Youyou felt that things wouldn't go on like this; forget about finding a soul beast, they probably wouldn't even be able to get out of this street. So the group went straight into a shop, and before the crowd caught up, they quickly took out invisibility talismans and stuck them on, making it impossible for others to see their true appearances, before finally leaving.
Sure enough, no one followed them anymore. Even if they bumped into each other head-on, others would deliberately ignore their presence, which made it easier for the group to find the person.
You You breathed a sigh of relief and signaled to Yuan Qi that they could now set up the array to search. Yuan Qi's father didn't delay either, heading straight towards the city center, stopping in the middle of the street, and beginning to form hand seals to set up the array. Feng Rong also released her divine sense and began to carefully sense the surroundings.
After a while, the two stopped their spells, but neither of them looked very good.
"How is it?" Youyou asked.
"There's still no trace of any soul beast." Father Yuan shook his head.
“I didn’t sense anything either,” Feng Rong replied. “The spiritual energy here is very weak, and there isn’t even half a cultivator here.”
Youyou frowned. Although she was anxious, she had a strange feeling that this was expected. After thinking for a moment, she suggested, "Why don't we take a walk around the city and ask around?"
The two agreed and began to wander around, asking the city's residents about the soul beasts. However, they still found no clues.
“There’s nothing unusual about this city, so it seems the soul beast isn’t here. I just don’t know if it left voluntarily or was forced to leave,” Yuan Qi guessed.
"No matter what, he must have encountered some trouble." Feng Rong also said in a deep voice, "With the cultivation level of a soul beast, if it really encountered a trouble that it couldn't handle, the other party's cultivation level should be at least Golden Immortal."
“That’s right,” Yuan Qi agreed. “It’s just that immortals can’t leave the immortal realm at will. The only immortal in the lower realm is Nie Zheng. And in the entire immortal realm, only Heng Yan has a red lotus that can be taken to the lower realm. He just came to the Zhenyan Sect two days ago, so there shouldn’t be any other immortals with it.”
"Where did that soul beast go?" Feng Rong frowned. "It couldn't have just gone back to the underworld without saying goodbye, could it? Xiao You, what do you think... Xiao You?!"
"Ah!" Youyou was stunned for a moment, as if she had just heard the conversation between the two, and turned around.
"What's wrong with you?" Feng Rong looked her up and down. Why did she suddenly space out?
Youyou glanced at the two of them, then pointed to the city gate ahead, saying with some doubt, "Don't you... think there's something strange about this city gate?"
"City gate?" The two turned around at the same time to look at the dilapidated wooden city gate. Compared with other ordinary cities, this city gate was rather shabby. If it weren't for the city name written on it, you wouldn't even know it was a city gate.
The two of them scanned the city gate with their divine senses but found nothing unusual. "What's wrong with this city gate?"
"When I first came in, I felt something was off about this place." You You frowned, feeling a bit puzzled herself. "I can't quite put my finger on it, but this city gate gives me a strange feeling."
When she first entered the city, that feeling was fleeting, and she thought it was just her imagination. But now that she's here, that strange feeling has returned. It seems somewhat familiar, yet she can't quite place it.
"Let me try setting up another array!" Yuan Qi's expression became more serious. He quickly formed a few hand seals, and an array instantly took shape, scanning the city gate inside and out several times. After a while, he stopped and shook his head at You You, "I didn't find anything?"
Feng Rong, however, immediately cast a spell on the city gate and said, "Regardless of whether there's anything wrong or not, I'll make a mark first, just in case."
You nodded, glanced at the gate again, and then left to continue investigating elsewhere. Unfortunately, the group circled the city again and again, but still found no trace of them. As darkness fell, the city bells rang, signaling the curfew.
The three had no choice but to return to the inn, where all the other guests had already left. Only after it was completely dark did You You awaken Qiu Zhang from the divination.
"Have you found the soul beast?" Qiu Zhang asked as soon as he woke up.
"Not yet!" You You shook her head, briefly explained the results of the search, and then asked, "We don't know much about soul beasts. Qiu Zhang, do you have a way to contact the Underworld Envoy and see if he can sense the location of the soul beasts?"
This was the most effective method they could think of. After all, the Underworld Envoy was a supervisor of the Underworld; surely he had some special way of contacting his staff? However, the Underworld Envoy was always elusive, and in the past, it was always the Soul Beasts who helped contact him; they didn't know the method.
“Okay, I’ll give it a try.” Qiu Zhang nodded quickly. “The soul beast taught me how to communicate with the underworld using yin energy.” After saying that, he ignored his weakened soul body and immediately began to form hand seals to mobilize yin energy.
The room suddenly darkened, even the candlelight turned green, and the surrounding yin energy intensified. Qiu Zhang's soul swayed, and after making hand seals for a long time, he slowly opened his eyes, saying with some hesitation, "Sect Master, the Underworld Envoy... did not answer my communication."
"..."
What's with the "not answered"? Is this some kind of one-way call request? And to make matters worse, it was rejected!
"I...I'll try again!" Qiu Zhang immediately performed the hand seals again, his soul body becoming even more unstable. This time he was a little faster than before, but his expression was even more troubled. "I...I can't connect!"
"..."
Are you kidding me!
(╯￣Д￣)╯╘═╛
First they rejected my call, and now they've just blacklisted me? Seriously, none of these underworld places are reliable!
"Damn it! This Underworld Envoy is doing this on purpose, isn't he?" Feng Rong was the first to exclaim, "Get this straight, whose side is this soul beast on?!"
Yuan Qi was also speechless. Although he understood that the Underworld Envoy was somewhat capricious in his actions, this was just too capricious!
"Sect Master, how about I continue..." Qiu Zhang wanted to continue making hand seals.
"Alright, alright!" Youyou quickly stopped him. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn't wake someone who was pretending to be asleep. "Your soul is too weak. Go back to the Divine Decree and stay there. We'll think of another way."
Qiu Zhang glanced at the group with concern before flashing back into the Divine Decree.
The three men's faces darkened as they began to ponder a solution, but they were completely clueless. They had no leads and no outside help.
“Why don’t we go out of the city tomorrow and search the surrounding area?” Yuan Qi suggested. “Qiu Zhang was attacked outside the city, so we might be able to find some clues.”
"That's all we can do now!" Feng Rong said angrily. "Xiao You, what do you think?"
"Okay!" You You nodded in agreement, glanced around, and subconsciously said, "Don't you guys think it's... a bit too cold here?!"
The two of them were stunned for a moment, then were instantly taken aback.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
