Chapter 171: Where is the Wife-Master

It even deliberately ripped up the trees in front of them, leaving the two of them completely exposed to the sandstorm.

Seeing this, Yan Yichen’s eye couldn’t help but twitch. "..."

Yue Junxiao saw him staring motionlessly at one spot, remembered there was someone else, and turned to call out. But after searching for a while, he locked eyes with Sang Mo’s crimson gaze from underground.

Looking up again, he saw that not only were the nearby trees almost all gone, but the sandstorm was now just a few hundred meters away.

In that instant, Yue Junxiao felt himself cursing up a storm in his mind!!

He had just been wondering about the recent, frequent tremors, assuming they were just from the approaching sandstorm. But it turned out Sang Mo had been digging a pit for them—and in the process, had literally dug one for himself!

It would have been one thing if Sang Mo had just dug a pit for himself and ignored him and Yan Yichen!

But he just had to go and uproot the very trees that were blocking the sandstorm!!

Sang Mo was too insidious!

This was a deliberate attempt to get them killed!!

If he had the time, he’d dig Sang Mo out of that pit just to throw him into the sandstorm himself!

But as the winds behind them grew stronger, Yue Junxiao had no time left for anger. He and Yan Yichen frantically searched for a suitable place to hide.

Yan Yichen hadn’t expected a sandstorm to be incorporated into this Illusion Realm.

More and more trees were swept away. They ran for what felt like an eternity until, eventually, the wind began to die down. A large number of trees were now blocking the sandstorm.

Just then, the Illusion Realm began to shake violently once more.

RUMBLE—

Immediately after, the ground split open.

When he opened his eyes again, Yue Junxiao found the scene before him strangely familiar. ’Isn’t this Hu Yan’s private residence?’

’Did the Illusion Realm break?’

’Are we back?!!’

He turned his head and saw Sang Mo, who had returned to his human form, not far away. The memory of what Sang Mo had done in the Illusion Realm instantly filled him with rage.

"Sang Mo!!"

But just as he snarled his name through gritted teeth, before he could do anything, he heard Hu Yan’s voice. "Are you all right? Where is Wife-master? Why isn’t she with you?"

"Hu Yan? What are you doing here? Aren’t you fighting the Insect Clan?" After speaking, Yue Junxiao immediately realized something was wrong and assumed a defensive stance.

He moved closer to Yan Yichen and Lang Qiu, whispering, "This might still be the Illusion Realm. For some reason, the illusion just changed. Otherwise, how could Hu Yan, who’s all the way at the border fighting the Insect Clan, possibly be here? It must be the Enchanting Heart Worm, disguised as Hu Yan to lower our guard."

Yan Yichen nodded. "That’s certainly a possibility."

Just then, Zelda, who was slightly behind them, spoke up. "You’re finally out! It’s a good thing Hu Yan reacted quickly and we turned back, or we might have missed you again."

Yan Yichen’s eyes widened. "Zelda!!"

When Yue Junxiao saw Zelda, he instantly remembered the previous Illusion Insect that had taken Zelda’s form. His expression turned grim as he said, "They’re definitely fakes! This must be the work of the Enchanting Heart Worm and the Illusion Insect again."

Seeing that they’d been talking for some time without answering his question, Hu Yan couldn’t hold back and snapped, "I asked you, where is Wife-master!!"

After staring at Hu Yan for a moment, Lang Qiu said, "Wife-master isn’t with us. The Enchanting Heart Worm separated us into different Illusion Realms, and we haven’t seen her since. I’m sorry. We failed to protect her."

Before leaving, Hu Yan had repeatedly told them to protect Bai Zhi, yet she had ended up being captured by the Illusion Insect.

Although they had been trying to break the Illusion Realm as quickly as possible, they were still a step too slow.

If they had been more careful, perhaps they wouldn’t have fallen for the Enchanting Heart Worm and Illusion Insect’s trap, and Bai Zhi wouldn’t have been taken.

But now, it was too late for regrets.

Hearing this, Hu Yan’s face instantly darkened, his usual gentle demeanor completely vanishing.

Then, Hu Yan turned and left.

Zelda immediately followed him. "Hey, Hu Yan, where are you going?"

"To find Hu Ao."

At his words, Yue Junxiao and the others exchanged glances, realizing they were truly out of the Illusion Realm. They immediately followed.

If something happened to Wife-master, none of them would escape the consequences.

Yue Junxiao said irritably to Sang Mo, "Saving Wife-master is the priority right now. I’ll settle the score with you for what happened in the Illusion Realm after we find her!"

Sang Mo was lucid now. He knew that the ones in the Illusion Realm had been Yue Junxiao and the others, not those people from the Black Domain.

Hearing Yue Junxiao’s words, Sang Mo merely gave him a cool glance. "If you can beat me, then we’ll talk."

With that, Sang Mo strode ahead, leaving Yue Junxiao behind.

Yue Junxiao was so angry he gritted his teeth. Yan Yichen patted him comfortingly. "There’s still hope for you. We’re still young, after all."

Yue Junxiao actually nodded emphatically. "Right. As long as Wife-master favors me a little more, catching up to Sang Mo won’t be a problem. I wonder how Wife-master is doing now... Where the hell did that damn Illusion Insect hide! Running away is one thing, but why did it have to take her!"

Yue Junxiao’s words made everyone fall silent.

Bai Zhi had been taken right under their noses, which was a huge blow to them all.

As a result, they walked on in silence.

Zelda felt a bit uncomfortable in the quiet atmosphere and decided to say something to liven things up. Otherwise, he might go crazy from the tension before they even managed to rescue Bai Zhi.

Zelda took out a bottle. Inside was a small insect, lying so still it looked dead. He explained, "This is the Enchanting Heart Worm. The Illusion Insect took Bai Zhi. Hu Yan couldn’t contact you, and when he learned from the Insect Mother that Bai Zhi had been captured, he rushed back from the border. He couldn’t find you at the private residence and was just about to go to Hu Ao to demand answers."

Yue Junxiao glanced at Hu Yan and asked doubtfully, "Then why are you guys here?"

Zelda explained, "The two of us were originally on our way to find Hu Ao. But halfway there, Hu Yan remembered a characteristic of the Enchanting Heart Worm: it’s always physically located wherever its Illusion Realm is. It can’t move. So we rushed back, found the Enchanting Heart Worm, and broke the illusion. But the strange thing is, the Illusion Realm shattered the moment we acted. The backlash from the realm breaking knocked the Enchanting Heart Worm out."

Yan Yichen explained, "Lang Qiu was also working to break the Illusion Realm just now. It’s possible your actions coincided with his, creating a pincer attack from both inside and out. That’s probably why the realm shattered so easily."

Lang Qiu nodded. "I had indeed just found a weak point in the Illusion Realm."

Yan Yichen asked, "Isn’t the Illusion Insect usually with the Enchanting Heart Worm? You found the Enchanting Heart Worm but not the Illusion Insect?"

Zelda shook his head. "If only. We could have rescued Bai Zhi on the spot. But unfortunately, the Illusion Insect wasn’t there. It must have taken her away. We were going to interrogate the Enchanting Heart Worm, but it was knocked unconscious. That’s when you all emerged from the Illusion Realm. We thought she might be with you, or that you’d know where she was, but it turns out you don’t know either."