Chapter 750: There Is Someone in the Forbidden Land

Chapter 750: Chapter 224: There Is Someone in the Forbidden Land

Jiao Hong shook his head again, confirming he really didn’t know.

Unable to get a clear answer, Shen Bai thought for a moment, then waved his hand.

“In that case, continue your patrols and guard duty as planned. Don’t let this distract you.”

‘One thing at a time. If I can’t find anything, I’ll put the investigation on hold for now. I can look into it again after this place opens.’

Jiao Hong nodded, then excused himself and left.

After Jiao Hong left, Shen Bai surveyed the encampment, lost in thought.

‘This young man, Ke Xiaoran, who appeared out of nowhere… he claims to be from the Artifact Refining Sect, but he has absolutely no connection to this Forbidden Land. Something is definitely very wrong here.’

Just as he was mulling this over, the anomaly appeared once more.

Through his Void-breaking Red Eye, Shen Bai once again saw the orb of light materialize before him.

Shen Bai shot to his feet and chased it out of the tent without a moment’s hesitation.

But the orb of light hadn’t left; it was still circling inside the tent.

The moment Shen Bai used Divine Thousand Miles to teleport in front of the orb, it prepared to flee.

Wasting no time, Shen Bai drew Cold Moon from his waist and slashed.

Just like before, the orb of light vanished.

Shen Bai’s sudden movements attracted the attention of the patrolling Observatory members. They gathered around him, watching with curiosity.

Shen Bai frowned. “Did none of you see that orb of light just now?”

The men exchanged confused glances before shaking their heads in unison, indicating they had seen nothing.

Shen Bai’s frown deepened. He couldn’t shake the feeling that everything happening around him was imbued with a bone-chilling sense of dread.

Just then, a voice suddenly rang out.

Shen Bai turned to see Ke Xiaoran, the man from before with the eight mechanical arms on his back, standing before him once again.

At this strange sight, an idea struck Shen Bai. He pointed at Ke Xiaoran and spoke to his men.

“Can you see this man?”

Jiao Hong had also arrived. He and the others followed Shen Bai’s pointed finger, but saw nothing in the air before them—only the deep black of the night.

Seeing Shen Bai’s strange behavior, the hairs on Jiao Hong’s body stood on end. “Lord Shen,” he said, “we don’t see anything.”

Shen Bai narrowed his eyes, his gaze fixed on Ke Xiaoran.

Ke Xiaoran suddenly spoke again. “Who are you? Why have you appeared in my Artifact Refining Sect?”

Shen Bai replied with interest, “You may not know who I am, but I know who you are.”

Ke Xiaoran asked, baffled, “How could you know who I am? I’ve never seen you before.”

Shen Bai said slowly, “You’re Ke Xiaoran, correct?”

A look of surprise crossed Ke Xiaoran’s face. “How do you know my name?”

He didn’t get to finish, because Ke Xiaoran had already vanished into the sky.

As Shen Bai watched Ke Xiaoran disappear, he finally had his first clue.

‘Only I can see this orb of light and the Ke Xiaoran who appears.’

‘Not only that, but both the orb and Ke Xiaoran seem to be fake… illusory.’

‘They appear, and then they vanish shortly after.’

‘But Shen Bai couldn’t understand why they were appearing at all.’

“Pay me no mind,” Shen Bai said. “Just return to your posts as before.”

‘Since I’m the only one who can see these things, there’s no need to disturb Jiao Hong and his men on their patrol.’

Although Jiao Hong found Shen Bai’s recent actions strange, an order was an order, and they could only obey.

The men then quietly departed.

But Shen Bai didn’t return to his tent. He simply stood in the open, waiting patiently.

Sure enough, after only a moment, the orb of light appeared again.

This time, however, Shen Bai did not use Cold Moon to slice it in two.

‘The last two times, Ke Xiaoran only appeared after I’d sliced the orb in two, and he vanished almost as soon as he appeared.’

‘So this time,’ Shen Bai thought, ‘I’ll see what happens if I don’t slice the orb apart.’

The orb of light remained for the span of a few breaths. Seeing that Shen Bai was ignoring it, it shot into the air just as before and flew off in a specific direction.

Shen Bai wasted no time, using Divine Thousand Miles to pursue the orb of light.

This time, Shen Bai didn’t try to stop it, instead maintaining a safe distance.

In the span of just a few breaths, Shen Bai and the orb of light had left the encampment far behind.

Shen Bai frowned, his hand resting on the hilt of Cold Moon at his waist.

‘If it keeps flying off like this without anything else happening,’ Shen Bai considered, ‘I’ll have to wonder if this is a ploy by the Demonic Forces to lure the tiger from its mountain.’

‘After all, I can still get back from this distance. Any farther, and I won’t be able to.’

He decided to intercept the orb of light.

But just as Shen Bai was about to draw his Longsword, a whistling sound cut through the air.

And then, Ke Xiaoran, the man with eight mechanical arms, appeared before Shen Bai’s eyes once more.

This time, however, Ke Xiaoran didn’t speak to Shen Bai. Instead, he lunged straight for the orb of light.

With a mechanical whir, the eight arms on Ke Xiaoran’s back suddenly elongated like ropes, wrapping tightly around the orb of light.

Shen Bai watched from a short distance, able to see the flicker of excitement in Ke Xiaoran’s eyes.

At the same time, he heard Ke Xiaoran’s voice.

“Hahaha! To think I actually managed to catch such a precious orb of Qi! This is my lucky day!”

Ke Xiaoran threw his head back and laughed, then took a deep breath, inhaling from the orb of light.