"Black fog? Where did the black fog come from?"

The two men, who had been at each other's throats, instantly sheathed their swords and followed the villagers' terrified gazes, frowning simultaneously.

At the entrance of the village, a thick black fog, as dense as ink, was slowly spreading.

The once bright sunshine was now completely obscured.

The sky suddenly turned dark, and not a single ray of light could penetrate the eerie mist.

Ghostly figures could be vaguely seen flitting through the black fog, as if something terrifying was prowling within.

The black fog advanced slowly, and at this pace, it would take about two incense sticks' time to reach the village entrance.

Zheng Yu sneered, gripping the saber at his waist tightly, and turned to walk into the village. "The mission is crucial, so I'll let you live a while longer."

Qin An pondered slightly and remained silent.

The origin of this sudden black fog was unknown, and acting rashly was not a wise move.

Everything would have to wait until the black fog dispersed.

The villagers at the entrance trembled even more with fear as a contingent dressed in the uniforms of the Evil Extermination Bureau approached.

An elderly man, supported by a cane, was nervously ushered forward by the crowd.

"Greetings, esteemed gentlemen."

Qin An nodded slightly and said, "What's happening in the village? What is that black fog?"

The description of this mission was extremely brief, only stating that children had repeatedly gone missing in the village.

The local authorities' search yielded no results, which is why they reported it to the Evil Extermination Bureau.

With the situation unclear, it was only natural to ask questions to clarify things.

Zheng Yu, watching as Qin An inquired, did not lose the grim look on his face, but rather it intensified.

This mere newcomer dared to overstep his bounds, bossing around in front of a veteran like him.

However, since Qin An had already spoken up, he chose not to continue questioning.

Further inquiries would only put him at a disadvantage, so he swallowed his anger.

The village head glanced fearfully at the approaching black fog and said tremblingly, "Gentlemen, please come inside the village for a detailed discussion. The black fog is coming, and all villagers must stay indoors. If caught within, who knows what might happen..."

Qin An nodded and followed the villagers into the village.

A household officer stepped forward, intending to speak to Zheng Yu, but Zheng Yu raised his hand, stopping the officer, and said.

"Let him have his moment of glory; let's see how long he can revel in it."

He spoke this without hiding it from Qin An, clearly saying it for Qin An to hear as well.

Qin An remained indifferent, seemingly unaware, and had already walked into the village.

The other villagers, once inside the village, immediately scattered and rushed back to their homes.

"Pa!"

A muffled sound rang out, followed by the clamor of doors slamming shut and panicked shouts.

At this moment, only Qin An and the members of the Evil Extermination Bureau remained, along with the elderly village head.

The white-haired village head hastily leaned on his cane, leading the way with difficulty, guiding Qin An and the others into a room.

The room was small and could not accommodate over a hundred household officers. Due to limited space, most of them stood guard outside.

Inside the room were only a few household officers and Qin An and Zheng Yu.

The village head shakily turned over an upside-down teacup and poured Qin An and Zheng Yu two cups of clear tea before sitting down hunched over.

Qin An turned the teacup in his hand and directly asked, "Speak."

Now that they were inside, it was time to get straight to the point.

The village head, hearing this, placed the teacup on the table and sighed softly, "A Pseudo-God is causing havoc. Most of the children in the village have been abducted. I beg you, gentlemen, to seek justice for the common folk."

Zheng Yu impatiently slapped the table, "Enough nonsense! Where did the Pseudo-God come from? Has there been anything unusual lately? Speak quickly!"

In his tone, aside from impatience, there was also a sense of superiority.

Being a Bronze Prefecture General granted him considerable status in Xunyang Prefecture, so naturally, he had an air of superiority when dealing with a mere village head.

The village head, rattled by Zheng Yu's words, trembled violently as if extremely afraid.

This was just a small village, hardly comparable to the Evil Extermination Bureau.

The fact that the gentlemen of the Bureau took the time to come over was already a blessing for this village.

Thus, when Zheng Yu grew impatient, the village head was so scared he dared not speak.

Qin An frowned.

Compared to Lingzhou, he noticed the difference in Xunyang Prefecture's Evil Extermination Bureau.

Besides the tangled web of political intrigue, one could feel the pompous attitude emanating from Zheng Yu alone.

Perhaps it had something to do with both their status and the environment of Xunyang Prefecture.

Qin An did not appreciate this attitude, finding it much less pure than Lingzhou.

Thinking of this, Qin An coldly remarked.

"We are here to resolve this crisis. If you scare people away and the mission fails, you can write that in the mission details when you report back."

Zheng Yu abruptly stood up, "Are you threatening me? Just a lowly commoner, and you use him to threaten a dignified Bronze Prefecture General?"

"I'm not using him to threaten you." Qin An's gaze was calm as water, "I'm using myself to threaten you. What do you think?"

A trace of murderous intent flickered in Zheng Yu's eyes, which he then concealed. "Then... Mr. Qin, you should ask."

What Qin An had just said was reasonable and justified, giving Zheng Yu no opportunity to retaliate.

Qin An turned and reassured, "Don't be nervous. If there's anything you're hiding, feel free to say it."

The village head didn't understand the conflict between the two, but at that moment, with an official allowing him to speak freely, he calmed down.

A strong sense of fear lingered in the village head's heart, and his shoulders couldn't stop shaking.

"It's that woman, that woman is terrifying!"

"Woman, what woman?" Qin An's eyes narrowed as he asked.

The village head clutched his head with both hands, trembling uncontrollably, "A few months ago, a beautiful woman came to the village. She claimed to be from a distant place with nowhere to stay, so she lived in the village for a month."

"After a month, she took out something..."

At this point, the village head hugged his head, looking as if he deeply regretted it.

"I shouldn't have trusted her, I really shouldn't have trusted her. Gentlemen, I am guilty!"

Qin An patted the village chief's shoulder: "We've come to solve the problem. Keep talking, we'll discuss any guilt later."

The village chief took a deep breath: "At that time, this village was actually not prosperous, barely getting by. The woman said she had a way to bring favorable weather and rain to the village, and then she presented a broken statue of a Buddha."

"She said... simply worship the statue every day, each person offering three sticks of incense daily, and within half a month, there will be a harvest of food, and everyone will be prosperous."

"When I saw many villagers looking haggard and thin, greed arose in my heart, so I organized all the villagers to worship the statue daily, offering three sticks of yellow incense each day..."

"Half a month later, it was indeed as she said, the village became increasingly prosperous, but the black fog arrived!"

Upon hearing this, Qin An's mind had already started connecting the dots.

According to the village chief, perhaps the broken statue is the Pseudo-God.

The villagers, through worship, turned the broken statue into a Pseudo-God, and the black fog was caused by the broken statue.

However, the identity of the woman is still unknown.

Thinking of this, Qin An did not speak, waiting for the village chief to continue.

The village chief paused slightly, and then said: "The black fog enveloped the village, each night, a child would disappear from the village. The villagers were extremely terrified and didn't know the cause, but I was very clear."

"Maybe it has something to do with the woman..."

"I found the woman, but she said if the village wanted wealth and abundant clothing, there had to be a price, this is the price."

"Soon after, the woman disappeared, but the black fog still arrived punctually every day, and with each appearance, a child would go missing. This is all my fault..."

At this point, the village chief was already sobbing uncontrollably, his eyes filled with guilt and pain.

Zheng Yu sneered repeatedly: "You ignorant fools truly don't understand the horror of the Pseudo-God. Because of what you've done, you've caused me to personally come to this remote area, truly sinful!"

The village chief nodded repeatedly, indicating the blame was his.

Qin An tapped his fingers lightly on the table, pondering.

As for Zheng Yu in front of him, he felt increasingly displeased.

During his time in Lingzhou, he had clashed with many, but those were personal issues.

The people of Lingzhou were purely focused on demon slaying and evil extermination.

The fact that Zheng Yu first complained about coming to this extremely remote area after the anomaly was the first Qin An had heard.

In other words, Zheng Yu wasn't attentive to this task. Instead, he was unhappy because this task brought him to this remote village.

The village chief was still apologizing.

At this moment, a Household Officer hurriedly walked in from outside.

As soon as he entered, he hurriedly clasped his hands to speak.

"Masters, the black fog has arrived, and already envelops the entire village."

Qin An lifted his eyes to look around, only to see the village, once illuminated by sunlight, now completely dark.

The center of the village was already shrouded in black fog, visibility exceedingly low.

The outside Household Officer had already drawn his weapon, tense and alert.

Zheng Yu drew his iron blade from his waist, walked out of the room, and into the black fog to investigate.

Within the black fog, strange shadows were flickering.

After contemplating briefly, Qin An also left the room and surveyed the surroundings.

At that moment, a shrill scream emerged from one of the houses.

Qin An followed the sound, his eyes narrowing slightly.

He saw a house door open not far away, and a strange shadow had flashed into the house.

When it emerged again, it was holding a five-year-old child.

Inside the house, a middle-aged woman staggered out, screaming in an attempt to rush the shadow.

But the shadow raised its hand, instantly swinging the middle-aged woman fiercely against the wall.

This scene was happening in various parts of the house.

Five children had already been taken by the shadows.

Zheng Yu shouted loudly: "Take action!"

The Household Officers drew their weapons, swords, and blades unleashed, attacking the shadows.

Qin An thought briefly, shifted his steps, deploying the Dragon Roar Wind Shadow Step, his figure like lightning.

Leaving afterimages behind, he reached a shadow and drew his saber to slash.

The Cold Star Saber flashed, striking the shadow, making a crisp sound.

The shadow disintegrated upon sound, while the child landed steady on the ground.

The numerous Household Officers outnumbered the shadows, and within a few breaths, they had slashed all the shadows.

The surrounding dense fog suddenly vanished, as if encountering something extremely terrifying, disappearing in an instant without a trace.

Qin An looked closely, and his brows furrowed slightly upon seeing what lay on the ground.

It was shockingly a broken Buddha statue, its head already shattered, slashed by Cold Star.

Qin An looked around and found statues just like this where the Household Officers had previously attacked, yet there were no demon crystals or pseudo crystals.

"It seems the true body hasn't appeared." Qin An surveyed the surroundings, raising his eyebrows slightly.

Zheng Yu came over to inspect, and waved his hand: "Clean up the battlefield, continue to stand guard!"

Being a veteran of the Evil Extermination Bureau, he too could see that the enemy had not appeared in their true form.

"We've destroyed his puppets, he surely knows." Zheng Yu said slowly: "Continue guarding, wait for a few days. If he doesn't come, we'll return to the Evil Extermination Bureau to report."

These Household Officers were Zheng Yu's subordinates, so after he issued the order, they responded in unison.

Qin An did not speak, lifting his eyes to look towards the village's perimeter.

He felt as if a pair of eyes was deeply fixed on them.

...

Not far from the village, inside a cave, a beautiful woman dressed in silk was bowing deeply before a tall statue.

The statue resembled Buddha, but eerie sounds emanated from all around.

At the foot of the statue, numerous small skeletons were scattered haphazardly.

The beautiful woman lifted her head, her bewildered eyes sweeping across the statue's face, then stood up and said: "My lord, don't worry, once I capture a few more children, your injuries will be alleviated."

As she spoke, a crack suddenly appeared on the statue.

The woman's face changed drastically, a murderous gleam in her eyes: "Who dares to ruin my plans!"

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