Li Nanzhu stared at the drag marks that abruptly cut off, her fingertips unconsciously digging into her palms. The damp passage branched into three paths here, each one deep and bottomless; the scratches from the iron cage and the bloodstains vanished entirely at this point.
"Something's not right." Rong Yuying unfolded her fan, spiritual energy flowing across its surface. "Even if they used a spell to transfer it, there should be some residual spiritual energy traces..."
Jingyi crouched down, her fingertips lightly touching the ground. "Could it be..."
"It was covered up deliberately." Li Nanzhu spoke suddenly, her expression darkening. She hadn't expected those black-robed men to be cautious to this extent.
Suisui suddenly jumped down from her shoulder, its soul fire flickering violently as its bone claws pointed toward a rock wall that appeared perfectly normal.
Li Nanzhu felt a stir in her heart and immediately closed her eyes to focus, silently circulating the Greenwood Longevity Sutra within her body.
Since she had begun practicing this cultivation method, her perception of life force had become exceptionally keen. At this moment, behind the seemingly ordinary rock wall, she truly captured a faint fluctuation of vitality.
"Senior Sister Rong," she opened her eyes and pointed to the right-hand rock wall, "there's a life reaction behind there. It's very likely the imprisoned cultivators."
Seeing this, Rong Yuying immediately formed a hand seal to investigate. After a moment, her expression turned solemn. "It's a dual concealment array. The outer layer is disguised as ordinary rock, and the inner layer is nested with a warning talisman." She withdrew her spiritual energy. "Forcing a breach will immediately alert the person who set the array."
"My Fifth Senior Sister, Feng Qingping, is an expert in arrays." Li Nanzhu's voice tightened slightly. "If we can find her, perhaps we can break the array silently."
Yu'er said worriedly, "But isn't your senior sister being..."
"I know." Li Nanzhu gripped the jade slip at her waist—it still gave no response. "But this is our only way right now."
Rong Yuying pondered for a moment. "We can only backtrack along the path we came. Since they dragged the iron cage from this direction, there might be clues along the way."
The four of them followed the drag marks back, walking with extreme care this time. Li Nanzhu pushed the Greenwood Longevity Sutra to its limit, constantly sensing for any life force in the surroundings.
As they turned the third corner, Rong Yuying suddenly stopped, and Li Nanzhu sensed something wrong as well.
"Someone is coming," Rong Yuying whispered, and everyone immediately vanished into the shadows.
Faint footsteps approached from the distance, accompanied by the sound of fabric rustling. The newcomer seemed very cautious, stopping to observe every few steps. By the dim light of Suisui's soul fire, Li Nanzhu saw a familiar corner of pink fabric—it was Qinghe.
Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief. Upon hearing the movement, Qinghe had also ducked behind a rock wall, only showing herself once she realized it was Rong Yuying.
"I saw the mark and rushed over," Qinghe whispered. "Team Two has also received the message and is in position, ready to provide support at any time."
As she spoke, she took an oil-paper package from her storage bag and winked at Li Nanzhu.
"The special pastries from our Hehuan Sect that I promised you!"
Before Li Nanzhu could even react, Suisui's soul fire flashed bright blue, its bone claws creeping toward the oil-paper package. Li Nanzhu smiled gratefully and took the package, breaking off half a piece for it. The little skeleton immediately snatched it and hid in a corner, its soul fire turning a happy shade of pink.
"Now is not the time for this," Rong Yuying said, putting away her fan and surveying the surroundings with a grim expression. "We must find Feng Qingping as quickly as possible."
Qinghe also turned serious. "Team Two has already sealed off the eastern passage. We can start our search from the north."
Li Nanzhu gripped her jade slip so hard her knuckles turned white. "Senior Sister and the others must have left some kind of clue..."
"Let's split up to search," Rong Yuying decided immediately. "Jingyi, check the left wall. Yu'er, watch the right. Qinghe, pay attention to marks on the ground. Little Zhu'er, your life sensing is the sharpest; keep a constant eye out for any other living beings nearby."
The group continued forward along the drag marks.
The cavern was damp and cold, the sound of water dripping from stalactites exceptionally clear in the silence. Li Nanzhu pushed the Greenwood Longevity Sutra to its absolute limit, her fingertips occasionally brushing against the residual sword qi marks on the rock walls.
After walking for about half an hour, the passage ahead suddenly opened up. Broken stones were scattered across the ground, and the rock walls were covered in crisscrossing sword scars. A faint fluctuation of metal-attribute spiritual energy still lingered in the air.
"It's the Sixth Senior Brother's blade qi!" Li Nanzhu crouched down, her fingertips touching a charred blade mark. She immediately felt the familiar spiritual energy signature. "He fought here."
Rong Yuying unfolded her fan, her blue spiritual energy sweeping over the entire battlefield like a thin mist. "From the marks, at least five people besieged him." She pointed to a depression in one rock wall. "There's a very strong trace of metal-attribute spiritual energy here. It should be your senior brother's final burst."
Qinghe suddenly gave a soft cry, "Over here!" She had found a few drops of undried blood near a protruding stalagmite, along with half a lotus-pink sash—the very one Feng Qingping usually wore.
Hanging from the edge was half a broken jade pendant, and the fracture was stained with specks of cinnabar—the exact marking material Feng Qingping habitually used when setting arrays.
Li Nanzhu took the scrap of fabric, her fingers trembling slightly. "It's the Fifth Senior Sister's..."
Rong Yuying's fingertips lightly brushed a particularly deep spiritual energy trace. "Your senior sister fought while retreating, heading..." She suddenly turned toward an inconspicuous fork to the left. "This way."
The passage ahead grew narrower and damper, water dripping from the stalactites above. Everyone's vigilance rose to its peak. After another fifteen minutes of walking, Qinghe suddenly cried out, "Wait!"
She leaned over to pick up a piece of fabric from a protruding stalagmite—it was also lotus-pink, but the edge was cut smooth and clean, as if meticulously trimmed by a sharp blade.
"This..." Li Nanzhu took the fabric and spread it in her palm. "The cut is too clean. It doesn't look like it was torn during a fight; it looks more like..."
"It was left deliberately," Rong Yuying's eyes flashed.
Jingyi leaned in. "Could it be a trap?"
"I'm not sure..." Li Nanzhu whispered. "But since Senior Sister went to the trouble of leaving a clue..."
Rong Yuying pondered for a moment. "Continue forward, but double your caution. Yu'er, Jingyi, take the sides of the wall. Qinghe, take the rear. Little Zhu'er, stay close to me."
The group slowed their pace, alertly observing their surroundings. After another hundred steps, Suisui suddenly jumped down from Li Nanzhu's shoulder, its soul fire flickering violently.
Suisui's bone claws pointed toward a narrow side path, assuming a defensive posture.
"Someone's there!" Li Nanzhu whispered.
Everyone quickly concealed themselves. A moment later, a black-robed man crept out from the side path, holding a glowing compass as if searching for something. The faint light happened to reveal the dark patterns on his collar—the exact same organizational mark as the three men who had been dragging the cage.
Judging from the aura he emitted, he was only a cultivator at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.
Rong Yuying and Li Nanzhu exchanged a look, and the latter nodded slightly.
In the next second, four attacks struck the black-robed man simultaneously—Rong Yuying's Illusionary Passion Gauze, Li Nanzhu's fire lotus, Qinghe's spirit needles, and Jingyi's spirit-binding rope. They firmly restrained the black-robed man in a single instant.
The man didn't even have time to make a sound before Suisui slashed his throat with a claw. His body slumped down, eyes still filled with disbelief.
"We can't risk leaving him alive," Rong Yuying said, withdrawing her Illusionary Passion Gauze, her voice cold. "In case he has special means of communication..."
Li Nanzhu crouched down to check the black-robed man's belongings. Besides the glowing compass, she also found a wooden tablet engraved with eerie runes at his waist.
"This is..." She had just started to examine it closely when the ground beneath their feet suddenly glowed with a blinding red light!
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