The Land of Evil

"The fire, though separated from the heavens, reflects back upon the ancestral graves."

"This is like turning fire into darkness; it's extremely ominous!"

The old Taoist priest's voice trembled violently.

He held the compass in one hand and tapped the surface of the compass with his fingertip, making a loud clattering sound. The magnetic needle in the compass spun wildly.

"The crater falls to the ground, the gate of death."

"Earth's energy reverses, death gate."

"The water mouth rushes away, or it's a dead end."

He spoke faster and faster, his forehead was covered in sweat, and his lips had lost all color.

"Click."

The compass split in the middle.

Several fragments of the bronze plate shattered, cutting the old Taoist priest's hand and drawing blood. He ignored them, staring intently at the scattered needles on the ground, muttering:

"The balance of Yin and Yang is disrupted, karmic resentment becomes an obstacle, it's all a dead end, it's over... there's no way out."

The words weren't loud, but the old camp was so quiet that everyone heard them clearly.

Some people turned pale, some trembled as they gripped their knives, and several young officials from the Imperial Observatory instinctively stepped back.

Wu Huaiyi was still holding the booklet in his arms, and goosebumps rose all over his body. Before he could say anything, the old Taoist priest in front of him suddenly turned around, rushed to him in a few steps, and grabbed his collar.

"Wu Huaiyi! Did you already know? Why didn't you say so sooner! If you had, we wouldn't be here now!"

Wu Huaiyi was jolted forward by the grab, almost dropping the booklet. He was also angry and retorted, "At first I was just guessing, how could I dare to say it? Even after I did, you didn't believe me!"

"When did you finally say that!" The old Taoist priest's eyes turned red.

The two wrestled and rolled around on the ground several times. Wu Huaiyi then gained the upper hand, pinning the old Taoist priest down and raising his fist to strike.

Zhang Shilang's voice fell first.

That's enough.

The two words carried an air of official authority and the oppressive force of the city-destroying realm.

Zhang, the Vice Minister, stood beside the brazier, his scarlet robe stained with ash, his face grim.

"If you fight amongst yourselves again, I'll kill both of you first."

The old Taoist priest froze, and Wu Huaiyi slowly lowered his hand as well.

Vice Minister Zhang turned and glanced at the others: "Take a headcount."

The adjutant led his men to count them.

The border troops, Xun Jin Si, Qin Tian Jian, and Zhang Shilang totaled seventy-one people, and the lowest level among them was Body Tempering Realm. Ordinary soldiers had been sent to the outer perimeter to seal off the camp.

This can barely be considered good news.

After hearing the report, Vice Minister Zhang raised his hand to press down on the fish-shaped tally at his waist.

"I don't sense any demons or monsters here."

Everyone looked at him.

Minister Zhang continued, "Although I don't want to admit it, the scene before us is unfolding against the evil realm. I'll be frank: you, and I myself, may all die here."

He spoke very directly, without any beating around the bush.

The crowd stirred. They had been waiting for their leader to say "it's okay" and "I'll take you out," but instead they were told "you'll all die."

"What is the 'evil realm'?"

"Weren't we here to exorcise ghosts?"

"Why don't we just rush out of the fog?"

The most chaotic situation was on the border.

They were temporarily transferred from other battalions. When they arrived, they were only told that they were assisting in the investigation of the sealed-off camp. No one said that they were going to enter any evil realm.

A young border soldier suddenly pushed aside the person next to him and turned to run into the fog.

"I quit, I want to go back!"

He had only taken two steps when a figure flashed in front of him.

Vice Minister Zhang was already blocking his way.

The young border soldier's eyes widened, but before he could do anything else, Vice Minister Zhang struck him on the neck with a chop.

"Bang."

The young border soldier fell straight down.

"If it weren't for the fear that the bloodshed would intensify the menacing atmosphere here, you would already be dead."

Without even glancing at the fallen man, Vice Minister Zhang returned to the front of the group. Thanks to his swift and decisive actions, the commotion subsided somewhat.

"I'm telling you the truth, not to let you run around, but to tell you that from now on, stop thinking about whose bounty, whose merit, or who will get a promotion when we get back..."

His gaze swept across everyone's faces.

"If you want to live, fight for it; if you want to live, put aside your scheming; if you want to live, obey my orders."

No one spoke up anymore; at this moment, everyone really needed someone to stand up for them.

"Someone just said that all directions are dead ends." Minister Zhang paused, "But there is also a way out even within the dead ends."

One of the officials from the Imperial Observatory couldn't help but say, "Sir, these are all death gates, not life gates."

Vice Minister Zhang glanced at the man: "The Great Dao is fifty, the Heavenly Cycle is forty-nine, and Man escapes one. Isn't that what you all love to say the most?"

The man opened his mouth, but then obediently closed it.

Vice Minister Zhang continued, "To be honest, this is the first time I've encountered such a perilous situation. But even the most dangerous situation will eventually be filled with some cracks. What we need to find is that crack."

This honest remark was more effective than words of comfort; at least the breathing in the crowd wasn't so chaotic anymore.

"All personnel, listen to my command!"

Once everyone was at ease, Vice Minister Zhang quickened his pace, "Work in groups of three, supervise each other, no one is allowed to be alone, no one is allowed to touch anything in the camp, no one is allowed to leave the group without permission, and any abnormalities must be reported immediately."

The lieutenant general reacted the fastest and immediately repeated the military order to the soldiers.

The grouping process was quick. Wu Huaiyi was assigned to the middle section, and his teammate was a veteran of the border army with dark circles under his eyes, named Shi Laoqi.

Another teammate was a young Taoist official from the Imperial Observatory, surnamed Deng. He was not very old and was holding a stack of talismans in his hand, the edges of which were damp with sweat.

The three stood side by side.

Shi Laoqi leaned close to Wu Huaiyi and whispered, "Lord Wu, if I may ask a question I shouldn't, what exactly is the Fiend Realm? I don't know anything and I'm afraid I'll be a burden to you later."

Wu Huaiyi didn't want to speak at first, but after hearing the second half of what the other person said, he still opened his mouth to explain.

"In folk tradition, feng shui is called a bad place. A place with bad feng shui is called an inauspicious place. A place with too much yin energy is called a yin house. A place with too many dead people buried is called a chaotic grave. But none of these are considered inauspicious places."

Old Shi didn't understand, but he nodded seriously.

Wu Huaiyi put it in even more plain language:

"The evil realm is created by heaven and earth, and it has its own set of rules within its sphere of influence. Therefore, common sense may not apply in the evil realm. There are three recorded evil realms within the Yan Kingdom, all of which are listed as forbidden areas and no one is allowed to approach them."

Deng Daoguan chimed in at the opportune moment: "It's not that the imperial court doesn't want to clear this evil realm, it's that it can't. I heard my master say that Nanping Prefecture was moved because an evil realm appeared in the north of the city."

Shi Laoqi asked, "Such a large prefecture, you can just move it like that?"

"Yes, relocation is the only option."

Wu Huaiyi glanced at him and said, "Back then, His Majesty didn't believe in superstitions and even sent a powerful expert at the Breaking Cloud Realm. That person went in and never came out again."

Wu Huaiyi didn't say anything more after that, and Shi Laoqi's lips had turned white.

At the very front of the procession, Vice Minister Zhang surveyed the surroundings with a solemn expression.

Surrounded by the Gobi Desert on three sides and a row of military camps on the other, the white tents stood neatly arranged in the gray fog, looking like graves from afar.

Instead of going to the military camp, Vice Minister Zhang chose to go in the opposite direction from the camp.

"Walk."

The team set off slowly, each step taken with care, the soles of their boots making a dull thud as they landed on the gravel.

Wu Huaiyi followed the group, his eyes constantly scanning left and right, his nerves on edge.

There is no sun or moon here, and the light in the fog is always hazy. The team walked for an unknown amount of time, and although the camps behind them were clearly far behind, the fog did not thin out at all.

It's even stronger now.

Wu Huaiyi looked back several times, and he always felt that the white tents were still at the back of the group, and did not move further away as they walked.

"Did we go to the wrong place?" Old Shi nudged him with his elbow.

"I don't know, so I'll keep quiet and listen to the Vice Minister." Wu Huaiyi looked towards the front.

Zhang Shilang's steps remained unchanged, as if he had not noticed these unpleasant details.

After walking a while longer, they heard the adjutant's voice from ahead: "Sir, there are footprints on the ground."

Everyone stopped.

Wu Huaiyi peeked out.

There were two shallow rows of marks on the hard soil.

They didn't make the footprints, because the footprints came from the fog ahead and went to the right side of the camp.

The footprints were very neat, with the toes pointing in the same direction and the stride consistent, clearly left by a group of people who had just walked by.

Vice Minister Zhang squatted down, glanced at it for a moment, and then raised his hand: "Get out of the way, don't step on it."

The line veered half a meter to the left.

Just as they rounded the bend, a horn suddenly sounded from the fog.

"Waaah—"

There was only one sound, which was drawn out for a long time.

Almost everyone froze at the same time.

The incident involving Du Heng and his group occurred right after the bugle call.

Zhang Shilang stood at the very front, raised one hand, and the procession immediately stopped, the fog becoming quiet for a few moments.

Not long after, footsteps could be heard from the side of the group.

"clatter."

"clatter."

Each sound was clear and synchronized.

Wu Huaiyi subconsciously looked at his feet.

He didn't move.

Shi Laoqi, who was beside him, didn't move either.

Deng Daoguan's talisman remained untouched, stuck to his palm.

All seventy-one people stopped in their tracks. Where did those footsteps come from?