Chapter 140: Eerie

Although Wuling Town fell under the jurisdiction of Qinghe County,

its location had already reached the outermost edge of Qinghe Town.

Wuling Town closely bordered the Wuling Mountains, and its name was also derived from the Wuling Mountains.

Wuling Town was not large, and because it closely leaned against the mountainous terrain, it was not very suitable for human survival.

Moreover, there were quite a few demons and eerie entities within the Wuling Mountains, and demons often came out from the Wuling Mountains to ravage the residents within Wuling Town.

Therefore, the local customs of Wuling Town were extremely fierce; almost every household could wield a few farming techniques, and there were quite a few Martial Artists with some strength among them.

The place where the Town Demon Guard handled the most eerie and demonic incidents every year was also within this Wuling Town.

Furthermore, the Town Demon Guard even had a resident personnel whose strength reached the Early Stage of the Ninth Rank stationed in Wuling Town.

However, that Martial Artist at the Early Stage of the Ninth Rank had also disappeared without a trace after the incident where people in Wuling Town went missing and returned with amnesia.

Sun Xuan and Chu Lin came this time also with the task of investigating that missing Ninth Rank Martial Artist.

After all, that Ninth Rank Martial Artist was also a member of the Town Demon Guard; disappearing so inexplicably, with neither a living person nor a corpse to be found, was somewhat unjustifiable no matter how one looked at it.

Although the horses under Sun Xuan and his party were fine steeds, and everyone had galloped all the way without taking much rest,

when everyone arrived at Wuling Town, more than half a day had already passed.

Sun Xuan and the others set out in the morning, and by the time they reached Wuling Town, it was already afternoon when the sun was about to set.

When they were still a distance away from Wuling Town, Sun Xuan and the others dismounted and walked on foot toward Wuling Town.

As for everyone's horses, they were tied up in a relatively hidden place, and then two Town Demon Guard reserves were left behind to guard the horses.

Sun Xuan and the others did this to avoid alerting the enemy and to hide their figures as much as possible.

Moreover, Sun Xuan's party did not head to Wuling Town together; instead, they formed groups of two or three and dispersed as they hurried into Wuling Town.

Furthermore, everyone had agreed on a meeting place, and after entering Wuling Town, they would go to the agreed place to rendezvous.

After a period of time, Sun Xuan and Chu Lin came together into Wuling Town.

Before even entering this small town, bursts of noisy shouts and peddling sounds drifted into the ears of Sun Xuan and Chu Lin.

Sun Xuan and Chu Lin exchanged glances, and then silently sneaked into Wuling Town from a remote corner.

"Candied haws, candied haws, sweet and sour candied haws… Steamed buns, fragrant big steamed buns…"

After entering the small town, Sun Xuan and Chu Lin stood in a secretive corner, coldly observing the bustling market scene.

"Brother Sun, don't you think that this Wuling Town is a bit too abnormally normal?"

In the darkness of an alley, after observing the residents of the town for a while, Chu Lin spoke in a low voice to Sun Xuan.

After hearing Chu Lin's words, the corners of Sun Xuan's mouth also revealed a hint of inexplicable expression as he replied:

"Indeed, did Brother Chu see it too?

The residents of this town are so normal that even the steps they take seem as if they have been precisely measured, all being exactly the same length."

Hearing Sun Xuan, Chu Lin nodded gently with a somewhat gloomy gaze.

The situation in Wuling Town looked to be a bit more tricky than the two of them had imagined.

Originally, Chu Lin thought that the residents in the town only had some amnesia aftereffects after disappearing.

But looking at it now, the situation was much more serious than imagined.

"Who is there!"

Right at this moment, inside the alley where Sun Xuan and Chu Lin were located, a person dressed as a catcher suddenly walked in.

Upon seeing Sun Xuan and Chu Lin hiding in the darkness, he immediately shouted harshly at the two of them.

Sun Xuan and Chu Lin had long since discovered this catcher's figure.

However, seeing this catcher walking toward the alley where the two of them were, Sun Xuan and Chu Lin also wanted to further understand the situation within Wuling Town, so they let this catcher discover them.

Otherwise, given the strength of Sun Xuan and Chu Lin, this catcher who at most knew a bit of superficial martial arts would definitely not have been able to discover them.

At this time, Sun Xuan and Chu Lin exchanged glances, and then Chu Lin spoke to the person looking like a catcher:

"We are merchants passing through Wuling Town. After spending a night here, we will leave this place."

And that person dressed as a catcher, taking steps where the size of every step was not off by the slightest bit, walked closer to Sun Xuan and Chu Lin with a frown.

When he walked to the side of Sun Xuan and Chu Lin, this catcher spoke to the two of them with a gloomy expression:

"You say you are merchants, but I see the two of you sneaking around and acting suspiciously.

Come with me to the county yamen for a trip!"

As soon as the catcher finished speaking, he reached out and grabbed toward Chu Lin's direction.

Seeing this, Chu Lin did not dodge.

Even the slight inexplicable smile on his face did not change in the slightest.

Suddenly, his eyes became as deep as a pool of water.

The phantom of a small mirror suddenly appeared in Chu Lin's pupils.

After this small mirror emerged from Chu Lin's eyes, the catcher's gaze immediately looked uncontrollably toward Chu Lin's eyes.

The moment this catcher saw Chu Lin's eyes, his originally lively expression immediately became somewhat dull.

The hand reaching out toward Chu Lin also completely stiffened mid-air.

Sun Xuan, who was watching from the side, felt a trace of solemnity flash through his heart upon seeing this scene.

It seemed that the true spirit artifact in Chu Lin's hand was not simple either.

With just a glance, he had completely controlled a living person.

Its eerie nature truly made Sun Xuan somewhat alarmed.

After Chu Lin controlled this catcher, he directly and softly spoke to this catcher:

"What on earth happened in Wuling Town? During the time you went missing, what did you see?

Child, tell the truth, do not be afraid!"

Chu Lin's voice exuded an eerie flavor, and the catcher controlled by Chu Lin, upon hearing Chu Lin's eerie voice, felt the bewilderment in his eyes suddenly become even stronger.

However, after the span of a breath, this catcher actually spoke:

"The people of Wuling Town, all of them were… uh… heh heh…"

But before the catcher could finish his words, an expression of ultimate terror suddenly erupted on his face.

Immediately after, as if his heart had been tightly grasped by something, the catcher's face suddenly distorted.

Next, this catcher let out a few wheezing breaths, and then his head tilted to one side, and his body slumped limply onto the ground.

With just a glance, Sun Xuan knew that this catcher was already dead.

However, looking at his extremely distorted face, it was unclear whether he had been scared to death or died of pain.

Seeing this, Chu Lin's expression immediately became even gloomier.

Originally, Chu Lin had thought of using the true spirit artifact to obtain some information from the mouths of the Wuling Town residents who had been affected by the eerie forces.

But judging by the current situation, that should be impossible.

However, what could be ascertained now was that the residents throughout Wuling Town were all not quite right, but as for the specific cause, it was impossible to know for a moment.

"Brother Sun, let's go!

It seems we won't be able to get any useful information.

But our arrival may have long been known by the enemy hiding in the dark.

Therefore, our subsequent actions must prioritize caution above all.

If things really cannot be done, safety must come first, and at that time we can directly apply for support from the Town Demon Guard.

With Lord Lü's strength, dealing with these situations shouldn't be a problem.

Now you and I will go and rendezvous with those reserves first.

Otherwise, I'm afraid that once we go late, those reserves might encounter some danger."

After discovering that no useful information could be obtained from the mouths of these Wuling Town residents, Chu Lin intended to first rendezvous with the accompanying Town Demon Guard reserves.

After rendezvousing with those reserves, they would decide how to act next.

However, just as Chu Lin was about to call Sun Xuan to leave together, Sun Xuan spoke with an eerie smile on the corners of his mouth:

"Brother Chu, don't panic. It's not too late to leave after I leave a little backup."

Saying this, amidst Chu Lin's somewhat baffled gaze, Sun Xuan walked toward the catcher's corpse lying on the ground.

Upon walking close to the corpse, Sun Xuan squatted down and then placed his palm on the head of the catcher's corpse.

A faint bronze-colored gloss spread from the palm that Sun Xuan placed on the corpse's head.

Within just a few breaths, the bronze-colored gloss started from the corpse's head and rapidly permeated downward to the lower parts of the corpse.

Then, at an extremely fast speed, it dyed the entire body of the corpse into a bronze color.

After dyeing the corpse into a bronze color, Sun Xuan stood up with a smile at the corners of his mouth.

Then he gently hooked his fingers at the corpse, and the eyes of this corpse dyed bronze immediately opened.

Then its entire body immediately stood up straight.

Then a faint and extremely harsh voice came out from the mouth of this Bronze Zombie:

"I'm so scared…"

Seeing this, Sun Xuan immediately spoke:

"Go, be cautious, and create some small troubles for this town."

As soon as Sun Xuan's voice fell, this Bronze Zombie immediately roamed away toward the distance along the darkness of the alley.

Seeing this, Chu Lin by the side spoke to Sun Xuan with a trace of shock on his face:

"Brother Sun truly has marvelous methods. With such an eerie ability, it is evident that the power of the true spirit artifact in Sun Xuan's hands is not simple at all!"

Regarding Chu Lin's words which seemed like flattery, an exclamation, and probing all at once,

Sun Xuan only replied with a slight smile at the corners of his mouth:

"Just a trivial skill, nothing to show off."

"Now that matters here are settled, you and I should go and rendezvous with those reserves first."

After Sun Xuan finished speaking, Chu Lin sensibly asked no more.

Instead, he walked quickly with Sun Xuan toward the direction of the only small inn in Wuling Town.

Sun Xuan and Chu Lin, two strangers, appeared on the bustling street without attracting any attention.

The pedestrians on the main street were doing whatever they were doing just a moment ago, and were still doing the same now.

It was as if Sun Xuan and Chu Lin, two living people, did not exist at all.

"Brother Chu, look at these residents of Wuling Town. Are they really living, or are they acting out a play!"

Watching this eerie and disconnected scene, Sun Xuan could not help saying to Chu Lin.

With a trace of solemnity in his eyes, Chu Lin shook his head gently at Sun Xuan and said nothing more.

Then their figures advanced at high speed, and after a short while, they arrived at the location where that inn was situated.

After arriving here, Sun Xuan and Chu Lin found that the reserves who had followed them had been waiting here for a long time.

However, two were missing.

These waiting reserves had not entered the inn either.

Instead, they hid in a secretive corner around the inn, waiting with anxious expressions.

Upon seeing the figures of Sun Xuan and Chu Lin, the six of them immediately revealed a hint of joy on their faces.

Then, looking at the swaggering appearance of Sun Xuan and Chu Lin, for a moment they actually dared not come out to rendezvous with the two of them; looking at their appearance, it was as if they were wary of something.

"What happened? Where are Zheng Kai and Wu Yan?"

Seeing this scene, Chu Lin immediately walked quickly to the hiding place of these six people and directly inquired with a serious expression.

Hearing Chu Lin's inquiry, one of the thin youths spoke to Chu Lin with a trace of fear on his face:

"Lord Chu, I came in together with Dong Yang.

Because the two of us were cautious, we didn't come in directly from the entrance of the town, but instead climbed over the low city wall of the town and secretly entered Wuling Town.

As for Zheng Kai and Wu Yan, they entered the town a step ahead of Dong Yang and me.

The two of them came in from the city gate entrance. When Dong Yang and I came to the meeting place, we saw the two of them being besieged by a dozen or so people wearing catcher attire.

Dong Yang and I originally intended to go up and help relieve Zheng Kai and Wu Yan.

But we caught a glimpse of the ordinary residents around, who actually all had fierce expressions, staring fixedly at Zheng Kai and Wu Yan who were fighting with the catchers.

Moreover, there was always an indescribable eerie feeling about these ordinary residents.

They seemed to be living very normally, but we felt a sense of danger from these residents.

Therefore, we did not directly enter the inn to wait, but instead found a hidden place below the inn, waiting for the arrival of other colleagues and the two lords.

The other four colleagues were just like me, all crossing the low city wall and quietly entering the city, so they did not alert these residents.

Only Zheng Kai and Wu Yan were defeated by those catchers and captured.

If nothing unexpected happened to the two of them, they should be locked up in the earthen dungeon of the garrison station right now."

This thin youth spoke softly to Chu Lin.

When the other five saw that Sun Xuan and Chu Lin were fine, the hearts that had been tightly clenched finally relaxed slowly at this moment.

At this very moment, faint clamors came from afar.

Then, a team of catchers was rapidly running toward the direction of Sun Xuan and Chu Lin at high speed.