Chapter 231: Another Exploration of the Phantom Forest

“Then how did the strange things that happened in this village have anything to do with you?”

Old Man Sun looked a little helpless, “After the survivors of that village ran out, we found out about these things. We thought we would just let it go.”

“But the curse seems to have spread to other villages along with the survivors, so please save us, Master Immortal.”

Old Man Sun said and knelt down again. Li Junyan helped him up and said, “Don’t worry, Old Man, we will not sit idly by. We just want to ask you about something. Have you seen any young people like us passing by?”

Old Man Sun was immersed in his memories. “There seemed to be a few young Immortal Masters passing by. They said it was a sect mission to investigate the strange things that happened in this area.”

Fang Qinyu was pleasantly surprised. “It must be Senior Brother Zhao and Senior Brother Qian.”

With that, everyone finally had a clue. They could not wait to ask, “What happened after that? Where did they go?”

“After that… After they entered the forest, they never came out again. They disappeared without a trace.”

After saying that, he looked at Li Junyan and the others uneasily. He was worried that they would have some misgivings. There were only four or five Immortal Masters before, and now there were more than a dozen of them. They should be able to handle it.

Li Junyan pondered for a moment and said, “It seems that there is a need to enter the Phantom Forest again.”

The next morning, Li Junyan and the others were ready to set off. Old Man Sun sent them all the way to the village entrance.

He seemed to have thought of something and added, “I know a legend about the forest. It may be of help to you, but I don’t know if I should say it.”

“If you have anything else to say, just say it.”

Li Junyan and the others might not know, but the mountain people who had lived near the forest for generations knew that the Phantom Forest had another name.

“It’s said that this Phantom Forest used to be called the Forest of Foxes. There were many foxes living there, but they suddenly disappeared.”

“Some people also said that they didn’t disappear, but just hid. In short, they never saw it again. The name of the Forest of Foxes was also replaced by the name of the Phantom Forest. Now only the older generation who had lived here for a long time knew about it.”

Li Junyan and the others bid farewell to Old Man Sun. Gu Xi seemed to have a lot on his mind as he thought about what Old Man Sun had said when they parted.

“If there really are demonic beasts causing trouble, there’s an 80-90 percent chance that it’s a Fox Demon. Fox Demons have always been very good at confusing people’s minds. Perhaps it was those bold young men who mistakenly entered the forest and took away the things they were guarding, thus attracting the fox demons to cause trouble.”

“Fellow Daoist Gu is right. It’s just that this forest is so big. How can we find the nest of those foxes?”

Zhou Haozhe suddenly said, “Why don’t we split up? This way, we’ll be more efficient and save time. After all, those Senior and Junior Brothers have fallen into the hands of the Fox Demon, and their lives are inevitably in danger.”

He had said very little along the way, and his sense of presence was very low. If he had not suddenly opened his mouth, they would have even forgotten that this person existed in the team.

Li Junyan glanced at him in surprise, but he did not deny it. “This idea is not bad. Let’s split up. If there are any clues, send a signal to inform the others.”

Zhou Haozhe seemed to have changed. After all, he had a conflict with Gu Xi in the past. However, Li Junyan would not be stupid enough to split them into a team.

Fang Qinyu insisted on staying with Gu Xi, so in order to protect her safety, Li Junyan had no choice but to stay with Gu Xi. Other than that, Zhao Teng and Zhou Haozhe formed a team with three other disciples. He did not say anything.

As such, everyone split into four teams and headed in different directions in the forest.

Everywhere they looked, there were big trees that blotted out the sky and the sun. There was no sunlight at all, making them look particularly gloomy.

Those strange-shaped vines were twining around the branches of the trees. The dim light made it seem as if there was an unknown creature in the dark that was spying on their every move.

Fang Qinyu did not know if it was just her imagination, but she felt that there were some changes in the Phantom Forest. However, she could not tell what exactly it was. The cold air assaulted her face, and goosebumps appeared all over her body.

She could not help but move closer to Gu Xi as if she felt safe this way. “Brother Gu, don’t you think that it’s a little too quiet compared to the last time we came here?”

Gu Xi nodded. “It’s indeed a little unusual. Something must be wrong. It seems that we have to be more careful.”

In the past, there were still some insects chirping and birds chirping, but now, there was no sound at all. Only the sound of their shallow breathing and the sound of their feet stepping on dead branches and leaves could be heard.

The entire forest fell into a deathly silence. It was inexplicably a little scary.

No one knew how long they had been walking for, but the four of them did not see any demonic beasts. It was a little too strange.

Gu Xi frowned and suddenly stopped walking. “Something’s not right. According to our footsteps and progress, we should be approaching the center of the Phantom Forest by now. Why didn’t we see any demonic beasts?”

Hearing him mention it, Li Junyan also felt that something was strange. It should be known that the last time they entered the forest, it was not long before they encountered the Violent Demon Bear.

“Where did all these demonic beasts go? Could it be that they are hiding?”

Not seeing even a single demonic beast in the vast forest, it really did not make sense.

Gu Xi had the intention to summon Little Nine out. It was also a fox race, possessing the bloodline of the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox. If it really was a Fox Demon causing trouble, it could also be used as a deterrent. However, due to the presence of Li Junyan and Fang Qinyu, he held himself back.

“I keep feeling like we’ve walked this path before.”

Gu Xi looked around. All he saw were ancient trees. They did not look any different. As they walked, his spiritual sense was sharp and powerful. He realized that they had already walked this path once.

With Gu Xi’s reminder, Li Junyan and Fang Qinyu kept an eye out. When they walked back to their original spots, everyone’s expressions were somewhat ugly.

“Could it be that we’ve lost our way?”

Just as Gu Xi was looking for a way out, the other teams were not progressing too smoothly either.