Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1569 - 1562: Prologue or Catfish

Chapter 1569: Chapter 1562: Prologue or Catfish

"Could it be a sixth sense?" Hu Daoke asked, baffled.

"My sixth sense is pretty strong, okay?" Fulajie’er said, pouting.

"That’s right, Fulajie’er’s sixth sense is very strong, even one of her main perceptive methods," Baiyue shook his head and said, "What she lacks is the sense of smell, taste, and touch."

"What are you trying to say?" Luo’er asked unhurriedly.

"I think that the reason we fell for the Fog Concealment Skill might be due to our sense of smell or taste," Baiyue proposed her hypothesis.

"Sense of smell..." Cheng Ziang pondered deeply, but his mind was a blank slate, unable to recall anything, he could only painfully hold his head.

"I think the Fog Concealment Skill is more like a kind of hypnosis, using movements, smell, and speech to reduce one’s presence as much as possible, even making the opponent forget all about their appearance. It’s a comprehensive set of hidden techniques; I find it quite rare. It would have been even better if we could learn from that person," Baiyue said, her words filled with adoration for the Fog Concealment Skill.

"Eh, that’s simple then, next time we go out, just bring Xiao Fula along," Hu Daoke said as if it was the most natural solution.

"Are you brainless? If we take Xiao Fula away, what about the saint?" Cheng Ziang rolled his eyes and said.

"Eh, then, that..." Hu Daoke was at a loss for words all of a sudden.

"All things considered, I don’t feel that the woman had any ill intentions towards us. Instead, it feels like I’ve become obsessed, insisting on figuring out her identity, resulting in all this trouble," Cheng Ziang reflected.

"Hold on, we’ve been in danger time and again, and now it’s our fault?" Hu Daoke asked, not understanding.

"As for the current situation, our primary mission is still to protect the saint, head to Shengyuan Qilan to meet with the holy one, and completely resolve the war from West Outer Heaven. It’s like the journey to West Heaven to fetch the scriptures, where the disciples not protecting the Tang Monk but always getting entangled with a bunch of demons indeed has a feeling of losing sight of the essentials." Cheng Ziang spread his hands and said.

"But we can’t be indifferent to the dangers that are about to happen," Tangmo stated.

"Indeed, we should remain vigilant, but as of now, we have no direct evidence proving these people pose a direct threat to us, so I believe there is no reason to devote too much energy to this," Cheng Ziang mused.

"I agree," Baiyue nodded and looked around before saying, "The people of the East Continent do not believe in religion; they only believe in strength. We possess the most formidable fighting power, and that’s the main reason we’re the center of attention. By maintaining a strong combat capability, we can indeed await our adversaries at ease and strike later rather than exhausting ourselves trying to clarify every issue. I think going with the flow is also a good choice."

"Actually, if you think about it, although quite a few people have died during this time, the majority were from Kyushu. We haven’t suffered any losses at all, which indicates that these people are not trying to kill us, but simply want to gain the powerful strength we possess," Baiyue paused, then continued to speak.

"So, Luo’er... I mean, saint, what should we do?" Tangmo turned to Luo’er and asked.

"Respond with calm to their aggression, and try to avoid more trouble," Luo’er pondered for a moment and said with eyes closed.

"As you command," everyone responded in unison.

In the following two days, the group stayed safely in the inn. However, it was not a solution to keep staying like this forever. Luo’er had been hoping to travel north sooner, but recently, both Luzun Hong and Xihe seemed to be very busy, and the Advance Team couldn’t find any trace of them at all.

With no other choice, they continued to wait, but on the third day, the situation began to change.

It was probably near dawn when a clamor arose from inside the Government office, and it quickly escalated into cries of killing. In no time at all, the Government office became thoroughly lively; some buildings caught fire, and soldiers with torches were running back and forth, shouting across the Government office.

Sensing that something was amiss, members of the Advance Team woke up immediately and prepared for battle, ready to face any impending combat.

Cheng Ziang drew his sword and rushed out of the house to the courtyard. He stopped a running soldier and asked, "What happened?"

"Enemies have invaded the Government office. My lords, please do not go out, leave this to us to handle," the soldier bowed and said earnestly.

"Is this kind of thing common?" Cheng Ziang was stunned upon hearing it; how could the Government office be invaded inside the city, what use were the towering walls?

"Uncommon, but for some reason, both inside and outside the city have been chaotic recently, and the two revered Governors have yet to return, which is indeed very odd," the soldier shook his head and said.

"Is it because of us?" Cheng Ziang frowned and pondered.

"In any case, gentlemen, please don’t go out. We will protect you with our lives if necessary," a soldier bowed again before leaving hurriedly with a torch.

"Cheng Ziang, what’s going on?" Baiyue and Feng rushed out of the room and ran to Cheng Ziang’s side, asking with concern.

"It seems that the Government office has been invaded by enemies, and as for what kind of enemies, we have no idea," Cheng Ziang said, gazing into the night.

"Are they coming for us?" Baiyue asked.

"Not sure, but for now, let’s retreat to Luo’er’s place, hunker down, and wait for the situation to improve," Cheng Ziang said.

Soon, the four of them retreated to Luo’er’s room. Luo’er was already awake, sitting on the bed, resting with his eyes closed, while Tangmo approached them to offer comfort.

"The saint is receiving battlefield surveillance from Xiao Fula. Let’s just stay quiet for a while," Tangmo explained.

Suddenly, Fulajie’er appeared before Luo’er reporting intelligence, then teleported in front of everyone else to inform them of the situation outside.

"There are about fifty men in black besieging the Government office outside; many of them are cultivators. I’m afraid the defending soldiers won’t hold out for long," Fulajie’er reported.

"Are they targeting us?" Cheng Ziang asked.

"It’s not entirely clear, but according to aerial reconnaissance, their attack seems indiscriminate with no clear main offensive direction," Fulajie’er said, puzzled.

"No clear main offensive direction, what could be the reason for that?" Cheng Ziang asked, perplexed.

"I don’t know, but it feels like they are just fighting for the sake of fighting, reducing the number of soldiers in the Government office," Fulajie’er said, scratching her head.

"Reducing the number of soldiers... Could it be that they’re planning to encircle us?" Hu Daoke asked worryingly.

"Whatever their plan is, we’ll deal with it as it comes. We wield the most powerful force in this world, and all schemes and stratagems are meaningless before us," Cheng Ziang said.

"Luzun Hong and Xihe just happen to be away from the Government office, and the office just happens to be attacked. Don’t you think this is all too coincidental?" Baiyue analyzed with narrowed eyes.

"You mean, this is a play they have staged themselves?" Tangmo asked.

"Hard to say, but if you think about it, what benefits do they get from doing this?" Baiyue said, furrowing his eyebrows, puzzled.

"Continue observing, and report any new developments to us immediately," Cheng Ziang instructed Fulajie’er.

"Understood!" Fulajie’er saluted, turned around in place, and then disappeared.

"Ah, can’t we have some peace at night? What’s the point of all this fuss," Hu Daoke complained.

"Have you ever heard of the Catfish Effect? I feel like we’re the catfish that’s done nothing but stir up chaos in the Lingyun Government," Cheng Ziang said with a wry smile, shaking his head.

"I don’t think we’re like catfish," Baiyue shook his head, "I feel more like a wedge. A crack has appeared in a whole, and we’ve entered it through that crack. We simply entered, but due to our size, we’ve turned the crack into a split, completely dividing the whole into two halves."

"If that’s the case, how does that saying go?" Cheng Ziang asked.

"An innocent man is free from blame, but he who has the jade incurs guilt," Baiyue shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe we shouldn’t have shown our power so openly from the beginning, pretending to be apostles..." Hu Daoke scratched his head.

"How to put it—I think, given Kyushu’s environment, even if we had sneaked in, we would’ve faced no less trouble than now. Rather than suffering in this unfamiliar land, it’s better to reveal who we are right from the start. At least we get hospitable treatment like we are now, right?" Cheng Ziang similarly shrugged.