Ye Tian finished speaking.

The entire Wuqing Sect fell silent.

Only a few crows were cawing in the sky.

Huan Qingsha, in particular, turned bluish-purple from holding her breath.

Ye Tian was taken aback and turned to ask, "What's wrong? Is the name not nice?"

"It's not just unpleasant to listen to, it's downright awful," Wuchen Daoren commented earnestly.

Ye Tian felt somewhat helpless.

Indeed, these art forms are still too avant-garde for this generation.

Ultimately, due to strong demands from the entire sect, the residence could only be named the Residence of the Recluse Crane.

Although Ye Tian felt the name sounded like some ridiculous platitude about a crane building a nest that later became a tourist attraction, the entire clan had their opinions, and he had to defer to the majority.

We finally settled down. The journey and the hassle had taken almost a whole day.

Ye Tian rearranged the Spirit Gathering Array in the courtyard, adding even more spiritual energy. This slightly increased the Array's grade.

Then, the stone for suppressing fortune was placed next to the stone well in the courtyard, and everything was almost done. Finally, it was time to rest.

Ye Tian took care of everything like a head butler before finding a rocking chair to lie down, catching his breath, and saying, "Finally done."

But at that very moment, a rapid sound of horses' hooves suddenly rang out from outside the door.

"Tengtengteng".

The sound of footsteps echoed in Ye Tian's heart.

Suddenly, Ye Tian became alert. Yu Chengen, the Martial King, the forces behind the leader, the remnants of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Imperial Observatory.

Ye Tian now had quite a few enemies, glancing left and right. He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing the others from the Ruthless Sect hadn't noticed the commotion yet, as long as the laborers didn't come out. He went out to check, and if there was danger, he could escape using his Sky-Stepping Earth-Stepping Boots.

Outside the gate, on seven or eight spirited horses, sat tall and imposing soldiers, their faces etched with tattoos, making them extremely ferocious and ugly.

This is clearly a mark left by someone who lost the ring match!

"Gentlemen, what can I do for you?" Ye Tian asked, neither humble nor arrogant.

From the tall horse, a man leaped down. His face was etched with unkempt, thick hair; he was a burly man in blue, ugly yet possessing a certain imposing presence. Ye Tian scrutinized him closely—wasn't this himself?

That's interesting; his tattoos are quite different from most people's.

The burly man in blue remained expressionless and asked in a cold voice, "Bandits or traitors, which faction do you wish to join?"

As expected, those who come with ill intentions do not come with good intentions.

According to the leader of the city guarding the pass, the bandits and rebels are at the critical moment of a major battle and are irreconcilable enemies.

Once you've really chosen sides, how easy is it to extricate yourself?

Moreover, both sides were ruthless and vicious, and Ye Tian didn't want to get involved with them.

"Our entire sect has no intention of participating in any struggle, and I will not join either of these two forces," Ye Tian said calmly.

"Very well, so you people belong to a sect?" The burly man in blue was not shocked by this, but instead calmly asked.

Once Ye Tian confirmed, the burly man in blue waved his hand. Someone scribbled a few lines with a pen, then took out a number plate with the number "7" written on it from his pocket and tossed it to Ye Tian, ​​instructing him, "Tomorrow, have your sect leader take this number plate to the combat zone in the city to report for duty."

Ye Tian was completely baffled. They gave him a number plate that didn't make any sense, and then told his master to report for duty tomorrow? This desolate city had a lot of ridiculous rules. Damn it, he couldn't understand what any of them meant.

"Young master, you're in for a lot of trouble." A thin, ragged young man said weakly, his face covered in mud and dirt, making him look rather disheveled.

Now that he'd finally found someone knowledgeable, Ye Tian certainly wasn't going to let the opportunity pass him by, and asked directly, "You know about this?"

The grimy young man, covered in dirt and grime, scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. He pushed a small cart over from behind and said, "Young master, I sell candied hawthorns. If you would do me the honor of buying one, I will tell you all about it."

"I'll take this car for you, just say the word." Ye Tian saw that the candied hawthorns on the cart looked pretty fresh, so he pulled one out and popped it into his mouth; it was sweet and sour.

I wasn't worried about him not paying, so I chuckled and cupped my hands, saying, "Hey, you're so generous. In recent years, this desolate city has had a rule: if someone enters the city but neither joins the rebels nor the bandits, they are considered to have made no contribution to the city. Only by fighting to the death can they survive. The '7' written on your sign means there are at least six people like you who will have to fight each other."

Ye Tian glanced at his hand and said thoughtfully, "Is that what you mean?"

“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean,” the mud-covered young man nodded.

"Does that mean I can only survive if the other six die?" Ye Tian asked.

"That's roughly the idea, but I have to tell you secretly, this hand of cards can record the geographical location of each person in the desolate city. In other words, it allows the owners of each hand of cards to kill each other."

The filthy young man explained with a smirk.

Ye Tian was taken aback and asked in surprise, "Why can't I see it?"

“It requires a drop of blood,” the mud-covered young man laughed.

So high-tech.

Ye Tian was surprised. He thought it was just an ordinary hand card, something he would just go and check in with tomorrow. Who would have thought there was so much to it?

"Who owned these cards within the last few days?" Ye Tian asked.

"We've been accumulating matches once a month, and there are exactly seven people who have participated so far this month," said Muddy Boy.

Having heard this, Ye Tian understood the whole story. He had also finished eating the candied hawthorn, which was quite delicious with its sweet and sour taste.

"Good, I understand." After greeting the muddy young man, Ye Tian prepared to return to his sect.

"Hey, young master. You haven't paid yet," the young man hurriedly called out to Ye Tian, ​​reminding him.

Hearing this, Ye Tian laughed, turned around and stared at the young man's honest and honest face covered in mud, and asked, "Money? You've swindled quite a few people in the past month, haven't you?"

"Hmm? Young master, you must have some basis for your statement." The mud-covered young man selling candied hawthorns was somewhat flustered.

"There are two major forces in the desolate city: the bandits and the outlaws. If someone doesn't join either of these forces, although they won't fight or engage in combat, they won't fulfill the missions of either of these forces and will therefore make no contribution to the desolate city."

"But if they're just not contributing, why let these people kill each other and choose one survivor?"

"The best approach is to bring these people together and have them contribute to the wasteland."

"But you're trying to confuse the issue, which proves that what we're supposed to do will infringe on your interests."

After Ye Tian finished speaking, the filthy young man looked flustered and exclaimed, "Young Master, what did you say? I don't understand what you mean."

"Don't try to play the innocent fool with me, damn it. Everyone who comes to this godforsaken place has some dirty secrets. You're acting like you're some kind of angel, so what are you doing in this godforsaken place? Admiring the scenery?"

Ye Tian's expression turned slightly cold as he drew his longsword.

The smile on the grime-covered young man's face gradually disappeared, replaced by a growing murderous intent.