Reservations

"Giggle giggle!"

In the mountains and forests, Zhang Xuezhou carried a viper cage, while Zuo Teng carried a hyena cage on one shoulder.

The occasional squeaking coming from the cage was giving Zuo Teng a headache.

"Zhang Xuezhou, can you shut up, you hyena?" Zuo Teng said helplessly, "It's making so much noise that I can't concentrate on walking. I've already tripped and fallen twice coming down the mountain!"

"Spotted dog, shut up!"

Zhang Xuezhou called out casually, which made Zuo Teng feel completely dismissed.

The hyenas still howled every now and then, their voices, sounding like human laughter, sending chills down one's spine at night.

It takes a while to walk back to the canyon from the sunken valley where Song Fengying was live-streaming. During the day, the journey takes just over an hour, but at night it takes much longer.

Relying on two flashlights for illumination, the group inevitably stumbled and bumped along the way.

The hyenas howled intermittently, and when Zuo Teng glanced back, he stumbled and nearly fell over.

"This puppy hasn't left its cage all day; it must be feeling unwell," said Song Fengying, who was in the middle.

"This puppy... but it won't walk even if it's let out," Zuo Teng said. "We didn't imprison it to prevent it from walking; only the snake needs to be locked in a cage."

"The hyena's 'clucking' sound means fear," Wang Haoran said. "It might be a little uncomfortable with the darkness!"

"Even dogs are afraid of the dark? You're such a waste of your dog face!"

Zuo Teng grumbled.

But the thought of having to go alone, tied with a rope, to check the location of the corpse flower filled him with unease.

Ultimately, Zuo Teng harbored a certain fear of the unknown aspects of the investigation.

He retrieved a transparent crystal from the water, which allowed him to see the head of his deceased mother.

Zuo Teng had seen that corpse flower before; its stamens were covered with various crystal chips.

If the body wasn't completely burned, Zuo Teng felt he might end up seeing a dozen or so human heads held in his hands.

This kind of thing is unsettling even during the day, let alone being done at night with increased dosage.

"Zhang Xuezhou, do you think we could use the dog as a scout first?"

As they got closer to the canyon area, Zuo Teng couldn't help but ask questions with some trepidation.

"This dog doesn't seem to like walking at night," Zhang Xuezhou said. "If you can urge it along, I have no objection!"

"I can't keep up!"

Zuo Teng turned around and looked at the hyena on his shoulder. The strange hyena immediately opened its mouth and clucked at him.

"But I want to use it as a base," Zuo Teng said.

"No problem," Zhang Xuezhou nodded in agreement, "I won't ask you for compensation if you kill him!"

Zhang Xuezhou sniffed the air and could still smell a faint burnt odor.

The closer you get to the canyon area, the more noticeable the stench becomes.

However, compared to the stench that can knock people out, this burnt smell is not harmful.

It was time to inspect the old site. Although the information Wang Haoran received repeatedly assured that the fuel had been completely burned after being thrown in, the group, wanting to be on the safe side, still sought to verify it again.

Like the tree spirits that drowned on Fangzhang Island, Zhang Xuezhou felt that after burning for several hours, even the most tenacious life could not withstand the burden, and the harm would be reduced to the lowest possible level.

The difficulty in dealing with 'Huang Daoxian' was not due to his unparalleled individual strength, but rather because Zhang Xuezhou and the others lacked experience in dealing with him. Everything they faced was unknown. Even though he suspected that Zuo Quan might have been influenced by the purple light, Zhang Xuezhou did not easily step out, but instead pushed Zuo Teng and the others to stand in the front line.

This time, however, his actions were rather blatant, requiring Zuo Teng to scout ahead.

They re-entered the sinkhole area perceived by Song Fengying, set up a communication signal amplifier, and Zuo Teng raised the video device to start a private live broadcast, while Zhang Xuezhou and the others watched from behind through the live broadcast room of the video device.

Zuo Teng was tied with a rope, and if they saw an uncontrollable situation during the live broadcast, they would quickly pull the rope to get Zuo Teng out of danger.

"The hyenas seem a bit panicked," Wang Haoran whispered a reminder.

"Hyaenas can hear ultrasonic waves, so it must have sensed some danger," Zhang Xuezhou nodded.

"Was it alright for Zuo Teng to go and check?" Wang Haoran asked.

"I have some investigative methods, but I suspect that Huang Daoxian may possess the ability to counter such methods," Zhang Xuezhou said. "Judging from the characteristics of the sword orchids and corpse flowers in the imperial tomb, this creature is very likely skilled in mental abilities!"

Is it very strong?

"It's highly likely that he's at Luo Zhong's level, or even a notch above Luo Zhong!"

Ren Yisheng had seen Luo Zhong alive, while Zhang Xuezhou had witnessed Luo Zhong's past strength through Luo Zhong's memories.

Even though Zhang Xuezhou had reached the sixth chapter of his Mental Strengthening Chapter, and Ren Yisheng had reached the level of the seventh chapter, neither of them dared to say that they were close to Luo Zhong 'Luo Zhong level, let alone surpass it.

In this battle of wits, a slight difference is a slight difference; being inferior to the opponent could lead to the loss of one's mind and death.

Having never actually fought each other, and never using any ranking system to define their opponent's strength, Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng maintained extreme caution in their dealings with Huang Daoxian.

With four emperors dying in succession, and Luo Zhong faking his death like a stray dog to escape, if Zhang Xuezhou and others, who are not Luo Zhong, were to still act so blatantly, they would undoubtedly appear to be lacking in common sense.

Zhang Xuezhou didn't even use his Yang Soul to probe outside his body, cautiously guarding against any possible targeting.

"If you believe that corpse flower is Huang Daoxian, where is the real him?" Wang Haoran asked.

"I don't know where the real him is, just like we weren't sure where Luo Zhong before," Zhang Xuezhou shook his head and said, "You know about Professor Ren's past, and you also saw him on the ship to Qin Meng. He might possess this state, or even a stronger one than Professor Ren!"

"So, what we're doing right now is similar to going to the Jishi Medical Center, taking out Old Ren's body, and burning it?"

"Almost!"

Will he understand this and come back here?

"Have no idea!"

Zhang Xuezhou shook his head.

Regardless of whether Huang Daoxian returned here or exists somewhere else, Zhang Xuezhou doesn't have many means to target Huang Daoxian.

What he did could only target Huang Daoxian's possible physical body, not his soul.

Huang Daoxian is not Presenel of the Thousand Islands Alliance. According to the information Zhang Xuezhou knows, Presenel still had a master, and Presenel did not make his life into an immortal being, which is why he perished and died.

Zodiac Immortal might be an entity similar to Presennel's master.

Even Yuanshi Tianzun and others could not destroy this immortal and indestructible alien demon; they could only maintain suppression and rely on time to erode it. Zhang Xuezhou could not possibly think of a way to completely restrain it.

He's currently taking a wait-and-see approach.

The fact that they were able to successfully raid the enemy's base was almost unbelievable to Zhang Xuezhou.

But as long as he thought about the fortune-telling techniques he had cultivated in Dongshan, Zhang Xuezhou felt that he could accept this good fortune.