Chapter 160: Trouble on the Road

At this moment, upon catching sight of the figure in the black cloak, Cheng Yuan felt as though a sudden bolt of clarity had struck his mind, making him believe that what the Wang family wanted to find out might actually be true!
Having spent several days here with absolute zero leads, he never expected that today...
Cheng Yuan could physically sense it—a sharp, piercing premonition of the terrifying nature emanating from the black-cloaked figure!
Just as Cheng Yuan plunged into a split second of deep contemplation, everyone present witnessed the village chief's dispatched men, Little Huang and Little Zhang, suddenly flying backward like rebounding cannonballs.
Their bodies collided with perfect, uncanny precision into the two martial arts practitioners who had accompanied them from the township and were just itching for action at Director Zhang’s subtle hint.
In an instant, all four of them crashed to the ground, lying completely motionless as if knocked cold into unconsciousness.
In that exact fraction of a second, Director Zhang, the village party secretary, the village chief, the two staff members under Director Zhang, and Hu Xiangling all turned completely pale.
This was terrifying beyond measure!
Forcing himself to snap out of it, the village chief whipped out his cell phone, only to see at a single glance that there was no signal.
Still refusing to give up, he began dialing anyway.
The black-cloaked figure simply looked on with cold eyes, making no move to stop him.
In the center of the clearing, only Cheng Yuan seemed to be intently watching the black-cloaked figure, while the four bodyguards standing behind Cheng Yuan and Hu Xiangling were barely able to maintain their composure.
For a moment, it felt as though even the air had frozen still.
Every click of the village chief tapping his phone seemed deafening.
Yet, naturally, his call could not go through at all, something many people on the scene had already anticipated.
Stunned dumb, the village chief still refused to believe it, but right then, the black-cloaked figure let out another cold laugh.
With a fierce, sudden gesture, Cheng Yuan made a hand signal, and the four bodyguards behind him and Hu Xiangling immediately sprang forward.
Before they could even close in on the black-cloaked figure, the four bodyguards simultaneously hurled small black cords from their hands. The cords whipped through the air, all wrapping tightly toward the cloaked figure as if attempting to bind him completely in a single motion.
"Humph! Mere child's play!" the black-cloaked figure retorted with yet another cold sneer.
At that exact moment, Cheng Yuan erupted into action!
With a flick of his wrist, a handful of fine sand shot directly toward the black-cloaked figure, immediately followed by two iron beads flashing from his palms.
"Xiangling, run—go now!"
Cheng Yuan roared at the top of his lungs, having no idea whether pulling out all the stops would be enough to halt this terrifying figure in the black cloak.

Hu Xiangling immediately bolted, but a thick billow of white smoke suddenly materialized right in front of her. The fog was so dense that it was impossible to see what lay ahead.
Moreover, this mist seemed to...
Hu Xiangling started coughing violently.
Director Zhang, that cunning fox of the township, along with his two personal assistants, had planned to use the chaos to slip stealthily into the bamboo grove in another direction and circle back around to escape the area. However—
What awaited them ahead was the exact same treatment Hu Xiangling had received.
Director Zhang and his two subordinates not only began coughing uncontrollably, but tears streamed down their faces as well! The fog genuinely seemed toxic, carrying a pungent, irritating odor.
They had never encountered such fog in their entire lives!
All of Cheng Yuan's hidden weapons missed entirely.
In another fleeting moment, the four bodyguards brought by Cheng Yuan and Hu Xiangling crashed to the ground as well.
Originally, the village party secretary and the village chief—both experienced hunters with sturdy builds—had wanted to step forward and lend a hand. But realizing the battle was utterly lost, Cheng Yuan shouted at the top of his lungs to announce their total surrender, agreeing to comply completely with the other party's demands!
The black-cloaked figure finally stopped his assault.
Yet, the toxic-like mist he had conjured still lingered all around the perimeter of the bamboo grove, enclosing the area like a prison and preventing anyone from fleeing for the time being.
Supported unsteadily by his two assistants, Director Zhang—a lifelong atheist who scoffed at ghosts and spirits—capitulated today. The bizarre scene that had suddenly unfolded before him was simply inexplicable, defying every piece of scientific knowledge he had ever acquired.
Was the person in the black cloak even human? How could such a terrifying existence walk this earth?
Director Zhang had occasionally heard vague whispers of deities and ghosts in the past, but he had never believed a single word of it!
Yet what about today?
Even Cheng Yuan, the most formidable fighter among them, had declared surrender. Even if the party secretary and the village chief still had the physical strength to put up a desperate struggle, did they dare?
As for the ultimate outcome?
It went without saying!
The six hundred thousand yuan that Zhang Pu had obtained from contracting the mountain forests—along with all the relatively valuable belongings carried by Director Zhang, the party secretary, the village chief, and their cohorts—were completely stripped away by the black-cloaked figure.
Shortly after, the black-cloaked figure vanished into the depths of the bamboo grove, and the foggy barrier dissipated.
The people trapped inside remained frozen in a daze, as if unable to wake from a nightmare.
Had they just encountered a ghost today?
Most of them firmly believed they had!

As for their cell phones, the black-cloaked figure showed zero interest in them, leaving even the luxury iPhone models behind.
Noticing that his cell signal had finally returned, the village chief hurriedly prepared to make a call.
But Cheng Yuan stopped him immediately. "Wait. Those people lying on the ground aren't actually dead; the cloaked figure just used some special technique to knock them out cold. I estimate they'll be waking up any second now. Let's get out of here first before they regain consciousness. Who knows, that black-cloaked monster might still be lurking nearby!"
Cheng Yuan deliberately lowered his voice toward the end of his sentence and when uttering the words "the black-cloaked one," as if fearing that carrying his words too far would summon that terrifying entity back to launch a genuine massacre against their group.
Everyone fully grasped the implication behind Cheng Yuan's words.
Right on cue, the people on the ground began stirring and waking up one by one.
Following that, as if by tacit agreement, no one dared to raise their voice in panic or make any phone calls.
Like a band of sneaking thieves, they slunk out of the bamboo grove in crestfallen silence.
To them, this ordinary bamboo grove had transformed into a netherworld of ghosts, simply because the black-cloaked individual was too unimaginably terrifying, completely transcending the limits of humanity.
Deep within the mountains, inside the cavern serving as the branch headquarters of the Three Halls Guild, Duan Jinhuan had departed alongside Tiger Biao the very next day after Ye Hui was reassigned by Zhang Pu.
Although Duan Jinhuan had outwardly submitted to Zhang Pu, the latter had brazenly extorted six hundred thousand yuan from him in one fell swoop. Unsure whether Zhang Pu simply had an urgent need for cash or if this meant a never-ending cycle of future blackmail, and fearing that his humble temple was simply too small to accommodate such a monstrous deity, Duan Jinhuan resolved to head out and recruit reinforcements to deal with Zhang Pu.
Ultimately, he felt that his Three Halls Guild wasn't even enough for Zhang Pu to swallow in a single bite; Zhang Pu was simply too terrifying!
Now, only Gao Yong and his underlings remained at the stronghold.
Gao Yong was feeling far from at ease himself.
He always suspected that Zhang Pu intended to oust him to put Ye Hui in his place, or perhaps even elevate Ye Hui high above his head to lord over him.
Yet the strength he currently possessed to counter Zhang Pu was pitifully small!
Just as Gao Yong was pacing back and forth within his territory, weighed down by heavy thoughts, he suddenly sensed something amiss.
Gao Yong whirled around abruptly, only to find a figure in a black cloak materializing before him like a phantom.
It had been completely silent and soundless! That was precisely why Gao Yong felt his heart skip a beat with shock!