Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 564 The trail went cold
Of the two figures in the demon-eyed cloaks, the shorter one replied, "Aunt Alan, there's no mistake, they definitely went in." She stomped her foot on the ground. "They went in underground. There are traces of burrowing underground here, which matches their previous act of digging a cave in the mountain using burrowing techniques."

The smiling woman immediately reached out and used magic to investigate the ground. After confirming the location, she stopped and looked at the sacred mountain with unusual seriousness. "How is this possible? There is only one entrance and exit. The reason why the Phoenix Clan kept this ancient formation is because of its powerful protective capabilities, which can prevent people from coveting it. How could someone ignore the protection and sneak in?"

The cloaked figure who answered said, "It is a bit strange; we almost thought we had made a mistake."

The smiling woman turned away solemnly, and after walking a short distance, she began to transmit her voice into the distance.

Soon, a void rift appeared and opened up not far in front of her, and the woman in red walked out of it again.

Upon seeing this, the two cloaked figures immediately stepped forward, bowed in unison, and clasped their hands in greeting, "Your Majesty."

The woman in red walked between the two until she bumped into an invisible barrier, then stopped, raised her finger to block the invisible, resilient wall, and asked the same question as the smiling woman before, "Are you sure they broke through the 'Big Dipper Spirit-Repelling Array' and entered?"

The shorter, cloaked figure stepped forward and answered, “Your Majesty, there’s no mistake. The target left through the city of Dazhi, met up with another person, and then headed this way. There were no signs of the trail branching off along the way. The trail abruptly stopped ahead, disappearing underground. If you dig underground, you should be able to see it.” He pointed ahead, “Then the trail emerged again from the slope ahead of the formation, and then turned all the way forward. As for where it went ahead, we have no idea; it’s too far for us to see clearly.”

The woman in red did not question their eyesight, but she was still somewhat puzzled. "'The Big Dipper Spirit Repelling Array' relies on the power of the vast stars. Currently, no one in the cultivation world can break through its defenses and enter without going through the array gate. How did they manage to do that?"

The shorter, cloaked figure said, "That's unknown. If there's a way to get in, it would only be to make the great formation misjudge that they aren't spirits."

The woman in red said "Oh," and asked, "Is there any way to cover it up?"

The shorter, cloaked figure said, "This humble servant is foolish and truly knows nothing."

The woman in red stared at the sacred mountain in silence for a while, then suddenly smiled and said, "I thought he was just a rascal, but he's getting more and more interesting."

The smiling woman walked to the side and asked, "Your Majesty, should we continue the investigation? If we continue, we may have to go into the great formation to continue the trail. And we have to be quick, otherwise the trail will dissipate and it will be difficult to find their whereabouts again."

Woman in red: "Check, leave someone to keep watch."

"Yes." After replying, the smiling woman directly assigned a tall, cloaked figure to lie in wait in the area.

Before long, outside the main gate of the sacred mountain, the Smiling Woman appeared with two rows of people shrouded in black cloaks, a total of nine people including herself.

Late at night, the fact that the main gate of the sacred mountain was wide open was secondary; what truly mattered was that the goddess Feng Qingping had personally led a group to greet them. Facing the smiling woman striding in, she respectfully bowed and said, "I was unaware of Aunt Alan's presence. I, Feng Qingping, have failed to greet you properly."

Besides respect, there was also fear and trepidation. They didn't know why the people around the Demon Queen had suddenly arrived, nor had they heard any greetings from the Phoenix Clan.

I wonder if it has anything to do with his previous intervention in Dazhi City to get Bai Qiru released.

Alan's smile remained unchanged, but he ignored her and turned back to say, "You guys go investigate yourselves."

Of the eight people who followed her, six turned around and flew away.

Feng Qingping was puzzled and tentatively asked, "May I ask, Aunt Alan, what is this?"

Alan glanced at her with a smile, said nothing, and walked straight ahead.

No answer is an answer. They can come to your house and do whatever they want without explaining or giving you an explanation. That's what being assertive means.

Feng Qingping immediately shut up and quietly accompanied him.

Following behind, Huang Ye, the leader of Beishan, exchanged a glance with his subordinate Jiang You'er, both of them looking uneasy.

They also knew that the Demon Queen had interfered in the affairs of Dazhi City, and that Demon Sixteen had fought with someone in Dazhi City. They were vaguely worried that the Demon Queen's people might be investigating their demonic path.

The six cloaked figures who entered the sacred mountain flew rapidly and soon arrived at the location where the target had disappeared outside the protective array.

With bloodshot eyes, the cloaked figure once again unleashed his demonic eye and quickly led his men to follow the trail of their target.

A red dress would occasionally peek out from under one of the swaying cloaks, and it was the woman in red herself who, out of curiosity, had followed in to find out.

The group quickly followed the trail to the area around the main peak of the sacred mountain.

Meanwhile, Shi Chun, who was secretly hiding on the main peak of the sacred mountain, was on the other side of the mountain.

After putting away another Soul-Reversing Tree, he called out to his companions, "Alright, that's enough."

He showed Wu Jinliang the tiny bit of pale yellow paste left in the small jar in his hand. "We have no idea what this stuff is. We need to leave some samples for Zhu Xiangxin. She's been refining pills for a long time. Let's see if she can help us figure out what this is."

Wu Jinliang naturally understood what he meant. If this thing was gone, there would be no way to make the Soul-Reversing Tree in the future. In the future, the amount of Death Incense needed to communicate with the Underworld would probably be large. After nodding, he looked in the direction of the mountaintop and asked in a low voice, "Spring, how many Soul-Reversing Trees do you estimate there are left?"

Shi Chun: "I can't see clearly what's going on up there, but there are quite a few, at least a thousand. The higher you go, the more there are, and they seem to be getting bigger."

Wu Jinliang stroked his chin and muttered, "After all this trouble last night, we've probably gotten about two hundred trees. Should we give this whole batch to Grandma Qi?" Shi Chun thought for a moment, "We can't take them all at once. Let's give her a hundred first, and then another batch after we finish this one."

Wu Jinliang hummed in agreement: "That's quite a lot. It will take a lot of time to prune a hundred trees."

It's impossible to just pull a tree out whole and give it to Grandma Qi. Even a fool could see that it was freshly pulled out and would definitely cause trouble. It definitely needs to be trimmed first.

Shi Chun waved to signal them to leave.

The two of them secretly descended the mountain, originally intending to return the way they came, because they didn't want to leave traces of earth-遁术 (earth-遁术 is a technique used to burrow into the ground) around the great formation, as that would make them easy to be discovered.

However, reality always forces people to change their plans.

Before they even reached the edge of the protective array, Shi Chun suddenly blocked Wu Jinliang's path with his arm and pulled him down to squat down quickly.

Wu Jinliang, now on alert, asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

Shi Chun's expression was filled with surprise and uncertainty. "Damn it, there seems to be someone lying down where we came in. Yes, there is someone."

Wu Jinliang exclaimed in surprise, "What the hell? Is it a coincidence, or what's going on?"

Shi Chun said irritably, "Is it possible for something like this to happen in such a vast area as Shenshan?"

Wu Jinliang gasped. "Impossible! Xiao Sheng was on stakeout halfway through, specifically to prevent anyone from following us. He didn't even notice anyone following us. Could it be that someone else followed us later? The wind is so strong at high altitudes; by then, the scent would have dissipated long ago. How could someone have followed us..."

At this point, the two exchanged a glance.

Wu Jinliang then cursed, "Damn it, have we been targeted by the Demon Eye again? If that's the case, we're in trouble from now on, unless we hide forever and never show ourselves."

Shi Chun thought for a moment, "If they are from the demonic path, there are also demonic people on the mountain who can provide backup. We shouldn't stay here any longer; we need to leave as soon as possible. I wonder if my technique can cut off their tracking clues. Let's give it a try. Draw another route. Contact Xiao Sheng and have him stake out the area along that route. If he finds someone tracking us, then it means my technique is useless."

“Okay.” Wu Jinliang immediately took out the mother-child talisman and did as instructed.

Shi Chun grabbed his arm and used magic to pull him up. The Cloud-Walking Boots worked again. Knowing that there were also demonic cultivators on the mountain who could provide backup, he immediately became extremely careful, this time avoiding leaving even a footprint.

At the same time, the azure energy released by the Demon Bathing Technique enveloped the two of them, and they secretly slipped away through the void.

After running a distance, it disappeared underground again.

On the main peak of the sacred mountain, based on the traces left behind, the person with a pair of demonic eyes under the cloak knelt down on one knee and dug at the ground again. He looked up at the woman in red beside him and said, "Just like the previous traces, the soil in this area has been loosened and covered up, but we still haven't found anything unusual. I don't know what this means."

"Are you just bored?" The woman in red was also puzzled. After frowning and thinking, she said, "Alright, there's no need to check each pit one by one. Mark the pits you find and let others check them. You just need to follow their tracks and find their whereabouts first. Once you find them, keep a close eye on them, and you'll naturally get the answer."

"Yes." The man in the demon-eyed cloak accepted the order and got up to continue the pursuit.

As the woman in red had said, he marked each excavation site where the target had lingered, leaving it for others to check. He then continued to lead the woman in red around the main peak of the sacred mountain.

The woman in red was also a little puzzled after realizing she was playing in circles.

After going around in circles, we finally managed to get down the mountain.

They were almost returning the way they came, though there were many detours, but also quite a few overlapping traces. They hadn't seen them on the way here. The man in the magic-eyed cloak immediately realized something and reported, "The target should have come down the mountain, probably not long ago."

However, when he was almost at the edge of the protective array, he stopped again.

Seeing him looking around and pacing in circles for a while without making any progress, the woman in red finally couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"

The cloaked figure with the demonic eye said in confusion, "It seems, it seems, Your Majesty, the trail seems to have ended here, as if it has vanished into thin air. There are no traces of it burrowing underground, nor any traces of it flying away in the air. This humble servant is incompetent and does not know where the target went." He bowed and clasped his hands in apology.

The woman in red looked down at him indifferently and said, "I don't listen to nonsense. Find the cause and the solution, otherwise what use are you?"

Not angry.

She personally intervened, and this is the result she got. How can she accept it?
The man in the demonic cloak broke out in a cold sweat, quickly organizing his thoughts. After a moment's thought, he replied, "Your Majesty, there are only two possibilities. One is that the target has also cultivated demonic arts and knows the method of shielding. The other is that someone who knows the method of shielding helped them leave. Apart from that, I really can't think of any other possibility. No one in this 'Big Dipper Spirit Repelling Array' has the strength to break through the void and leave."

The woman in red reached out and removed the hood that had been partially obscuring her face. Her eyes flickered as she pondered, and she said, "The target was recently tracked by the demonic path using their demonic eyes and nearly lost his life, yet he didn't use any shielding techniques. You tracked him all the way to the sacred mountain without seeing him use any shielding techniques either. If he had that ability, he wouldn't be using it now. According to your statement..."

She turned her head and coldly swept her gaze across the sacred mountain, slowly saying, "In other words, there may be demonic people lurking on this sacred mountain. Our arrival has alerted them. Our target has either been picked up by the demonic forces or kidnapped by them. How would the kidnappers know that he came up the mountain? If he was indeed picked up, and he is actually in cahoots with the demonic forces, then this is getting more and more interesting."

(End of this chapter)