Chapter 9: Disappearance

The guards stationed outside naturally noticed the white light.

“What’s with the sudden glow inside the cell?”

“Let’s hurry and open the door to have a look,” the chief guard ordered.

One of the guards quickly took the keys from the wall. Meanwhile, inside the third cell, six men swiftly climbed into a vehicle.

As Jiang Ye started the engine, the roar of the car echoed, and the guards opened the first door.

“Start it.”

At Jiang Ye’s command, the entire SUV was instantly enveloped in white light.

In the next moment, the white light vanished, and with it, the vehicle that had been wrapped inside the glow disappeared as well.

The prisoners nearby rubbed their eyes in disbelief, staring wide-eyed at the third cell.

Those six men who had been inside just moments ago had vanished without a trace.

“Damn it!” one inmate exclaimed.

“They’re gone. Those people are gone.”

“Oh my god! Is this a divine manifestation?” An old man trembled as he knelt down, repeatedly bowing toward the spot where the six had disappeared, muttering prayers under his breath.

The chief guard hurried in with several others, immediately noticing all the prisoners staring fearfully in one direction.

Following their gaze, he saw that the cell where six inmates had been held was now completely empty.

“What’s going on? Where are they?” The chief’s expression darkened as he rushed to the third cell’s door, peering through the bars, but no matter how wide he opened his eyes, he saw no one.

His sharp eyes swept toward the opposite cell, and he demanded harshly, “Where are they?”

The three inmates across the way replied timidly and honestly.

“There was suddenly a flash of white light in that cell.”

The guards were aware of the white light; that was why they had come to investigate.

“After the light flashed, a huge strange thing appeared in the cell,” one prisoner said, gesturing wildly, his expression a mix of excitement and terror. “That monstrous thing filled the entire cell.”

Another inmate added, “The six men climbed into that huge thing.”

The elderly prisoner, excited and thrilled, continued, “Then another burst of white light enveloped that thing, and then… then it just vanished.”

The guards were dumbfounded.

They could understand every word spoken, yet when pieced together, it sounded utterly incomprehensible.

It was like listening to a mythical legend.

The chief guard’s face darkened, sensing serious trouble. His sharp gaze swept across the other cells, and he demanded sternly, “Is what they’re saying true?”

The prisoners in nearby cells nodded repeatedly.

“Yes, it’s exactly as they said.”

“That’s right. There was a flash of white light, a strange huge thing appeared, and after the six men entered it, another flash of light, and then they were gone.”

“Yes, yes, exactly.”

“We definitely didn’t see it wrong.”

…

At that moment, footsteps echoed near the cell entrance, accompanied by respectful greetings.

Meng Yi stepped into the cell and immediately sensed something was amiss.

“What happened here?” the deputy commander asked the guard standing outside.

The guard replied nervously, “General, there was a flash of white light inside the cell just now. The chief guard is leading some men to check it out.”

Before the guard finished, Meng Yi strode deeply into the cell, the deputy and others following hastily.

When Meng Yi appeared, the chief guard hurriedly saluted upon recognizing him.

“We pay respects to the honorable officer.”

The other guards respectfully followed suit.

Meng Yi’s keen eyes scanned the cell before settling on the chief guard.

“You’re the chief guard?”

“Yes.”

“And what about the six men who presented the tribute?”

The chief guard broke out in a cold sweat, voice tense and trembling. Although it sounded unbelievable, he dared not lie.

“The six men were taken away by a flash of white light just now.”

Meng Yi: ??? (⊙O⊙) ???

“What did you say?” The deputy commander thought he’d misheard and asked again.

The chief guard wiped his brow and repeated, “There was a burst of white light inside the cell, and then those six disappeared. It sounds incredible, but the prisoners around witnessed it with their own eyes. If you don’t believe me, you can ask them.”

Meng Yi turned his gaze to the inmates in the surrounding cells and pointed to one.

“You, speak.”

The prisoner named nervously recounted everything he had seen in detail, finishing with the assurance that everyone present had witnessed the same.

Whenever Meng Yi’s eyes passed over the prisoners, they nodded in agreement.

The deputy commander observed their subtle facial expressions and eyes, and was almost certain they spoke the truth—shock was plainly visible in their gazes.

“They just vanished like that,” Meng Yi muttered, frowning deeply.

Those six men were truly strange!

Meng Yi turned to the chief guard. “Open that cell.”

“Right away.” The chief guard personally unlocked the third cell.

Meng Yi stepped inside, crouching to scrutinize every inch of the cell, but found no clues.

There was no secret escape route; the locks were intact and everything seemed normal.

And precisely because everything appeared normal, it felt all the more abnormal.

An old man in the neighboring cell muttered, his voice growing louder.

“It’s the descent of a deity, the descent of a god.”

Meng Yi’s sharp gaze swept toward the old man, who seemed lost in his own world, endlessly murmuring, his expression becoming increasingly manic, his cloudy eyes shining with the fervent light of divinity.

The chief guard cautiously followed Meng Yi’s departure, watching until he and his group had left. The cell then fell into a brief silence.

After a moment, one guard cautiously spoke.

“Boss, do you really think those six were gods?”

The chief guard looked up at the guard, his eyes darkening as he glanced toward the third cell.

In a low voice, he said, “Maybe.”

The other guards’ faces showed shock at first, but quickly shifted to excitement and exhilaration.

If those six were truly gods, then they had seen deities themselves—a tremendous honor indeed, as if their ancestors’ graves were smoking with pride.

As Meng Yi and his group left the cell, the deputy commander could not help but speak.

“This matter is truly strange. Could those six really be beings from beyond this world?” The deputy commander was clearly influenced by the old man’s words.

Meng Yi remained silent.

“This must not be spoken of outside.”

He would report to His Majesty first, and only then decide what to do.

The last time His Majesty toured this region, he met a man named Xu Fu, who spoke of the three divine mountains in the Eastern Sea—Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou—homes of immortals.

Now, by coincidence, here they had encountered six such extraordinary men.

Meng Yi could not help but begin to suspect whether Langya had a connection to the immortal realms.