Chapter 1350: Misty Pavilion Really Is Like a Sieve Now

The search was enormous in scale and meticulous in execution. In some places, they practically tore houses apart.

The villagers wanted to cry but had no tears. A few tried to go over and reason with the intruders, only to be pulled back by people who had seen more of the world.

Frightened and helpless, men and women, old and young, crowded together like lambs awaiting slaughter...

Something was clearly wrong in the village.

After waiting this long without seeing the movement they should have seen, the three Sacred Venerables feared an accident had already occurred.

Standing atop his mountain, Yuan Se drew in a deep breath, then suddenly flashed away and descended from the sky into the village.

On the other two peaks, Mu Lianze and Zhangsun Mi saw his reaction and followed one after another, personally descending into the settlement as well.

The villagers had no idea who the three men were, but they could see that the group wreaking havoc through the village reacted to them like mice seeing cats. Their fear was unmistakable. Even ordinary people could tell at a glance that truly important figures had arrived.

The three Sacred Venerables swept their eyes across the village.

Yuan Se asked, "Where's Huo Kong?"

"At the suspicious target's residence," someone answered, then led the three over.

The village paths were difficult, but beneath the feet of the three Sacred Venerables, they might as well have been level ground. They went directly to the schoolhouse.

The moment they entered the thatched courtyard, they saw not only the searchers but also an old man with yellow hair crawling on his knees, his mouth and nose nearly pressed against the earth as he sniffed the ground.

When the three Sacred Venerables arrived, everyone moved to salute. Even the yellow-haired old man tried to rise.

Huo Kong raised a hand to stop them. "All of you, keep doing your work!"

Everyone could only return to what they were doing.

Huo Kong personally went over to receive the three, cupped his hands, and especially faced his own master, Yuan Se. "Master!"

Yuan Se looked left and right. "What's the situation?"

Huo Kong's expression was grave. "Judging from the signs we've gathered from every side, Misty Pavilion's earlier identification was correct. The target truly was here. The village peddler originally traveled outside doing business and only returned occasionally. Not long after the Zhao imperial court fell, he came back here, saying his legs were no longer convenient and he wasn't suited to traveling everywhere to make a living."

"That peddler should be Zhuge Chi. This village should be a retreat Zhuge Chi planned in advance because he knew he had violated the prohibitions and might one day need somewhere to hide."

"The schoolteacher who maintained close contact with the peddler should be Hai Wuji, former Emperor of Zhao, hiding here beneath the identity of a village teacher."

"The schoolteacher had always existed in this village, and the villagers all knew him. Hai Wuji was occupied with affairs of state in the past and could not possibly have remained here the entire time, so the earlier schoolteacher was probably genuine. But judging from some of the villagers' accounts, the teacher's temperament changed later. He became less close to everyone. The timing of that change also came after Zhao's fall. From this, we can infer that the earlier teacher was real, while the later one was an impostor, with Hai Wuji taking his place."

Mu Lianze snorted. "These scheming rats truly know how to play their games. They'll use any method available. They even prepared a substitute in a mountain ditch like this long in advance."

Yuan Se, however, stared at Huo Kong with his usual smiling expression. "Now you can analyze everything neatly enough. Where were you earlier, when all these problems needed noticing?"

Huo Kong hurriedly cupped his hands. "Misty Pavilion was not under this disciple's control before. After this disciple took over, one matter after another erupted. I had not yet had time to sort through this affair."

There was some suspicion of pushing responsibility onto his predecessor in those words.

Then again, he was not actually wrong. The matter could hardly be blamed on him. With so many things happening beneath Heaven, how could he personally attend to everything within such a short period?

Seeing that Yuan Se said nothing further, Huo Kong added, "Judging from the arrangements here, Zhuge Chi knew he had committed a forbidden act and long ago made meticulous preparations for a way out. The concealment was extremely well designed. Unless matters reached this point, it truly would have been difficult for those investigating earlier to notice anything unusual."

Yuan Se said, "What exactly are you trying to tell me with all this? Where are the people? Where are they?"

Huo Kong looked around. "We're still searching, but judging from the situation, there's an eighty or ninety percent chance they escaped before we moved. Based on the villagers' statements, we still cannot determine whether they left yesterday or today. Nor do we know whether the peddler captured earlier entered the village to warn them. The final conclusion still needs confirmation."

"They escaped!" Zhangsun Mi gave two cold, eerie chuckles, a murderous chill flashing in his eyes.

The smile disappeared from Yuan Se's perpetually smiling face. His cold gaze swept around them.

Mu Lianze suddenly lifted his chin toward the yellow-haired old man crawling on the ground. "What is he doing?"

Huo Kong explained, "He's one of Misty Pavilion's experts in examining traces and tracking. According to his judgment, the targets most likely left yesterday. His sense of smell is extraordinary. He believes the scent remaining here wasn't left today."

"Because so much time has passed, the targets' scent in the air has mostly dispersed and is difficult to distinguish. The smell where their feet pressed into muddy ground, however, does not dissipate as quickly, and traces can still be followed."

"He has already sniffed through the entire village. In the end, he concluded that the strongest residual scent remains here and suspects this was still the last place the targets appeared. He's making a final confirmation now."

As Huo Kong spoke, the yellow-haired old man suddenly climbed to his feet and walked to the irrigation channel beside the peach tree. He crouched there again, staring at something in the water. Then he broke off a twig and stirred the channel twice.

It looked as though he had discovered something.

The others exchanged glances and walked over.

Once they were near, Huo Kong asked, "Old Huang, how is it?"

The yellow-haired old man turned.

Seeing all three Sacred Venerables present, he quickly rose to salute.

Yuan Se waved with a smile. "No need to be nervous. The matter comes first. Anyone can tell you're conscientious in your work. Good, good. Judging from your expression, have you discovered something?"

The old man had been somewhat nervous, but once the subject turned to his specialty, he immediately relaxed. He moved aside and pointed toward the irrigation channel. "Sacred Venerables, please look."

They peered into the channel but saw nothing particularly remarkable, only several sets of footprints pressed into the mud beneath the water.

Yuan Se asked, "What does that tell us?"

The old man said, "The targets should have entered the water here and used the irrigation channel as cover. From here, the channel leads into the small stream outside the village, which they likely used to escape by water."

"I just left traces in the mud underwater myself and tested them. Judging from how the current carries sediment that gradually fills in footprints, the water here may sometimes move faster and sometimes slower, but this is a minor tributary, and it has not rained here in the past two days. The current therefore should not have been especially swift."

"From the footprints left by the targets, we can infer that they did not leave today. They left yesterday."

"If they left yesterday, why would they sneak away through an irrigation channel?"

"Taking all the signs together, we can reach a final conclusion: the targets fled only after discovering they had been found. They learned they were under surveillance, and only then did they use this place to escape."

Yuan Se nodded repeatedly. "Good, good. You truly deserve to be called a tracking expert. A talent indeed. In your judgment, did someone on our side warn them, or did they detect something themselves and flee?"

Someone on our side warned them?

The question made Huo Kong's heart jump.

The yellow-haired old man replied, "That cannot yet be determined. But we can check whether any unusual outsiders entered the village yesterday. If the targets only fled after they came under surveillance, then if someone warned them, the person giving the warning clearly did not know their location beforehand."

"In other words, the two sides had no established method of communication. Whoever warned them would therefore have needed to send someone to make direct contact."

"If we can rule that possibility out, then we can also rule out the possibility that someone inside warned them."

Mu Lianze and Zhangsun Mi both nodded slightly after hearing this.

Yuan Se looked openly impressed. "Good, good. You really are a tracking expert. One man like you is worth all these useless people searching together. You've clarified the entire matter by yourself. A real talent. Excellent! What post do you currently hold in Misty Pavilion?"

The yellow-haired old man cupped his hands. "Sacred Venerable, I'm merely attached to the Secret Investigation Office and take assignments as needed."

"Attached?" Yuan Se was slightly surprised.

In other words, the man held no real office. No wonder Yuan Se had never heard of him.

He turned to Huo Kong. "I think he's more than qualified to serve as a deacon in the Secret Investigation Office."

Huo Kong bowed slightly. "Yes. Once we return, I'll arrange the transfer and appointment."

Mu Lianze and Zhangsun Mi had no objection. The yellow-haired old man's ability had impressed both of them as well.

The old man himself was stunned by the unexpected turn, then overjoyed. A single sentence from Yuan Se had surpassed a lifetime of struggling through personnel politics. In the blink of an eye, he had become a deacon presiding over a branch of Misty Pavilion. How could he not be delighted?

He cupped his hands excitedly. "Thank you for your favor, Sacred Venerable!"

"People with real ability should be put to use." Yuan Se waved a hand, then amiably patted him on the shoulder and signaled for him to withdraw.

After staring at the footprints in the water for a while, Yuan Se turned back toward Huo Kong. "Why are you still standing here? He already explained everything clearly and even laid out the method of investigation for you. Do I still need to teach you how to proceed? I think you're not even as good as Ding Wei. If there's a traitor inside, dig him out for me!"

"Yes!" A fine sheen of sweat appeared on Huo Kong's face as he bowed and left.

After finally tracking the targets down, they had escaped?

The three Sacred Venerables were in no pleasant mood.

They all knew the snake had been alerted by the grass being struck. Once the targets had fled into the vastness beneath Heaven, finding them again would be difficult.

The search outside continued. There was no possibility they would give up easily.

The three Sacred Venerables entered the schoolhouse and looked around.

Before long, Huo Kong came in, his expression somewhat ugly. He approached the three and cupped his hands. "Master, we've confirmed that outsiders did enter the village yesterday. A husband and wife who made a living doing repair work came through, and they had a child around two or three years old with them. According to the villagers, when that couple appeared, the village peddler was still here, and the schoolteacher was still teaching classes. One point can be confirmed: the targets disappeared only after that couple arrived. We still can't determine the exact interval in which they vanished."

Yuan Se raised his brows and stared at him. An unusually cold light flashed in his eyes.

Huo Kong's heart tightened.

He knew as well that, based on what Old Huang had just explained, the reverse inference was almost unavoidable.

There really was a traitor inside Misty Pavilion who had warned the targets!

Someone inside Misty Pavilion had helped a Nascent Soul cultivator escape. What did that mean?

Helping a Nascent Soul cultivator flee... what exactly were they trying to do?

The thought alone was chilling.

Mu Lianze laughed. "Now this is interesting. Yesterday a husband and wife making a living from repairs appeared to warn them. Today another peddler appears. Misty Pavilion really is like a sieve now, leaking air everywhere. What secrets are left at all?"

[End of Chapter 1350]