Slaying demons and eliminating evil, a martial saint among mortals.

Lu Chen didn't speak. His gaze was fixed on the old pass of Duanfeng Gorge in front of him. His brows slowly furrowed, and he didn't speak until after a while.

"Qin Lie wasn't making this up. In some places, too many people die, and over time, the atmosphere inside becomes very strange."

"The pass itself certainly doesn't breathe, but don't forget there's something sealed beneath it. Those gray wisps going in and out might just be the thing beneath the seal moving around."

Upon hearing this, Li Hu's expression became even more awkward.

"Boss, your explanation is worse than no explanation at all. I was just a little scared at first, but now what you're saying is terrifying. That thing under the seal is not something we can handle."

Xu Qinghe looked up at Li Hu.

"It's also possible that what's sealed inside hasn't fully awakened yet. The biggest problem right now isn't whether there's anything inside, but that we don't know how far it's awakened. If it's just that the seal has loosened, we can continue our investigation."

"But if it has truly awakened completely, then it's beyond the capabilities of just a few of us."

Li Hu turned to look at her.

"Qinghe, the boss has already explained the seriousness of the situation. Can't you say something that makes people feel more at ease?"

Xu Qinghe thought about it seriously for a moment.

"So far, we haven't suffered any layoffs, which is a good thing."

Li Hu's lips twitched.

"Okay, it's my fault for being so talkative."

As Qin Lie listened to the three of them talking, he felt less scared than before.

Lu Chen raised his hand, signaling everyone to stop.

"From here on, everyone dismount, and the horses cannot go any further. The noises inside the pass will not only affect people but also livestock. If people hear noises, they can at least remind themselves to keep quiet. But if the horses get startled and charge in, people may get injured as well."

Li Hu dismounted and shoved the reins into the hand of a guard beside him.

"Did you hear that? Keep the horse away. If it gets really scared, it's better to cut the reins in half than to let it drag you inside."

The guard nodded.

Lu Chen then looked at the other guards.

"You all stay here. Don't go any further. Stay here and watch over the horses, and also protect our retreat route."

"If we don't receive any news within half an hour of going in, then you should immediately send a message back to Dongxuan City. Under no circumstances should you come in to look for anyone."

One of the guards was taken aback.

"Lord Lu, if you haven't come out, should we just send a message directly? Or should we go in and check first before sending a message?"

Lu Chen waved his hand after hearing this.

"A place like Broken Wind Gorge is still too dangerous for you."

"We're not keeping you out here because this job is easy; it's because we need living people to carry the message back."

The guard's expression also turned serious.

"Understood."

Qin Lie listened from the side, becoming increasingly alarmed as he listened.

If there's no news within half an hour, they call for backup, but they're not allowed to go in to look for people.

Lu Chen had already considered the worst-case scenario.

Li Hu weighed the thick-backed knife in his hand and walked to the front.

"As before, I'll walk in front and clear the way. If there's anything there, I'll stop it first."

Lu Chen nodded.

"You can walk in front, but don't rush too fast. Broken Wind Gorge is not Wolf Fang Mountain. Wolf Fang Mountain is full of monsters, and it's not a big deal to cut them down one by one. But cutting down the things here might not be effective, and it might even make things worse."

"Okay, okay, Boss Lu, I got it. Don't worry, I'll try not to chop indiscriminately today."

"Alright, from now on, everyone stop talking nonsense. If anyone calls your name, don't respond. Even if you see me standing in front greeting you, take a look at the Demon-Suppressing Token first. If the Demon-Suppressing Token doesn't react, then it's fake."

"Boss Lu, do you mean there might be a fake version of you inside?"

"It's not a fake version of me, it's just that in your mind it feels like me."

"The lingering resentment in the old battlefield may not have a complete form. It could be a voice, a shadow, or even the person you trust most. The more you trust it, the more easily it will cling to you. So once you're inside, don't trust your eyes or your ears, just trust the Demon-Suppressing Decree. If you encounter any problems, I will use the Demon-Suppressing Decree to send you a message."

Qin Lie nodded.

"Understood. I won't answer no matter who calls me. If anyone gets close to me, I'll have to check if the Demon-Suppressing Token reacts first."

Li Hu, who was walking ahead, added a sentence.

"If you see me waving at you, don't rush over. If I'm really looking for you, I'll definitely yell at you first. If he's not imitating me well, you'll be able to tell right away."

As they spoke, they began to approach the old pass of Duanfeng Gorge. The further they went, the louder the wind became.

There were other sounds mixed in with the wind, like someone talking, but you just couldn't make out what they were saying.

Qin Lie frowned, trying his best to avoid thinking about those voices.

But the more you try not to listen, the more that stuff seems to creep into your ears.

"Don't go..."

"Return to guard the pass..."

Qin Lie stopped in his tracks. He had heard those words clearly, as if someone had spoken right next to his ear.

"I heard someone talking."

Li Hu walked ahead without turning his head.

"I heard it too, just ignore him. It's like someone farted next to you, and it wasn't even a smelly fart, why bother with it?"

Qin Lie: ...

What a rough and crude statement!

However, it worked quite well. Those sounds had initially made him uneasy, but Li Hu's banter eased his tension considerably.

Xu Qinghe also offered a reminder.

"One more thing, never talk to him in your mind. Some lingering feelings don't need your verbal agreement. Just follow his thoughts in your mind, and he can still cling to you."

Qin Lie's expression changed.

"Can't I even think about it?"

"It's best not to think about it!"

The group continued onward, and only when they got closer did Qin Lie truly see what Duanfeng Pass looked like.

From a distance, it only looked somewhat dilapidated, but upon closer inspection, he realized that the place was even more run-down than he had imagined.

Half of the city gate had collapsed, and the remaining half of the gate was leaning in the doorway, covered with claw marks. Some of the claw marks were so deep that they almost tore through the entire door panel.

Most of the stones on the city wall are black, probably because blood seeped into the cracks of the stones layer by layer, and over time, they slowly turned into this color that cannot be washed away.

There were still many broken weapons stuck in the ground: knives, spears, swords, and several shields that were rotten to the bone, standing there haphazardly.

Looking at these things, Qin Lie couldn't quite describe the feeling in his heart.

Watching this scene in movies and TV shows often doesn't evoke much feeling, but when you actually put yourself in that situation, you can feel the brutality of war.

Li Hu also stopped, staring at a broken sword beneath the city gate.

"The blade is all curled up like this. The person who used this knife back then probably couldn't even swing it anymore after all, right? But even so, he didn't let go until he died."

Qin Lie followed his gaze and saw that the broken knife was only half left, with a blackened strip of cloth tightly wrapped around the hilt.

Presumably fearing he wouldn't have enough strength to hold the knife, he simply tied his hand to the knife before he died.

Xu Qinghe lowered her head, writing something.

Qin Lie was somewhat puzzled.

"Clerk Xu, what exactly is this booklet for? Is it for recording mission details or preparing for publication?"

"Well, consider this a record of mission details. If we die here, later generations can at least know how we died when they look it up in the book."

Qin Lie opened his mouth, but after a long while, he managed to squeeze out a sentence.

"No wonder Brother Li told you to talk as little as possible."

"Alright, Qin Lie, go take a look at the city gate tower."

Lu Chen's voice came, and Qin Lie used his Qi Observation Technique in the direction of his finger.

The city gate in front of me slowly changed, and a gray-black aura flowed out from the cracks in the gate, much clearer than it could be seen from a distance.

What Qin Lie found most strange was that there was a very thin red line in the middle of the city gate, which stretched out from the gate opening and intermittently to the outside.

"Boss Lu, there's a red line inside the city gate, it looks a bit like a person's blood and qi."

"Could the person's vital energy be those two missing silver tokens?"

"It's possible, Qin Lie. Can you tell which way to go?"

"Right inside the city gate, the blood and qi are very weak, intermittent."

"Let's go in, maybe the person is still alive."

"Li Hu, lead the way. Qin Lie, follow behind me. Qing He, you bring up the rear. If anyone notices anything amiss, immediately use the Demon-Suppressing Token to send a message."

Everyone nodded, and Li Hu, carrying his knife, stepped into the city gate.

Qin Lie followed behind Lu Chen, and as soon as he stepped across the threshold, he felt a chill run through his body.

He subconsciously glanced back. It was still daylight outside the city gate, but just one gate away, the sounds outside seemed to fade into the distance.

"That's really weird, why is it so cold in there?"

Li Hu muttered something under his breath.

"Alright, that's enough talk. Watch your step."

Qin Lie looked down and saw that the ground was a mess, with broken stones, broken wood, and a fallen flagpole.

Amidst this jumble of things, there was a shallow drag mark, with a few drops of blood beside it.

"The bloodstains are still fresh, let's follow the drag marks."

The group followed the drag mark and walked in. Not far ahead, they suddenly heard a very soft sound.

It sounded like the friction of metal armor, or like the dragging of a knife on the ground.

Qin Lie looked up in the direction the sound came from and saw a blurry figure slowly walking towards him from the wall.

Li Hu had already raised his thick-backed knife high, waiting for the thing to get close so he could slash it down.

"Don't make a move. Those are the remnants of the old clans. As long as they don't attack first, we shouldn't make a move either."

Li Hu gripped the knife, his face grim.

"They're already on their way. Are we just going to sit here and wait to die?"

"You can cut off this lingering resentment, but if you do, it will probably awaken all the lingering resentments in the entire Broken Wind Pass, and then none of us will survive."

After hearing Xu Qinghe's words, Li Hu immediately shut his mouth.

The shadow walked past the wall without ever glancing at them, simply inching forward step by step.

He walked to a collapsed wall, suddenly stopped, looked up, as if he had heard something.