen Shanzhi and the others tightly in the center as if facing a formidable foe.

In the firelight, two cold figures stepped out from the crowd of torches at an unhurried pace.

One was as thin as a bamboo pole, his dead-fish eyes glinting with a cold light.

The other was short and fat as a ball, his face full of fatty flesh, playing with two iron balls in his hand that made a harsh "clack-clack" sound.

The Aura emanating from the two of them was impressively at the Peak of the Twelve Mysterious Apertures!

“Hehe, in the middle of the night, you folks aren't sleeping in your soft beds in the Capital.

What have you come to our backwater Shi Village for?”

The tall, thin man stared unkindly at Chen Shanzhi and the others, his voice as unpleasant as an owl's:

“Or perhaps, you want to rob our Shi Village?”

Chen Shanzhi’s heart skipped a beat.

It's over; have we been surrounded like dumplings?

These people actually set an ambush in advance?

How did they discover our group?

Chen Shanzhi’s brain worked rapidly, thinking of coming up with a reasonable excuse to talk nonsense, stalling for time to find a way out.

Just then!

“Whoosh!”

An extremely sharp sound of air being sliced suddenly came from above everyone's heads.

Immediately after, a middle-aged figure in black robes, like a large bird, leaped over the circle of torches and landed gracefully in front of the tall and short men.

“Thud.”

As soon as the middle-aged man landed, he casually threw a person he was carrying onto the ground like a sack of garbage.

Chen Shanzhi and the others looked closely, their faces full of shock.

The person lying on the ground like a dead dog, eyes rolling back and with a large bruise on his head...

wasn't that exactly Murong Yun, whom Chen Shanzhi had just assigned to be on guard duty outside the village?

“Holy crap!”

Chen Shanzhi cursed wildly in his heart.

This pig of a teammate had been out on sentry duty for less than half an hour and was already captured alive?

Were you going on sentry duty or delivering takeout?

“Old Third.”

The tall, thin man looked at the unconscious Murong Yun on the ground and asked in surprise, “What’s going on?”

The middle-aged man in black robes, called Old Third, sneered:

“I was patrolling outside the village and happened to run into this little mouse, sneaking around and peeking at the village entrance.”

“So I just knocked him out and brought him in.”

Old Third turned around, his sharp triangular eyes scanning Chen Shanzhi and the others, a cruel curve hooking his lips:

“I was wondering why the village's Sensing Formation suddenly fluctuated; turns out a whole nest of rats came in.”

As he spoke, his gaze suddenly paused at Chen Shanzhi and the others' waists.

By the firelight, those few tokens shimmering with a faint bronze luster were extremely eye-catching!

“Bronze Rank Catchers of the Jiantian Division?”

Old Third’s pupils constricted sharply, and an intense killing intent instantly surged in his eyes.

The other two also exchanged glances, their faces turning extremely grim.

They had been secretly kidnapping people for sacrifice in this Shi Village, keeping it very hidden.

How could they have suddenly attracted these catchers from the Jiantian Division who were like sticky dog-skin plasters?

The tall, thin man’s face was so gloomy it looked like it could drip water.

He took a step back and grabbed the collar of Zhang Qing, who was hiding behind the crowd and peeking out.

Lowering his voice, he questioned angrily:

“How the hell are you doing things?”

“Didn't you say Prince Qi would use his connections in the Capital to help us suppress the Jiantian Division's informants?”

“How is it that even catchers from the Jiantian Division have found their way to our nest?”

Zhang Qing’s eyes rolled back as he was grabbed, his face also full of disbelief.

He explained in a panic, “No... that’s impossible! There’s no way anything went wrong on Prince Qi’s end!”

“Everyone, take a close look at these people!”

Zhang Qing pointed at Chen Shanzhi and the others, saying urgently:

“If the Jiantian Division headquarters really discovered this place, how could they only send a few lowest-level Bronze Rank Catchers?

And there isn't even a Silver Rank leader, only a few private guards?

This doesn't fit the Jiantian Division's protocol for handling major cases at all!”

Although Zhang Qing was only an undercover agent, after being in the Capital for so long, he still had some discernment.

“I bet these greenhorns just got lost while patrolling outside the city, or accidentally stumbled upon this village!”

“As long as we're sure the Jiantian Division hasn't officially moved in, we haven't been exposed yet!”

Hearing Zhang Qing’s analysis, the expressions of the three men finally softened slightly.

Zhang Qing had a point.

If the Jiantian Division really wanted to move against them, the leader should have been a Silver Rank Catcher.

Thinking of this, the tall, thin man took another step forward.

His dead-fish eyes stared intently at Chen Shanzhi as he probed again:

“Kid, I’ll ask you one last time.”

“Why did you Jiantian Division catchers come to our poor mountain gully in the middle of the night?”

Facing this pressing interrogation.

Surrounded in the center, Jiang Feiyu, Shen Lingfu, and the others had already nervously tightened their grip on their weapons.

At a single command from Chen Shanzhi, the six Xuanguan Peak guards they brought would immediately erupt and break through!

But Chen Shanzhi did not give the order.

He very discreetly made a "hold steady" gesture behind his back.

Then, Chen Shanzhi took a deep breath, and the sharp expression on his face instantly melted like ice and snow.

In its place was an innocent, fawning smile mixed with a bit of trepidation and apology.

He naturally stepped out from the guards' protective circle, cupping his hands and bowing repeatedly:

“Oh, heroes, it's a misunderstanding! It's all a huge misunderstanding!”

Chen Shanzhi spoke sincerely, starting to spout nonsense with extreme fluency:

“To be honest, we are indeed Bronze Rank Catchers of the Jiantian Division.

You see, the higher-ups just sent us to the neighboring county on an urgent mission, and we were required to rush back to the Capital overnight to report!”

“To make time, we traveled light. We haven't even had a drop of water along the way; we've been starving for a day and a night!”

“Just now, passing through your esteemed place, we saw a village and thought about coming in to buy a hot meal from the locals.

Who knew... this village would be so quiet, without even a ghost in sight.”

Chen Shanzhi shrugged helplessly, looking around at the people holding torches, his acting skills fully on display:

“We were just so hungry we were desperate. We had no choice but to wander around the village to see if anyone was here.”

“Everyone, we really mean no harm! We just want to buy some dry rations to fill our stomachs!”

With that, Chen Shanzhi carefully unfastened the bronze token from his waist and waved it before the three men to show his innocence.

Then, with a pained expression, he fished out a large ingot of silver weighing ten taels from his robe and offered it with both hands.

“Big brothers, please do us a favor.

This bit of silver is for the meal.

As long as you give us something to eat, we'll take the rations and leave immediately, never disturbing your peaceful dreams!”

Chen Shanzhi’s smooth performance, combined with his young and guileless face, was practically seamless.

The three men looked at each other, a trace of hesitation flashing deep in their eyes.

Looking at this kid's cowardly appearance, trying to buy his life with silver, could they really just be a few lost people looking for food?

The sacrifice wasn't due yet; there couldn't be any mistakes.

If a fight broke out in the village, even if they could take down the people before them...

the Jiantian Division would surely notice their disappearance, and an investigation would follow, which would be risking the big for the small.

“Old Third, what do you think?” the tall, thin man asked in a low voice.

“Give them some dry rations and have them leave the village first. Everything must prioritize the Ritual Ceremony.” Old Third hesitated for a moment before making a decision.

Since it wouldn't affect the overall situation, stabilizing this group was the best course of action.

Meanwhile, Zhang Qing, hiding behind the three men, kept his brow furrowed, staring suspiciously at Chen Shanzhi’s smiling face.

This face... why does it look more and more familiar?

Holy crap, wait!

An image suddenly flashed like lightning through Zhang Qing’s mind!

Isn't this face the Heir of the Marquis of Zhenguo?

This kid isn't some catcher on a mission to another county at all!

“Everyone! Don't believe his nonsense!”

Zhang Qing’s expression changed drastically as he pointed at Chen Shanzhi and shouted:

“He is Chen Shanzhi!!!”