CHAPTER 414: CHAPTER 174: DELIVERING INTELLIGENCE, A GREAT ENEMY AT SIDE (5K)_3

"Oh, got it."

...

Gan Tang had been away for days, and upon returning to Fuyu Mountain, she immediately heard about this major event.

As soon as she finished listening, her expression subtly changed.

"I just confirmed the Demon Kingdom’s ruins in the desert—everything buried under the yellow sands, all vanished, on that day."

This time, the Grand Uncle Master and the three Great-Uncle Masters’ faces all changed.

"All gone?"

"Yes, I checked myself, nothing is left there."

"Damn." Grand Uncle Master’s face darkened, and he immediately said to the Fourth Great-uncle Master, "Quick, tell Wen Yan about this right now. Stuff that disappears out of thin air can only have ended up in the Netherworld at this point. That place has been silent for years; now that Spiritual Qi is resurging, there might be a massive awakening of Nether Souls too. Tell Wen Yan, he must make sure the Demon Kingdom’s Nether Souls don’t spot him."

Gan Tang furrowed her brows, fists clenched tight.

"Can you send me in?"

"No way, you definitely can’t get in." Fourth Great-uncle Master shook his head. "I’ve personally tried Yin Spirit Leaving the Body, went to the Rakshasa Ghost Market, risked it to get into that Nether Soul Realm through the Ghost Market—there’s nothing there, not the Netherworld at all."

Seventh Great-Uncle Master brought out the sect’s old records, copying out all the parts related to the Demon Kingdom.

Grand Uncle Master’s face looked pretty grim.

"Copy everything about the Demon Kingdom, burn it for Wen Yan.

If the Demon Kingdom ruins really fell into the Netherworld as a whole, something must have awakened there.

So far, the only large swathes that have dropped into the Netherworld are parts of Helan Mountain and parts of Fengdu.

If they discover Wen Yan is a living person and can stay in the Netherworld long-term...

Given how much they knew about the Thirteenth Ancestor back in the day, they’re sure to know that Wen Yan has the Scorching Sun within him.

At that point, they’ll stop at nothing to kill Wen Yan."

The Third Great-uncle Master, expression stern, added,

"The Sacred Fire Sect still exists, and Wen Yan is one of our Fuyu Mountain people—this isn’t a secret anymore.

If we can send Wen Yan a message, so can the Sacred Fire Sect. And even if they can’t, anyone who can cross into the Netherworld can pass along information directly.

This can’t be kept secret much longer. If they find out the Divine Land now has an entry to the Netherworld...

Or, that damn game starts letting people from outside the Divine Land in—it’ll be chaos."

Gan Tang’s brow glowered with dark intent, killing intent roiling off her.

"Should’ve wiped that cult out back then, even burned every last corpse to ashes and scattered them."

"If need be, I’ll strike first—hunt down every last survivor of that cult now."

"I’m not scared of the consequences."

With that, Gan Tang was about to rocket into the sky.

"It’s not that bad, times have changed—it hasn’t come to that..." Grand Uncle Master quickly grabbed Gan Tang. "It’s not that far yet, let’s focus on getting Wen Yan out; nothing else matters right now."

The Fourth Great-uncle Master used talismans as carriers, scribbled a message for Wen Yan on the back, opened a ritual altar, and sent the message over.

On the other side, Wen Yan glanced toward the sky—a brilliant flash, and a long talisman dropped down before him.

He read the message and was slightly surprised.

So Aunt Gan went all the way to the old Demon Kingdom site—just how freaky is that place, that it could fall straight into the Netherworld?

Still, he looked up and didn’t worry much. That message was for Wen Yan—what’s it got to do with me, Su Yue? I’m just an NPC in this Netherworld game.

If someone even kills NPCs, that’d be pretty messed up...

Uh, wait, crap, forgot about the players.

Some players are bored enough to count their leg hairs—they kill NPCs just for fun, as long as the NPC has a health bar and can attack.

As he finished reading the first message, another long talisman fell with new info, still about the Demon Kingdom.

Wen Yan grabbed his phone, snapped some pics click-click-click, checked the shots, and figured as long as they saved, it was good—he’d read them later. Not like he’s a student, no way he’d remember all this.

Over two hours passed before the constant messages finally stopped. Wen Yan looked at the photos on his phone, then waved to a nearby paper servant and pointed at the talismans on the ground.

"Get a few folks who can write, and copy down everything on there."

Just then, Fu Guangfei finished memorizing the intel he needed to bring back.

Wen Yan noticed Lin Jue hovering awkwardly in the distance and waved him over.

"Come on, if you got any messages you want to send back, keep it short—let him take it."

Lin Jue still looked lost; he wasn’t even sure anymore whether Wen Yan was the NPC here or a player like them.

Lin Jue’s message was simple: he was doing fine, shouldn’t die anytime soon, so let the family stop pulling his plug—and meanwhile, he’s still spending the family money. Oh, and for his mom and dad: since they’re still young, better hurry and make an alt-child; otherwise, his younger brother, whose math has never passed and IQ probably isn’t high either, would end up an only child, and in a bout of despair, might go start a business, only to get scammed and ruin the family fortune.

If it’s message-sending time, Wen Yan wasn’t about to play favorites—he called Grave Walker over too. "If you’ve got anything for Lord Zhu, send it along."

Grave Walker paused, surprised he even had the right to relay a message—he was just Lord Zhu’s coachman.

Looking at Wen Yan, Grave Walker didn’t say much, just passed along: "I can’t make it back; can’t be Lord Zhu’s coachman anymore. Thank you for your shelter and guidance, my Lord—take care of yourself."

With the messages delivered, Grave Walker gave a formal kowtow and asked the Little Thief to send it along too.

Watching as Fu Guangfei faded away in a streak of light, Wen Yan looked forward to the talents the Scorching Sun Department would send next—maybe they’d bring some crossbows, ideally with longer range, more firepower, even rapid-fire.

Now idle again, Wen Yan sat back in his chair, looking over the intel from Fourth Great-uncle Master—they said Demon Kingdom, but it was just the Sacred Fire Sect. Same difference; might as well get a handle on it.

Last time during the chemical plant Domain incident, he ran into an ancient battlefield Domain; there was even a Sacred Fire Sect War Soul there, and Senior Brother Qin took it out.

Wen Yan figured, if the Demon Kingdom has really dropped into the Netherworld, it’ll probably have War Souls of the same level.

With his current power, he probably can’t take on a War Soul like that.

...

Fu Guangfei opened his eyes as he woke up. After a short rest, he quickly recited all the intel while he still remembered. Nearby, a member of the Scorching Sun Department’s internal staff recorded at lightning speed.

Once it was all down, he was led by Internal Staff—supposedly for a tour of the Scorching Sun Department. Fu Guangfei glanced at a set of photos on one of the screens—he froze, tilted his head, then pointed to one of the photos.

"Can you rotate that photo for me?"

Internal Staff looked confused but nodded to someone nearby, and the photo was rotated.

Fu Guangfei studied it carefully, and seemed to realize something.

"I’ve seen this man—he was hanged upside down at the manor gate."