Chapter 403: Pointing the Direction

"I should be in the southeast direction now. Where are you? I'll go find you, and you help me follow my third senior brother." Yuan Yao replied.

She had just finished responding when she heard a scream from not far away.

"Ah!"

Yuan Yao's expression changed slightly; she swiftly darted toward that direction and saw a young male cultivator with most of his body sunk into the damp, muddy ground, shouting for help in terror.

"Someone is grabbing my foot!"

"Ahhh……"

"Don't make noise!" At that moment, a low reprimand came.

Following the sound, the speaker was a yellow-clad youth wearing a rabbit-grinning mask, hair disheveled, half-crouched on the eaves, looking down with contempt at the person below.

After hearing that, the young male cultivator had been quiet for a few seconds, but then he let out a shrill wail!

"Ahhh!"

His lower half was being torn and gnawed by something.

The intense pain almost overwhelmed his body and mind, making him unable to hold back his wail.

Seeing this, Yuan Yao had intended to reach out and pull him from the mire, but she didn't expect the yellow-clad youth to directly throw a dart, instantly piercing the young cultivator's neck.

The young cultivator let out a brief wail, his eyes widened, and then he completely lost vitality.

His entire body sank completely into the mire marsh, leaving no trace.

The crowd that had rushed over upon hearing the noise witnessed this scene and all showed shocked expressions.

Many felt fear arise.

One person, who happened to be the friend of the deceased male cultivator, widened his eyes and stared in disbelief at the yellow-clad youth Jiang Xiao, "Why did you kill him?!"

Upon hearing that, Jiang Xiao let out a light scoff.

"If he kept shouting, more than just him would die."

He then said, "Idiots, use your two eyes to look down properly. If you dare make any noise again, I don't mind eliminating you one by one, so you don't implicate others."

The crowd stared and saw the ground beginning to surge, like a water surface.

It was also mixed with a bloody smell.

The crowd's faces turned horrified.

"What is this?!"

Yuan Yao, seeing this, her expression slightly tightened; indeed there was something below.

She instantly released her mental power, extending it downward.

Soon, she vaguely sensed countless things capable of independent movement beneath the ground, and these things seemed to detect her mental power, scattering in all directions.

After they scattered, not long later they completely returned to calm, with no further movement.

Yuan Yao's mental power covered the ground below; she had intended to continue extending it to trace the tracks and true appearance of those things, but in the next instant——

An extremely cold, terrifying mysterious power attacked her mental power, causing her instinctively to retract her mental power.

As soon as she retracted her mental power, a cold sweat broke out on her back.

What on earth is that thing below?!

And that power……

It is not something she can currently contend with!

At that moment, Lu Xiangxiang, standing on the ruins not far away, spoke up in time: "Everyone, there is an unpredictable dangerous spirit entity beneath the ruined city; we must not make too much noise. The sounds we make will draw them together, and if we emit screams or extremely loud noises, they will surely provoke their active attack."

Upon hearing this, the crowd showed astonished expressions.

"Really?"

"What exactly is that down there?" someone asked, lowering their voice, looking at Lu Xiangxiang with a puzzled expression.

Yuan Yao also looked toward Lu Xiangxiang.

Lu Xiangxiang furrowed her brows, shook her head, and said, "I'm not entirely sure either."

At that moment, Lu Xiangxiang noticed Yuan Yao's presence, a flicker of displeasure crossing her eyes.

Earlier, the limelight from breaking the seal barrier had all been snatched by her.

Yuan Yao didn't miss the change in her gaze; the corner of her mouth beneath the mask couldn't help but turn up.

Lu Xiangxiang is unhappy, so she is happy.

Yuan Yao noticed the emerald green jade tablet in her storage space lighting up again; she immediately probed it with her divine sense to listen.

"We are in the northwest direction."

Upon hearing Xie Yan's reply, Yuan Yao swiftly darted toward the northwest direction.

Many people present noticed her.

"Who exactly is this young lady? Why does she keep wearing a mask?" someone said.

And Jiang Xiao, upon seeing Yuan Yao's figure, slightly narrowed his eyes.

He gave a light chuckle.

Does he think that by changing his outfit he wouldn't know who she is?

With so many people present not wearing masks, only she wears one— isn't her identity obvious?

Jiang Xiao watched her gradually receding figure, secretly wondering: Where is she going?

Will Thousand Mountain Immortal Lord have told her some secrets about the Heavenly Fire Secret Realm?

The Heavenly Pride Token and the Ancient Sword Tomb are hidden within this ruined city.

However, finding the Heavenly Pride Token isn't that hard, but trying to locate the Ancient Sword Tomb is practically a daydream.

Time trickled by.

Yuan Yao kept heading northwest until she reached the edge of that direction, where she encountered the towering city wall, yet still could not find Xie Yan or her third senior brother.

A subtle feeling rose in her heart.

Yuan Yao immediately messaged Xie Yan: "Xie Yan, tell me, where are you now?"

On the other side, Xie Yan heard and immediately lifted his gaze to the sun in the sky, realizing it had unknowingly shifted its position.

His expression grew slightly solemn.

He messaged: "Yuan Yao, the sun's position has changed; it has been continuously rotating, so the directions we just communicated are all wrong."

And Yuan Yao also realized something was off—it wasn't the sun, but the ruined city itself.

She replied: "The ruined city is also moving, changing."

Both realized the oddity of the Heavenly Fire Secret Realm.

Xie Yan messaged with a grave tone: "Yuan Yao, I guess after night falls, the ruined city will descend into complete chaos, and those things underground will attack us. So we must leave the ruined city now."

"My third senior brother..." Yuan Yao said worriedly.

Xie Yan lifted his gaze toward the gold-robed youth in the distance and messaged: "I can knock him out and take him away."

Yuan Yao urgently messaged: "Don't! My third senior brother isn't as weak as you imagine; if he gets ruthless, he could poison you."

"What should we do now? We can't reveal our relationship either."

Yuan Yao was also pondering what to do when she suddenly remembered something and pulled a signal flare from her storage space.

It was given to her by Second Senior Sister.

Never did I expect it would be useful now.

But a new problem arose.

If our third senior brother's arrival speed falls behind the ruined city's movement, he will end up off track.

Unless—

She still has signal flares that can continuously point the way for her third senior brother and Xie Yan.

She probed her storage space with her spiritual sense and searched for half a moment.

At last she found two signal flares stacked in the corner!