Pan Chi frowned, “What kind of dark magic is this?” Two living people had vanished before their eyes.
Concern clouded Shen Du’s judgment. Seeing Zhu Yan disappear right in front of him threw him off balance.
Shen Du knitted his brows and said, “This is an illusion technique.” His vast experience allowed him to recognize it immediately.
“Hold your breath and focus your mind. Listen carefully for any sounds,” Shen Du instructed.
They couldn’t see the people, but locating them by sound wasn’t impossible.
Pan Chi nodded and followed the advice, pulling out some vials from his sleeve and tinkering with them on the ground.
…
Below the city wall, chaos erupted as a group of Half-Face Ghosts suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
They hacked at anyone in sight, showing no mercy.
The defenseless civilians fell to the Half-Face Ghosts like vegetables under a cleaver, one strike for each.
In an instant, corpses littered the ground by the city gate, the stench of blood so thick it made one want to vomit.
“Why are there so many Half-Face Ghosts?”
Everyone was caught off guard, even Shen Du and his group were momentarily stunned. All the clues from their previous investigations suddenly connected. Pan Chi exclaimed:
“No wonder the Half-Face Ghost could commit crimes all over Gannan Circuit. It turns out they were working as a group.”
The Half-Face Ghost they saw at Xiu Xiang Pavilion had subtle differences in build compared to the one who kidnapped Zhu Yan today, but given the current situation, they had overlooked this detail.
Shen Du listened intently, his cold eyes narrowing: “No matter how many Half-Face Ghosts there are, none will leave here alive today.”
Whether for the Phoenix Destiny or the civilians, the Half-Face Ghosts could not be allowed to remain.
Seeing the situation, Mo Qianyi furrowed his brows but maintained the composure of a prefect. He simultaneously directed the city guard of Yingzhou and urged the staff from the Imperial Household Department to help.
Jing Lin received Shen Du’s hand signal and immediately led the elite members of the Imperial Guard to charge forward.
Yingzhou’s constable Sun Tan also joined the fray with his men. The three forces clashed together, reaching a stalemate.
Civilians fled in panic, some colliding with each other in the chaos.
In short, it was utter mayhem.
Mo Qianyi gave a cold laugh and ordered the archers to retreat outside, preparing for a barrage of arrows.
If they couldn’t recognize the situation, he couldn’t be blamed for being merciless.
Meanwhile, the Half-Face Ghost used powder to cast an illusion, quickly pulling Zhu Yan back to a safe distance. He looked around, seeking a secure escape route.
Though frightened at being captured, Zhu Yan managed to maintain her composure. After analyzing the situation, she probed, “Chen Huoe?”
The Half-Face Ghost remained motionless upon hearing this, showing no reaction.
Zhu Yan bit her lip and tried again, “Lai Luofu?”
After naming the two leaders of the Fire Moth Party, the Half-Face Ghost still showed no response, making Zhu Yan wonder if she had guessed wrong.
Were these masked figures not associated with the Fire Moth organization?
Zhu Yan collected herself. Seeing the Half-Face Ghost looking around, she knew an opportunity had come and began to struggle.
This inhuman creature was not to be trifled with. If there was a chance, she had to escape.
However, Zhu Yan was just a woman without martial arts skills. Her struggle was merely an itch to the Half-Face Ghost.
The Half-Face Ghost immediately restrained her and warned in a low voice, “Zhu Yan, if you don’t want to suffer, you’d better behave.”
Even though there were orders to capture her specifically, as long as her life wasn’t in danger, losing a piece of flesh wouldn’t matter.
Last time at the gambling den, he had almost fallen into their trap. If he hadn’t retreated in time, he might have been caught.
He naturally wanted to find a way to vent this anger.
Zhu Yan knew her limits and immediately fell silent. Physical pain was still pain after all!
The Half-Face Ghost was satisfied and dragged her along. Zhu Yan could only place her hopes on Shen Du.
However, she soon noticed something odd.
When she and Shen Du had arrived earlier, the scene was already chaotic, with the Half-Face Ghost holding Du Xiaowan hostage on the city wall, quite far away. No one had called out her name loudly, so how did the Half-Face Ghost know it?
Most bizarrely, they walked right past Shen Du and Pan Chi without any reaction from them.
Suddenly, Zhu Yan wasn’t panicked anymore. She looked up carefully at the Half-Face Ghost, seeing the green-faced, fanged mask covering his face completely, unable to discern any features.
The Half-Face Ghost wasn’t one to cherish flowers or pity jade. Seeing her hesitate, he yanked her roughly. Zhu Yan stumbled, her sharp eyes catching a red birthmark on the Half-Face Ghost’s wrist. As her neck loosened, the bronze whistle hanging around her neck fell out from her collar.
Seeing this object, Zhu Yan took a sharp breath. She quickly put the whistle in her mouth and blew several hard blasts.
She hoped Shen Du and Pan Chi could hear the sound and determine her location.
Seeing her still able to cause trouble, the Half-Face Ghost became furious and snatched the whistle away.
His actions were so rough, it was as if he wanted to break Zhu Yan’s neck along with taking the whistle.
Zhu Yan winced in pain, hissing, hoping Shen Du and Pan Chi would quickly hear the sound and come to her rescue.
This move proved effective. Those trained in martial arts had exceptional hearing. Despite the chaos below the city wall, Shen Du still heard the whistle.
Just as he was about to move towards the sound, several Half-Face Ghosts had already climbed the city wall and surrounded him, attacking fiercely with killing intent.
Earlier, he had been busy searching for Zhu Yan and hadn’t paid attention to the situation below the wall.
Now surrounded, Shen Du immediately stood back-to-back with Pan Chi in a defensive stance. The two understood that today would be a bloody battle.
Seeing Shen Du trapped, Mo Qianyi immediately ordered the archers to release their arrows.
The archers naturally followed Mo Qianyi’s command, and soon a rain of arrows filled the sky.
Zhu Yan heard the “whoosh” of arrows and looked up to see the barrage coming down.
Her heart sank, hoping only to die with some dignity and not be turned into a pincushion.
The Half-Face Ghost hadn’t expected Mo Qianyi to order an arrow attack either. He immediately pulled Zhu Yan in front of him, intending to use her as a shield.
At this critical moment, Pan Chi finally finished preparing his secret medicine. He scattered the powder in the direction of the sound he had heard.
As the powder made contact, the illusion broke. Pan Chi finally saw Zhu Yan.
“Go quickly!” Shen Du shouted, covering Pan Chi’s retreat while yelling down the city wall, “Stop shooting! Stop shooting!”
Pan Chi seized the opportunity to rush forward, swinging his sword to deflect the arrows aimed at Zhu Yan. He managed to snatch her from the Half-Face Ghost’s grasp, and without giving him a chance to breathe, Pan Chi attacked while leading Zhu Yan to safety.
Meanwhile, Shen Du was entangled with a group of Half-Face Ghosts, dodging arrow attacks while keeping an eye on Pan Chi and Zhu Yan.
Seeing them nearly hit by arrows, he became anxious and shouted to Mo Qianyi, “Lord Mo, stop the arrows! You’ll only harm innocents this way.”
How was Pan Chi doing? He didn’t care. The most important thing was Zhu Yan – she had no martial arts skills and no ability to protect herself.