Thirty-Two waved his hands repeatedly. “I wouldn’t dare to tease the general. There really isn’t any fortress here.”

Cheng Xu was furious. Pointing forward, he yelled, “Such a huge fortress! So huge! Look clearly! If you keep spouting nonsense, I’ll chop your head off with one stroke!”

Thirty-Two felt uneasy inwardly. This military official was coarse-tempered and violent—if he said he’d kill someone, he meant it. Thirty-Two feared he’d really strike.

But every word he said now came straight from the Deity’s instruction. He couldn’t disobey the Deity’s command.

After all, the Deity was watching from above. Surely he wouldn’t let Cheng Xu actually kill him. Plowing ahead with the act, Thirty-Two said, “General Cheng, did you oversleep and wake up too suddenly? There really isn’t a fortress here.”

“Damn it!” Cheng Xu drew his steel blade.

Seeing this, Li Daoxuan knew it was his turn to intervene.

He placed his phone inside the scenic box.

Then, high in the air behind the officials, he activated the pre-loaded horror film soundtrack and hit play…

“Whoa… hahahaha… Woooo… ohohoho…”

The strange laughter of a woman erupted behind the officials.

Loud! Overwhelmingly loud!

Horror movie ghost laughter was terrifying enough, but amplified at full volume, the horrifying, unnatural cackling filled the entire world.

Cheng Xu had just drawn his blade when the enormous, eerie female laughter boomed behind him. He shuddered violently. His steel blade clattered to the ground as he spun around.

All his soldiers performed a simultaneous “about-face.”

Li Daoxuan swiftly withdrew his hand, retrieving the phone.

When the officials turned, all they saw behind them was endless yellow sand—dust swirling in the wind, but nothing else.

“What was that just now?!”

“What happened?!”

“Who was laughing?!”

“Oh heavens! That sound just now… could it be… a ghost?”

The officials murmured among themselves, eyes wide, desperately scanning around.

Li Daoxuan chuckled inwardly. While their attention was focused the wrong way, he reached in and picked up the Lego bricks used to build the fortress wall, placing them outside the scenic box. Then, he reached in again to remove the water-containing Lock & Lock box. And oh—there was also a half-buried Pepsi cola can. He grabbed everything out.

More than a hundred villagers in Gaojia Village watched as objects in their village rose one by one, vanishing into the clouds. The view…

Was utterly breathtaking.

Li Daoxuan finished clearing the items and dusted sand from his hands. Time to keep watching the show.

The officials stared at their rear for a long time but found nothing. They couldn’t locate the source of the dreadful woman’s laughter. Uneasily admitting defeat, they reluctantly turned back to face Thirty-Two.

The moment they turned, every man stiffened. They stood frozen, as if paralyzed by a spell.

A full ten seconds crawled by before Cheng Xu finally stammered, “The fortress wall? That huge fortress wall… it was right here just now… the enormous wall…”

Thirty-Two finally grasped Li Daoxuan’s plan. Confidence surged within him. Absolutely, obeying the Deity was correct! The order to pretend not to see the wall was for this trick! Ha! Now it was his turn to shine.

Belly laughing inside, Thirty-Two kept an utterly baffled expression. “General Cheng, what are you talking about? There isn’t… and never has been… a fortress wall here. This is simply 【as things always have been】!”

Cheng Xu roared, his voice cracking. “Damn it! I swear! There was a fortress wall here! A HUGE fortress wall! Two zhang high! Did you all not see it?! THERE WAS A HUGE WALL! RIGHT HERE! And then… the woman’s crazy laughter… and the wall… vanished!”

His speech dissolved into incoherence.

Thirty-Two shook his head with a sigh. “General, I heard no strange woman’s laughter. And this place has never had a fortress wall…”

Cheng Xu whipped around, bellowing at his men while wildly gesturing forward. “You all heard it! Saw it! Saw that massive wall just standing there! It was real! Tell them!”

His troops broke out in cold sweat. They had seen the wall! But now… there was nothing! Should they believe their eyes from moments ago, or their eyes now?

Utterly mind-boggled! Completely bewildered!

Thirty-Two curled his lips into a sinister grin— the kind a mountain ghost gives its trapped prey. “The pursuit of Wang Er must have strained the General greatly. Why not enter our village… rest well for a night? Recover your spirits… then take up the hunt for Wang Er’s gang tomorrow? Heh heh heh… Hiss…” He even flicked his tongue, moistening his lips, as if contemplating a tasty morsel.

Cheng Xu’s gaze flickered between Thirty-Two’s grotesque expression and the village itself. Dust hung thick in Gaojia Village. Crowds of villagers knelt with zealous fervor, worshipping… something unseen. Scattered rocks, logs, unbaked mud bricks, and clumps of earth littered the vicinity. The entire place radiated indescribable wrongness.

The memory of that chilling laughter echoed in his mind.

Creeping dread tightened Cheng Xu’s chest. “What cursed place is this?! Is that… my grandmother beckoning me from the village?! I won’t go in! I’d rather die than enter! Let’s go! Find Wang Er! I need to find Wang Er… need to get far, far away from here! Yes, that’s it! We hunt Wang Er! Grandmother… I… I must go! Still young! Can’t enter the village to meet you yet…” He turned and fled.

He ran several steps, then scrambled back to snatch his fallen steel blade, sheathing it. Spinning again, he ran away. After a few more paces, he turned back once more, leaped onto his warhorse, and finally galloped off.

He looped back and forth three chaotic times.

The deputy inspector, the archer Xiaoqi, and the others… they just stared, dumbstruck.

After a stunned pause, Thirty-Two grinned his ghastly grin again. “The General has fled. Not following? Fine. Fine indeed! Stay then. Be our honored guests in Gaojia Village, won’t you? Heh heh… Hiss… 【exquisitely delicious】”

The deputy inspector shrieked and bolted after Cheng Xu. The hundred-plus soldiers scrambled to follow, utterly disheveled and covered in dust.

In moments, the entire group vanished.

Only after they were well out of sight did Thirty-Two plant his hands on his hips and roar with laughter. “Entertaining! Utterly entertaining! HA! HA HA HA! You looked down on me before, Cheng! Know this clerk’s power now? HA HA HA! HA HA HA! Should’ve scared the stupid out of that fool!”

Li Daoxuan spoke. “The officials are gone far enough. Tell everyone to clear away from the original wall location. I’m returning the wall.”

Gao Yiye quickly relayed the message.

Awe, reverence, and shock filled the villagers—especially the newcomers witnessing Lord Dao Xuan Deity’s divine might for the first time. It was overwhelmingly staggering. They scrambled frantically, putting distance between themselves and the former wall site, lest they obstruct the immortal’s workings.

Soon, they witnessed the fortress wall descend slowly from the sky once more, landing precisely where it had been before. The sight of this giant monolith floating down was profoundly humbling. Then, Blacksmith Li’s cylindrical workshop descended too, settling back into place. Finally, the massive pond floated down, pouring back into the massive depression it had left… filling it once more.