Chapter 296 Another Mission
Qi Yuefeng didn't speak, but Xiao He asked in surprise.
"What? Little Lu's love spell hasn't been broken yet? That shouldn't be the case. The fat woman was killed by our third senior brother, so the love spell should have been broken naturally."
"Oh, I see. That puts my mind at ease."
Jiang Ruzhen was overjoyed to hear this. She greeted her fellow disciples and then went into her space to take care of Lu Mingzheng.
Qi Yuefeng then had time to ask his two junior brothers what exactly had happened.
Xiao He narrated the main story, Jin Sheng provided supplementary information, and Qi Yuefeng gradually pieced together the complete account of the incident.
After listening, he did not show joy, but instead revealed deep worry between his brows.
"What's wrong, Third Senior Brother?" Jin Sheng and Xiao He both noticed that something was wrong with their senior brother.
"When I was breaking through the formation outside, it was quite a struggle. I thought there would be a fierce battle once I entered the formation."
But I never expected that fat woman to be so easily defeated; something just didn't feel right to me.
“Something’s not right?” Jin Sheng pondered upon hearing this. “But the village seems to be empty. Even the village chief and his family who hosted us last night are gone.”
Is there something we don't know about this?
"Third Senior Brother, do you mean that the fat woman might not be the one who set up the formation?" Xiao He asked with a surprised expression.
"I can't say for sure. How about we go back to the ancient tree and take another look?"
Qi Yuefeng led Jin Sheng and Xiao He to the ancient tree again to carefully examine the terrain once more.
After searching for half an hour, they actually found a hidden cellar.
"Third senior brother, fourth senior brother, come quick! The village chief's family has been hidden here!" Xiao He opened the cellar lid and saw the village chief's family inside, and hurriedly called out.
Qi Yuefeng and Jin Sheng rushed over and saw that the village chief's family was all unconscious underground, so they quickly rescued them.
After transporting the people back to the village chief's house, Xiao He gave them water, and they gradually regained consciousness.
"What's wrong with us?" Old Chen opened his eyes in confusion and looked at Qi Yuefeng and the others.
Qi Yuefeng narrowed his eyes at Old Chen, but did not answer.
Jin Sheng said coldly, "Village chief, didn't you know your daughter was a sorcerer?"
Old Chen trembled all over when he heard the words "sorcerer," shrinking back in fear and avoiding eye contact.
"No way, how could my daughter be a sorcerer? She suffered when she was young. She married a man with a bad temper and was often beaten. Later, her husband went into the mountains to collect herbs and fell to his death."
My daughter's in-laws couldn't tolerate her, so she had no choice but to come back and live with us. How could someone as timid and kind as her possibly be a sorcerer?
You must have made a mistake.
Xiao He sighed upon hearing Old Chen's words; it turned out that the fat woman was also a pitiful person.
At this moment, Qi Yuefeng snorted coldly.
"You say you were unaware of the situation, but why is your daughter occupying the three best tile-roofed houses in the village all by herself? Your entire family of more than ten people are crammed into these three dilapidated thatched houses?"
Even if you dote on your daughter, you wouldn't be this unfair to your children, would you? Won't your other children say you're being unfair?
Upon hearing the question, Chen's sons and grandsons all fell silent. They secretly glanced at Old Chen and shook their heads to indicate that they had no objections.
Old Chen chuckled bitterly and said, "My youngest daughter built that house with her own money. I only know that she goes out to do business every now and then, but she never says what kind of business it is, so I never asked."
Although the children all suffer, their youngest daughter always brings back money and nice things whenever she goes out, so they have nothing to be jealous of.
The children nodded in agreement with their father.
Old Chen's words sounded logically sound and without any flaws, but Qi Yuefeng and the others still felt uneasy.
This is an instinct among cultivators; they know that Old Chen must have some unspeakable secret.
It seems they need to investigate this village more thoroughly.
The village chief's wife had just regained consciousness when Old Chen scolded her, telling her to quickly take her granddaughters to cook.
The whole family was starving.
Despite her physical discomfort, the village chief's wife lowered her head and hunched over like a mindless robot, obediently leading her granddaughters to cook.
When the dark porridge and mixed grains were served, Old Chen warmly invited Qi Yuefeng and the others to try them.
However, the three of them did not eat their food, and even the water they drank was spiritual spring water that they had gotten from their junior sister.
While Old Chen's family was eating, they went out for a stroll around the village.
They discovered that the ancient trees by the river had been destroyed and the formation had gone dormant.
They temporarily stopped the spread of the curse in the village, but unfortunately, before they arrived, all the villagers had already been poisoned and turned into water monkeys.
Xiao He had only been in the Ninth Bureau for a short time, but he was very interested in the sorcery of Nan Yue, so he asked about it.
Qi Yuefeng squinted as he recalled his memories, "I heard my senior brother say that this formation is an ancient witchcraft originating from Nan Yue, and its purpose is to transform humans into aquatic monsters that have lost their self-awareness."
We speculate that this magic circle existed hundreds of years ago, possibly for some kind of evil ritual or to cultivate a terrifying biological weapon.
Over the centuries, the river water has been silently infused with evil power by this magic array.
Once the magic circle is activated, it will lure nearby villagers down a path of no return.
Once the villagers come into contact with the river, their bodies and souls will be gradually eroded, eventually turning them into one of the water monkeys in the river, never to return to their once familiar home.
A heavy silence filled the air, and Jin Sheng and Xiao He felt a deep sense of unease.
Although these people are not citizens of this country, they are still ordinary living beings in this world.
They would still feel regret that some important figures or even the country's top leaders were used as tools for their own selfish interests.
"There's one more thing I want to tell you beforehand," Qi Yuefeng suddenly said.
Jin Sheng and Xiao He looked up at Qi Yuefeng at the same time, and Qi Yuefeng spoke slowly in a deep voice.
"Actually, I didn't come here just to save you. I was also given a mission from above."
"What mission?"
"We need to find those Falcon Commando members who infiltrated to rescue people earlier. They risked their lives to save Comrade Xiao Lu, but they completely lost contact with the military a few days ago."
The higher-ups are worried they might encounter danger. They are all elites trained in the national army, and this is their first time going abroad on such a dangerous mission. I'm afraid they might run into a supernatural enemy. Qi Yuefeng said with deep concern.
Jin Sheng and Xiao He certainly knew what the supernatural enemy represented.
If they disappeared while looking for Xiao Lu, it doesn't make sense that Xiao Lu is in this village while the commando team members have vanished without a trace.
This village must be hiding a great secret that no one knows about.
Perhaps once Lu Mingzheng is fully awake, we can get some useful information from him.
But they couldn't just wait around; they needed to wander around the village some more.
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