Chapter 1267
Looking for
Chapter 1267 Looking for
Knowing he couldn't stop Ao Hen, Shen Xiuyuan quickly gave Lin Fan a meaningful look.
Lin Fan immediately understood and called out to Ao Hen, who was about to kill the six people.
"Getting the key can be an accident, and entering the treasure vault can be a coincidence, but killing someone is not." Lin Fan looked at Ao Heng. "Besides, since Lingzhen Pavilion has planned to fish for people, how do you know it's not a trap? The fact that they can go back to report means that everything here is normal, which is actually the best cover."
Ao gripped the knife handle tightly, tapping his fingers together several times. He tilted his head and glanced at Lin Fan with a smile: "That makes sense."
“But how can we find out where the entrance is if we don’t capture them and force them to reveal the information?” Jin Tong suddenly asked.
She had been quiet for quite some time, rarely participating in their conversations. Now, her sudden outburst felt a little abrupt, and everyone turned to look at her.
"What's wrong?" Jin Tong's expression suddenly became awkward. He lowered his head and twisted the hem of his clothes with both hands. "Did I say something wrong?"
"No." Ao Hen had already released his hand from the knife at his waist, letting it rest relaxed on his knees and hang down in front of him. He squinted at Lin Fan and complained, "Look at you, you don't even care about me as much as Little Golden Boy. If we release these people, how will we know where the entrance is?"
Seeing his smiling face, Lin Fan replied bluntly, "Don't pretend, tracking is not difficult for you."
Even in the stench-filled underground environment of the Canghai Sect, he could still smell the faint scent of the place he had just passed by; there's no reason why he couldn't do the same here.
"Alright." Ao Hen shrugged, a slight pout of disappointment on his face. "Although it's not what I wanted, I felt your trust. I will live up to your expectations and find the treasure vault. Don't worry, everyone!"
Shen Xiuyuan thought to himself: No need to include us. We don't want to get involved.
But things have already come to this point, and they're definitely not going anywhere for now. While hoping Aohen won't find the exit, they've also prepared for the worst.
If Ao Hen wanted them to go in together, there was absolutely no way he would let them come out completely untainted and innocent...
You should know that the most reliable way to seal a breach is to drag someone down with you!
Well, let's just wait and see. If it really doesn't work out, we'll figure something out after we get out. For example, we might try to return the items to Lingzhen Pavilion...
"So now..." Yu Sinian tapped the fan handle twice in his palm and asked, "Should we focus on Lin Fan's Soul Refining Technique first, or on Senior Brother Ao finding the treasure vault first?"
Although the treasure vault seems to be in the same direction as the lake they are looking for, the two things need to be done separately.
Lin Fan looked at Ao Heng. She could sense the suppressed excitement beneath Ao Heng's skin.
She had just stopped him from killing someone, and he had listened to her out of courtesy. She wasn't so arrogant as to think she could make all the decisions herself.
Ao Hen is, after all, a Golden Core cultivator. She might not be able to defeat him, but there's no need to force a conflict with him over something like this at this time.
"Hmm..." Ao Hen enjoyed Lin Fan's humility, closed his eyes contentedly to think for a moment, and didn't rule out any possibility. "Let's see as we go. We'll deal with whichever one we encounter first."
That's what they say, but everyone knows that the longer time goes on, the fainter the scent left by those six people will become. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, finding the treasure vault will likely be the priority.
However, Ao Hen's behavior represented his attitude towards Lin Fan.
After confirming this, Shen Xiuyuan and the others felt somewhat more at ease.
It's good that they still have some reservations. If he becomes completely unscrupulous... they have no chance of escaping from him.
To avoid the people from Lingzhen Pavilion, the eight of them deliberately took a long detour and walked towards the lake in the opposite direction.
The forest was so dense that the sky was completely obscured. If it weren't for Lin Fan's drone providing constant navigation, they wouldn't have found their way so easily.
Du Xingyu had mentioned before that they encountered a dense fog and countless ghosts here last time.
This time, however, the group made it to the lake without encountering anything.
"That shouldn't be the case..." Du Xingyu scratched his head in confusion. "Could it be that we've come to the wrong place? Is this not the lake?"
"This is it." Lin Fan controlled the drone to ascend, showing Du Xingyu the panoramic view of the lake from the controller. "It has the same shape as when we were on the flying boat in Fulan last time. Unless there's another lake exactly like this in this swamp forest, this is definitely it." Naturally formed lakes can't be exactly the same.
However, Lin Fan also remembered that this was a world of cultivation, so just in case, he controlled the other drones to ascend and quickly search other places to see if there were any similar lakes.
"Could it be a problem with the direction we came in from?" Mu Jingjing looked around and called out to Yu Sinian, who was walking alone to the edge of the woods ahead, "Senior Brother Yu, don't your formations all pay attention to direction? Wasn't the one we encountered last time also a formation?"
“The formation does indeed have a direction.” Yu Sinian reached out and touched a tree. “This is the place we left last time. The mark I made is still there.”
The crowd gathered around and, sure enough, found a slightly worn-out scratch on the tree.
Du Xingyu touched it again and again, clearly happy inside, but the words that came out of his mouth were not pleasant.
"No wonder he's so cunning; he even had time to leave a mark in that critical moment."
Yu Sinian, used to his sarcastic remarks, pointed into the forest and said, "We can go back in the same direction as last time and see if we can activate the formation."
"Okay." Shen Xiuyuan agreed, turning around to ask Ao Hen's opinion, only to find him already lying on the ground, intently sniffing. "...Senior Brother Ao..."
Although I had heard of his amazing skill, seeing it in person was still a bit of an eyesore.
“I heard you.” Ao Hen looked up and said to them, “I’ve also found the scent of those people here, but it will take some time to determine where it leads.”
He glanced at the vast lake and said, "It will probably take a while. Anyway, you can't help much, so go ahead and do your own thing. We're all in this lake area, so if the formation is activated, I'll definitely be in it too, don't worry."
Shen Xiuyuan suspected that Ao Hen let them go because his current appearance was not good-looking.
After hearing Ao Hen's words, he readily nodded: "Then, Senior Brother Ao, I'll lead the men into the forest first. It won't be too far."
Aohen bent over, sniffing around like a puppy, without turning his head. He just waved his hand to indicate that he understood.
As Shen Xiuyuan turned around, he kept thinking to himself: If only the formation could separate them from Ao Heng when it was activated.
It's best to separate!
It would be best if they remained trapped in his soul a little longer, patiently waiting until they lost patience, and then entered his treasure trove on their own...
Shen Xiuyuan prayed silently the whole way.
Perhaps because he didn't usually have the habit of praying to gods and Buddhas, his prayers went unanswered.
From the moment we entered the forest until we left, we didn't see a single wisp of fog.
They were worried about getting separated in the fog, so they tied the seven of them together with a rope. They were very careful the whole way, and nothing happened...
"The location is right, the direction is right... why isn't it working?" Mu Jingjing frowned, somewhat impatient. "What else is wrong?"
"Could it be speed?" Du Xingyu rubbed his chin. "Last time, we entered suddenly while traveling at high speed."
“It could also be the time.” Lin Fan looked up at the sky. “Last time it was noon, and now it’s almost evening.”
"Wait!" Shen Xiuyuan glanced instinctively at the lakeside. "Where is Senior Brother Ao?"
The vast lake was bathed in the glow of the sunset, turning a magnificent purplish-red.
Ao Heng, who should have been lying on the ground, was nowhere to be seen.
It's raining heavily! It's raining so hard!
Keep going, keep going.
Is it raining where everyone is?