Chapter 191 Chasing and Fleeing

"Yeah... where are the military personnel?"

"Are we going to be abandoned here?"

"No way! It must be that we came out too early... they haven't arrived yet..."

"The military will always be guarding outside the ruins; there are shifts."

"Alright! Everyone, settle down."

Master Wu Hai used his Buddhist Lion's Roar to suppress the increasingly panicked crowd, then took out a spiritual crystal communication device and made a call.

Before long, the military indeed arrived with transport vehicles.

"Everyone, get on the vehicles in an orderly fashion according to your school. Everyone must be registered," the leading military officer said with a fawning smile. "My apologies, Abbot. Our legion encountered a minor issue during the handover, causing everyone to wait. We are extremely sorry."

"It's nothing."

"By the way, Abbot..." the officer glanced around and asked, "Did we lose quite a few people in the ruins again this time..."

"Much more than before. The last time we were besieged by demons in the ruins, that was truly devastating in terms of casualties..."

"Apologies, Abbot." The officer saluted Master Wu Hai and said, "I still need to coordinate personnel arrangements, so I won't keep you company, Abbot."

"Go ahead." After speaking, Master Wu Hai turned to count the Shaolin Temple disciples.

In just over ten minutes, driven by the desire to survive, everyone quickly boarded the vehicles and completed their registration.

As for Mo Chuan and Zhang Hanshan, to conceal Luo Ni's identity, they did not register and boarded the vehicle with the help of Qing Lian Zi.

"Officer, all personnel have been registered," a soldier reported to the officer, handing him a list.

"Zhang Hanshan wasn't found?" The officer frowned after looking through the list.

"No..."

"Tsk... looks like he perished in the ruins," the officer said with regret, shaking his head. "We'll have to report it as such."

Subsequently, everyone boarded the vehicles, the convoy started their engines, and majestically drove into the vast sea of sand.

...

Two days later, everyone returned to Yumeng City.

Mo Chuan and the others first returned to their hotels to rest for more than half a day. When they got hungry in the evening, they came out to gather and find a place to eat.

At a barbecue restaurant with a Western region flair.

Luo Ni and Tang Jingjing sat on either side of Mo Chuan, holding their skewers of meat and vying to feed Mo Chuan.

He Lan Xin, for some reason, leaned against Zhang Hanshan (the younger version), who was eating heartily, her cheeks slightly flushed, and sipped her beer in small mouthfuls.

Suddenly, He Lan Xin seemed to notice something. She immediately activated her spiritual power and used her [Primal Eye].

Seeing this, the other four slowed down their eating and drinking and looked at He Lan Xin.

"Ten o'clock in my front, that man wearing glasses," He Lan Xin said after deactivating her [Primal Eye]. "He was just on the phone holding Zhang Hanshan's photo, and then they seemed to have an argument, and he hung up."

"Speaking of which..." He Lan Xin looked at Mo Chuan and Zhang Hanshan. "Did you guys board the vehicle without registering?"

"Yes, it was to help Luo Ni sneak onto the vehicle."

"Hurry up and eat; we'll go check out the Ghost Market later," Zhang Hanshan said, lowering his head and continuing to eat ravenously.

The group exchanged glances, and then unconsciously sped up their eating.

The man with glasses made a few more calls, then unhappily packed his things and left the barbecue restaurant.

...

The group, after simple disguises, entered the Ghost Market.

"The layout of this Ghost Market is similar to the one in Qingzhou," Mo Chuan remarked, looking around. kuAiδugg

Since Zhang Hanshan's bank card had been frozen earlier, He Lan Xin had to pay the entrance fees for everyone.

The group entered the Yumeng branch of Yi Hu Chun. After Mo Chuan completed the secret password, a middle-aged man dressed as a sand grave digger met them.

"What information do you require?" the middle-aged man asked as he brewed a pot of tea for them.

"We want information about Zhang Hanshan," Mo Chuan said grimly, looking at the middle-aged man. His disguise was using [Innate Charm] to become a rough-bearded man with a scar on his eye.

The middle-aged man frowned and asked, "Do you want recent information or his entire life's resume?"

"Recent information."

"I have one Class A piece of information for the price of one Class 6 spiritual treasure; two Class B pieces of information for the price of two gold bars each; and one Class C piece of information for the price of two gold beans. No bargaining is allowed."

After paying, the group received the first Class C message and couldn't help but frown:

"The Imperial City of Zhu issues a secret decree, offering a reward for the capture of Zhang Hanshan alive, with a bounty of ninety-one thousand yuan and one Class 4 spiritual treasure."

Then came two Class B messages:

"Zhang Hanshan entered the Dunhuang Ruins with the convoy. His last known location was the outer districts of Yumeng City."

"Military intelligence indicates that Zhang Hanshan most likely died in the ruins."

Seeing this, Mo Chuan and He Lan Xin looked at Zhang Hanshan in surprise.

This time, it was fortunate that Zhang Hanshan had shrunk and was not recognized immediately, and coupled with their failure to register, they had successfully misled the military.

The last Class A message was very recent, only about twenty to thirty minutes old:

"The Yumeng branch of the Dragon Country National Bank processed a withdrawal from Zhang Hanshan's account at 21:50 on November 1st. Zhang Hanshan is suspected to have returned to Yumeng."

"This is bad," Mo Chuan muttered with a frown. He turned his head and met Zhang Hanshan's equally grim expression. They decided immediately to leave the Ghost Market and secretly leave their hotel.

As they walked out, they noticed that the number of people in the Ghost Market seemed to have decreased compared to earlier.

If it were just fewer pedestrians, it would be understandable, but the majority of the stalls had also packed up early, which was problematic.

"The situation is not right. Let's go quickly," Mo Chuan and the others immediately hurried towards the exit of the Ghost Market.

Along the way, Zhang Hanshan whispered to Mo Chuan, "When we get back to the hotel, help me pack everything and bring it out, especially the bag I usually carry. Make sure to bring everything inside."

Mo Chuan nodded. Just as they rounded a street corner, they found a man in black official robes blocking the exit with a group of thugs and people in eccentric clothing.

Mo Chuan and the others' expressions darkened. What they didn't want to happen had happened.

"You are the ones who used Zhang Hanshan's bank card, aren't you?" the man at the head said. "Tell us Zhang Hanshan's whereabouts, and we'll spare your lives."

"They are local thugs and Ghost Market bounty hunters," Zhang Hanshan whispered to Mo Chuan from behind.

"Zhang..." Mo Chuan was about to speak when a thug with acne on his face held up a compass to the man at the head and said, "Lord Zhuang, that child has the closest relationship with Zhang Hanshan!"

The man narrowed his eyes and said, "Capture him. Deal with the others."

"Charge!" Upon hearing the man's command, everyone immediately rushed forward like unleashed wild dogs, their eyes red, charging at Zhang Hanshan. (It was money, after all.)

"I'll tank the damage, you guys output!" Mo Chuan said, activating [Hellwalker · Divine Dragon Venerable], summoning his hook and lantern to block in front of everyone.

He Lan Xin summoned her Overlord Halberd, twisted her waist, and charged at the crowd with a burst of power from her legs.

"Pear blossom rain!" "Soldiers! Charge!"

Tang Jingjing and Luo Ni summoned their Thousand Mechanisms Umbrella and Yellow Sand Soldiers. The former spun her Thousand Mechanisms Umbrella, firing thousands of silver needles at the thugs; the latter's Yellow Sand Soldiers formed ranks with spears, and upon receiving the order, they immediately thrust forward, charging like a sea of sand.

"Old Zhang, protect yourself well." Mo Chuan could only use his body to cover Zhang Hanshan as much as possible. Because there were too many opponents and their strange methods were endless, Mo Chuan found it difficult to defend against them all.

"Don't worry, Brother Chuan. It's a good opportunity to try out my new skill!" Zhang Hanshan patted his chest. Spiritual power condensed in his hand, and the Golden Dragon Vajra Pestle appeared out of thin air.

"Guardian Generals!"

As Zhang Hanshan struck the ground with his vajra pestle, several people who had been lurking in the darkness seeking opportunities to sneak attack were forced out of the shadows and scattered, scrambling away.

The man in the black official robes frowned in confusion at this sight, but then he felt a strange chill wash over him.

His eyes moved slightly. He saw two people emerge from the shadows behind Zhang Hanshan, each with red and green facial masks painted on, dressed colorfully, and holding strange magical artifacts.

Although these two people were slow, taking a cross-legged stance with every step, the pressure emanating from them was constant.

The thug holding the compass clearly knew something. Upon seeing this, he almost dropped his compass, and cold sweat streamed down his back. He muttered, "Green and Red Evil Ghost Masks... Silver Teeth Golden Eyes Appearance... Ghost Body Official General Robes... They are the Generals of Increase and Decrease..."

...

ps: Zhang Hanshan's data updated (Tank positioning unchanged, but changed from pure brawler tank plus heavy armor to magic tank.)

Zhang Hanshan (previous rating in parentheses)

Stamina A+ (s-)

Attack B (B+)

Defense SS- (s)

Spiritual Power S- (B-)

Crowd Control SS- (A-)

Skills

[Golden Dragon Subduing Demons]: Can summon the [Golden Dragon Vajra Pestle]. When dealing four independent instances of damage to a target within one minute, it triggers an additional spiritual power explosion, dealing magical damage and slowing the target.

[Nine Splendors Bodyguard]: Automatically gains 15%-45% damage reduction (increases with lost health, reaching maximum at less than 50% health). When the maximum damage reduction is triggered, it immediately activates [Evil Ghost Soul Devour]. (This effect has a 30-minute cooldown.)

[Hell Kasaya]: When receiving damage greater than 5% of maximum health in a single instance, the kasaya triggers [Evil Ghost Soul Devour], dealing magic damage and reducing magic resistance to all surrounding targets (stacks up to three times).

[Official General Guardian]: Summons [General Zeng] and [General Sun]. Upon appearance, they will cause fear in all surrounding targets for two seconds. Upon their death, they trigger [Evil Ghost Soul Devour].

([Zeng Wufu Xi]: General Zeng traps targets within range with shackles, dealing continuous magic damage and immobilizing the target upon skill completion.)

([Sun Wu Huo You]: General Sun smashes a target area with a steel fork, dealing magic damage. Each time a target is killed, it triggers [Evil Ghost Soul Devour].)