Lan Yu thought about his many failed relationships and finally decided to abandon his initial plan to sabotage Lan Hua. He would never be his brother’s match in winning over a lady’s affections. So defeated and dejected, he left without a word, leaving behind a pile of talismans.

　　Everyone could not help feeling sorry for Lan Yu, who looked as if he had lost his only goal in life. Lonemoon suddenly felt he understood the meaning of the old saying, “Life is already hard, so don’t expose the truth!” After shaking his head in sympathy, he happily took over the talismans from Shen Ying.

　　-_-|||

　　“Let’s set out!” Lonemoon turned to hurry his companions. It was getting late.

　　“Fellow Immortal Lonemoon!” Chen Ge called out from behind, sounding worried. “I…”

　　“Your highness?”

　　Turning around, Lonemoon’s eyes widened in surprise. Chen Ge’s body was slowly fading away under a faint halo of light.

　　“What…” Lonemoon instinctively reached out to grab him, but discovered that his hand went right through Chen Ge’s body. He immediately conjured a few hand seals to stabilize Chen Ge’s body.

　　Both Lan Hua and Yi Qing tried to help by putting up an array, but to no avail. Chen Ge slowly vanished before their eyes.

　　“What happened?” Everyone was baffled by this sudden turn of events. Lonemoon tried without success to search for Chen Ge using his divine perception. Even his aura seemed to have vanished without a trace.

　　“What kind of sorcery is that?”

　　“I don’t know.” Lan Hua, who was most experienced in such matters, shook his head. “Never seen it before.”

　　As he was thinking, Lonemoon’s message transmission talisman lit up. He had left one at the sect, so that they could contact him in case of emergency. He felt a sudden tightening in his chest. Something must have happened in the sect!

　　He took out the talisman hurriedly and directed some immortal qi to activate it. Instantly, Yu Hong’s worried-sounding voice came out from the talisman.

　　“Elder, Chicken… Chicken has disappeared!”

　　“What?” Lonemoon paused in surprise, then answered automatically, “Just buy another one then.” Invincible Sect reared many chickens on its farm.

　　“No! I don’t mean that!” Yu Hong clarifed, “It’s Emperor Chu Xuan. He suddenly vanished.”

　　Lonemoon’s expression darkened. “Stay calm. Tell me clearly what happened? How did he vanish?”

　　“I’m also not sure what happened.” Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Yu Hong continued, “A while ago, Emperor Chu Xuan was teaching our disciples at the training yard when he suddenly vanished.”

　　“Did he turn into a shadowy form before disappearing?”

　　“How do you know? This was exactly what happened.”

　　Lonemoon frowned as Chen Ge’s image came to his mind. He instructed soberly, “All of you are to leave the training yard at once. Gather all the disciples at the front palace. Check whether they are all right. We’ll be back soon.”

　　“Yes!” Yu Hong replied grimly.

　　Lonemoon frowned and turned to look at his companions. “Chu Xuan has vanished as well. Let’s get back quickly.”

　　He was about to turn to leave when he noticed that the other three persons remained still. They were gazing at him with startled expressions.

　　“Lonemoon, you…” Lan Hua’s eyes widened in surprise, pointing to Lonemoon.

　　“What’s wrong?” Lonemoon instinctively looked down at himself. “Holy shit! Like Chen Ge, his whole body was also emitting a glow and was slowly becoming transparent. But he himself felt no sensation at all.

　　“Father Niu!” Shen Ying reached out to grab him but it was too late. He had disappeared even faster than Chen Ge.

　　Everyone was stunned!

　　“Master, what do we do now?” Yi Qing’s expression was grim. Lonemoon and Chen Ge had both disappeared in a mysterious way.

　　Shen Ying stared at her empty fists, then she clenched them and replied, “Let’s discuss after we get back.”

　　Yi Qing and Lan Hua both exchanged glances. Then they nodded and flew off in the direction of their sect.

　　They flew at maximum speed towards Invincible Sect. Once there, they found that not only Chu Xuan, but Little Shortie and Xuan Tong were also missing. They had vanished in the same way, but one day after Chu Xuan.

　　Lan Hua and Yi Qing searched everywhere but could not find any clues as to what happened. None of the their tracking talismans could trace their locations, even Lonemoon’s message talisman did not respond.

　　At first, they had thought of contacting Xun Shu for help, but they received a reply from the city that Xun Shu had also disappeared.

　　“Sect master, a demon immortal by the name of Little Biao asks to speak to you!”

　　“Little Biao?” Lan Hua repeated. What kind of stupid name was that?

　　“Let him in.” Shen Ying nodded.

　　Moments later, Emperor Biao Ting rushed in excitedly. His eyes brightened when he saw Shen Ying, but his legs reflexively gave way. Falling into a heap at her feet, he said imploringly, “Exalted Goddess! Please save Little Bird!”

　　“What happened to Bird?”

　　“I don’t know exactly.” Biao Ting answered, an anxious expression on his face. Probably because of living under the constant fear of being eaten (by Shen Ying), he and Wu Hong had developed a bond forged from mutual sympathy. “A few days ago, we went to the Shu Sea to look for immortal herb seeds for you. Then he suddenly disappeared. I searched for many days but could find no trace of him.”

　　“Was there a white glow on his body when he disappeared?” Yi Qing asked.

　　“How did you know!” Biao Ting asked in surprise.

　　Another one.

　　“Who did this?” Lan Hua scratched his head in frustration. “This is the fourth person who’s disappeared.”

　　“The fifth!” Shen Ying corrected.

　　“What?”

　　“Radish has disappeared too.”

　　That’s right. Brother Radish too! Lan Hua’s anxiety deepened. The radish had been sleeping on Lonemoon’s leg when they both disappeared.

　　Wait a moment!

　　“Radish…

　　There was a gleam in Lan Hua’s eyes as an idea struck him. “Good Heart, I have a way to find them. But it’s a bit troublesome and we can only rescue Lonemoon. The rest of them… We’ll have to think of some other way.”

　　“What way?”

　　“Heart Entrapping Array!”

　　“What’s that?” Yi Qing asked.

　　“It’s a entrapping array.” Lan Hua explained. “It traps the victim inside the array, then causes him to be slowly eroded by demonic Qi. Once this array is activated, it will be able to entrap its target as long as he is within the immortal realm.”

　　“You’re thinking of using this array to locate him!”

　　“That’s right! Lan Hua nodded. “However, for this array to work, we need something from the victim’s body.”

　　Body…

　　Shen Ying’s mouth twitched as she remembered the dandelions that the radish had given her as a present.

　　“Radish is attached to Lonemoon’s leg, their auras are interlinked. So once Radish is entrapped, Lonemoon would also be pulled into the array.” Lan Hua continued, “Although he will be affected by the demonic Qi, he should be strong enough to withstand it.”

　　“All right, let’s do this!” Shen Ying went to search for the dandelions.

　　We have to find Father Niu first to solve the problem of food!