Chapter 715: Missing
Slowly more and more people gathered in the library. These people were the most influential people in the Ling family, alongside Hui Yue"s good friends.
As soon as they arrived at the gate, a group of servant boys led them to the library right away, but as time pa.s.sed Hui Yue could not help but frown. He was still unable to get in contact with Wan Qiao, Xiao She, and Sha Yun, and by now quite a few hours had gone by. They should have long finished their missions.
"Why do you look so worried?" Old Man Ling finally asked the question he had been wondering about for some time, and everyone within the room suddenly tensed up.
The upper echelons of the Ling family were unaware of why these people were here, and they did not know who these guests were, but they had long since given up judging them based on their ragged appearances. The way that Old Man Ling treated Hui Yue was enough to make all of them humble themselves in front of the young man.
Still, no one said anything. No one had introduced themselves or in any way broken the silence which had prevailed for a full three hours where the only sounds had come from Old Man Ling and Hui Yue drinking tea.
The Ling family members present were also puzzled about why more and more beggar-like experts were appearing in their library, and after careful investigation of these experts, they felt cold in their hearts! Almost all of them were Immortals of Creation!
It was common knowledge that at the Immortal of Creation level anyone would be more than willing to hire them as guards. They would be able to hunt stronger beasts and find rarer herbs, and in general, they were able to do many more things than normal Primordial Immortals. It was for this reason that they were in no way poor, yet here was a group of twenty people with only one Primordial Immortal, but they all looked dirt-poor, something was not right.
The friends of Hui Yue, on the other hand, were also rather surprised.
They were here undercover but for some reason, all of were being treated with great respect in one of the major families of the western region. Was this trying to get around unnoticed?
Hui Yue knew that it was a big change to their original plan as now they were no longer going to be unnoticed, but the strength and the benefits of teaming up with the Ling family were enough to make it worth it.
This stalemate of two sides who were cautious of each other lasted for a full three hours before Old Man Ling had finally opened his mouth, and as he did everyone tensed up.
"We are still missing three experts," Hui Yue said with furrowed brows. "Three women, one of whom is my wife, have not replied to me trying to contact them through the communication orb. I don"t like that it has been so long and I still have not heard anything from them."
"Did they take missions from the Gate of Retribution?" Old Man Ling asked, and Hui Yue nodded his head. "We all took an easy mission, ones that could be finished in a few hours at most."
"I see." Old Man Ling was silent for some time as he stroked his beard. Then he turned around and looked at a cultivator from the Ling family.
"Ling Fang, go to the Gate of Retribution and find out which missions these young women took. See if they finished the missions or if something happened to them on the way."
Ling Fang clearly had a very high standing within the family. He was wearing fine clothes, and his hair was neatly tied up in an elaborate bun on top of his head.
He had the air of a leader; his brows were like swords and his eyes like bottomless pits with a spark of intellect.
"Will do," he said as he cupped his hands to Hui Yue. "Please instruct me with their names and their appearances," he asked politely, yet although he was polite, he was not too humble.
Hui Yue nodded his head in approval. His demeanor was in no way insulting, but at the same time, it did not throw away the Ling family’s face.
Not only did Hui Yue nod his head in approval, but Old Man Ling was also pleased with his descendant"s display of respect in a restrained manner. It was obvious that he was incredibly intelligent. It was because of this he had managed to climb the ranks within the Ling family although he was fairly young.
"Their names are Wan Qiao, Xiao She, and Sha Yun. Two of them are snake women while the third is in her human form, but her real form is that of a One-horned Jasmine Eagle."
"I don"t know exactly which missions they took I am afraid," Hui Yue apologized but Ling Fang just nodded his head. "I will go get some information about these three women," he said seriously as he bowed to the entire room and left the Ling mansion.
Silence once more descended onto the room as no one dared to speak. They all waited for either Hui Yue or Old Man Ling to take the initiative to talk, but the two were just looking at one another unsure of where to start.
Finally, they sighed at the exact same time causing a slight chuckle to escape their lips, "You first." Hui Yue said as he spread out his arms.
"I will start with introducing you then. Everyone, this is Pei Yue. He might look shabby, but he is a hidden dragon."
"Pei Yue is a well-known figure in our galaxy, and I am sure you have all heard about him. He has come here to fight the Blood Demons, and obviously, everyone knows the havoc and destruction the Blood Demons have been wrecking around this area and especially just the other day during their attack on this world."
"He has healed Little Bing"er in return for the Ling family’s a.s.sistance with two things. One is to help him in his quest to exterminate the Blood Demons, and the other is to find the Western Tiger."
The faces of everyone alternated between elation and shock. Some showed displeasure while others seemed to be full of excitement.
"Do not worry," Hui Yue took over while Old Man Ling was quiet. "I will not send you to your deaths. I will be fighting the blood demons, but I will only request you defend your homes. I will not ask for you to walk into battle with me."
Although Hui Yue wanted the a.s.sistance of the Ling family, what he wanted from them was information. Information about where the Western Tiger was. Information about where the attacks from the Blood Demons were coming from. Information about which families were betraying the others for the Blood Demons. This was the kind of information he wanted from the Ling family.
Since this was the case, the worried faces turned slightly guilty as they knew that their expressions had betrayed their emotions, but at the same time they also felt relieved.
The Ling family was old and had its roots planted firmly in the western region. To go head-on against the Blood Demons would be the same as bringing the focus of the enemy right on them, and that was something they definitely could not handle.
"Little Bing"er is safe?" An old man asked with relief in his voice, and Hui Yue noticed that the faces of everyone in the room from the Ling family seemed to visibly relax. Smiles broke out on their lips, and their shoulders became less tense.
Hui Yue would have thought that some of them would show less relief than others, but all of them were so relieved that he was greatly surprised. It seemed as if this young lady Bing"er was a very important person to the Ling family, not just Old Man Ling"s favorite grandchild.
Old Man Ling noticed that Hui Yue was observing them, but he also knew that this young man had no enmity with their family, if anything he started to see his family as comrades, therefore there was no harm in letting him know the truth.
"Little Bing"er is our prized genius," he explained, and as soon as Old Man Ling opened his mouth many of the others from the Ling family turned pale. It was clear that they were not keen on letting any outsiders know about this. But after thinking it through and knowing that the one who had saved her was Hui Yue, they dared not say anything.
"Little Bing"er has a talent unlike any we have ever seen in our family," Old Man Ling said with great pride in his voice.
"She was able to become an Immortal of Creation after only five hundred years, and that speed is really outstanding for any cultivator even in the western region."
"Her dream is to join one of the major sects, and with her current performance it is highly likely that she will be able to."
"She really wanted to join the Celestial Sword Sect, although we are all aware that she can only join if she becomes a wife of one of the direct descendants. But she wishes to enter the strongest of all sects, and since Diyu is special, the best choice is the Celestial Sword Sect."
"Our family has been collecting her dowry for the last fifty years, and we will be looking for a matchmaker soon," he said as he looked expectantly at Hui Yue who felt a headache coming his way.
"I see," he said, trying not to say too much. He really did not want to be made into a matchmaker, but he quickly understood that he had nowhere to hide. Old Man Ling had already decided that he should be the right person to introduce Little Bing"er to the Celestial Sword Sect.
"Well, if things work out on our adventure here in the Western Region then your miss is welcome to follow us back to the Celestial Sword Sect," Hui Yue said. "I will not be able to find a potential husband for her, but I will be able to allow her to reside within the sect and use the sect resources as any other esteemed guest could."
Hearing this, everyone"s faces lit up. Some of them looked as if they were filled with disbelief, while others were relieved, and yet some were just genuinely happy.
"Our family is quite renown in the western region, but if we are to be compared to the major sects then we are but an ant that could be easily removed with just a handful of dao protectors."
Hui Yue nodded his head. He knew how strong Pei Ziqi was, and a group of experts with her strength could easily trample upon a family such as the Ling family.
It had been a rollercoaster of emotions for the Ling family members in the room. They had been against telling things to this Hui Yue and his friends, but every time they had been against it, Old Man Ling managed to pull out benefits for their family from this young man.
Just as they were about to continue their discussion Ling Fang burst into the room again, his eyes were slightly panicked, and his previously stoic expression was completely gone.
"Missing!" he said while gasping for air, "They’ve gone missing!"
"They never arrived at the mission destination to fulfill it, so somehow they disappeared on their way from the Gates of Retribution to the mission’s destination."
"I asked around, but no one had seen two snake women nor noticed Wan Qiao, not even when I described the ragged clothes they were wearing. Usually one would remember someone who looks like a beggar, no offense."