His gaze swept carefully over the surroundings, but he found nothing unusual.
The tension on Song Qingyu and Li Xianyun's faces immediately eased somewhat. They spread out to inspect the area, searching for a passage out of this place.
The valley was lush and green, filled everywhere with towering ancient trees that reached into the clouds.
Though the occasional bird flew past, there was no other movement in the entire valley. It was far quieter than outside.
After circling the area once, the scenery had not changed. Not daring to venture too far, Song Qingyu turned to return to where the others were resting.
Yet as she followed the original path back, she suddenly saw Li Xianyun ahead, looking up in confusion as if searching for something. Curiosity appeared on Song Qingyu's face as well, and she hurried over to him.
"Junior Brother Li, what are you doing here? Did you find something?"
Seeing Song Qingyu approach with a curious look, Li Xianyun shook his head solemnly.
"I don't know whether I saw it wrong, but I clearly remember coming from this direction. Now I can't get back at all. These trees seem to have moved on their own!"
"What? They moved? How did I not hear a single sound? You must have seen it wrong, Junior Brother."
"Eh! Where are Seventh Brother and Senior Sister Bai?"
After replying with a smile, Song Qingyu immediately turned to look ahead. Yet Song Qingming and the others, who had originally been sitting cross-legged where they were, had suddenly vanished without a trace.
When she had been scouting the surroundings earlier, Song Qingyu clearly remembered that she had not gone very far. She had only been a little over a hundred zhang away from the others.
At such a close distance, even if