Xuanqing Guard

Chapter 246: Chapter 246: Restriction

Mere evil spirits?

Wu Changhe actually dared to say that out loud!

Since when did evil spirits become something that could be so easily looked down upon? For Wu Changhe to say such a thing was utterly absurd. Maybe he’s never even seen evil spirits before? Just assuming they’re easy to handle?

The reason Shen Hao reacted so strongly is because he clawed his way up from the bottom of the Xuanqing Guard. More than once, he had scraped by death by a hair’s breadth when confronting evil spirits, so the impression they left was deep. He knew all too well that to be careless with evil spirits was a sure road to destruction.

Of course, just because Wu Changhe was so nonchalant didn’t mean the Tu Kui City Garrison would act carelessly too. From what Wang Yiming just said—Tu Kui City immediately dispatched two General Flag battalions out the city to investigate—it was clear they were highly vigilant about evil spirits.

Two General Flag units amounted to nearly half the strength of a Hundred Households Station.

Yet, they vanished without a trace?!

You have to know that every Xuanqing Guard cultivator carries a Summoning Talisman. That thing is simple to activate and send out. Maybe one or two were caught off guard and couldn’t trigger it in time, but with two entire General Flag contingents—over two hundred cultivators—could it be that none of them managed to call for backup?

"What’s the situation now?"

"The Hundred Households Officer in Tu Kui City already realized something was wrong. He sent an emergency request for aid in the early morning. Commander Wu has already approved it, and our reserve base is assembling and preparing to depart."

"How many people are they sending?"

"Three hundred elite troops from the Thousand Households Station. In addition, two more General Flag battalions have been transferred in from Pingshun City."

Shen Hao nodded. Three hundred elite from the Thousand Households Station, plus two more General Flag battalions from garrisons—this was a major mobilization. Wu Changhe’s view of evil spirits was ridiculous, but at least when things got serious, his response was appropriate.

"Have our people send some personnel with them, and report back at any time."

"Yes, sir."

Wu Changhe didn’t transfer anyone from the Black Banner Battalion—which was beyond Shen Hao’s authority. Besides, cases like this weren’t suitable for Black Banner Battalion involvement in the first instance. Their position is special; bringing in Black Banner troops immediately would make the local garrisons feel distrusted and make investigations harder.

But necessary developments still had to be firmly grasped.

"Also, send an urgent order to the Black Banner Battalion in Tu Kui City. Ask Liu Kuan why something this important hasn’t been reported to us yet."

"Understood, sir. I’ll go immediately." With that, Wang Yiming hurried off.

Shen Hao thought for a bit, then took a Thousand-Mile Sound from his storage bag to send a message to Flying Dragon, telling him to check the black market in Tu Kui City about what really happened outside the city yesterday.

Now, just hearing the words "evil spirits" made Shen Hao’s whole body uncomfortable. Years ago, his Little Banner Battalion was wiped out and he nearly had his heart gouged out by an evil spirit. Ever since then, he’d been left with psychological trauma by these disgusting things. And now, an entire two General Flag battalions had disappeared without a word? Even just hearing about it sounded ominous.

He worked anxiously in the public office until noon. The Black Banner Battalion’s reply from Tu Kui City finally arrived. The delay made Shen Hao highly displeased.

But after opening the Copper Rod, Shen Hao fell silent.

The Copper Rod was written by a Small Banner Officer among the rear guard of the Black Banner Battalion in Tu Kui City.

Liu Kuan was missing.

Last night, two General Flag battalions were sent by the Hundred Households Station in Tu Kui City to investigate the evil spirit case outside the city—one of which included the Black Banner Battalion where Liu Kuan belonged. Originally, Black Banner Battalion wasn’t required to carry out these kinds of missions, but because the Hundred Households in Tu Kui City had drawn manpower for the prior Jingxi Action, many cases were piling up. The other General Flag units were short-handed, so Black Banner was deployed as an emergency measure. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

And just like that, Liu Kuan disappeared.

After that, Wang Yiming came in holding another Copper Rod—this one a report sent back by scouts Shen Hao had stationed in Tu Kui City. Combined with the details sent by the Black Banner Battalion Small Banner Officer earlier, the report was now quite detailed.

First, the whole thing started the day before at noon, when the Local Government Office received a report of a death at a village outside the city. So the office sent three governmental officials to investigate, but none returned by dusk. The squad leader grew suspicious and led three more officials on duty to the village, but again, they never returned.

The next day, realizing something was wrong, the government office sent five more officials—who also vanished without a trace. Only then did they realize how abnormal things were and reported the situation up the chain to the Xuanqing Guard Hundred Households Station.

After that, the Hundred Households Station mobilized both the Jia Flag and the Black Banner Battalion—two entire General Flag contingents—to the crime scene. Everything was carried out by the book, but those forces disappeared without a ripple. The Hundred Households Officer, already on high alert, realized there was a problem when no contact was received past the scheduled time. He immediately notified the local garrison soldiers to seal off a fifty-li radius around the scene and recalled the other two General Flag battalions on outside assignments.

In the early morning hours, Tu Kui City sent an urgent message to the Fengri City Thousand Households Station, and then the station convened to discuss sending reinforcements.

At mid-7 a.m., three hundred elite from the Thousand Households Station and two more General Flag contingents brought in from Pingshun City joined the two remaining General Flag battalions in Tu Kui City and all proceeded to the scene.

The report indicated the crime scene was at a village called "Caiyuan," eighty li east of Tu Kui City. When the large force arrived, they found garrison soldiers blocking the roads twenty li out, but because of what happened to the Xuanqing Guard and the governmental officials, those soldiers dared not approach further, so there was no useful intelligence available.

The Thousand Households Station’s reinforcements included many experts, most notably three Array specialists from the arsenal, because during the station’s emergency meeting, Wu Changhe had suggested that the serial disappearances might be caused by a large-scale array that blocked outside communication.

In fact, this suspicion proved spot-on. As soon as the three array specialists crossed five li beyond the garrison’s cordon, they sensed the fluctuations of a Restriction Array—an extremely rare, super-large formation. frёeωebɳovel.com

That made them afraid to advance further.

Restriction Arrays are a category of complex arrays, specially used for defense and lethal formation measures. They encompass many types and can be highly intricate; to charge in rashly would be suicide. Normally, super-large-scale restrictions measured in li only appear on battlefields or in major sect forbidden grounds. Why would one appear out here?

After reading the situation report, Shen Hao furrowed his brow and, after a long pause, instructed Wang Yiming, "Tell the remaining Small Banner Officer in Tu Kui City to go to the Local Government Office and investigate how the initial report was made, and why they ended up reporting to Xuanqing Guard as an evil spirit incident."

They said it was evil spirits gathering which prompted Xuanqing Guard’s intervention in Tu Kui City, but judging by the messages received, there’s nothing at the scene to indicate an evil spirit gathering, is there?

All of these compiled reports left Shen Hao feeling things in Tu Kui City were in complete disorder. Both the Local Government Office and Xuanqing Guard Hundred Households Station seemed to be a mess.