At this time, those martial arts students who were still wandering around in the forest had no idea that a dividing line had been drawn between their fate and Qin Wushuang’s.
After hearing those words from the Martial Saint, Qin Wushuang felt that he had seen the light. He no longer had any doubts and had a firm goal toward the path of martial arts.
With this goal in mind, Qin Wushuang became even more determined.
With his heart set on speeding home, Qin Wushuang no longer dwelled here. He guessed that, perhaps at this moment, the news of how he achieved first place had already traveled to his hometown and to his father"s ears.
When he thought there, a warm feeling traveled through his heart.
If there was something for him to worry about, it would be that warm home from the Eastwood Town.
When he thought there, the more he did not want to stay here. Thus, he spurred the horse to full speed on the return trip.
There was a famous quote from his former world; it said if one did not return to his hometown after acquiring riches or success, it would be like wearing a sumptuous embroidered clothing in the night. And no one would know.
Initially, Qin Wushuang did not have any thoughts on returning to his hometown bearing success. However, it was an unexpected gift that his family had risen up to become a Royal family. He would be lying if he said he was not happy.
He spurred the horse to its limits, and in a few days, he arrived back in the Redwood Royal Territory. The sky was currently dark, and Qin Wushuang did not plan to rest and hastened on with his journey.
After he had eaten some food, he suddenly saw a shadowy figure standing there just as he was about to leave. That figure glanced at him and turned to leave.
Qin Wushuang was stunned, wasn’t that Tong Yao?
How come, she did not come to say hi when she saw him, but turned around to leave? From her looks, she clearly wanted to say something.
Stunned, Qin Wushuang immediately felt that most likely, it was not appropriate for Tong Yao to greet him. Instantly, he put away his meal and followed her quickly.
After he had followed her for a while, he arrived at a deserted alley and saw Tong Yao enter a room. Qin Wushuang also followed her.
As soon as he entered, he saw that it was indeed Tong Yao who was waiting for him with a serious expression on her face.
“Young Master Qin, you have keen eyes.”
“Missy Tong, why did you lure me here.”
"Young Master Qin, the current Redwood Royal City is surrounded by dangers. There are many ears and eyes; I must be cautious."
"Surrounded by dangers? What is going on?"
With a serious face, Tong Yao looked at Qin Wushuang as if she wanted to say something. Finally, she said: “You are moving too quickly, have you heard any news? Or have you return to the Redwood Royal Territory immediately?”
“I came back since I’ve finished the business over there. What news?” Qin Wushuang vividly felt something was amiss.
“Hm, I am going to tell you, you must hold your composure.” Tong Yao revealed a worried expression.
“Please tell me, I can hold it.”
“Big Brother Qin, your exam result have already arrived at the Redwood Royal Territory a few days ago. Through the Venerable Da Xi family, it reached Eastwood Town. It was Da Xi Ming who delivered the letter himself. And apparently, the Xi Men Feudal Lords had already grasped the news beforehand and took the initiative to decline the marriage with the Venerable Da Xi family. There was no need to explain their intentions. Only…"
“Only what?”
It was not a surprise to Qin Wushuang when the Xi Men Feudal Lords took the initiative to decline the marriage. Initially, he had reached an agreement with Xi Men Yu.
“When the Young Master Da Xi received this good news, he went to inform your sister the first thing. Then, for some reason, both Young Master Da Xi Ming and your sister disappeared while they were spending time on the Great Cang Mountain…”
“What?” Qin Wushuang’s heart tightened, “They both disappeared?”
"Yes, they had disappeared. The time when it occurred was around when you were at the Martial Saint Mountain. Three or four days have pa.s.sed since the incident." Inwardly, Tong Yao also felt nervous when she saw Qin Wushuang’s ugly colored face.
“Where did Missy Tong receive this news?” Qin Wushuang tried hard to control his emotion. He told himself that right now, he must not lose his composure. Surely, he must remain calm.
“My family have an intelligence network in River County. Elite warriors from your family had already started investigating everywhere. At the moment, they have not found any new clues. If I hadn’t received the news from the imperial capital that someone had seen you leaving, I would not have waited here for you.”
Qin Wushuang took a deep breath. He knew Tong Yao had benevolent intentions.
“Missy Tong, regardless of the result of this issue, I, Qin Wushuang owe you again.”
Tong Yao immediately shook her hand: “Don’t say it like this. Last time we didn’t know each other and made it into like a deal. Now, I already see you as my friend since you did a big favor for my family. There is no need to talk about favors between friends.”
Qin Wushuang nodded: "Ok, I will remember Missy Tong"s words. Now, I am extremely anxious and it is undesirable for me to linger here any longer. I will go now."
“Hold on.” Tong Yao bit her lips as if she was making a difficult choice in her mind.
After a moment, she became determined and said: “Young Master Qin, perhaps your sister’s missing case is not an accident. I received information from Tong Yan saying how in the imperial capital, you once fought for justice for a few senior women. They also came from the Redwood Royal Territory, right?”
When Qin Wushuang heard these words, he felt as if something had hammered his chest.
Instantly, he remembered everything. Didn"t those elder women say their daughters had disappeared out of the blue and they could not even report this case?
Could it be, his sister had disappeared like their daughters?
Now, he understood the reason why he had that felt that the whole matter was somehow connected to him. It seemed in the bottom of his heart; he an instinctive feeling.
And the origin of this subconscious feeling was most likely that "Demon" mentioned by his sister!
In these past few years, that demon had stayed hidden. Could it be, he had finally made a move?
Thus, he nodded: “Perhaps this issue was not a coincidence. Missy Tong, thank you for your reminder. Regardless of the words, I still decided to check at home.”
Tong Yao nodded: “Yes, Young Master Qin, I would like to say, if you ever need help, please ask. I, Tong Yao will help no matter what.”
“Ok, with your word, if I have a need, I will certainly ask you without holding back.”
“Ok, please hurry and go back, Young Master Qin. I will wait at the Redwood Royal City in the meantime. However… you should keep a low profile when you move around in the Redwood Royal City. From my intel, that Redwood King was furious because of his youngest son, He Yu, had lost the first place in the exam. He seemed upset at the dark horse that appeared out of nowhere."
Qin Wushuang did not want to bother with this matter as he said coldly: "It"s not my business whether he feels upset or not. It would be best if he did not make me angry. If he does, even if he is the Redwood King, I will deal with him with absolute means."
Tong Yao also felt a complicated emotion when she saw Qin Wushuang’s face full of disdain. She felt impressed yet, on the other hand, she also felt somewhat worried.
It would not be a rational move to make an enemy of the Redwood King.
However…
For some matters, as soon Tong Yao thought of that possibilities, she immediately cut off those thoughts. She did not want to think toward that terrifying direction.
Once things happened as she thought, it would become very desperate for Qin Wushuang.
Qin Wushuang said his goodbye to Tong Yao. Then, he changed a good horse and rushed headlong over nights and days toward Eastwood Town.
After rus.h.i.+ng headlong for two days and two nights, he finally arrived at the Eastwood Town boundary on the third morning.
Those village people let out waves of cheering when they saw Qin Wushuang had returned. However, they immediately thought about the things that had happened to the Qin family and did not dare to celebrate too much.
They all looked at Qin Wushuang with a strange expression.
Qin Wushuang did not bother with courtesies and rushed to the Qin manor.
“Young Master Qin is back. Finally, the Qin family have a backbone.”
“Haha, hopefully, Heavens help Missy Qin. Such a good girl, if she disappears like this, it only means the G.o.d have no eyes."
“Nothing will happen to her!”
Qin Wushuang turned a deaf ear and rushed back to the manor in one breath. When those guards at the manor gate saw Qin Wushuang, they all rubbed their eyes in disbelief.
“Young Master, Young Master is back!”
“Young Master!”
Qin Wushuang jumped from the horse and asked directly: “Is the Patriarch home?”
“Yes, yes. And Patriarch Da Xi is also here.”
After throwing away the horse’s rein, Qin Wushuang walked directly toward the hall.
Qin Lianshan was currently a.n.a.lyzing the geographical region of the Great Cang Mountains with Da Xi Heng. They were planning the next search. At the moment, both elite warriors of the two families had already been sent out.
When they saw Qin Wushuang had returned, Qin Lianshan was stunned. Even Da Xi Heng could not help but stand up.
“Father, Patriarch Da Xi.” As soon as he entered the room, Qin Wushuang asked, “Have you found any clues?”
"There is one clue, but it was on that edge of the cliff. It seems there were traces of a battle. And after the fight, the enemy had actually left safely. Right now, we are using that person’s escape route to plan a search.”
“Is there a marked map?” Qin Wushuang walked closer and glanced at that map. Only, he found out that the cliff indicated on the map was the one he had always gone to train.
“I am going to take a look.” With an anxious heart, he did not bother to greet them and walked away in large strides.”
“Wushuang, Wushuang…” Qin Lianshan immediately called out.
“Father, Patriarch Da Xi, I am going first. You should bring more people with some tools and ropes. If it is necessary, then I am going to climb down the cliff and take a look.”
To Qin Wushuang, the Great Cang Mountains was like a walk in the park without any obstacles. Soon, he arrived at the edge of the cliff.
The scene had already been ruled off limit to others. A few members of the Bear Fighting team of the Qin manor guarded the area. When they saw the arrival of the Young Master, each of them was extremely excited.
Qin Wushuang waved his hand and motioned them to not bother with courtesies. He bent down and started to observe the surroundings. After a moment, he moved close to the edge of the cliff and looked down.
“A violent fight happened here. All the vegetation was destroyed and mud slide occurred.” While Qin Wushuang talked, he used one of his hand to hang on the rock. His body floated above the sheer cliffs and precipitous rock.
When both of his hands moved downward, he also observed all vegetation on the sheer cliff. Indeed, he saw a lot of damage.
Qin Wushuang’s arms rose, and he immediately jumped up.
Then, his lips pursed into a tighter frown. Someone most likely fell from this cliff. From his estimation, it should be Da Xi Ming.
If that demon was truly the murderer, at least for now, his sister would not be in a life-threatening situation. However, it would be hard to say the same for Da Xi Ming since he had been with his sister.
When he thought there, he instructed: “Wait here, and I am going down to take a look. When Patriarch Qin and Patriarch Da Xi arrives, let them wait here.”
After he had finished, Qin Wushuang copied what he had done before as both of his hands grabbed the lofty rock from the sheer cliff to slide down. In his eyes, this sheer cliff appeared like a flat surface.