"Stop."
After all, they were spirit beasts on the verge of shapeshifting. No matter how powerful Chu Lingwei's high-level formation disk was, it was like scratching an itch to them.
Suddenly, the spirit beast behind them spoke in human words, its voice striking fear into Chu Lingwei's heart. A tremor from the depths of her being compelled her to stop.
Su Yan and Nangong Luo were shocked. A barrier seemed to appear before them, preventing them from moving forward.
"Senior, we mean no offense."
Su Yan stepped in front of Chu Lingwei and bowed respectfully to the spirit beast that was slowly approaching them.
"Senior, may we know why you are keeping us here?" Nangong Luo stood beside Su Yan. These shapeshifting spirit beasts had opened their minds and understood cause and effect; they would not kill innocents indiscriminately.
"Do you know those cultivators?"
As the spirit beast drew closer, Chu Lingwei finally saw it clearly. It was a Kongtong ape, its body indistinguishable from a human's, its face very much like a person's.
"No," Su Yan recalled the appearances of those people carefully, and indeed, he did not know them.
"Senior, did they take something of yours?" Nangong Luo looked up. Those cultivators were all in the Hua Tian realm. To be able to take something from a spirit beast on the verge of shapeshifting, they must have been well-prepared.
"You go and find those people for me." The spirit beast did not answer, its eyes filled with anger that caused the surrounding spiritual energy to freeze.
Chu Lingwei's face darkened. Those people had come prepared. How could they, just a few of them, possibly lure them back?
Rather than having them bring those people back, it would be better for him to go himself.
"Senior, those people's cultivation is all above ours. We are afraid..." Su Yan carefully chose his words.
"Ah!"
Chu Lingwei secretly nodded. They had no way of bringing those people back. Suddenly, her body was lifted into the air. By the time she reacted, she was already standing beside the Kongtong ape.
"Three days," the Kongtong ape coldly set a time limit. "If I don't see those cultivators within three days, I will kill her."
"Junior Sister!"
"Junior Sister!"
Seeing their junior sister captured by the Kongtong ape, Nangong Luo and Su Yan gathered their spiritual power and attacked him. The gap between the Rong Tian realm and a spirit beast on the verge of shapeshifting was like a vast chasm.
"Senior, this is not very good, is it?" Chu Lingwei had never imagined that one day she would become a hostage.
The Kongtong ape snorted and quickly retreated with Chu Lingwei.
In the blink of an eye, Chu Lingwei could no longer see her two senior brothers. Phantom Cat and Feng Ming were the same. They tried to follow Chu Lingwei, but their bodies seemed to freeze, unable to move.
"Senior, with your speed, you could clearly catch up to them. Why don't you go yourself?"
When the Kongtong ape stopped advancing, Chu Lingwei and the others found themselves in a cave that was arranged like a human cultivator's dwelling. It was filled with mature spiritual herbs, immortal fruits, and magic artifacts.
"I cannot leave the cave too far." The Kongtong ape ignored her and walked straight inside.
To the Kongtong ape, Chu Lingwei was just a non-threatening hostage. She quickly followed his steps, walking deeper into the cave.
Passing through a barrier, a few faint breaths reached them.
"Did you find them?" a hurried voice called out, filled with sorrow.
"Don't worry, I will definitely bring them back." The Kongtong ape approached his companion, tenderness in his eyes, and gently stroked her head. "Someone has already gone to chase them, and they will surely catch up."
Only then did Chu Lingwei understand why he didn't go after them himself. It turned out his companion was dying, and there were also two children with weak breaths.
"Who is she?" Another Kongtong ape finally noticed Chu Lingwei's presence and looked up, its eyes filled with wariness.
"I am the hostage he captured. My cultivation is very low, and I pose no threat to you." Chu Lingwei announced herself and stood still.
"Hostage?" The Kongtong ape's companion looked confused and turned to her mate. "Suo Ya, why did you capture a cultivator?"
"To have her friends help us find the children." Suo Ya glanced at Chu Lingwei, not sensing any dangerous aura from her. "If they can't find our children, I will kill this cultivator to appease you." httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
Chu Lingwei: "..." Is it polite to say that to my face?
"You are about to shapeshift. It's best not to create more killing karma." Su Qing shook her head. Suo Ya was about to shapeshift, and the nine heavenly lightning tribulations were a fatal blow to spirit beasts like them.
"It's not necessarily that I have to shapeshift." Suo Ya looked at his wife and children, a coldness in his eyes. Those cultivators truly deserved to die.
Chu Lingwei felt Suo Ya's anger and wanted to retreat, only to find that she could not leave this barrier no matter what.
"I'm going out for a bit." Suo Ya stood up and strode out of the barrier. Chu Lingwei wanted to follow but was directly blocked.
"You can't leave." Su Qing lay down on the bed, looking at Chu Lingwei with a smile. "Don't worry, he won't kill you."
"Did those cultivators steal your children?" Chu Lingwei couldn't leave, so she went to Su Qing's side. She was already enveloped by death qi, just like the child in her arms.
"Yes," Su Qing's eyes filled with hatred. "Those cultivators used some method to break the barrier here and snatched away my children."
Children born to spirit beasts on the verge of shapeshifting had the potential to shapeshift in the future.
"My senior brothers should be able to find those people." Chu Lingwei thought for a moment, not out of fear, but as if speaking to a mother.
"I hope so." Su Qing sighed. She and her child could not leave this cave. They could only survive here. Who knew if the child taken away could live?
In fact, neither of them held out much hope.
Chu Lingwei found a place to sit down and began to cultivate. She was not in immediate danger, and the spiritual energy here was abundant. She couldn't let this opportunity to cultivate go to waste.
When she opened her eyes again, Suo Ya had returned. In his hand, he held a bottle of ten-thousand-year spiritual milk, which he was feeding to Su Qing.
Chu Lingwei, sitting far away, could feel the spiritual energy of the ten-thousand-year spiritual milk. Just taking a breath cleared her mind and body.
"You went to Cheng Tian Hall again?" Su Qing drank the ten-thousand-year spiritual milk, her spiritual power recovering somewhat. Her voice carried a hint of reproach. "Don't go to that place anymore. It's too dangerous."
Chu Lingwei's eyes lit up when she heard "Cheng Tian Hall" and she listened intently to their conversation.
"I am about to shapeshift, and I will not be trapped in that place." Suo Ya fed the remaining ten-thousand-year spiritual milk to the two children. Seeing their bodies regain vitality, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Senior, is Cheng Tian Hall very dangerous?" Chu Lingwei spoke up. Although she was a hostage, she still had to have some value as a hostage.