Chapter 1820 913: The Man in the Mist (Part 2)

On the platform stood over a hundred shadowy figures of bare-chested Han warriors, each with bulging muscles, holding torches, oil jars, and rockets.

They repeated the actions of throwing, igniting, and shouting. Though silently, the ferocity in their ghostly faces vividly conjured the fierce warfare of old.

When the Li Huo Soldiers entered the flag, the temperature of the flag surface suddenly rose, and it felt hot to the touch.

The "Fire Pit Department" emblem on the flag glowed with a dark red luster, like the lingering warmth of embers about to extinguish.

The third area, to the west, was a pile of rusted weapons.

Knives, spears, swords, long spears, axes, halberds, hooks, and forks were piled into a small mountain, half of which were so rusted that their original shapes were indistinguishable. Around the heap of weapons hovered the shadowy figures of heavily armored infantry, wearing Zha Armor. They held no weapons but beat their chests with bare fists, issuing silent roars.

With each beat, metal resonances rippled around them.

When the Geng Metal Soldiers entered the flag, the flag's texture changed again.

Previously, it was flexible like leather soaked in oil; now it had a metallic, resonant quality.

As Li Yan shook the flagpole, faint sounds of swords clashing could be heard.

The fourth area, to the north, was a long-dry deep well.

The well's opening was about ten feet in diameter, its walls made of green bricks, with dark green moss growing in the brick seams. Kneeling at the edge of the well were dozens of shadowy figures dressed as water soldiers, holding wooden buckets, water skins, and rafts. They repeated the actions of fetching, handing, and pouring water. As they poured, the shadows would look up at the sky, as if expecting the rain that would never fall.

When the Ren Shui Soldiers entered the flag, a moist sensation spread across the flag's surface.

Not actual wetness, but when held, it felt as if the crashing of waves against the shore could be heard as an illusion.

When all Five Directions Soldiers took their positions, the Five Directions Luo Feng Flag completely changed its appearance.

The flagpole remained of Ink Jade, but threads of five colors—green, red, white, black, and yellow—flowed within the jade texture. The flag's surface was as thick as a Copper Coin, icy to the touch; upon close inspection, it was not made of fabric but woven from countless intricate runes.

The pattern of the Six Palaces of Fengdu at the center of the flag became three-dimensional, with shadows falling over the palace walls, hall gates, and eaves, as if a miniature City God of Yin Bureau were affixed to the flag.

Li Yan tucked the flag at his lower back and couldn't resist speaking: "The Five Directions Soldiers are placed in five areas, each with distinct Evil Qi attributes, yet subtly align with the Five Elements' generation sequence. This arrangement... doesn't seem naturally formed."

The Five Dao General was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"From here on, you walk on your own."

Li Yan was taken aback.

The General pointed to the densest shadow in the dimness: "This place is the core of the Yin Ruins. If there is a Flat Peach, it must be hidden within. And—"

He paused, his tone becoming solemn, "You have also been to the Daluo Law Realm. If you encounter something incomprehensible deep within, something obviously dropped from the Dharma Realm, not belonging to the Human World, find a way to destroy it. Do not keep it!"

"Why?" Li Yan frowned.

The Five Dao General's bloodstained face showed a flash of struggle, ultimately turning into a sigh: "I fear... I might succumb to the temptation."

The statement was cryptic.

What temptation could sway a Divine General governing the roads of the Human World?

Li Yan wanted to ask more, but the Five Dao General waved him off: "The situation is set; more questions are useless. Just remember: if you truly encounter something, destroy it first, regardless of its apparent value."

With the conversation reaching this point, Li Yan knew he could ask no further.

He bowed respectfully, turned, and walked toward the core shadow.

Once his figure completely disappeared into the darkness, the Five Dao General let out a long, heavy breath.

Though an Incense Fire Avatar, he seemed to display a mortal fatigue.

"It truly remains..."

He muttered to himself, the blood threads in his eyes thickening, "Are they not afraid of triggering calamity?"

Before the words fell, a sudden transformation erupted.

The General's form flickered without warning, like a candle flame blown by the wind.

He sharply turned his head, gazing toward the heavy fog three measures away.

A shadowy figure had appeared in the mist without anyone knowing when.

The figure's outline resembled a human, yet lacked facial details, shrouded entirely in a gray mist, only a pair of hands were clearly visible—distinctly jointed, deathly pale, holding a small apricot yellow flag between the fingers.

The Five Dao General's expression changed drastically.

"Impossible!"

His voice carried shock for the first time, "How can you still be—"

The sentence remained unfinished.

The apricot yellow flag gave a gentle flick.

No light, no sound, not even the faintest current of Spiritual Energy could be sensed.

Yet, without warning, a bowl-sized gap appeared in the chest of the Five Dao General's Incense Fire Avatar.

The edges of the gap were smooth as a mirror, revealing the warped folds of space beyond.

The General looked down at the opening, then up at the shadow in the mist, lips moving as if to speak.

Ultimately, nothing came out.

The Incense Fire Avatar crumbled like a sand tower, dissolving into thousands of points of white light floating and scattering away.

Before the points of light could reach the ground, they sublimated into the darkness, as if they never existed.

The shadow in the fog retracted the apricot yellow flag, slowly turning its head, facing in the direction where Li Yan had disappeared.

It stood there motionless, like a lifeless statue...

...

At the same time, at the Five Dao General Temple.

At 23:45, the curfew-enforced streets outside the temple were deserted.

Inside the temple, lamps were lit brightly, with seven Lotus Lamps on the magic platform exuding a dim, yellow glow.

Wang Daoxuan sat cross-legged in front of the platform, wearing an apricot yellow Daoist robe and a Five Peaks Crown.

In front of him was a three-foot-square jujube wood magic platform, with an Eight Trigrams Array diagram painted in vermillion on its surface, at the Array Eye was offered a half-foot-tall clay Divine Statue of the Five Dao General.

Though small, the craftsmanship of the statue was exquisite; the Armor Plates of the Bright Armor, the patterns of the long spear, and even the facial hair were all distinctly defined.

Three circles were formed around the platform with Red Rope soaked in Black Dog Blood, with a patterned coin tied every seven inches along the rope.