Chapter 65: Township Road 23 Shortcut

These days, the cultivation world was acting up again, and County Road 23 was fully capable of rivaling an ancient ruin.

"I wonder how many people will fall into this trap this time?"

For some unknown reason, Ye Feifan had an inexplicably familiar feeling about County Road 23. It seemed he had heard of its great reputation somewhere in his past life.

The terror of the previous night had dealt Ye Feifan a heavy sense of threat, yet he had survived because he managed to endure the test of the unknown monster on that county road.

What on earth was "it" on the county road?

"Knock, knock, knock..."

The kitchen door was tapped, and Ye Feifan was pulled out of his dreamscape.

In reality, Ye Feifan yawned, stood up, and went to open the kitchen door. Chubby walked in, gently waving a cattail-leaf fan.

"Did you sleep well last night?"

"Excellently. Where did you go, Fatty?"

"I went back to my bedroom to sleep... By the way, it's already noon, let's cook something to eat..." Fatty waved his fan a little faster, giggling to brush the question aside.

Since Fatty intentionally concealed the truth, Ye Feifan did not press further, cooperating with him to scale fish and prepare lunch.

Having watched the projection stone recording from the Yellow Mud Fields the night before, Ye Feifan knew that the chubby fellow before him was trustworthy for the time being, and he might just be able to extract the answers to certain questions from him.

"Fatty, do you know what happened in Tianzi City?"

Testing the waters, Ye Feifan noticed Fatty's movements slow down, as if the topic had touched upon some old wound.

"That is a dangerous place," Fatty said indifferently, lowering his head without saying anything more.

"You might not know this, Fatty, but whenever a thunderstorm night hits Tianzi City, ominous things roam about. Countless people vanish on those stormy nights, causing widespread panic. Just hearing the rumors in broad daylight is chilling..."

Quietly observing the chubby man's reaction, Ye Feifan briefly recounted some of his experiences while omitting the most crucial parts.

After all, Ye Feifan did not fully trust Fatty; the legendary undercover games truly existed, and in the cultivation world, no one could be trusted completely.

Fatty remained expressionless throughout, occasionally furrowing his brow. It was evident that he took the changes in Tianzi City very much to heart.

However, when Ye Feifan mentioned the bus driven by a Crimson-Robed Driver at the Mahayana realm, Fatty's expression shifted heavily, evidently leaving him with a deep impression of that vehicle.

The projection stone rewarded by the system would not lie. None of the children in the Yellow Mud Fields that night had seen the bus, but Fatty might have caught a glimpse of its phantom shadow, making his abnormal reaction quite understandable.

What was special about him back then? Did he see that bus again later? Had he ever crossed paths with the Crimson-Robed Driver?

Without time to ponder, Ye Feifan hurriedly spilled the beans about the old district, the Zhang family warehouse, and other incidents one by one. Fatty's expression grew visibly grim, though he remained unaware that his every move was under scrutiny.

Lifting his head, Fatty forced his smiling expression back on, though his brows remained tightly knitted together.

"I can't tell that a kid like you has such a tenacious life, surviving all that without an issue..." Whether it was meant as a joke or not, Fatty left the sentence unfinished, his expression turning somewhat unsightly.

Before the previous village chief passed away, he had told Fatty just how terrifying Tianzi City was, though frankly, he hadn't believed it in his heart.

Yet Ye Feifan, an outsider who had just returned from that very place, brought back even more cryptic news. Only now did Fatty come to believe nine-tenths of what the former village chief had said, leaving just the remaining tenth in doubt.

After some idle boasting, Ye Feifan finally managed to casually drop a hint about being cornered into the Yellow Mud Fields by a group of men in black, adding that he would leave right after finishing his meal so as not to bring disaster to Yellow Mud Village.

Fatty's entire face contorted. If not for his years of cultivated composure, he probably would have summoned the villagers right then and there to intercept and kill those men in black.

"You don't need to worry; they won't come up here. You'll have all the food and drink you need," Fatty said, offering words of comfort while maintaining a smiling face.

Ye Feifan took out his storage pouch and handed some daily necessities and snacks to Fatty, which finally eased the man's heavy expression slightly.

...

After the meal, Ye Feifan cleared the dishes and sat with Fatty in the courtyard, taking the opportunity to inquire about the origin of the concrete road.

"You mean that concrete road? We exchanged it with some people who came up from below in return for rice..."

The villagers of Yellow Mud Village provided the rice, the people coming up provided the cement, and the rest was completed through the spontaneous organization of the villagers.

Finding it awkward to directly ask about the other mysterious concrete road from the previous night, Ye Feifan asked tactfully, "Did you sleep soundly last night?"

"Eat well, and naturally you sleep well," Fatty gave a vague reply. There was no particular expression on his face, meaning he presumably knew nothing about that mysterious County Road 23.

Fatty could not provide any more crucial answers to Ye Feifan's questions; he knew no further information could be squeezed out.

"By the way, Fatty, where are the other villagers?"

"They are all cultivating in their homes and rarely come out. It's quite normal that you don't see them."

Nodding gently, Ye Feifan gazed at the tree canopy above the courtyard, his thoughts drifting back to the images captured by the projection stone.

The faction behind those men in black remained unknown for now. The items they piled into the rice paddies were human parts—remains, to be precise, while the main torsos and flesh were entirely missing.

They were likely performing some kind of ritual, and the required offerings were human flesh and blood... One thing had always puzzled Ye Feifan.

If the offerings were human, why not sacrifice the entire person instead?

Countless secrets remained hidden within, yet Ye Feifan had no way of knowing what they were just yet.

Should he explore the concrete road again tonight?

That concrete road would connect to Tianzi City at night. As long as he left before midnight, he would not be in danger, and Ye Feifan was somewhat tempted by its capabilities.

The system had also given him good news: aside from him, who could travel in both directions across the concrete road (moving freely between Tianzi City and Yellow Mud Village), everyone else could only travel in one direction from Tianzi City toward the county road (the villagers of Yellow Mud Village could neither see it nor ascend it, while those who stepped onto the county road could neither turn back to Tianzi City nor reach Yellow Mud Village).

One could say the concrete road was a dead end. As long as Ye Feifan could shuttle back and forth on it, anyone else stepping onto it would inevitably be trapped.

The system's description was very alluring, but it also explicitly stated that there was a high probability of perishing on it. Once you walked on it, there was no turning back, making "Road of No Return" a far more apt name.

There were undoubtedly hidden agents from the Liu family keeping watch near the Yellow Mud Fields. Instead of sitting around, he might as well go explore the end of the concrete road tonight; perhaps he would reap some unexpected gains.

Having finalized his plan, Ye Feifan turned to look at Fatty, who was still fanning himself, and said, "Fatty, I'll be leaving Yellow Mud Village tonight. Those people definitely won't let me go, and staying here will only cause trouble."

"You... be careful..." Meeting Ye Feifan's earnest gaze, Fatty finally nodded.

"I know. I'll come back to visit you when I have time," Ye Feifan smiled.

Having subjected Liu Decai and the tavern waiter to a dream-fishing strike the previous night, Ye Feifan was confident that they would be utterly exhausted, making the probability of him being recognized exceedingly low.

Chit-chatting with Fatty, time slowly ticked away...

After dinner, seeing that the clock had struck ten in the evening, Ye Feifan stepped out of Fatty's house.

The system had stated that the road would appear at ten o'clock, plunge into a state of frenzy at midnight, and vanish at six in the morning. He had already timed it all out.

All things considered, the tavern waiter surely never expected that a mysterious passageway would lead directly to Tianzi City, did he?