Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 717 The Imperial Seal Leaves the Capital
As soon as he finished speaking, a commotion erupted among the "people" in the valley.

People started discussing it. Finding a way to leave would be ideal, since this place was still too dangerous.

In the first round of exams, there were at least several thousand candidates, but in the second round, at least half of them disappeared.

It's clear that this place is not a place to stay for long.

The idea that everyone will die in three days seems a bit alarmist.

However, neither the Tan brothers nor the other individuals with superior spiritual roots questioned this statement, which clearly indicated that they had already accepted it.

Standing behind, Xiao Ran heard the other person's words and felt surprised and uncertain.

He couldn't immediately determine whether the other person was telling the truth or not.

But if it's true, I don't care, I just don't know if it will affect Jin Chanzi.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ran perked up and dared not be careless.

"Cough cough!!"

At this moment, Tan Shanyuan, the second son of the Tan family, coughed twice and then gestured, "Quiet!!"

The vast valley gradually calmed down. After all, they were of superior talent and had an absolute crushing influence over them, so they dared not disobey.

Seeing this, Tan Shanyuan nodded in satisfaction, but secretly sighed in his heart.

"If my eldest brother and the others were still here, with the strength of the five of us brothers, everything should be under our family's control right now."

Thinking of this altar of charitable wealth, he couldn't help but cast a venomous glare at Xiao Ran, then frowned and continued, "Everyone, let's hear what Elder Chen has to say first."

The old man Chen that Tan Shancai mentioned was the very guy that even Xiao Ran was wary of.

However, from Tan Shancai's words, Xiao Ran could confirm one thing: this Old Chen was probably not a native of Ghost City. He guessed that this person was probably a master recruited by some rebel king, just like Tan Shancai and the others.

After Tan Shancai stepped aside, Old Chen continued, "I know you all must have some doubts, but this is a matter of life and death, and I would never dare to lie. This three-day deadline is not an exaggeration. I cannot go into the details here. Please be prepared, and we will set off as soon as possible tomorrow."

Seeing that Old Chen seemed to have no reason to explain, some people became unhappy: "Old Chen, what exactly do you mean? You only said half of what you wanted to say and then stopped? What exactly did you mean? Why did you say three days? You should at least explain it clearly."

"Yes, let us understand what's going on. Otherwise, we haven't even had a chance to gather all the necessary opportunities before you give us a word."

Many people started to jeer.

Those who have reached this point and become of intermediate aptitude are definitely not kind-hearted people. Even if the other party is of superior aptitude, they will not make everyone obediently follow them with just a few words. Who knows if there are pitfalls waiting for them ahead?

As the number of doubts from the public grew,

The other individuals with superior abilities began to grow impatient, emanating a sharp, murderous aura, seemingly ready to make an example of them.

It was at this moment that Old Chen came out and touched the stone on the left side of his chest.

He then opened his palm, and a surge of spiritual energy burst forth from his palm, impacting everyone's minds.

Suddenly, everyone felt a buzzing in their heads.

Even Xiao Ran, who was sitting in the distance, felt a mental fluctuation coming towards her, but it was different from the feeling of being forcibly impacted by others.

Although this spiritual power was strong, it was not enough for Xiao Ran, but Xiao Ran did not deliberately resist it.

He sensed a message mixed within this spiritual force, so he simply opened his mind and actively accepted the spiritual force flowing into his consciousness.

As this spiritual power unfolded in Xiao Ran's sea of ​​consciousness, some fragmented images appeared before her.

A blood-red sedan chair appeared before them, and it quickly locked onto a "candidate." Countless pale arms reached out from the gaps in the curtain and pulled the candidate directly into the sedan chair. Soon, blood began to seep out along the curtain, and there wasn't even a scream from inside.

The scene then shifts to a peddler carrying a shoulder pole. The peddler looks honest and simple, like a typical farmer.

But inside the carrying pole were the heads of these examinees, arranged like goods.

The other party simply waved his hand lightly, and then took a pig's head from another bamboo basket and placed it on the candidate's head.

And from beginning to end, none of them, those with average spiritual capacity, could resist it.

In addition, Xiao Ran actually saw a bootleg version of the butcher.

This guy's physique and appearance are very similar to the butcher's. He is as big as a mountain, with a huge mouth split open on his abdomen and a dense array of intestines dragging behind him.

Wherever they went, even those with superior spiritual abilities like the Tan brothers were powerless to resist, and were devoured like snacks, turning into a lump of rotten flesh.

These images kept flashing before her eyes, and Xiao Ran even saw her own reflection in them.

Holding a staff, he seemed to be confronting something. Behind him, Shao Hongzhang was only half a body, spitting out blood, as if he wanted to say something.

In the scene, Xiao Ran also saw the Golden Toad, waving its arms in the distance to remind her to hurry up, its huge body swallowed up by the decaying black soil.

These scattered images flashed by in Xiao Ran's eyes, but they also sent a chill down her spine.

He could tell that these images were not real, but rather seemed to be a part of Mr. Chen's own memories.

Judging from the images in my memory, the red sedan chair and the vendors carrying shoulder poles were clearly evil spirits, and powerful ones at that.

This reminded Xiao Ran that Jin Chanzi had warned her before that some strange tales occasionally appeared here, but not very frequently. "It seems that the strange tales Jin Chanzi mentioned must be these things."

As for these images...

Xiao Ran speculated that these scenes were not something that Old Chen had deliberately fabricated. He noticed that Old Chen's hand was still on the diamond-shaped stone in front of his chest, and thought to himself, "Could this stone give him the ability to foresee the future?"

After a moment, everyone gradually came back to their senses from these scattered memories. Seeing this, Old Chen continued, "As you have all seen, I did not lie. I will lead everyone to set off early tomorrow morning. Those who want to come, please join us."

After saying that, Old Chen stopped explaining to everyone, and a look of exhaustion appeared on his thin, bamboo-like face.

Even for someone with superior spiritual potential, using mental energy on such a large scale is still a considerable burden.

Seeing this, Xiao Ran didn't linger any longer, turned around and left quickly, as he needed to get back as soon as possible to tell Jin Chanzi the news.

Returning to the place where the body was buried, Xiao Ran took the stone, which was supposedly the source of the opportunity, with her and quickly returned to the valley.

Meanwhile.

Outside the city of Ghost Capital, a large cluster of camps rose from the ground, with the banners of various rebel kings flying atop the walls. It seemed that these rebel kings had built all their camps together, forming a continuous area.

Several rebel kings sat in their tents, eating meat and drinking wine, with dancers and musicians playing music and dancing in front of them.

Those who didn't know better might mistake this for a group of wealthy young men on a spring outing.

After three rounds of wine, five flavors of food.

Prince Fu put down his wine cup and looked at the gate of Ghost City not far away, a hint of anxiety appearing on his face.

"They've been gone for so many days, and we haven't even received a message. Do you think they can bring the Imperial Seal back?"

These words instantly dampened the good mood of the rebel kings in the tent. They were all anxious, but for now they could only stare helplessly.

“Prince Fu, please don’t worry. Although my third brother is a nobody, he has some skills. With the help of the other princes’ capable men, we will definitely be able to bring out the Imperial Seal.”

Gu Xiangyun sat to one side, speaking casually and eloquently.

Upon hearing this, the rebel kings felt relieved, as they greatly admired the skill of Gu Xintang, the third-ranked swordsman.

With the addition of his own capable and skilled subordinates, seizing the Imperial Seal of the State should not be too difficult.

So they all raised their wine cups and said to Gu Xiangyun and Prince Fu, "That's right, what the second young master said is absolutely correct."

But the King of Chu frowned and said, "I naturally have no doubt about the strength of Gu Xintang, but the thirty-sixth of Group C and the top swordsman are also here. I'm worried..."

The King of Chu was referring to Xiao Ran and Wu Man.

These words caused another wave of disappointment among the crowd, who thought, "What's wrong with today? Both Prince Fu and Prince Chu are such a downer."

Fortunately, at this moment, Gu Xiangyun unfurled his jade fan and spoke up: "King Chu is overthinking it. Those so-called Group C Thirty-Six are nothing more than defeated opponents of my third brother. As for that sword ranking champion, I think he is nothing but a figurehead. Otherwise, how could there not be a single word about him in the martial arts world all these years?"

"That's right. I've never heard of this so-called top swordsman in all these years. He suddenly appears now, but he won't even show his face. I think he's probably a fraud."

"The Five Leaves Daoist was blind back then. I think his so-called sword evaluation was just a random guess."

As everyone chatted animatedly, they raised their glasses and drank heartily once again.

"Report!!"

At that moment, a scout rushed in from outside the tent.

Everyone's spirits lifted, a glint of light appeared in their eyes, and their gazes instantly locked onto the scout.

"Your Majesty, outside... that... the gate of Ghost City is open, and someone has come out of it."

"Crash la la la..."

Upon hearing this, everyone behind the table stood up in unison and rushed out of the tent to the observation platform outside the camp without saying a word.

When they looked closely...

Sure enough, the gates of Ghost City were open, and a figure completely covered in a black robe was standing in front of them.

“Who is it??”

"I do not know!"

Everyone stared at the figure, but for a moment they couldn't make out the person's face.

Just as they were wondering, the figure shrouded in black robes slowly took out a piece of red cloth from his bosom, then unfolded it. Before long, a jade seal with a chipped corner appeared in everyone's sight.

The jade seal shimmered with fluorescence, and when it appeared, it was accompanied by a dragon's roar.

Even though they were far apart, everyone was shocked when their eyes were focused on them.

Until Prince Qi opened his mouth wide and screamed, "The Imperial Seal of the State!!! It's the Imperial Seal of the State!!! Quick, grab the seal!!!"

(End of this chapter)