Chen Ye felt a boom in his head.
Earlier in the day, Qing Jun was eagerly watching him leave.
She kept muttering about wanting to eat various pastries.
How suddenly has she disappeared?
"Qing Jun, gone?"
Zhiwei’s face turned pale, and she nodded vigorously, tears welling up at the corners of her eyes, her voice thick with a nasal tone:
"Yes... It was noisy outside just now. Granny Li told us to stay inside and not go out, but... when I turned around, Qing Jun was gone!"
The eldest disciple tried hard to restrain her emotions, calmly recounting the events clearly.
Chen Ye forced himself to calm down.
He was the head of the family; if he appeared panicked, who knows how worried Zhiwei would be.
"When did she disappear?"
Zhiwei sniffed and tried hard to recall: "At that time, Master had already returned, and there were magic sounds outside."
Chen Ye’s heart sank suddenly.
This meant Qing Jun went missing during the chaotic time when he was battling the Ice Armor Wolf and Ping Zhuo was murdered!
"Could it be... abducted by Ping Zhuo’s murderer?"
A terrifying thought crossed Chen Ye’s mind.
He looked around, the gap in the courtyard wall was shocking, but it seemed to be caused by a demon beast’s collision.
According to the loose cultivators on Shunshui Street,
There was a late-stage Qi Cultivation Wolf King, which Ping Zhuo killed.
Perhaps... after Ping Zhuo killed the Wolf King, he was gravely injured and was ambushed.
He suddenly reached out and held Zhiwei’s small hand.
Zhiwei sniffled, quietly following beside him.
Chen Ye walked to the neighboring Ping Zhuo’s courtyard.
Ping Zhuo’s body still lay in the snow, the bloodstains mostly covered by fresh snow.
Chen Ye crouched down to inspect closely.
"No heart?"
He picked up the ice crystal; these ice crystals weren’t caused by magic, but because of the frigid weather, the moisture froze.
Zhiwei also crouched beside Chen Ye, her long black hair falling to the ground.
She paid no attention, her dark eyes firmly fixed on the bloody hole in Ping Zhuo’s chest.
Unlike ordinary girls.
Zhiwei seemed indifferent to the gory scene.
She suddenly said, "Master... this scent, it’s like those sickly ones from before."
Chen Ye carefully perceived but gained nothing.
He couldn’t detect what was different about this scent compared to the sickly ones before.
However, he trusted Zhiwei’s judgment.
"It’s a demon cultivator!"
The recent dealings with spirit grass tainted by demonic qi and evil qi flashed rapidly through Chen Ye’s mind.
Ping Zhuo’s chest was hollow, his heart missing, the death strange, coupled with the "sickly" scent Zhiwei mentioned...
It could only be a demon cultivator wanted by the Lingyin Sect!
As for why Chen Ye couldn’t sense the sickly scent.
The reason was simple; demon cultivators aren’t fools.
Right now, during the Lingyin Sect’s pursuit, they must be concealing their cultivation technique.
Yet Zhiwei’s Purity Glaze Body was awakening, far surpassing ordinary people’s ability to perceive the scent, she could notice subtle differences.
"But not long ago, the Inner Sect disciples of Lingyin Sect were trialing in Yunxi District. How dare they linger in Yunxi District? By rights, they should have already hidden deep within the Three Thousand Great Mountains."
Chen Ye hesitated a bit.
Unable to find any valuable clues, Chen Ye walked out of the courtyard again.
The street remained chaotic.
The corpse of the Ice Armor Wolf still lay there, with many loose cultivators trying to divide materials from it, even arguing about it.
The Dark Old Man was still unaware of what had happened.
He waved to Chen Ye: "Brother Chen, I’ve kept the best materials from the three Ice Armor Wolves for you; I’ll send them over later!"
The loose cultivators following behind Li Dageng chimed in:
"Yes, Taoist Friend Chen, we were fortunate you killed the Demon Wolf earlier, otherwise, Shunshui Street would have suffered more losses!"
"Taoist Friend Chen’s prowess is formidable. Those Ice Armor Wolves couldn’t withstand a blow under your hand; truly impressive!"
Everyone praised him, but Chen Ye was not in the mood to cope with these compliments.
He cupped his hand to everyone and spoke in a deep voice:
"Fellow Taoists, now is not the time for reminiscing. My disciple Qing Jun... went missing amid the chaos just now, please let me know if anyone has clues."
The loose cultivators discussed in chaos, some expressed sympathy, others looked troubled.
"Taoist Friend Chen, the situation was chaotic, demon beasts were rampant, who had the mind to notice a little girl?"
"Indeed, everyone was struggling to fend off demon beasts at the time, nobody cared for herself."
"Could it be... abducted by a demon beast?" Someone cautiously guessed but was promptly glared at, signaling them to shut up.
Li Dageng was sweating anxiously, he walked up to Chen Ye quickly, saying: "How could she go missing... it’s my fault for not watching out for Brother Chen! Brother Chen, don’t panic! Qing Jun is very clever, maybe she’s just hiding somewhere! Let’s split up and search!"
Chen Ye sighed.
This wasn’t Li Dageng’s fault.
Judging from Zhiwei’s tone, Qing Jun disappeared silently right in front of Zhiwei, without alarming anyone.
Such a ghostly method isn’t something ordinary loose cultivators can achieve.
Don’t underestimate Zhiwei as just a first-layer child, even if Chen Ye perfected his Qi Concealment Technique, he still couldn’t abduct Qing Jun right before her eyes.
Soon, the Lingyin Sect’s guards symbolically surveyed the scene and casually asked a few neighbors.
After the inquiry, they were about to leave.
Chen Ye suppressed the anxiety and unease in his heart, quickly stepped forward and stopped the barely familiar Li Qiuyun.
"Taoist Friend Li, please wait!"
Li Qiuyun was interrupted, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, an obvious impatience on her face, she looked at Chen Ye coldly: "What is it?"
Chen Ye tried to keep his voice steady: "Taoist Friend Li, I reported this earlier, my disciple Xu Qingjun went missing during the chaos. I wonder... did you find any clues during your investigation?"
Li Qiuyun, hearing that it was about this matter again, explained patiently:
"The scene was chaotic just now, there were many casualties, an ordinary little girl might have been abducted by demon beasts."
Chen Ye remembered Zhiwei’s reminder, and suddenly asked:
"I wonder if this demon beast attack is related to demon cultivators?"
Upon hearing "demon cultivators", Li Qiuyun’s face changed slightly, her words became ambiguous:
"The movements of demon cultivators are mysterious, we are also investigating. The market is chaotic, demon beast invasion, whether it’s related to demon cultivators is yet to be determined. Rather than guessing here, Taoist Friend Chen, consider where your disciple could be."
Chen Ye stifled his anger, restrained himself: "Which means... Yunxi District still has demon cultivators on the loose? But not long ago, the Lingyin Sect’s Inner Sect disciples were trialing in Lingyin Sect, couldn’t they deal with two demon cultivators?"
Li Qiuyun immediately realized her mistake.
Seeing Chen Ye burning with anxiety, she couldn’t help but think of that silver-haired little girl’s cute face.
Suddenly sighed softly: "The hidden matters, I cannot speak... but indeed, a demon cultivator has fled to the Three Thousand Great Mountains, and this demon beast incident is likely her doing!"
"This demon cultivator is from the Emotion Crossing Sect of Qi Kingdom... yet this person is a female cultivator, how could she abduct your disciple? Another male cultivator has already fallen at the hands of our sect’s Guardian Chang Yan."
The Emotion Crossing Sect is reputedly the Joyful Demon Sect.
This sect has a notorious reputation, famous for harvesting Yin and Yang and crafting bizarre magical artifacts, behaving erratically and viciously!