Landing in Manggu

Half a month later, a plane secretly landed at Manggu Airport.

Inside and outside the airport, lights blazed brightly. In this once-bustling tourist capital, the number of tourists from all over the world was now less than a tenth of what it used to be.

Looking out through the fogged-up glass, this city, known as the “Golden City,” was half-filled with extreme prosperity, neon lights, and bustling nightlife, resembling a massive golden pearl nestled in the darkness.

The other half was dead silent and dark. Let alone scattered starlight of lamps, even the occasional sliver of light filtering through a window would quickly extinguish.

Ever since Blue Star entered the new era of Spiritual Resurgence, countries all over the world had faced challenges, and Tailande was no exception.

On the plane, several young practitioners began discussing in hushed voices as they waited:

“This is the capital of Tailande? It's already past the hour of the Rat, so why is it so quiet?”

“It's so cold and eerie. Isn't this a tropical country? The wind blowing outside the window chills me right to the bone.”

“That area over there is pitch black. There isn't a single light.”

“Tailande is a country that has been plagued by warring warlords since ancient times; bones could be buried anywhere. Ever since... well, it hasn't been very safe at night. If the common folk want to stay safe, they can only do their best to avoid traveling at night.”

“No wonder there are barely any lights on in the residential areas.”

...

Nan Zhi reached out a finger to wipe a clear streak through the condensation on the glass. Feeling the unusual, gloomy chill in the air, she couldn't help but frown.

“A small issue cropped up unexpectedly, but our comrades are already negotiating.”

Qin Yue, who had been keeping an eye on her, walked over quickly and asked in a low voice:

“What's wrong, Little Aunt? Is something amiss?”

—For this mission to Tailande, the Huaxia side had used the banner of “cultural exchange and promoting deep economic cooperation between the two countries.” In order to avoid alerting other major nations, the practitioners participating in the secret realm mission had all blended into the diplomatic delegation, arriving in Manggu in three separate batches.

“The aura is wrong. There's a very distinct aura of a great demon in the city. With such a towering blood qi, it is definitely not a benevolent demon.”

Nan Zhi withdrew her divine sense and warned in a low voice:

“Tell everyone to be careful and not to act alone. There are still three days before the secret realm opens. It's best not to cause any trouble.”

Wherever her divine sense—at the level of Foundation Establishment Level 5—swept, everything hidden in the depths was laid bare.

Inside the brightly lit, magnificent casinos, wealthy merchants puffed away on cigarettes and lost themselves in a life of luxury and debauchery, lamenting how fleeting the night was.

In the opulent golden palaces, chips clattered, wine glasses clinked, and smoke swirled.

Beneath the dim streetlights of the densely populated slums, the poor huddled in cramped, narrow rooms, trembling as they prayed for daylight to arrive quickly.

Damp and freezing cold, the threats from the darkness clung to them like maggots on a corpse; death could descend at any moment.

There was something strange about this city.

Something very strange indeed.

Although evil energy soared to the heavens and resentful energy seethed, it was clean.

Not physically clean.

There was not a single wandering soul to be found in the cemeteries, temples, or hospitals.

It was as if the Spiritual Resurgence had never happened at all.

Yet, Nan Zhi could not bring herself to be happy.

This was by no means a good sign.

In a forest, if no predators appeared in a certain area, there was only one possibility:

There was a higher-level predator lurking in the darkness, and this was its hunting ground.

“I will warn everyone.”

Qin Yue acknowledged. She also tried to peer out the window, but saw nothing.

Was this the difference between Qi Refinement level 1 and Qi Refinement level 5?

She pursed her lips.

Although her Little Aunt had joined the mission group as an external helper this time, Nan Zhi possessed the highest cultivation base across both action groups, so her warning would naturally be taken very seriously.

The Manggu region was under the control of warlords. Three months ago, Tailande had declared to the outside world that they had restored public order in the area and successfully suppressed all kinds of supernatural creatures.

But looking at it now, this city was not as peaceful as they claimed.

This trip to Manggu would likely be even more difficult than she had anticipated.

...

The plane doors opened wide, and the members of the Huaxia delegation filed out.

“Welcome, my dear Huaxia friends! Welcome to this precious Golden City.”

A man dressed in a dark green military uniform, with a pair of trendy sunglasses perched on his head, greeted everyone in awkward, broken Huaxia:

“In less than three days, you will definitely fall madly in love with this place, just like I did.”

The man was not young, in his early fifties. He was short and stout, with dark skin and features that showed clear mixed-race traits. When he smiled, the muscles on his face bunched together, but there was little sincerity in his eyes.

He wore a military uniform adorned with dozens of medals on his chest. Around his neck hung a gold chain as thick as a thumb, and at the end of the chain was a small Buddha amulet.

—Basong Zhalunpeng.

He was the de facto ruler of the Manggu region and the local's largest warlord leader. A third of the gray market businesses in Tailande were in his hands.

Weapons, drugs, gambling, prostitution—he even dabbled in some emerging industries.

Although Tailande was a constitutional monarchy, in reality, political power resided wherever military power lay.

Before coming, Nan Zhi had carefully read through the information provided by the Special Investigation Bureau.

Basong Zhalunpeng had started out as a temple monk.

When he was young, his family was too poor to put food on the table, so his father sold him to a local temple to perform hard labor. Later, due to his exceptional intelligence, he was taken in as a disciple by an exorcist and became an official monk.

But this ambitious man was not satisfied with just that.

He first used the name of the great exorcist to wantonly amass wealth. Starting with smuggling beef, fresh produce, and high-end red wine, he slowly navigated the gray areas and made a fortune.

After he was eventually expelled from the temple, he completely cut loose, doing whatever made money and pursuing whatever yielded the highest profits.

It wasn't until he was thirty-four that he married the widow of the previous great warlord, Chailigong Shawang, taking over most of Chailigong's forces. He then lobbied the great exorcist to squeeze the believers dry and build a pure gold pagoda in Manggu, for which he received a commendation from the king.

From then on, the former slum boy transformed into the most powerful warlord in Manggu.

On one hand, his religious background made him extremely popular among the common people. On the other hand, the continuous flow of money into Basong's pockets helped him build a financial empire that belonged solely to him.

Military power, wealth, authority, and religion.

Basong held them all firmly in his grasp.

Rather than calling him a warlord, he was actually more like a businessman to the core.

The Huaxia diplomats chatted and laughed with Basong, showing no trace of their personal emotions.

Nan Zhi observed him covertly, trying to detect any hint of resentful energy on him, but she found absolutely nothing.

Strange.

For someone who had climbed to the top by stepping over the bones of countless poor people, he was surprisingly clean. The aura around him was even clearer than that of a newborn baby.

Was that even possible?

Nan Zhi focused her attention on the Buddha amulet on Basong's chest once more, but no matter how she looked at it, it was just a lucky charm devoid of any spirituality.

She did not believe that someone in Basong's high position would be fooled into wearing a fake.

There was only one possibility left:

Some inexplicable phenomenon had indeed occurred in Manggu. In this region, there were no gods, no demons, and even souls had vanished without a trace.