My experience of grinding in another world

Chapter 418 A Thousand Lanterns
The shimmering white light vanished, and thick black smoke and clouds appeared around Chen Mu.

Whether it can escape or not, we'll only know after trying!

Five Ghostly Flames Escape Technique!

Chen Mu's speed increased by another three points.

Lu Ku's voice remained calm: "We went to Yuquan Mountain for help, but we were blocked. But when we came to Ganhe Lower Temple, we were only pursued by soldiers."

"Is it because they lack the ability to contain them?"

"No, they deliberately arranged for us to meet."

“I guess, given your style of doing things, you’ve probably never left the Ganhe Lower Courtyard,” Lu Ku chuckled.

"Although these people are powerful, they may be considering secrecy and do not want to attack the House of Representatives."

"Then how can we catch you?"

"Of course, it's to make you realize the danger and leave Ganhe Lower Hospital on your own initiative."

Chen Mu, who was flying in mid-air, suddenly stopped his escape.

So... I went to the wrong place?!

Lu Ku chuckled and said, "We have to thank you for your caution, otherwise those people wouldn't have let us escape to you."

Chen Mu: “…”

I increasingly want to strangle this bastard!

"You guessed it all along? But you didn't say anything?"

"Whose side are you on?!"

Chen Mu descended from the sky with a flash of light, diving into the ground like a splash, and immediately began to return towards the Ganhe Lower Courtyard.

Lu chuckled wryly: "Do you want to go back to Ganhe Lower Courtyard now? Hmm... I'm afraid it's a bit too late."

Upon hearing this, before Chen Mu could react, he suddenly felt a bright light before his eyes and the pressure of the soil around him eased, as if he had entered some underground cave.

Chen Mu looked down at the light and found a huge, brightly lit city standing beneath his feet.

The city is crisscrossed by roads, with red-walled, green-tiled buildings lining both sides, and bronze bells hanging from the eaves of the buildings that jut out outwards.

White paper lanterns hung throughout the streets and alleys, like stars floating in the Milky Way, illuminating the entire city.

Yet, this vast city was utterly silent.

There wasn't a single person in the streets or buildings!
trap!

He turned around abruptly, only to find that the underground rock layers he had come from had disappeared.

Behind me was nothing but emptiness, a pitch-black horizon where no light could be seen.

Chen Mu immediately flew backward, the lights beneath his feet stretching into countless beams of light. But no matter how fast he accelerated, the distant black horizon always seemed to remain the same distance.

He suddenly stopped his escape light and stood in mid-air, spinning around once.

The sky above and the surrounding horizon had all turned into darkness that stretched to an unknown distance.

Beneath his feet was still the same brightly lit, enormous city, as if Chen Mu had never left the same spot.

Chen Mu's face immediately turned extremely ugly.

……

In the dense forest, Shang Huan, who was leaning forward and running close to the ground, suddenly tumbled and fell to the ground.

He almost instinctively tried to get up, but his whole body felt limp, as if he had no bones.

He had just gotten up when he fell to the ground, and his struggles ended in failure each time.

"That's enough," Lu Ku's deep voice rang out.

"Chen Mu, as the Gu Master, has been forced into the game."

“Only by turning us into ghost soldiers will his chief sacrifice lose its effectiveness.”

"In this way, he will have a chance to escape, and we will have a chance to survive."

Shang Huan deflated like a punctured balloon and collapsed to the ground with a thud.

After a long while, he finally managed to turn around and look at the distant sky through the sparse gaps in the bushes.

"Is it really okay?"

"Of course, otherwise, the people who arrested us wouldn't have shown up."

The voice just fell.

A series of footsteps sounded, and a figure blocked Shang Huan's view.

Tantai Zong stepped forward, drew a black chain from his waist, and bound Shang Huan tightly.

"Wow, that's impressive." Lin Su looked at the emaciated Shang Huan with admiration: "Two mere Qi cultivators at the Yuanfu realm managed to outmaneuver General Jin. Tsk..."

boom!
A figure descended from the sky, instantly creating a large crater in the ground, sending dirt and vegetation flying everywhere.

"It's all because you're too useless!" Jin'e said coldly. "If you hadn't failed your mission and asked me to help you set a trap to catch them, how could these two little bugs have been allowed to get away with it all this time!"

"What, you can't catch anyone yourself, so you want to steal kills now?" Jin'e stared at Lin Su with a mocking look.

Lin Su shrugged: "I'm just afraid that General Jin will let him escape again." She nodded slightly to Tantai Zong, watching him hand Shang Huan over to Qianmu. Lin Su folded her hands inside her sleeves and smiled easily: "That Netherworld Spirit Embryo is no simple matter. General Jin, do you really not need any help?"

“Not interfering is the biggest favor you can do for me!” Jin’e said coldly, then turned and disappeared into the depths of the dense forest with Qianmu.

"It seems Chen Mu has been captured by General Liancheng and taken to Thousand Lantern City." Tantai Zong breathed a sigh of relief: "The trapping dragon well is finally about to be completed."

“Yes, Thousand Lanterns City is a void in itself. You can’t escape the city without breaking through the boundary and teleporting.” Lin Su’s expression was inscrutable. Then she turned her head and glanced at Tantai Zong: “How can you be so useless?”

"If you also knew the Thousand Lanterns City's supernatural powers, wouldn't we have captured Chen Mu long ago? We wouldn't have had to endure this barbarian's mockery!" Lin Su sighed.

“Even if I had that supernatural power, it wouldn’t be of any use,” Tantai Zong protested softly. “You can’t lure that person out the door anyway.”

"Shut up!"

"Yes……"

……

City of Thousand Lights.

"If there's no way to go to heaven, then go to earth!"

Chen Mu suddenly fell from mid-air, activating the Five Elements Escape Technique, and instantly plunged into the underground of the massive city.

The hard bluestone pavement on the street did not hinder Chen Mu's movement in the slightest.

But not long after, Chen Mu, who was sinking, suddenly felt a void around him and a bright light shining down beneath his feet.

Looking down, he realized that he had somehow found himself above the city again.

Chen Mu's expression turned grave: "Is it the 'Thousand-Mile Household in a Bag' technique? Or is it an illusion that bewitches the spirit?!"

Listen carefully!

An invisible wave instantly enveloped the city beneath their feet, but apart from the sound of flames burning inside the lanterns, the entire city was utterly silent, a deathly stillness.

Chen Mu looked around again, his brows furrowing deeply: "The most likely way to break this deadlock lies within the city."

He immediately descended with his escape light and entered a tavern with a banner that read "wine".

Upon entering, wine jars, counters, abacuses, and ledgers come into view. Further inside, seven or eight tables are neatly arranged, filling the hall.

The hall was empty, but three of the tables were laden with cups, plates, bowls, chopsticks, delicacies, and fine wines.

Chen Mu frowned and stepped forward, only to find that the dishes, which were slightly missing, were still warm!

It was as if someone had been eating and drinking here just moments before, and then vanished the instant he arrived!
He strode out of the restaurant and broke down doors to enter several houses and pavilions along the street.

The half-eaten food, the rice still cooking in the pot, the steaming soup—except for the lack of people, all the scenes of daily life were no different from those in a bustling city.

Chen Mu stood on the empty street, feeling a chill run down his spine.

He returned to the tavern with the word "wine" on its signboard and reached behind the counter to slowly flip through the ledger.

He was so engrossed in watching that he didn't notice the long shadow behind him starting to twist and turn strangely.

A pair of shadowy hands emerged from the darkness, slowly gripping the shadow's neck...

"who!"

Chen Mu suddenly turned his head.

Just now, he felt as if someone was blowing on the back of his neck.

Upon closer inspection, however, it was found that the surroundings were silent and there was no one in sight.

"Something's wrong..."

Chen Mu frowned and quickened his pace as he flipped through the ledgers.

Those detailed accounts convinced Chen Mu that the strange city before him was most likely not an illusion.

"Then this is a real metropolis shrouded in secret techniques like the 'shrinking of the bag' technique."

"If you want to leave, you'd better know how to teleport between realms..."

He was muttering to himself, lost in thought, when suddenly he turned around and stared fiercely at the long shadow at his feet.

"Die!"

Ding Ding Ding!
Three red lights flashed by.

The Zhu Yu sword suddenly pierced the dark shadow beneath its feet.

"Nothing?" Chen Mu frowned even more as he looked at the magic sword trembling on the ground.

He seemed to have seen a dark shadow moving through the perspective of the flying sword.

"Is it just my imagination?" The thought had barely crossed my mind when I felt another cool breeze on my neck.

boom!
The protective aura surged, and a bone shield appeared unexpectedly.

The counter ledger was instantly blasted into dust.

He stared intently at the long shadow beneath his feet.

He was absolutely certain that his shadow had just moved!

(End of this chapter)