Chapter 39

“…” Chen Mei shuddered as her eyes widened.

She took a breath before realizing what this meant. In an instant, her voice changed. “Senior Sister Xiao! Didn’t you say that Pei Ling couldn’t leave the array formation you set up?! Then why is he no longer in the gorge?”

Chen Huan, who was still coaxing Xiao Tasha, suddenly looked up and shouted, “What did you say?”

“Brother, look at the Tracking Bee.” Chen Mei hurriedly formed hand seals to stop the Seeking Bee and shouted, “The path down the valley is too difficult to walk on, and I’m not sure if I would get lost. So I planned to let the Seeking Bee lead the way, but I did not expect it to fly south. Pei Ling is not in the gorge anymore!”

“How is that possible?!” Before Chen Huan could answer, Xiao Tasha said in shock, “A sub-formation is not something he can leave with his current cultivation level. Not to mention that I have set up a maze outside… He’s not a descendant of a big family. His older brother is the eldest son of the Pei family, and we all know how ignorant he was when he first entered the outer sect?!”

“Otherwise, why would Pei Hongnian become controlled by someone like Sun Yinglan?!”

“How can this Pei Ling break out of my sub-formation?”

Xiao Tasha could not help but question the Tracking Bees. “Did your Tracking Bee make a mistake?”

“Don’t talk nonsense if you don’t understand anything.” Chen Mei’s cultivation level was not high, and most of her value was in her Tracking Bee. Her expression could not help changing when she heard that, and she said, “This Tracking Bee cost my family a lot of resources… It has never gone wrong before!”

Xiao Tasha wanted to say something else, but Chen Huan stopped her.

Chen Huan’s expression was dark as he shouted, “Stop fighting. Junior Brother Huang, can you and Mei’er go down and see what’s going on?”

He said lightly, “The Tracking Bee has indeed never gone wrong. We have also personally witnessed Junior Sister Xiao’s ability to set up the array. In this situation, it might not be Pei Ling who escaped. Perhaps he threw his outer clothes and the like out of the array in despair which was then brought to the south by beasts passing by.”

“I think it’s better to go down and take a look.”

Despite saying that, Chen Huan’s heart palpitated as he had a bad feeling.

That premonition got confirmed quickly: Huang Xian brought Chen Mei down to the gorge for a while and returned soon with a grim expression. “Senior Brother Chen, Pei Ling is indeed no longer in the sub-formation. Moreover, I saw a footprint near the stream outside the array. It’s still fresh, and it’s most likely his judging from the size.”

Before he could finish his sentence, Zhang Zhongqin’s face turned pale. He shouted at Xiao Tasha, “Didn’t you say that Pei Ling couldn’t get away? That’s why we can come to set up the array here. What happened?”

Xiao Tasha went blank for a second before she exclaimed, “How… how is this possible?!”

“Why not?” Huang Xian said with a cold face. “Do you think that Junior Sister Chen and I would joke about such a thing?”

“Alright, cut it out!” It was Chen Huan who stepped forward to mediate the situation. He said in a deep voice, “Although that punk has just entered the sect, he must have some secrets about him. Not mentioning anything else, just the saber technique he used in the array previously is something else. Not to mention a family like the Pei family, even the Outer Sect’s various magic pavilions probably can’t find more than a few sets of similar ones.”

“I’m afraid that he met some opportunities before entering the sect.”

“Otherwise, how could a person at the fourth stage of Qi Refinement coming from a poor and backward place like Deer Spring City have such a strong physical body?”

“Although it’s surprising that he can escape the sub-formation, it isn’t entirely impossible…”

He looked up at the sky. “Fortunately, there’s still time before midnight. Let the Tracking Bee lead the way. We’ll catch him and bring him back.”

“Senior Brother Chen, that kid must be frightened by us,” Huang Xian said. “Judging from the direction, he didn’t dare to return to Spiraling Mountain City and would rather run deep into the mountains. We have to hurry over in case he accidentally enters the demon beast territories and complicates matters.”

Therefore, after a short discussion, they decided that Huang Xian, Zhang Zhongqin, and Chen Mei would go and capture Pei Ling while Chen Huan and Xiao Tasha would recover on the spot. Both sides would hold a voice transmission talisman and contact each other if there were any issues.

After all, no matter how anxious they were to bring Pei Ling back, the array would become activated at midnight. Chen Huan and Xiao Tasha were the main force. If they exhausted themselves too much at this moment, it would be disastrous if they could not suppress the Soul Summoning Banner.

Huang Xian and Zhang Zhongqin did not dare waste any time. They had Chen Mei communicate with the Tracking Bee to chase after Pei Ling.

Luckily, they had eliminated all the nearby troubles in advance for the sake of safety, such as the Fire-Eyed Green Ape. At the moment, no demon beasts were interfering, and their speed was not too slow.

The only person slowing them down was Chen Mei. The problem was that they needed her to control the tracking bee, and she was Chen Huan’s relative. They could only endure their impatience.

Chen Mei was also anxious. However, she was only at the fourth stage of Qi Refinement. Even if she used all her strength, she would eventually fall behind.

After traveling for a while, the Seeking Bee continued to fly forward. Huang Xian could not help but scold, “Xiao Tasha is really unreliable. If that kid had suffered any damage while breaking the array, he wouldn’t have traveled that far.”

“Xiao Tasha’s ability to set up arrays is not bad.” Zhang Zhongqin shook his head. “She’s a talent that’s highly regarded in the Array Peak. I tried to walk out of the maze she set up once, but as you know, I walked for three days and three nights. I tried all kinds of methods, but in the end, I still admitted defeat… For the sake of Senior Brother Chen, she’ll always try her best. There must be something wrong with that kid, Pei Ling. When you see him later, you must not hold back.”

“At this point, even if we can’t bring him back unharmed, it’s better than letting him slip away again.”

Huang Xian nodded. “I know…”

Suddenly, Chen Mei gasped.

The two of them hurriedly became alert and asked, “Did you find him?!”

“…The Tracking Bee seems to have met its natural enemy and doesn’t dare to move forward.” Chen Mei looked bewildered. “Did you bring the map? Is there anything in the vicinity that the Tracking Bee is afraid of?”

“Afraid?” Huang Xian and Zhang Zhongqin looked at each other, their eyes filled with doubt. “The map is with Senior Brother Chen. We were in a hurry just now and forgot to take it. However, I remember that along the way, up to the Man-Faced Spider’s territory, there weren’t any decent demon beasts?”

After all, with the Man-Faced Spider in the vicinity. Even if there were powerful demon beasts, they would have tactfully fled into the distance after sensing the aura of this Foundation Establishment demon beast. Those who were tactless would have more or less entered the Man-Faced Spider’s stomach.

Chen Mei blurted out, “Don’t tell me we’re near the Man-Faced Spider’s territory?”

“That’s impossible.” Huang Xian shook his head. “I’ve always calculated the distance. We are now almost 50 kilometers away from the Man-Faced Spider’s foraging area. According to City Lord Duanmu, the Man-Faced Spider will not change its hunting area easily. After all, it left the depths of Mount Spiral to breed and hatch its offspring safely. In that case, it won’t leave its lair easily.”

Zhang Zhongpang frowned and said, “It might be some other natural enemy… Get the Tracking Bee to ignore it. If it really can’t, tell us where the Tracking Bee is now. Let’s go over and check if there are any traces of Pei Ling?”

“Okay!” Chen Mei nodded.. Just as she was about to bring them to the place where the Tracking Bee had stopped, Huang Xian’s ears suddenly twitched as he shouted, “Wait! There’s movement!”