The sun sank in the west, its fading light slanting across the land.
Deep in the Greater Khingan Mountains, summer had clothed the mountains and rivers in green and brought a hundred flowers into bloom. A figure bounding through the forest suddenly halted.
Lian Youming narrowed his eyes at the setting sun over the distant mountains, then sighed. "Still no luck. Did that old man ascend to heaven or burrow underground? How could there be no trace of him?"
He had spent most of the day searching the area Yang Shuang had given him, yet had found nothing useful. He had all but dug out the mouse holes and squirrel nests.
Everywhere he looked seemed exactly the same, enough to make his head spin.
With darkness approaching, the search would only grow harder.
Surely he could not return empty-handed.
The initial excitement had vanished from Lian Youming's face. He had grown restless and irritable, his eyes like two cold flames, chilling and dim.
Fortunately, the people from the White Lotus Sect and Hongmen he had encountered along the way seemed not to have found the place either.
That meant the White Lotus Sect Leader was still wandering aimlessly outside too.
He just did not know whether the mysterious man was in the same situation.
Lian Youming also recalled something else. He remembered Liu Danaodai saying he had once stumbled into an underground cavern. Could there be a connection?
Unfortunately, that old rascal was still in Cangzhou attending to his master.
"No, I can't keep wandering around this wilderness. I need to think differently. There must be a reason Elder Xu hasn't found him after all these days."
Lian Youming forced down his agitation and sorted through his tangled thoughts.
While he was thinking, a flock of birds suddenly burst from