Tit for Tat
Seven days later.
Zhu Yin summoned a rat-like demon Demon Beast from the spirit beast pouch at her waist.
This beast is over a foot long and has a long tail.
Its eyes were extremely bright and alert, constantly scanning the surroundings, clearly indicating that this mouse was quite intelligent.
"This is a spirit beast I found temporarily, the Swift Shadow Rat. It's at the late stage of the second tier. Although its strength is a bit weak, it has high intelligence and is fast. It's perfect for exploring the beehive," Zhu Yin said to Song Wen.
During these seven days, Song Wen refined two more batches of Demon-Luring Incense, both of which were taken deep into the beehive by the spider puppet.
Attracted by the Bloodthirsty Bees -attracting Demon-Luring Incense, a fierce battle ensued in the narrow cave, resulting in the deaths of countless Bloodthirsty Bees.
With the number of Bloodthirsty Bees dwindling, Zhu Yin decided to release a spirit beast into the hive to locate the queen bee.
The Swift Shadow Rat darted into the hole and quickly disappeared.
Song Wen and Zhu Yin used their Divine Sense to observe the movements of the Swift Shadow Rat.
Perhaps because the Bloodthirsty Bees near the surface had been cleared away enough, the Swift Shadow Rat moved smoothly through the cave, encountering only a few scattered Bloodthirsty Bees, all of which were easily killed by the Swift Shadow Rat.
The Swift Shadow Rat quickly reached the depths of the underground, beyond the perception range of Song Wen and Zhu Yin.
"Fellow Zhu Yin, Alchemy for several days has taken a toll on your mind and spirit. I'm going to my temporary cave abode to recuperate for a while," Song Wen said.
Zhu Yin nodded, "Fellow Daoist, please make yourself at home. I'll just stay here and keep watch."
Song Wen leaped into the air and floated towards the temporary cave abode not far away.
As he entered the temporary cave abode, two Shadow Gu silently landed on the ground.
They burrowed into the thick layer of fallen leaves and quickly crawled toward the entrance to a beehive.
After entering the hive, the Shadow Gu split up and headed deeper underground from different directions.
Several hours later.
Song Wen made contact with one of the Shadow Gu, which appeared at the foot of a mountain more than forty miles away.
The Shadow Gu sent word: about two hundred miles to the east, deep underground, there is a huge underground cave containing a large number of second-tier Bloodthirsty Bees, suspected to be the queen bee's nest.
The cave was teeming with Bloodthirsty Bees, and they were incredibly powerful, Shadow Gu dared not enter.
Song Wen summoned the Shadow Gu back and continued to wait in the temporary cave abode, but the other Shadow Gu did not return for a long time.
Until three days later.
Zhu Yin suddenly appeared outside the cave abode. "Extreme Yin, the Swift Shadow Rat is back. It has found what appears to be the queen bee's nest."
"Really? That's wonderful!" Song Wen walked out of the cave abode, his face beaming with delight.
"Let's hurry up and go. The Swift Shadow Rat will lead us to the location of the Queen Bee's Nest," Zhu Yin said.
The Swift Shadow Rat darted through the dense forest, heading east, while Song Wen and Zhu Yin followed in low-flying flight.
Before long, the three of them arrived at a valley.
The Swift Shadow Rat stopped in a depression and kept hopping around.
Zhu Yin said, "The queen bee's nest should be deep underground around here."
Song Wen silently estimated that this place was about 230 li away from the temporary cave abode.
The location pointed to by the Swift Shadow Rat and the Shadow Gu should be the same place. Their information is consistent, and the Queen Bee's nest is very likely located deep underground in this area.
"Fellow Daoist, what do you plan to do? If you dig directly downwards, you will surely disturb the queen bee and cause her to move her nest. In the end, the result will be the same as what Yuan Qing experienced before—all your efforts will be in vain."
"I do have a plan for this, but I'm not entirely confident about it," Zhu Yin said, her brows slightly furrowed.
Song Wen asked, "I wonder what good plan you have?"
Zhu Yin said, "The queen bee is huge and cannot pass through ordinary caves. In the queen bee nest that Yuan Qing dug out, there is a particularly large cave, more than two feet high. That should be for the queen bee to pass through. As long as this large cave is blocked, the queen bee will naturally be trapped in the nest."
However, once you and I begin digging, the queen bee will be startled and will certainly not sit idly by. She will definitely send the Bloodthirsty Bees to dig a new exit. You and I must dare to dig Vertical Tunnel into the queen bee's nest before she digs a new passage."
Song Wen asked, "How can you seal off those large caves, fellow Daoist?"
Zhu Yin raised her hand and flipped it over, revealing a round ball the size of an egg.
The sphere was snow-white and exuded a chilling cold.
"This is Ice Crystal Pearl made from the Snowfield Cold Spring. Once broken, it will release a large amount of cold air, which will quickly condense into solid ice. I plan to have the Swift Shadow Rat carry the Ice Crystal Pearl deep underground to seal off the Queen Bee's hive's large passage."
After a moment's thought, Song Wen voiced his doubts.
"Fellow Daoist, we are not clear about the situation of the underground queen bee nest. If there is more than one large passage, we may have to fail at the last minute."
Zhu Yin said, "That's precisely why I said I wasn't very confident. But there's no better way right now, so we can only give it a try."
Song Wen Wenzheng was about to speak when he suddenly sensed someone rapidly approaching.
He said calmly, "For now, we can only try it out as Fellow Zhu Yin suggested."
Before the words were finished, a figure flew close to the treetops.
"Zhu Yin, I'm here to lend you a hand."
The person who arrived was Yuan Qing.
"Yuan Qing, it's you again. It seems you've been hiding in the shadows, spying on me and Extreme Yin," Zhu Yin said in an unfriendly tone.
"I just arrived here and happened to overhear your conversation with Extreme Yin," Yuan Qing said.
However, Song Wen and Zhu Yin did not believe him at all.
Just as Zhu Yin was about to make her move, Yuan Qing arrived—what a coincidence!
The only possibility is that Yuan Qing was already there, and after discovering Song Wen and Zhu Yin's arrival, he hid.
"Yuan Qing, it seems you truly have a way to pinpoint the queen bee's location. I wonder what kind of extraordinary technique you used? Could you perhaps demonstrate it to me?"
"It's just a secret technique for detecting high-level Demon Beast, nothing to mention," Yuan Qing casually remarked.
"There's actually Secret Method that can detect high-level Demon Beast? I've never heard of such a thing before."
Zhu Yin clearly didn't believe it, her tone full of doubt.
Yuan Qing said, "Zhu Yin, let's not dwell on the secret technique. Right now, the important thing is to find a way to kill the third-tier queen bee."
"Yuan Qing, slaying the queen bee is my business as the master of Sheep Island Pavilion, it's none of your concern," Zhu Yin coldly rejected Yuan Qing's offer.
"Zhu Yin, I am trying to help you out of kindness, why are you so dismissive?" Yuan Qing said.
Zhu Yin said, "If you don't tell me why you came here, I won't let you touch the queen bee."
"Junior sister, aren't you afraid that the queen bee will escape, causing Bloodthirsty Bees rampage, resulting in the death of a large number of two-legged sheep, which will displease the Devil Master?" Yuan Qing's voice turned somewhat cold.
Whether or not I will be punished by my master is none of your business.
Zhu Yin was determined to find out why Yuan Qing had come here; otherwise, she would never let Yuan Qing take action.