Chapter 72 - 71: How Did They Disappear Again?

Chapter 72: Chapter 71: How Did They Disappear Again?

Gu Qingyin was in the middle of cleaning up when Huo Zhao Hua and the other two finally arrived.

In truth, they hadn’t been that slow. It was just that when they got close, they found they couldn’t get any further. It was as if an invisible wall had suddenly appeared before them; no matter which way they went, they couldn’t pass through it.

Gu Qingyin had already sealed the Candle Dragon Flesh from underground with a talisman and was struggling to stuff it into her satchel. Seeing them was like seeing a long-lost relative. She waved emotionally. "Quick, come help me! I’m dying of exhaustion!"

In this bizarre place, the three of them had long since lost any initiative. They would do whatever Gu Qingyin told them to do, no questions asked. Just following orders was enough.

But...

Tian Gang’s face was a mask of confusion. ’Can such a small satchel really fit a tail that long and thick? That tail must be 1.7 meters long if you stretch it out, right?’

Shan Zhu also felt it defied logic, but after everything she had been through, this was hardly the first or second illogical thing she had encountered. By now, she was used to it. She might be confused, but she wouldn’t question it anymore.

As for Huo Zhao Hua, being a member of the Huo Family, even a branch member, he had some understanding of the supernatural. He guessed that Gu Qingyin’s satchel was probably a type of Magic Artifact, most likely containing a Jiezhi Space that could hold a great many things.

The truth was more or less what Huo Zhao Hua had guessed, with the only difference being the satchel’s available space.

The bag could hold fifty cubic meters of items, but... over the years, Gu Qingyin had stuffed anything and everything she saw into it and hadn’t cleaned it out in ages. The remaining space was severely limited.

Last time, she had to forcibly shove the Curse Doll in. This Candle Dragon Tail was really asking too much of the bag.

It was a good thing the satchel wasn’t sentient, or it would have definitely spit in Gu Qingyin’s face. How could she keep stuffing things in when it was already full? Had she ever considered the bag’s feelings?

For some reason, Gu Qingyin was utterly convinced the bag wasn’t full, and even if it was, they could make it fit if they just squeezed a little.

And so, the four of them—two holding the bag open, two working together to stuff the item inside—used every ounce of their strength and finally managed to shove the Candle Dragon Tail in!

Gu Qingyin swung the satchel onto her back with immense satisfaction and clapped her hands. "Alright, we can get out of here!"

Joy blossomed in Huo Zhao Hua’s heart. He stood up to carry Lin Xiaoyun. While they were stuffing the bag, he had already asked; his mother hadn’t suffered any serious injuries, she had just fainted. She was most likely scared unconscious and would be fine after some rest once they got out.

But when he turned around, the smile that had just graced Huo Zhao Hua’s face froze.

"Holy shit! How are they gone again?!" Tian Gang couldn’t help but roar, sounding on the verge of a breakdown.

Shan Zhu’s entire body tensed as she stared at the empty patch of ground. Her mind instinctively raced. ’It’s impossible they woke up and walked away on their own. That means someone, or something, crept over and silently took them away, and we didn’t notice at all.’

’Were we too focused on stuffing the bag? Or maybe...’

Shan Zhu shuddered violently, not daring to think any further. She looked at Gu Qingyin, her throat dry as she asked, "Did you sense anything?"

Gu Qingyin was also staring at the spot, lost in thought. Hearing the question, she gave Shan Zhu a surprised look. "If I had, they wouldn’t have been taken." She had to admit, she had been careless and taken things for granted.

She had assumed that since the Candle Dragon could recuperate here, it must have cleared out all the surrounding dangers. That’s why she had been focused only on collecting her spoils and had forgotten about the "hostages."

It seemed now that within the Barrier, there was at least one, or perhaps several, other beings whose power was slightly weaker than the Candle Dragon’s. They had all coexisted peacefully. But now that the Candle Dragon was gone, these beings had become bold enough to show themselves.

Since she didn’t know what these things were—she had done a simple check when she first entered and found no ghosts—she would tentatively call them natives.

There was no telling how many years these natives had gone without meat. Now, they were probably just craving a fresh bite.

Gu Qingyin understood that, but what she couldn’t figure out was what on earth could have taken three grown people away from such a close distance without alerting her in the slightest.

She hadn’t even sensed anything was wrong until the change in Huo Zhao Hua’s aura.

"We can still find them, right?" Huo Zhao Hua’s voice was tight and trembling. His fists were clenched as he struggled to remain calm, his gaze fixed on Gu Qingyin with an unconscious plea.

Gu Qingyin’s lips twitched into a wry smile. "We can." Without the Candle Dragon’s interference with space and time, finding people would only be faster this time.

Most importantly, the Amulet she had given Huo Xinghai had been activated, proving he had just encountered a life-threatening situation that the Amulet had blocked.

In this place, thick with baleful energy, the activated Amulet was like a spotlight on a stage, so conspicuous it was almost blinding.

"You still have the talismans I gave you, right?" Gu Qingyin asked.

The three of them immediately looked down and rummaged through their pockets. Finding the talismans, they gripped them tightly, as if trying to draw a bit of security from them.

Gu Qingyin had intended to see if their talismans would last until they left the Barrier, but they were clutching them so tightly she couldn’t see a thing. She rolled her eyes in exasperation and, with a look of reluctance, took out three more folded talismans.

"Consider it a reward for helping me just now," Gu Qingyin muttered as she handed them out. "Otherwise, I’d charge you at least fifty a pop."

Tian Gang gleefully took the talisman. His sense of security restored, he was in the mood to be impressed again. "A talisman this powerful only costs fifty? You have such a conscience, Master Gu."

Gu Qingyin let out a dry laugh. "Fifty... thousand."

Tian Gang was instantly silenced. He went from clutching the talisman tightly in one hand to holding it piously with both hands against his chest. It was no exaggeration to say that, aside from his house, these two talismans were the most expensive things he had ever owned in his life.

Shan Zhu was also shocked. ’The Heavenly Master business is really profitable,’ she mused. ’It has more of a future than being a doctor.’

With their preparations complete, Gu Qingyin led the three of them straight toward the "spotlight."

The distance wasn’t actually that far, only about a hundred meters or so, into a relatively dense patch of woods.

The closer they got, the stronger the presence of the "spotlight" became, and the more vigilant Gu Qingyin grew. Because even now, she still couldn’t sense anything out of place.

’It can’t be that the native found the Amulet hard to deal with and just dropped Huo Xinghai to move somewhere else with the two easier targets, right?’

At that thought, Gu Qingyin’s steps faltered. ’It’s not impossible.’

A starving person, desperate for food, would naturally eat what’s easiest to bite into first. Anything with a tough shell that’s hard to open would definitely be saved for last.

Right now, Huo Xinghai was the one with the "shell."

But even if the food was hard to open, it wouldn’t be thrown away so easily. After all, it was a rare find, and there was no telling when the next chance would come.

Therefore, the native should still be around Huo Xinghai. It was probably eating the easy-to-get ones while figuring out how to crack the shell.

Gu Qingyin raised a hand, signaling for the three behind her to stop. Then, she once again drew her Fire Burning Stick and stealthily approached the "spotlight."

As it happened, she saw Huo Xinghai first. Then, she looked up and, completely unprepared, locked eyes with the native standing just a short distance in front of him.

For a split second, both of them took a slight step back.

Clearly, they had scared each other.