ands of years; they are mysterious and terrifying.”He frowned and asked me, "Do you still want to go home"“Then how do I leave him a message” I was so tired, my legs and back ached. I just wanted to g..."Has he sent his location Where was this photo taken..."

"How should I know!" She glared at me impatiently: "Aren't you the little empress You should summon the minor deities of the underworld to ask them!"

I don't know what she's in a hurry for.

"What's wrong Zhang Dao-you, is he your boyfriend" My brother sidled up and asked, "I've never seen you this worried about someone before."

"Don't talk nonsense!" Shen Qingrui frowned and said, "If something happens to him, it will be even harder to find Guo Daxian'er."

I was looking at the blurry photo on my phone, and I felt a sense of worry. Forget Shen Qingru, anyone who saw this kind of "paranormal photo" sent by someone in the industry would be anxious - it clearly showed someone trapped.

"Even if I summoned the local deity of this realm, he would only know about his own jurisdiction. He wouldn't even know where this came from..." I frowned and zoomed in on the image.

"Wait a minute..." My brother squinted, pointing at a blurry corner on his phone screen. "Isn't that an earthen house It looks like it's made of brick."

"I'll go ask Senior Sister Yilin." I took my phone and ran to the kitchen door, calling out to Senior Sister Yilin.

She was hurrying the chef to cook for us. When she heard me calling her, she ran outside to look at her phone.

"What in the world is this" she frowned, "I can feel a ghost floating even through my phone."

"This was sent by a friend in the industry. They must be trapped, but we don't know where they are. It should be nearby. Take a look at this brick-and-mortar foundation..." I pointed to that blurry corner.

"It's possible it's over by the abandoned city wall!" Yilin said after a moment of thought.

"There are still remnants of ancient city walls!" I exclaimed in surprise.

"Of course there are, some ruined walls and foundations are in the ravines. Surrounded by poor mountains and bad water with difficult roads and no tourist value, there are quite a few such places in the villages of the north... These yellowish bricks and stones... should be from the area around Shibali. It's about twenty or thirty miles away from here, and there are some supernatural legends about it."

"Then let's go have a look," I said hastily.

She stopped us and said, "Dinner will be ready soon! Fill your bellies first before you go look. After dinner, I'll go ask about Guo Daxian for you!"

I thought to myself that since I was asking for a favor, and she was so enthusiastic, I decided to go after finishing my meal. As a result, Shijie Yilin had prepared so many vegetarian dishes, we only managed to fill our stomachs and ran away without having time to savor them properly.

"Remember to come back! I'm going to ask the head of this Dao Association for some information." She said to us as she stood by the door.

"Okay, Sister. If you drive again, please be careful!" Xiao Shanming urged.

"...."

》》》

This week's place names are all XXpu Township and XXpu Village.

"This must have been a military encampment back in the day. The north has always been a militarily important area, a political center." My brother said as he sped down the road.

The location of Shibailipu is located north of Ershulipu. It's a vast expanse of land with some valleys and ravines, utterly desolate!

"How come there are such large, desolate tracts of land in your north Not a single person to be seen!" It was getting dark, which made it harder to find people, and my brother was starting to get worried.

"How am I to know... the North has always been dry and short of water. This land is wide, yes, but without water, who can it sustain" Xiao Shanhming paced back and forth: "Just my sect's mountain, there’s a small cascading spring, considered a local attraction. I reckon you Southerners wouldn't even look at it..."

My brother was amused and pulled over to the side of the road. He said to me, "Little Qiao, wandering around aimlessly is a waste of time. Why don't you ask for Land God to come here"

I nodded, jumped out of the car, and set up a small altar by the roadside. I burned paper talismans and recited incantations with a pinch of luck.

A gust of gloomy wind blew, lifting dust and sand from the ground.

"Little Lady, this old man pays his respects..." A land god wearing a felt hat appeared before me.

A felt hat I was taken aback. This was the first time I'd ever seen someone wearing a felt hat...

Only my brother and I could see this deity. My brother scratched his chin in doubt: "Elder Deity, aren't you an imposter Why are you dressed so...so strangely"

Land God chuckled and bowed deeply: "This is the north, little god didn't wear Han Dynasty clothes in his lifetime. Anyone who has done good for the people in their lifetime will be treated well by the underworld after death, adding years to their lifespan. The little god manages this piece of land."

"I see. Then why is your land so barren Where have all the residents gone" I asked softly.

"Reporting back to Your Highness, in recent years, we've been working on soil and water conservation. Things are looking better now; the mountains are starting to turn green again. The villagers have been relocated to the new village to the south. This northern area is currently being managed, and it wouldn't be impossible for it to return to lush greenery in the future."

"Does this area in the picture fall within your jurisdiction" I opened the photo and passed it over.

Land God narrowed his eyes, looked for a long while, and whispered, "It's possible... there are old enemies' houses in the mountains to the north. Perhaps it's there."

He pointed his finger toward a continuous range of small hills.

These mountains look like just slightly higher mounds of earth to us, but inside they are quite spacious. We abandoned our car and walked into the mountains, halfway through I took out my small compass to check our direction.

To the north, there was a buildup of negative energy. I immediately led my men to investigate and found that on this small hill, there was actually a "path" winding its way up the mountain.

"That's not a road…" My brother said in a low voice, "It looks like it was trampled out when they were herding animals... See how much overgrown grass there is Who would walk on a path like this"

Xiao Shanming hurriedly said, "There are still people herding sheep in the north now, but this land is not suitable for grazing. However, there's an abandoned ancient city wall here, and some paranormal enthusiasts might come here to seek thrills."

I nodded and asked, "Are we searching separately, or how"

"Separate, everyone has self-defense capabilities. Don't bunch up looking for them, it wastes time," my brother frowned and said.

I chose a direction, and we started searching the mountain in different areas.

This hill wasn't very large; you could hear each other if you shouted loudly. Just like that, I climbed the overgrown path upward.

In the night, that abandoned section of city wall stood majestically atop the mountain.

I was looking at the compass needle. This compass, called Yuxuan Ji, was used by my mother as a magical tool to detect negative energy.

If I could find that red, floating specter first, my brother and their companions would be in less danger. Therefore, I quickened my pace as I climbed upward.

That trail winding through the mountains seemed like a dividing line. As I stepped onto it, I suddenly felt an icy chill that sent shivers down my spine.

The small finger on the compass in his hand suddenly spun, finally settling on a direction.

"...Is anyone there" I whispered.

In the vast expanse of the mountain, grass swayed gently, no one answered my words.

I carefully supported myself with the roadside stones and walked a little further along the path. The chilling feeling intensified.

"Is anyone there Zhang Daoren" I suppressed a shiver of goosebumps and called out again in a hushed voice.

A sudden gust of wind blew past the back of my neck, and I whipped around instinctively. Something flashed past me, but I didn't have time to see what it was.ould bloodstains ever be found on his bandagesThis must be a deep wound!I clutched his hand, anxiously asking, "You didn't do anything wrong! Why are you being punished! What did they do to you—!""Wha...