Departing Early for Black Sand City

Xu Mu sat on the steps outside the villa and dialed Zhong Qianqian’s number.

“Xu Mu, what’s up?”

“You know Xiao Gui’s phone number, right? Send him a video. Make sure you use a virtual number.”

Xu Mu tapped his phone. “I’ll send the video to you now.”

“Sure. That’s easy.”

Zhong Qianqian agreed from the other end. A moment later, her face filled with surprise.

“Xu Mu, how did you get this video?”

“Don’t worry about that. Just send it to him.”

Xu Mu paused, then suddenly thought of something and continued, “Why don’t you move back to our villa community? I’ve bought all the remaining villas, so it’ll be more convenient for me to find you in the future.”

“Uh, sure. There aren’t many choices for takeout in that small county town. I’ve practically tried everything there. Jiang City has a much wider selection.”

Zhong Qianqian agreed.

She had originally been living next door to Xu Mu because she was working for Ye Chen. After the matter was exposed, she had moved away out of fear that she might be in danger.

But now she had long since begun working for Xu Mu instead. She also took on jobs online from time to time, so moving back would definitely be better.

“When should I send it? Now?”

Zhong Qianqian asked.

“Wait until nine tonight before sending it.”

Xu Mu was worried that Xiao Gui might learn about it and arrive before him. It would be best to set out first.

“Got it. I’ll set an alarm.”

After agreeing, Zhong Qianqian hung up.

Xu Mu sent Chen Xuan a message, asking whether he wanted to go to the Inner Realm.

Chen Xuan replied almost without hesitation, sending back an OK gesture.

His only goal at the moment was to find his senior sister, so he was desperate to improve his strength.

Even he found it unbelievable. How long had he been following Xu Mu? Yet his cultivation had already shot up like a rocket.

Chen Xuan would never pass up any opportunity to improve his cultivation.

Xu Mu then sent Fu Jinyu a message as well. This trip to the Inner Realm would be a perfect chance to see just how powerful Fu Jinyu had become after cultivating an evil demonic technique.

After Fu Jinyu agreed, Xu Mu told her to wait for him in Zhongyuan. The ruins were located in Monan, which was conveniently on the way, so he could pick her up.

Less than twenty minutes later, Chen Xuan arrived at Xu Mu’s door on an electric scooter.

He put the scooter into his spatial ring, then suddenly widened his eyes in shock.

“Brother Mu! Are you kidding me? You leveled up again?”

“Just lucky.”

Xu Mu gave a sheepish grin.

“I thought I could finally stand shoulder to shoulder with you.”

Chen Xuan shook his head slightly, then found himself an excuse. “This is better, actually. If people say I’m inferior to you, I can blame it on my lower cultivation level. If our cultivation levels were the same and I still lost to you, that would be even more embarrassing.”

“What’s there to be embarrassed about? Get on.”

Xu Mu first tossed him the phone supplied by the Sanitation Bureau, then took a helicopter out of his spatial storage and placed it in the villa’s courtyard.

Chen Xuan caught it, then immediately pulled out his Redmi phone. “I’ve wanted to replace this for a long time. It’s almost out of storage.”

“This one will last you several years. It has a full ten terabytes of storage.”

Xu Mu smiled and leaped into the helicopter, taking Chen Xuan with him as they departed.

The Guixu Continent was the stronghold of the Jiuyou Clan. Xu Mu had just checked the map.

Entering through the grassland ruins in Monan would take them directly to the southern region of Guixu.

If they traveled at full speed, they could reach their destination, Black Sand City, in about half a day.

Xiao Gui would receive the message at nine that night. No matter how fast he was, he definitely would not arrive before Xu Mu and the others.

After flying all the way to northern Zhongyuan, they found Fu Jinyu waiting on a mountain ridge.

Today, she was wearing a black casual outfit. The zipper of her jacket was left open, revealing the white top underneath and its astonishing cleavage.

The helicopter landed, and Fu Jinyu climbed into the cabin.

Xu Mu continued onward, eventually reaching their destination.

When he arrived, he discovered that the place was a fenced-off pasture filled with cattle and sheep.

A yurt stood in the distance. An elderly man and woman sat outside it, gnawing on large bones.

When they noticed the helicopter in the sky, they both raised their heads to watch.

After the helicopter landed, Xu Mu and the other two climbed out together.

He first examined the old man in the distance. Only after confirming that the man was a Senior Cleaner did he put the helicopter away in his spatial storage.

“Greetings, Senior. I’m Xu Mu. We need to borrow the passage connecting the Outer Realm and the Inner Realm here.”

Xu Mu walked toward them with a smile.

“Heh heh, your reputation has become quite impressive at the Sanitation Bureau.”

The old man with the goatee pointed at the large bone in front of him and said with a chuckle, “Want a bone? It was just cooked.”

“No, thank you. We’re in a hurry this time.”

Xu Mu politely declined.

“All right.”

The old man set down the bone in his hand and stood up, leading them forward.

Within the pasture he was responsible for, a black stone tablet lay flat on the ground.

“This is the ruin. Do you have Boundary Fire?”

“We do.”

Xu Mu nodded slightly. “Thank you, Senior.”

“You’re welcome.”

The old man waved it off indifferently.

Xu Mu looked at Chen Xuan and Fu Jinyu beside him, then entered the ruin with them.

The inside of the ruin was also a grassland. Not far ahead stood an irregular crack measuring one meter wide and three meters high.

Although it was still daytime all around them, the crack itself was pitch-black.

Using Boundary Fire, Xu Mu led the other two into the passage connecting the Outer Realm and the Inner Realm.

The moment they stepped into the Inner Realm, water surged around their bodies.

Xu Mu immediately spread out his perception and discovered that they were deep inside a lake basin.

There were many long, narrow cracks inside it, all filled with water.

Fu Jinyu grabbed the shoulders of the other two and flew upward. She rose several hundred meters before they finally broke through the surface.

The night sky was filled with stars, and they were in the middle of a vast lake.

After reaching the shore, Xu Mu took out his phone and checked the map.

“Looks like this isn’t the ruin itself. With water this deep and so many cracks, ordinary people would never imagine that one of them could lead to the Outer Realm.”

Chen Xuan still had no idea what was going on. He opened the map of the Inner Realm.

“Brother Mu, we’re on the Guixu Continent now, right?”

“The Guixu Continent.”

Fu Jinyu softly repeated the words. She knew it was one of several continents, but she had never been here before.

“That’s right. This time, there should be quite a show. Let’s head to Black Sand City first.”

Xu Mu smiled.

…

At the same time, in the Outer Realm.

Xiao Gui and Zhong Ci were still waiting for news at the Zhong residence.

Over the past few days, Zhong Ci had personally gone to the Sanitation Bureau in Yanjing to reveal her identity and file a report.

The Sanitation Bureau had also mobilized Cleaners to search the surrounding area, but they had found no clues.

“Darling, eat something. You haven’t slept for two days.”

Xiao Gui came into the living room and spoke to Zhong Ci, who was sitting there.

Zhong Ci said nothing. At this point, all she could do was hope that the kidnappers would contact them soon.

“They didn’t abduct our daughter for no reason. They’ll definitely send me a message.”

Xiao Gui walked over. “Most of my enemies are in the Inner Realm. If they want to hurry back, it’ll usually take them several days.”

“Are you proud of that?”

Zhong Ci said coldly.

“I…”

Xiao Gui was speaking when his phone suddenly chimed with a new text message. He tapped it open and saw a link inside.

At that moment, he didn’t care whether it was a virus link or not. He clicked it anyway, and a video immediately popped up.