I wield power with my innate talents, and forge the Heavenly Court.

Seeing the chattering crowd, Ye Jianxing frowned slightly with a serious expression and turned to look in the direction they had come from.

The thick fog, which had previously made it impossible to see one's hand in front of one's face, had thinned considerably, and it seemed that one could pass through it without any hindrance and return.

He wanted to return temporarily to report the situation here to Lord Thousand-Household Commander.

Otherwise, we wouldn't have chosen to meet here.

However, simply reporting the current situation seems too weak, and such information would probably make it difficult for him to be promoted to the position of commander.

After a moment of deep thought, Ye Jianxing suddenly made up his mind and gave the order:

"Let's find a place to rest for now, and we'll know tomorrow whether we've returned to the past."

"Yes!"

Everyone responded in unison, and then they surrounded Ye Jianxing, heading towards a small town in the distance.

Inside an inn.
"Innkeeper, come out quickly! Your inn has been booked by the Imperial Guards today!"

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm here, I'm here!"

As the group of Imperial Guards rushed into the inn, the innkeeper couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his mouth.

Those damned bastards.

However, he could only force a smile and quickly greet him.

Ye Jianxing glanced at the shopkeeper, who was forcing a smile, and then reached into his robes.

Upon touching one of the warm, round balls, he paused slightly, his brows furrowing tightly.

What is this? Does he have such a thing? When did he put it in his pocket?

However, now is not the time to remove it for examination.

With a slight movement of his hand, Ye Jianxing had already taken out a silver ingot from his pocket and gently tossed it to the shopkeeper.

"This is."

The innkeeper hurriedly caught the silver and instinctively weighed it in his hand.

Good heavens, this must weigh at least fifteen or sixteen ounces.

Immediately, the innkeeper looked at Ye Jianxing, somewhat at a loss.

"Here's the money for the hotel. Bring up the best food and drinks, brothers!"

"Oh, this, this, how can this be done? How can this be done?"

"It is an honor for our humble inn that you, sir, are staying here; how could we possibly dare to charge you any money?"

As he spoke, the innkeeper quickly stepped forward, preparing to return the silver to Ye Jianxing.

"No need, just take it!"

Ye Jianxing glanced at the shopkeeper and said in a cold tone.

"Uh this."

The innkeeper was still somewhat hesitant.

"Enough with the nonsense. Our little flag officer told you to take it, so just take it."

Just as the innkeeper hesitated, one of the people next to Ye Jianxing gave him a push, clearly getting impatient.

The shopkeeper, who had stumbled slightly, could only nod and smile apologetically in response.

"Yes, yes, then I thank you for the reward, sir."

"Waiter, quickly notify the kitchen to bring out the best wine and dishes!"

Ye Jianxing's eyes flickered slightly as he watched the innkeeper return to the counter.

Ye Jianxing was extremely wary of the people and things here.

Otherwise, when did he, as a junior officer of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, ever have to pay for meals and lodging at an ordinary inn?
Soon, food and drinks were served one after another.

Looking at the tempting food and drinks before him, which were a feast for the eyes and the palate, Ye Jianxing raised an eyebrow but hesitated to pick up his chopsticks.

Seeing this, the other Imperial Guards, even though they had long coveted the opportunity, could only sit quietly and watch Ye Jianxing, waiting for his orders.

Ye Jianxing glanced at the drooling crowd, frowned in thought, but couldn't find anything wrong with it, so he finally had to speak.

"Let's start eating!"

"Yes!"

In an instant, everyone began to eat and drink heartily, and kept cheering loudly.

"Good wine!"

"Delicious food!"

They felt that the food and wine they were drinking were simply heavenly delicacies and divine wine.

After swallowing it, a special power seemed to flow through the whole body, and the internal energy seemed to increase and flow more smoothly.

This, this, this.
The crowd exchanged bewildered glances.

Immediately afterwards, everyone lowered their heads with ecstatic expressions and began to eat and drink heartily.

Putting aside the delicious food and wine, they couldn't let go of this opportunity to improve their cultivation.

I never expected that this little inn would have such a wonderful thing.

Seeing everyone's reactions, Ye Jianxing frowned, picked up the wine glass in front of him, and took a light sniff.

A refreshing and mellow aroma of wine instantly filled my nostrils and lungs, a warm sensation flowed through my entire body, and the circulation of my internal energy immediately increased.

Without hesitation, Ye Jianxing's expression changed; this truly was an unparalleled immortal brew.

but
Ye Jianxing scanned his surroundings. The inn was indeed quite large, arguably the largest inn in town, capable of accommodating over a hundred people.

However, it is absolutely wrong to serve such food and drinks.

If they truly possessed such abilities, they would undoubtedly be honored guests of all major powers, and might even be invited into the imperial kitchen.

They might even become their own independent force, attracting the attention and favor of various powerful factions.

Even royalty must be treated with respect.

Therefore, it is quite obvious that there must be something wrong with this inn, its manager, and its kitchen.

Thinking of this, Ye Jianxing was about to speak up to stop everyone.

"you."

However, as soon as Ye Jianxing opened his mouth, he felt a chill instantly envelop his heart.

The crowd, who had been engrossed in their meal, suddenly looked up, their eyes fixed on him with empty, indifferent stares.

Even the whole world seemed to have fallen silent.

"Gudong!"

Even though he had already reached the Innate Realm, Ye Jianxing still couldn't help but swallow hard under everyone's gaze.

Ye Jianxing took a deep breath, suppressing the distracting thoughts in his mind, and forced a smile as he spoke.

"You all need to eat more, we have a mission tomorrow."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's expressions instantly brightened, and they all started laughing and joking.

"Haha, Xiaoqi is right."

"Thank you, Lord Xiaoqi"

"Hehe, after we get back this time, our Ye Xiaoqi will be promoted to commander-in-chief."

"indeed!"

"When the time comes, Commander, please don't forget your brothers!"

"Hehe. How could I? No matter what, I will never forget my brothers."

Seeing everyone recover, Ye Jianxing could only respond with a light smile as usual.

Afterwards, everyone resumed eating and drinking, while Ye Jianxing, holding a wine glass, looked at everyone with deep eyes, countless thoughts surging in his mind.

Is the problem with the food and drinks?

Or even earlier?

Could it have been during the previous intelligence gathering?
After several rounds of drinks and dishes, someone finally noticed Ye Jianxing's unusual behavior and couldn't help but speak up.

"Young Master, is the food and wine not to your liking?"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone looked at him again. Although they were no longer as empty and indifferent as before, Ye Jianxing still felt immense pressure.

"Oh, I've been thinking about how strange this place is, and I haven't really had an appetite yet."

Faced with the intense stares of the crowd, Ye Jianxing made up a casual excuse. Fortunately, the man had only asked the question casually, and after Ye Jianxing answered, he ignored him and went back to eating and drinking with the others.

By the time the meal was finished, the city lights were already on, and Ye Jianxing felt an unbearable hunger in his stomach.

With his cultivation at the Innate Realm, he could easily go three to five days without eating.

However, whether it was because the food and wine in front of him were too tempting, or because of the special nature of the place, he felt unbearably hungry after only half a day.

Even so, Ye Jianxing did not touch his chopsticks. Instead, he secretly circulated his internal energy to suppress the hunger in his stomach.

Anyway, once they've gathered enough information by noon tomorrow, they can return.

Afterwards, Ye Jianxing and the others went to their rooms to rest, personally led by the innkeeper.

As the team leader and flag bearer, Ye Jianxing naturally had his own room, which was the top-class room on the third floor.

As for the others, apart from some squad leaders and sergeants who lived in the top-class rooms (two or three people per room), everyone else lived in ordinary rooms, with three to five people per room.

Ye Jianxing endured his hunger, lay on the bed with his hands behind his head, and couldn't fall asleep for a long time.

The various things I saw and heard that day, as well as the strange behavior of my subordinates, kept replaying in my mind.

However, no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't find a single clue.

"~,~!"

It wasn't until the third watch of the night, after a long, two short, and three loud noises, that Ye Jianxing finally drifted off to sleep.

However, just as he fell asleep, a sudden commotion erupted downstairs.

"Hoo~!"

Ye Jianxing woke up instantly, opened his eyes wide, and immediately sat up.

With a slight twitch of his ears, he prepared to listen carefully to the sounds coming from downstairs.

However, before he could hear clearly, he heard footsteps outside the door, followed by a series of knocks.

"Sir, something terrible has happened! One of our brothers has gone missing."

"Hmm~?"

Ye Jianxing frowned slightly, and in a flash, he arrived at the door and quickly opened it.

"what happened?"

"do not know!"

"do not know?"

The visitor nodded with a wry smile, his face grim, and quickly explained what had happened.

"Yes, a guy downstairs needed to pee in the middle of the night, so he went out to find a latrine and never came back."

When the brothers inside realized something was wrong and went outside to check, they discovered that their children were missing.

And it wasn't just them; the innkeeper, the kitchen staff, the waiters, and everyone else had vanished without a trace.

Upon hearing this, Ye Jianxing's heart sank.

However, he remained outwardly calm and allowed the person who came to lead the way, hurrying downstairs.

Upon arriving at the inn's lobby, one was greeted by more than a dozen people.

Then, more people arrived one after another.

When no one else came, the group took a headcount and found that there were only thirty-two people, with a total of eighteen missing.

Looking at the more than thirty people present, Ye Jianxing's face was extremely gloomy.

Although I felt their behavior was somewhat inappropriate at the time.

However, he would not allow them to perish here.

"Find them! Dig three feet into the ground! Find them for me!"

"Yes!"

Everyone responded in unison, and then quickly began searching the inn.

However, despite searching every corner, they couldn't find a single person.

However, after everyone reunited and a headcount was taken, it was discovered that five people were missing again.

This caused everyone to panic completely.

"How is this going?"

"And the shopkeeper and the waiter seem to have disappeared as well."

"What kind of hell is this place?"

"A hell of a place?"

The moment the man finished speaking, the crowd, which had been making a lot of noise, immediately fell silent and looked at each other with grim expressions.

It seems that Lord Chito once said that some strange places and strange phenomena would form where the fragments of the sun fell.

Is this the situation you're talking about?

Could there really be ghosts or monsters?
Ye Jianxing glanced at the crowd and spoke in a deep voice.

"Okay, don't overthink it."

Since we didn't find it at the inn, let's go outside and check the situation.

Also, stay in groups of five and don't get separated.

"Yes!"

Everyone responded in unison, their hearts heavy, and followed Ye Jianxing out of the inn.

"Clang, creak!"

As the door opened, everyone finally saw the outside world.

The hazy, blood-red moonlight cast a dark red glow over everything, even the two white paper lanterns in front of the restaurant across the street were draped in red.

If you don't look closely, they really do look like two red lanterns.

Well, wait.

Crimson moonlight.
White paper lanterns
In an instant, everyone stopped in their tracks, and some even took two steps back.

这 是
"how is this possible?"

"Even in broad daylight, there were still red lanterns hanging across the street, weren't there?"

"Damn, I knew something was wrong here."

"Hey, who doesn't know that? We came here to investigate the situation, didn't we?"

"Alright, stop arguing. Let's check the situation outside first."

Having stopped the argument, Ye Jianxing cautiously approached the inn's door, extending his embroidered spring knife outside to expose it to the blood-red moonlight.

After a short while, Ye Jianxing finally put away his Embroidered Spring Blade.

Looking down and examining it carefully, there was nothing wrong with it.

However, this is not the time to relax yet.

"Hoo~!"

Taking a deep breath, Ye Jianxing stepped forward again, his internal energy rapidly circulating, and his palm slowly extended forward, gradually touching the blood-red moonlight.

Instantly, a chill ran through my heart.

The moonlight gave him a cool feeling.

Without hesitation, Ye Jianxing quickly withdrew his hand.

After carefully sensing the surroundings and confirming that there were no other issues, he finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Then, Ye Jianxing stretched out his palm again, letting the crimson moonlight turn his palm blood red, and a chill seeped into his flesh, which even his innate true energy could not stop.

However, that was all; it did not cause any other negative changes.

Seeing this, Ye Jianxing secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he knew that the icy sensation that penetrated his skin was probably not a good thing.

However, it did not cause any immediate change.

And
Ye Jianxing withdrew his palm, circulated his internal energy, and the icy aura quickly dissipated. Instead, his internal energy seemed to suddenly become purer.

It goes without saying that this change must have been caused by that icy aura.

This surprised Ye Jianxing somewhat; he hadn't expected the blood-red moonlight outside to have such an effect. He wondered if there would be any side effects. (End of Chapter)