Chapter 1370: Three People Missing

The ones who left did not come back, and this instantly pushed the already panicked atmosphere to its peak; everyone was in a frenzy, and even their words faintly betrayed terror.

"What do we do? We haven't run into something, have we? Why does it feel like it's really dangerous in here?"

"I—I want to go home! I'm not doing this anymore, I'm not cultivating immortality!"

"I want to go home too! Hey, let us out, we're leaving!"

The voices sounded especially loud in the surrounding silent, empty environment. Gu Yanqi couldn't hold back and quietly asked Miss Hongxiu, who was linked arm-in-arm with her, "Sister Hongxiu, it seems like they all want to quit. Once you come in to participate, you really can't leave, can you?"

Gu Yanqi waited a long time, but no answer from Miss Hongxiu came. Thinking she hadn't been heard, she asked again—and this time, there was still no response. At this point, Gu Yanqi sensed something was off.

"Sister Hongxiu? Sister Hongxiu, what's wrong? Are you all right?"

As she spoke, Gu Yanqi called out while raising her other hand, trying to feel for the hand hooked around her arm.

"Ah!"

But the moment she touched it, Gu Yanqi was startled. The texture was clearly not a human hand! It felt like polished, smooth wood.

"What's wrong?" The sound just now was caught by Did Ning Chen, who quickly came to Gu Yanqi's side, took her hand, and asked what had happened.

Gu Yanqi endured her fear and tried to pull the thing off her arm. Fortunately, it came off very easily—almost a single tug and it dropped.

"Chen, hurry and look at what this thing is. Also, Sister Hongxiu is gone." Gu Yanqi's voice carried a slight sob; this sudden turn had truly frightened her.

Taking the thing Gu Yanqi handed over, Did Ning Chen examined it carefully. It was a fake hand made of branches and wood—calling it a fake hand was generous; really, only the outline could be recognized as a hand.

What Miss Hongxiu wanted to do, or if she wanted to slip away quietly, she generally wouldn't leave a fake hand here to scare Gu Yanqi. That meant this probably wasn't done by Miss Hongxiu, which in turn meant Miss Hongxiu most likely didn't leave on her own.

With this realization, Did Ning Chen felt that if even Miss Hongxiu could be trapped here, then the situation was not looking good.

"Chen, what do we do? Sister Hongxiu isn't going to run into trouble, is she?" It was obvious that Gu Yanqi was especially worried right now.

Did Ning Chen gripped Gu Yanqi's hand and gave it a slight, firm squeeze: "Don't worry, Hongxiu is very capable—she'll be fine. Let's call Xiao Han and the others over first to figure out what to do."

Since one person had already gone missing, it was best for everyone to stick together, to avoid any other accidents.

Did Ning Chen released his ability to locate Xiao Han, then went to pass the message to him.

Xiao Han was no more than a dozen meters from them. After sensing Did Ning Chen's ability, Xiao Han also released his own to tell Did Ning Chen that he'd understood.

The two kept moving toward each other, gradually closing the gap. Within a few steps, Did Ning Chen sensed the person in front of him.

"Did Ning Chen?"

"Mm."

The two met up, but neither of them was much relieved.

"We're short people on our side. Same on yours?"

Hearing Xiao Han's question, Gu Yanqi hurriedly spoke up: "It's Sister Hongxiu—Sister Hongxiu is gone!"

Hearing Gu Yanqi's words, Xiao Han was briefly surprised, but then relaxed: "Mm, don't worry, she won't come to any harm."

"You're missing Lin Yi and Facing Huo Jinglin?"

While meeting up with Xiao Han, Did Ning Chen had keenly noticed that the number of people on his side was off—a team of four, yet only two remained.

Xiao Han nodded, then realized that in this fog-shrouded place Did Ning Chen couldn't possibly see his nod, so he spoke up: "The two of them disappeared not long ago. I think it should be somewhere in this forest."

The moment Xiao Han said that, Did Ning Chen knew he must understand what was going on here.

"What's going on here?"

Xiao Han told Did Ning Chen that the test was simply to walk out of this forest—as long as they could get out of it, they would count as having passed.

However, walking out of here was far easier said than done; the situation inside was especially complicated, that was all.

"Then what if someone can't keep going?" Gu Yanqi suddenly thought of those people from earlier; quite a few of them seemed unable to hold on.

"Don't worry. There are many disciples of the Dongqing Sect Sect inside. Once you enter, a disciple will follow along. If you really can't hold on, or if something major happens, they'll show up."

Hearing Xiao Han's words, Gu Yanqi breathed a sigh of relief. If that was the case, then it was fine.

"Then how did Sister Hongxiu and the others—how did they disappear?" Thinking of the thing that had been hooked on her arm earlier, Gu Yanqi felt a chill run down her spine.

"You could call it an illusion. Don't be nervous—once they're inside, they'll come to. As for Hongxiu, she should have done it willingly."

Gu Yanqi was full of questions—why would Sister Hongxiu have done it willingly?

Did Ning Chen glanced at the white fog all around, then looked at Xiao Han and said with certainty: "She did it to keep Gu Yanqi from going in?"

"Mm, you could say that. As long as no one in a team has the will to enter, this kind of thing happens. You could say it forces everyone inside."

Now Gu Yanqi understood—Sister Hongxiu must have been afraid that once she went in, she wouldn't be able to handle what came after, so she had willingly left on her own.

"Let's go, we'll head inside together. Since Lin Yi and Facing Huo Jinglin have been dragged in too, we have to go in and take a look no matter what."

To prevent anyone else from being separated, Did Ning Chen tied everyone together with a rope, then released a protective barrier around the group to make sure nothing could get close to them.

The one in front was Xiao Han; he was very familiar with this place.

The four of them quickly reached the entrance of the forest, and the fog here had thinned considerably—at the very least, they could see each other clearly.

The entrance was an extremely wide opening, looking for all the world like an invitation for everyone to enter. The warning ropes that had been strung around the forest were also gone.

"I feel like the only thing missing is a 'Welcome' sign."

Xu Chenchen's snark was right on point—at the very least, it struck a chord with Gu Yanqi.

"I think so too!"

Did Ning Chen released his ability to go inside and probe the situation, but what he detected was that, at least in the vicinity, there were no living people. On top of that, the surrounding spiritual energy was extremely dense, and he wasn't sure if it was because of that spiritual energy that he couldn't probe deeper inside.

Xiao Han looked at Did Ning Chen and knew what he was thinking, so he spoke up: "Let's go. They should be in the middle of the forest."