Cao Tianxuan looked at these herbalists with great vigilance at first. After a while, he finally realized that they were just ordinary people who were collecting herbs. So he asked, "Hey, are you guys coming from the other side of the mountain?"
The herbalists looked at Cao Tianxuan with a bit of embarrassment. After a moment's pause, they bravely said, "To answer this gentleman, we are not from the other side. We are just collecting herbs in the mountains. Now that we have collected the herbs, we are going back home."
Hearing their words, Cao Tianxuan was stunned for a moment, then continued to ask: "When you were wandering in the mountains, did you see any unusual movements? Was there anyone chasing someone else?"
When several herbalists heard Cao Tianxuan's question, they showed puzzled expressions on their faces. They were slightly stunned. One of them said, "To answer your question, sir, we have been in the mountains for seven or eight days. Except for the area of Meishan County opposite the mountain area, we have been to other places and have not seen anything unusual."
After hearing what the herbalists said, Cao Tianxuan's expression changed and he stood up immediately.
His action frightened several herbalists so much that they knelt down, prostrating themselves on the ground in panic, and said, "Please calm down, sir. We have answered truthfully and have not dared to lie."
Cao Tianxuan asked, "Do you know how many exits there are in this mountainous area? If you want to come from Meishan County across the way, is there any other way out besides here?"
The herbalists dared not hide it, and one of them said, "To answer your question, sir, there are several different roads leading into this mountainous area in Meishan County, but there is only one exit to get out.
No matter which road they take to enter the mountain area, as long as they are not climbing on cliffs, they will generally gather together not far behind us and finally come out from here. "
When Cao Tianxuan heard this, the expression on his face instantly turned ugly. He waved his hand and signaled the herbalists to leave.
Several herbalists felt as if they had been pardoned. After bowing their heads and greeting each other, they quickly stood up and left the Ye family caravan.
Cao Tianxuan pondered for a moment and said, "No, we can't wait any longer. You all return to the Ye family along the same route. I will go to the mountains to look for Ye Li to see if he is still there."
Hearing his words, a spirit talisman master of the Ye family said, "Uncle Tianxuan, let's go with you to take a look.
Ye Li was left to the end in order to protect us, and we have an obligation to go find him together."
Cao Tianxuan shook his head and said, "No, you guys shouldn't go in. The other party is too strong. You will only be a burden to me if you go in.
I rode over there on horseback, and if I encountered the enemy team, I could defend myself and escape at the same time.
If you go there, you won't be able to defend against the enemy's attacks and may very likely be knocked off your horse.
You should now return to the Ye family along the same route. Keep a low profile on the road and remember not to cause trouble.
Here, these are the spirit stones and elixirs we exchanged this time. You can take them all back to the family first. I will go in to check the situation and then rush to the Ye family."
Cao Tianxuan very solemnly took out the Qiankun bag from his body and handed it to the talisman master in the divine descent stage.
Seeing Cao Tianxuan's resolute words, the other party knew that he had made up his mind, and that he and others could only drag him down, so he had no choice but to take the Qiankun bag and nodded, saying: "Uncle Tianxuan, then you should be careful, and if something goes wrong, you should come out quickly.
We will try to take the main roads along the way. If there are any special circumstances, we will leave the Ye family's marks on the road, and you can follow the marks to chase us."
Cao Tianxuan nodded and said, "Okay, don't worry about me, I'm just going to try to find Ye Li.
As long as we don’t see Ye Li’s body, he should be fine. We can go back to the Ye family first.
We also told him before that he would reunite at the Ye family after escaping. He is quite capable, and he might not have taken the normal route to escape, but instead climbed directly onto the cliff and left from somewhere else."
After explaining something, Cao Tianxuan turned around on his horse and returned to the mountain area. The two talisman masters of the Ye family who were in the spirit-calling stage also hurriedly led the Ye family caravan back to the Ye family.
Cao Tianxuan rushed all the way back to the place where they were first attacked, only to find that there was no movement around.
After a careful search, there were no bodies around, either Ye Li's or the other party's, except for the traces left from the initial fight.
Seeing this situation, Cao Tianxuan felt somewhat relieved. After all, without seeing the body, he couldn't be sure that something had happened to Ye Li.
After he searched the mountain area alone, he really didn't see any other traces. Ye Li and the men in black seemed to have disappeared.
"Damn it, is Ye Li dead or alive now?"
Cao Tianxuan looked around and felt extremely helpless.
He gritted his teeth, there was really no other way, he could only leave the mountain area and return to Shanhai County.
Along the way, thinking about the previous situation, he felt that something was wrong, because the strength of these men in black was too strong.
If these people were ordinary bandits and thieves, it would be unbelievable. Looking at the way they fight, they don't look like people from a small force at all.
If the other party is the elite from some big force, then what is the purpose of their attacking them? Their Glazed Flame Crystal Iron has been sold out. Could it be that the other party is after the spirit stones on them
Thinking of this, Cao Tianxuan felt that it was a little impossible. They did get a lot of spirit stones from buying and selling Glazed Flame Crystal Iron, but it was not enough to make some big forces jealous.
The more Cao Tianxuan thought about it, the weirder this incident seemed to him. He had no idea how to judge it.
The only thing he could do now was to rush back to the Ye family and report everything to Ye Wujiu.
If Ye Li really disappeared in the mountains, he might have to inform his master Ou Qianxie about Ye Li's situation, because he felt that the power represented by these men in black was probably not something the Ye family could afford to offend.
Perhaps in the end we can only rely on Ou Qianxie to come forward and see if he can find a way to find Ye Li.
… … … … …
Ye Li didn't know how long it had been after he was knocked unconscious. In a trance, he felt his consciousness become blurry, as if there was a voice constantly muttering incomprehensible words in his ears.
These words seemed to have magical power, constantly stirring deep in his mind, making his thoughts confused.
Ye Li vaguely felt that his body seemed to no longer be his own body, as if an unknown existence was controlling him and making him do something.