Zhou Xun and his companions quickly halted their steps.

Looking at the small monkey on his shoulder, its eyes had turned serious, losing the previous ease and elegance.

The group exchanged glances.

"Big Brother, even the 'Cyan Ape' is reacting like this. There must be danger ahead. We should go around it!" Wang Erniu immediately suggested retreat.

In fact, Zhou Xun also considered retreating.

"Let's go!"

The group immediately turned around and headed back.

They planned to retreat a certain distance before avoiding this area.

However, just as they turned, ghostly sounds emerged from behind them.

Just over a hundred yards away, a crack suddenly widened to several yards, and a swarm of ghost shadows poured out like locusts.

Some of these ghostly figures appeared more solid, clearly suggesting they were higher-level.

At this moment, Wang Erniu couldn't resist taking a look back.

Over ten ghost shadows appeared in his line of sight.

"Big Brother, so many ghost shadows!" Wang Erniu was instantly drenched in cold sweat.

Hearing this, Zhou Xun turned to look back as well. In that brief instant, the number of ghost shadows visible had increased to over twenty.

They were densely packed together.

Seeing this, Zhou Xun's eyes hardened, and he took out a batch of Fireball Talismans from his pocket, activating them all towards the rear.

Then he shouted:

"Run quickly!"

The few immediately cared not what lay ahead, dangerous or not, and escaped forward as fast as they could.

So Zhou Xun and his companions ran ahead, with a large group of ghost shadows chasing them.

Occasionally, one with faster speed approached.

Each was absorbed by the Cyan Ape on Zhou Xun's shoulder.

Thus, Zhou Xun and his group fled forward for a hundred breaths.

Suddenly, several yards ahead, a human figure appeared.

"Wu Guangxiao!"

...

Wu Guangxiao had searched the area for a long time without finding any trace of Zhou Xun and his companions. Just as he grew anxious, he heard some commotion ahead.

He immediately stopped and looked vigilantly.

In less than a breath, several figures appeared in front of him.

It was none other than Lin Xueying and others, whom he had searched long and hard for.

Instantly, he was overjoyed.

"Lin Xueying!"

"Just when you least expect it, you find it effortlessly!"

He was about to stop them when, the next second, Wu Guangxiao paused in shock,

as in his view, a dense mass of ghost shadows followed behind.

He was immediately appalled, understanding at once why Zhou Xun and company were rushing towards him without any care.

...

Zhou Xun, seeing Wu Guangxiao ahead, also felt a tightness in his chest, but the threat behind was already too close.

Out of two harms, take the lesser!

Without overthinking, Zhou Xun charged towards Wu Guangxiao.

In the brief moment of Wu Guangxiao's pause, Zhou Xun and his companions had already reached his side.

Wu Guangxiao then reacted, intending to turn and flee.

At that moment, a fierce light flashed in Zhou Xun's eyes as he looked at Wu Guangxiao.

Although Wu Guangxiao's cultivation far surpassed theirs, in the suppressive Ghost Realm, the gap was quickly narrowed.

Without hesitation, Zhou Xun rammed into him fiercely.

Zhou Xun, as a Body Refining Cultivator, his blow was tantamount to an attack from a Peak of Third-Layer Qi Refining Cultivator.

The immense force caused Wu Guangxiao's figure to momentarily falter, immediately falling behind Zhou Xun and the others.

Zhou Xun used this reactive force to quickly leap forward.

At this time, Zhou Xun and the ghost shadows were moving at incredible speeds.

In such circumstances, a brief pause was a great danger.

In this instant, Wu Guangxiao was caught up by the swarm of ghost shadows and overwhelmed.

Layer upon layer, it was increasing.

Perhaps due to Wu Guangxiao's Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivation, he attracted the ghost shadows' attention even more.

The large mass of ghost shadows behind actually stopped pursuing Zhou Xun and instead piled up over Wu Guangxiao.

Zhou Xun and the others were overjoyed and hurried toward the distance without hesitation.

...

The Wu Family disciples waiting atop the peak,

were currently in extreme anxiety, each wearing an urgent expression, constantly casting their eyes toward the black mist area, hoping at the next moment to see their revered Grand Elder emerge.

However, two hours passed, reaching the time the Grand Elder instructed, and yet his figure was nowhere to be seen.

"Third Brother, what should we do? The two hours are up, and the Grand Elder still hasn't come out!" The delicate-looking youth was now full of panic and helplessness.

Although instructed by Wu Guangxiao, in his mind, the Grand Elder was a person of divine techniques, all-powerful.

In his conception, there was never the notion of the Grand Elder falling in the black mist before them.

"Let's go!" The young man addressed as Third Brother resolutely answered.

"But what about the Grand Elder?" the youth asked back, tears almost in his voice.

"The Grand Elder is a Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator. If something happens, we can't help, only be a burden. We should return to White Cloud Immortal City quickly to report to Elder Zhou!"

"If we can enlist Master White Cloud's aid, maybe we can still save the Grand Elder!" The young man spoke with solemnity, decisively heading towards White Cloud Immortal City.

The other Wu Family disciples saw this and also followed.

...

Shortly after parting from Wu Guangxiao, Zhou Xun and his company, following the path remembered, chose the closest direction outside and quickly hurried.

Half a quarter of an hour later, on a hillside on the west side of the valley, four figures emerged from the black mist.

"Big Brother, we made it out!" Wang Erniu panted heavily, truly having given his all this time.

Upon emerging, the suppressive effect vanished, and their mana restored instantly.

"If not for the mana suppression, we wouldn't have been so miserable!" Wang Erniu remarked in anger.

"This place is too eerie, able to suppress mana! If it weren't for Alchemist Zhou's Cyan Ape, we would likely have met a grim fate this time!" Lin Xueying remarked, full of the relief of survival.

"Big Brother, you've saved our lives again!" Lin Xue'e gratefully added.

"No need to thank me, better thank it!" Zhou Xun waved his hand and pointed to the Cyan Ape on his shoulder.

This gesture left him momentarily stunned.

"Where is the Cyan Ape?"

Zhou Xun's shoulder was empty, without the slightest trace of the tiny monkey.

"Could it be that the Cyan Ape couldn't resist those ghost shadows and went back to feast?" Wang Erniu speculated.

"Impossible, if the Cyan Ape had the ability to handle that group, we wouldn't have fled so miserably!" Lin Xue'e countered.

"Big Brother, what should we do then?" Wang Erniu asked.

He harbored great affection for the Cyan Ape that had saved them.

"Wait!" Zhou Xun uttered a word.

So he waited quietly, a hundred yards from the Ghostly Mist.

The Small Banner still in his hand, through which he could feel the Cyan Ape was alive and inside the Ghostly Mist.

Time ticked by, yet there was no sign of the Cyan Ape.

Just when Zhou Xun and the group were about to give up, a shadow darted from below the black mist.

It was the Cyan Ape.

Its fur now was even brighter, looking refined.

In its hand, it clutched a white jade-like bone, an inch in size.

This piece of bone, Zhou Xun clearly remembered.

Previously, it hung around Wu Guangxiao's neck.

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