Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

A group of people walked among the flowering vines.

Xu Lingguang carried Amei and Muyun at the front, Yu Jun and Nie Yuqin walked in the middle, Chai Feng and Dongyang Li walked at the back, and further away were the puppets that Yu Jun had sent out to keep watch.

They originally thought that with so many people acting together, they would be able to find some clues, but after going around in circles, they didn't see a single Qilin, let alone any other cultivators.

The surroundings were eerily calm.

Xu Lingguang, whose cultivation level was the lowest among the group, even sensed something was wrong: "It seems like we're going in circles." He frowned after saying that, feeling that the description wasn't quite accurate, and struggled to find the right words: "It's not that we're going in circles, it's just that the places we've been through before don't seem to be continuous."

Just like before, there was a thick branch on their right, twisted into a strange shape and extending to the right front, but as soon as they turned a corner, the branch disappeared without a trace.

Xu Lingguang even turned back several times to check, only to find that the branch had simply vanished into thin air.

This has happened at least twice already.

Lan Jian had been observing for a while. He flicked his sleeve and unleashed a spiritual energy blade. The sharp spiritual energy slashed at the branch in front of him like a knife blade. It should have been as easy as cutting through mud to cut the gray branch, but after the spiritual energy blade was unleashed, the branch in front of him did not move at all.

"There's a formation here."

Lan Jian pressed down on Xu Lingguang's shoulder to prevent him from stepping further into the formation.

He tried unleashing a few more spiritual energy blades and finally confirmed: "There should be many overlapping large teleportation arrays and illusion arrays set up in this area. These arrays, one inside the other, divide this area into countless spaces."

Xu Lingguang asked in confusion, "Why are there so many teleportation arrays and illusion arrays set up here?"

Lan Jian lowered his eyes and pondered: "A formation with one ring after another. The person who set up this formation may be trying to trap someone."

The others simultaneously thought of the Qilin, which had vanished without a trace.

It seems that besides them, there are others who are also searching for the Qilin.

Navigating through these formations is too risky; one wrong step and you could easily get lost.

Xu Lingguang asked, "Should I continue walking forward?"

Lan Jian glanced at him and said, "Let's go back first."

If he were alone, the formation wouldn't matter, but the others traveling with him weren't strong enough, especially Xu Lingguang. If they got separated from him by accident, it would be very troublesome.

The others had no objection to his decision and, to be on the safe side, decided to return the way they came.

Chai Feng suggested, "Let's go back to the Ten Thousand Beasts Manor first and see how Qin Long is doing."

Qin Long said he would come back to find them after he went back to check, but now more than half a day has passed and the sun is about to set, but Qin Long is still nowhere to be seen.

The group then turned back the way they came, intending to rest at the Ten Thousand Beasts Manor first.

No one expected that these formations would move. They tried to return along the original path, only to find that it was not the way they came from.

Yu Yun originally wanted the puppet to scout ahead, but when she fiddled with the silk threads between her fingers, her expression gradually turned grim: "The connection between the puppet and me has been severed."

Lan Jian subconsciously grabbed Xu Lingguang's wrist and said in a deep voice, "Gather together, don't scatter too much."

The group tried to gather around Lanjian as the center.

Lan Jian gripped Xu Lingguang's wrist and walked forward, his expression calm and composed. Every so often, he would trace complex symbols in the air with his fingertips, as if making some kind of mark.

After repeating this four times, he seemed to have finally found what he was looking for. His light-colored pupils contracted slightly, and he reached forward with one hand, causing his wide robe sleeves to flutter.

Xu Lingguang felt the ground beneath his feet tremble, accompanied by an irresistible dizziness, and subconsciously grabbed Lan Jian's arm.

Lan Jian glanced at him sideways, tightened her grip, and almost violently tore a gap in the hidden array. Then, she put her arm around Xu Lingguang and said in a deep voice, "Let's go!"

The others followed closely behind and left.

Emerging from the space constructed by the array, the intense dizziness gradually subsided. Xu Lingguang recovered from the dizziness and belatedly realized that he was almost entirely leaning against Lan Jian.

Lan Jian leaned against him, a hint of concern showing on her usually aloof face: "Are you alright?"

Xu Lingguang's face was a little pale. He let go of his arm and thanked him somewhat embarrassedly, "Thank you very much, Senior Chongxue. I feel much better now."

Lan Jian glanced at the sleeve he had grabbed, where wrinkles from his fingers still lingered. In the past, he would have found these wrinkles extremely unpleasant and would have wanted to get a new one as soon as possible.

But for some reason, I found these wrinkles rather cute today.

He lowered his eyes and said, "I am not good at formations. I can only forcefully tear open a gap to break the formation. Your cultivation is not high enough. You will feel dizzy when suddenly hit by the formation. Just rest more."

Xu Lingguang looked enlightened, then glanced at the others and noticed that they all looked rather unwell.

Amei and Muyun, who were being held in his arms, looked even more listless.

Xu Lingguang felt a little relieved; he had thought he was just too incompetent and was holding the team back.

He shook his head to dispel the lingering dizziness, looked around, and realized that they had returned to a place not far from the Beast Manor. So he cheered up and said, "We're not far from the Beast Manor. Let's go take a look first, and then find a place to rest."

Lan Jian nodded and naturally offered his arm to him again.

Xu Lingguang was stunned for a moment, then stared at him with his mouth slightly agape in surprise.

Lan Jian lowered her eyes to meet his gaze: "What?"

Xu Lingguang blinked and said slowly, "Thank you, Senior Chongxue. I can walk by myself now."

Lan Jian withdrew his arm with some regret upon hearing this.

Xu Lingguang walked beside him and couldn't help but secretly glance at him.

Perhaps due to the aftereffects of the formation's impact, he looked closely at Chongxue and strangely discovered that he wasn't actually a completely expressionless snowman.

Chongxue's face was half-hidden in the setting sun. The half of his face facing him was outlined with a fuzzy halo by the afterglow of the sunset, which softened his extremely aggressive features. His long, slightly drooping eyelashes hung lazily, casting a small shadow on his lower eyelids, making him look a little nonchalant, and a little... unhappy.

Chongxue was unhappy.

Xu Lingguang wondered, puzzled, who had offended him?

After thinking it over, he suspected that it might be because these burdens were holding him back too much, which was why the boss was upset.

However, it seems that the big boss actually has a good temper. Although he disliked them for being a burden, he still took action to lead them out of the formation, and is even willing to travel with them now.

Xu Lingguang felt a little guilty, but he didn't want to let go of such a great opportunity, so he said with unusual enthusiasm, "When we see Qin Long later, if he refuses to return Amei, we will definitely stand on your side!"