There were plenty of things in the thatched hut, but for the current Cultivation Realm, none of them meant much. Everything was still as basic as ever, and there was no sign of any "jackpot" new category. Chen Sheng watched, utterly uninterested.

Yet Shen Hao, who appeared calm but was churning inside, never expected to see such a thing in a place like this.

At the edge of the open ground outside the hut, lay a stack of materials, among which was a palm-sized Jade Token.

It was this Jade Token that caught Shen Hao’s gaze, holding him so tightly he couldn’t look away. At the same time, the Black Beast Tattoo on his chest began to stir violently again, and that barely suppressible craving returned.

"Oh? Shen, is there something you fancy?" Chen Sheng grinned as he patted Shen Hao’s shoulder.

"Heh, sorry to let you laugh, Brother Chen. I have a little hobby of collecting jade, especially the rare ones." Shen Hao forced down his desire and maintained basic composure, not wanting Chen Sheng to notice anything wrong.

"Jade?" Chen Sheng turned to look at the materials in the corner. Among them was a piece of Yin Jade, and it looked pretty good—mostly because it was fairly large. The average Yin Jade was barely an inch long, but this one was palm-sized.

"Hahaha, Shen, your tastes are rare indeed." Lowering his voice a bit, he continued, "If you like it, just take it. It’s just a stone—no need to be shy with your brothers."

To Chen Sheng, a mere piece of Yin Jade was nothing. Giving it away was just an easy favor.

"Er..."

"Hey, take it! It’s a little thing, what need is there to be embarrassed?" Before Shen Hao could speak, Chen Sheng picked up the Yin Jade and shoved it into his hand.

"Then... thank you, Brother Chen." Shen Hao feigned being gratefully overwhelmed, showing a hint of joy—acting perfectly so that Chen Sheng had not a whiff of suspicion.

A palm-sized Yin Jade was worthless to Chen Sheng. But in Shen Hao’s eyes it was something else entirely: in his view, the surface of this Yin Jade was etched with lines... just like the Yin Jade Map lying in his Storage Bag.

"Whew..." He secretly let out a breath of relief. The moment he grasped the Jade Token, the craving sparked by the Black Beast Tattoo instantly faded away.

Calmly pocketing the Jade Token, Shen Hao began wandering around the area; his curiosity grew, wondering if anything else here might trigger the Black Beast Tattoo on his body.

"That’s about it, Shen. Let’s go."

Half an hour later, the whole area within a mile radius had been searched. Anything that could be taken was taken, and what couldn’t was logged for reporting and research.

"That fast?"

"Not fast at all. Time in here moves much quicker than outside. What feels like an hour for us here, but outside it’s almost dawn. You don’t want to spend a day here with those bugs, do you?" Chen Sheng tossed out another statement that left Shen Hao utterly stunned.

Time isn’t the same? What does that even mean?!

Climbing up the rope ladder, after experiencing another round of spatial disorientation, Shen Hao crawled out from the Special Land. Only then did he discover the sky outside was already tinged with pale white—it was indeed almost dawn!

Shen Hao was a bit lost. He remembered when he entered, it was mid-midnight—there should have been three hours till dawn. Counting the half-hour he perceived inside the Special Land, outside somehow two and a half hours had already passed!

The time flow was nearly five times faster! 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"How is that even possible?" Shen Hao couldn’t calm down for a long time.

Time! Invisible, yet sharp as a blade, still able to show such uneven changes! One entrance and exit, and a fivefold differential in time flow—this was truly extraordinary.

The Special Land... what kind of existence is it, really?

Dawn. The noisy buzzing of insects rose from far to near, swarming in from all directions, finally pouring into the black hole at the center of the giant stone. It lasted a whole stick of incense before ending. Then the opening closed up, and not a trace of anything remained.

"Is that an array?"

"No. No Mana fluctuations, and no array patterns. Just like the wonders inside the Special Land, it’s a mystery."

After tens of thousands of years of research, it’s still a mystery? This shows that the seemingly simple opening and closing of the black hole is probably anything but simple—possibly an entirely unknown miraculous system in this world.

Afterward, the Special Land officially came under Chen Sheng’s team. It would probably be thoroughly ransacked inside and out. Especially the little bugs named by Shen Hao as Black-Spotted Plague Insects—they received extra attention. People donned sheepskin gloves, catching them one by one, and even deliberately observed their habits—as if preparing to raise them or something.

Shen Hao hesitated to speak. He knew how many people would covet these bugs he named; they could be used for research or even "utilized"—with no upper or lower limit on their effect, a real gamble. Honestly, Shen Hao thought it best to just leave these mutant bugs alone; anyway, thanks to some control within the Special Land, they wouldn’t leave its boundaries on their own. Once the Special Land vanished, they’d disappear along with it.

But Shen Hao also knew his own words counted for nothing, so in the end, he shut up and said nothing at all.

Leaving the Special Land, Shen Hao and Chen Sheng split up and headed straight back to Wan River. According to Chen Sheng, research on the Special Land would start soon, and the Da Jiang Mountain route would be sealed off and handed to the Governor’s Office. After that, Shen Hao could return control of the Wan River route to the Local Government Office.

Back at his temporary quarters in Wan River, Shen Hao began the handover with officials sent from Fengri City. The other side had been guarding outside his Public Office for several days, looking quite unhappy.

This time, the Local Government Office had taken a harsh beating from the Xuanqing Guard, stripped stark naked and left in the streets. Because, unlike the Xuanqing Guard or the Military, the Local Government Office lived by its reputation—a local official without a name might as well give up. The way the Wanhe Port Government Office handled the plague scandal stank up every Fengri City local official’s reputation. No way would they bear Shen Hao any goodwill for exposing the mess.

It was evening before Shen Hao finished the handover of local control for the plague incident at Wan River, and he refused Fang Yangqin’s dinner invitation, directly leading the team from Fengri City back to the Thousand Households Station to deliver their orders.

Wu Changhe was also at the Thousand Households Station, hadn’t gone home. He’d been living in the Public Office these days. Watching Shen Hao come to deliver orders in the dead of night, Wu Changhe forced a smile. After all, when it came to Special Land, Wu Changhe had previously told Shen Hao to give way, but Shen Hao pushed back, and then the direct intervention from the Governor’s Office felt like a warning to himself.

But once you’re in it, a lot of things aren’t up to Wu Changhe’s wishes. In this respect, he was quite envious of Shen Hao’s smooth path—one step after another seemed handed to him, all he had to do was lift his feet to keep climbing.