Chapter 36

Mount Spiral was vast. According to Chen Mei’s introduction on the Corpse Cloud, Mount Spiral had 36 peaks and 72 waterfalls. There were countless rivers and streams, and the mountain range stretches for tens of thousands of kilometers.

As water vapor was abundant, vegetation flourished, and there were countless birds and beasts. The same applies to snakes and other insects.

It was not a big deal as Chen Huan’s team was well prepared. After they entered the forest, they distributed the insect repellent sachets one by one. Zhang Zhongqin held a long saber and bashed open a path in front of them. Although they had encountered several ambushes from beasts and insects, Chen Huan and the others displayed their experience in missions. They cooperated well and dealt with those situations with relative ease. Overall, things were going rather smoothly.

“Silence!” After walking for an unknown amount of time in the forest, Zhang Zhongqin, who was leading the way, suddenly gestured with his hand. The entire team immediately turned cold. Before Pei Ling could react, his shoulder sank. It was Chen Hen who rushed over from the back and held him down.

Chen Huan’s face was dark as he gave Pei Ling a warning look before looking ahead.

In the middle of the towering ancient trees and behind some dense trees were several red-eyed, green-haired, ape-like demon beasts playing around.

He gestured for everyone to retreat a distance, then asked Zhang Zhongqin to confirm any problems in the vicinity. Chen Huan then said in a low voice, “According to previous scoutings, this group of Fire-Eyed Green Apes is the most troublesome in the vicinity. If we don’t get rid of them, I’m afraid there will be more complications.”

Pei Ling watched quietly, but he did not intend to help at all. It was best if something happened to them so that he could take Chen Mei away and complete the deal with Wu Liu!

Then, Xiao Tasha and the others took out some wine, drug powder, and other items from their storage bags. After a series of intricate moves, they used the Fire-Eyed Green Ape’s weakness of alcohol drinking to put them down… In the end, they killed this group of demon beasts without spilling a single drop of blood!

Then, they used the same adequate preparations to kill a nest of Spirit Devouring Ants and a Blue-Winged Crow.

It was difficult to determine the direction in the dense forest, and Pei Ling could only vaguely sense that they seemed to be walking around in a rather large circle. After sweeping through the troublesome demon beasts and insects in this circle, Chen Huan and the others stopped the hunting and led him toward the middle of the circle.

During the process, Chen Huan remained highly vigilant against Pei Ling, paying attention to his every move, not giving him any chance to do anything.

Pei Ling’s expression did not change. Chen Huan and the others’ intentions towards him were becoming more and more obvious. It might be due to him acting cooperatively now, or maybe Chen Mei was in his hands, so these people did not intend to fall out with him yet.

“Senior Brother Chen, how far are we from the mission location?” After walking for a while, Pei Ling suddenly asked. The surroundings gradually turned cold.

There were even some changes in the vegetation. The plants that faced the sun decreased significantly, while the plants that thrive in the shade rapidly increased… Meanwhile, the terrain they were walking on headed downwards gradually.

“We’re almost there,” Chen Hen answered.

As they spoke, they entered a long and narrow gorge.

Pei Ling’s gaze flashed as he recorded down all the traces along the way in his mind.

The gorge in front of him looked like a line of sky, and there was only one path after entering. The green rocks above him faced each other, and rocks filled with pith hung down to the bottom of the gorge, blocking out the sun. Miasma lurked around, and their vision became limited in the daytime.

After this period of recovery, Xiao Tasha had finally caught her breath. She got down from Huang Xian’s back, raised her array disc, and replaced Zhang Zhongqin to lead the way.

Although this place had not seen the sun all year round, and it was still bone-chilling at noon, for some reason, various kinds of vines grew exceptionally well. They were connected in all sorts of peculiarities, making them look like demons at first sight.

Not long after, they pushed aside a cluster of thick roots, and the space in front of them opened up. It was a flat space.

Xiao Tasha heaved a sigh of relief and said, “Junior Brother Pei, the flower demon is right in front of you. You can proceed!”

Pei Ling’s heart jumped though he replied without hesitation, “Okay! Hunting the flower demons is a mission for Senior Sister Chen Mei and me. We will go in together!”

As he spoke, Pei Ling pulled out the Life-Extinguishing Blade and placed it on Chen Mei’s neck!

Chen Mei’s expression froze, not knowing what had happened. She heard Pei Ling say coldly, “Don’t move, otherwise…”

Before he could finish his sentence, their waists tightened. Pei Ling looked down and saw that a vine as thick as a child’s arm had stretched out from behind him. It wrapped around him and Chen Mei at the same time and abruptly dragged the two of them forward!

The scenery around him rippled like water. Pei Ling’s pupils constricted abruptly. He saw that Chen Huan and the others had already disappeared from sight.

Instead, towering ancient trees that towered into the sky from all directions entered his sight.

Pei Ling was startled. He grabbed Chen Mei with one hand and used the other to chop at the vines wrapped around him.

However, the vine seemed to be able to sense it. Before the blade landed, it suddenly let go of Pei Ling. Right after that, it grabbed Chen Mei and pulled her into the forest!

Pei Ling did not hesitate as he slashed at Chen Mei. However, the vine was too fast, and it was one step ahead of him as it pulled Chen Mei back rapidly!

Pei Ling immediately followed. He knew that this vine was a magic technique used by Chen Huan! Although he had plenty of preparations in advance, the two sides were two sub realms apart, and he still could not catch up to his opponent!

Soon, not long after, Chen Mei disappeared into a bush.

However, once Pei Ling followed closely behind and stepped in. The bush felt endless, and it almost ripped the bottom of his pants.

A maze?!

Pei Ling’s expression changed, then he said coldly, “Senior brothers and sisters. What is the meaning of this?”

“Nothing much. We just hope that you can stay here for a while. We’ll be back for you soon!” Chen Huan replied with a smile.

Pei Ling gave a cold sneer when he heard this, but he quickly recovered his composure and said, “Senior Brother Chen, I have treated you as my older brother and respected you. Why did you plot against me?”

“Since you treat Senior Brother Chen as your older brother, how can you stay out of his troubles?” Pei Ling could not see anyone, but he could hear Xiao Tasha’s voice. She chuckled and said, “Junior Brother Pei, stop struggling. Be a good boy and stay in the sub formation. When the mother array is ready, you can feed the Soul Summoning Banner for Senior Brother Chen. So that your body won’t become wasted.”

Pei Ling wanted to determine the position of the sound and confirm the direction of the exit, but the voice came from all directions. He could not distinguish the way out at all.

Seeing this, Pei Ling did not speak anymore and sat quietly on the ground.

Outside the array, Chen Huan looked away and asked Xiao Tasha, “Are you sure he can’t come out?”

Xiao Tasha replied confidently, “Don’t worry, Senior Brother Chen! I have set up a maze outside the sub formation. It’s the same one that I used to trap Senior Brother Huang and Senior Brother Zhang the other time. Even if he manages to get out of the sub-formation, he won’t be able to get out of the maze.”

She continued, “The most important thing now is the mother array. Because of the lack of materials yesterday, we could only set up a sub-formation and a maze. In comparison, the mother array is more complicated and requires more attention.”

“To maximize your ability to command the refined Soul Summoning Banner with ease, and not get disturbed by the soul you control. In a while, I need everyone’s blood essence and birth characters… We must get all of these done before midnight. By that time, we can then perfectly extract the soul and blood essence of that brat in the sub formation and thoroughly integrate him into the Soul Summoning Banner.”

“Otherwise, if we miss this opportunity, the next suitable day will be five days later.”

Chen Huan thanked her while he looked at Huang Xian and Zhang Zhongqin. After they nodded to show that Xiao Tasha’s maze was reliable, Chen Huan said with a smile, “Then we will follow Junior Sister Xiao’s arrangement.”

After checking that the maze and the sub-formations were intact, they went to the location of the mother array outside the gorge..