Fire Persimmon Forest.
"Where is the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator?!" Chi Dun searched everywhere.
His actions mirrored those of the Golden Core Cultivators from the three major families.
Fei Si's face turned dark. He had never expected this outcome and ordered harshly, "Find him! Dig three feet into the ground if you have to, but find that demon cultivator!"
To everyone's astonishment, the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator had vanished without a trace!
Fei Si was furious and humiliated.
The mission was a complete failure!
All the city residents knew that the City Lord's Mansion had been mocked. They had made elaborate arrangements, only to end up with nothing.
"This shouldn't have happened. It shouldn't!" Fei Si clenched his teeth and looked into the distance at Zhu Xuanji.
After a moment of thought, Fei Si flew toward Zhu Xuanji.
Previously, Zhu Xuanji had strongly ordered him to activate the array, saving Yuan Dasheng's life and causing Fei Si to lose face. But now, the disappearance of the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator was a matter far larger than Fei Si's personal pride.
Fully aware of the situation's gravity, Fei Si set aside his grudges and forced a smile, asking, "Lord Zhu, you observed the entire process. Did your Golden Eyes see anything?"
Zhu Xuanji shook his head. "No discoveries at all."
"If anyone were hiding, they would have been revealed under my Golden Eyes."
"Throughout the entire process, there was no suspicious person. I can only deduce that the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator had already left the Fire Persimmon Forest beforehand."
Hearing this, Fei Si's brows furrowed deeply, and he instinctively denied it strongly, "No, he must be here!"
Zhu Xuanji's inference was the most unfavorable for him.
Because he was responsible for the Fire Persimmon Forest, it was akin to being the head jailer who let the prisoner escape without knowing.
Fei Si had gone to great lengths for this Fire Persimmon Festival, only to end up empty-handed, making the entire City Lord's Mansion a laughingstock.
At this moment, Chi Dun flew over, rebuking loudly, "Fei Si, if you hadn't stopped me back then, I would have killed that demon cultivator. He would have been eliminated that very night!"
"It's all because you insisted on maintaining calm and reducing losses. Now look, the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator has escaped! How exactly have you been managing the Fire Persimmon Forest?"
Fei Si snorted coldly. "Let's not talk about anything else. The successful harvest of the Fire Persimmons, can you at least confirm that this vast fortune has been preserved?"
"Besides, the array was continuously activated, recording everything, and can withstand any scrutiny."
"If it's found that the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator escaped due to my negligence, I will accept the punishment and proactively apologize to the City Lord!"
At this moment, the Zhou Family's Golden Pill Ancestor also flew over. "The array's records must, of course, be checked."
The Zhou Family Ancestor's expression was not pleasant either.
Although the City Lord's Mansion was the biggest joke at the moment, these Golden Core members of the three major families were also fruitless and had lost face.
The Zhou Family Ancestor continued, "The current key is whether the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator escaped the array beforehand or slipped away right under our noses today."
"From my experience in setting up formations, the Fire Persimmon Forest array is dense and intricately connected with the Immortal City Great Array. It is very meticulous."
"If I were that Black Shadow Demon Cultivator, even if I could break the array, it would necessarily cause some disturbance. Could such a silent escape truly be accomplished by a Golden Core Cultivator?"
For a moment, Fei Si, Zhu Xuanji, and Chi Dun all fell into silence.
All three of them thought of a terrifying possibility—
If the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator had truly left early, perhaps someone had secretly opened the array and let him go!
The highest authority of the Immortal City Great Array was with the City Lord, and Fei Si had control over the heavy arrays in the Fire Persimmon Forest.
Additionally, the array columns of the Immortal City Great Array were scattered in the residential areas of the three major families. Hence, any of the three major families could also control the array and secretly release the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator.
If this were true, the situation would be dire.
A single Golden Core Demon Cultivator acting alone and a scheming cultivator family were two entirely different concepts!
Zhu Xuanji looked towards the Zhou Family Ancestor, secretly thinking, "The City Lord's Mansion is almost impossible. They have no motive at all."
"Regarding the three major families, each has its suspicions."
"On one hand, the City Lord's Mansion has always had the upper hand in the competition for the Magma Fairy Palace. On the other hand, the three major families certainly do not want to see the City Lord gaining the Magma Fairy Palace and thus introducing the Meng Family to reside in the Fire Persimmon Immortal City!"
"If it is indeed one or more of the three families, then the Zhou Family is the most suspicious."
"Formation is Zhou Family, weapons are Zheng Family, and talismans are Ning Family. The Zhou Family is most adept at formations."
The Zhou Family Ancestor appeared very open and continued, "We can temporarily set aside the possibility that the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator escaped earlier."
"There were indeed some suspicious points during the harvest of the Fire Persimmons today."
"Exactly!" Chi Dun immediately nodded, knowing what the Zhou Family Ancestor was referring to.
Previously, more than a dozen mechanical monkeys had suddenly gone berserk, breaking free from the control of the Foundation Establishment Cultivators and attacking the current leader of the Monkey Head Gang, Yuan Er.
This anomaly was all witnessed by the Golden Core Cultivators.
They remained calm, and Fei Si handled it neatly, directly activating the array to destroy all the mechanical monkeys.
The Zhou Family Ancestor continued, "Why did those mechanical monkeys go berserk? Who was controlling them?"
"After the mechanical monkeys were destroyed, the old monkey of the Monkey Head Gang made a mistake, causing the self-destruction of a portion of the thousand-year-old fire persimmon forest."
"Was it truly a mistake, or was it influenced by some spell or magical treasure?"
"Did the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator use the explosion to divert our attention and escape?"
Fei Si immediately waved his hand, activating the array to retrieve the images from that time.
The Golden Core Cultivators watched several times but found nothing suspicious.
Fei Si said, "I will thoroughly investigate the cause of the mechanical Explosive Flame Monkeys' loss of control."
Zhu Xuanji then said, "I monitored the entire situation with my Golden Eyes and confirmed that the old monkey indeed made a mistake!"
Chi Dun frowned. "It's strange. That old monkey is the foundation of the Monkey Head Gang and has been harvesting Fire Persimmons for many years. Initially, there were indeed some errors. But in recent years, it has always completed the task perfectly. Why would it make a mistake this time?"
After considering for a while, Fei Si said, "Since it is flesh and blood, mistakes are inevitable. The Monkey Head Gang has suffered many targeted attacks, and Yuan Er was previously ambushed. The old monkey might have been unsettled, leading to a mistake. It's very possible."
At this point, Fei Si thought of Ning Zhuo.
Immediately, he thought of his forty percent profit share.
He began to feel that this forty percent profit share was a bit burdensome.
The Zhou Family Ancestor then said, "Do you think the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator could be hiding inside the old monkey's body?"
"Whether it was the mechanical monkeys suddenly going berserk or the old monkey making a mistake, it resulted in a chain reaction of explosions."
"The flames blocked our sight, and in that moment, the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator could have killed the old monkey and hidden inside its body."
On this note, the Zhou Family Ancestor turned his gaze to Zhu Xuanji.
"There is one thing I don't understand and dare to ask, Lord Zhu. Why did you save that old monkey?"
For a moment, everyone's gaze also turned to Zhu Xuanji.
A trace of schadenfreude flashed in Fei Si's eyes.