Chapter 93: Her Endless Vigil

“I will do my utmost.”

Meng Yingxing finished politely, then prepared to begin his investigation.

Upon hearing this, Xu Jie immediately instructed a male servant at the door to take Meng Yingxing to his daughter Xu Yuting’s room, hoping for some clues.

After Meng Yingxing had left for a while, Xu Jie’s amiable smile immediately vanished.

“Master, if even the Tianfeng Sect can’t find Yuting… what then shall we do?!”

Mrs. Xu continued to sob, clutching Xu Jie’s hand, truly appearing to be worried about her daughter’s condition.

Soon, Mrs. Xu’s sobs ceased, and her tone abruptly became fierce and wolfish.

“Who exactly! Dares to touch my daughter! Besides us, no one in this vicinity…” She was cut off by Xu Jie waving his hand.

“If that young Tianfeng Sect lad can find Yuting’s whereabouts, that would naturally be for the best.”

“If he can’t find her, we’ll have to think of another method.”

“But if he uncovers something he shouldn’t, then don’t blame us for being ruthless.”

“The Tianfeng Sect actually sent such a low-ranked young lad; it makes things convenient for me,” Xu Jie muttered darkly to himself, seemingly harboring plans unknown to Meng Yingxing.

After he finished speaking, he took a sip of tea, and then a knock sounded on the door again.

“Enter.”

Xu Jie said faintly. A white-robed man walked in from outside and knelt before Xu Jie.

“Master, we have located the demon and the runaway woman! But the demon is too agile; it will take us some more time to catch them.”

“Hurry up and pursue them! Try to be discreet and don’t attract the attention of that Tianfeng Sect boy.”

At this, Xu Jie frowned.

What should have been a sudden incident that could be resolved in a few days had actually dragged on until now! What a bunch of good-for-nothings!

Although Xu Jie was dissatisfied, he was also very clear that with his own strength, he could only assemble such a barely passable force within the Xu family.

Ultimately, they were just ordinary cultivators probing the dangerous edges.

“Yes!”

The white-robed man hastily agreed and immediately left.

Meanwhile, Meng Yingxing had also arrived at Xu Yuting’s room, led by a servant.

The carved door was tightly shut. Meng Yingxing stood before it but hesitated to open it.

Xiu Qingcheng could sense that Meng Yingxing was feeling pressured.

“What, feeling overwhelmed by the expectations of those two Xu family members?” Xiu Qingcheng asked softly.

Meng Yingxing pursed his lips and nodded slightly.

‘After all, the one who disappeared is their beloved daughter, born late in their lives. They must also hope that I can find her…’

With things as they were, Xiu Qingcheng didn’t offer much comfort. Sometimes, having pressure was actually a good thing.

“Then do your utmost and give it your all.”

“But I must warn you, this Xu family probably isn’t a good place. I’m not only uncomfortable staying here, but I also feel a chill down my spine!”

‘Not a good place, huh…’

Meng Yingxing pondered for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll be more careful, Master.”

As his voice faded, Meng Yingxing pushed open the carved door before him.

Stepping into the girl’s boudoir, Meng Yingxing’s first sensation was a faint, elegant fragrance. He wasn’t sure if it was the scent of various rouges and cosmetics.

Surprisingly, the room was not empty.

Meng Yingxing saw a very young girl standing in the room, he didn’t know what she was doing.

The girl heard the sound at the door and immediately came forward to greet Meng Yingxing.

“Are you the master from the Tianfeng Sect? Old Master Xu has already had me waiting here for a long time!”

The girl was about nine or ten years old, with a slight baby fat on her small face and a pair of large, blinking eyes, looking very cute.

“Little sister, who are you?”

Meng Yingxing tried to soften his voice as much as possible.

“Disciple, why has your voice become so gentle? You’re not falling for this little girl, are you?

I must warn you, this is a death sentence!”

Xiu Qingcheng was once again making a fuss, jumping to conclusions.

“Master, you’re joking again.”

Meng Yingxing was already immune to his master’s wild remarks.

“I am Young Miss’s personal maid. My name is Xu Xiaoxiao,” Xu Xiaoxiao introduced herself to Meng Yingxing clearly and gracefully.

“Huh? Did I hear that right? Isn’t the Xu family’s Young Miss seventeen or eighteen? Yet she needs such a young maid to take care of her? What’s wrong with that?”

Xiu Qingcheng was greatly surprised. ‘Could the Xu family’s Young Miss be some utterly useless individual whose self-care abilities are even worse than a ten-year-old girl’s?’

However, on second thought, the Xu family’s elderly couple had a daughter late in life and spoiled her excessively, so Young Miss Xu being such an utterly useless individual seemed reasonable.

“Old Master Xu specifically instructed me to wait here. Master, if you have any questions, you can ask me.”

Xu Xiaoxiao’s demeanor was neither subservient nor arrogant, which sparked a bit of pity in Meng Yingxing and Xiu Qingcheng’s hearts.

“She feels more well-behaved than you,” Xiu Qingcheng said.

‘Master is always like this, she likes to compare other people’s children to her own.’

“Impossible, I’m definitely more well-behaved than her.”

Meng Yingxing’s competitive spirit was strangely aroused by Xiu Qingcheng.

“No one listens to you more than I do, Master.”

“Absolutely no one.”

Xiu Qingcheng chuckled, “Yes, yes, yes, you’re Master’s most well-behaved disciple.”

‘Raising a disciple is indeed interesting, isn’t it?’

Immediately after, Meng Yingxing meticulously searched Xu Yuting’s room while asking Xu Xiaoxiao some relevant questions.

Xu Xiaoxiao answered fluently after thinking for a moment.

“You’ve looked around several times; have you found anything special?” Xiu Qingcheng couldn’t help but ask.

“No, I’ve searched with both my spiritual energy and my eyes. There’s nothing suspicious in the room.”

“And Xu Xiaoxiao also said that Xu Yuting showed no strange behavior before her disappearance. She went out and disappeared three days ago.”

Meng Yingxing summarized the available information and verified it with Xiu Qingcheng.

Meng Yingxing looked at Xu Xiaoxiao and asked her another question.

“Why did your young miss go out that day?”

Xu Xiaoxiao pursed her lips and thought for a moment, then said, “Young Miss suddenly said that day… she was going to see Miss He Xueluo, and then she left.”

He Xueluo…

Xiu Qingcheng and Meng Yingxing hadn’t expected to hear that name again here.

“Is your young miss very familiar with He Xueluo?”

Xu Xiaoxiao shook her head. “Not familiar. Young Miss has always treated Miss He Xueluo as a joke, making fun of her whenever she had the chance.”

“But Master, I’ll tell you a secret: I actually admire Miss He Xueluo for being able to wait for the person she likes for so long.”

“This little girl…”

Meng Yingxing smiled.

“Now we have a clue. Are you going to look for He Xueluo? Although I don’t think the Xu family would have missed this clue,” Xiu Qingcheng said casually.

“Let’s go and see,” Meng Yingxing decided.

It was still early; they both knew where He Xueluo was.

He Xueluo was still sitting at the ferry, under the withered tree, gazing at the distant river.

The river flowed gently, leaving no trace, yet it reflected the myriad human emotions on its banks—the joys and sorrows of separation and reunion.

He Xueluo’s lone reflection swayed on the water, but a second later, a young man’s reflection also appeared in the water.

“Miss He.”

Meng Yingxing stood beside He Xueluo, tentatively calling her name.

Although the other party was much older than him, Meng Yingxing was still willing to address her as ‘Miss.’

He Xueluo seemed to turn her head slowly, looking at the young man whom she didn’t recognize.

“Little brother, you know me?”

He Xueluo’s voice was very soft, weak as if she were dying.

“…I’ve heard of you.”

Meng Yingxing remained silent.

“Is there something you need me for?” He Xueluo was very calm, calm as if she were dying.

“Young Miss Xu went missing a few days ago. I heard that before she disappeared, she came to look for you. Did you see her then?”

Meng Yingxing went straight to the point.

He Xueluo’s lips curled into a smile, so pale, pale as if she were dying.

“Little brother, so you’ve also come to question me, just like the Xu family?”

Meng Yingxing looked at the hilt of his sword behind him, even exchanging a silent glance with Xiu Qingcheng.

As Xiu Qingcheng had said, the Xu family would definitely not have overlooked such an obvious clue as He Xueluo when conducting their own investigation.

“I didn’t see her, never did.”

He Xueluo shook her head.

“That’s all I know. Little brother, instead of investigating me, why don’t you continue investigating at the Xu family?”

With a single sentence, she tried to dismiss everything, yet Meng Yingxing found it hard not to believe her words.

Because everyone knew that He Xueluo’s eyes were only for the person who had never returned, and she seemed to have no reason to lie, nor any reason for Young Miss Xu to disappear.

After He Xueluo finished speaking, she said no more, reverting to a statue of a woman waiting for her husband.

Meng Yingxing had no choice but to return to Zhongyang Town. He used his spiritual energy to investigate every corner of the town, then belatedly remembered that he should have also thoroughly searched Fenggui Ferry.

Xiu Qingcheng had only one thing to say about Meng Yingxing’s first attempt at investigation:

“Stupid disciple!”

As they returned to Fenggui Ferry along the road, dusk had already fallen.

Meng Yingxing passed by the gigantic ancient tree, but stopped his steps there.

Both he and Xiu Qingcheng saw that He Xueluo had not gone home; instead, she was standing in front of the enormous ancient tree.

Under the colossal ancient tree, He Xueluo appeared so small, so insignificant.

“Master, she’s worshipping that tree.”

Meng Yingxing frowned.

“Didn’t they say that tree is a tree of calamity? She’s still worshipping it?”

Xiu Qingcheng was also greatly surprised.

While Meng Yingxing was investigating Xu Yuting’s whereabouts in Zhongyang Town, he had also heard the legend of this giant ancient tree.

This tree had stood here since who knew when. The legend said it was incredibly sinister. Not only did no grass grow around it and no birds fly near it, but many people who passed under it in the past would fall seriously ill within two days. After that, no one dared to approach it.

Yet now, He Xueluo was piously praying beneath this ominous tree.

“If one is desperate in their heart, they will believe anything, even evil things.”

“But I think this tree is probably just a false legend. Otherwise, if He Xueluo worshipped it like this, wouldn’t she have kicked the bucket by now?”

Regarding the legend of this evil tree, Xiu Qingcheng expressed doubt, then more doubt, and then suspicion.