Chapter 95: The Plot Thickens

Facing Old Master Xu’s inquiry, Meng Yingxing very naturally shook his head.

“Today, I circled the town, and unfortunately, I haven’t found any clues related to Young Miss Xu yet.”

Hearing this, Mrs. Xu’s hand immediately trembled three times, and she shakily put down her chopsticks.

In Meng Yingxing’s heart, he vaguely believed that the ancient tree and the grand array around it were highly likely to be related to the disappearances of women, but the specifics required further investigation.

Meng Yingxing had intended to report the situation of the ancient tree to Xu Jie, but Xiu Qingcheng immediately stopped him.

“Stupid disciple, before all the facts are clear, it’s best not to easily report the information you’ve gathered to outsiders,” Xiu Qingcheng reminded him.

“Have you heard the saying, ‘the thief crying stop thief’? Before the truth is clear, everyone could be the mastermind.”

“Master’s considerations are thorough… Disciple has learned a lesson.”

Meng Yingxing reflected on himself, realizing he had indeed been a bit too thoughtless.

Praised by Meng Yingxing, Xiu Qingcheng’s nose immediately tilted up proudly, “Naturally, otherwise, how could I be your Master?!”

“You still have much to learn; to catch up to me, you’ll need another twenty thousand years!”

‘Everyone could be the mastermind?’

‘Does Master mean that the Xu family is hiding something?’

Recalling the various oddities of the Xu family, it did seem to reveal a strange scent.

Meng Yingxing pondered, then glanced again at the two Xu family elders before him, their faces grave due to the uncertain fate of their daughter.

But the anxious emotions they displayed didn’t seem fake at all.

Meng Yingxing decided to hold back some of his opinions for now.

After a moment of silence, Xu Jie sighed.

“These next few days, we will trouble Young Hero Meng. We hope to see her alive, or at least her corpse if she’s dead.”

He repeated, his tone utterly sincere.

Meng Yingxing nodded, indicating that he would definitely do his utmost.

After eating and drinking to his fill, Meng Yingxing was led by a Xu family servant to a guest room to rest.

One could only say that the rich were truly rich; even the guest room came with a small courtyard, and the room itself was incredibly spacious.

Meng Yingxing lit a candle and closed the door.

Then he took out a spiritual talisman from his Qiankun Bag, activated it with spiritual energy, and watched it burn. The spell contained within surged out, forming a small soundproofing barrier in the room.

The Tianfeng Sect often provided disciples with various practical spiritual talismans, and this soundproofing barrier talisman was one of them.

Ever since Xiu Qingcheng realized there might be eavesdroppers like Liu Chenxin around Meng Yingxing, she had secretly prepared more soundproofing barriers for Meng Yingxing, to prevent anyone else from overhearing her conversations with Meng Yingxing.

Only after the soundproofing barrier was deployed did Xiu Qingcheng appear in human form beside Meng Yingxing, then gently nudged Meng Yingxing’s leg with her bare foot.

“You audacious brat, how dare you stop me from drinking!”

A gentleman’s revenge is never too late, even after half an hour! Although Xiu Qingcheng’s protest to Meng Yingxing just now had been overshadowed by Xu Jie’s words, she hadn’t forgotten it!

“Master…”

Meng Yingxing gave a wry smile.

The spot where Xiu Qingcheng kicked him didn’t hurt at all, it was even a little comfortable, which told him Xiu Qingcheng wasn’t truly angry.

Xiu Qingcheng sat down at the table in the room. Meng Yingxing immediately understood and discreetly laid out all the dishes he had secretly taken from the banquet table before Xiu Qingcheng.

To be honest, if Xiu Qingcheng hadn’t wanted to eat these things, Meng Yingxing would never have done such a stealthy act in his life.

He had gone all out for his master.

While Xiu Qingcheng ate, Meng Yingxing sat nearby, sorting through the things that had felt off to him throughout the day.

“People say Old Master Xu loves to take concubines, even several every year, but today in the Xu family, we only saw three or four women identified as concubines.”

“So where did the other concubines go?”

Xiu Qingcheng put down her chopsticks, cooperating with Meng Yingxing.

“Assuming Old Master Xu is the culprit behind the disappearing women, his taking of concubines is likely for some purpose, thus confining all the women he took as concubines.”

“It’s just that we’re not very clear about this purpose yet.”

Meng Yingxing offered a rebuttal. “But it’s not just the concubines Old Master Xu took who disappeared, but also women from several surrounding towns. Now even the Xu family’s Young Miss has gone missing, which is very strange.”

“And the expressions of Old Master and Mrs. Xu don’t seem fake. They couldn’t possibly abandon their own daughter.”

“Master, what do you think the situation might be?”

‘You know, what exactly do you think the situation might be?’

Meng Yingxing cradled his chin, his mind a tangled mess, revealing his…

She looked up, seeing Xiu Qingcheng staring at him expressionlessly.

Then Xiu Qingcheng pointed to herself.

“Then let’s ask the sword spirit of the Ting Tian Sword.”

Xiu Qingcheng suddenly spoke in a deliberately sweet tone, “I don’t know. Oh dear, the sword spirit of the Ting Tian Sword says she doesn’t know.”

Meng Yingxing: “?”

‘Alright, his Master just wanted to use this method to—’

‘Master is cute.’

Night deepened. Meng Yingxing’s guest room door suddenly opened, and Meng Yingxing, dressed in black and carrying the Ting Tian Sword, silently slipped out through the crack, leaping onto the adjacent rooftop.

“In the dark of night, strange things always reveal themselves, so it might be worth investigating again.”

Following Xiu Qingcheng’s suggestion, Meng Yingxing immediately obeyed unconditionally.

Unfortunately, Meng Yingxing, concealing his aura, searched the entire Xu family mansion in the dark of night but still couldn’t find any useful clues.

Just as Meng Yingxing was about to give up and return to his room, he found a clump of strange fur in an empty room and brought it back with him.

Under candlelight, Meng Yingxing placed the clump of fur found in the room next to the clump of fur Xiu Qingcheng had torn from the ancient tree that evening. After careful comparison, he immediately made a very coincidental discovery.

Xiu Qingcheng coincidentally found fur on the ancient tree, and he also coincidentally found another clump of fur in the Xu family house. What’s more coincidental is that these two clumps of fur clearly came from the same creature.

“Quite a bit of luck, I think this might give us some clues? It’s just unclear whether it has anything to do with what you’re investigating.”

Xiu Qingcheng clicked her tongue in wonder.

“Perhaps the owner of this clump of fur… is the culprit we’re looking for, responsible for the disappearances of women. It’s highly likely that it’s…”

Meng Yingxing clenched the two clumps of fur in his hand, still unsure for now.

Now Meng Yingxing firmly believed that the Xu family might indeed be…

‘…a type of creature.’

‘Perhaps there might be some clues.’

“Oh my, quite a bit of luck, I think we might have some clues now?”

‘Master is cute.’

‘…the demon responsible for the disappearances of women?’

‘It’s not that the Xu family might truly be…’

‘…a type of demon.’

“Master, look at this fur. Can you tell what kind of demon it is?”

She pushed him away with her hand.

“Why don’t you ask your amazing loyal dog Senior Brother about something like this? As the chief disciple of the Tianfeng Sect, he must have many marvelous treasures and methods for finding things, right?”

Xiu Qingcheng rambled on unthinkingly.

She only knew how to fight; she wasn’t good at this kind of brain work.

Although Xiu Qingcheng always claimed to be omnipotent, she knew very well in her heart that she was not so all-powerful.

She had a fairly deep understanding of herself, but she was quite stubborn verbally.

It was better to find professionals for professional matters.

Meng Yingxing believed his master was absolutely right, but considering the late hour, Meng Yingxing decided to consult Lin Yunchuan the next morning.

So, early the next morning, Meng Yingxing contacted Lin Yunchuan through the disciple token’s sound transmission function.

And immediately transmitted the array formation of the grand array and the information about the retrieved fur to him via a remote rune-drawing method.

–I have never seen such an array formation either. But there are people in the Tianfeng Sect who specialize in array research. I will ask them for you, hoping it will be of some help to you.–

After receiving Meng Yingxing’s transmission, Lin Yunchuan immediately did his utmost to help him in a precise and methodical manner.

Xiu Qingcheng’s evaluation of Lin Yunchuan rose slightly again.

“Loyal dog Senior Brother, you’re quite a good person.”

–As for the fur… there are countless creatures with fur in the world, and I cannot clearly identify what kind of creature’s fur you found.–

–But you can use this clump of fur as a guide and use a small Myriad Search Array to search for the fur’s owner within a certain range. I think there should be results.–

Lin Yunchuan truly lived up to his reputation as the chief disciple of the Tianfeng Sect. Having dealt with many individuals, his methods were also ingenious, thinking of using a Myriad Search Array to find things.

For a fledgling like Meng Yingxing, there was still so much to learn.

Xiu Qingcheng decided to raise Lin Yunchuan’s evaluation even higher.

Lin Yunchuan’s title in Xiu Qingcheng’s mind had now become ‘the somewhat smart, good-hearted loyal dog Senior Brother.’