Chapter 169

The only clue was destroyed, and Chen Shicheng was also speechless. After hopping back and forth by the lake for half a day with no gain, he could only look toward the big mountain occupied by the linglings.

"Want to straight attack Yellow Dragon? If we clear that mountain, we wouldn't need to worry about how the linglings got into the formation."

Helpless, Chen Shicheng began to think of a permanent solution.

But doing so would increase the danger, and he didn't think a group of ancient exotic beasts that could hold their ground in the Ten Thousand Great Mountain and leave the Huoyao Bu helpless could be so easily killed.

Suddenly, Chen Shicheng's eyes lit up, remembering the la tiao in his storage bag.

This little guy's nose seemed very sharp, able to sniff out the tracks of even an earth‑escaping Great Year, constantly chasing behind, rivaling a dog's nose—could it be used as a guard dog? Thinking this, he quickly pulled the sleeping la tiao out, shook it wildly, and the la tiao barely opened its little eyes, looking blankly at its owner.

"Do you still remember the taste of the meat you ate this morning?" Chen Shicheng asked quickly.

Upon hearing about food, especially that nutritious meat from this morning, the la tiao immediately perked up and nodded.

"Good, that's you, La Tiao Beast, go! If you can find it, you'll get to eat your fill!" Chen Shicheng grabbed the la tiao and threw it out.

The la tiao easily flipped in mid‑air, landed steadily on the ground, then began to twitch its little nose, sniffing hard on the ground.

After several turns, relying on the power of a foodie, the la tiao finally found the familiar scent, called twice to Chen Shicheng, turned, and ran toward the other side of the lake.

Sure enough, it could be used as a guard dog! Chen Shicheng immediately gave chase, but the route was strange—not a straight line, but a winding, aimless path.

Whenever the la tiao reached a big tree that could bear fruit, it would pause to carefully distinguish for a moment before heading in another direction.

Chen Shicheng chased for half a day, then understood from the fruit pits scattered on the ground that the linglings were like monkeys—after entering, they didn't first go steal fusang leaves, but ran around like untamed wild dogs.

No wonder I'd encounter linglings while trying to make gardenias bloom—this guy also succeeded by sheer luck!

But it's all right; although the linglings were a bit unrestrained, they at least knew what was important and didn't bounce around for too long.

The la tiao soon stopped beside a huge dead tree, circling the trunk several times, then lifted its head to sniff around; after figuring something out, it excitedly called to Chen Shicheng.

"Did they come in from here?"

Chen Shicheng sized up the dead tree before him—aside from being older and thicker, it seemed unremarkable; how could linglings ignore the formation and enter the Huoyao Bu's territory? He distrusted evil and used the Eye of Bai Ze to appraise it; there was no problem, just as he saw—a dead giant tree.

Puzzled, Chen Shicheng stepped forward and knocked on the trunk; the slightly echoing sound made him pause.

"Holy crap, it's tunnel warfare!"

He quickly leapt up, using the branches to jump to the top of the dead tree.

Sure enough, the treetop had a pitch‑black hole; the trunk had been hollowed out, leading straight down who knows how deep underground—the linglings must have invaded from here.

Chen Shicheng didn't rashly jump in, but extended his divine perception inside to probe.

But to help the linglings wasn't enough of a sacrifice; to avoid the formation's detection, they'd dug down hundreds of meters, and even his divine perception couldn't reach the bottom—he could only hear the cold wind constantly howling in the deep cavern.

"MD, how can such a deep hole still have ventilation? Did this bunch of linglings used to specialize in digging tunnels?" Chen Shicheng cursed inwardly, shook his head, and gave up the idea of risking himself.

This hole absolutely couldn't be entered lightly; he could only wait nearby for the linglings to walk into the net, then judge their numbers by the frequency of comings and goings before deciding on the next step.

Chen Shicheng tapped his mask; Hui Siye knew what he meant without a word, and the silent, resigned invisible figure flew in, making himself a living scout guard, colloquially called an "eye". He waited like that for three hours.

Just as he sat yawning, waiting for Hui Siye's warning, the la tiao lying in his arms suddenly lifted its head, its pair of dark, shiny little eyes fixedly staring toward the Huoyao Bu's direction.

"Huh?"

Chen Shicheng dubiously released his divine perception, finding nothing abnormal, yet the la tiao's action couldn't be ignored.

So he didn't summon Hui Siye back, but instead hid with the la tiao in a nearby treetop, exposing only a pair of eyes to watch that direction.

Soon, at the edge of his vision, three linglings appeared, each shouldering a huge crimson‑gold tree trunk, flickering in and out like ghosts, moving without a sound.

But compared to their feet, these linglings' hands were rather comical—each plucked leaves from the trunk and stuffed them into their mouths, then, like after eating a lemon, they grinned and shivered, spewing black smoke from their mouths.

"They succeeded in raiding the base, even bringing back the tree trunk?" Chen Shicheng stared in surprise.

But there was no time to think further; the three linglings were already approaching after a few steps, and Chen Shicheng decisively activated the Immortal Slaying Grand Formation.

The three linglings, true ancient exotic species, immediately sensed something wrong, dropped the fusang branches from their shoulders, and let out angry roars.

Too bad it was too late; the moment the formation enveloped them, two linglings were instantly sliced apart by blade aura, while the remaining one turned to flee, having lifted one foot—it was about to land.

But the la tiao pounced directly onto its face, and a few claws later it was a bloody mess, covering its face and rolling on the ground—no longer remembering anything about compressing earth to an inch.

The la tiao's attributes are now no weaker than Chen Shicheng's; this lingling isn't as high‑level as the one from this morning, and without waiting for Chen Shicheng's help, it directly dealt with the lingling trying to escape.

Then, with blood still dripping from its mouth, it proudly jumped up and down on the corpse.

【【Killed Lv. 14 Lingling, gained 0.1 experience points, gained Lingling Meat ×1.】】

【【Killed Lv. 13 Lingling, gained 0.01 experience points, gained Blessing Herb ×1.】】

This time luck wasn't great—only a piece of lingling meat dropped, while the other yielded a stalk of spirit grass resembling a chive.

But this herb's effect isn't outstanding—it's the same as a Bigu Pill, basically useless.

Seeing the la tiao disdain the lingling corpse, Chen Shicheng sighed and tossed the lingling meat from his storage slot out.

It's not surprising that La Tiao isn't interested in corpses; this morning he also once gave the useless corpses to La Tiao, but it seems different from the Laolao meat that burst out, and corpses don't have the ability to increase Attribute.

The La Tiao kept in the mouth naturally has no appetite; only the Grand Duke does not refuse anyone and can eat anything.

(End of chapter)