Chapter 349: It's Better to Part Ways

Everyone held their breath, waiting for any movement from Ma Chulong's side.

"Su Yan, nothing bad will happen, right?" Ma Chulan was even more nervous than the rest.

This place was simply too eerie.

"Don't worry."

Su Yan's gaze pierced through the black cloth and the thick fog toward the very front; indeed, the figures of Zhou Li and Zhou Chong were nowhere to be seen.

In fact, it wasn't just the two of them—all the members of the Zhou family had vanished.

The entire formation had been very tight; how could so many people vanish into thin air right under the noses of those following behind?

Therefore, it was highly likely that the Zhou family had intentionally broken away from the group.

This made things very interesting.

"Brother Ma, how is it up ahead?"

In less than a minute, someone in the group lost their composure and shouted toward the front.

Soon, Ma Chulong returned from the front, his expression extremely grim.

Everyone stared intently, waiting for him to speak.

"The entire Zhou family is gone," Ma Chulong said in an incredibly low voice.

The group instantly erupted into chaos.

After all, without the Zhou family to lead the way, they might not even be able to find the direction back.

"Have we all been played by the Zhou family?"

Someone immediately thought of this. Although no danger had occurred yet, there was no guarantee of what would happen if they continued forward.

"You mean the Zhou family intentionally tricked us into coming in? Then what is their goal?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be standing here right now!"

The entire group was filled with frantic speculation, and Ma Chulong's face was so dark it looked as if it could drip water.

"Everyone, calm down. Let's think about what we should do now."

At the very least, it couldn't be determined yet whether the Zhou family had encountered danger or had truly disappeared on purpose.

"How about we hurry back?"

"Can you tell which direction is which? Besides, without the Zhou family to open the exit here, can we even get out?"

People spoke one after another; clearly, no one could make a decision.

Ma Chulong first glanced at Su Yan, then looked toward Kong Nian, who was not far away.

"Junior Sister Kong Nian, what are your plans?"

In times like this, one had to cast aside family distinctions and act as a single unit to better deal with emergencies.

Kong Nian stood with her arms crossed, appearing completely unaffected by the disappearance of the Zhou family.

"Since everyone knows we cannot leave this place without the Zhou family, why don't we simply split up to find them?"

As she spoke, her peripheral vision deliberately swept toward Su Yan.

If Su Yan remained with the main group, Kong Nian would have no opportunity to carry out her next move, so she had to make everyone separate.

This proposal immediately caused an uproar among the crowd.

Split up?

Wouldn't that make them even less safe?

Even Ma Chulong frowned deeply upon hearing it; it was the complete opposite of his thoughts.

"This... isn't a good idea, is it?"

"There's nothing wrong with it. Don't tell me you're all being intimidated by a bit of mere fog? From the moment we stepped in here, everyone should have been prepared. In a place like this, you can't rely on luck to survive," Kong Nian said with full confidence.

In her view, a large portion of the people here were nothing more than dead weight. Rather than carrying those people until the end to share a piece of the spoils, it was better to shake them off early.

Ma Chulong was no fool; seeing Kong Nian's determined attitude, he could roughly guess her intentions.

He immediately withdrew his gaze and looked at Su Yan.

"Su Yan, what do you think?"

Even without the Kong family, they were capable of leading everyone forward.

Su Yan said, "I think Miss Kong makes a lot of sense. The more people there are, the larger the target. Splitting up to search for the Zhou family is a viable option."

Even she said this, which was unexpected for Ma Chulong.

And he had always trusted Su Yan's judgment.

Kong Nian gave Su Yan a deep look, then signaled Gan Hua, Ruan Tao, and the others to break away from the group.

Su Yan stretched her limbs slightly, preparing to move as well.

"Su Yan, we'll go with you," Du Jinsong immediately declared.

This time, his and Zhang Ximing's primary mission was to protect her.

However, this mission needed to be kept secret from Su Yan.

"Su Yan, you're not planning to separate from us, are you?" Ma Chulan sensed her intention and felt terrible.

Su Yan thought for a moment, then took two talismans out of her Qiankun Bag and handed one each to Ma Chulong and Ma Chulan.

"If you encounter a life-threatening danger, activate this talisman. I will rush over immediately."

This action was equivalent to a definitive answer.

Ma Chulan wanted to say more, but was stopped by Ma Chulong.

He knew Su Yan must have a reason for doing this.

"Alright, we will regroup later."

Su Yan left together with Du Jinsong and Zhang Ximing.

Now that both the Zhou and Kong families were gone, the entire group was down by two-thirds.

Ma Chulong looked at the exorcists around him. "Everyone can choose to act alone, or you can follow us."

Soon, more people chose to form groups and leave. In the end, besides the Ma family, fewer than ten lone exorcists remained willing to travel with them.

At this moment, the fog still showed no sign of dispersing, and the figures of the others had long since vanished without a trace.

"Let's move," Ma Chulong commanded, and the group continued forward.

This time, everyone walked with extreme caution, fearing they might suddenly encounter an unmanageable accident.

On the other side, although Kong Nian was the first to leave, she stopped before going very far.

Kong Nian's attention was focused entirely on Ruan Tao, which left Gan Hua and Kong Yueling filled with confusion.

After all, normally Ruan Tao was not as highly regarded as Gan Hua.

"Senior Brother Ruan, how is the situation over there?"

Ruan Tao stared intently into the fog and, after a long while, pointed in a direction.

"Over there."

Kong Nian understood immediately. Although they couldn't see the others, Kong Xiang inside Ruan Tao's body surely had a way, and the direction he was pointing should be the direction Su Yan had taken.

"All of you stay close. If you truly get lost here, don't expect anyone to come back and save you."

Kong Nian spoke these words ruthlessly as she said them.

No one was allowed to jeopardize her grand plan!

Gan Hua and Kong Yueling did not dare to be careless for even a second, following closely at Ruan Tao's side.

Their attention was entirely on Ruan Tao and Kong Nian, so they failed to notice Kong Yueqing, who had been trailing behind the whole time.

After walking for about ten minutes, Kong Yueling suddenly shouted in a panic.

"Everyone, stop! Senior Sister Yueqing is gone!"

Ruan Tao immediately turned back to look. Sure enough, the path they had walked was already covered by thick fog; aside from the four of them, there was no sign of Kong Yueqing anywhere.

Kong Nian's brows knitted together like a twisted rope. Was this damn Kong Yueqing intentionally acting against her?

She had just reminded them to stay close and not get lost, and she had fallen behind so quickly!

"Junior Sister Kong Nian, Senior Brother Ruan, Senior Brother Gan, we can't just ignore Senior Sister Yueqing," Kong Yueling said, looking at the three of them with pleading eyes.

(End of Chapter)