Chapter 362: Missing

Facts prove that in life one inevitably faces the absurd situation where "characters can actually be arranged like this." Setting aside everything else, just the sentence "The fish fell into the water and she can't swim" from Chang Fa would give anyone enough to ponder for two months if stripped of its context.

In fact, even with the context, it's still hard to react to at first glance...

But fortunately, among those present were those whose bodies reacted faster than their brains—barely had Chang Fa's words hit the ground when Hu Li had already moved. Hearing the "hum" of a treasure blade leaving its sheath, she launched her two tails. The fox tails, spewing blue propulsion flames, suddenly illuminated the surroundings, tracing two swift trajectories straight into that subterranean deep lake.

Accompanied by splashing water, the fox tails entered the lake, and the firelight rippled and burned within the waves. Yu Sheng widened his eyes, staring fixedly at the scene. Moments later, he saw those two flames expand rapidly again; two furry large tails, flanking a mermaid who was still squeezing her eyes shut and thrashing hard, shot back out. Working in perfect coordination, they flew to the shore, gave a flick, and "plop" the mermaid was flung onto the ground.

The mermaid continued to thrash with her eyes closed.

Everyone was still a bit dazed at this moment, but Qianji Zhenren was clearly more so, because besides seeing someone (and a fish) fall from the sky, he had never seen a nine-tailed fox launch its own tails before. Having cultivated immortality solidly for a lifetime at Tai Xu Ling Shu and studied mechanical arts for a lifetime, the old man's vision opened wide, his Dao heart vibrating like it was on a vibration mode, nearly making him think the Immortal Fox clan had secretly devised a heretical and new path to ascension—fortunately, he finally remembered the intelligence obtained from the Borderlands, recalled that this was a fox from another world, and his Dao heart "thump" fell back into the cylinder.

Nevertheless, he still stared at Hu Li for a long while before couldn't help but blurt out: "... Fellow Daoist, what is the principle behind your tails?"

Hu Li actually thought for a moment and answered very honestly: "This is a method of refinement."

"... A method of refinement?"

"Yes, the Fox Edition, Grade Five, Second Semester, Method of Refinement."

Qianji Zhenren blinked his eyes, the gears, linkages, and bearings inside his body clattered and creaked in a mess, but they didn't click into place.

But obviously now was not the time to continue dwelling on it—two people had just fallen from the sky.

By this time, Princess Chang Fa had recovered from that series of rolls and bounces, and was wobbling to her feet, walking towards Yu Sheng, while others gathered around the mermaid who was still thrashing with eyes closed. Erin, unable to bear it any longer, stepped forward and slapped the fish's tail: "Hey, hey, that's enough. You're on land now, stop thrashing."

As a result, she was almost slapped away by that wildly swinging fish tail.

But this interruption seemed to finally make the mermaid notice the surroundings; she stopped thrashing, opened her eyes, and looked around with some confusion.

Qianji Zhenren stepped forward: "Fellow Daoist of the Tail, are you alright?"

The mermaid opened her eyes and saw such a mechanical old man greeting her, and was instantly startled: "... Waaah!"

The cry of surprise carried an electric tone and bubbling sounds, the timbre somewhat resembling the sound of tying up Erin while she was charging and throwing her into water.

However, she quickly reacted, and at the same time noticed the other faces around (and the strange environment), immediately propped herself up with her arms, widened her eyes, and looked at Yu Sheng: "Brother Yu? Where is this..."

"In a foreign realm," Yu Sheng also widened his eyes, looking at the mermaid before him and then at Princess Chang Fa beside her, "No, how did you two get in?!"

"I don't know, we were just strolling in the mountains..." Princess Chang Fa said with a confused face, then as if realizing something belatedly, she raised her hand and pointed at Yu Sheng, exclaiming, "Hey, Brother, why is your head bleeding!!"

Yu Sheng: "..."

He felt he should explain something, but he didn't want to explain anything.

Because of the headache.

And just then, Princess Chang Fa belatedly discovered another thing: "Wait! Only the two of us fell? Where's Zheng Zhi?!"

Yu Sheng was stunned upon hearing this: "Zheng Zhi?"

"Yes! We were together just now, he was walking in front of us," Princess Chang Fa said quickly, "Then the path around suddenly went wrong, the sky went dark, and I and Salted Fish slipped and both fell... According to logic, the three of us should have fallen together."

"Wait a moment, I'm a bit confused and need to sort it out," Yu Sheng quickly waved his hands to make the other speak slower, while trying to mobilize his thoughts, "You explain the cause and effect first—why were you two strolling in the mountains with Zheng Zhi?"

Princess Chang Fa opened her mouth, seeming a bit hesitant all of a sudden, but the mermaid sitting on the ground spoke up honestly: "We came out to play, but didn't know the paths in the mountains, so Chang Fa found Zheng Zhi to be our guide... Because someone said he was extremely familiar with the paths nearby, like they were his own home, and there were close friends everywhere on the mountains."

For some reason, as soon as the mermaid spoke these words, Erin shrank into the corner.

But Yu Sheng did not notice Erin's small movement, because just the first half of the mermaid's sentence was enough to shock him: "What? You found Zheng Zhi to be your guide?! He only arrived one day before you! And he's the type who can fall into a foreign realm just by strolling through a shopping mall at his own doorstep, where did you get the idea to coax him into guiding you?!"

The mermaid and Princess Chang Fa instantly shrank their necks and fell silent, obediently receiving the scolding.

But Yu Sheng didn't have much mood to continue scolding these two Misses.

Because his big nephew was missing.

Why Princess Chang Fa and the mermaid suddenly fell into this foreign realm located in "Tai You" during the operation at Qian Feng Lingshan could be studied in detail later, but a rookie agent like Gao Min, with low stability, no weapon, and who hadn't even finished her probation period at the Special Operations Bureau, going missing during the fall into a foreign realm could not be delayed.

After all, given the big nephew's combat power, throwing him into "Fairy Tale" might not even let him beat the kids in the junior high group, and his independent action experience was practically zero; if he really fell into some dangerous "scenes" within this foreign realm... the probability of him becoming a typical case by year-end was unusually high.

Of course, Zheng Zhi's luck also seemed as subtle as his spiritual talent; he could be so unlucky that he'd fall into the Misty City just by strolling through a shopping mall at his doorstep, or so lucky that he'd be saved by the Tree Grandmother's tree sap in the most dangerous "Thick Fog Zone" of the Misty City where entities frequently appeared; sometimes it was hard to judge this guy's fate as simply bad luck or good luck, plus Zheng Zhi's own adaptability... maybe he was quite hard to kill.

But no one dared to gamble.

Just then, Yuanling Zhenren's voice suddenly came from the Lingxi Mirror: "Where did you 'fall' from? Do you remember what was around?"

Princess Chang Fa was startled by this suddenly sounding voice, but immediately spoke up: "On the way back from a cliffside suspended corridor to the Cloud-Gazing Platform... Oh, that's the place where you can see the great formation of Ling Feng City down the mountain, by the way, there's a pavilion over there, the one donated and repaired seventy years ago by the neighbor across from the cousin of Su Yun Xianzi."

The mermaid beside her nodded and added immediately: "There was also a small herb garden next to that path, and a wooden sign stood at the uphill spot, with the words 'Great Ancestor Immortal Master blesses disciple Xu Qingqiu's passing of the final exam for the Third Phase Qianyuan Grass, bowing and kowtowing' written on it..."

"Hmm, I have a clue, it sounds like it should be near the Suspended Ravine Pavilion," Yuanling Zhenren's voice came from the mirror, "I will dispatch disciples to search in the mountains; if he didn't fall into the foreign realm with you, he might have landed somewhere else."

Hearing Yuanling Zhenren's arrangements, everyone in the cave felt somewhat relieved.

"We'll keep an eye out over here too," Yu Sheng added, "This cave is very large; we haven't even finished exploring it yet. It's possible Zheng Zhi fell into some corner when he dropped."

His suggestion was quickly approved by everyone. Qianji Zhenren took several "Mechanical Balls" from his robe again, activated them, and threw them to the ground, ordering them to search along the shore of the subterranean lake in all directions. Luna activated her built-in radar again, searching for any moving objects nearby. Hu Li spread her arms towards the distance; accompanied by a series of "buzzing" sounds, eight silver-white furry tails rose into the air from behind her, flying like a large group of fox-cannons towards the dark depths across the lake.

Afterwards, Hu Li thought for a moment, probably feeling the tails' sensing ability wasn't quite enough, turned around, rummaged through the remaining storage tail behind her, and pulled out Bai Qie and Yan Ju...

The two Nine Heavens Dark Chickens, radiating colorful light and spiritual energy, flew two circles in the air, landed on Hu Li's shoulders, and four cross-eyed eyes stared straight at the surroundings.

Yu Sheng didn't know how the demon fox girl communicated with those two flat-feathered beasts; he just saw her whisper a couple of words to the left and right guardians on her shoulders, and those two Nine Heavens Dark Chickens, radiating spiritual energy, nodded repeatedly, then "cluck cluck clucked" and took flight, flying into the darkness like two meteors.

Yu Sheng stared blankly at the scene, and only after a long while could he not help but mutter: "... Wasn't there something wrong with those two's clucking?"

"Maybe they have a bit of a cold these past couple of days," Hu Li said uncertainly, "I also feel their clucking has been strange lately."

Qianji Zhenren was once again attracted by Hu Li's display, staring blankly at those two strange creatures flying away, unable to recognize what they were for a long time: "What kind of immortal bird is this? Its bearing is magnificent, its spiritual energy is not ordinary, and its eyes are even simple and deep... Could it also be from another world?"

Yu Sheng and Erin exchanged a glance; both of them were a bit unable to hold back, but didn't know how to explain. After holding it in for a while, Yu Sheng finally spoke: "Just a local breed."

"A local breed?"

Yu Sheng kept a straight face: "Yes, local, ah, I should say a breed of this world, produced over in the Borderlands."

Qianji Zhenren's stomach full of gears clicked again; although he still didn't click it, he still nodded: "Wonderful, I have never seen such a thing."

(End of Chapter)