"A mole? That’s quite unlikely, Attendant Xuhan. If the demonic expert in your theory is as powerful as we think, he wouldn’t need to cooperate with a mole to justify the existence of the town to the sect.
"It would still be suspicious, not to ntion attracting unnecessary attention over such a long period of ti. The portal revealed itself quite recently, but the town has existed here for a much longer ti.
"The only reasonable way to explain the existence of the illusory town is by following my guess. Maybe a powerful expert was in seclusion here, and Pine Town was the manifestation of his cultivation technique. Perhaps the sect even knew about it!
"Regardless, our movents seem to have disturbed whatever the illusory town was ant to achieve. It made them end their spell, retracting the illusory town and its people. Hence, all the townsfolk who had been turned into zombies in the fog disappeared alongside the town.
"As for why we didn’t lose our mories, I have an explanation for that as well. We were unaffected because of the restrictive laws and spiritual barriers protecting everything inside the Holy Land, especially the living beings. The undeads could not be counted as such.
"Besides, if the expert had any malice towards us, like the demonic cultivators of your theory, wouldn’t he wait for us to co out so that he could deal with us personally?"
Xuanyuan Zhou refuted Han Xuhan’s theory nimbly, leaving him speechless. He had not expected to lose in a purely analytical argunt. But her theory did fit the situation more neatly than his own.
This was also a good thing for him. Ever since Mu Ran and Xuanyuan Zhou had realized the depths of his scheming mind in the Holy Land of Laws, the two of them had beco much warier of him, displaying a tight-lipped attitude whenever he was around.
It made Han Xuhan feel like the golden thighs he had worked so hard to hug were slowly slipping out of his grasp.
A few dumb mistakes like the one just now would probably lower their suspicions about his character a bit. But suddenly appearing too dumb would probably backfire on him and make Xuanyuan Zhou, the more perceptive one among the duo, grasp his intentions.
’I need to act more like a lovable airhead!’
Han Xuhan made this resolve in his heart and started planning the details of his plan to hug those golden thighs harder.
Oh, golden thighs~
Never gonna give you up!
Never gonna let you go...
Mu Ran, anwhile, finally couldn’t bear the mind-bogglingly complicated discussion anymore. He put his foot down on it stubbornly.
"That’s enough of headache-inducing theories for now. Our main priority should be reaching the sect as fast as possible to inform the higher-ups. It doesn’t matter who it was that created the illusory town or wiped it out. The sect will want to hear about it at the shortest possible delay."
Han Xuhan and Xuanyuan Zhou stopped their conversation. All three of them beca absorbed into their own world of thoughts.
The boat moved along the curving river, snaking its way through the countless mountains and plains that built the exotic region. The sun was about to move westward, signaling the approach of the evening.
The boatn did what they were paid to do and rowed with all of their might. Other than the occasional sound of the water splashing around the boat, the silent atmosphere was an enjoyable treat, especially after the hectic experiences of the last couple of days.
It left Han Xuhan with a lot of ti on his hands to conduct a proper introspection.
His strength and stamina had hit an all-ti low ever since he had used the vitality-augnting law fragnt to speed up his sprint. Even the discussion just now had left him drained.
He had suffered quite a loss during this venture outside the sect. The precious materials he had looted from the enslaved cultivators were either used up or lost.
The glaive he had borrowed from Xiao Wu had shattered during the very first fight, thanks to that detestable Shen Kai. The blade later got confiscated by Zhao Weiqing.
He had been broke even before the journey. Now he was returning with heavy debts on his shoulders...
Feeling a stuffy sensation in his chest, Han Xuhan crawled over the deck and began fumbling around with the baggage he was in charge of. From the ss, he took out his personal pouch and decided to.... try fishing, ahem!
"Ai~ My treasured set of explosives. Almost all of them are gone now. Damn it! They were so expensive and useful!" his lantation was loud enough to disturb both Mu Ran and Xuanyuan Zhou.
When he pulled the pouch inside out, a bundle of rope fell down. It was the rope that Zhao Weiqing and his gang of puppetized cultivators had used to tie the three of them up.
Han Xuhan had never intended to part with it, having discovered that it was a magically enhanced piece of equipnt. Back when they had been freed with the help of the cultivators outside the portal, he had stuffed it inside his robe.
Sneakily pushing it aside as if its existence did not register in his mind, Han Xuhan began moaning about his losses again in a sad, tearful voice.
"I thought that the Holy Land of laws would contain so precious treasures and cool stuff. I took so many risks and spent so many consumable treasures. But fate is cruel. I lost everything instead...
"Who could have predicted that all I would get in return would be a slave stamp on my foundation tower and so injuries which are probably going to cost hundreds of spirit stones to heal?
"Heavens! Why do you hate a poor little ant-like so much? Why? Why do you insist on screwing over everywhere? Why?"
As he continued to shout his grievances, Xuanyuan Zhou and Mu Ran exchanged an awkward look between themselves. Xuanyuan Zhou probably saw through Han Xuhan’s light ’maneuver’ easily.
But the sa couldn’t be said for Mu Ran, who looked quite touched by Xuhan’s tearful complaints. He patted Xuhan on the back, trying to console him.
"Don’t cry, underling. This was only our first mission. Once we report it to the sect’s authorities, we’ll surely get handso remuneration. Strengthen your heart! How can a real man cry over such small setbacks?"
Han Xuhan, busy trying to force out so tears, instantly turned to look at him with a gloomy gaze.
What the hell did this guy an by ’only our first mission’?
Han Xuhan wasn’t planning on letting there be a second, third, or fourth mission!
"Boss, what are you going to report? We entered the land of laws on our own will. We both knew that it had nothing to do with our original mission, which should have ended as soon as we realized the dangers on the other side of the portal!
"Logically speaking, this mission was already beyond our capabilities to investigate as soon as Shen Kai ca into the equation. If we divulge these details truthfully, do you really think the sect will compensate us?
"Instead, they’re more likely to investigate our real motives and punish us for overstepping our boundaries! We are going to be lynched for not reporting the abnormality as soon as we detected the signs!"
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