"..." Chen Mei shuddered, her pupils suddenly widening.
It took her a breath to realize what this meant. Her voice instantly changed pitch. "Senior Sister Xiao! Didn't you say Pei Ling absolutely couldn't escape the formation you set up? Then why isn't he in the canyon anymore?"
Chen Huan, who was still gently coaxing Xiao Tasha, jerked his head up. "What did you say?!"
"Brother, look at the Tracking Bee." Chen Mei hurriedly formed a hand seal to halt it and cried, "The paths through the canyon below are too difficult to walk. I'm not confident I could avoid getting lost, so I planned to let the Tracking Bee lead the way. But who would've thought it would fly south? Pei Ling isn't in the valley at all now!"
"How is that possible?!" Before Chen Huan could answer, Xiao Tasha exclaimed in shock, "Even the sub-array was beyond what his cultivation and insight could overcome, let alone the Illusion Array I set up outside it... He's not some young master from a great clan, and his clan brother is the Sect Son of the Pei Clan. We all saw how ignorant he was when he first joined the Outer Sect, didn't we?!"
"Otherwise, how could Pei Hong Nian have been manipulated by the likes of Sun Yinglan?!"
"How could Pei Ling possibly escape my layered formation?"
Xiao Tasha couldn't help questioning the Tracking Bee. "Could your Tracking Bee have gotten confused?"
"You don't understand, so don't talk nonsense." Chen Mei's cultivation wasn't high; most of her value lay in this Tracking Bee. Her expression darkened as she said, "My family went to enormous trouble to obtain this Tracking Bee... It's never made a mistake!"
Xiao Tasha was about to say more, but Chen Huan caught her by the arm.
Chen Huan's expression was dark as he barked, "Enough arguing. Junior Brother Huang, please go down with Mei'er and see what's going on."
He said evenly, "The Tracking Bee has indeed never made a mistake, and we've all seen Junior Sister Xiao's skill at setting up formations. But this doesn't necessarily mean Pei Ling escaped. Maybe, in his despair, he threw something like his outer robe beyond the formation, and a passing beast carried it south?"
"We'd better go down and take a look."
That was what he said, but Chen Huan's heart was pounding. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
That premonition was quickly confirmed. Huang Xian took Chen Mei down into the canyon. When they returned, his face was grim. "Senior Brother Chen, Pei Ling really isn't inside the formation anymore. I also saw a footprint by a stream outside the formation. It was very fresh, and judging by its size, it was probably his."
Before he had finished speaking, Zhang Zhongqin's expression changed dramatically. He turned on Xiao Tasha in anger. "Didn't you keep insisting Pei Ling absolutely couldn't escape? That's why we felt safe coming up here to set the formation. And what happened?!"
Xiao Tasha stared blankly ahead. After a moment, she cried out, "Th-this is impossible!"
"Why is it impossible?" Huang Xian said coldly. "Do you think Junior Sister Chen and I would joke about something like this?"
"All right, that's enough!" At the critical moment, Chen Huan stepped in to smooth things over. His voice was low as he said, "That kid may have just joined the sect, but he's got plenty of secrets. Take the saber technique he used in the formation earlier. We all saw it. Even in a household like the Pei Family, let alone the Outer Sect's Hall of Many Laws, I doubt you could find more than a handful of techniques to match it."
"He must have had some sort of fortunate encounter before joining the sect."
"Otherwise, how could someone at Qi Refining Layer 4, from a backwater place like Luquan City, have such a powerful body?"
"Escaping the sub-array is surprising, but it's not impossible..."
He looked up at the sky. "Fortunately, there's still some time before midnight. We'll have the Tracking Bee lead us. We'll catch him and bring him back."
"Senior Brother Chen, that kid was scared out of his wits by us." Huang Xian said, "From the direction he went, he doesn't dare return to Luoshan City. He'd rather flee into the mountains. We need to hurry, lest he stray into a demon beast's territory and cause more trouble."
After a brief discussion, they decided that Huang Xian and Zhang Zhongqin would take Chen Mei to capture Pei Ling, while Chen Huan and Xiao Tasha stayed behind to recover. Each side took a Sound Transmission Talisman and would use it to communicate if anything happened.
No matter how urgently they wanted to bring Pei Ling back, the formation would activate at midnight. Chen Huan and Xiao Tasha were its main force. If they exhausted themselves now and couldn't suppress the Soul Summoning Banner later, things would get ugly.
Huang Xian and Zhang Zhongqin didn't dare delay. They had Chen Mei communicate with the Tracking Bee and followed it in pursuit of Pei Ling.
Fortunately, to be safe, they had already cleared away nearby threats, such as the Fiery-eyed Green Apes. With no foolish demon beasts getting in their way, their progress wasn't slowed much.
The only one holding them back was Chen Mei. But they needed her to control the Tracking Bee, and she was Chen Huan's blood relative, so they could only put up with it.
Chen Mei was anxious too, but she was only at Qi Refining Layer 4. Even giving it everything she had, she still fell behind.
After they had traveled for a while, the Tracking Bee continued flying ahead. Huang Xian couldn't help cursing, "Xiao Tasha is completely unreliable. If that kid had taken any damage when he broke through the formation, he couldn't have run this far."
"Xiao Tasha's ability to set up formations is still decent." Zhang Zhongqin shook his head slightly. "She's a valued talent at Formation Peak. I personally tried to get out of the Illusion Array she set up. You know what happened: I spent three days and three nights trying every method I could think of, and still had to admit defeat... For Senior Brother Chen's sake, she wouldn't have held back. That kid Pei Ling is the one with something wrong with him. When we see him, don't hold back."
"At this point, even if we can't bring him back in one piece, as long as he's still breathing, that's better than letting him slip away again."
Huang Xian nodded. "I know..."
Before he could finish, Chen Mei suddenly cried out, "Ah!"
The two men hurriedly went on guard and asked, "Did you find that kid?!"
"...The Tracking Bee seems to have run into its natural enemy. It doesn't dare go any farther." Chen Mei looked uncertain. "Did either of you bring a map? Is there anything around here that the Tracking Bee would fear?"
"Fear?" Huang Xian and Zhang Zhongqin exchanged a look, both perplexed. "The map's with Senior Brother Chen. We were in such a hurry that we both forgot to ask for it. But as far as I remember, there aren't any powerful demon beasts along this route before the Human-Faced Spider's territory, are there?"
After all, near the Human-Faced Spider's territory, any formidable demon beasts that had once been around would have fled as soon as they sensed the aura of this Foundation Establishment Realm beast. Those that hadn't known better had pretty much ended up in the spider's belly.
At Chen Mei's words, the question slipped from her lips. "Could we be near the Human-Faced Spider's territory?"
"That's impossible." Huang Xian shook his head. "I've been keeping track of the distance. We're still nearly a hundred li from the edge of the Human-Faced Spider's hunting grounds. According to City Lord Duanmu, the Human-Faced Spider wouldn't easily change its hunting range. After all, it left the depths of Luoshan to lay its eggs and hatch its young in greater safety. It wouldn't stray far from its nest without good reason."
Zhang Zhongqin frowned. "It could be a snake or insect that's its natural enemy... Tell the Tracking Bee to ignore it. If that doesn't work, tell us where it is now. We'll go over and see if there are any traces of Pei Ling."
"All right!" Chen Mei nodded and was about to lead them to where the Tracking Bee had stopped when Huang Xian's ears suddenly twitched. He barked, "Wait! I hear something!"
Before you continue