"The passage of Ghost Soldiers?"

Yang Fangyu frowned deeply.

As a veteran of the Northern Garrison Army, he had naturally heard of this legend.

Such tales had long circulated within the army.

The old soldiers claimed that the passage of Ghost Soldiers always followed a great battle. It was said that Yama of the Underworld sent his imps to gather the souls. The lines were long because so many had died, and since they were all soldiers, they were all clad in armor.

In truth, legends of Ghost Soldiers passing existed all across Xuan Yang, though the details varied slightly from place to place.

Zhang Huanchang snorted coldly. "It’s all just smoke and mirrors. Someone must be pulling the strings from behind the scenes."

As the Chief Constable of the Patrol Office, he had seen too many gruesome and bizarre scenes, all of which, without exception, were eventually proven to be people deliberately pretending to be ghosts.

Thus, he never believed in such things.

A Martial Artist only ever believes in his own fists. He’d punch his way through gods and ghosts alike. Without that kind of spirit, one couldn’t go far on the Martial Dao.

Yang Fangyu didn’t refute him.

After all, in all his years with the Northern Garrison Army, he had never seen the passage of Ghost Soldiers himself. He’d only heard the tales from the older generation.

Otherwise, given the number of deaths in the Northern Territory, the procession of Ghost Soldiers would have long since stretched all the way to Ling Province.

Niu Cheng revealed a look of apprehension. "I didn’t believe it either, at first. But I saw it all with my own eyes."

Bai Yuan and the other two fell silent.

As the transport escort, Niu Cheng’s strength was certainly not lacking. ’Just what kind of incredible deception could fool even a martial expert like him?’

But if it wasn’t a trick, could it really be spirits from the Underworld?

Impossible!

Yang Fangyu turned to Zhang Huanchang. "Lord Zhang, have you found any clues?"

The Patrol Office had arrived before he and Bai Yuan, and they were experts at finding clues. Perhaps they had found something.

Zhang Huanchang sighed and shook his head. "I’ve already sent my best men from the Patrol Office to search for evidence, but we haven’t found any traces so far. The perpetrator’s methods are truly brilliant."

He was convinced that someone was pulling strings behind the scenes, but the culprit’s methods were so masterful that they hadn’t left a single trace.

Yang Fangyu’s brows knitted. If even the Patrol Office couldn’t find any clues, the matter was even more troublesome.

Bai Yuan walked over to the carriages.

Only the empty frames of the carriages remained; the goods they had been carrying had vanished.

A single cart of weapons weighed at least a thousand pounds. Moving so many of them in just a few moments was no easy feat; otherwise, Xuan Yang wouldn’t have needed to assign so many men to the escort.

Such methods were indeed incredible.

Niu Cheng said anxiously, "Whether it was Ghost Soldiers or not, the most urgent task is to find those weapons. If the Court holds us accountable, we’ll be in serious trouble."

If they couldn’t recover the weapons, he didn’t know about the others, but he would certainly be unable to escape the fate of beheading.

Zhang Huanchang looked at Bai Yuan and Yang Fangyu and slowly uttered three words: "Search the mountain."

Whether it was man or ghost, they couldn’t have moved so many weapons that far so quickly.

They had to find the weapons before that happened. Otherwise, it would be like a fish lost in the ocean, with no hope of ever being found.

Yang Fangyu nodded.

Since they couldn’t find any clues, they would just have to rely on brute force to work a miracle.

...

According to Niu Cheng, the strange phantoms had vanished on White Dwarf Mountain, which was next to the Official Road.

After a brief discussion, Yang Fangyu and Bai Yuan dispatched troops to surround the entire mountain.

Fortunately, White Dwarf Mountain wasn’t large. Otherwise, they would have had to borrow troops from Ling Province to surround it.

Bai Yuan and Yang Fangyu walked through the mountain forest.

Not far away were Zhang Huanchang and Niu Cheng.

"Ah Yuan, what do you think?"

Yang Fangyu asked, his heart fraught with anxiety.

Bai Yuan shook his head. "This matter is indeed strange."

Even with his skills, he couldn’t imagine how one could silently move several thousand pounds of heavy goods.

Even a large truck would have to make some noise, right?

’Truly unbelievable methods.’

Just then, Bai Yuan’s expression suddenly shifted.

Yang Fangyu keenly sensed the change in Bai Yuan. "Have you discovered something?"

Bai Yuan nodded.

Zhang Huanchang and Niu Cheng, who were nearby, also heard Yang Fangyu and gathered around.

Bai Yuan strode deeper into the forest. Tucked in his sleeve, a tiny worm, as thin as a strand of hair, wriggled continuously, pointing the way.

This little worm was a peculiar type of Gu called the Iron-Eating Gu.

The Iron-Eating Gu was extremely sensitive to metal, able to detect its presence even from several miles away. It was a Divine Artifact for prospecting ore.

If this were his previous life, Bai Yuan could have become a mining tycoon with this ability alone.

A huge quantity of weapons had been lost, so the Iron-Eating Gu would surely be able to sense them—unless there was an iron ore deposit in the mountain, but that was highly unlikely.

Bai Yuan followed the direction indicated by the Iron-Eating Gu over the peak of White Dwarf Mountain, finally arriving at a cave concealed by overgrown weeds.

Upon seeing the cave, the eyes of Yang Fangyu and the other two lit up.

If the weapons couldn’t be transported away, the best solution would be to find a place to hide them.

This cave was extremely well-hidden. If not for Bai Yuan, they never would have found it. It was the perfect place to hide things.

The men exchanged a glance. Niu Cheng, unable to wait, was the first to enter the cave. After all, if the weapons weren’t recovered, he would be the first to be executed, and it was highly likely his entire clan would be implicated.

Yang Fangyu and Zhang Huanchang followed close behind, with Bai Yuan taking up the rear.

The cave passage wasn’t long. The four of them had only walked a few dozen meters when a large cavern, a hundred meters across, appeared before them.

What excited them even more was the sight of several huge chests lying in the deepest part of the cavern.

When Niu Cheng saw the chests, he began to tremble with excitement. That was them—the missing weapons!

"Those are the chests."

He pointed at the chests excitedly.

However, the expressions on Yang Fangyu and Zhang Huanchang’s faces were not so good.

Because everything was going too smoothly. ’Even if they hid the weapons in this cave, wouldn’t they have to post guards? Or did they have Ghost Soldiers from the Underworld watching over them?’

The next instant!

The entire cave was suddenly enveloped in a deep blue light. One by one, ethereal figures resembling spirits slowly rose from the ground, turning the scene into something out of Purgatory.

The apparitions wore tattered armor, and some even had half their heads sheared off, exactly matching the descriptions of the legendary Ghost Soldiers.

Seeing this, Yang Fangyu and the others gasped.

How could they have imagined that the passage of Ghost Soldiers was actually real?!

Yang Fangyu whipped out the saber at his waist, his eyes glinting with ferocity. Even if they were ghosts, he was going to cut a few of them down today.

At that moment, Niu Cheng, who was at the front, suddenly let out a strange cry and bolted madly toward the cave entrance.

Gritting his teeth, Yang Fangyu also dashed out after Niu Cheng.

After all, the weapons weren’t more important than their lives.

This was all too bizarre!

Just as the light of the cave entrance came into view, Niu Cheng, who was in the lead, abruptly stopped.

Zhang Huanchang, who was right behind him, didn’t have time to react and slammed right into Niu Cheng’s back. He was just about to ask what had happened when he suddenly felt an intense, burning pain all over his body.

"AHHH!"

Zhang Huanchang let out a pained scream.

A bizarre scene unfolded: Zhang Huanchang’s body was engulfed in eerie green flames, identical to the legendary Hellfire.

Seeing this from behind, a chill ran down Yang Fangyu’s spine.

If he had been the one following Niu Cheng just now, he wouldn’t have escaped such a tragic fate either.

Zhang Huanchang didn’t last long. In just a moment, he was burned to ashes.

Yang Fangyu sensed that something was wrong. Since Zhang Huanchang had fallen into the trap, why was Niu Cheng, who was at the very front, completely unharmed?

Furthermore, Zhang Huanchang’s screams had been so loud, yet Niu Cheng hadn’t seemed to turn around at all.

His pupils contracted violently.

’There’s something wrong with this Niu Cheng!’

At that very same instant, Niu Cheng slowly turned around. The righteous air he’d had before was gone, replaced by a sinister smile playing on his lips.

"Who the hell are you!"

Yang Fangyu roared.

Niu Cheng chuckled coldly. "The man who’s going to kill you."

Standing at the very back, Bai Yuan’s face showed no sign of panic. He had been suspicious of Niu Cheng’s identity from the moment they entered the cave.

Now, his suspicions were confirmed.

’There’s no power in this world that can move thousands of pounds in an instant. The only explanation is that this was all a conspiracy, a trap deliberately set for them.’

Bai Yuan had noticed earlier that there were pitifully few soldiers escorting the weapons. Niu Cheng had claimed they were all sent into the mountains to search for the missing arms.

Now it seemed obvious that Niu Cheng had killed them all.

’There was no passage of Ghost Soldiers. It was all a lie fabricated by Niu Cheng!’

Unlike Yang Fangyu and the now-deceased Zhang Huanchang, he felt no fear toward the Ghost Soldier-like figures behind him.

He had long since recognized them as mere puppets, created with Gu and ingenious mechanisms by some brilliant artisan.

He just hadn’t expected Niu Cheng to be so ruthless, giving him no opportunity to save the others.

Just then—

A familiar voice rang out.

"Bai Yuan, we meet again."

Bai Yuan and Yang Fangyu snapped their heads around.

A slender figure had appeared in the cave at some unknown point. This time, however, she wore no veil, revealing a face covered in scars.

Seeing that woman, Bai Yuan sucked in a sharp breath.

Because this woman was none other than the Soul Chasing Tower Lord of Ling Province. The scars on her face were the very ones he had given her.

Bai Yuan never expected Han Min to have come to Huanglong Prefecture.

Clearly, this entire affair of the missing weapons was a death trap laid specifically for him.

Bai Yuan’s senses were extremely sharp. He could clearly feel that Han Min’s aura was far more powerful than when they had last met in Qingzhou.

The hidden injuries from using her secret technique must have fully healed.

A peak-condition Han Min was an existence capable of rivaling Jiang Changping.

Now, he and Yang Fangyu were pincered between Han Min and Niu Cheng, with almost no chance of escaping alive.

Han Min’s gaze grew colder and colder.

She wasn’t one for talking before a kill. It was only because she’d run into Bai Yuan that she was willing to say an extra word.

This showed that she acknowledged Bai Yuan’s strength.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have risked exposing an important mole within the Soul-Chasing Tower just to lure him into this trap.

It was simply because, in her eyes, Bai Yuan’s value was higher than that of her mole.

Han Min flicked her five fingers.

Countless Ghost Soldier Puppets surged toward Bai Yuan and Yang Fangyu in unison.

She might not understand the poison arts, but when it came to Gu techniques and mechanical hidden weapons, she was the unrivaled master of Ling Province.

Bai Yuan took a deep breath and drew the long saber from his back.

"Run!"