Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 883 Seventh Master of the Liu Family
The next morning, around five or six in the morning, the miners, having eaten and drunk their fill, began to leave the mining area in groups.

The band of robbers who usually guarded the outside had vanished without a trace.

Xiao Ran rode a horse, pulling a sled, with Jin Chanzi, Wu Man, and Qi Jinguang sitting behind him. The group followed the procession at a leisurely pace.

"Uncle-Master, can they hold on? Should we draw some more talismans for them?"

Looking at the long line, Qi Jinguang was worried that the miners wouldn't be able to hold on. After all, it was freezing cold, and these people were walking in the snow. Qi Jinguang was worried that they wouldn't be able to endure it.

"Don't worry, I added some ingredients to their food last night, so they won't feel tired even if they walk for three days and three nights."

Wu Man said with a wicked smile.

He had anticipated this situation while cooking last night. That pot of pork stew with vermicelli would leave even an ordinary person feeling refreshed and full of energy after eating it.

Hearing Wu Man say this, Qi Jinguang felt much more at ease. After all, he wanted to see things through to the end, and not let these people, who had barely escaped death, freeze to death on the way, which would be unpleasant.

It took them about a day and a night to get back to the town.

However, Xiao Ran and the other two did not continue into the town. Jin Chanzi whistled, and the tiger demon came running out of the town with a smug look on its face.

“Nephew, let’s stop here. The rest of the journey is our own business. If you come along, you’ll only get implicated. Let’s part ways here.”

Xiao Ran turned to Qi Jinguang and said.

Upon hearing this, Qi Jinguang jumped off the sled and, without any pretense, simply bowed to Xiao Ran and the other two, saying, "Jinguang bids farewell here. Uncle, Grand Uncle, and Brother Wu, please take good care of yourselves. If we are destined to meet again, I will definitely treat you to a good drink."

"The mountains are high and the road is long, but we will meet again in the future."

Xiao Ran and the other two bowed to Qi Jinguang, then Xiao Ran kicked the horse's belly, turned it around, and quickly pulled the sled in another direction.

"Oh, what a pity, we can't see it, we can't see it."

As he watched the figures behind him gradually disappear into the distance, Jin Chanzi couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, prompting Wu Man beside him to roll her eyes at him: "What are you regretting?"

"It's a pity we can't see this kid achieve great success in the future. Isn't that a shame?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ran turned around and glared at Jin Chanzi: "You knew all along that this road was a road of no return!"

"Sigh, I told you long ago that this road is a road of no return. Don't blame me for not telling you now," Jin Chanzi hurriedly jumped up and said.

Unexpectedly, Wu Man grabbed Jin Chanzi and punched him on the head, cursing, "But neither of you told me!"

Jin Chanzi clutched his head, wincing in pain, "I thought he would tell you."

Xiao Ran turned around innocently: "I was going to say that, but I just didn't find the opportunity."

"You two bastards, I'm breaking up with this group!!"

"It's too late. You don't know? Huang Le has given a portion of his shares to the company."

"So what? I'm still the major shareholder!" Wu Man cursed Huang Le inwardly, thinking she would kill him when she got back.

"When I left, I also gave the company the shares you gave me, so the company has 20% of the shares. You won't be happy when you go back. Zhongyi will be watching you every day to make money for the company."

Upon hearing Zhong Yi's name, Wu Man instantly lost his fighting spirit. He could forgive the company, but he was truly a coward when it came to Zhong Yi.

Although Wu Man is now a B-level, she is facing Zhong Yi, and Wu Man has long been traumatized by this woman. The thought of having to face Zhong Yi's supervision every day after returning home makes Wu Man suddenly feel that going far away is not a bad choice.

"So where do we go next?"

"Let's go to Jilin!"

Xiao Ran learned from Wang Wu's memories that Jilin is now the most bustling place in Northeast China, and Changbai Mountain is also located there.

As he spoke, Xiao Ran kicked the stirrup, and the crimson horse beneath him exhaled a breath of hot air and immediately began to accelerate, pulling the sled quickly along the main road.

Although they weren't flying on swords, Xiao Ran and his companions were quite fast thanks to their crimson horses. In less than two days, they had already entered Jilin Province, but it was even colder here than where they had entered the pass before.

This cold was a bone-chilling, skin-peeling cold; the wind seemed to seep into his clothes through his collar. However, the B-grade cursed item [Yin Yang Creation Robe] given to him by Xiao Ran, which made him immune to water and fire, didn't bother him.

Wu Man himself is a B-level professional, so he is not afraid. He has a burning passion in his heart, and even if it were ten times colder, it would not affect him.

As for Xiao Ran, the snow melted before it even touched her.

As they walked along the national highway and passed through a tunnel, Xiao Ran and the other two saw a town.

Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any living people surviving in a place like this.

But the town was actually quite large. Xiao Ran scanned the area with his spiritual power and found that there were quite a few residents in the town.

This is a village where people live.

"Hey, this is weird. It's freezing cold here, you could freeze even if you went outside to pee, how can there be so many people here?"

Wu Man looked up and glanced at the town, finding it increasingly eerie.

However, Wu Man was not skilled in Qimen Dunjia, Yin Yang Five Elements Feng Shui, so he could only see that the town was a bit eerie, but he couldn't figure out exactly what was so eerie about it.

So he looked at Jin Chanzi beside him and asked, "Niu Zizi, have you figured out anything about this town?"

Xiao Ran also turned her head: "It seems like feng shui, but I can't figure it out."

Upon hearing this, Jin Chanzi picked up a twig and wrote the character "丁" on the ground.

"This is called the Longevity Formation, also known as the Ding-Teng Formation."

Jin Chanzi pointed to the big river in front of the town, and then to the main road that runs through the town.

He explained to Xiao Ran, "There used to be a mountain in front of this town, but it was leveled and the earth's veins were altered, creating a 'Ding Sha' (a type of malevolent energy). This town was set up in front of it to ward off the evil. If I'm not mistaken, there should be someone hiding evil energy and gathering energy in this place, using the people in the town as nourishment for them."

Jin Chanzi pointed to the short hook at the end of the character "丁" (ding), which corresponds to the inconspicuous little hill behind the town.

"So that's it!"

Xiao Ran suddenly realized that the so-called Longevity Scheme was actually about using evil spirits to harm people and using the entire town as nourishment to sustain itself.

"I wondered what kind of trick it was, but it doesn't seem very clever."

Thinking of this, Xiao Ran originally wanted to take action and destroy the thing.

But he quickly suppressed the thought. Although this thing was evil, the people in this town depended on it to survive in this harsh place.

If we really destroy it, the people in this town probably won't be able to survive here. It's freezing cold, and forcing these people to leave now would really be driving them to their deaths.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ran gave up the idea of ​​taking action. Without even entering the town, she led Wu Man and Jin Chanzi around to the other side and continued forward.

Unexpectedly, the further we went towards Changbai Mountain, the more places like this, protected by evil spirits, appeared.

Xiao Ran also learned a lot about Feng Shui and Qimen from Jin Chanzi.

Such as the Longevity Formation, Incense Offering Formation, and Life-Sustaining Formation, etc.

Xiao Ran, adhering to the principle of avoiding trouble, did not enter these places. It wasn't until the group arrived in CC City that Xiao Ran was surprised by the scene before her.

It was already dark when they arrived.

But in the city of CC before them, lights were flickering.

"There's electricity!"

Xiao Ran and Wu Man exchanged a glance. No matter where you are, as long as there is electricity, it means that the political environment of that place is at least functioning normally and can guarantee people's basic survival needs.

Along their journey, they encountered very few places with electricity.

Even when there is electricity, it is controlled within a very small area, such as that guesthouse, or a few other places in the town that use solar power.

But what we see now is the normal operation of a city, which is a completely different concept from those.

Looking at the myriad lights twinkling before them, the three of them suddenly felt as if they had traveled back in time.

However, this feeling didn't last long. When Xiao Ran swept his mental energy over it, the feeling immediately vanished.

In this vast city, people, ghosts, evil spirits, and some indescribable auras are intertwined, like a super hodgepodge.

Inside a building, people live upstairs, ghosts live downstairs, and an evil spirit is enshrined on the roof. They are all intertwined, yet they seem not to interfere with each other.

"No wonder even the company can't get involved; it's really a mess."

Seeing this, Xiao Ran rode his horse and pulled the sled into the city.

There was a tollbooth ahead on the national highway, and surprisingly, there were lights inside. As Xiao Ran rode closer on horseback, an old man wearing a thick cotton-padded coat walked out of the tollbooth window, holding a flashlight and pointing it at Xiao Ran and the others.

"Where did you come from?"

The old man looked at Xiao Ran riding on horseback, and Jin Chanzi and Wu Man on the sled behind her, and asked in surprise.

Now that it's nighttime, the temperature outside is freezing cold; even beginners can't withstand it.

Moreover, going out at night is inherently dangerous; if you were to encounter a monster, you would have no chance of survival.

Xiao Ran rode up on his horse and said, "We're from the village outside, sir, please let us in."

"No, no!"

The old man quickly grabbed Xiao Ran's horse reins: "Young man, it's easy to get in, but hard to get out. If you have any skills, don't go in. Walk three or five hundred meters back, there's a small house there, it has everything you need. Take shelter from the wind and snow there, and leave first thing tomorrow morning." Hearing this, Xiao Ran became even more curious: "What, sir? I see scattered lights ahead, it's clearly a treasure trove. Is there some kind of secret to getting in and out?"

The old man loosened the reins and said somewhat irritably, "Can't you understand? I told you not to go in, so don't go in. What are you talking nonsense about?"

The old man was saying this, but at the same time, he produced an extra sign in his hand.

It clearly stated above: "Entry into the city: 300; Exit the city: 3000."

Unexpectedly, Xiao Ran only glanced at the sign and casually took out a bag of ghost money and threw it to the old man: "1000, and 100 more, for your tea."

Seeing that Xiao Ran wouldn't listen to reason, the old man sighed, silently accepted the money bag, and then moved the roadblock away.

"Why are people so stubborn and unwilling to listen to advice?"

Watching Xiao Ran and the others leave, the old man sighed helplessly, then silently turned the sign in his hand over.

[300 people allowed to enter the city per day, 3000 people allowed to leave the city per day]

As the old man looked at the information on the sign, his smile gradually turned into a sinister one, and his eyes flashed with ghostly fire: "You have a path to heaven but you choose not to take it; you have no way to hell but you barge in."

"Why don't you just kill that old Deng?"

As soon as they passed the tollbooth, Wu Man said, "That old man has an evil aura about him, he's half human and half ghost, he's obviously no good."

"Those who can get this far are no pushovers. Killing a small fry won't change anything."

Let alone 300 a day, even 3000 a day, Xiao Ran could afford it. Besides, the rules weren't set by this old man, so there was no need to argue with this nobody.

It's like parking fees at a shopping mall. If it costs 100 per hour, what can you get out of arguing with the security guard? He can't make the decision, and he can't give you a discount. Beating him up won't solve anything either.

Wu Man agreed with this reasoning and asked, "So, what do you plan to do...?"

"No plans yet, we'll see how things go. Let's find a warm place to rest first."

The three of them had already entered the city while they were talking.

In the winter nights outside the Great Wall, it gets completely dark around 7 p.m. In the past, before the Mystery City descended, there were basically no people on the streets once it got dark.

But now it's dark, yet there are quite a few pedestrians on the street, and every shop along the road is open, brightly lit as if it never sleeps.

Even in Ruzhou, this kind of lively scene wouldn't be possible.

However, each of the shops along the street exudes an eerie atmosphere.

Wu Man casually went into a shop and wandered around for a while. She came out in less than three minutes and took out a handkerchief from her spatial storage to wipe the bloodstains off her hands.

"Strange."

Once back on the sled, Wu Mancai said, "This place is damn eerie. The shop is haunted by evil spirits, and the owner's entire family has been hollowed out and reduced to empty shells."

"This place is haunted, evil spirits reign supreme; people here are like pigs." Wu Man finished speaking, then changed the subject: "But... I actually quite like this haunted place; it's full of top-quality ingredients, hehe!"

Xiao Ran and Jin Chanzi rolled their eyes at this guy.

Instead of staying in a hotel, the three of them found a guesthouse with a courtyard to make it easier to settle the horse and the tiger demon.

The owners of this guesthouse are an elderly couple, just ordinary people. Although the guesthouse was a bargain, it is clean.

After Xiao Ran and the other two entered the house, the couple immediately started boiling water and cooking for them.

However, Wu Man took over the cooking duties.

While waiting for their meal, Jin Chanzi chatted with the elderly couple.

When the elderly couple learned that Xiao Ran and the others were actually from outside, they couldn't help but sigh.

The man took a puff of his pipe, frowned, and said, “The three of you should leave first thing tomorrow morning. You have to spend 300 ghost coins every day you come here, otherwise something will come to bother you. At best, it will take away your lifespan, at worst it will take your life. Moreover, if you stay here for another day, you will have to pay an extra 3000 when you leave.”

Upon hearing the man's advice, Xiao Ran and Jin Chanzi feigned surprise.

"Oh, I knew that old man was wicked. I didn't expect him to be such a rip-off." Xiao Ran looked annoyed, but then her tone changed, "Big brother, big sister, since this place is such a rip-off, why don't you leave?"

The man didn't speak, but the woman beside him sighed and said, "We can't leave. Our family's lives have long been in the hands of that old immortal."

"Old Immortal?" Jin Chanzi pressed, "Is he a guardian spirit?"

"no!"

The man shook his head: "It's a spirit medium."

"Aren't they all just fox, weasel, white, willow, and gray?"

Jin Chanzi didn't know much about these old immortals. After all, immortals have never left the Jade Gate Pass since ancient times. The Five Immortals of the Northeast would be breaking the law if they entered the Central Plains. If it weren't for Li Jingqi's incident, the Five Immortals Hall would never have entered the Central Plains rashly. So most people only know that Fox, Weasel, White Willow, and Gray are immortals from the Northeast, but they don't know many of the more detailed things about them.

However, Xiao Ran knew the ins and outs of it.

He once killed a little fox spirit in Mirror Lake. Although it was a little fox spirit and didn't know many secrets, it knew most of the common knowledge.

However, Xiao Ran remained silent at this moment, intending to hear whether what the man said matched what she knew.

The man sitting on the kang smiled. He had obviously explained this to people more than once, so he was quite familiar with it.

“You’re from out of town, you don’t know, the immortals are separate.” The man explained the intricacies to Xiao Ran and Jin Chanzi.

The guardian spirits are Grandpa Hu, Grandma Hu, Grandpa Huang, and Grandma Huang. They are the most powerful in this area and are worshipped by people; they are the guardian spirits of the household.

However, if one is a shaman, one can establish one's own shrine and raise other spirits, which are called shrine spirits.

The hall immortals are further divided into the noisy hall immortals and the seated hall immortals.

The noisy immortals are fond of movement, while the seated immortals prefer tranquility.

Their lives had long been under Tang Xian's control. To put it bluntly, they were now Tang Xian's servants, or even slaves.

But precisely because of this, they are immune to the rules of this place. As long as they dutifully offer sacrifices to the spirits, they can live peacefully here.

The man's words matched the information Xiao Ran had gathered.

He asked curiously, "So, there's a powerful deity presiding over this place?"

"Yes, that's the seventh master of the Liu family. Although the seventh master controls our lives, he never makes things difficult for us. On the contrary, he often appears in our dreams and gives us guidance."

When the Seventh Master of the Liu Family was mentioned, the woman beside her bowed several times towards the east with a devout expression, her face full of gratitude.

However, Xiao Ran noticed that the man next to her looked very unnatural. He seemed to want to curse but didn't dare to, and he didn't know how to say it. He was filled with anger but dared not speak out.

After dinner, the three of them returned to their room and sat on the warm kang (a heated brick bed).

"Tell me, what is this Seventh Master of the Liu family? I feel like he's even more powerful than the evil spirits outside."

With a toothpick in her mouth, Wu Man asked Xiao Ran a question.

According to the man, half the lives of the city's inhabitants are in the hands of the seventh master of the Liu family.

How many people were there? A million? I dare not say. Although this is the core city of Jilin, the environment was too harsh after the arrival of the Lost City. It is hard to say how many people survived.

There must be hundreds of thousands of people, right?
With so many people, the daily incense offerings and sacrifices must amount to a huge sum.

Imagine, in the Central Plains, with its large population, how many evil spirits among its hundreds of thousands of believers are there?

Anyone who dares to stand out will either be recruited by the company or eliminated by it.

But here, the Seventh Master of the Liu family doesn't hold back at all; he's practically the local tyrant.

This is why Wu Man said that this thing is powerful.

"No wonder all those evil spirits flock here; it really is true what they say, 'The emperor is far away and the heavens are high.'"

Wu Man sighed. If he had known this place was so enjoyable, he shouldn't have gone to Luoyang in the first place. He should have just come here from the north.

Of course, if I really came here, I probably wouldn't have a chance to advance to Rank B. It's just a matter of timing, fate, and luck.

"Alright, let's go see this Seventh Master of the Liu family first thing tomorrow morning."

After thinking it over, Xiao Ran decided to go and see what kind of extraordinary person this Seventh Master of the Liu family was.

"Ugh!"

Jin Chanzi was taken aback and quickly pressed Xiao Ran down: "Don't do anything rash. It's not difficult for you to kill this thing, but the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in this city will be in danger."

Jin Chanzi was afraid that Xiao Ran might harbor murderous intentions again. The Liu family immortal was not worth mentioning, but without this Liu family immortal, the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the city might become food for other evil spirits.

"What are you thinking?"

Xiao Ran waved her hand: "I just want to see how deep the water is here, and... since we've come to this place, if you don't pay your respects to the mountain gate, do you really think we can make it to Changbai Mountain?"

Other places are one thing, but within this pass, the five great immortal families have been operating for many years. It's not something that can be replaced by other evil spirits just because the Lost City was abandoned.

Moreover, Xiao Ran knew that Changbai Mountain, where they were going, was the stronghold of the Five Immortals Hall. Without giving them a heads-up, they wouldn't even be able to get in.

Therefore, regardless of the circumstances, Xiao Ran had to meet this seventh master of the Liu family.

(End of this chapter)