The fortune telling was so accurate that I accidentally accumulated a huge amount of merit!

Chapter 263 Ancient Legend
Zhongli Yuanjing walked over quickly, picked up two record books, and looked at them carefully. One was the personnel attendance record sheet, and the other was the personnel business trip report record.

Unless you specifically compare them, no one would notice the difference in the dates between the two documents.

"It seems that this lay Buddhist Lan has been tainted by something without realizing it."

No one doubted that Layman Lan's identity was problematic. Even if there were some internal conflicts among them, openly harming their own people would be tantamount to declaring war on the Special Administration Bureau, and no one would do that.

With a clue, the investigation went quickly, and soon they heard the so-called legend from some old herders.

Long, long ago, there was a very special little country here, and they never had any contact with outsiders.

The spiritual leader of the small country is a goddess. Whenever the country encounters disaster, the goddess will use divinely bestowed treasures to help the people solve their problems.

The people living in this small country are very happy; they can even live in harmony with the animals. It is simply the most beautiful place on earth.

Until a strange man stumbled into this small country, the goddess fell in love with him, and in the end, she even stole the country's treasures for him.

The people of that small country, along with all the creatures living with them, were punished by heaven and all died violent deaths.

At that time, the entire sky turned red, and there was even a huge, angry eye in the sky. From then on, the original site of that small country became a cursed place.

Whether human or animal, anyone who gets close to that place will disappear without a trace, neither alive nor dead; it has become a forbidden zone.

Many, many years later, a very powerful old Taoist priest, for reasons unknown, appeared again when he was on his last breath.

The kind-hearted herdsmen buried him in the place he specified, just as he had requested, and the place returned to normal. The legend was then forgotten.

After the old herdsman finished speaking, he added mysteriously, "I never let my children or cattle and sheep go there. My ancestors said that place is evil and will eat people."

"It's only because you were brought by the leader that I'm telling you all this; otherwise, you absolutely mustn't go that way."

The people from the Special Administration Bureau were truly speechless at this moment. If they weren't insiders, they would have been genuinely frightened by the atmosphere created by the old herdsman.

The old herdsmen were incredibly hospitable, wishing they could stay and talk for three days and three nights.

"Master, how credible do you think what that herdsman said just now was?"

Zhongli Yuanjing is the curator of a museum and has seen many stories that could not be explained at the time but have been passed down.

When someone asked him for advice, he thought for a moment before saying, "No matter how credible it is, it's at least a clue. Let's investigate it first!"

This time, each of them carried enough supplies to go to places the old herdsman had warned them against going.

Suddenly, a series of clear, melodious bell sounds rang out. Zhongli Yuanjing stopped and looked at the people behind him: "Did you hear that?"

The others looked at Zhongli Yuanjing with some confusion.

"Master, what are you saying?"

"Everyone on high alert! The enemy has appeared!"

Although the others didn't quite understand why, they listened to the advice and each of them brought out their most powerful magical artifacts.

A wisp of smoke drifted over, as if they had suddenly stepped into a celestial realm.

They hadn't heard the bell, but they could see the smoke in front of them, and everyone's heart was in their throat.

Just then, a childish voice, tinged with a hint of schadenfreude, exploded in their ears.

Another group of delicious foods has arrived, and they won't be able to leave once they're here!

Zhongli Yuanjing's expression changed. He couldn't even sense where the other party was, and he realized something was wrong. He quickly said to the people behind him, "The opponent's strength is unknown, retreat quickly!"

Unfortunately, it was too late; there was no one behind him.

Before he came, he was still wondering what kind of enemy could have wiped out Yun Ran and the others without leaving any clues.

Now he seemed to understand that once you got into this place, it was truly impossible to guard against anything.

Those missing tourists and the herders' cattle and sheep may have initially been bait specifically designed to lure people from the Xuanmen sect.

Lan Jushi was able to discover something was amiss here, yet he was still able to leave smoothly to report back, and then bring even more people here. He was simply delivering himself into this mess.

These people are now considered the second batch of vegetables.

Fortunately, they had this suspicion beforehand, so only ten people came this time.

If they also disappear, then those outside will be able to confirm their previous suspicions.

There are many experts in the Xuanmen sect, and they will surely find a foolproof plan. Even if these people sacrifice themselves, it will still be meaningful.

Yun Ran, who was resting with her eyes closed, suddenly opened them and looked towards her left hand.

There lay Zhong Lisu, who had been knocked unconscious by her, as a gust of wind rushed toward his head.

The gale carried immense ferocity, as if it harbored a deep-seated hatred for Zhongli Su, wishing it could tear him to pieces.

That speed was also very fast. At least Yunran felt that if she hadn't prepared in advance and had blocked it with all her might, she would have been injured.

The Heavenly Thunder Pearl, which was suspended above them, was originally just crackling with electricity when the gale was about to strike Zhongli Su.

A thin bolt of lightning split off and clashed head-on with the gale.

There was a loud "Bang!"

The collision generated a huge gust of wind, which blew Yunran over, causing her to fall to the ground in a rather disheveled state.

Zhong Lisu was thrown into the air and then slammed hard onto the ground.

"Ah~"

Zhong Lisu, who had been knocked unconscious, finally opened his eyes in pain because his buttocks had been broken into four pieces.

Fortunately, this time the blankness in his eyes was no longer there.

Zhong Lisu looked at his bound hands, got up, and limped toward Yun Ran.

"What's going on here?"

As soon as he asked the question, he suddenly remembered telling Yunran to run away quickly after his brief moment of lucidity.

I quickly looked around. It was very quiet. Apart from the sound of the wind, there wasn't even the sound of insects chirping in the vast meadow.

All of this made Zhong Lisu feel a little uneasy.

He looked at Yunran with a hopeful gaze, hoping that Yunran could give him the answer he wanted.

However, he saw Yun Ran looking at him with a curious expression, her tone even carrying a hint of teasing.

"Oh, you're awake now? That's rare. If I'd known, I would have let a bolt of lightning strike you."