The next morning, Xie Liufeng temporarily left the sect.

After sending him off, Chu Xinghui was dragged away by Fang Yan to help investigate the matter of the Crimson Crane Feather.

Both of them were aware that since the name “Crimson Crane Feather” had spread, there might be hidden risks within the sect that they weren’t aware of.

Fang Yan had summoned the disciple responsible for the storage room and brought along a list of people who had entered and exited the storage room during this period.

He first checked the list.

Everything seemed normal, the reasons for entering the storage room and the actions taken were all very standard.

A very well-established system.

Fang Yan couldn’t help but feel a bit proud of his management skills.

Once he had finished his brief moment of self-pride, he collected his thoughts and shared his findings with Chu Xinghui.

Since there were no issues with the list, Chu Xinghui took out the map of the sect’s storage room, marked the area where the Crimson Crane Feather was originally kept with a pen, and asked the fellow disciples who had been guarding the warehouse during this time: “Do any of you remember anyone staying in this area?”

This section of the warehouse contained unremarkable collectibles, so few people would go there looking for anything. The disciples thought for a moment, and it seemed that only a few people had passed by this area during this period.

Chu Xinghui and Fang Yan jotted down the names of these few individuals, planning to investigate further later.

One of the disciples suddenly recalled a new name: “Oh, right, Senior Ming Xiao came by too, probably before he left for Hanshui Marsh. But… he did a full circle around the outer warehouse, so he probably wasn’t heading specifically for this area.”

Hearing a familiar name, Chu Xinghui couldn’t help but confirm: “Who?”

The disciple scratched his head and repeated: “Senior Ming Xiao.”

The storage room was filled with a pile of miscellaneous items. Sometimes, disciples, especially those who weren’t sword cultivators, would use some of the stored materials for research or teaching, as long as it didn’t deplete the stock.

Such occurrences were rare, and it wasn’t necessary to report each one or go through the entire process each time.

So, according to the permissions of personal disciples or higher, they could enter the outer layer of the storage room without needing to sign in or report it. These individuals were listed on a different roster, separate from the official entry list.

However, Ming Xiao wasn’t a frequent visitor to the warehouse, which is why the disciple remembered that Ming Xiao had entered the storage room that time.

Fang Yan realized the flaw in this and quickly pulled out another list.

There had been few such situations in the past few months, and the list showed that besides Ming Xiao, the only other name on it was Fang Yan’s own.

Regardless of whether Ming Xiao would waste time wandering aimlessly through the outer warehouse, which didn’t fit his usual character… this behavior, at this particular moment, seemed highly suspicious.

Chu Xinghui and Fang Yan exchanged glances.

Fang Yan, finally coming out of his shock, diplomatically expressed his thoughts on the matter: “It wouldn’t make much sense for Senior Ming Xiao to be the mole, right?”

Chu Xinghui agreed deeply, nodding involuntarily.

Considering Ming Xiao’s talent for social interactions, making him the mole would be quite the stretch.

However, to be cautious, Fang Yan immediately sent a message to Xue Heng, who was still at Hanshui Marsh, to inquire about Ming Xiao’s current situation: “Uncle Xue.”

“What’s the matter?” Xue Heng, receiving the message, immediately became alert, recalling the most talked-about topic lately: “…Don’t tell me that Xie Qinghe is getting married. Although I’ll be back at the sect next month, I won’t attend, even if I receive the invitation.”

Fang Yan: “…”

Alright, alright, so Xue Heng would be coming back next month.

“No… Uncle Xue, it’s not about that,” Fang Yan quickly clarified and got straight to the point: “Uncle Xue, is Senior Ming Xiao still at Hanshui Marsh?”

Xue Heng paused, a bit confused: “Ming Xiao? He told me he was coming back to the sect, hasn’t he returned yet?”

Xue Heng had largely left Ming Xiao to his own devices, and now that he thought about it… it had indeed been several days since he had last contacted his disciple.

Chu Xinghui had a bad premonition and sent a message to Ming Xiao.

No response.

In the silence, Xue Heng realized something and sent a message to his own disciple.

Still no response.

Xue Heng became serious: “I’ll take care of things here and head back immediately. You two start looking for him.”

On the other side, Xie Liufeng had quickly arrived in Yongning City.

He followed the previous address and went to the small fishing village where Senior Zheng lived.

The door to the dilapidated house wasn’t locked. It had rained coldly a couple of days ago, and the rainwater had soaked the few remaining items inside the empty house, scattering them all over the place.

It wasn’t surprising. The place was empty—no one was there.

Xie Liufeng carefully examined the traces inside the house.

Most of the things had been taken away. It seemed Senior Zheng didn’t leave suddenly, he had fled in preparation.

After checking the inside of the house, Xie Liufeng stepped outside and circled around the house.

Because of the rain a couple of days ago, the area around the house was covered in muddy water, and there were no traces left.

Xie Liufeng noticed a woman passing by with a child nearby. He approached her and politely stopped her, asking: “Excuse me, have you seen the senior, Mr. Zheng, who lives in this village?”

“The senior Mr. Zheng…” The woman didn’t react at first, but after a while, she finally understood who he meant and pointed toward the place where Xie Liufeng had just come out: “Oh, you mean Old Zheng? He’s always holed up in that broken house of his, isn’t he?”

The woman thought for a moment before adding: “Now that I think about it, it has been a while since I saw him leave the house.”

Usually, Old Zheng would go out every few days to buy some liquor or look for odd jobs, sometimes even making a scene after drinking. But for some time now, she hadn’t seen him around the village.

She began to worry that perhaps something had happened to him, and he had quietly passed away inside his house.

Although his reputation in the village wasn’t great, he was still a human being.

The woman hesitated, wondering whether she should go inside to check or report it to the village chief.

Xie Liufeng noticed her hesitation and explained: “I just went inside earlier, there’s no one in the house.”

Upon hearing his explanation, the woman relaxed a little.

It was a relief that no one had died.

Suddenly, the young boy clinging to his mother’s leg piped up: “I know! I know! He left the village a few days ago!”

That morning, the boy had been playing outside with a few other kids when they saw the old man, usually slow and lethargic, sprinting out of the village. The kids even chased after him for a while, but when they couldn’t find him, they went off to play elsewhere.

Kids had short memories, and if the subject hadn’t come up today, they likely would have forgotten all about it.

Xie Liufeng’s expression shifted slightly, and he crouched down to ask the boy where he had last seen Old Zheng.

After bidding farewell to the mother and son, Xie Liufeng followed the boy’s directions to the place where Old Zheng had been last seen.

There, he examined the area and found traces of hidden magical energy.

After a moment’s contemplation, Xie Liufeng followed the trail in the direction indicated by the traces.

As he left the village, a familiar, furtive figure appeared in the spot where he had been just moments before.

Old Zheng, realizing he was being tracked, quickly checked the direction Xie Liufeng had gone in before seizing the opportunity to run off in the opposite direction.

Old Zheng ran far beyond Yongning City, not stopping until he reached a desolate, uninhabited wilderness.

He took a moment to catch his breath, scanning his surroundings with his beady eyes to confirm no one had followed him. Satisfied, he wiped the sweat off his brow and sat down on the ground to rest.

He had barely settled when he suddenly heard someone casually ask: “Tired?”

Old Zheng, already feeling lazy, replied without thinking: “Of course I’m tired. It’s been ages since this old man has run so much. My body isn’t what it used to be.”

He immediately froze, realizing something was off. In a panic, he sprang to his feet.

And there, standing next to him, was Xie Liufeng.

Old Zheng widened his eyes in disbelief: “You… weren’t you going somewhere else?”

Xie Liufeng, equally puzzled, grinned and repeated: “Right, wasn’t I going somewhere else?”

Old Zheng’s temper flared at the tone, but he was too scared to curse. He could only watch Xie Liufeng warily.

Xie Liufeng, seemingly from nowhere, produced a long, smooth, and appropriately-sized wooden stick. He tested its weight before apologizing politely: “My apologies, Brother Zheng. I’m in a bit of a rush to get home for my wedding, so I won’t be playing hide and seek with you today.”

Without another word, he struck Old Zheng over the head with a powerful blow.

Old Zheng’s eyes went wide, but he didn’t even have time to speak before losing consciousness.

Xie Liufeng quickly grabbed a sack and some ropes, tied up Old Zheng, and dragged him away.

After all, Yue Yao’s only request was to bring him back, and how he was returned wasn’t really important.

Upon confirming Ming Xiao’s disappearance, the sect immediately sent people to search for his trail along the road from the sect to Hanshui Marsh.

Chu Xinghui also joined the search.

They combed the area for several days without any results, growing increasingly frustrated.

Luckily, Ming Xiao’s soul lamp was still functioning properly, which meant he was likely safe—for now.

On this day, they came across a valley near the road. It was a large area, so they decided to split up and search separately.

Chu Xinghui had been searching for over an hour by himself when evening began to fall.

Just as he was preparing to call it a day, a shadow dashed across his line of sight.

At first, he thought it was a monkey from the mountain, but as he focused, he realized it had a human form.

Although the aura wasn’t entirely human, the shape looked vaguely familiar… was that… Ming Xiao?

Chu Xinghui immediately grew serious and sent a message to Fang Yan before quickly chasing after the figure.

Meanwhile, Xie Liufeng, having completed his task, was heading back, passing by a seemingly ordinary valley.

As he walked, something humanoid suddenly darted across his path at an unnaturally fast speed, diving deep into the valley.

Xie Liufeng was momentarily stunned. Just as he was considering whether to investigate further, he sensed a familiar aura approaching.

He instinctively looked up toward the cliff edge.

Chu Xinghui, having chased the figure all the way to the edge of the cliff, quickly assessed the situation. Realizing it was too far to make a detour, he hesitated about whether to jump down directly.

Just then, he sensed a familiar presence below.

His eyes lit up.

He walked to the edge of the cliff and shouted: “Xie Liufeng, catch me!”

Without hesitation, he jumped straight down.

Xie Liufeng was startled, immediately throwing the sack aside, and reached out to catch him.

Chu Xinghui landed safely in his arms.

Then, Chu Xinghui quickly got out of his embrace, stole a quick kiss on his face, and instructed: “Wait for me for a while.”

He then took out his spirit sword, oriented himself, and chased after the humanoid creature, disappearing in no time.

Xie Liufeng: “…”

He hesitated and reached out to touch his face where he had been kissed.

Wait a minute, how did his Dao companion just run off?

Xie Liufeng could only follow his instructions and wait in place for a while.

Chu Xinghui moved swiftly and quickly caught up with the person, knocking them unconscious.

However, the unconscious person was difficult to move, so he ran back to find Xie Liufeng and directly extended his hand, saying: “Got any more bags?”

Xie Liufeng: “…”

He silently handed over a bag, thoughtfully providing a bundle of rope as well.

Chu Xinghui then proceeded to wrap the unconscious person up, dragging the bag back to Xie Liufeng, saying: “Let’s go, we should head back.”

Xie Liufeng glanced at the bag and the identical packing technique and couldn’t help but fall into contemplation.

It seemed that Chu Xinghui had really picked up some rather ridiculous things from him.

 

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