Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

Hu Tao shook her head. "We don't know what the underground is like, and having more people doesn't necessarily make a difference."

She pointed at Zhongli with her chin, "With our guest elder here, one is worth ten."

Although Zhongli rarely makes a move, he has never been seen to use a weapon.

But he has a reassuring charm.

Moreover, everyone tacitly acknowledges his identity as an immortal.

"You flatter me, Master."

Hu Tao tiptoed and massaged his shoulders. "Don't be modest, my learned guest. Neither of us have been to the bottom of the Abyss. We'll be counting on you then."

Outside the abyss, Kong and Paimon, who were comfortably sunbathing on a rock, saw a group of people galloping towards them on horseback.

"Huh? Aren't those Zhongli and Hu Tao? And Ichidou and Aren too."

Ichidou and Kuki Shinobu had met Jiang Bai when he was still in Inazuma, and they met several more times afterward, and became familiar with each other.

"When did Yidou and the others arrive in Liyue? Why are they all in Juyuan? Even Zhongli is here..." Paimon asked, resting his chin on his hand, looking puzzled.

Thinking of Jiang Bai and Xiao who had disappeared, Kong looked worried.

"It seems something must have happened to Jiang Bai and Xiao..."

Chapter 620 This place is heavily fortified and outsiders are forbidden from entering.

"The Abyss is not yet open to the public, and entry into the underground area is prohibited."

The Qianyan Army stationed there stopped Hu Tao and his companions.

Sitting on his horse, Hu Tao looked at the Thousand Rock Army patrolling everywhere and felt that things were not going well.

Before the seal of the Great Abyss was still in place, there weren't as many Thousand Rock Army soldiers stationed here. Now it's different, especially at the mouth of the Great Abyss, where a small squad of Thousand Rock Army soldiers is stationed to prevent anyone from entering underground.

There's no one I know here, so going in normally is definitely not an option. I can only try to force my way in. As for the consequences, I can't worry about that now.

Just as Hu Tao was thinking about how to minimize the impact, Paimon hurriedly flew over.

"walnut!"

When Hu Tao saw them, her eyes lit up.

It's you guys!

Jiang Bai sent her a message while he was underground, saying that Kong was also underground and was a member of the official investigation team. He also complained that he could run into Kong anywhere.

Since they are here, their identities can be used to their advantage.

“We were invited by you to assist in the investigation, but now we're being stopped.”

Kong instantly understood the signal Hu Tao had given him and came to his rescue.

“They are our outsourced explorers, all of whom possess the Eye of God. We are here to meet them.”

Immediately, Yi Dou scratched his head, unsure how he had become part of some investigation team, but he wisely kept quiet.

Speaking carelessly can easily lead to trouble.

It's not familiar territory, so it's best to keep a low profile.

The leader of the Thousand Words Army glanced at the group and confirmed that they were indeed all possessors of the Eye of God. Moreover, with the famous Traveler vouching for them, there was no problem.

"Since they are from your investigation team, we will not interfere. If anything happens, your investigation team will be responsible."

After saying that, he waved his hand and led his men to make way.

Leaving the Thousand Rocks Army's patrol area and arriving at a secluded, deserted spot, Paimon inquired about their purpose.

"Hu Tao, what brings you here? What happened?"

Hu Tao looked worried. "I'm uneasy. I'm a little worried that something might have happened to Jiang Bai."

Hearing this, Paimon suddenly became somewhat worried.

"It's rather strange, really. They should have been ahead of us, but when we reached the deepest part, we only saw traces of battle, not their figures, and the shouting monster didn't respond..."

At the time, I thought nothing was wrong, but now I think it might have been an accident.

“Describe the situation to us in detail,” Zhong Li said.

Paimon didn't hide anything and told everyone about his experiences and investigations, from joining the investigation team to meeting Jiang Bai and then arriving at the deepest part of the area.

Concealing information from Zhongli could have negative consequences.

"The situation underground is truly complex; there's even the Abyss Order involved..."

Hu Tao was speechless with astonishment.

The long-distance communication device has a cooldown period, so most of the messages Jiang Bai sent her were things like "the underground is huge," "we dug up a huge piece of amber," and "we got a bunch of high-quality minerals for free," which didn't contain much information. He rarely talked about anything substantial.

No wonder the Abyss was sealed off; if it hadn't been, many miners would probably have already been affected by the underground anomalies.

"Thanks to our efforts, the abyss's anomalies have stopped. However, Haidif said that ordinary people still cannot go deep into it, as it would have adverse effects on their health. The General Affairs Department estimates that the dangers of the rock formations need to be assessed and a safe zone needs to be demarcated before it can be reopened to the public."

"It's okay, we're not ordinary people." Ichidou raised his arm, showing off his muscles.

"Alright, alright, now I know how formidable you are at herding cattle."

"Hey, you flying dwarf melon, what kind of tone is that?" Ichidou reached out and tried to pick her up.

Paimon darted behind Sora, grabbed Sora's head, and stuck his tongue out at Ichidou, "Hehehe~"

Zhongli couldn't help but chuckle, "Little Paimon is still so lively."

"Don't delay, let's go down quickly!" Hu Tao didn't want to linger here any longer; the later they arrived at Jiang Bai and Xiao's location, the more dangerous it would be.

"Come with us!"

Paimon, who was already very familiar with the Abyss, led the way.

They descended underground, giving first-time visitors ample time to adjust. Paimon gave everyone some important instructions.

"It's very dark underground, so you'd better keep your light source with you at all times. Also, the underground paths are very complex, so stay close to us and don't get separated. Although we've cleared away a lot of the black mud, it will still appear from time to time. Since you don't have Lumenite catalyst, you'd better avoid the black mud..."

Yi Dou pointed to a patch of ominous-looking black mud not far ahead, "What would happen if we encountered it?"

Paimon crossed his arms and said, "You cowherd, you can give it a try."

Hisaki Shinobu stopped Ichito, who wanted to try it out, and said, "Boss, we came here to find Jiang Bai. If you're curious, you'll have plenty of opportunities to try it out after we find them."

"Ok."

The underground mine tunnels are winding and rugged, empty and dark, exuding a depressing atmosphere.

Kong led the group through the nearest passage to the deepest part, but even so, it still took several days.

Upon reaching the deepest part of the abyss, before the group could pay much attention to the enormous celestial nail, their attention was drawn to a figure beneath it.

The figure looked in the direction from which the sound came.

Even from a distance, you could still feel the sharpness in his eyes.

"Huh? There's someone here?"

Paimon stared blankly at this person he had never seen before.

“Ye Lan!” Hu Tao recognized her.

Ye Lan's gaze swept over the group, and she narrowed her eyes. "Hall Master Hu, this is not a place for you."

Ichito disliked this forceful tone; it reminded him of a certain annoying tengu. He shouted loudly and without any politeness:

"Who are you? Why can you come but we can't?"

Hu Tao grabbed him and pressed him down, saying, "Take it easy, this is her jurisdiction!"

"Huh?" Yi Dou shrank back, his tone immediately becoming weaker.

"We're already here, what can she do to so many of us by herself?"

Even without the boss lifting a finger, he could knock that woman down with a single punch.

Yelan completely ignored the loud and boisterous Yidou and looked at Kong, who had the authority to freely enter and exit the Layered Rock Abyss.

"The Laminar Abyss is not yet open to the public. Unauthorized personnel are prohibited from entering. Travelers, when did your research team get so many people?"

"You know me?"

"You may not know me, but I have a deep impression of you."

"I'm sorry for bringing people in without permission. We're here to find someone. My friend Jiang Bai might be in danger."

Chapter 621 Jiang Bai attacked you?

"Oh? You've encountered danger?"

Ye Lan frowned.

"But wasn't he with the Great Sage Who Subdues Demons? How could something have happened to him?"

"To be honest, both of them lost contact here."

Zhongli shifted his gaze from Yelan to the Heavenly Nail.

The light from the Sky Nail was pure and bright, with invisible particles emanating from it.

Beneath the Heavenly Nail, light emanated from the ground.

Zhongli jumped down immediately.

The others jumped down with him.

"Ye Lan, have you met him?" Hu Tao pressed Ye Lan for details.

If someone can say that Jiang Bai and the Demon-Slaying Great Sage were together, then they must have seen them before.

"Yes, I met him at that upside-down ruin."

"At the time, I didn't notice anything unusual, and he didn't show any signs of injury."

The path from that upside-down ruin to here was nothing special, and there was no danger for them.

Therefore, this is the only place that could put someone in danger.

Ye Lan surveyed the entire massive cavern. "It seems there are indeed some anomalies here that we haven't noticed."

"Huh? Where did the giant snake go?" Paimon flew around the area but couldn't find any remains of the giant snake from before.

"A giant snake? What giant snake?" Ye Lan frowned.

There weren't any large snakes here when she arrived.

"It was a super, super big snake! The passage we came in through must have been created by that snake!"

Paimon spread his arms wide, trying his best to describe to her just how big the snake was.

"When we arrived, the giant snake was around here, pinned down by rocks, and some of its parts had been dismantled."

“When I came here, there weren’t any large snakes.” Ye Lan frowned. “Besides us, there were probably other people who had been here.”

"It might be an Apostle of the Abyss," Kong said, offering his conjecture.

He had encountered Abyss Apostles several times underground, including Jiang Bai.

The Abyss Apostles are surely plotting something beneath this abyss.

Ye Lan's eyes flashed with murderous intent. "Tsk, the Abyss Order is getting more and more restless."

"Forget about the giant snake for now, the most important thing is to find my brother!"

Ichidou wasn't interested in any giant serpent; he only wanted to find his brother.

"Guest, have you discovered anything?" Hu Tao stared at Zhong Li, who had been deep in thought since he came down.

"If I'm not mistaken, there is a huge space below."

"Below?" Hu Tao looked down at her feet.

The ground beneath my feet was solid. Although light seeped out, it was not a illusory light or shadow, and it did not have any physical form.

“There does look like there’s something down there,” Paimon thought, also finding the area below quite unusual.

"That's easy! Get out of the way!" Yi Dou stretched his arms, gathering elemental power in his hands, and slammed his fist into the ground!