362: The Disappearance of Wang Yan

“There was only a group of people retreating over there, but I didn't see Wang Yan. It's impossible for someone like him to have been killed outright, is it?”

Gu Qinghan said in a deep voice, the joy that had just risen in his heart quickly disappearing.

Zhao Minghao's expression was extremely ugly. As if he had thought of something, he suddenly spoke:

“They were captured! There have been cases before where people fighting suddenly disappeared.”

Gu Qinghan heard this and subconsciously said:

“Take me to find them. I'll bring them back.”

Hearing Gu Qinghan's somewhat overbearing words, Zhao Minghao shook his head:

“We can't. We can't find out where they are at all.”

Gu Qinghan frowned slightly upon hearing this, but he felt it shouldn't be because these people were too useless.

From the air, he saw the towering giant tree in the distance that had become incredibly thick. This thing had almost completely occupied the former campus.

He could launch an attack on this Mutated Ancient Tree right now, but Wang Yan would likely die if he did.

Wang Yan was precisely the person he wanted to bestow the Earth Vein Commander Profession upon.

Thinking of this, Gu Qinghan immediately looked at Zhao Minghao and asked:

“Tell me the specifics. If we hurry, Wang Yan and the others might still be saved.”

Zhao Minghao nodded and told Gu Qinghan about the vampires as simply and clearly as possible.

However, Gu Qinghan raised an eyebrow.

Controlling blood?

Thinking of this, he suddenly summoned the Scarlet Witch.

The Scarlet Witch, who now had the awareness to wear clothes, appeared, causing everyone present to fall into a daze the moment she materialized.

It wasn't that she used a charm skill; it was simply that such a woman was too beautiful.

“Someone can control blood. What is your opinion?”

Gu Qinghan's question startled the Witch, and she immediately answered subconsciously:

“Master, it definitely has nothing to do with me. I am absolutely loyal to you.”

Gu Qinghan's face darkened, realizing that she had misunderstood his meaning.

He thought for a moment and said:

“Someone can control blood in combat. If you face them head-on, are you confident?”

The Scarlet Witch realized, and then suddenly chuckled:

“If it were other abilities, perhaps I wouldn't be so confident. But I was born from fresh blood, Master. Have you forgotten?”

Gu Qinghan was stunned, suddenly remembering what the Guardian had told him before.

But soon, Gu Qinghan asked again:

“Then can you find a specific person through the scent of blood?”

This time, the Scarlet Witch looked troubled.

She looked at the surrounding battlefield, where there were mottled bloodstains everywhere, and even dark red marks on the ground.

Those were the traces left after the moisture in the blood had evaporated.

Gu Qinghan understood what she meant, and immediately looked back at the Professionals running out from the depths of the battlefield.

“Where did you see Wang Yan and Han Zhigang fighting just now? Take me there.”

The crowd exchanged glances. One person raised his hand and was pulled onto the back of the Crow King by Gu Qinghan.

Guided by him, Gu Qinghan and the others arrived at a somewhat unusual open space.

The reason it was unusual was that intense fighting had clearly occurred here, with several obvious depressions smashed into the ground.

Yet, there were no traces of Wang Yan and the others, only scattered human corpses whose blood had dried up and many treant corpses.

Gu Qinghan landed on the ground, walked up to a corpse, and found that the blood flowing from it was very viscous.

What seeped out of the wounds looked more like paint, clinging to the injury without dripping immediately.

“People disappeared right here, but there's nowhere to hide around here. Where could they have gone?”

Zhao Minghao was extremely agitated. He scratched his hair, which hadn't been cut in a long time, but found no solution.

Gu Qinghan looked at the surrounding environment. Apart from a large amount of ruins, there really seemed to be nowhere to hide.

His eyes showed contemplation, and he suddenly asked Zhao Minghao:

“You said before that the Mutated Ancient Tree wouldn't attack the vampires, and that the vampires would provide blood to the Mutated Ancient Tree?”

Zhao Minghao nodded, but did not understand what Gu Qinghan meant.

Gu Qinghan was not prepared to explain further and fell into contemplation while looking at the ground beneath his feet.

“I just came in from above and didn't see anyone in the sky. There is no space around here to hide people, and if there were, they would have been discovered. So now, there is only one possibility: they were taken underground.”

Gu Qinghan calculated silently in his heart, then looked up again and asked:

“Have you ever considered that they might have living spaces underground?”

Zhao Minghao was momentarily stunned, but quickly said:

“We tried digging underground after failing to track the vampires, but we dug more than ten meters and found nothing. Forget people, we didn't even see a single tree root.”

“What about inside those ruins? Have you searched there?”

Gu Qinghan's question silenced everyone.

Finally, Zhao Minghao spoke with a wry smile:

“Our combat personnel are starving every day now, and we simply don't have the energy to search every single spot. Besides, these places don't really look like they could hide people...”

Gu Qinghan nodded. He already knew the answer.

He couldn't blame these people for their oversight. After all, this area was originally a residential district, and ruins were virtually everywhere.

Completing a search would be a massive undertaking, and it would be even harder to accomplish when food was scarce.

However, now that he was here, things were different.

“Alright, just leave the rest to me.”

Gu Qinghan smiled at the people around him and plunged the Embrace of the Netherworld he held into the ground.

Then, two massive doors, one red and one white, gradually formed beside Gu Qinghan.

The red door resembled the gaping, bloody maw of an ancient fierce beast, exuding a terrifying aura.

The white door was constructed entirely from the spine bones of an unknown creature, with sharp bone claws even clinging to its surface.

Everyone slowly backed away in fright, thinking that some gate of calamity had appeared here.

However, a significant portion of the gate of calamity that appeared previously had been dealt with by the Mutated Ancient Tree.

The various monsters inside had also become nourishment for this fellow.

But soon, footsteps gradually sounded from within the two large doors.

From the red door emerged thin figures clad in red robes, looking like cultists in a movie.

They kept their heads down, their robes dragging on the ground, and their bodies exuded a bloody smell.

From the white door, the first to appear was a hunched figure somewhat resembling a praying mantis.

The moment this fellow appeared, he twirled the short knife in his hand, seemingly searching for prey.

Following him was a dense crowd of skeletons, like an army.

“You two, lead them to overturn all the surrounding buildings. If you can't find the people, then blast a huge pit here for me.”

Gu Qinghan instructed the Bone Demon and the Witch, his voice as calm as if he were discussing what to eat today.