Chapter 41: Where Did He Go?

"Me? In front of all you senior brothers and sisters, I wouldn’t dare make any bold claims!"

Yang Shu waved his hands hastily after hearing this.

"No, we just want to hear your speculation. It’ll give us a reference. Don’t worry, you can say anything."

Yan Chunyu offered some reassurance to Yang Shu.

"Then I’ll speak?"

"Feel free to speak!"

Only then did Yang Shu grit his teeth.

"Alright. To be honest... I’ve long felt that Jiang Zhuo has always had a problem with our Profound Origin Sect.

He’s spread word more than once about some of the Profound Origin Sect’s darker aspects—things like infighting, or being rigid and old-fashioned.

Of course, that’s not what I think. This is all what he said!

These past few days, I’ve been wondering if maybe he didn’t want to stay in the Profound Origin Sect anymore and wanted to go to the Celestial Blade Sect..."

He trailed off, his words stopping abruptly.

But everyone understood what Yang Shu meant.

He simply didn’t want to work here anymore and wanted to find a position at the Celestial Blade Sect.

However, Jiang Xu felt something was off.

Although the Sect suspected the Celestial Blade Sect might be up to something this time...

...Jiang Xu didn’t really think the Celestial Blade Sect would have recruited those three Outer Disciples.

A Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer cultivation was acceptable for a Loose Cultivator, but for a Golden Core Sect, it was nothing.

’Their own Sect is full of them, so why would they recruit from the outside?’

’Besides, that person was a disciple of another Sect.’

’Even if they were Loose Cultivators, other Sects wouldn’t want them.’

’Even someone at Qi Cultivation Late Stage, if their background wasn’t thoroughly known, other Sects wouldn’t dare accept them.’

’Who knows if they’re some kind of spy or undercover agent?’

But even though Jiang Xu thought this, he had no intention of voicing his thoughts.

He had long since decided that this time, he was just there to make up the numbers. He didn’t need to show off; he just hoped everyone would treat him like he was invisible.

’The more you talk, the more you risk mistakes. The bird that sticks its head out gets shot.’

At this moment, Jiang Xu used his Spiritual Eye Technique to glance at Shan Lanlan, but he found nothing unusual about her.

So, he also started to eat.

The message was clear: ’I’ve started eating. You all carry on with your conversation, don’t mind me.’

After hearing Yang Shu’s words, although Yan Chunyu felt that something was off, she still deeply etched the name "Celestial Blade Sect" into her mind.

"Does anyone have any thoughts?" Yan Chunyu asked, her gaze sweeping across the banquet.

"..."

Dead silence.

Shan Lanlan and Jiang Xu were focused on eating.

Ding Shiping was just as he had been before.

Yan Chunyu gently touched her forehead, then turned her gaze to Zong Ziqi, who appeared to be deep in thought.

"Junior Brother Zong, do you have an opinion? Feel free to share it for everyone to consider."

"Huh?"

Zong Ziqi startled awake.

"Ah, my apologies. I was too sleepy just now and dozed off for a bit. Senior Sister Yan, what were you just saying?"

"You... COUGH COUGH!"

Yan Chunyu fought back the urge to curse, her expression instantly turning cold.

"I was asking your opinion on the matter of the missing disciples!"

"Oh, oh! My opinion is the same as Fellow Daoist Jiang’s!"

Zong Ziqi replied.

"Eh?"

Jiang Xu, not expecting the topic to turn to him, looked up blankly, his mouth stuffed full. Two grains of rice even fell from the corner of his lips.

The moment Yan Chunyu saw Jiang Xu’s appearance, all the anger that filled her chest instantly dissipated.

She just felt like life was meaningless.

’I must have been out of my mind to lead a team like this!’

Yang Shu asked cautiously:

"Senior Sister, this banquet..."

"I’m not eating! I’m already full from anger!"

"Leader, if you’re not going to eat, can I have your portion?"

Shan Lanlan gazed expectantly at Yan Chunyu.

"..."

...

In the end, Shan Lanlan did get to eat two portions of Spiritual Food, and was so stuffed she couldn’t stop hiccuping.

It was unclear when Ding Shiping had finished his Spiritual Food.

Everyone left the banquet and was shown to their prepared rooms by Yang Shu.

When Jiang Xu arrived in his room, the first thing he did was to start checking for any problems.

Things like listening Talismans, secret passages, hidden mechanisms, concealed doors, and the like.

After confirming there was nothing out of the ordinary, he began to set up some small contraptions of his own inside the room.

For example, the common and practical tricks: placing a hair, scattering some fine dust in key locations, and rigging small bells on the door and windows.

Only after doing all this did Jiang Xu breathe a sigh of relief.

In truth, Jiang Xu always felt a sense of danger from that Yang Shu.

It wasn’t just the pressure from his Cultivation, but also a kind of intuition.

Jiang Xu was actually a little regretful.

’It’s a shame I don’t have a Warning Talisman, or I wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble. A Warning Talisman can even alert you to a Divine Sense scan, which is much better than these little tricks I’m setting up. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to make one, and I don’t have enough Spirit Stones to buy one.’

Right now, Jiang Xu actually had two choices.

The first was to do nothing, to respond to all changes by remaining unchanged. He could stay in his room for the night, observe the situation, and wait until tomorrow to decide anything.

The second was to sneak out and see if there were any changes in the surroundings, or if someone was secretly up to something in the dark.

Their arrival was bound to get on someone’s nerves.

Whether it was people inside the mining area or outside it.

Anyone connected to the disappearance of the three Outer Disciples would take advantage of this time to make some small moves.

Therefore, choosing the second option might allow him to see some useful information.

But there was also the risk of being discovered, which would arouse suspicion.

Both choices had their pros and cons.

After analyzing for a long time, Jiang Xu decided to sneak out and take a look.

’Hiding in my room is ultimately the inferior strategy.’

’If I do that, I won’t even notice danger when it arrives. That’s no different from being a turtle hiding in its shell.’

Having decided what to do, Jiang Xu first cast the Concealing Breath Spell, Light Body Spell, and Spiritual Eye Technique on himself. Then, he pushed the door open just a crack and peered outside.

Seeing no one outside, he slipped out of the room quietly, tapped the balls of his feet, and drifted away like a gentle breeze.

Using the Spiritual Eye Technique, Jiang Xu could see through obstacles to perceive the Magical Power fluctuations of people inside the rooms, thereby knowing their Cultivation Realms.

Besides, Zong Ziqi’s Cultivation had now reached the Body Refining Early Stage. A Body Cultivator uses Spiritual Qi to strengthen their own flesh and blood.

A Skilled Level Spiritual Eye Technique might not be able to distinguish it, but a Master Level Spiritual Eye Technique could do so easily.

However, even a Master Level Spiritual Eye Technique couldn’t be too far from the target, and if there were too many obstacles in the way, it would also be difficult to discern anything.

Jiang Xu checked each house one by one, probing the Cultivation of the person inside.

’Three at Qi Cultivation Middle Stage, one at Body Refining Early Stage, four at Qi Cultivation Third Layer, and a whole bunch at Qi Cultivation First and Second Layers...’

Jiang Xu scanned the area and was suddenly horrified.

’Where did Steward Yang go?!’

In the night, the silhouette of the mountain grew even more indistinct, like a giant specter wandering in the darkness.

The excavated ore cast eerie shadows in the moonlight, resembling a pack of slumbering demons.

The more Jiang Xu looked, the more terrifying it all seemed.

’Could it be... this place really is a trap?!’