Xia Xianning remembered Luo Xiao once saying that although Ge Panming had escaped, he should have been affected by the Tingting’s toxic gas. Luo Xiao had warned him and Luo Yingbai to be vigilant whenever they encountered this flower or smelled this scent. They had come for Peng Xuan and Lu Lu’s case, but unexpectedly, they might have also uncovered a lead to Ge Panming.
Thinking about this, Xia Xianning stood in place and waited. His subordinates who had received orders soon arrived, panting.
Yue Ling said, “Am I hallucinating? I feel the murderous aura here is very heavy.”
Gou Songze said, “I feel the same. It’s fortunate we didn’t encounter anything strange.”
As he delved deeper into the mountains, he began to sense the eerie and cold atmosphere of this place. The terrain was blocked, and the accumulated deathly air over the years had not dispersed to the outside world or merged with the spiritual energy of other places. Instead, it was blocked by the sharp mountains in a valley.
If there were any creatures in this place, they would certainly develop a demonic heart. If there were any corpses, they would undergo an abnormal transformation.
Yue Ling laughed, “It’s not that you haven’t encountered strange things. It was Xia Chu who went in first and cleared the path.”
“
Xian Ning Ge still looked mighty and domineering.
Gou Songze thought while forcing a dry laugh, “Oh, is that so?”
Xia Xian Ning called out from nearby, “Gather up and follow me up the mountain!”
Gou Songze and Yue Ling stopped talking, each responding and following Xia Xian Ning with the others.
Someone asked, “Xia Chu, aren’t we here to rescue people? Do we need to prepare anything else?”
Xia Xian Ning said, “Look down at the ground.”
The person asking the question looked confused, then looked down to see messy tire tracks and footprints. Being from criminal investigation, he followed the traces and observed, suddenly realizing something was wrong. He said, “How did the traces disappear? These people went missing midway!”
Xia Xian Ning explained, “Two groups went missing. One group came by car, another on foot, and there were quite a few people in the vehicle. Looking at the tire tracks – they were deep at first, then suddenly became shallow.”
Everyone understood after hearing Xia Xian Ning’s words.
Xia Xian Ning waved his hand and said, “I’m calling you here to help evacuate the people once we find them. Leave first after the rescue, don’t worry about me. Understood?”
Everyone unanimously responded with “Yes”.
After giving instructions, Xia Xian Ning turned and walked ahead. Gou Songze hurriedly followed, asking, “Xia Chu, don’t we need to provide backup? Aren’t you here to find people? Isn’t it dangerous for you?”
Xia Xian Ning said, “No need.”
Gou Songze: “…”
Seeing Xia Xian Ning’s terse response, he could only remain silent and follow.
As they progressed, they reached a fork in the road. Suddenly, a group of birds flew up from the side of the forest, their wings making a fluttering sound in the air.
Xia Xian Ning glanced back, noticing nothing unusual, but saw Gou Songze looking pained and conflicted. He asked, “What are you thinking?”
Gou Songze was startled and quickly said, “Nothing…”
Before he could finish, Xia Xian Ning suddenly turned and shouted towards the northwest, “Liang Fei, Yue Ling, watch out!”
Simultaneously, a black mist flew out from the mountain forest, so fast it caught up with the birds fleeing in midair, instantly dropping bird corpses to the ground.
Liang Fei and Yue Ling were shocked, simultaneously attacking with over a dozen exorcism talismans to block the black mist.
Gou Songze rushed over, extending his hand and unleashing a black whip like a serpent, creating a sudden wind to enhance the talisman’s power. The three of them combined forces, and the suddenly appearing black mist instantly dissipated.
At first glance, the crisis seemed averted, but Xia Xian Ning’s face showed no relaxation. He drew his sword and shouted, “Lie down immediately!”
The three instinctively trusted him and dropped to the ground in an instant.
After lying down, they felt a fierce wind pass over their backs. Gou Songze glanced up and was stunned to see countless tree branches transform into arrows after the black mist, covering the sky. If Xia Xian Ning had said “move aside,” they would have likely been riddled with holes.
Facing the arrow rain, Xia Xian Ning’s sword was like silver lightning, rushing forward. The sword’s shadow instantly multiplied, repelling the attack. Xia Xian Ning’s figure followed, leaping in front of them, catching the falling sword with a fluid motion. He unleashed his pressure, and the unexpected arrow rain and black mist completely collapsed.
Gou Songze jumped up, forming a hand seal, turning and capturing several unrelenting resentful spirits. He said, still in shock, “What just happened?”
Xia Xian Ning remained calm, saying casually, “Someone is welcoming us.”
The simple sentence made everyone uneasy. Gou Songze followed his gaze into the lightless dense forest, gripping his whip tightly.
Based on his understanding of Xia Xian Ning, Gou Songze felt that when he said this, he probably already knew who was in the forest.
But Xia Xian Ning said nothing more, striding ahead and quickly entering the forest.
As soon as everyone entered, they could sense something abnormal about this forest. Every tree was extraordinarily lush, with dense, intertwined branches. These trees grew so densely that their canopies were almost touching.
Xia Xianning walked in, raised his hand with a sword and chopped down the tree closest to him. As the tree fell, the other large trees seemed to sense fear and automatically cleared a small path in front of them.
Xia Xianning stood in place, as if observing something. There was an unusual stillness in the entire forest, as if no living creature existed except for the special investigation team members – not even a bird or an insect. Yet he felt many people staring at him.
After searching around, he suddenly turned back, meeting Yang Zheng’s puzzled gaze.
Xia Xianning’s eyes were sharp. Yang Zheng managed to stay calm: “Xia, Director Xia, what’s wrong?”
Xia Xianning finally found where the problem was, raised his hand to signal Yang Zheng, and said: “Let’s rescue them.”
Yang Zheng was puzzled about where the people were and looked back in the direction Xia Xianning indicated. He suddenly found himself facing a pair of eyeballs. As his gaze moved upward, he discovered a person hidden in the gnarled, branchy tree behind him!
This person was almost completely covered by curled vines and branches, hanging upside down on the tree trunk. At first glance, it looked nothing like a person, so no one had noticed when they first entered. Most terrifyingly, the person appeared unconscious but was staring straight ahead with bloodshot eyes.
Yang Zheng rolled his eyes and collapsed.
At this point, Yue Ling also said: “There’s also a person on this tree, and over there… my god, they’re all hanging on the trees.”
Gou Songze shook Yang Zheng a few times, roughly bringing him back to consciousness. “Okay, don’t be afraid. This is a type of tree spirit. Their branches can capture and absorb life force. These people have been captured for a short time and should still be alive. Quickly get them down.”
After speaking, Gou Songze was about to ask Xia Xianning for instructions, but found he had already disappeared. Looking up, he saw Xia Xianning walking deep into the forest. Gou Songze hurriedly called out: “Director Xia!”
Xia Xianning waved without turning back, signaling them to return, and then disappeared into the depths of the forest.
When he was the only one left, the scenery gradually changed.
