There was an eerie silence in the room.
Everyone was stunned.
That’s fifty thousand people! If you line up in two columns, you can stretch out for several miles from end to end. How can you just say no and be gone?
"Maybe they just didn't take the road to Huangtu Town... but went directly south from Baili Town into the mountains?" Shan Hui said after a while.
"Impossible." Jiulin immediately denied, "The mountains in the south will only have a sinking gap at our current location. If you pull out all the woods, you will find that Jiuyao Mountain is actually a high wall. , it is difficult to reach the sky if you want to climb over from other places. If you are a big demon like Sister Li, you may be able to do it, but for 50,000 people, it is definitely a dead end."
She has lived in Yuetai Villa for several years and is quite familiar with the surrounding areas of Baiyao Mountain. Any medicine farmer or hunter who wants to enter the mountains will, without exception, go to Loess Town. Even these old mountaineers made this choice, let alone others.
"Where are they stationed? Did you find anything?" Li asked.
"There were no signs of fighting or riots. These people evacuated spontaneously." Mu Youhong shook his head. "There were no footprints left on the dry land, and no traces of ruts could be found, so they were reported missing there. But they were not completely missing. I found some scattered wild fruits at the scene, which should be wild jujube from Ganzhou shrubs. This thing tastes very astringent, and the meat also has a bitter taste. Generally, few people take the initiative to eat it, unless... "
"Unless the rations are insufficient, we will use wild fruits to make up for it." Li continued.
"That's right." Mu Youhong affirmed, "This may also explain why they captured the city in Suzhou, but when they arrived in Ganzhou, they just immersed themselves in progress."
Because even if the small towns in Ganzhou were captured, they would not be able to get much of the grain reserves.
Their choice is to speed up their journey and reach the so-called "heavenly kingdom beyond this world" as soon as possible.
Li felt a sense of urgency.
She didn't believe in the idea that the Kingdom of Heaven would have no worries about food and clothing. With 50,000 people lacking logistical supplies, once the food and grass were cut off, it would not be easy for Jinxia City to replenish it. No matter where the Black Gate Cult takes people, she must find their whereabouts as soon as possible to avoid mass starvation.
"We will set off tonight and rush to Baili Town." Li immediately made a decision, "Even if they disappear suddenly, we must at least find a way for them to disappear."
Others nodded.
After all, the Baekje Caravan is not a professional espionage organization. Inquiring about street rumors and looking at the scene are the limits of the traveling merchants' abilities. The clues that they cannot find may be a different matter in the hands of professionals.
After reaching an agreement, the reconnaissance team quickly took action. Li climbed up to the roof, set up the antenna, and used the audio device to tell Jin Xia what he had heard about here, hoping that the rear would be ready for support. Then the group quietly left the inn and rushed to the two hundred and sixty miles overnight. Baili Town outside the land.
In the afternoon of the next day, Li and others arrived at their destination - this was also the advantage of the Quanyao Team. As long as Wu Lie was sure that there was no one around, Shanhui could carry Li and Jiulin and run wildly in the countryside, much faster than before. Yu Benma.
Everyone did not enter the town, but went directly to the headquarters of the Black Gate Sect.
This place is about ten miles away from Baili Town. According to common sense, whether they turn back the same way or go east to Huangtu Town, they cannot avoid the sight of pedestrians on the road. Looking to the south, there are lush jungles and towering peaks. Due to the steepness of the mountains, you can even see patches of gray on the tops of the mountains.
Shan Hui circled the abandoned camp and said with certainty, "The residual smell is still very obvious. They did not go east or west, but went directly south into the forest area."
"It seems that is indeed the case." Li frowned. As far as common sense is concerned, the south is a dead end, and naturally no one will consider where they went. Therefore, to the caravan, the Black Gate Cult is as if it has disappeared. "Ulie, you take the first step and look for their possible direction from the air. We will follow the scent from behind."
"I understand, leave it to me!" Wulie spread his wings and flew towards the rolling mountains.
…
However, the development of the situation was beyond Li's expectation.
The smell suddenly faded away after entering the mountain forest. By the time it got closer to the mountain wall, it had basically disappeared, and it was no longer possible to provide effective clues.
After Wu Lie circled twice in a radius of fifty miles, he found nothing and could only return in vain.
At this moment, Li finally had a creepy feeling.
Fifty thousand people actually evaporated out of thin air!
"How is this possible?" Shan Hui showed a puzzled look, "The progress in the mountains is much slower than outside. If they left four or five days ago, it should be impossible to climb any mountain."
"No, even if they can climb over, they can't avoid Wu Lie's detection." Li calmed down and thought about this fact again, "The broken branches and fallen shrubs in the woods can prove that the Black Sect has indeed been here. . If they had the ability to transform into people out of thin air, they wouldn’t have migrated all the way to Baili Town. Similarly, if they took such great pains to travel through Suzhou, Leizhou and Ganzhou, just to deliberately trap and kill these 50,000 people, It’s a bit too uneconomical. Besides, there’s Miss Luo in the team, so it’s impossible to just sit back and watch them—”
She suddenly paused when she said this.
"By the way, Luo Qingqing is also in the team! If it's her, she might leave some clues so that we won't be left behind."
"It's possible." Shan Hui agreed, "But I didn't find anything special while searching along the way. As for Lord Luo's smell, it must be very different from when he left Jinxia."
"Let me think about it." Li pondered for a moment and had a guess in his mind, "... Anyway, let's give it a try first."
She raised her tail and imagined the prototype of the Earthquake Thunder in her mind.
The long white tail was like an amplifier, spreading her thoughts out, causing ripples in the surrounding air. At this moment, she felt the flow of Qi change from chaos to order, concentrating on a point not far away.
The spell failed to be used successfully, but Li found a ring made of copper wire on a branch thirty steps away.
"This is..." Wu Lie probed curiously.
"The copper wire pendant produced by Jinxia has been taken apart and retied." Li suddenly felt confident, "Luo Qingqing is using this method to remind us of the whereabouts of the Black Sect!"
Feeling the resonance between magic and medicine is a compulsory course for alchemists when performing magic, but only alchemists who have been trained by Jinxia can connect the vibration technique with the copper wire pendant.
The detection range of Qi is much larger than that of the naked eye.
In this way, even if the clues are hidden in some extremely secret places, there is no need to worry about Jinxia's pursuers finding them.
As for the followers of the Black Gate Sect, it is impossible to keep an eye on all Luo Qingqing's movements.
This is certainly an excellent one-way sign!