Chapter 380

Chapter 380: Gathering at Chaozong Gorge
Heaven-Devouring Rat Clan territory.

She Jun swept his cold gaze over the group of Heaven-Devouring Rats and asked: “Who can tell me why Quan Ye was able to escape?”

All around him came squeaky cries: “Squeak!”

Another voice followed right after: “Squeak squeak squeak!”

Then a louder, messier chorus rose up: “Squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak!”

Below, dense squeaking sounds burst out at once, noisy and chaotic.

She Jun suddenly opened his mouth and sucked in. The four Heaven-Devouring Rats closest to him were pulled straight into his mouth, and he chewed them up before swallowing them.

At once, the whole clearing fell silent.

He pointed with his chin at another sturdy Heaven-Devouring Rat and said: “You. Speak.”

That rat forced up its courage and squeaked out an answer at high speed: “Squeak squeak squeak!”

The squeaks were short, but they contained a lot of information.

She Jun understood, but his anger only burned hotter.

[What do you mean he disappeared in just one night? What do you mean he did not even leave behind a trace of scent?]

Right now Quan Ye had only just awakened his bloodline, yet he could slip out of She Jun’s territory without anyone noticing?

If Quan Ye broke through in the future, would She Jun’s position still be stable?

[What a bunch of useless trash. You cannot even keep watch over one person?]

She Jun was just about to swallow the rat that had answered him, to vent his anger, when he sensed a killing intent rushing toward him at high speed.

It was Qing Kui.

[How is her information so fast?]

Before She Jun could think up an excuse, Qing Kui’s sharp voice sounded: “She Jun, has Quan Ye gone missing?”

She Jun instinctively wanted to hide the truth, but when he met Qing Kui’s crimson eyes, he paused, then still chose to be honest: “Yes, he…”

Qing Kui cut him off and said: “Come on, I know where Quan Ye is right now!”

“She is not… huh? You know?” She Jun was so shocked that the whiskers at the corners of his mouth trembled.

Qing Kui had no intention of explaining anything. She turned and sprinted away, and in the blink of an eye she had already left the Heaven-Devouring Rat Clan territory.

Helpless, She Jun hurried after her. As they traveled, he finally learned about the situation at Chaozong Gorge.

He was half convinced and half doubtful.

Quan Ye had been missing for less than three days. Could he really have rushed from his territory all the way to Chaozong Gorge? Wasn’t that too fast?

But then he thought about it. For Quan Ye to escape without alerting the Heaven-Devouring Rats, he must have had other help. Maybe someone else had taken him to Chaozong Gorge.

Besides, no matter whether the dragon roar inside Chaozong Gorge was caused by Quan Ye or not, She Jun had to go there himself and see it with his own eyes before he could rest easy.

The large-scale movement of the Demon Race had inevitably drawn the attention of other cultivators.

So more and more people began heading to Chaozong Gorge on their own.

At the corner of a city wall, a gentle, soft voice came from behind a heavy curtain: “Brother Shao Zhen, I want to go.”

Wu Shao Zhen lowered his eyes and looked at Ye Cong Xin, whose face was tightly covered. A trace of mockery flashed quickly in his eyes, but a gentle, considerate smile hung on his lips as he said: “If Qing Qing wants to go, then we will go. I will do my best to protect you.”

He had been worrying about how to deal with Bai Qing Qing, and now Bai Qing Qing had taken the initiative to send him a chance.

The more people there were, the better. Only when there were many people could he borrow someone else’s knife to kill.

He had originally wanted to get rid of Bai Qing Qing with his own strength, but her cultivation was rising too fast.

Right now she was only one step away from the Nascent Soul stage and could break through at any time.

After weighing the pros and cons, Wu Shao Zhen decided not to tear off his mask with her yet, but to get rid of her in a bloodless way.

Chaozong Gorge was the best chance.

Wu Shao Zhen’s heart was full of plans to eliminate Ye Cong Xin, but he had no idea that Ye Cong Xin had also developed the desire to kill him.

His acting was excellent, but Ye Cong Xin was also a master at reading people.

Wu Shao Zhen could fool her for a while, but not for a lifetime.

She had revealed the news that she was about to break through her cultivation level to Wu Shao Zhen exactly to test him.

Wu Shao Zhen’s reaction did not surprise her. He looked happy for her, and the favorability value he showed toward her rose and fell in a natural way, without a single flaw.

But that was exactly what exposed the secret that Wu Shao Zhen could control favorability values.

A man, especially a man with a very strong sense of pride, would more or less feel inferior or show more negative emotions when he saw the person he loved improve so quickly and leave him far behind.

But the feedback Wu Shao Zhen gave her was always positive and upbeat, and his favorability value hovered right at the red line of eighty-five points, never crossing it.

[She had to admit, Wu Shao Zhen was a truly frightening man.]

Ye Cong Xin felt that if she had not been toyed with several times by those lunatics on Lone Moon Peak, she would definitely have been confused by Wu Shao Zhen’s false mask too.

For now she was not lacking in luck value, so she was in the mood to play with Wu Shao Zhen for a while.

After all, it was rare to find a worthy opponent on the chessboard, and Wu Shao Zhen really did have a face that was pleasing to the eye.

[Seeing him circle around her like a dog, fussing over her and asking after her, greatly satisfied Ye Cong Xin’s vanity.]

But Ye Cong Xin also kept her past lessons firmly in mind and would not give her opponent a chance to turn the tables.

She also chose Chaozong Gorge as the place where the hidden dagger would finally be revealed.

By using Plundered Fortune, she had exchanged for quite a few skills and already had some ability to protect herself. If she met a tough opponent in Chaozong Gorge, Wu Shao Zhen would be her stand-in to die in her place.

The two people, each harboring their own schemes, looked at each other through the curtain. The corners of their lips curled up into almost identical smiles.

Maple River City.

Fang Cheng Lang and Cui Jue both turned to look at Su Ming.

Su Ming’s face was full of innocence.

Fang Cheng Lang stared at him, eyes bright, and asked: “Third junior brother, do you think we should go to Chaozong Gorge?”

They had just been asking around in the city about Ye Cong Xin’s whereabouts when they unexpectedly got news about Chaozong Gorge.

Seeing more and more cultivators heading out of the city, the three of them had gathered to discuss what they should do.

Su Ming felt his shoulders suddenly grow heavy and stammered: “I, I do not know either…”

Cui Jue reached out and pressed down on Su Ming’s shoulder again as he said: “Third senior brother, believe in yourself. Use your intuition to choose.”

Fang Cheng Lang, Cui Jue, and Su Ming had been fellow disciples for many years, and they all had some idea of how lucky he was.

In the past, when the brothers were on good terms, they would sometimes set up little betting games. The prizes were not very valuable, just small things for good luck.

Whenever Su Ming joined a bet, the stake he placed never failed. He basically took all the prizes.

Everyone would sometimes tease him about it, but they never took it seriously, until in the dream world they finally realized just how heaven-defying Su Ming’s luck really was.

Ye Cong Xin had been able to grow so fast partly because of Su Ming, who kept providing her with treasures and magical artifacts.

Take this search for Ye Cong Xin’s trail. They had only gone through two cities before they heard news related to her.

The route they chose and the people they asked had all been picked by Su Ming.

Now that they faced a hard choice, their first instinct was to ask Su Ming for the answer.

Su Ming hesitated for a moment. He looked at the many cultivators heading out of the city, then nodded firmly: “We go!”

His intuition told him that he should go.

Fang Cheng Lang answered at once: “Good, then we will go too.”

He and Cui Jue pivoted on their toes and immediately headed toward the city gate.

Su Ming froze for only a moment before their figures were already almost swallowed up by the crowd of cultivators.

He stopped thinking about it and hurried to chase after them.

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