Stone Banner gave a strange smile. Although he didn't say it explicitly, everyone understood his meaning.

If those teleported into this lake were wanted criminals from the Special Affairs Bureau, or hostile forces drawn by the opportunity of the Lord of Southern Yan,

Then the bounty hunter before them probably wouldn't mind earning a reward on the spot.

"Alright, enough small talk,"

Stone Banner cleared his throat and looked at Li Ang and the others standing behind Xing Hechou. "And these few are..."

"Companions,"

Xing Hechou said concisely, "Trustworthy."

"Mm."

Hearing this, Stone Banner gave Li Ang and the others a gentle smile. As his mouth twitched, the skin on his face fell off again.

He clicked his tongue, simply tore off the mask, held it in his hand, and began to introduce their experiences.

As a registered bounty hunter of the Qu City Special Affairs Bureau, Stone Banner encountered Xun Zi'an, the leader of the Sixth Mobile Task Force of Yin City, team members Chu Yin, and Zhu Xuemin, a cultivator from the Different Studies Society, after teleporting into the dreamscape of the Lord of Southern Yan.

Since the four all had official backgrounds, after a brief discussion, they formed a temporary team, led by Xun Zi'an, to continue exploring the third layer of the Lord of Southern Yan's dreamscape.

Afterward, the four followed the pocket watch's guidance to find the entrance.

Like Xing Hechou and the others, they spent a great deal of effort breaking the seal at the entrance and entering the second layer of the Lord of Southern Yan's dreamscape.

By a stroke of luck, they saved the life of the Chen Prefecture Prefect's wife, who had gone up the mountain to pray at the temple but encountered a demon attack.

Under the guise of unorthodox cultivators, they infiltrated Chen Prefecture City and became honored guests of the Prefect's residence.

"The second layer of the Lord of Southern Yan's dreamscape is far more orderly than the third layer.

The court nobles, temple monks and Daoists, wealthy merchants, wandering scholars, alchemists, demons, and even the underworld are all present.

Unlike a chaotic collection of bizarre tales, it's more like a complete and perfect small world..."

Stone Banner said solemnly, "The world's background is fictional, somewhat like a combination of the late Tang and late Ming dynasties.

The imperial court is weak and declining, local warlords are dividing the territory, and rebellions and mutinies are constantly erupting.

The Central Plains region can barely maintain stability.

Outside the Central Plains, earthquakes, famines, plagues, droughts, and locust plagues occur in turn.

The starving are everywhere, corpses float in the waterways, people exchange children for food,

And demons and monsters run rampant."

"You can imagine this world as a tragic version of *Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio* and *Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang*,

Or the movie version of *A Chinese Ghost Story*."

Xing Hechou was speechless. "It's that bad?"

"It's that bad."

Stone Banner nodded and said, "In addition to the imperial government troops, the righteous forces are divided into the following groups.

The Martial Virtue Guard, led by the imperial court, is responsible for arresting demons and evil cultivators throughout the land, and is stationed in various states, commanderies, and counties.

The Chan School, a loose alliance composed of five ancient temples such as Minguang Temple and Nanchan Temple.

The Dragon Tiger Mountain Celestial Master Dao, revered by the imperial court as the supreme religion, has guarded the Demon Imprisonment Cave for generations."

Xing Hechou frowned. "Wait, Demon Imprisonment Cave?"

"It's similar, but not the Demon Imprisonment Cave in our real world."

Stone Banner hurriedly explained, "The Demon Imprisonment Cave in this fictional world was built by the Dragon Tiger Mountain Celestial Master Dao specifically to trap demons.

The demons are used as materials to refine weapons, which are provided to the soldiers of the Martial Virtue Guard.

Righteous cultivators and Martial Virtue Guard officers all know a few spells, which are equivalent to our players' skills.

As for the strength, it varies, but they are all relatively strange and unpredictable.

As for the villainous forces,

First, there are the local demons, evil spirits, and mountain goblins,

Second, there are the heretical and wandering cultivators who are good at using evil magic and sorcery,

And the third is the White Lotus Sect. This is a secret society that also possesses magic. They are good at using demonic arts to bewilder the masses and incite rebellion, plotting evil deeds. Their power is extremely great and their influence is extremely broad. They have been repeatedly suppressed, but they are like a centipede that never falls. Their lives never end, and their rebellions never cease."

Stone Banner seemed to notice the expression on Xing Hechou's face, and stopped talking, smiling and saying, "Isn't it incredible?"

"A little."

Xing Hechou nodded and said, "The Lord of Southern Yan shouldn't have such great abilities."

"Indeed."

Stone Banner sighed, "A single thought creates a world.

I'm afraid even the Changsheng species (immortal species) in myths and legends—the Mirage Dragon that flies into the clouds and lurks on the moon—can't do that.

The Lord of Southern Yan is just a bizarre existence born from collecting the thoughts of all beings in the real world.

Even if his dreamscape is strange and ever-changing, it shouldn't have such a broad, profound, and complex background."

Stone Banner's eyes flashed with a sharp light, "We haven't found the answer to this yet.

However, in the past few days, fellow cultivator Zhu Xuemin has relied on his deep foundation

To sit and discuss Dao with those cultivators who emphasize respecting the Dao, valuing virtue, harmony between heaven and man, cherishing life, and helping the world.

Combining the talismans and rituals of the Different Studies Society with the unique spells of this world, he has deduced a set of divination rituals.

Not only did he divine the location of other entrances, allowing me to come and meet you,

But he also divined that the most critical abnormal event in the second layer of the Lord of Southern Yan's dreamscape will occur near Chen Prefecture City."

"Just like going from the third layer to the second layer, solving the abnormal event is also required to go from the second layer to the first layer."

Xing Hechou nodded. "Where is Chen Prefecture City?"

"Your current location is south of Lu Prefecture City. Chen Prefecture is northeast of Lu Prefecture City, five hundred kilometers away."

Stone Banner said, "Comrade Zhu Xuemin only predicted that the abnormal event will occur near Chen Prefecture City.

As for how it will happen and how it will end,

We don't know yet.

In addition, through divination, he vaguely guessed that this abnormal event will be related to three elements.

These three elements are located in Lu Prefecture, Feng Prefecture, and Qi Prefecture respectively.

Captain Xun Zi'an has already taken a step forward and rushed to Qi Prefecture. If you have time, you can go with me to Lu Prefecture to collect information first..."

Before he could finish speaking, Stone Banner's expression suddenly changed, and he vomited a mouthful of blood, his muscles and bones trembling all over.

*Crap*, why are you vomiting blood all of a sudden?

Xing Hechou subconsciously took out emergency medicine from his backpack, preparing to rescue Stone Banner, but saw Stone Banner barely supporting himself against the tree, and said with difficulty: "No need, the medicine won't do anything.

My true body in Chen Prefecture is being interfered with, and this avatar is about to disintegrate on its own.

Here, take this."

Stone Banner raised his black fingernails, opened his chest again, and took out a thick stack of paper.

Together with Xun Zi'an's iron token, he handed them to Xing Hechou.

"The paper contains the intelligence information we have collected in the past few days, as well as a map of the vicinity of Lu Prefecture.

When my avatar's skill cooldown is over, I will create an avatar through this iron token and contact you again..."

Stone Banner's skin kept peeling off, and his whole body slowly softened as if his bones had been removed. When he finished speaking the last sentence,

He had already dissolved into a pool of bubbling red and black substances.

Li Ang stepped forward, reached out and pinched a piece of the red and black substance stuck to the bark, squinted his eyes and said softly, "Oil, and paraffin wax?"