Xia Weizhang opened the door without a word and was about to pull Gu Zhi inside when he saw two tall figures in dark cloaks standing behind him.
On their black cloaks, there was a golden skull embroidered!
Xia Weizhang’s eyes narrowed instantly, a golden skull, Corpse Refiner!
"What do you want?!" Xia Weizhang shouted in a low voice, pulling Gu Zhi behind him immediately.
Xia Mian owed Qin Shuang a favor and promised to send Gu Zhi back to the Gu Family.
Now, these Corpse Refiners were targeting Gu Zhi!
He absolutely couldn’t allow Gu Zhi to be taken away by these people!
The two mysterious figures spoke no more; a shake of their broad cloaks released countless white powder from within.
Even with Xia Weizhang on guard, he still inhaled some.
As for Gu Zhi, since he was shielded by Xia Weizhang and didn’t see the cloaked man’s movements, was unprepared and inhaled more.
Almost instantly, both felt the world spinning, consciousness blurring, and with two thuds, they collapsed to the ground.
The cloaked man who first got entangled in Gu Zhi’s red network broke free and walked over, glancing at Xia Weizhang with a cold sneer, then bent down to fumble through Xia Weizhang for a moment, extracted the bag of Heavenly Spirit Stones, and tossed it lightly, weighing it in his hand, then kicked over Xia Weizhang’s body, "Hmph! What lowly thing dares to compete with me for things!"
Leaving those words behind, the cloaked man turned to his two subordinates and ordered, "Take them away! We’ll refine them into Corpse Puppets tonight!"
The two helpers behind the cloaked man nodded, stepped forward, and hoisted Xia Weizhang and Gu Zhi onto their shoulders.
Before leaving, the cloaked man shot a deep gaze at the room at the end of the hallway.
In truth, he fancied the young man and woman at the end of the hall even more.
Both young and beautiful, with decent cultivation, refining them into Corpse Puppets would make them the finest kind, sure to fetch sky-high prices, but unfortunately, the girl was very mysterious, unreadable, making him reluctant to act rashly.
"Let’s go!" The cloaked man withdrew his gaze, not lingering longer.
Jufang Pavilion was kind enough to open a convenient door for them, he was already satisfied, and any further delay would alert others, making their escape impossible!
With that, the cloaked man rapidly leaped downstairs.
His two subordinates followed closely behind with Xia Weizhang and Gu Zhi.
Not long after the two descended, the door to Xia Mian and Lu Zechuan’s room opened, Xia Mian emerging with a puzzled expression.
She had just sensed an extremely subtle hostility.
Her eyes lingered in the hallway for three seconds, quickly noticing that Gu Zhi’s room barrier and Xia Weizhang’s room barrier had been broken!
Xia Mian’s gaze instantly turned sharp, striding quickly to Gu Zhi’s door, taking a slight breath, she smelled a dizzying, unfamiliar fragrance.
Arriving at Xia Weizhang’s doorway, she saw suspicious white powder remnants on the ground.
"Didn’t expect to be targeted the first night staying here," Lu Zechuan’s voice sounded behind Xia Mian.
Xia Mian nodded, "Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night."
"They shouldn’t be too far away!" Lu Zechuan pursed his lips tightly, speaking in a low voice, "If we pursue now, we should make it."
Xia Mian nodded, resumed her pace, and began chasing.
Qin Shuang entrusted Gu Zhi to her; if something happened to Gu Zhi right under her nose, she would feel immensely guilty for Qin Shuang’s effort.
Lu Zechuan followed closely, the two left Jufang Pavilion, Xia Mian closing her eyes to sense Xia Weizhang’s soul stone.
She should feel lucky, before leaving, Xia Liang had her recognize her roots, thus she acquired a skill all Divine Clan members possess: sensing soul stones.
As long as one belongs to the Divine Clan, a soul stone would exist.
Within less than a minute, Xia Mian pinpointed Xia Weizhang’s location.
"That way!" Xia Mian stated, yet her feet moved swiftly.
The background of the counterpart was unknown, but came not with good intentions, hesitating even a second more could endanger Xia Weizhang and Gu Zhi.
Xia Mian pursued relentlessly, Lu Zechuan too did not lag behind.
After pursuing for nearly half an hour, they reached a dead end.
The road before them vanished.
Xia Mian squinted her eyes, confident her sensing was correct, Xia Weizhang’s soul stone was nearby!
Yet, Xia Weizhang remained unseen!
Had someone cast a blinding technique here, or was there another world beyond this alley?
Just as this thought popped into Xia Mian’s head, she saw the wrist ornament on Lu Zechuan starting to stir restlessly.
Lu Zechuan glanced down at the wrist ornament, the Little Tree Demon hadn’t ventured out for exercise in a while.
"Master, I sense an extremely powerful soul power," the Little Tree Demon’s voice, laced with excitement, echoed in Lu Zechuan’s ears.
Lu Zechuan subtly frowned.
Almost forgot, the Little Tree Demon previously absorbed soul power to gain spirituality.
"Where is it?" Lu Zechuan squinted his eyes, finally a chance for this little creature to prove its worth.
The Little Tree Demon leaped off Lu Zechuan’s wrist, running towards the alley wall like a person, incessantly stepping on it.
With the Little Tree Demon’s continual steps, a halo appeared on the wall, and within that halo, Xia Mian clearly saw those who abducted Xia Weizhang and Gu Zhi.
"It’s mirror reflection trick," Xia Mian quietly frowned.
Meaning, Xia Mian was drawn in by a reflected scene, whereas the direction the counterpart had genuinely escaped to was contrary!
Xia Mian’s eyes suddenly darkened.
Turning around, she pursued in the opposite direction.
She had chased in the wrong direction, losing half an hour, luckily, the mirror’s view showed that Xia Weizhang and Gu Zhi were currently safe.
Using the displayed scenery, this time Xia Mian accurately locked onto Xia Weizhang’s position.
It was an abandoned courtyard.
The courtyard was overgrown with weeds, with a dilapidated house inside, lacking doors or windows.
Through the broken courtyard wall, they could clearly see a bonfire burning inside the room.
As well as Xia Weizhang and Gu Zhi confined in cages.
The cage’s material seemed peculiar, withstanding the fire without burning.
Of course, that wasn’t Xia Mian’s main concern, what mattered was that the ones being roasted didn’t awaken!
"A bunch of spirits and monsters, only capable of ambush!" Xia Mian coldly remarked, and together with Lu Zechuan, vaulted into the derelict courtyard.
Inside the broken house, the cloak-wearing man conducting a mysterious ritual, annoyed by the interruption, raised his head to look towards the courtyard.
Upon seeing Xia Mian and Lu Zechuan, his eyes even flickered with excitement.
Initially unwilling to provoke Xia Mian and Lu Zechuan, he hadn’t anticipated them delivering themselves!
Presented excellence, mustn’t go to waste!