After the flying vessel came to a stop, two streaks of escaping light flashed, and Xu Chengtong and the cultivator surnamed Wang landed on the ground together. Seeing no abnormalities in the surroundings, the disciples descended one by one as well.
The cultivator surnamed Wang took out a pottery-jar-like magical artifact from his sleeve and swept it toward all directions. After waiting a moment, two wisps of luminous qi flew into it.
He attempted to distinguish them, and delight appeared on his face. "Two people were here just now. Judging from the aura of one of them, it greatly resembles Fellow Daoist Shen. Yet they seem to have left, and not long ago at that."
A Profound Residence disciple asked, "Teacher, could it be that the one imprisoning Daoist Shen noticed our arrival and departed ahead of time?"
The cultivator surnamed Wang considered this, then shook his head. "No. We were very careful all the way here, and we used magical artifacts in advance to conceal ourselves. We should not have been discovered."
Xu Chengtong examined the traces and said, "The arrangements here were orderly, with no signs of disorder. There should originally have been many heavy objects placed around the area, yet the people here took all of them away when they left. Thus, they did not leave in haste. They must have prepared beforehand before departing, rather than deliberately avoiding us."
After taking another look, the cultivator surnamed Wang agreed with his judgment. "Then, Fellow Daoist Xu, shall we pursue them now?"
Xu Chengtong said, "No need. I will take some people to search for the two of them. Everyone else may wait here."
The Daoist surnamed Wang said, "Shen Cheng'an is a disciple of our Profound Residence. I should go with Fellow Daoist Xu."
Xu Chengtong rejected