“Trying to trick me?” Looking down from above, Huan Yushan wore an expression of hidden mockery, laughing at Yu Qing for not knowing that the Demon King had given him a three day grace period. Even if the Demon King had not fallen for the trick, it would be perfectly fine for him to go see the Demon King now and feign paying his respects.
Seeing this, Yu Qing immediately realised there was some situation he was unaware of. However, before he could use clever words to deceive him again, Huan Yushan had already flashed away.
Yu Qing was greatly shocked, not expecting the other party to lack even this much patience. If the other party handled the Demon King’s side alone, why would he need to care about them later? Would his own nonsense just now not be like lifting a stone only to drop it on his own foot? He immediately shouted urgently, “Great Elder, only we can determine whether he has fallen for the trick or not.”
However, the man had already gone far away and probably had not heard his shout at all. Elder Qu and the others did hear it, but they just looked at each other in dismay.
Yu Qing’s thoughts shifted, and he immediately called out to his companions, “Let us go, we will go take a look too.”
He also deliberately patted Baili Xin’s arm, signalling her to carry Qin Fujun. He was unwilling to let Mu Aotie carry her. Before figuring out who the woman in last night’s dream was, he still wanted to observe the propriety of keeping boundaries between men and women.
Baili Xin carried Qin Fujun on her back, but Mu Aotie still did not sheathe his sword, keeping it pressed against Qin Fujun’s neck.
Yu Qing also took the initiative to carry Xiang Lanxuan on his back, while Nan Zhu held his sword and guarded them from the side. Seeing that they were about to leave, Elder Qu reprimanded them, “You had better behave yourselves!” and blocked their way.
Yu Qing immediately deceived him, saying, “Elder Qu, this is no child’s play. Great Elder Huan is being far too hasty. How can he casually test the Demon King’s depth? He might not be able to figure out if the Demon King has fallen for the trick. We are the ones who administered the poison, and only by going there ourselves can we see through it at a glance. Hurry up and move aside, if you do not move aside it will be too late!”
With this commotion and these words, Elder Qu was also made somewhat hesitant. He could not help but look at the disciples, hoping someone could offer good advice. However, the group had no idea what was actually going on, so how could they offer any advice?
Some Kunling Mountain disciples who did not know about the Demon King’s three day grace period even felt that the Great Elder was indeed too impulsive, but as juniors, it was not appropriate for them to say anything.
Nan Zhu also stamped his foot and said, “What are you doing? That old man’s cultivation is far higher than yours. If we were not afraid he would ruin things, do you think we would want to be with your Great Elder? If we drag this out any longer and something unexpected happens, none of us will be able to leave this immortal mansion. We might as well wait to be hunted down!”
Although he did not know what Old Fifteen was trying to do, seeing his anxious appearance, he naturally helped speak up and played along.
Hearing this, the crowd from Kunling Mountain also felt it made sense and looked towards Elder Qu, waiting for his decision.
Elder Qu pondered and hesitated.
Yu Qing spoke again, “You are following us, so are you still afraid we will run away? If we can truly escape, surrounding us will be useless anyway. If we dawdle any longer, it will be too late.” He directly shouted at the Kunling Mountain disciples blocking the way ahead, “Move aside for me!”
The people blocking the way were also very hesitant and stared at Elder Qu once more.
After hesitating repeatedly, Elder Qu looked back at the last batch of disciples who had arrived, gritted his teeth, made a decision, and waved his hand, saying, “Let them go!” As soon as the path was cleared, Yu Qing and his group immediately rushed out.
Elder Qu quickly divided the disciples into two teams and chased after them rapidly. They soon caught up, since Yu Qing and the others were carrying people on their backs and could not run very fast. The Kunling Mountain disciples split into two teams to accompany Yu Qing and the others on their left and right sides, effectively sandwiching them in the middle, clearly afraid they would play tricks and escape.
Yu Qing could no longer care about these things. He led the crowd in a full speed sprint, wanting to minimise the time difference of arriving at the divine tree after Huan Yushan as much as possible.
Xiang Lanxuan, who was using him as a mount, suddenly buried her head by his ear and whispered softly, “What are you trying to do?”
What was he trying to do? Yu Qing did not respond verbally, but thought to himself, I want to ask if you slept with me last night.
It was just that this question was too embarrassing. With so many people around, he felt too embarrassed to say it out loud no matter how low his voice was.
The divine tree was immensely huge, towering into the sky.
Huan Yushan, descending from the sky, slowed down and slowly flew into the tree canopy, landing in the open, plaza like area of the tree branches.
Pacing around and looking about, he found that aside from some furnishings still in their original places, there was no sign of anyone.
After wandering around in a circle and confirming there was indeed no one, Huan Yushan could not help but cast a spell and say loudly, “Huan Yushan pays his respects to the Great King!”
He waited for a while, but no one responded.
He shouted again, “Huan Yushan pays his respects to the Great King!”
He shouted several times in a row, but there was still no response.
Huan Yushan suddenly felt something was wrong and flashed into the dense canopy to search everywhere.
Inside the massive trunk of the divine tree, in a small hall, the man in floral robes sat upright in the highest seat with his eyes closed, resting. On the ground to his left and right, A Chi and A Cheng sat cross legged in meditation. Xiang Zhen, at the side, was also sitting cross legged in meditation.
The enchantingly posed A Qing quietly guarded the doorway.
Shortly after, A Lan arrived and walked quickly inside, reporting to the man in floral robes, “Great King, that white haired old man has come again, saying he wants to pay his respects to you.”
The man in floral robes opened his eyes and asked, “Did he bring the man with the moustache?”
A Lan replied, “No, he is alone.”
The man in floral robes said, “Act as if you did not hear anything. We will discuss everything after I have recovered.”
To put it plainly, he just wanted to hide.
Previously, he did not hide and even came out to deal with them because he was afraid the group outside would conduct a massive search inside the divine tree, which would delay the recovery of A Qing and A Lan. He was buying time for the two of them.
Now that the two had recovered, he had the confidence to hide.
The maze like passageways inside the divine tree made it very difficult for anyone unfamiliar with the routes to find them hiding within.
Relying on the advantage of the terrain, coupled with the fact that the cultivation of A Qing and A Lan could help them move and shift quickly within the divine tree without worrying about being easily cornered, he naturally had no need to take risks going outside. Everything could wait until he recovered.
“Yes,” A Lan agreed, then turned and left to continue monitoring the movements outside.
Recover? Xiang Zhen had already sensed something was wrong at this point and asked, “Is there a problem with the Great King’s body?”
He still had not connected it to the aphrodisiac, because he had also been affected by it. He felt it had no major impact on his own cultivation, and he felt the effects of the drug had mostly dissipated after a day.
The man in floral robes glanced at A Qing, who was guarding him, and finally revealed the truth. “That aphrodisiac did not affect you much, but it was specifically targeted at us. I am currently unable to use my cultivation, and forcing myself to channel it would be no different from committing suicide.” Xiang Zhen was stunned and stood up in shock and doubt, asking, “Can it not be resolved?”
The man in floral robes smiled and said, “It is not a big deal. Just endure for another day or two, and I will recover.”
Xiang Zhen asked, “Since that is the case, why not hide further away?”
The man in floral robes shook his head and smiled, not stating the reason.
Huan Yushan, who had been searching all over the massive canopy for a long time, drifted back down to the branch plaza. His expression was not very good. He felt that what Yu Qing said was probably true, and that Demon King might have really fallen for the trick.
Now, he had either run away or was hiding. Otherwise, with the Demon King’s cultivation, it would be impossible for him not to notice him shouting and searching like this.
Actually, he had believed the words of Yu Qing from the very beginning. The reason was that he had already felt the expressions of the Demon King and the others were off, and they had generously given them three days. Missing the opportunity to control the Demon King meant missing the opportunity to control this immortal mansion. How could one not be annoyed?
His gaze suddenly locked onto a cave entrance. He flashed to the entrance and slowly stepped inside, advancing vigilantly. It could be said he was plucking up his courage to search the lair of the Demon King.
However, before he had penetrated too deep, he saw the swarms of bees hanging upside down in dense clusters within the passage.
The bee swarms were highly aggressive during the day. Upon seeing an invading enemy, they immediately swarmed up to attack.
But the cultivation of Huan Yushan was not something Yu Qing and the others could compare to. The attacks of the multicoloured bees could not get near him at all, and he continued to move forward and search amidst the attacks of the swarm.
For him, the only trouble was that the number of bees was too large. The dense flying formations blocked his line of sight while searching.
He struck out with a palm, and tens of thousands of multicoloured bees fell dead to the ground. He knew what the consequences of doing this were. Once the Demon King recovered and returned, he was afraid he would absolutely not let him off.
But he still did not want to miss this excellent opportunity. What if the Demon King had not run away and was just hiding here?
Things had reached this point, and he could not easily talk of retreating. At this moment, it was no different from gambling with his life!
In the endless wilderness filled with blooming flowers, Yu Qing and the others, who were speeding towards it, had already seen the complete form of that divine tree.
At this moment, Yu Qing observed the running formation sandwiched from the left and right once more. His gaze flickered left and right, and after assessing the situation, he decisively spoke out, “Old Seven, Old Nine, you know the way well, lead the way.”
Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie were both stunned for a moment and glanced at each other. What way did they know well? They were not any more familiar with it than Old Fifteen.
Both subconsciously looked at Yu Qing. After seeing the look Yu Qing gave them, they instantly understood. They had just taken one more trip last night compared to Old Fifteen. As martial brothers who had spent many years together, their coordination could not be described as anything but tacit. The two immediately knew what Old Fifteen wanted to do.
The two immediately helped the running Baili Xin and Yu Qing adjust their direction towards the divine tree.
The Kunling Mountain personnel riding in the two teams on the left and right just gave them a couple of extra glances. Including Elder Qu, none of them heard anything unusual.
Riding at such a fast speed, the group quickly rushed to the base of the giant divine tree.
Most people, including Elder Qu, were almost all looking around in all directions, wanting to see where Great Elder Huan was.
Of course, their vigilance towards Yu Qing and the others had not relaxed either.
However, the unexpected change happened suddenly.
Mu Aotie turned his head and his gaze met the gaze of Nan Zhu, who was running neck and neck with him. When jumping over a massive tree root the size of a small hill, Nan Zhu pushed Yu Qing, directly guiding Yu Qing, who was landing while carrying someone, to rush into the cave behind the tree root.
Mu Aotie, who was landing behind the tree root, also pushed Baili Xin, guiding her to flash into the cave as well.
The few of them just turned directly into the cave that suddenly appeared behind the tree root.
The Kunling Mountain disciples who followed and jumped over were caught off guard. They all stopped urgently at the cave entrance for a moment, not knowing whether they should just barge in. This was, after all, the territory of that Demon King. Before confirming whether Elder Huan had dealt with that Demon King, could they trespass like this?
Elder Qu, who was leading the way, also hesitated for a moment. He had already sensed something was wrong and urgently shouted, “Stop!”
He only saw Mu Aotie, who was bringing up the rear with his sword pressed against the neck of Qin Fujun, look back at him for a glance, and then disappear from his line of sight along with the hostage.
With the hostage there, Elder Qu did not dare to attack directly. He also urgently flashed inside. Since Yu Qing and the others could enter, he naturally had a burst of courage.
Seeing this, the others quickly followed inside.
Elder Qu, who was rushing at the very front, was suddenly startled. He heard a sudden burst of buzzing and sensed something attacking. He swung his sword to split the incoming shadows, slicing two incoming multicoloured bees in half.
This sword strike was like poking a hornet’s nest. Countless multicoloured bees came swarming densely towards their faces.
The group of Kunling Mountain disciples who followed them inside had not yet figured out what was going on before they were already in a frantic panic.
Elder Qu was furious. Relying on his formidable Upper Mystic realm cultivation, he ignored the attacks of the bee swarm and forced his way in, intending to capture the fleeing Yu Qing and the others. After rushing forward, he realised that there were too many flying bees, making it impossible to see anything clearly. Buzzing sounds were everywhere in his ears, making it impossible to hear the sounds of their escape. Standing at the crossroads, he was also bewildered, not knowing which way to barge in.
The disciples behind him followed and charged up. He waved his hand and pointed left and right, ordering his men to split into two sides to rush and chase them.
However, with this delay and that delay, how could they still see the shadows of Yu Qing and the others?
The passageways inside this divine tree were like a maze. When they chased to the next crossroad, they were all bewildered. What should they do?
Yu Qing and the others did not know what to do either. They were not familiar with the roads, so they just kept running, drilling into any path suitable for fleeing. They did not entangle with these multicoloured bees. If their defence was not in place and they got stung, so be it. Anyway, they were people who had either eaten honey or drunk the bathwater of Datou, so they were not afraid of bee venom.
Of course, they also wished the multicoloured bees would sting those people behind them to death.
The hostage Qin Fujun was already in tears.
How could she not understand the predicament of her fellow sect members? She knew how painful and dangerous it was to be poisoned by bee venom, and she really wanted to loudly tell her fellow sect members that honey could detoxify it.
However, Mu Aotie would not give her this opportunity and had already made her shut up. Facing such dense interference from the bee swarm, Xiang Lanxuan also had to bury her head and press tightly against the back of Yu Qing, her arms also wrapping around the neck of Yu Qing. Feeling two soft mounds pressed against his back, Yu Qing realised what it was, and his heart wavered slightly. Fortunately, in the current situation, he had no mind to think much about it, and the thought quickly passed.
However, disregarding his fatigue, he expanded his protective aura to protect Xiang Lanxuan as much as possible, even though he knew she was not afraid of bee venom right now.
Xiang Lanxuan could naturally feel his protection. She looked back behind her and realised that just by running like this, they had directly shaken off a group of threats with higher cultivation and greater numbers. She could not help but feel amused and could not help but reach out a hand to pinch the ear of Yu Qing, burying her head by his other ear and whispering with breath like orchids, “You kid are cunning enough.”
With his ear pinched a bit painfully, Yu Qing tilted his head and bumped her face, actually giving a feeling of intimate whispering.
He was not familiar with the situation inside the divine tree before, nor did he expect to shake them off so quickly. Things went more smoothly than he had imagined.
There is a saying about retreating when one knows the difficulty. After tossing about for a long time, Elder Qu, knowing the matter was impossible, finally cast a spell and shouted loudly, “Retreat!”
When the people retreated and saw the daylight again, he realised that nearly half of the people were missing, probably having gotten lost inside.
The bee swarm followed and chased out to fight them desperately. Outside the tree hollow, they defended themselves while waiting for their fellow sect disciples to come out.
Many people were inevitably stung by the multicoloured bees, each one baring their teeth in pain.
Knowing that the multicoloured bees were poisonous was also the reason Elder Qu called for a retreat. Facing the cave entrance where countless multicoloured bees were surging out, Elder Qu, having lost his monitored targets, was filled with pent up frustration and felt like spitting blood.
Previously, when interrogating the personnel from the Great Enterprise Division, upon learning that Yu Qing and the others had escaped right under the noses of the Great Enterprise Division personnel, he had found it funny. Now, he really could not laugh even in his dreams. This time, not only did they run away right under his nose, but they did so while carrying two burdens on their backs. They were taking them too lightly, it was too arrogant.