Chapter 97: A Talking Beast and Unmasking the Truth

“Senior Brother Lin? Senior Brother Lin?”

Lin Yunchuan’s end suddenly went silent after a bout of noise. Meng Yingxing called out a couple more times but received no further reply from Lin Yunchuan.

“Something might have happened; it’s fine.”

Xiu Qingcheng wasn’t particularly worried about what happened to the loyal dog Senior Brother. No matter how careless he might be, he was still the chief disciple of the Tianfeng Sect. It was better to worry about her own disciple than about him.

Although it felt a little embarrassing to respond to Xiu Qingcheng’s heartless words, Meng Yingxing likewise wasn’t worried that anything would happen to Lin Yunchuan. If the chief disciple of the Tianfeng Sect could get into trouble, then a minor character like him would be done for.

“Did you remember the incantation for that search spell loyal dog Senior Brother mentioned, Disciple?” Xiu Qingcheng asked Meng Yingxing. “If you didn’t, I can tell you again.”

She never got into fights, and she believed one of her few strengths was a good memory. She had instantly memorized the incantation loyal dog Senior Brother had recited.

Meng Yingxing nodded, indicating he remembered.

“No, you don’t remember.” Xiu Qingcheng, in human form, extended her slender, jade-like finger and tapped Meng Yingxing’s forehead. “You need Master to recite it for you again.”

‘Master just needs to provide help when the disciple needs it.’

‘If there’s no such opportunity, then create one! My fate is determined by me, not by heaven!’

Meng Yingxing paused, then smiled in a relaxed manner.

“Please, Master, instruct me further.”

As a disciple, his main priority was simply to pamper her.

After Xiu Qingcheng recited the incantation again, Meng Yingxing formally began to cast the spell.

He first lightly held the two clumps of fur, which had appeared from who knows when, in the palm of his right hand.

Then, with his right index finger, he dabbed some of the tea that had been on the table yesterday and, following Lin Yunchuan’s instructions, used this bit of tea to draw a simple rune in the palm of his other hand.

Next, Meng Yingxing chanted the incantation, his right hand still lightly gripping the fur, and tapped on his other knuckles in a specific sequence.

“Seek!”

With a soft cry from Meng Yingxing, spiritual energy surged in his hand gripping the fur. The spiritual energy, in a trance, gained a life of its own and struggled out of Meng Yingxing’s hand, falling to the ground.

The spiritual energy continuously stretched and lengthened, forming a path of light visible only to Meng Yingxing, the caster, guiding him to the location of the fur’s owner.

“How is it, do you see anything?”

Xiu Qingcheng asked Meng Yingxing curiously from the side. She couldn’t see anything produced by the spell, but she could feel a powerful spiritual energy fluctuation.

“There’s a blue line of spiritual energy.”

Meng Yingxing’s gaze moved from his palm, all the way to outside the door.

“This line extends outside.”

Xiu Qingcheng hushed, then let out a gasp of admiration.

“This spell loyal dog Senior Brother taught is truly amazing. Is this the so-called mission guideline? Can your line automatically navigate?”

‘Master is speaking in riddles again.’ Meng Yingxing glanced at Xiu Qingcheng, who was talking strangely.

Meng Yingxing was quite curious about what kind of life his master lived in her original world.

“Master, let’s follow this line and see.”

Saying this, Meng Yingxing stood up and pushed the door open, running out to follow the blue line of spiritual energy. Xiu Qingcheng immediately transformed into her sword form and was sheathed behind Meng Yingxing, letting Meng Yingxing carry her towards the place indicated by the ‘mission guideline.’

‘Hmm, isn’t this automatic navigation right here?’

Although Meng Yingxing was the one doing the navigating, one could say it was automatic for Xiu Qingcheng, who was in Meng Yingxing’s scabbard!

Before Meng Yingxing could rush out of the Xu family compound, he bumped into Xu Jie, who was walking with several servants in the main courtyard.

Seeing his hurried pace, Xu Jie asked:

“Young Hero Meng, in such a hurry, have you made any new discoveries?”

Meng Yingxing didn’t hide anything this time. After stopping, he nodded.

“Indeed, I have made a discovery. The specific situation can be discussed after I return.”

“Excellent!”

Xu Jie assumed Meng Yingxing had news of his daughter, and a smile immediately broke out on his face.

He raised his hand and then shouted another remark to Meng Yingxing.

“I didn’t tell Young Hero before, but I am still sending my people to continue searching for my daughter’s whereabouts. If Young Hero encounters them along the way, don’t be too surprised.”

“If Young Hero encounters the harmful demonic beast first, you must immediately slay it; it cannot be allowed to harm the women in this vicinity any longer!”

Xu Jie spoke righteously, and Meng Yingxing nodded as if taking it in, then continued to follow the spiritual energy-guided line and departed.

‘Is Xu Jie really that certain the culprit is a demonic beast? Isn’t he a bit too confident?’

There was a feeling that he was trying to confuse them.

Xiu Qingcheng let out a soft snort. She was increasingly convinced that this Old Master Xu was definitely not honest behind the scenes.

Sometimes, the more one spoke, the easier it was to reveal flaws.

“Let’s find the owner of this fur first.”

Meng Yingxing looked at the guide line on the ground, wondering where it was taking him.

“Master, let’s move a little faster!”

Saying this, Meng Yingxing made a sword gesture with his hand, and the Ting Tian Sword flew out of its scabbard. After several months of practice, Meng Yingxing was very skilled in sword-riding and rarely felt disrespectful to his immortal master by stepping on her.

“Yes, yes, yes, remember to give me some hard-earned wages, Master.”

Xiu Qingcheng worked without complaint, quietly serving as Meng Yingxing’s mount.

‘Could other masters do something like being a mount for their disciple?!’

Perhaps because the fur acted as an anchor, the search range of this spell was clearly further than Meng Yingxing had imagined.

Following the spell’s guide line, he flew out of Zhongyang Town on his sword, starting from the Xu family.

Outside Zhongyang Town, there was a field of scattered snow.

At this time, a thin mist hung in the air, blurring Meng Yingxing’s vision when trying to scout the surroundings.

“Disciple, look over there!”

Ultimately, it was Xiu Qingcheng who first noticed the anomaly in their surroundings. She tilted the Ting Tian Sword’s blade, indicating Meng Yingxing to look in the direction the sword was tilting.

Meng Yingxing stood on the sword and looked closely. Not far away, several white-robed figures were besieging a gigantic demonic beast, and behind the beast, a woman was squatting, her fate unknown.

Meng Yingxing saw that the direction indicated by the search spell was precisely this location.

“Master, I found it! The fur we saw must be from that demonic beast! Let’s go down!”

Meng Yingxing was about to descend, but Xiu Qingcheng had no intention of landing yet.

“Hold on, Disciple. Look at the sword techniques of those white-robed figures; do they look familiar?”

Xiu Qingcheng carried Meng Yingxing, circling in mid-air, allowing Meng Yingxing to clearly observe the movements of the group besieging the demonic beast.

Meng Yingxing scrutinized them and only felt that their movements were very familiar.

“I remember now, their sword techniques… they’re identical to those who chased Zhou Yue’er!”

Meng Yingxing’s heart jolted.

“Indeed.”

Xiu Qingcheng nodded approvingly. “But it shouldn’t be the same group of people. Let’s go down later and act according to the situation.”

Seeing Meng Yingxing nod, Xiu Qingcheng then carried him in a dive.

At the same time, several white-robed figures were locked in a fierce, inextricable battle with the ferocious giant beast. Suddenly, a sword cry echoed from the sky, followed by a cold light that pierced through the mist, forcefully separating the white-robed figures and the gigantic demonic beast.

The cold light dissipated, and the morning mist retreated. A sword-wielding youth stood between them, straight as a sword descended from the heavens.

Meng Yingxing faced the gigantic demonic beast, seeing immense wariness and hostility towards him in its surprisingly clear demonic eyes. The giant instinctively retreated a few steps, seemingly protecting the woman behind it cautiously.

Meng Yingxing watched the giant’s movements.

‘This demonic beast’s cultivation realm is the same as yours, but it’s definitely stronger than you. Be careful.’ Xiu Qingcheng acted as a combat detector, thoughtfully reminding Meng Yingxing.

And behind Meng Yingxing, the white-robed figures’ questioning voices sounded.

“Who goes there!? State your name!”

Meng Yingxing slowly turned around, revealing his identity to them.

“Tianfeng Sect disciple Meng Yingxing.”

Hearing Meng Yingxing’s identity, the white-robed figures’ attitude suddenly underwent a significant change.

“So it’s Young Hero Meng! We’ve already heard about you from Old Master Xu!”

The white-robed figures also revealed their own identities to Meng Yingxing.

“You are Old Master Xu’s people?”

Meng Yingxing twirled the Ting Tian Sword, his brow furrowed.

“Oh-hoh—”

‘They are Old Master Xu’s subordinates, and they used the same sword techniques as the people who previously chased Zhou Yue’er for no reason. This means… the people who chased Zhou Yue’er were also Old Master Xu’s subordinates.’

‘If Meng Yingxing and Xiu Qingcheng make another irresponsible assumption: the white-robed men chased Zhou Yue’er to capture her, and Old Master Xu has been taking concubines, whose whereabouts are unknown, and women are disappearing from the mansion.’

‘All of these combined make the greatest suspect for the disappearances of women no longer some unknown demonic beast, but concretely that seemingly refined and amiable Old Master Xu Jie, who has been constantly concerned about his missing daughter.’

“Yes! We are Old Master Xu’s people!”

“We, like you, are also investigating Young Miss’s whereabouts! Now we have found that this demonic beast is the culprit behind the disappearances of women. We ask Young Hero Meng to assist us in slaying the demonic beast!”

The white-robed figures admitted again, their words as righteous as when Xu Jie had earlier advised Meng Yingxing.

“You pale bunch of fellows, you’re talking nonsense!”

Very abruptly, besides the white-robed men and Meng Yingxing, a third voice suddenly appeared.

“What do you mean I’m the culprit behind the disappearances of women! I think the real culprits are those people from your Xu family!”

As this voice spoke, it carried an angry inflection.

Meng Yingxing followed the sound and was surprised to find that the speaker was the giant beast in front of him!

“Holy cow, a demonic beast that isn’t a demon race can talk?!”

Xiu Qingcheng was greatly astonished.

Meng Yingxing also stared at the giant, utterly surprised.

The giant let out a heavy breath and roared at Meng Yingxing.

“What are you looking at? If you keep staring, believe it or not, I’ll eat you too!!! You red-eyed human!”