The horses neighed shrilly.
A wheel ground over a slick mountain boulder, tilting violently as the carriage threatened to overturn.
Liu Le was thrown upward, slamming against the roof, bright red blood seeping down his arm.
Ye Huan grabbed him by the clothes and yanked him back.
"We're done for."
Liu Le gritted his teeth, suddenly shoving Ye Huan, and barked, "Get out first! I'll hold them off!"
His voice trembled.
Yet as he spoke, he had already drawn the repeating shotgun from his back.
Seeing him raise the gun to fire outside, Ye Huan clamped a hand down on the weapon and said in a calm, steady voice, "Don't move. Captain Xu told me to bring you back."
"There's no hope left," Liu Le said with a bitter smile.
Ye Huan didn't answer.
With one hand pinning the shotgun and the other gripping the carriage window, he focused his senses on the surroundings.
Through the night rain.
Waves of murderous intent drifted through the carriage window like bone-chilling wind, carrying the faint, eerie laughter of a woman.
Over by the temple, the shouts and clashing sounds had gradually died down.
The elder was slacking off.
He was only waiting for the female ghost hanged from the peach tree to turn her attention to the carriage before making his escape!
Ye Huan sank into thought.
What should he do?
Straining his throat right now to yell, "Elder, run!" or "The token for Azure Dragon Temple is in your pack, run quickly, Elder!" would certainly be cathartic.
But why bother?
If the elder managed to escape with his life and went back to file a complaint against him, accusing him of betraying his master and ancestors, and revoking his ordination certificate—
wouldn't that be the end of this identity?
Thinking more deeply, it wasn't time to drop all pretenses just yet.
He had to assume he might come back here again.
He needed to leave room to maneuver for his future self!
With that realization in mind:
Leave! Take Liu Le and return—back to Lantie City.
Ye Huan silently commanded in his heart.
His identity had advanced by a rank, allowing him to leave at any moment and take one item or being from the Ether with him!
Right now, there were no treasures around.
And he had reached a point where he had to leave.
He might as well bring Liu Le back!
Instantly, the surrounding scenery rushed past in a flash.
Ye Huan found himself still sitting in the truck, hands on the steering wheel, speeding down the highway.
Time—
Everything that had just happened hadn't affected time at all!
Not even a single thing from inside had been brought out to affect reality.
Except—
"Heavens, we survived!" Liu Le wept with joy.
"Wait, why did we suddenly come out?" Ye Huan asked, looking utterly perplexed.
"The Ether often manifests different worlds, each with different rules and requirements. Maybe we came out because we left the temple and reached a safe area," Liu Le reasoned.
"You really know your stuff," Ye Huan said admiringly.
"That's just the professional expertise of an investigator. Once you gain more experience, you'll know all this too," Liu Le said.
"Why did that female demon know we were humans from Lantie City?"
"She's probably a demon from outside the city. She must have sensed the Ether's descent and rushed over, hoping to reap some benefits."
"Benefits? We nearly died in there," Ye Huan said.
"An expert of the Daozang Baji or Qipo Lianmo realm could certainly trade blows with that demon," Liu Le said. "We're just too weak. In there, our only fate was death."
Liu Le added with deep relief, "Thank goodness you were a monk. That identity let you wield the demon-subduing artifact and convert the Snake Woman into a dharma protector. Otherwise, we'd be dead already."
Ye Huan said nothing more.
The centipede in the mine earlier was nothing in comparison.
Before the snake demon, it was merely an insect.
That snake demon was a true monster!
Right.
And that hanged ghost.
When the hanged ghost killed, peach blossoms bloomed across the entire tree.
It was too sinister.
He had nearly forgotten to breathe.
Even now, his hands were still trembling.
It was utterly terrifying.
Fortunately, he had completed the identity challenge and advanced to "probationary warrior monk," which had granted him the opportunity to break out.
Ye Huan let out a long breath, only now realizing he was drenched in cold sweat.
A line of information quietly surfaced in his mind:
"Who could have guessed that advancing an identity would bring an entirely different turn of fortune?"
"This has always been the most natural path of advancement in human society."
"Anyone should have thought of it."
"In the Ether world, your actions finally met the Ether's minimum requirements, and you were the first to achieve it."
"This saved your life and the life of your comrade-in-arms."
"Evaluation +1."
"Total Evaluation: +4."
Ye Huan took slow, deep breaths, doing his best to steady himself.
Liu Le didn't look well either, slumped sideways in the passenger seat, appearing on the verge of collapse.
"How's your wound?" Ye Huan asked.
"I'm fine. It's just mental exhaustion. That ordeal was really too much to bear," Liu Le said.
"I know the feeling," Ye Huan said.
An electronic ringtone suddenly played.
Both jumped in surprise.
"Sorry, nothing's wrong, just my phone alarm." With one hand on the steering wheel, Ye Huan frantically fumbled to silence his phone.
"Mm... I'm going to rest a bit. Call me if anything happens." Liu Le closed his eyes, his face etched with weariness, already on the brink of sleep.
Ye Huan looked back and kept driving.
It was currently 11:45 PM.
The alarm had been set for this time to remind him—
hold out just a little longer, and he could enter the "Daily Settlement"!
Then the phone rang again.
"Section Chief?"
"That officer who stopped you must have lost his damn mind—but now even the military can't reach him. Something must have happened in their area, dammit! Wait for me to get there!"
Song Fushan's voice sounded anxious.
Can't reach him?
A haze of doubt rose in Ye Huan's mind.
That officer hadn't known a thing; judging by his expression earlier, he had genuinely thought it was just a routine drill.
Something was clearly wrong.
There had to be an absurd coincidence at play here, or some very deep issue.
However...
none of that concerned him anymore.
"No need, Section Chief. The officer already let us through," Ye Huan said.
"What?" Song Fushan sounded surprised.
"I showed them my medical records. They didn't want to fight a crazy person; if they actually caused harm, it would be a huge headache for them too."
"Clever kid! Alright, get back here quickly!"
The call ended.
The phone rang yet again.
"Section Chief, answering the phone while driving is really dangerous, you know," Ye Huan said.
"Get back here at full speed! The mining area has fallen, and no one can make contact. We still don't know the exact situation, but the threat level has been raised to Level 1!"
Song Fushan's voice carried an unprecedented gravity.
"It's an Ether descent, Section Chief."
"What!"
"Yes. We just came out of the Ether world... I'm driving, Section Chief."
He hadn't driven such a large vehicle in a long time.
The wind and rain were fierce, and the road was slick.
He had no time to be distracted talking on the phone!
"Alright, wait until you get back. But since you're out, do me a favor and check: what color is it behind your truck?" Song Fushan asked.
What color?
Ye Huan froze, then suddenly realized.
No way.
How could it be...
He gently pressed the brake, brought the truck to a halt, opened the door, leaped down, and looked back along the road they had come from.
It was black.
Black mist draped from the sky down to the earth like a wall.
A wall—
boundless and endless.
It blanketed the road Ye Huan had traveled, like an "isolation zone."
"Hello...? Did you see it...?"
Song Fushan's voice came through the phone.
"It's black, Section Chief," Ye Huan whispered, his eyes fixed on the "isolation zone."
"Damn it. Black signifies a supreme ritual. This Ether descent is no simple matter," Song Fushan sighed.
"A supreme ritual?" Ye Huan repeated.
"The Empire banned that ritual long ago, strictly forbidding humans from using it. Even if cultists were willing to sacrifice their lives, there's only an infinitesimal chance of triggering an Ether world descent... Enough of that, get back here as fast as you can."
"Understood."
Ye Huan stood in place without moving.
Staring into the black mist, he felt as though he could see right through its veil to what lay within.
He saw a group of martial artists in frantic flight, the tag "farmer" floating above their heads, scattering across the hills and fields.
Not far behind them, a green serpent hundreds of meters long darted through the mountains, a glowing pearl held in her mouth.
It was Yu Kongqing.
And something was in fierce pursuit behind her, forcing her to flee toward the distant mountain ranges as if running for her life.
The mist gathered like clouds, the clouds stacked like mountains, and the rolling peaks undulated like a boundless sea, gradually swallowing everything in sight.
He could see no more...
The mist continued to expand, creeping silently toward Ye Huan.
Ye Huan shook his head and turned away.
It was too chilling.
He definitely couldn't stay any longer.
He definitely must not enter again, only to die at the hands of some unknowable monstrosity.
Run!
He strode back into the truck, shifted gears, and slammed on the accelerator.
The truck let out a roar and accelerated wildly, tearing along the empty highway through the torrential rain.
Not far behind the truck...
Draping from sky to ground and blanketing the entire mining area, the black mist continued to spread slowly.
It showed no signs of dissipating!
"If it spreads across the whole city, we're finished," Liu Le said.
"Has this kind of thing ever happened before?" Ye Huan asked.
"Very rarely. It's banned throughout the Empire; only in the wilderness are there still a few ancient ritual grounds left behind," Liu Le said.
"And since the wilderness is sparsely populated, the impact on humans is limited?" Ye Huan asked.
"Exactly," Liu Le nodded.
Ye Huan asked no more questions.
Because the time had arrived.
Midnight, twelve o'clock.
It was time for the Daily Settlement!
Chapter 68