Chapter 115: The Hidden Yin and Yang (3)

The thick fog spread at an alarming speed. 

In the blink of an eye, everything around was swallowed by damp mist.

All that could be seen was a vast, milky white expanse. 

Even Yan Jing, who was just a step away, had vanished from sight.

“Is everyone alright?” Shi Pengpeng called out.

Her voice drifted, faint and ethereal, then quickly dissolved into the white fog. 

Silence was her only reply.

No one answered.

Shi Pengpeng’s heart skipped a beat. 

Fortunately, the hand she was holding immediately tightened its grip, fingers interlacing with hers. 

Yan Jing’s voice came through, “Peng, I’m fine.”

Shi Pengpeng felt a little relieved and lit a Six Ding Six Jia Demon-Slaying Talisman.

The talisman burned fiercely, and the dense fog before her began to twist and distort. 

From deep within the mist came a low, mournful wail. 

The fog could bear it no longer and surged away like a receding tide.

Their vision cleared. 

Shi Pengpeng and Yan Jing exchanged glances, both faces clouded with unease.

The place where they now stood was clearly not the construction site from before, but a smooth, level Shan’ao.

Everyone else who had come with them had disappeared without a trace. 

Only a solitary Moon hung in the sky. 

By its light, they could still see the crystal-clear river nearby, winding around the edge of the Shan’ao and flowing silently.

“Where is everyone?” Yan Jing frowned. 

“Why are they all gone?”

“They’ve been hidden by Wangxiang.” 

Shi Pengpeng stared intently at the river, realization dawning. 

“So that’s how it is…”

No wonder the Mystic Sect had toiled in West Luo for so long, yet never found any sign of Longevity Island. 

They had thought the Imperial Preceptor merely used the Wang Xiang Eye Bead to conceal their presence, believing his cultivation so profound that he could evade a joint pursuit from both the yin and yang realms.

But it was more than that—they actually had a whole Wangxiang at their disposal.

Ouyang Jue had planned this long ago, securing a remote borderland between two regions years before, and deliberately leaving it as an unfinished project.

Then, he had Wangxiang transform into the river, coiling itself in these mountains. 

Wangxiang could conjure mists and illusions, hiding all traces of ghosts or spirits.

At first glance, it was nothing but an ordinary river and an abandoned construction site. 

With most of the Mystic Sect’s attention drawn away by demons and ghosts in the city, who would notice such a desolate place?

Even if someone stumbled in by accident, unless they came as prepared as they had, and investigated thoroughly, they would never notice anything amiss.

After all, under normal circumstances, who would suspect that this seemingly ordinary river was the very source of all hidden evil?

The best concealment is to not conceal at all.

Longevity Island, relying on the water spirit Wangxiang, had also set up a Long Life Array, silently separating all the Daoist companions, making it impossible for them to find each other or lend aid.

Fortunately, Shi Pengpeng had grabbed Yan Jing’s hand at the very start. 

Otherwise, they might not be able to see each other now.

As she pondered, Shi Pengpeng’s hands never stopped moving. 

She sent out another talisman, the Lingfu shooting like an arrow, about to pierce the water.

The broad, shallow river suddenly moved, twisting like a great, agile snake. 

Its body jerked to the side, dodging the talisman completely.

The Lingfu nailed itself into the ground.

“Hee hee, you can’t hit me—” the river’s voice rang out, smug and teasing.

The next moment, another talisman appeared in the river without warning. 

The talisman fire flared, and in a flash, the river began to boil.

“Ahhh! Such a despicable Daoist—” 

The entire river writhed like a massive python, rolling and thrashing across the ground. 

Water surged and splashed everywhere.

But no matter how the river struggled, the flames in the water could not be extinguished. 

The river wailed in pain, and one end thrashed furiously toward Shi Pengpeng and Yan Jing, trying to drag them in.

Shi Pengpeng didn’t hesitate. 

She sent out another talisman. 

As soon as it ignited, the river shuddered, then shot away into the mountains, leaving only a resentful curse behind: 

“Stinking Daoist, you’re shameless! I’m not playing with you anymore!”

Wangxiang’s strength lay in concealment, not direct combat. 

In a head-on fight, it was no match for Shi Pengpeng.

“After it!” Shi Pengpeng grabbed Yan Jing and darted after the river.

But the river moved incredibly fast. 

In no time, only the tail end was visible.

Shi Pengpeng narrowed her eyes and flung out another talisman. 

In a blink, the remaining section of the river suddenly sank into the ground and disappeared.

All that remained was a ten-meter-wide puddle, with a flame still burning in the water.

It was as if the river had sliced off the section burned by the talisman fire, cutting it away like a carrot.

Shi Pengpeng quickly lit a stick of Tracking Incense. 

As expected, the smoke drifted out, but caught no scent.

Still, at least now they had a clue. 

If they could find Wangxiang’s weakness, they could break its illusion.

However, she didn’t know how the other Daoists were faring. 

Now that Longevity Island’s whereabouts were exposed, the remaining followers would surely make a move.

If they couldn’t eliminate Wangxiang quickly, the longer this dragged on, the worse it would be for them.

Shi Pengpeng’s thoughts raced as she pondered their next move. 

Suddenly, a piercing horn and the roar of an engine split the air ahead, and a powerful beam of light blazed to life.

Shi Pengpeng and Yan Jing looked up to see a massive box truck speeding out from the depths of the Shan’ao.

The huge truck looked like a beast’s head in the night, its two glaring headlights charging straight toward them.

Startled, they quickly dodged to the side.

But the truck didn’t barrel straight through as expected. 

The driver, clearly panicked and desperate, accidentally steered the truck into the puddle left by Wangxiang.

The truck dipped, and the wheels sank into the water. 

The driver, clearly in despair, stomped on the gas, but the wheels only spun uselessly, churning up mud before stopping altogether.

“Bang—” 

The door burst open and a middle-aged man tumbled out of the driver’s seat, scrambling to his feet and running for his life. 

He hadn’t gone far before a hand shot out from the side.

Yan Jing grabbed his arm. 

“Stop.”

“Ahhh—” The driver shuddered violently and collapsed to the ground, trembling. 

“G-ghost, a ghost—”

“Calm down, we’re not ghosts,” Yan Jing said.

“Huh?” The driver hesitated, glancing up cautiously. By the truck’s headlights, he saw a man and a woman.

They looked perfectly normal—not stiff or pale, and still breathing.

The driver swallowed nervously and ventured, “You—you’re really not… not ghosts?”

“No,” Shi Pengpeng replied, unfolding a talisman in her hand. 

“We’re here to catch ghosts.”

The driver seemed to understand, then became overjoyed. 

He cried out and lunged to hug their legs. 

“That’s great, really great! Masters, please save me!”

The two sidestepped his desperate gesture. 

Shi Pengpeng asked, “First, tell us what happened. Who are you, and why are you here?”

“Hic—hic, I—I’m just a truck driver.” 

The driver was so frightened he was sobbing and hiccupping, wiping his nose before stammering on, “Yesterday, someone hired me to deliver a truckload of frozen meat here…”

The order came from a virtual number. 

The truck and cargo were all prepared in advance. 

All he had to do was drive it to the specified location.

The driver thought it was a bit suspicious at first, but the pay was much higher than usual.

Tempted by the money, he accepted. 

Still, he was cautious. 

Upon arrival, he secretly checked the cargo—just frozen meat, with all the paperwork in order—so he set off.

But as the route grew more remote and he entered an abandoned construction site with no streetlights, unease crept in.

He’d done deliveries before, but frozen meat should never be sent to such a remote place. 

Something was definitely off.

He suspected the frozen meat was either smuggled or hiding something else.

Not wanting to get involved, he planned to drop off the truck and leave quickly.

But just then, loud “thump thump—thump—” sounds came from the cargo hold, as if something was slamming violently inside.

His hair stood on end.

This was a mechanical freezer truck! 

Four compartments, carrying nearly three hundred tons of frozen meat. 

The temperature in the freezer was kept below minus twenty degrees to keep the meat from thawing.

He’d been driving for a whole day and night. 

Whatever was in there, after being frozen so long, couldn’t possibly be alive—let alone strong enough to make such noise.

Curiosity and fear warred within him. 

While he hesitated, the freezer door was suddenly smashed open. 

Piles of frozen chickens and ducks spilled out.

Instinctively, he turned to look—and witnessed a scene that chilled his blood.

With the chickens and ducks tumbling down, the thing hidden behind them was revealed.

It was a corpse, wrapped in white bandages, with a copper coin mask covering its face.

The corpse sensed his presence, lifted its head to meet his gaze, then jumped down from the truck.

He felt his blood run cold, but years of experience kicked in. 

He scrambled back into the driver’s seat and floored the gas.

But he hadn’t driven far when a heavy fog rolled in, blanketing the Shan’ao.

He couldn’t see anything. 

With that terrifying corpse somewhere behind, he dared not stop, relying on instinct to keep going.

Then, just as suddenly, the white fog vanished.

He barely had time to breathe before he saw something even more bizarre.

A river was swimming toward him.

Driver: ??!!!

For a moment, he thought he was seeing things. 

He jerked the wheel, barely avoiding the river, and his headlights illuminated two human figures.

He was completely numb by then, honking the horn in panic, but lost control and drove straight into the puddle.

As the driver finished his tale, he sensed something was wrong. 

The two before him were no longer looking at him, but standing upright, gazing toward the direction he’d just driven from.

Driver: ?!!

Had the corpse followed him?!

He shuddered and forced himself to turn his head. 

Against the truck’s headlights, he could just make out a tall, slender figure emerging from the darkness.

The figure strode forward at a leisurely pace, stepping into the light and revealing his face.

A handsome, well-built young man.

Thank goodness, a living person.

The driver let out a shaky sigh of relief.

The young man looked at Shi Pengpeng and Yan Jing, the corners of his mouth curving into a smile. 

“We meet again, you two.”

Shi Pengpeng frowned in confusion. 

“And you are?”

The young man’s smile froze. 

“Miss Shi, you really do forget people easily. Have you forgotten me already?”

“Oh, Xu Qin!” Shi Pengpeng finally realized.

This young man was none other than the Imperial Preceptor Xu Qin, who had seized someone else’s body.

Xu Qin, of course, didn’t believe she’d truly forgotten him. 

He narrowed his eyes, about to speak.

She gave an embarrassed smile. 

“Sorry, I almost didn’t recognize you with your clothes on.”

Xu Qin: !!!