Above the source of Tao

After a long and tiring three-day trek, Yun Chang'an finally arrived at the meeting place agreed upon with his companions.

He looked around but found no trace of anyone. So he took out the map and carefully checked his position again. After confirming that it was correct, he found a relatively secluded place and waited patiently.

Three hours passed and Yun Chang'an began to feel anxious.

He took out the communication jade slip and tried to contact his senior brother and senior sister He, but there was no response for a long time, which made him feel ominous.

"Nothing will happen, will it?"

Just as Yun Chang'an was anxiously waiting for their reply, he saw three figures coming from a distance. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was the eldest brother and his friends. They were staggering, and a woman was dragging the eldest brother and senior sister He towards them.

Yun Changan hurried over.

"Big Brother, what happened to you?"

At this time, the eldest brother and sister He were supported by a woman. They had obvious injuries on their bodies, and it looked like they had just been injured. Sister He was better, with only a few minor scars on her body, which were not serious.

"When we first arrived at the secret realm, my senior brother and I were not far away from each other. We planned to meet at Dingfeng Slope and travel together. Unfortunately, we ran into a group of Yuan beasts at the strange rock group thirty miles away. We didn't want to disturb them, but they discovered us and we were trapped there. After dozens of fierce battles, we were defeated. Junior Sister Yuan'er happened to pass by and rescued us in time, so we escaped. It took us some time to get here."

"Thank you, Junior Sister Yuan'er, for rescuing my senior brothers and sisters." Yun Chang'an hurriedly expressed his gratitude to Junior Sister Yuan'er.

"Ah, it's okay..." Lin Yuan'er was a little absent-minded.

Only then did Yun Chang'an recognize that Lin Yuan'er was the woman behind the sect master. When he heard the name, he remembered where he had seen her before. When he went to Shanglin City, she was the daughter of the city lord. She also came to this sect with me, but she was taken to the inner gate by the great elder, and he had never seen her again since then.

When he saw her again, she seemed different from the last time they met, less childish, so Yun Changan did not recognize her.

But now Lin Yuan'er was in a low mood, and answered Yun Chang'an's questions absent-mindedly.

"Junior Sister Yuan'er, we are going to this Dark Lotus Forest to find something for Master. I wonder what Junior Sister Yuan'er's plan is."

"Are you going to follow us, or are you going to the stairs alone?"

After the eldest senior brother healed his own wounds, he asked Lin Yuaner.

Lin Yuan'er was also at a loss and didn't know what to choose for a moment. She looked at Yun Chang'an, and soon told the eldest senior brother that she wanted to follow them. After all, there were dangers everywhere in this secret realm, and it was not appropriate for a girl to walk alone. It was just right for the four of them to travel together so that they could take care of each other.

So he did not hesitate any more and agreed immediately. After Senior Brother and Senior Sister He had treated their injuries and recuperated, Yun Changan led a few people into the Minglian Forest.

I saw that the deep forest was very strange. The trees here were strangely shaped, and the trunks were pitch black. Even the leaves were the same, without a trace of green, unlike what I usually see. The further I went in, the more this was the case.

From time to time, very strange sounds were heard from the distance, like the sound of metal colliding, harsh and unpleasant.

Hearing these voices, Yun Changan became more and more annoyed.

"Did you hear those noises?"

Yun Chang'an finally couldn't help it and asked the three people around him if they heard the harsh metallic sound.

"Junior brother, what's wrong with you? Did you hear something?"

The three people looked at Yun Chang'an with confusion. Seeing their expressions, he became very confused. Could it be that only he could hear this voice, so he asked again.

"It was an extremely unpleasant sound, like the piercing sound of two swords colliding."

The three of them shook their heads to indicate that they did not hear anything. After getting another affirmative answer, Yun Chang'an asked Xiao Xuan if he had heard the sound. Xiao Xuan also said that he did not hear the sound, which made Yun Chang'an immediately have a bad feeling.

"Maybe I heard it wrong..."

Yun Changan said to the three people, but his vigilance did not diminish at all, but became stronger and stronger. Yun Changan looked around vigilantly, but did not find anything unusual. After a while, the sound disappeared.

"Disappeared."

Yun Chang'an could no longer hear the voice. Could it be that he was really hallucinating? This made Yun Chang'an doubt himself.

As the four of them walked deeper into the cave, Yun Changan felt vaguely uneasy and kept looking around vigilantly. When they reached a flat area, evil winds blew around them.

"Something's wrong."

Yun Chang'an and others stood back to back, holding long swords in their hands, looking around, not daring to be negligent. After staring for a long time, they did not find anything unusual, but they still did not feel at ease and vigilantly observed the movements around them.

"It's just a normal gust of wind."

But Yun Chang'an felt something unusual. If it was an ordinary wind, he would not feel cold, but this wind was not strong, yet it made him feel a little bit chilly.

"Keep going, there's still a long way to go."

So, the four of them continued to walk deeper, but Yun Changan was still alert on the way. Ever since he stepped into the Dark Lotus Forest, there were strange and unusual things everywhere. This made Yun Changan feel inexplicably throbbing, and the mark on his forehead was looming, but no one could see the mark on Yun Changan's forehead.

Yun Chang'an only felt a heat between his eyebrows from time to time, and he didn't know why.

In the dark forest that Yun Changan and the others did not notice, there was a pair of eyes emitting faint blue and yellow light staring at them.