Elder Qu reached out and caught a falling petal from above, examined it, and then held it to his nose to sniff. He looked up, feeling a bit uneasy, not knowing whether the Grand Elder’s trip would be auspicious or ominous.
If anything were to go wrong, what should these people do?
After pondering for a while, Elder Qu felt he should send someone to inform the sect. He beckoned two people over, whispered some instructions to them, and told them to return to the sect quickly.
On the giant tree, Xiang Lanxuan and Huan Yushan landed one after the other on a branch wider than a street. The two women guiding the way extended their hands once more to invite them forward to the “square” ahead.
The so-called “square” was actually the junction where several main branches of the giant tree diverged.
Furnaces were scattered around, blazing fiercely. It made the onlookers’ hearts pound with fear, worrying that this “divine tree” would be burned down.
Several circles of drums were set up in the area, and three barefoot men were bouncing and jumping on the drums, performing a strange dance.
Two of the men were bare chested, with robust physiques and clearly defined chest and abdominal muscles. They jumped back and forth on the drums barefoot, producing rhythmic drumming sounds.
On the drum in the very centre, which was also the largest, stood a man in colourful clothes. A pink flower was pinned to his hair bun, and his wide sleeves were rolled up to his shoulders, hanging like two ropes over his bare arms as he swayed his barefoot steps.
Strangely, he was also blindfolded with a silk ribbon tied over his eyes. He had a small moustache curled at the ends, held a wine cup in his hand, and looked completely unsteady and tipsy.
He fluttered forward a few steps, then stretched his waist and stomped back and forth to create drum sounds, singing from his mouth, “Drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk.”
The two bare chested men immediately stomped to create drum sounds in response, “Hey ya, hey ya, hey ya.”
The man in colourful clothes suddenly stomped his feet rapidly, then slowed down, his body swaying limply as he sang, “Awake, awake, awake, awake.”
The two bare chested men jumped over, swinging their bodies back and forth and stomping in response, “Hey ya, hey ya, hey ya.”
One of them swayed while holding a wine jar to pour wine for the man in colourful clothes.
The two women guiding the way also each jumped onto a drum at this moment, stomping and clapping in response with a single, “Hey ya.”
“Climbing, flying, where are people going?”
“Hey ya, hey ya, hey ya.”
“Hey ya.”
Xiang Lanxuan and Huan Yushan, trying to walk into the “square”, looked at each other in bewilderment. This situation left them completely confused.
They wanted to know who the so-called “Great King” was. Was it the one in colourful clothes? But looking at his uninhibited appearance, it did not seem like him.
Since they had already come to this place, they had to follow the host’s lead and could only patiently wait for the time being.
Looking around, they found that the dances of the others followed a pattern, but the dance of the man in colourful clothes was unpredictable. Sometimes he tiptoed as if acting like a thief, sometimes he walked with his buttocks sticking out and twisting like a rooster, and sometimes he stomped his feet wildly, making the water on the drums splash everywhere.
There was wine splashed from wine cups onto the drum surfaces.
Sometimes he even collapsed onto the drum surface, rolling around and flailing his limbs, completely acting on a whim.
The songs he sang also seemed very casual.
Waiting and waiting, until a jar of wine was completely poured out and the last drop fell into the wine cup, the man in colourful clothes finally raised his head and drank it all in one gulp. He casually tossed the cup away, spread his arms, leaned back, and sang a line to the sky, “Hey ya, hey ya, hey ya,” before suddenly flying up into the air.
He landed lightly in front of Xiang and Huan, like a blind thief, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed in front of the two of them, making them very nervous.
The man in colourful clothes suddenly pointed at Huan Yushan and asserted, “Man.” Then he ripped off the blindfold and simultaneously spoke to Xiang Lanxuan, “Woman.”
A pair of bright and expressive eyes blinked as he sized up Xiang Lanxuan.
Xiang Lanxuan was also sizing him up, finding that he looked quite manly, except that the small moustache looked somewhat familiar.
After confirming that Xiang Lanxuan before him was a woman, he turned his head to stare at Huan Yushan, then laughed loudly and stepped back, “Guessed right.”
He casually threw away the silk ribbon in his hand and beckoned.
Thus, the two bare chested men each carried a wine jar over, and the two enchanting women brought wine cups.
The wine was poured full, held in delicate hands, and presented to Xiang and Huan.
The two looked at each other speechlessly and accepted the cups with fake smiles. The man in colourful clothes raised his hand to signal, “Guests who come are guests, please drink this cup full.”
The two looked at the wine in the cups. With this person who could not distinguish friend from foe, how could they possibly drink it?
Xiang Lanxuan spoke up to change the subject, “May I ask who your Excellency is?”
The enchanting woman beside him said, “This is our Great King.”
“So it is the Great King, my apologies.” Xiang Lanxuan bowed slightly, and Huan Yushan followed suit with a slight gesture.
The man in colourful clothes raised his hand again to signal the two to drink.
However, the two holding the wine cups were truly in a difficult position and really did not dare to drink it casually.
Seeing this, the man in colourful clothes smiled and reached out to take the wine cups back from their hands. He first poured a cup of wine into his own stomach before asking, “How did you open the seal and get in?”
Xiang and Huan immediately looked at each other in bewilderment, not knowing whether this person knew the immortal mansion’s gate had opened after seeing them, or if he knew as soon as the gate opened.
Xiang Lanxuan tried asking, “Did the Great King know we had come in long ago?”
The man in colourful clothes shrugged, raised his cup to toast the canopy above, and drank another cup in one gulp. Smacking his lips, he said, “When the seal is opened, I can sense it here. I will ask one last time, how did you get in?”
He handed the two wine cups to the enchanting woman beside him to hold.
Seeing him say this, Xiang and Huan felt immense pressure. Huan Yushan said, “I do not know how the seal was opened. I followed her in.”
He dared to push the blame onto me? Xiang Lanxuan subconsciously glared at him. Seeing the man in colourful clothes already staring at her, she quickly explained, “I also do not know how I got in. I saw the immortal mansion open and saw people coming in, so I followed them in.”
The man in colourful clothes asked Huan Yushan again, “Is that so?”
Huan Yushan said, “Yes, we actually all count as having followed someone in.”
The man in colourful clothes asked, “Where is that person?”
Xiang Lanxuan said, “We have also been looking for him after coming in.”
Huan Yushan knew the person was in their hands, but he did not honestly say it.
The man in colourful clothes smiled and nodded, “Good, I will give you one day. No, tomorrow, before the sun rises the day after tomorrow, if you do not send that person to me, I will start a hunt. You must hide well, do not let me find you.”
Having finished speaking, he flashed away and landed in front of an upright drum, picking up two drumsticks and beating it.
The drumming was rumbling and soul shaking, and quite rhythmic.
He jumped and beat it barefoot, bounced and beat it, looking obviously very excited. Even the drumming revealed his excitement. He also turned around to beat it with his back facing them and raised his chin to signal to Xiang and Huan that they could leave.
Not only him, but even the two bare chested men and the two enchanting women all clearly had excited expressions, as if they were all looking forward to the upcoming hunt.
Despite this, Xiang and Huan, not knowing the true depth of the situation, did not dare to offend him. They cupped their hands in greeting and left just like that.
After the two returned to the ground, Xiang Lanxuan did not say a single extra word. She looked back at the tree once more, flashed away, and flew directly towards the exit of the immortal mansion.
She was no longer willing to stay in this place. At the very least, she alone did not dare to act rashly here. They still had to wait for the Earth Master to arrive before making a decision.
Seeing this, Huan Yushan was slightly anxious. He could not let Xiang Lanxuan leave here alive, but he also could not let Elder Qu and the others stay here to die. Just as he was about to give instructions, a commotion suddenly came from behind the crowd. Shortly after, three people were brought before them. It was precisely Qin Fujun and the other two.
Seeing these three return again, Elder Qu was surprised, “Did I not tell you to go out and deliver the message?”
He also looked left and right, wanting to ask someone else if he had misheard.
Qin Fujun said with a solemn expression, “We cannot get out. The gate of the immortal mansion is sealed. Even if we exhaust all our strength, it is hard to shake it in the slightest. I am afraid the Grand Envoy will have to take action personally to try.” As she spoke, she also looked left and right, not finding the figure of the Grand Envoy.
“What?” Elder Qu was greatly shocked and immediately asked Huan Yushan, “Grand Elder, what should we do?”
“Could it be them?” Huan Yushan muttered, then looked back at the tree, suspecting whether that Great King had used some method to close the exit. After all, that person had said he was going to launch a hunt. How could he hunt without closing the door?
However, now was not the time to hesitate because of this. He immediately took Elder Qu aside, avoiding the crowd, and instructed in a low voice, “There are several great demons on the tree, and their strength is extraordinary. This place is not suitable for a long stay. You must immediately lead everyone to relocate. Do not worry about anything else for now. Find that Tanhua Scholar first. Regarding everything about this place, you must pry his mouth open.”
Elder Qu pondered and said, “Although the person is under our control, he is in the hands of the Daye Division personnel. What should we do about those Daye Division people? They will definitely obstruct us!”
Huan Yushan said resolutely, “Those people can no longer be kept alive. We cannot let them meet Xiang Lanxuan. If we really cannot get out, once the great demons on the tree take action, only if those people disappear can we continue to utilise Xiang Lanxuan’s strength. Remember, that Tanhua Scholar might hold the key to whether we can get out alive.”
Elder Qu said, “Alright, I will handle it.”
“You go do it quickly, I must go watch that Grand Envoy.” As soon as Huan Yushan finished speaking, he flashed away, and his figure quickly disappeared into the night.
Elder Qu did not dare to hesitate either, quickly gathering his people and rapidly evacuating the area.
Just a moment after these people left, another team quietly sneaked under the “divine tree”. It was precisely the Daye Division team that had coerced Yu Qing and the others to leave first.
They did not approach directly either, but circled around the “divine tree”, only stopping when they reached the base of the big tree.
More than a dozen people hid in the flowers and plants, looking around in all directions.
To be honest, Yu Qing and the others were somewhat anxious because of the actions of these people, because they knew this big tree was the immortal palace in the immortal mansion, and a demon king with profound cultivation lived in the immortal palace. Sneaking right under their noses like this, if it was not looking for trouble, what was it?
“Where is the Grand Envoy? We have circled around again and again, and have not even seen a shadow of a person.” Nanzhu could not help but complain.
The Daye Division crowd also found it quite strange. Was it not said that the Grand Envoy came here?
Yu Qing chimed in at this moment, staring at the tree and saying, “It is highly likely that the Grand Envoy and the others have already gone up.”
Nanzhu, Mu Aotie, and Baili Xin instantly widened their eyes and glared at him. They could not even hide in time, yet he still dared to bring up this tree. What was he trying to do?