Chapter 101: The Dragon Duke's Suspicion

"How is it, old man?" The Snake Matriarch looked toward the Dragon Duke.

The Dragon Duke shook his head in disappointment and tossed the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges back to Tang San. He looked around, a trace of doubt in his eyes; it was impossible for this Spirit Beast to have vanished for no reason.

The Snake Matriarch's gaze fell upon the Dragon Duke. "Tang San, why are you here alone? Tell me the reason you arrived here and the entire sequence of events from beginning to end."

A flash of sorrow crossed Tang San's eyes, as if he had thought of something. "Two seniors, the reason this junior is here is because we encountered a powerful Spirit Beast that snatched away my younger sister. This junior begs you to help me find her; as long as the seniors are willing, this junior is prepared to pay any price."

The Snake Matriarch asked, "Is Zhao Wuji not with you? Could even he not block that Spirit Beast?"

Tang San nodded in grief.

"What kind of Spirit Beast was it?" the Dragon Duke asked curiously.

Tang San hurriedly said, "It was a Titan Giant Ape. Likely at the ten-thousand-year level or above."

Upon hearing Tang San's words, both of them froze in place.

"Tang San!"

Tang San smiled bitterly and explained again, detailing the entire sequence of events, though he naturally hid the matter of his Clear Sky Hammer martial soul.

*Click, clack*, a series of mechanical sounds rang out crisply. Everyone felt a blur before their eyes, followed immediately by a series of *pfft-pfft* sounds.

"Why did you separate again?"

"Yes, senior."

The Dragon Duke still asked with some uncertainty, "You say you encountered a ten-thousand-year-level Titan Giant Ape in the outer perimeter?"

The Dragon Duke nodded slightly, his soul power subconsciously sweeping over Shi Quan. Seeing that he could not sense the aura of any Soul Guidance Device on Shi Quan, he immediately asked, "Zhuang Zhou, I ask you, why did this Tang San come here alone?"

"Grandfather, forget about whatever Titan Giant Ape, ask about my Demon Spider first!" Meng Yiran was more concerned about her Man-Faced Demon Spider.

"There really is a Titan Giant Ape?" The Dragon Duke's expression changed.

"Junior Zhuang Zhou pays respects to the two seniors." As soon as Shi Quan landed, he hurriedly bowed to the Dragon Duke and the Snake Matriarch.

On the other side, Zhao Wuji and the others had already rushed over; he had also been rushing over from afar, keeping track of the time.

"To find Xiao Wu."

"This Man-Faced Demon Spider..." The Dragon Duke's brows were tightly furrowed. He could not figure out what was going on for a moment; the Man-Faced Demon Spider had indeed lost its trail here. If it had been killed, the corpse was missing; if it had run away, there were no traces in the surroundings.

"This person is also a member of Zhao Wuji's team; it was he and two others who killed the Phoenix-Tail Crested Serpent," the Snake Matriarch whispered in the Dragon Duke's ear.

The instantaneous explosive speed of the Zhuge Crossbow also made the pupils of the Dragon Duke and the Snake Matriarch shrink.

"Demonstrate the weapon you spoke of for us to see."

"The Titan Giant Ape is an ancient exotic species; those at the ten-thousand-year level can even resist a Title Douluo. How could such a beast appear in the outer perimeter?" The Dragon Duke even began to suspect that Tang San was playing him.

Tang San could only helplessly take out the Zhuge Divine Crossbow, raise his hand, aim it at a large tree nearby, and press the switch.

Shi Quan's voice came from afar, and his illusory figure descended from the sky. The blood-stained clothes he had been wearing were gone, replaced by an identical set.

"Xiao Wu was abducted by a Titan Giant Ape. Tang San ran out alone in his desperation to save her. Because I have the ability to fly, I tracked them here a step ahead."

"What Man-Faced Demon Spider?" Shi Quan wore a look of confusion.

"With this kind of weapon, it is indeed possible to severely injure a Man-Faced Demon Spider."

The Dragon Duke looked at the tree that had been pierced through and nodded. Seeing this, he became even more puzzled. If the Man-Faced Demon Spider had been hit by this Zhuge Crossbow, it should have been severely injured if not killed. The Man-Faced Demon Spider blood scattered around proved that it had been severely injured. Under such severe injuries, how could it have disappeared?

Just as the Dragon Duke and the Snake Matriarch were puzzled and confused.

On the other side, Zhao Wuji and the others, having heard the sound of the Zhuge Crossbow, finally determined the specific location and rushed over.

"Two seniors, please show mercy."

A series of figures arrived rapidly; leading them was none other than Zhao Wuji and the others.

Seeing Tang San and Zhuang Zhou beside him, Zhao Wuji finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"This must be the senior Dragon Duke; this junior Zhao Wuji has long admired you."

"Immovable Bright King, no need for formalities. It seems your luck hasn't been very good." The Dragon Duke looked them up and down, seeing that everyone, including Zhao Wuji, had suffered injuries to varying degrees.

He believed Tang San's words about eighty or ninety percent, but the matter of the Man-Faced Demon Spider disappearing was too strange. In their view, someone had definitely intervened in secret, and this person was highly likely to be someone from Zhao Wuji's team.

Zhao Wuji said with a helpless expression, "Senior Dragon Duke is right, our luck is indeed poor. We encountered a ten-thousand-year Titan Giant Ape in the middle of the night, and it even abducted one of my students."

The Dragon Duke said, "If you say your luck is poor, to encounter such a beast and only lose one person while the others remain unscathed—I don't know whether to call your luck good or bad."

A bitter smile appeared on Zhao Wuji's face. He shook his head and said, "Senior, we are still preparing to rescue the person, so we won't disturb you further."

"Wait a moment." The Dragon Duke was unwilling to let them leave; he had noticed one thing: Zhao Wuji and the others had all flown over.

If someone had flown over, put the Man-Faced Demon Spider into a Soul Guidance Device, and then flown away, there would naturally be no traces left at the scene.

"What is it, senior?" Zhao Wuji's expression was helpless, thinking the Dragon Duke and the Snake Matriarch were preparing to settle old scores.

"Hand over the Man-Faced Demon Spider," the Dragon Duke said slowly.

"Man-Faced Demon Spider?" Everyone, including Zhao Wuji, was stunned for a moment. After exchanging glances, Zhao Wuji was the first to ask, "I don't know which Man-Faced Demon Spider the senior is referring to?"

The Dragon Duke looked at their confused expressions and then shouted angrily, "Don't put on an act for me here! My party tracked a thousand-year Man-Faced Demon Spider to this place. After it was severely injured by this Tang San, the Man-Faced Demon Spider inexplicably disappeared. How could such a large Spirit Beast vanish into thin air? It could only have been taken by you into a spatial Soul Guidance Device. Hand it over honestly, and you can leave, naturally that is no problem..."

Zhao Wuji had not expected such a thing to happen in the middle of this, so he hurriedly explained, "Senior, our group has been together the whole time and has never encountered a Man-Faced Demon Spider. We are unaware of this matter; could there be some misunderstanding?"

"Misunderstanding?" Meng Yiran said angrily, "What misunderstanding? It was enough that you snatched my Phoenix-Tail Crested Serpent, and now you've made my Man-Faced Demon Spider disappear! You are deliberately targeting me!"

"It's alright, Yiran. With Grandfather here, I certainly won't let you be wronged." The Dragon Duke patted Meng Yiran's shoulder and looked coldly at Zhao Wuji and the others.

"Whether it is a misunderstanding, there is a very simple method: hand over all the spatial Soul Guidance Devices on your bodies and let me inspect them one by one."

"No problem, senior." Zhao Wuji was still very shrewd. In the current situation, it was clearly not the time to become enemies with the Dragon Duke and the Snake Matriarch; they were not their match, so he knew when to yield.

In fact, there were not many people among them who possessed spatial-type Soul Guidance Devices; besides Tang San, there were only Ning Rongrong and Dai Mubai.

Zhao Wuji himself was so poor he couldn't make ends meet, so how could he have money to buy a spatial-type Soul Guidance Device? As for Ma Hongjun and Oscar, it was the same situation. Zhu Zhuqing was not favored in her family, and there was no need to mention Ning Rongrong—the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was never short of money, so how could she not have a spatial Soul Guidance Device? Dai Mubai was also not short of money.

The Dragon Duke quickly finished inspecting the two people's Soul Guidance Devices. Unsurprisingly, he found nothing unusual, but it did make him notice the special nature of their identities: one possessed an exclusive token of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and the other appeared to be from the Star Luo Empire.

Seeing that all the Soul Guidance Devices had been inspected and there was still no sign of the Man-Faced Demon Spider, the Dragon Duke's brows could not help but furrow tightly.

It was, of course, impossible to find it. After Shi Quan put the Man-Faced Demon Spider into the Hundred Treasure Bag, he had directly placed the bag into the System Space. Unless this Dragon Duke could discover the existence of the System, which was an impossible thing.

His search was destined to end in vain.

"None," the Dragon Duke shook his head helplessly.

"How could it be like this?!" Meng Yiran's eyes instantly turned red.

"Everything that could be checked has been checked; there is indeed nothing related to the Man-Faced Demon Spider on them."

Although the Dragon Duke was helpless, he thought of the Titan Giant Ape and immediately comforted her: "It seems there are some problems in the Star Dou Great Forest. In this outer area, let alone a Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beast, even Spirit Beasts over two thousand years old are pitifully rare. Yet, a Titan Giant Ape suddenly appeared. Spirit Beasts of this level rarely leave their own territory. Its appearance here must mean something has gone wrong in the outer area. Perhaps the disappearance of the Man-Faced Demon Spider has some connection to this Titan Giant Ape. Forget it, Yiran, let's leave the forest first and come back to find a suitable Soul Ring in a few days."

Meng Yiran's eyes were red; if her grandfather could not find anything unusual, it could only mean that the disappearance of the Man-Faced Demon Spider had nothing to do with Shi Quan and the others. Although she was unwilling, since her grandfather had already spoken, she could only accept it.

The Dragon Duke and Snake Matriarch glanced at Zhao Wuji and immediately took Meng Yiran and leaped away.

"Tang San, you are too reckless!" Seeing the Dragon Duke and Snake Matriarch leave, Zhao Wuji immediately shouted angrily.

Tang San was eating the Big Sausage handed to him by Oscar to recover, and said firmly: "I must bring Xiao Wu back!"

Hearing this, Zhao Wuji became even more furious, "Just by relying on you, this brat? I see you didn't come to find Xiao Wu, but to throw your life away! How can you just barge into the Star Dou Great Forest as you please? Who do you think you are? If you had encountered a slightly stronger Spirit Beast just now, what we would be looking at right now would be your corpse!"

"Even if I die, I must try!" Tang San's expression did not change.

Zhao Wuji shook his head in anger and roared: "Then what do you take us for? Why are you playing the hero here all by yourself? Even if there is a rescue to be made, it is not your turn to go alone..."