Chapter 1212: Chapter 1185: Cannon Fodder in the Demon Hunting Novel 49

Anning and Xiao Yuan ran into Mao Xiaoxiao and Nangong Shu again when they left.

The two of them looked utterly miserable; Nangong Shu was injured, blood streaming down his arm.

Mao Xiaoxiao was besieged by several ghosts. She took out a lot of talismans, but those ghosts seemed to never truly die inside the Deceit Realm. Every time Mao Xiaoxiao killed one, it would revive again after a short while, which made her anxious as well.

"Brother Xiao, help us."

Seeing Xiao Yuan, Mao Xiaoxiao called out urgently.

Xiao Yuan acted as if he hadn’t seen her at all, holding Anning’s hand as he left.

The entire town was now shrouded in a layer of gray mist. The sun could no longer be seen; everything was hazy, and all around came the shrill cries of ghosts.

Those wandering in the streets were no longer people, but all ghosts.

The ghosts’ expressions were numb as they drifted back and forth along the streets, wanting to pounce and tear at any living person they saw.

They saw Anning and Xiao Yuan and tried to move closer, but after only a few steps they turned back again.

Anning and Xiao Yuan returned to the inn.

Anqing was in the room with the maids and old women, not daring to come out.

Brother Cong stood in the courtyard gripping a sword, looking especially alert.

An Yuan stayed close to Brother Cong; the two of them stood back-to-back, nervously clutching their respective weapons.

When he saw Anning and Xiao Yuan return, An Yuan quickly asked, "Ning, what’s going on outside?"

Anning smiled. "Nothing. Brother, hurry and get ready, we’re leaving at once."

Only then did An Yuan relax.

They had apparently already packed their things beforehand. As soon as Anning said it was time to go, everyone moved into action.

The carriage was parked in the stable in the inn’s backyard. Some large items had already been loaded onto it, and everyone’s luggage was kept at hand. Once they decided to leave, in less than an hour everything was ready and the horses were harnessed.

Xiao Yuan opened the back gate of the inn, and the group drove the carriage out.

Anqing climbed onto the carriage.

An Yuan guarded at the side.

He looked at all the wandering figures around them and couldn’t help frowning. "What on earth is going on?"

Anning shook her head. "Don’t ask. Just go."

Everyone was afraid, but no one dared press further. The driver whipped the horses and the carriage sped toward the city gate.

On the way, they ran into ghosts lunging with gaping bloody mouths, and saw corpses lying dead by the roadside. The mist in the sky gradually changed color, from gray to black, and it grew thicker and thicker.

By the time Anning led the convoy to the city gate, the entire city seemed wrapped in a mass of black qi.

The Luo Family’s servants were trembling with fear.

Anning didn’t have time to comfort them. She walked over and knocked on the city gate.

The moment she knocked, the gate opened on its own.

No one moved, but in the blink of an eye they had already left the city. When they looked again, they were on an official road under bright sunshine, with wild grass and patches of wild chrysanthemum growing all around.

"We..."

Brother Cong asked with a grim face, "Are we in Ghost City?"

At his question, several maids screamed out in terror.

Anning swept them with a glance. "Quiet down, all of you."

The maids immediately huddled together, but none of them dared make another sound.

Anning told everyone not to stop and to keep heading north along the official road. "It’s not Ghost City, it’s a Deceit Realm."

"Deceit Realm?"

An Yuan also didn’t understand and came over to ask.

Things like Deceit Realms were known only to Mages; ordinary people had never even heard the term.

Anning glanced at Xiao Yuan.

Xiao Yuan helped her into the carriage, then swung onto his horse. Riding alongside, he gave An Yuan a brief explanation.

The Deceit Realm is something from the Demon World, a place where Demonic Qi gathers, filled with Heart Demons—made up of Heart Demons, resentful energy, hatred, grievances, and so on.

It is very difficult for a Deceit Realm to form, but once it does, it is almost invincible. It can go wherever it wants. When it doesn’t manifest, no one can detect it. Once it does manifest, basically no one can escape. Inside the Deceit Realm, everyone is subject to its rules; if you violate the rules, it’s equivalent to being marked by the Deceit Realm. Even if you flee to the ends of the earth, if it wants your life, it’s as easy as turning its hand.

"That powerful?"

An Yuan and Brother Cong listened with their hearts pounding. "Then... how did we escape?"

Xiao Yuan chuckled. "Right now I can’t do anything to it, but it can’t do anything to me either. If we really fought in earnest, we’d both end up badly hurt, and that’s not what it wants. Besides, none of us have broken its rules, so it can’t use the rules to erase us. That’s why it let us out so easily. But those who violated the rules will likely find it hard to escape."

Anning added, "All those people erased by the Deceit Realm today were dragged down by Mao Xiaoxiao and Nangong Shu. If they hadn’t meddled, many people would have come out alive. Unfortunately, they were too full of themselves and enraged the Deceit Realm’s rules. Quite a few originally innocent people were implicated by them and lost their lives."

"What happened?"

An Yuan asked softly.

Anning then told the story of Miss Wu throwing the Xiuqiu to choose a husband, and of how Mao Xiaoxiao and Nangong Shu used their status to oppress others, insisting on forcing a perfectly good young lady to marry a beggar.

After hearing it, An Yuan couldn’t help frowning. "How did the Third Prince’s brain grow? How has he even managed to live this long?"

That was exactly what many people thought in their hearts after hearing about it.

Anning couldn’t help laughing. "Well, his mother is a favored concubine. With the Imperial Concubine shielding him, Nangong Shu can get whatever he wants, so of course he’s grown spoiled and arrogant."

"Isn’t that exactly an illness."

Anqing heard Anning’s account from inside the carriage and couldn’t help laughing aloud. "They said she was throwing the Xiuqiu just to gather all the unmarried men in the city so she could pick one she liked. Who knew fate would play such a trick and the Xiuqiu would hit a beggar of all people. Anyone in her place wouldn’t want to marry a beggar, right?"

Yue Niang lifted the curtain and poked her head out. "Who knows what that beggar’s background is? Has he killed anyone, broken any laws, will he beat his wife, does he have any filthy diseases—none of that is clear. Old Master Wu dotes on his daughter. Wanting her to throw the Xiuqiu again is perfectly reasonable. Whose good daughter, raised so carefully, would be willing to marry a beggar? But Mao Xiaoxiao had to stick her nose in and force the girl to marry him. If she thinks the beggar is so great, why doesn’t she marry him herself?"

Everyone chimed in, one sentence after another, all agreeing that what Mao Xiaoxiao had done was downright bizarre.

She didn’t even know that beggar, and had no connection with the Wu Family. What right did she have to interfere in their affairs?

And then there was Nangong Shu, who even revealed his identity and tried to use power to crush them—utterly shameless.

If this got out, what would people think of the royal family and the Emperor?

If he could raise such a brainless son, what good could the Emperor be?

Anning listened to everyone with a smile. "Exactly. Meddling in other people’s business never ends well. See, Mao Xiaoxiao’s stumbled hard this time; she’s probably in for a world of suffering."

The group headed north. The farther they got from that city, the more at ease everyone felt.

But Mao Xiaoxiao and Nangong Shu, who were still in the city, felt anything but easy.

The two of them were covered in wounds and barely clinging to life.

Yet they still hadn’t broken through, and were finally caught by the ghosts and thrown into the Dungeon.