Chapter 43

And at that critical instant, they had all seen it: if Ye Chuqi had not interrupted the teleportation, none of them would have been so lucky.

Chris was a fire mage, but he knew something about Space Magic. What had happened lasted only a blink, yet he had seen enough. "Someone tampered with the Teleportation Array. Yezi must have disrupted the Formation, but it sent her somewhere else."

No one knew where.

Red Beard ground his molars. There was no need to guess who had tampered with the Space Teleportation Formation. It had to be Duke Fulton's people. Once they reached the Imperial Capital, he would find a way to deal with them!

"Ed, have everyone in the group who's free look for Yezi. Coke, once we reach Monte City, take some people back to Kru Town by teleportation and start searching from there."

Jun Ruofeng said nothing. Red Beard was going to enormous lengths, at great cost to the group in money and manpower. But when the person they were looking for was Ye Chuqi, it seemed only right. Red Beard would have done the same for anyone there.

They were already near the edge of the Lost Forest, and it did not take long to leave it. Soon after they put the ancient, verdant woods behind them, they spotted an Adventurers' Camp. They had been lucky: the teleportation had not sent them far off course, and they had landed near the camp.

There was an Adventurers' Camp between Monte City and the Lost Forest where adventurers gathered to resupply and rest. Monte City was larger and more prosperous than Kru Town, with more merchant caravans and adventurers passing through. This camp was also a necessary stop before entering the Lost Forest. It was usually crowded, but now there were far too many people.

The camp had expanded to several times the size it had been when they last passed through. Tents of every color covered the ground, and flags bright with colors and emblems fluttered everywhere. There was no telling how many people had come.

It was around the time of Imperial Capital Academy's annual assessment, and the academy often held it in the Lost Forest, but they had never seen anything on this scale. Alongside the academy's flags were the emblems of the Imperial Capital Legion. Other great families and prominent Mercenary Corps had come too, and they even spotted a few familiar city lord emblems.

"I see our flag." Sharp-eyed Ed picked out the Red Wind Mercenary Group's emblem at a glance amid the riot of flags.

Their tent was small, occupying an inconspicuous corner on the outskirts. Most of the Red Wind Mercenary Group's elite members had set out to find the missing Red Beard. The rest had kept a low profile to avoid drawing attention. Only a boy in his early teens had been left to guard the little camp, and when he saw Red Beard and the others appear, he nearly burst into tears.

"Captain! You're back! Wah!"

The boy was excited, but he had been brought along on the mission and trusted to guard the camp alone for a reason. He soon brought Red Beard and the others up to speed, explaining what had happened and which factions were staying there.

"The Nine-Leaf Green Flower?"

Some time ago, an adventurer had risked his life to bring back news from the Lost Forest: the Nine-Leaf Green Flower was about to mature. He had even drawn a detailed map. But three Ninth-Rank Magic Beasts guarded it, each on the verge of becoming a Demon Beast. They were probably waiting to swallow the flower as soon as it matured and advance.

A Ninth-Rank Magic Beast could match a human High-Rank Martial Combat Master or High-Rank Grand Mage in battle. On top of that, Magic Beasts had formidable physical strength, and some High-Rank Magic Beasts had even awakened Innate Divine Abilities. An ordinary Martial Combat Master or Grand Mage stood no chance against even one Ninth-Rank Magic Beast.

At such a critical moment, the three Ninth-Rank Magic Beasts would surely unite against outsiders, wiping out the humans who coveted the flower before fighting among themselves.

As for the humans, the more factions arrived, the more chaotic things would become. With so much at stake, they would not unite against the Magic Beasts. They would turn on one another first, eliminating every rival. Everyone there was an enemy who might snatch the prize.

And High-Rank Magic Beasts were opportunities as well as threats. No one wanted to miss out.

Red Beard understood the tense, awkward, almost confrontational atmosphere in the Adventurers' Camp. He was about to speak when Xiao Nuo stirred on his shoulder. Since being separated from Ye Chuqi, Xiao Nuo had been miserable. Even food seemed to have lost its appeal, and Xiao Nuo had crouched silently on Red Beard's shoulder. The little one had listened to his plans without demanding that they rush off to find Ye Chuqi. That very restraint made the sight all the more painful.

When Xiao Nuo suddenly took flight, Red Beard was still discussing their next steps with Jun Ruofeng. He looked up in time to see the tiny white figure fly into the distance.

Red Beard said, "I suddenly have a bad feeling about this."

Jun Ruofeng nodded. "Mm..."

In the direction Xiao Nuo had flown, a black shape was rapidly approaching across the indigo sky. As it drew nearer, its enormous form came into view.

Red Beard clicked his tongue. "What's that menace doing here?"

Jun Ruofeng's face grew paler. "He doesn't seem like someone who would care about the Nine-Leaf Green Flower. He must have come for something else."

"He's guarded the Beast Abyss for so many years. What could be important enough to bring him out?" Red Beard broke off.

Only the safety of the Ye Family could draw Ye Qinglan away. But none of them were here, so why had he come?

A deep lion's roar rolled across the sky, making Xiao Nuo's soft little cries sound pitiful by comparison. The enormous white Lion Owl wheeled overhead, then descended gracefully some distance from the Adventurers' Camp, whipping up a fierce wind.

Xiao Nuo had just drawn close when the sudden gust blew the little one head over heels. "Aow?"