After Being Blackened All Over the Internet, I Ruled the Military Variety Shows
Chapter 496 - 487 Eyes

Chapter 496: Chapter 487 Eyes

"Are you scared already?"

Provoked by Changning standing behind her, Yun Yi took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold.

With a flashlight, she scanned inside and immediately concluded, "This seems to be a restaurant."

Everyone followed her in.

Under the flashlight’s beam, they saw a spacious hall with over a dozen tables neatly arranged, and chairs and benches placed on top of them. There were even a few unopened wine jars on the counter at the back.

Except for the thick dust on the floor and furniture, it looked no different from those ancient inns in costume dramas just after closing time.

As the group moved around the hall, many random footprints appeared on the dusty floor.

Yun Yi approached the counter, wanting to open a wine jar to see if there was still wine inside. Just as she was about to do so, Changning, who was not far away, slapped her hand hard, "Better safe than sorry, you know? If there’s anything lethal in that jar, once you open it, it’ll be released, and we could all die. You want to die, go ahead, but don’t drag me along."

"Such strength!" Yun Yi yelped, clasping her reddened, stinging hand, and quickly admitted her mistake, "I was wrong, I won’t dare again."

Jiang Lingxi and Xu Zhao turned their attention elsewhere.

"I’ll check behind the counter."

"I’ll take some people to the second floor."

Jiang Lingxi went around behind the counter and pulled open a half-open drawer, finding several thick account books inside. Just as she carefully tried to take one out to see if she could find out the specific era of this desert Ancient Capital Ruins, she heard a faint sound from behind the screen on the other side.

She immediately looked over, "Who?"

There was no response.

It wasn’t coming from her group.

Changning froze for a moment, then cautiously walked behind the screen and examined the area carefully, "Sister Lingxi, no one."

"Then maybe I misheard."

No more noises came from behind the screen. Jiang Lingxi placed her hand on the topmost account book, but before she could pick it up, she noticed its fragility and feared that it might fall apart at her touch, so she gave up.

After Xu Zhao and the others finished exploring the upstairs guest rooms, everyone went outside.

Jiang Lingxi intentionally lagged behind. As she was about to close the door again, she suddenly shone the flashlight inside.

A pair of eyes glinting green disappeared by the cabinet screen, so quickly she thought it might have been her imagination.

They explored several more buildings, some residential and others commercial, finding nothing unusual apart from the thick dust.

"What time is it?"

"Almost four in the morning."

"Let’s stay here for now, find a place to rest, summarize what we’ve found, then take turns resting."

Yun Yi raised her hand in suggestion, "For resting, that house we saw earlier is pretty good—spacious, and there’s a bed in the corner. Sister Lingxi and Changning, you girls should take the bed. Just lay out your sleeping bags."

This suggestion was unanimously agreed upon.

The place was not only spacious but also close by. After moving around for so long, everyone’s energy was dwindling; no one wanted to travel far to find a place to rest.

It took the group of more than ten people less than ten minutes to clean up, mostly sweeping away surface dust.

Once tidied, everyone formed a circle.

"Just speak up if you’ve noticed anything, don’t worry about it being useful or not."

Changning raised a hand and spoke first, "The houses in these ruins are all very orderly. Apart from large furniture, things like food and daily goods are all missing. I suspect that the people who lived here moved out as a whole city."

"I had the same thought," Xu Zhao nodded in agreement after she finished, "The ruins are in the desert; it’s likely that as the climate worsened, people could no longer live here and chose to move."

"..."

After everyone had finished their discussions, only Jiang Lingxi remained silent.

Jiang Lingxi met the eyes looking at her, "It seems everyone agrees that the Ancient Capital Ruins were abandoned, with residents leaving in an orderly manner with preparation." Before the others could nod, her tone shifted, "But there’s a detail you might have missed. Neither the houses in these ruins nor their furnishings show any signs of use. No matter how much someone might cherish their home, it’s impossible for it to have no signs of use at all, right?"

Yun Yi stood up, wiping clean a small table by the wall with her hand.

She hadn’t paid much attention earlier, but upon closer inspection now...

Although the table was old with age, it didn’t have a single scratch or mark.

This could be explained as newly replaced, but checking other furniture, none showed any usage marks.

"Perhaps they had just moved in..."

She trailed off mid-sentence.

The environment wouldn’t suddenly get worse; it must have taken considerable time to build this city in the desert.

Who would go to such lengths to build a city that couldn’t be occupied for long!

Bored and idle, perhaps?

Yun Yi sat back down, looking suspicious, "How could this be?"

Xu Zhao’s face also grew more serious, "Given this, we may need to discard all our previous assumptions."

The room fell silent for a moment.

With this perplexing discovery, everyone became somber.

Seeing this, Jiang Lingxi hesitated and ultimately decided not to mention having seemingly seen a pair of eyes earlier.

After all, she wasn’t certain, and it might have just been her tired eyes playing tricks after a long night.

"Let’s take turns resting first, regain some energy, then continue searching for other clues."

But in such an eerie place, truly sleeping wasn’t possible; they could only doze lightly to slightly relax their minds.

Meanwhile.

Yin Chong hadn’t rested yet.

"How many people did Chong Shi send out?"

"Five."

"Five against sixteen, he’s certainly confident," Yin Chong sneered, "Did the people I sent out find any trace of Wu Jue’s group?"

Luan Hua paused, then shook his head, "Not yet."

"Jiang Lingxi’s group isn’t a concern for now; it’s Wu Jue that mustn’t be allowed to reunite with them. Besides," Yin Chong looked at the exceptionally clean table, polished by a subordinate, "I have a feeling something’s peculiar about this place."

"Peculiar?"

"I can’t say exactly, but at no time should we be careless; caution is paramount."

Luan Hua nodded earnestly; since the master sensed something strange, even if she noticed nothing, she did not dare let her guard down.

"It’s getting late. Go rest now."

Luan Hua followed the order and left.

The place they were currently staying was a large mansion, although it was considered large only compared to other buildings within the ruins.

Almost forty people were housed in one courtyard, with everyone except the master and Chong Shi sharing rooms, which made things somewhat crowded.

Before heading to her assigned room for the night, Luan Hua remembered the master’s words and decided to personally patrol the courtyard before returning.

At the front gate, her brows furrowed, "Why is this main gate not shut tightly?"

The two guarding the gate hurriedly explained upon her arrival, "The main gate doesn’t align properly, probably due to the wood warping from age. Rest assured, Sister Luan, we’re keeping watch here; not a single mosquito will get through."

"There are no mosquitoes in this desert; they naturally can’t get in," Luan Hua quipped in annoyance, walking over, "Let me try."

The gate opened, Luan Hua exerted force with her arm, and just as the doors seemed to align perfectly sealed—

A large, round red eye suddenly appeared outside the gap, and disappeared in a blink, so quickly it seemed like an illusion!