Star Trace Gate

At the foot of the Divine Tomb and Immortal Palace.

Just as Ren was about to explain his counterattack plan to the storyteller, the latter suddenly frowned and waved his hand sharply, saying, "No, it's over... someone's coming."

"Huh?" Li Xiaopang was instantly dumbfounded: "Who's here?!"

"brush!"

The storyteller suddenly stood up, his face grave, and said, "In the vast wilderness and dense forests of the north, five people are flying across the sky and heading this way. The aura they exude is extremely powerful, far surpassing that of ordinary black-qi experts; they are all formidable opponents…!"

"Are you sure?!" Little Bad King asked anxiously.

The storyteller didn't immediately respond. Instead, he closed his eyes and carefully sensed the surroundings again before speaking, "These five people are not easy to deal with. You should hide quickly and not show yourselves... They must have sensed the spiritual energy fluctuations of our intention to open the tomb, which is why they flew here."

"Damn it! Is this a murder to cover up a crime?!" Li Xiaopang's IQ fluctuated, but at this moment it reached its peak again. He almost blurted out, "Only five people came. This is obviously not the night patrolmen from the three halls who found this place. Rather... rather, the Zhao family sent people here in advance to cover their tracks, wanting to kill all the irrelevant people and then steal the blind man's opportunity without anyone knowing, so that the case would be completely dead without any evidence."

“You’re right, they’re here to kill.” The storyteller stood at the foot of the Divine Tomb Mountain, his clothes fluttering in the wind, and then decisively turned his head and said, “If the little blind man is found, we’ll have no chance of survival. Listen to me, you all hide quickly, I’ll face them alone.”

"Can you manage on your own?" Ren asked with great concern.

In the tranquil God's Tomb Mountain, the storyteller stood ramrod straight, gazing at the vast universe and watching the five people flying towards him. He said calmly, "If I can't do it, do you think you can?"

"boom!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the storyteller, who had just been nearly drained of his life force by the Heavenly Dragon Four Directions Mirror, suddenly unleashed a vast and boundless aura of spiritual energy, his body rising into the air and soaring away.

"Whoosh...!"

Using his physical strength, he traversed the void of the universe, gradually disappearing into the northern wilderness and dense forests.

“I have abundant spiritual power, but I lack the corresponding divine techniques and secret arts to enhance it… I can’t help him,” Aunt Tianwei murmured anxiously.

"Quick, let's hide!" Li Xiaopang urged, clasping his hands together. "Now we can only hope that Zhong Deng performs exceptionally well and drives back these five, giving us some breathing room...!"

Upon hearing this, Ren Ye suddenly looked at him, his expression gradually becoming complicated.

Seeing that he didn't move, Li Xiaopang cursed, "Why are you staring at me like I'm your father? What can I, a mere third-rank official, do?!"

"You come with me!"

Without a word, Ren pulled him along and then led him up the mountain: "Come on, Auntie!"

"What are you going to do?" Li Xiaopang asked, puzzled.

……

Above the vast wilderness and dense forests of the north, Jiu Han, along with four top experts sent by Zhao Hao Chen, was rapidly flying towards the Divine Tomb Mountain.

These four newcomers, like Jiu Han and the three brothers Yu Ge, were all grassroots cultivators from the Wild Dogs. They had either received immense favors from Zhao Hao Chen on their journey away from home, or they had been given fatal leverage by him, which is why they were willing to aid and abet evil and violate the harsh laws of the Void Village.

Frankly speaking, secretly raising thugs and cultivating loyal followers in this illusory village isn't particularly difficult for a large family. Because the wild dogs have limited resources in their early stages, they crave protection so they can rise to power in a fairer environment…

However, to expect these assassins to completely disregard the laws of the Illusionary Village and act without following any rules is harder than climbing to heaven... because many people here genuinely respect those extreme rules and are more willing to uphold fairness.

Take Jiu Han for example. If he didn't owe Zhao Hao Chen a huge favor, he would never have gone against his principles to help him harm the blind man. Furthermore, the Void Village is always strict and harsh towards those who break the law, with absolutely no room for leniency or backdoors. So once someone commits a capital crime and is discovered, there is absolutely no chance of survival.

People like Daoist Jiuhan and the three Yu brothers all endured endless hardships to reach their current level of attainment.

They truly didn't want to die, much less to be someone else's scapegoat. But when faced with emotional blackmail, moral obligations, or threats of fatal incriminating evidence against others, they were left with no choice but to become the quickest blade in a killing spree…

As the four experts flew side by side through the dense forest, one of them spoke up: "Nine Cold, the Sacrifice Grounds are just ahead. I've heard that it's rife with strange occurrences. With us flying so blatantly using our magic... won't we be subjected to some inexplicable divine suppression...?!"

"Ong!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiu Han suddenly hovered in the sky and then sneered, "No need to go forward."

“Hehe, that’s right.” A middle-aged man in a black robe also suddenly stopped and looked ahead, replying, “Such a powerful aura… Is he the death row inmate number 79 who successfully escaped?”

“It was him. I sensed his presence on the day of the prison break.” An elderly man with a cane nodded slightly and said, “This man is not easy to deal with. The five of us must do our best to end this matter as soon as possible.”

"Ong!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a divine rainbow streaked across the night sky and hovered alone a hundred paces above the five people.

The storyteller stood with his hands behind his back, his clothes fluttering as he looked at the five men, and said with a cold laugh, "Heh, the Zhao family doesn't think too highly of me... They only sent the five of you to kill me and silence me?!"

Jiu Han didn't waste any words. He simply raised his right arm, flipped his palm, and summoned a humanoid doll wrapped in funerary clothes. Then he replied softly, "Arrogant! Your words... seem to underestimate the five of us."

"Let's settle this with a fight to the death, where our skills truly shine." The old man with the cane raised an eyebrow slightly and said, "Gentlemen, please make your move!"

"Boom! Boom!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiu Han and the other four unleashed the aura of top-tier black qi experts. They each summoned their magical treasures, scattered and flew away, raising their hands to activate strange secret techniques, and attacked the storyteller together.

The storyteller's face remained calm as water. He merely conjured a phantom of his wooden clapper in the distance, chanting the opening poem while once again immersing himself in the role of the Night Wanderer, engaging in a life-or-death battle with the five people above the dense forest.

……

Tomb Mountain.

Ren also pulled Xiao Pang along and sped all the way to the top of the mountain, arriving at the gate of the Immortal Palace.

"What exactly do you want to do...?" Li Xiaopang asked, frowning.

Ren Ye looked up at the guardian beast sculpture in front of the Immortal Palace gate, his eyes resolute, and said, "Before entering the tomb, you said... there are only two ways to leave this place. Either you wait quietly for six hours to pass, or you sense the guardian beast sculpture and ask to leave this place."

As soon as he finished speaking, he stared blankly at Li Xiaopang and said in a hoarse voice, "You can leave now."

"what?!"

Li Xiaopang was completely dumbfounded upon hearing this: "You... what do you mean?! Now that I'm cornered and worthless, you're going to forcibly expel me from the crime squad? You're so damn mean! What have I gained from following you all this time, besides the title of a death row inmate?! Do you have any conscience?"

"Sigh, your brain... it's really hard to fathom." Ren Ye shook his head helplessly and replied seriously, "I didn't mean to expel you, I just want you to go home safely."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaopang froze on the spot.

“Brother, listen to me.” Ren Ye cupped the other’s chubby face and said, word by word, “Besides me, my aunt, and the storyteller, no one else knows you’re a traitor. I reckon Zhao Hao Chen would never imagine, even if he racked his brains, that the eldest son of the Li family, the most promising genius of this generation, would actually do something like betraying the enemy. So, among the four of us, you’re in the safest position right now… As long as we don’t expose you, you’ll be fine.”

"The current situation is that we can't enter the Divine Tomb, and we'll have to keep fighting for our lives. If you stay here, it will not only be of no use, but you'll also be captured by the Three Great Halls at any time."

Ren spoke rapidly and assertively, “The Zhao family sent people to kill us and silence us. Even if the storyteller can lead us through this temporarily, Zhao Haochen will definitely not let it go. The people from the Three Great Halls could also be buried at any time. So, you still have time to leave now. After you get home, just pretend nothing happened. And then… even if we are all caught, we will never implicate you.”

"Remember, don't tell anyone about what you've been going through during this time. Keep it buried inside and let it rot away."

He looked at the chubby boy's round face and smiled casually, "Hehe, although the storyteller and I have been bullying you, teasing you, and even tricking you into stealing things from your house... we've never just thought about using you. You've long since integrated into the crime squad and are a very important partner to us...!"

"Little Fatty, thank you so much. When everyone else saw me as a stray dog, only you were willing to walk with me to the spotlight and become someone who can be respected."

"Although I am usually sarcastic, I remember this kindness, and I also remember... you are my only true friend in the Village of Illusions."

He poured out his true feelings, saying warmly, "We really don't need to put ourselves in danger together, let's go."

Li Xiaopang was already in tears as he listened to his words.

Since birth, he had lived in this secluded place and had little contact with outsiders. Although he had witnessed some of the sordid things in the world with his family elders over the years, at the age of thirteen or fourteen, he was still quite naive and believed that loyalty and friendship still existed in the world.

To be honest, when Li Xiaopang inadvertently learned that Ren was the mysterious and powerful mastermind, he felt anger and resentment. He felt he had treated Ren as a friend, but this friend had been scheming against him at every turn, not only failing to reveal his identity but also constantly directing the storyteller from the shadows, exploiting his value...

But he also considered that, from the blind man's perspective, he had neither power nor outstanding personal abilities in the Illusionary Village, so... it was understandable that he was a bit sneaky and did things in a disgusting and despicable way. After all, he called himself a brother! He had a good background and also wanted to enter the Divine Tomb, so he was magnanimous and wouldn't hold a grudge.

However, he really didn't expect that at this critical moment, the blind man would find a way out for him in advance and be willing to send him away first.

This act of loyalty warmed the heart of the thirteen or fourteen-year-old chubby boy, even making him feel a surge of excitement and goosebumps.

As the saying goes, true friendship is revealed in times of adversity. People only show their true nature when they are in dire straits.

To put it bluntly, Fatty used to look down on the blind man, including when he asked him to poison the Yin family. While it seemed like he was asking for a favor, he secretly saw it as an opportunity for the blind man to make money and ease his financial burden. It was as if he were saying, "You stray dog, barely scraping by, what are you afraid of? What are you afraid of risking your life?!"

Later, during the conflict between Li and Yin, their relationship warmed up. He deliberately paraded Ren Ye around town, wanting to use the Li family's prestige to elevate Ren's status. In his view, this was simply a way of taking care of his "little brother," even a favor. He didn't need to give much; just a flick of the wrist was enough to make a stray dog ​​live a better life...