I saw that Wei Shengnan and the others' place was locked, so I figured they had probably gone out to eat. So Monkey and I found a shady spot and waited patiently.

As a result, an hour passed while they waited.

The monkey frowned as he looked at the shadow that had already drifted far away. "Young Master Duan, at this time, the canteen in Ping'an Village should already be closed. I have a feeling that Wei Shengnan and the others didn't go to eat, but rather went to investigate something!"

I shifted my position and sat back in the shadows: "We've come at the wrong time. Let's wait a bit longer. Since we agreed to meet outside the city tonight, they should be back to prepare."

The monkey reminded him, "Young Master Duan, didn't you put the Heavenly Tiger Armor on Wei Shengnan? Why not just lock onto their location directly?"

“No, I told Wei Shengnan about this when I was spraying the Tianya Tiger Armor pheromones. My intention was to let everyone look out for each other, not to use it to stalk them.”

I waved my hand and said, "Since we are in a cooperative relationship, we should be more careful about this. If we are misunderstood as spying on them, it will cause unnecessary trouble."

"Do we really need to be this cautious?"

The monkey scoffed, "You've already decided to go to the willow grove to ambush them ahead of time. We're just notifying them. It's not like we're doing anything shameful, is it? Or what if they check the information tonight and go straight to the rendezvous point? Our whole plan will be ruined! We can't exactly kill someone else just to lure out the clan leader, can we?"

I was amused by the monkey, then took out the small box containing the Tianya Tiger Armor and opened the lid.

"Hold!"

The moment I opened the box, I couldn't help but swear; I was completely dumbfounded.

At this moment, the Tiger Armor in the box was motionless, its belly up.

"Holy crap, what's going on?"

The monkey stared blankly at the tiger-like insect in the box, blinking in bewilderment: "Could it be that the weather here is too hot, and this insect died from the heat?"

"Didn't Wang Qing say that the Sky Tiger Armor has a lifespan of half a month? Now that we've been away from Fengmen Village for about ten days, how could this bug have died?"

I laid the Tiger Armor on the ground and was about to speak when I suddenly saw its leg twitch. I exclaimed with delight, "This bug isn't dead!"

"Not dead? That's not a good thing either!"

The monkey said, bewildered, "Isn't it said that this bug is a romantic, and will do everything in its power to find a mate as long as it's alive? But look at its condition, what good bug could possibly be its partner?"

As they were talking, the monkey stood up and started unbuckling his belt.

I looked at the monkey, a little confused: "What are you doing?"

"I think this bug is probably unconscious because of heatstroke. You step aside, let me see if I can wake it up with my pee!"

"Get the hell out of here! If your pee drowns the bugs, we'll be completely stuck!"

I pushed the monkey away, then poked the insect a few times with a twig. It finally regained its spirits and started crawling in circles on the ground.

The monkey frowned at me and asked, "Young Master Duan, what's wrong with this insect? It looks different from the ones we've seen before."

I recalled how we got completely lost in the maze when we entered Ping'an Village, and I wondered, "It's really a bit strange. Could it be because there's something wrong with the magnetic field here?"

The monkey scratched its head: "Doesn't that mean we've completely lost contact with Wei Shengnan and the others?"

"It's too early to draw conclusions."

I thought for a moment, then took out the remaining Sky Tiger Armor and a bottle containing pheromones: "Let's do an experiment. I'll apply the pheromones to your body, and then you walk a little further away to see if my guess is correct!"

The monkey's eyes widened: "Young Master Duan, this is the only Sky Tiger Armor we have left. Using it for experiments seems like such a waste."

"It's not a waste. This Tianya Tiger Armor has very little life left. If there's really a problem with the magnetic field here, there's no point in keeping it."

As I spoke, I sprinkled pheromones on the monkey, making him walk a short distance, and then opened the box containing the Gu worms.

The moment the box was opened, the tiger armor inside became restless and desperately tried to climb out.

Seeing this, I quickly closed the lid and waved to the monkey.

After the monkey ran over, it asked me curiously, "Young Master Duan, how was it?"

"The Tianya Tiger Armor can be used here, so the one who got into trouble wasn't the insect, but Wei Shengnan!"

After I expressed my thoughts, my expression turned somewhat grim: "There must be experts using Gu in Ping'an Village, and Tianya Tiger Armor is itself a type of Gu worm. So I feel that Wei Shengnan's disappearance is very likely caused by human intervention, which means that something has happened to Wei Shengnan and the others."

"You mean, they were captured by the people from Ping'an Village?"

The monkey pondered for a moment: "If that's the case, it means that Wei Shengnan and the others must have deceived us, and they have information that we haven't been able to access, which caused problems when we started our investigation!"

I said, "They might not have been captured. They might have lost some special places, places that can shield them from the Sky Tiger Armor's senses! Since the people of Ping'an Village know how to use Gu, they should also have mastered the relevant technology!"

The monkey was getting agitated: "We came here to warn Wei Shengnan to act ahead of schedule, but now they've lost contact. What about the plan?"

I thought for a moment and said, "Let's pretend we don't know anything about this and proceed as planned. After dark, we'll go to the meeting point outside town and meet them as normal."

The monkey sighed: "The problem now is that we can't find Wei Shengnan and the others at all. If something happens to them, aren't we just wasting our time?"

I replied, "It is precisely because we do not know their whereabouts that we have decided to wait for them outside the city. If nothing happens to them, we will not be considered to have breached the contract."

The monkey countered, "What if something happens to them?"

"Then let's take matters into our own hands and go to the willow grove to catch them!"

I stated my thoughts frankly: "Our cooperation is solely focused on finding the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace. Today's opportunity is too good to pass up, and my willingness to postpone the operation is the biggest concession I can make. If they are truly missing, I will prioritize finding the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace."