Running A Cemetery in North America-Chapter 377 - 253: Five-Star Mission
Lin Wan’s body slumped down onto the sofa, and after a few seconds, she slowly opened her eyes.
At first, her gaze was a bit confused, but within a few seconds, she immediately reacted and sat up with a suddenly terrified expression: "Where am I?"
"Lin Wan, you’re safe now, no need to be nervous," Sun Yan said to comfort her.
"Sun Yan!" Lin Wan was stunned, then held her head, somewhat confused.
"How did I end up here?"
"Lin Wan, what exactly happened? Why were you possessed by Xu Fu? How did you come into contact with him?" Sun Yan inquired.
Faced with Sun Yan’s question, Lin Wan could only recount everything that happened that day in detail.
After listening to Lin Wan’s account, Sun Yan fell into silence for a moment.
"Shi Langfei and Gu Xing, they all died, Lin Wan, you were too impulsive."
"I regret it too, I didn’t expect that Xu Fu would have such power, even capable of blocking electronic devices, making my backup plan a complete joke. But I had no choice, Xu Fu has been secretly killing Tomb Guardians for years. If his actions are left unchecked, more Tomb Guardians will fall victim. As a member of the Grand Sacrificial Society, both emotionally and rationally, I couldn’t just pretend I didn’t see it. It’s all my misjudgment that caused the deaths of Shi Langfei and Gu Xing."
Lin Wan covered her face, her tone very sad: "Sun Yan, can you go back to that village with me again? I’ll find some more helpers, and with your strength, we can definitely kill that guy and avenge Shi Langfei and Gu Xing."
"The power of Xu Fu isn’t something ordinary people can imagine, and since he used you to meet me, he’s certainly not in that place anymore; going back would just be a waste of time."
Sun Yan said calmly: "Hurry home, stay indoors for a while, don’t go out. I have a feeling Xu Fu is planning something big."
"For years, he’s been targeting the Tomb Guardians of the Grand Sacrificial Society frequently, who knows what his aim is. Sun Yan, you should be careful too, Xu Fu might come after you." Lin Wan reminded.
Sun Yan nodded: "I know, don’t worry, dealing with me is no easy task."
With Ailanda’s personal escort, Lin Wan was sent to the city airport and took a flight out of California.
Although I have now completed all but the last step to becoming an Immortal, seeing Xu Fu in person still left Sun Yan with an uneasy feeling.
Especially the story Xu Fu told, which made Sun Yan realize the immortal Xu Fu probably had some secret dealings and is now working for those outer-world demons.
From Saintess Cizhou of the East Sea, Zhu Yunwen guarding the ’Daoist Technique’ in Zhu Family Town, and Yang Shengsi in the Blood Coffin.
All indicate Xu Fu is definitely preparing some grand scheme in secret, and the goal of this scheme is likely related to the outer-world demons.
"Why does it feel like the world is becoming more unsettled, I wonder if I’ll be affected here in North America," Sun Yan thought to himself.
...
Days went by, and the day of the Yellow Sabbath came.
Sun Yan walked out of the graveyard, this time very skillfully arriving at the Grand Sacrificial Society’s location.
Looking at the strict and tall gates of the Grand Sacrificial Society, Sun Yan couldn’t help but have a new feeling recalling the story Xu Fu told last time.
If the Grand Sacrificial Society was really left by the Immortals, then it would make sense that Tomb Guardians could receive the Graveyard Guardianship as a reward.
Walking into the gates of the Grand Sacrificial Society, the courtyard was very lively, with many Tomb Guardians wearing black robes standing around.
The Tomb Guardians eligible to come to the Grand Sacrificial Society are basically those who possess the Graveyard Guardianship themselves and have elevated the quality of the Guardian Divine Statue to Ultimate Grade or even Immortal Grade.
They count as the elite among the Tomb Guardians.
"Three Stars mission, a ghost plane that crashed over the Pacific Ocean, anyone interested?"
"Four Stars mission, an ancient merchant ship that sank hundreds of years ago reappearing at midnight in the canal, looking for two partners with combat capabilities, very rich rewards, hurry over."
"3.7 Stars mission, investigating the legend of the Luohua Cave Girl, coordinates in Guangnan, 3=1++++"
"Five Stars mission, find the Ghost Gate in a non-existent city, very dangerous but the reward is amazing, interested parties hurry, slots are limited."
The entire Grand Sacrificial Society serves as a place for Tomb Guardians to find partners for missions, sometimes a Tomb Guardian receives a very difficult task and lacks confidence to complete it alone, so they seek companions at the Grand Sacrificial Society. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
Sun Yan, who was just a bystander, perked up immediately upon hearing someone in the crowd mention a Five Stars mission.
Quickly, he turned his gaze towards the person who initiated the teamwork and saw it was a petite woman, but because of the black cloak she wore, her appearance could not be discerned.
"It’s a Five Stars mission!" Sun Yan was surprised.
He had been inheriting the graveyard for so long and the highest difficulty task he ever faced was the Four Stars mission at Zhu Family Town last time.
So how difficult must this Five Stars be, Sun Yan became interested immediately.
The higher the difficulty, the richer the rewards. Now is exactly when he urgently needs better rewards, so he directly walked towards the woman.
"Can you show me the task requirements?" Sun Yan asked as he approached the woman.
"Sorry, my teammates need at least two Guardian Divine Statues, both of Premium quality or higher, otherwise you don’t have the ability to claim the task reward," the woman said hoarsely.
High-difficulty tasks provide rich rewards, but they also imply extreme danger.
If your own strength is insufficient, it would require teammates to be distracted to save you, which is a burden to the team.
This woman’s request is reasonable, so Sun Yan immediately nodded and said, "Don’t worry, I have two Tomb Guardians, both of Ultimate Grade quality."
"Oh, that’s fine, I’ll share it with you."
There should be no precedent for lying or deceit in the Grand Sacrificial Society. Seeing that Sun Yan met the conditions, the woman directly took out her notebook, made a swipe with her hand, and shared the task details with Sun Yan’s notebook.
——
Duplicate Task [The Nonexistent City]
Task Difficulty: ★★★★★
Task Description: In the coastal city of Wenyang, there is a building. It is said that every night at 12 o’clock, if you press the elevator floor sequence 793486, you can go to a nonexistent city. Several people have disappeared because of this, and none have returned so far.
Task Requirement ①: Find a disciple of the Kongtong Sect and successfully bring them back to the real world
Task Requirement ②: Find the Ghost Gate
Task Reward ①: Illustration of Li the Heavenly King who Holds the Pagoda
Task Reward ②: Receive a randomly unowned Holy Relic based on your Guardian Divine Statue
——
"The Nonexistent City, Ghost Gate..." Sun Yan pondered.
It is said that there is a pass in the Underworld named the Ghost Gate.
The dictionary records: Ghost Gate, an ancient pass name, located between the two counties of North Stream and Yulin, flanked by twin peaks forming a barrier. Miasma thrives here, with numerous mosquitoes, rodents, and ants, shrouded by a white fog at night, and the cries of birds and crows make it quite terrifying.
It is said to be the junction between the underworld and the human realm. Chapter ten of Journey to the West mentions seeing a city with a big sign hanging over its gate, inscribed with the seven large gold characters ’Underworld Ghost Gate’. It is an unavoidable checkpoint to enter the Underworld, where everyone needs to be checked to see if they have a Travel Permit, otherwise they will end up as restless ghosts without reincarnation.
Although the existence of the Ghost Gate is not historically documented and only exists in legends.
But having seen True Monarch of Pure Origin and Mysterious Dao, the Monkey King, the Three Altar Sea Assembly Great God, how could Sun Yan not believe in the real existence of the Ghost Gate in this world.
Having been a Tomb Guardian for so long, he also understood that besides the real world, there is an opposing Land of the Profane that ordinary people cannot touch, also known as the Spirit Realm.
Those legendary things are most likely to exist in the Land of the Profane.
The Nonexistent City mentioned in the Five Star task must be such a Land of the Profane.
"Let me introduce myself, Zhou Mangmang, with two Tomb Guardians." The woman removed her hood, extended her hand and said to Sun Yan.
This was a girl with a baby face and very fair skin, her ear-length hair styled in curls, her big eyes sparkling like porcelain dolls.
Sun Yan did not expect there to be such a young girl among the Tomb Guardians.
"Sun Yan, with two Tomb Guardians." Sun Yan nodded, introducing his situation.
Although he had three Tomb Guardians, from the previous mission with Lin Wan and others, Sun Yan learned that Tomb Guardians were very rare rewards.
Having one was already considered elite, two would definitely make you an expert in the Grand Sacrificial Society, but three... Sun Yan had yet to meet a second person in the same situation as himself.
To be safe and avoid attention, he deliberately concealed his true status.
"This five-star task is extremely rare, I rarely see them at the Grand Sacrificial Society, we should find more partners to be safer, can you wait a bit?"
Zhou Mangmang explained, worrying that Sun Yan might grow impatient.
"No problem, I understand, go ahead and gather people, I’m not in a hurry." Sun Yan stood behind Zhou Mangmang.
With Zhou Mangmang’s call, three more Tomb Guardians meeting the conditions were quickly attracted, all generally over 30 years old, silent, and not talkative.
Just as fitting for the identity of Tomb Guardians.
"We cannot directly enter the Nonexistent City, so please go offline to Wenyang City first, we’ll meet there and then act together. Here’s my contact information, let’s all share our contact info to avoid unexpected delays."
Zhou Mangmang, as the initiator of the task, proactively shared her phone number with Sun Yan and the others.
Sun Yan silently noted it down, then said, "I currently live in North America, if I am to go to Wenyang City, I will need to prepare for a few days. You can wait for me near the destination, once I land in the homeland, I’ll contact you."
"No problem, then that’s settled. Let’s all disperse and make our own preparations."
As Zhou Mangmang finished speaking, the other three Tomb Guardians left without a word, quite decisively.
"Are these Tomb Guardians always like that?" Sun Yan asked curiously.
"Managing graveyards in our homeland, they typically live alone, so being introverted is quite normal, as long as the capability is reliable," Zhou Mangmang laughed.
After a few exchanges with her, they both left the Grand Sacrificial Society and began thinking about preparing for the Five Star task.
"Haven’t returned home for more than half a year, and didn’t expect this sudden reason for coming back."
When Sun Yan returned to the graveyard, looking at the rows of tombstones, he could not help but sigh.
