These three cultivators were monks from White Buddha Temple, who had come to the Communal Feast Convention in an attempt to recover the Holy Bone and find the murderer who had killed the Holy Bodhisattvas.
Guangdu, Guangxian, and Guangzhi.
In order not to alert Mother Diviner True Person, the three had ultimately decided to rely on disguises and borrow the names of other factions, successfully entering this place.
Now that Guangxian had discovered the target, the other two were immediately drawn to attention.
They did not know who had killed the Holy Bodhisattvas, nor did they have any clues.
However, traces of one target's aura still remained. It belonged to the owner of the house where the Holy Bodhisattva remains had been discovered.
According to their investigation in town, a young orphan named Yang An had lived in that house.
It was precisely by following that clue that the three had tracked their way here.
Strangely enough, the moment they had entered Tianjiang Dragon Manor, the aura of that boy called Yang An had vanished for no apparent reason.
For a time, the three had suspected that the target had already noticed them and deliberately lured them here to shake off their pursuit.
Fortunately, after waiting for some time, just as all three thought the mission was bound to fail and were wondering how they would explain themselves to the abbot—
That aura appeared again.
"Where is he?"
Senior Brother Guangdu's spirits immediately rose, and he asked.
Having grasped Yang An's aura, Guangxian began determining the target's direction and precise location according to the faintly flickering traces.
His gaze continually searched through the crowd. After several breaths of discernment and judgment, he finally locked onto a thin figure dressed in coarse clothes.
"That's him! That boy called Yang An!"
Guangxian pointed at the figure with immediate excitement.
"Senior Brother Guangdu, let's hurry and catch up!"
Guangzhi said impatiently.
As long as they caught the target, they could force him to reveal the whereabouts of the Holy Bone and the murderer.
Once they returned to White Buddha Temple, the abbot would surely reward them handsomely. Not only would they complete their mission, they might even have a chance to receive the Holy Bone's blessing.
Guangxian shared that very thought, and both men looked toward Guangdu, their Senior Brother.
But unexpectedly, Guangdu shook his head and temporarily held them back.
"Junior Brothers, do not act rashly! This is Mother Diviner True Person's sacred ground, and we entered under false identities. We must never expose ourselves through impatience."
"Senior Brother Guangdu, you mean...?"
The two seemed to realize that they had been too hasty.
"We must capture him, but to guard against every possibility, we need to leave ourselves a way out."
Guangdu cautiously raised his head and swept his gaze over the surroundings. His eyes settled on the child attendants scattered everywhere, then withdrew without lingering.
"Tianjiang Dragon Manor permits entry but not departure. Everyone must wait until the Communal Feast Convention ends before leaving. If we act now, we will certainly draw others' attention.
"Moreover, we do not know whether the murderer is beside him. If we startle the grass and scare the snake, and all our efforts come to nothing, then in the end we will merely be drawing water with a bamboo basket—empty-handed."
"Then according to Senior Brother Guangdu, what should we do?"
Guangdu clearly had a plan already and said at once:
"This boy is nothing more than a mortal, not worth worrying about. We can capture him whenever we wish. But we need to use him to find the murderer and the Holy Bone.
"So we should watch him first. Anyone who has frequent contact with him, or anyone by his side, is very likely the true target of this mission!"
"As long as the Communal Feast Convention has not ended, this boy cannot leave any more than we can. He cannot run away. It will not be too late to act when the convention is nearly over!"
"Then, once we seize him, we will immediately return to the temple. So long as we leave Xi Yue River's territory, even Mother Diviner True Person will not dare do anything to us!"
Guangxian and Guangzhi were utterly convinced by his words.
"Senior Brother Guangdu is absolutely right!"
"As expected of Senior Brother Guangdu. Senior Brother's considerations are so thorough that this junior brother is far beneath you!"
"Then we shall heed Senior Brother's instructions. We will watch this man first and act when the Communal Feast Convention is nearly over."
The two thoroughly approved of Guangdu's arrangement and naturally showered him with praise.
Yet under the influence of the Illusionary Insect Corpse, what the two could not see was that Guangdu's gaze upon them was filled entirely with gloom and greed.
Before long, the three also left this place and merged into the crowd.
Yang An had no idea that someone had already set their sights on him. At the moment, he was happily engrossed in his joyful zero-cost shopping spree. It was thrilling beyond words.
Only half an hour had passed since he emerged from underground, yet he had already obtained seven items, including pills, magical artifacts, a fist technique, and a movement technique.
But the more he gained, the more Yang An realized that these things were still far from enough to meet his needs.
At the very least, he had yet to find a suitable technique that could serve as a Fate Dao Technique, which was what he currently lacked most.
Thus, Yang An continued quickening his pace as he darted between the various stalls, hoping to find what he needed.
Just as he had acquired several pills from one stall and was preparing to head to the next, he unexpectedly caught sight of Pan Shi.
He seemed to be anxiously speaking with other cultivators passing by him.
Yang An noticed that Pan Yu, who had always walked with Pan Shi, was nowhere to be seen beside him.
Filled with doubt, Yang An walked toward Pan Shi. Behind him, Muckworm Child appeared once more in perfect time, stopping a cultivator and skillfully cleaning up after Yang An.
"Fellow Daoist Pan! What happened?"
Yang An walked to Pan Shi's side. Only when he spoke and Pan Shi heard his voice did Pan Shi react.
"Fellow Daoist Yang?!"
Under the influence of the Illusionary Insect Corpse, Pan Shi could not determine Yang An's identity either. Only after Yang An responded did he confirm it.
"Fellow Daoist Yang, I thought something had happened to you too. Seeing that you are unharmed is truly wonderful!"
"What do you mean, something happened to me too? Where is Fellow Daoist Pan Yu? Why don't I see her?"
Yang An looked around, but he indeed could not see Pan Yu. Pan Shi stood alone.
Hearing Yang An's question, Pan Shi's face immediately filled with worry, and only then did he explain what had happened.
It turned out that after Mother Diviner True Person had sent a child attendant to summon Yang An, Yang An had suddenly vanished. Pan Shi and his junior sister had anxiously begun searching for him, thinking that something had happened to Yang An.
But after searching for quite some time without finding Yang An, Pan Shi had been preparing to take Pan Yu elsewhere to continue looking. Yet when he turned around, Pan Yu had suddenly disappeared as well!
That had happened several hours ago. Yet until now, Pan Shi had never found any trace of his junior sister.
Before Yang An arrived, he had been asking others about Pan Yu's clothing and features, hoping someone might have seen her. But he had learned nothing.
After hearing Pan Shi's account, Yang An could not help but freeze.
The price of the Illusionary Insect Corpse could not affect him. These people had no concealment whatsoever before his eyes.
If Pan Yu were still at this Communal Feast Convention, then after walking all this way, it would have been impossible for him not to notice either of the senior brother and junior sister.
Yet he truly had not seen Pan Yu. That was strange. Where could a living person have gone? How could she suddenly vanish without a trace?
A strange thought immediately arose in Yang An's heart.
Could it be that Mother Diviner True Person had summoned her as well?
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