“Elder, don’t be nervous. We just came over to take a look, and we don’t have any other meaning.” The man at the front politely cupped his hands.
However, Elder Hua Feng and the rest didn’t believe his words. They had clearly left previously, yet they suddenly came back. They wouldn’t have come back in boredom.
The crowd from Lingyun Mountain exchanged glances.
In the beginning, they really wanted to leave. But after settling Liang Shaokang, they couldn’t reach the end no matter how much they walked. They wanted to know what was going on here, so they came back again.
Previously, they only stayed a long distance away, so they still saw everything that happened clearly.
The most shocking thing was that Chu Yue got dragged in. That was because they also met a similar danger when they were here previously. But back then, almost all of them were dead or injured, yet the door still didn’t open.
“Elder Hua Feng, if you don’t mind, we can try to help you open this door.” The man at the front didn’t mind their alert attitude as he continued speaking.
Once he said this, the crowd exchanged glances.
Elder Hua Feng knitted his brows as well. “Really?”
With their strength alone, it was indeed very hard to open that door. If there was external support, it would be much better.
Although the other party only had ten people or so, they were all very strong. Perhaps they could really help.
“To be honest, we felt some regret when we couldn’t activate this door earlier. If we can open it together… it’ll be beneficial for both parties, right?” The man at the front was rather honest as he directly voiced out his thoughts.
Elder Hua Feng stared at him for quite a while before finally saying, “Okay.”
…
It was totally silent in the room.
Chu Liuyue sat down cross-legged, closed her eyes, and kept absorbing the surrounding Heaven and Earth Force.
Different from the outside, the force here was very pure, so she didn’t have to be worried about it being chaotic.
The water droplet slowly turned and took in all of the force endlessly. It was like water flowing into the ocean—calm and silent.
As time passed, Chu Liuyue’s aura kept strengthening.
…
Night quickly fell.
Elder Hua Feng and the rest stood before the door, and their faces were dark.
At this point, the sky had completely darkened, and the surroundings were black.
Only that door exuded a faint red light. It was like a door to hell—sinister and strange.
The air seemed to freeze inch by inch.
“We’ve already tried all sorts of methods, but we can’t even get three steps within this door, let alone open it…” Elder Hua Feng finally spoke, and his every word and sentence slammed the crowd’s hearts harshly.
Many people seemed helpless. They had already tried their best, but some things really couldn’t be done. Even if they thought of millions of methods, it still couldn’t be done.
“Elder, do you plan to give up?” Shi Rui’er wiped the sweat on her forehead, knitted her brows, and asked.
Elder Hua Feng fell silent. I naturally don’t want to give up. Chu Yue Is still inside, and his fate is unknown. I was the one who agreed to bring him out. If I can’t bring him back safely, I will feel very bad. I’m still waiting to accept him as my disciple after everything in the Flood-Desert Northern Region ends! However… We really can’t open the door now. Even with the people from Lingyun Mountain taking action together, we still can’t move the door at all.
At this point, an elder suddenly gasped in shock from the side. In such a silent atmosphere, this sound was especially sudden.
Elder Hua Feng knitted his brows and looked over. “What’s the matter?”
That elder raised his head in shock. He held a green jade plaque in his hands, and his fingers trembled slightly. “H-Hua Feng… Dan Qing is looking for us!”
“What?!” Elder Hua Feng was stunned and immediately rushed over. “What did Dan Qing say? Where is he now?”
That elder passed the green jade plaque in his hands over. “Look. Previously, my plaque had sensed Dan Qing’s news.”
Elder Hua Feng took the plaque, took a closer look, and realized there was an additional spark on it.
“Dan Qing and I had taken action together before. To facilitate our communication, we kept this as a backup. However, this was many years ago. If we didn’t see this just now, I would’ve forgotten about it…” That elder explained softly, and his face had shock and surprise that didn’t fade away. “At the very least, this shows that Dan Qing is still alive. As long as we follow this and find them, we should be able to meet him!”
The feeling of being defeated—which the crowd had felt previously—had dissipated, and they immediately felt energized.
After struggling in the Flood-Desert Northern Region for so long, they didn’t see anyone else from the academy other than Jiang Zhiyuan. They had almost lost all hope. Once the news from Elder Dan Qing had appeared, they finally saw a hint of hope.
“Wait. This wouldn’t be like the one before, right?” another elder asked with lingering fear.
Previously, they thought that they had found Elder Bo Yan, but it was all for naught. If this time—
“I don’t think so. The message can only be sent if Dan Qing injects his force himself, so this shouldn’t be much of a problem.”
Hearing this, the crowd secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
Elder Hua Feng’s heavily-suppressed feelings finally relaxed a little. Then, his brows knitted again. It Is good that Dan Qing sent a message back, but this side… There is still Chu Yue trapped inside! We can’t just abandon Chu Yue here.
The others followed his gaze and looked over before recalling this incident. They couldn’t help but fall silent and exchange glances.
Elder Hua Feng thought for a moment and returned the green jade plaque. “Reply to him and see if he can come over. We temporarily… can’t leave here.”
That elder nodded. “Okay.”
Then, he asked again, “Then… Hua Feng, how long are we going to wait here?”
If Dan Qing can’t come over, then… We can’t keep waiting here like this. After all, this is the first time someone from the academy sent us a message after we came here.
Elder Hua Feng closed his eyes. “We’ll talk about it later.”
In actual fact, he didn’t have much confidence.
“Zhiyuan, you previously said that you separated from Elder Dan Qing and the rest during the second time, right?” That elder suddenly looked up and asked.
Jiang Zhiyuan was standing nearby, but it seemed like she didn’t hear anything as she stared at the ground distractedly, thinking about something.
That elder raised his voice again. “Zhiyuan?!”
Jiang Zhiyuan then recovered her senses, and her expression seemed dazed. “Ah? Oh right… Back then, it was urgent, and we separated. I don’t know… where Mentor and the rest are either.”
That elder nodded. “Don’t worry. We should be able to meet with your mentor and the rest very soon.”
