Chapter 157: Hua Die’s Disappearance
As it turned out, when Bai Songling had escorted Ye Jiuge to the Medicine Refinery Valley, he’d found out that many of the Spiritual Pract.i.tioners partic.i.p.ating in the Pill Production Tournament had disappeared during their journeys.
The number of missing Spiritual Pract.i.tioners added up to more than ten. Bai Songling suspected that members of the Bloodthirsty Sect had captured them.
“The Black Magic Pract.i.tioners of the Bloodthirsty Sect dared to lay their fingers on Spiritual Pract.i.tioners so brazenly. They are really audacious!” Ye Jiuge ceased her brow.
In the past, the Bloodthirsty Sect had only gone so far as abducting ordinary people for their cultivation. Even if they wanted to get their hands on Spiritual Pract.i.tioners, they would have done so discreetly.
Now, they’d captured more than ten Spiritual Pract.i.tioners. This was a crazy development.
“Songling has already reported this matter to the Spiritual Pract.i.tioner Alliance. They plan to send some people over to investigate.” Wan Ziyang was also shocked by the Black Magic Pract.i.tioners’ boldness.
More than ten Spiritual Pract.i.tioners was not a small number. They needed to report it to the Spiritual Pract.i.tioner Alliance.
Otherwise, when the Spiritual Pract.i.tioner Alliance pursued the matter after the dust had settled, they might blame them for keeping the situation under wraps.
“Do you know who the Spiritual Pract.i.tioner Alliance has a.s.signed to follow up on this case?” Ye Jiuge was worried that Spiritual Pract.i.tioner Alliance would send over a pompous idiot who would just hinder them.
“I am not sure.” Wan Ziyang shook his head. His social network was not extensive or influential enough to infiltrate the Spiritual Pract.i.tioner Alliance.
“However, you do not need to worry. The Lei Kingdom is still our territory. The Spiritual Pract.i.tioner Alliance’s main purpose in dispatching someone is to look into the matter. As long as we stand our ground, everything will be fine.”
Wan Ziyang had been involved with the Spiritual Pract.i.tioner Alliance in the past. He knew that they were very inefficient when handling matters.
However, as long as the Spiritual Pract.i.tioner Alliance identified the Bloodthirsty Sect as a threat and issued an extermination order to all of its members, every Spiritual Pract.i.tioner would hunt and kill Bloodthirsty Sect members until none were left alive. This was the most crucial part.
“Alright.” Ye Jiuge trusted Wan Ziyang’s judgment.
“This matter is still confidential. You should never inform anyone else about this to avoid unrest,” Wan Ziyang warned her.
“Rest a.s.sured. I know that this is a significant matter and will act accordingly. By the way, do you know where Ye Yu is? Why hasn’t he come to meet me after such a long time?” It had been three days since Ye Jiuge had arrived at the Medicine Refinery City. She had not seen Ye Yu at all. It was really strange.
“Ye Yu discovered traces of Liu Yunfei’s presence on the outskirts of the city. He is currently tracking her down,” Wan Ziyang said.
“We must ask him to be more vigilant.” Ye Jiuge recounted how she’d encountered signs of Black Magic in the small building east of her last night.
“Don’t worry. I have been keeping an eye on the Crown Prince.” Wan Ziyang did not dare lower his guard, even for a second.
“There is no longer a need for that. The Crown Prince will leave for the Capital soon.” Ye Jiuge recounted what had happened during the tournament.
Wan Ziyang was astonished. However, he smiled shortly after and said, “I believe that when this news reaches the Capital, it will be extremely challenging for the Crown Prince to retain his position.”
No one knew better than him how the Emperor was taking this year’s Pill Production Tournament very seriously.
Instead of handling his responsibilities properly, the Crown Prince had abused his power to cause problems during the tournament. Not only that, but he’d made a terrible mess. After the Emperor found out about it, he would definitely be infuriated.
Initially, when news of Dongfang Que’s recovery had gotten out, highly ranked ministers had repeatedly attempted to replace the Crown Prince. Now, the Crown Prince had given them something that they could hold against him. He was truly stupid in every way.
“Reasonably speaking, the Crown Prince should not be this dumb.” Based on Ye Jiuge’s understanding of the Crown Prince, regardless of how much he hated her, he would not go as far as treating the tournament as a joke.
“The Crown Prince has actually been behaving quite oddly recently.” Wan Ziyang thought about it then spoke after a moment of hesitation, “Can it be that he was under the influence of Su Junqing’s Mental Manipulation?”
“It is quite possible. If that is the case, then they are truly dogs fighting each other, gaining no benefit but mouthfuls of fur.” Ye Jiuge spoke with gleeful delight about their conflict.
“Su Junqing would never do anything pointless. You should never underestimate him. Look after the people around you, so that he will not be able to take advantage of them.” Although Wan Ziyang had never encountered Su Junqing while he was using his skill, he was also aware that Su Junqing’s Mental Manipulation was quite powerful.
When Ye Jiuge heard this, her heart immediately skipped a beat. She called Yu Die into the room hurriedly. “Has Hua Die returned yet?”
“She hasn’t.” Yu Die’s face was filled with anxiety.
Hua Die had ventured out early in the morning. Even if she took her time, she should have arrived back at Soaring Frost Hall by now.
“Brother Wan, I have a personal maid who went out this morning. She hasn’t returned. May I trouble you to help me to search for her?” Ye Jiuge had a bad feeling.
“Sure, I will a.s.sign some men to look for her now.” Wan Ziyang instructed his subordinates immediately to check the pastry shop where Hua Die had gone to buy Hawthorn Jelly Cake.
Unfortunately, when Wan Ziyang’s men went to the street where the pastry shop was located and asked everyone around, no one had seen Hua Die.
It was obvious to them that, by now, this young maid had gone missing.
When Yu Die found out about this, she broke down in tears. She kept repeating that if only she’d stopped Hua Die from leaving the Soaring Frost Hall, nothing terrible would have happened to her.
Qing Hu and Qing Liu were also distraught.
Ye Ruyi became extremely dispirited. She wrung her hands so tightly that they were about to become two sticks of Fried Dough Twists.
Hua Die’s disappearance made her recall her days in the dark bas.e.m.e.nt.
Those young girls, who’d been abused and killed and whose blood had been extracted by the Sorcerer, were the same age as Hua Die.
Ye Jiuge had the calmest expression of all of them.
As she pacified Ye Ruyi, she asked Wan Ziyang to continue the search.
“If she is alive, I want to meet her in person. If she is dead, I want to see her corpse. I find it hard to believe that she would go missing in the Medicine Refinery City without rhyme or reason,” Ye Jiuge said determinedly.
“Do not worry. No matter what, I will track her down.” Wan Ziyang nodded.
In the dead of night, the Medicine Refinery Complex was peaceful.
Cold winds blew, blanketing the ground with frost.
Ye Jiuge was not in the mood to cultivate. She laid on her bed, tossing and turning. She could not sleep a wink.
Hua Die’s disappearance weighed heavily on her heart, like a ma.s.sive rock.
She had been hunting down the Black Magic Pract.i.tioners, yet they had managed to capture her personal maid right under her nose. She truly felt provoked by this.
Just then, a peculiar scent drifted in through the window.
Ye Jiuge opened her eyes and sat up without a sound. She activated her Spiritual Eye before scanning outside the window.
She saw a body of glowing purple light crawl into the room through the open window.
It was a purple scorpion that was as large as her fist. The thing was currently running rampant in her room in a rude and arrogant manner.
Ye Jiuge lifted her bed curtain to scrutinize it. She discovered that a tiny golden earring was tied to the scorpion’s body. The word ‘Hua’ was even written on the scorpion using cinnabar.
She immediately figured out that this purple scorpion was related to Hua Die’s disappearance.
When the purple scorpion noticed Ye Jiuge’s gaze, it raised its stinger and shot light purple Poison Needles toward her.
Ye Jiuge used her hand to knock the Poison Needles to the ground, before sending a ray of purple light back at it, enveloping the scorpion’s body.
When the purple scorpion recognized that it was in deep trouble, it turned around to escape from her. It moved as quick as lightning.
Ye Jiuge did not have the time to think. Instinctively, she chased after it.
After the purple scorpion left the Medicine Refinery Complex, it took many turns before it reached an area with many stone mounds.
Its silhouette wormed its way into the highest one in a flash.
Ye Jiuge halted her footsteps. She summoned her Spiritual Energy and aimed purple lightning at the pile of stones.
Bam! The stones from the mound flew everywhere at once, revealing a dark entrance on the ground below.
The night winds gust past her. A distinct b.l.o.o.d.y stench came out from the hole.
Ye Jiuge was instantly on her toes.
She walked slowly to the entrance. The White Bone Flame materialized from her fingers, illuminating the underground cave.
She gave the place a once-over. Immediately, she widened her eyes. She could not help but take a deep, shaky breath.