Jin Yuanbao and Yao Xuan didn't give the other person a second glance because of their identities; they only looked at He Linhan.

He Linhan quickly led his men closer and greeted them with great respect: "My lords."

Yao Xuan nodded and said, "First, take these people off us and protect them."

"yes!"

He Linhan was sharp-eyed and had already noticed the strange humans on Jin Yuanbao's two backs.

He raised his hand, and the group he brought immediately sprang into action, catching both humans off their backs.

It wasn't noticeable when they were on Jin Yuanbao and Yao Xuan's backs, but now that they've been taken off, even the most hard-hearted person couldn't help but feel heartbroken at their appearance.

miserable.

That's terrible.

Not only were they all emaciated, but most of them also had lifeless eyes, and it was easy to tell at a glance that they had suffered a long period of torture before.

About a thousand people sat quietly on the wasteland.

They neither cried nor laughed, nor did they even look up at the patrols surrounding them.

They just sit there, like a thousand sculptures forgotten in a corner.

Some people habitually remain curled up, even when placed on open ground.

Knees pressed against chest, hands hugging calves, forehead against knees.

His back was arched high, and each vertebra was clearly visible, like a string of protruding beads.

Such people make up at least half of the population.

Many people have even forgotten how to stretch their bodies and can't stand up at all.

There are more than one such person, perhaps even more than several dozen.

Instead, there are hundreds.

Their leg muscles had atrophied to the point that they could no longer support their weight.

Even with Little Silver Flower's healing and nourishing skills, those atrophied muscles still need a long time to regrow.

After all, divine healing can only heal internal and external injuries, but it cannot cure the unhappiness of growth caused by long-term malnutrition.

They sat or lay there like living skeletons.

Yao Xuan and Jin Yuanbao both knew that the misery of these people was far more than that; most of them couldn't even speak.

They hadn't spoken to anyone for so long, hadn't made a human sound for so long, that their vocal cords had atrophied to the point that they could no longer vibrate normally.

A night breeze blew by.

Their bodies were healed, their wounds were closed, and their failing organs began to function again.

But those marks of suffering—

Deep-set eye sockets.

A hunched back.

A curled-up posture.

Empty eyes.

A mouth that can't speak.

Holding the corpse tightly, refusing to let go.

These are problems that skills can't fix.

Time may not be enough.

They just sat there.

Like more than a thousand silent tombstones.

"...Aren't you curious about what's going on with these people?"

Yao Xuan naturally noticed the gazes of the old woman and the others. He shrunk into a seductive, noblewoman-like snake and moved gracefully in front of the old woman.

Before the witch could frown, it continued:

"They were raised by your Ghost Lord Gui Xun in the Nightmare Land as... food for the Corpse Witch Rats!"

This statement contained a tremendous amount of information, like a nuclear bomb exploding, causing the faces of everyone present from the Great Sili Kingdom to change drastically.

"What?!"

"A lich rat?! Is it the lich rat I know?"

"That's impossible!"

"The Ghost Lord would never do such a thing! Moreover, apart from the once-every-nine-years Touring Festival, even the Ghost Lord would never enter the Ghost Nightmare Land!"

A group of people tried to defend their demon lord, but Yaoxuan paid them no heed.

As it looked at the solemn-faced witch, it began to recount in a very calm tone everything they had discovered in the Nightmare Land.

From the moment Mingxi accepted the mission to investigate the Corpse Rat, to discovering clues, then entering the Nightmare Land, discovering Corpse Rat Mountain, the more than 1,000 imprisoned survivors, the five Red-Eyed individuals, the appearance of Gui Xun, and so on...

A concise and to-the-point explanation.

The old hag and the others listened, their expressions shifting from anger to astonishment, and finally to a complex... disbelief.

"You mean, Fifth Brother is cultivating Corpse Witch Rats in the Nightmare Land, or... or is he a member of the Descending Organization?" The old hag's voice trembled.

Although very subtle, it is very noticeable to extraordinary beings with a keen sense of hearing.

But she really couldn't control herself.

The situation was much more serious than she had anticipated. If Lao Wu was indeed a member of the Descent Organization and was cultivating corpse rats in the Nightmare Land, then things would be truly dire.

Once this is confirmed, not only will Gui Xun's reputation be ruined, but their Great Sili Kingdom will also be in big trouble.

If it weren't Mingxi who handled this matter, but any member of the Alliance Investigation Team, even the Grand Princess of the Kaman Empire, she would have been able to bury the truth within their own little world.

But it was precisely the dawn.

The girl who once had a good relationship with them is still a girl, but her identity is no longer that of Mingxi.

The fact that she personally participated in the investigation is something that even if she, the Ghost Granny, were just a Ghost Lord in the Great Sili Kingdom, or even if she were the Chairman of the Alliance Beast Taming Center, she probably wouldn't be able to suppress!

This is the significance of Mingxi today.

The only X-level Beastmaster in the alliance, with four of his nine contracted pets being God-level and five being Venerable-level!

One person can take on an entire planet!

Who would dare to challenge such a powerful entity?

What chilled her to the bone even more was that the Nightmare Land had been invaded and turned into a breeding ground for terrifying supernatural creatures like the Corpse Rat.

According to the information revealed by the Nine Heavenly Pythons, there are at least tens of thousands of corpse rats inside.

If they were released, it's unimaginable how many people would die in their Great Sili Kingdom!

Just imagining that scene sent chills down her spine.

"Isn't the evidence right here?"

Yaoxuan seemed oblivious to the old woman's current discomfort and discomfort.

It raised its tail and gestured with the tip to the survivors, "They may be like this, but there are plenty of ways to pry into their memories."

It didn't mention Gui Xun and the five red-eyed people, not because it was intentional, but because it didn't want to.

The old hag fell silent.

He Linhan stood aside, not saying a word, but quietly observing everyone's reactions.

After a long silence, the old hag finally spoke:

"Both of you are people of high status, and I believe you would not speak carelessly. However, this is only your side of the story, so the truth still needs further investigation."

She paused, then added, "Also, Gui Xun is, after all, the Ghost Lord of our Great Sili Kingdom. I hope you two will hand him over to us for trial."

"Also," she paused, looking in the direction of Ghost Nightmare Tower, "may I ask where Pavilion Master Mingxi is now?"

“My Beastmaster is still inside the Nightmare Land.” Yao Xuan didn’t hide anything. “She needs to confirm that there isn’t a second or even more Corpse Rat Mountains inside.”

The old hag's eyes turned cold.

"Even if she is the pillar of the Mingxi Kingdom, she has no right to trespass into the forbidden area of ​​my Great Sili Kingdom! This is illegal trespassing!"

"Mingxi Guozhu, aren't you showing far too little respect for my Great Sili Kingdom?"

Yao Xuan's eyes darkened, and He Lin spoke with a cold face:

"Your Excellency, please allow me to remind you that Guozhu is a top-level investigator of the Alliance. During the execution of investigative missions, she has the right to investigate areas that she deems abnormal, without needing prior permission from any country or organization!"

A top-level investigator is not just a mascot with only a title. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

This is also why Mingxi, as a pillar of another country with a sensitive identity, still sneaked into the Nightmare Land.

She is indeed not afraid of causing international disputes.

Even without the status of a top-level investigator, she would not act timidly.

The old woman was speechless, not because she had forgotten Mingxi's identity, but because she was genuinely a little flustered.

This is a really big deal.

The atmosphere tensed up again.

Then another voice rang out.

"Hand them over to us!"

A slender figure emerged from the black mist.

His face was sinister, his eyes sharp as knives, and he was surrounded by a faint, bloody aura.

One of the five great ghost lords, Gui Li.

He stared at Jin Yuanbao and Yao Xuan, speaking each word carefully:

“Gui Xun is a man of our Great Sili Kingdom. No matter what he has done, he should be tried by us.”

Hand over the person, and you may leave.

As for Ming Guozhu—”

He paused, his tone growing colder:

"We hope that when she comes out, she can give us an explanation!"

Jin Yuanbao looked at him.

The figure of this sinister man was reflected in his blood-red pupils.

Then, it gently raised its wings.

The next second, the six unconscious Gui Xun disappeared.

Only a tiny ripple remained in the space.

Gui Li's expression changed instantly.

"Where's Gui Xun?! What do you mean by this?"

"What? Trying to steal the credit?"

"Gui Xun is our beast tamer's spoils of war, so naturally we must take him back for inspection!"

Yao Xuan spoke coldly, his snake-like eyes icy, but his expression was a half-smile, "A bald-headed, weary fellow dreaming of becoming an immortal! Not pretty, but his ambitions are quite grand!"

Don't be fooled by its seemingly nonsensical and good-natured demeanor in front of Mingxi and its friends; it actually has a terrible temper.

It can completely shut out feelings and affections from outsiders.

This is also the inevitable result of peeking into fate.

Upon hearing this, Gui Li's anger almost materialized.

The bloody aura around him surged, and a huge blood-red ghostly figure loomed behind him.

"You're asking for it!"

"Enough!"

The witch's white bone staff slammed down, and an invisible wave rippled out, forcefully suppressing the blood-red ghostly figure behind Gui Li.

"Fourth brother, calm down!"

She had said before that the fourth son's impulsive personality would cause trouble sooner or later.

They have absolutely no sense of propriety!

Does he really think he and his Blood Sun Calamity can defeat these two god-level pets in front of him?

Gui Li gritted his teeth, staring intently at Jin Yuanbao and Yao Xuan.

But neither of them looked at him at all, nor did they pay any attention to the Blood Sun Calamity behind him.

Jin Yuanbao spread its wings and flew in mid-air, looking down at the area below, its aura of a divine beast specifically enveloping it.

"Bang!"

Gui Li couldn't defend himself at all, and his knees buckled, causing him to kneel upright on the ground.

The Blood Sun Calamity behind him let out a mournful cry and then revealed itself.

What a piece of trash!

Yaoxuan continued to criticize in a cold and indifferent voice: "Even if you have a good appearance, your insides are nothing but weeds."

They're not very capable, but they have a terrible temper!

"thunder."

Jin Yuanbao let out a low growl, indicating that its words might contradict its previous statement.

First they said he was ugly, now they say he has a beautiful face.

Isn't this ridiculous?

Yoh-hyun: "That's not important."

Gold ingot:...

The night wind blows across the wasteland.

The old woman stood helplessly at the front, her expression complicated.

Gui Li was forced to kneel on the ground, his eyes growing even more sinister. He struggled, but could barely move an inch.

The targeted pressure from a god-level pet beast is something even an SSS-level beast tamer cannot withstand.

Ba Cang and the other people of the Great Sili Kingdom dared not even breathe loudly, much less look at the fierce ghost lord kneeling alone!

"Terrible! Absolutely terrible!"

"It hurts! It hurts so much!"

The dignified Ghost Lord has lost face to outer space!

Why bother!

He Linhan stood firmly behind Yao Xuan throughout. He was there to handle the follow-up work, and the current situation did not require him to appear.

The two adults handled it very well.

With a firm enough attitude and a domineering enough stance, they won't tarnish their family's reputation, nor will they let things escalate to an irreparable point.

As for Gui Li losing face? Wasn't that something he brought upon himself?

Although the situation may have been a bit embarrassing for the people of Da Sili State.

But it's okay, they're not the ones who are embarrassed.

"...Gui Xun can be handled by you, but our people must participate in the interrogation and share all investigative data ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) related to the Corpse Witch Rat case!"

Unlike Gui Li, the old woman was not naive or impulsive; she knew there was absolutely no way to turn things around.

It involves the Corpse Rat and the Advent Organization.

This is no small matter.

Moreover, let alone whether they are qualified to face Mingxi, these two divine-level pet beasts alone could wipe out their entire country.

Are they going to risk their lives to fight?

So what if Gui Xun is the Ghost Lord? Even if he is the Ghost Lord, there's no way he can bring his ancestors back!

This is so annoying!

"Alright! But the details need to be discussed, Witch, this is a serious matter, we..."

This time, it wasn't Yao Xuan who spoke up, but He Linhan.

Jin Yuanbao and Lord Yaoxuan are, after all, extraordinary beings. Compared to cunning humans, they are as innocent as babies.

They don't understand the intricacies of international relations, let alone the art of maintaining balance.

Therefore, he directly agreed on behalf of the State of Dali, which was also a way of giving face to the State of Dali.

Until the cause and effect of the Corpse Witch Rat incident are thoroughly investigated and it is confirmed that no one else in their country was involved, the Great Sili Kingdom remains an ally of the Longhua Kingdom.

It is still necessary to maintain good relations between the two countries.

This is also why Mingxi had the two contact He Linhan.

Leave the professional tasks to the professionals; the main task of these two is deterrence!

...

At the same time, inside the Nightmare Land, after Jin Yuanbao and Yao Xuan left, Ming Xi, along with Xiao Yinhua and the other seven, directly destroyed this real illusion.

The illusion of reality is hard to break free from.

The premise is that the person who comes in is not Mingxi.

The illusion dissipates, and space resets.

The huge tumor was also destroyed along with it.

Whatever it is, it should not continue to exist in this world.

Returning to the place, free from dust.

The spatial fragments rotated slowly, and occasionally two pieces would collide, creating silent ripples of energy.

Some familiar scenes slowly unfold.

A huge stone platform with no cover whatsoever.

The stone platform has unusual patterns on its surface.

The endless dark space, surrounded by dazzling starlight.

A half-person-high hourglass hangs from the edge of the stone platform.

However, the hourglass contained no golden sand, making the reset space even colder and more desolate.