"Knock, knock, knock."
Someone knocked on the door.
"Senior Brother Shen, Deacon Yan requests your presence."
A young voice came from outside.
Yan Xiu was looking for him?
Shen Che rose and opened the door. Standing outside was an unfamiliar Probationary Demon Suppressor, his manner respectful.
"Understood."
Shen Che followed the man and once again arrived at Yan Xiu's office.
Yan Xiu was handling a pile of case files, not even raising his head.
"Sit."
Shen Che sat across from him without saying a word.
Yan Xiu finally set down his brush, lifted his head, and glanced at Shen Che.
He said nothing, but Shen Che could sense that Yan Xiu's gaze lingered on him for a breath longer than usual.
"There's a mission. Are you interested?"
Yan Xiu pushed a case file toward him.
"Huafeng County."
Shen Che picked up the file and opened it.
"Over the past three months, three official Demon Queller Envoys from our Demon Suppression Division have vanished within Huafeng County."
Yan Xiu's voice was low.
"They were all in the True Meridian Realm."
"Besides our people, some wandering martial artists passing through or traveling locally have also vanished into thin air for no apparent reason."
"No one was found alive, and no corpses were found dead."
Shen Che flipped through the file. It recorded the missing people's names, cultivation levels, and the places where they had last sent signals.
"The people we sent to investigate searched for a long time and found nothing, as though stones had sunk into the sea."
Yan Xiu lightly tapped his fingers against the table.
"This mission does not require you to solve the problem, nor does it require you to find the culprit."
"I only need you to make the trip, keep your eyes open, and uncover clues we may have overlooked before."
"As long as you bring back valuable intelligence, the mission will be considered complete."
Shen Che closed the file.
This mission did not sound simple.
For three official True Meridian Realm Demon Queller Envoys to disappear without a sound, their opponent was certainly no ordinary foe.
"What's the reward?"
Shen Che asked the question he cared about most.
"One thousand Contribution Points."
Yan Xiu named a number.
Shen Che's heartbeat skipped.
One thousand points.
That enormous sum was enough for him to exchange for ten Meridian Opening Pills.
With ten Meridian Opening Pills, the cost of opening his third and fourth true meridians would drop drastically, saving him a sea of Time Value.
This mission was practically a money-printing machine tailored for him.
Demons or strange monsters, in his eyes, they were all moving Time Value.
"I'll take it."
He did not hesitate in the slightest.
"Good."
Yan Xiu handed him a new token.
"This is a transfer order for the Huafeng County Demon Suppression Division branch. You may mobilize the local government forces to assist you, but don't place too much hope in them."
"Remember, your task is to investigate, not risk your life. The moment you find anything, immediately use the Demon Suppressing Token to send word back."
"Don't get yourself dragged in as well."
Yan Xiu gave him one final reminder.
"Understood."
Shen Che put away the file and token, then turned and left.
That very noon, he changed into ordinary blue cloth robes, slung a simple bundle over his back, and left Cangyun City alone.
Huafeng County belonged to Cangyun Prefecture. It lay on a vital transportation route, with merchants and travelers constantly passing through.
Several days later, Shen Che arrived at the county town.
Contrary to the desolation he had imagined, Huafeng County was bustling with people and traffic, presenting a flourishing scene.
Shops lined both sides of the streets in neat rows, while cries of hawking and shouting rose without end.
The more prosperous it appeared, the more it proved that dark undercurrents churned beneath the surface.
To silently abduct several True Meridian Realm experts here required methods enough to make any force's heart tremble.
Shen Che did not report to the Demon Suppression Division branch.
Instead, he found the largest inn in the center of town, Huitong Inn, and rented a street-facing room on the second floor.
After settling in, he went down to the first-floor hall, chose an inconspicuous corner, ordered a pot of coarse tea and two small dishes, and ate and drank by himself.
An inn's main hall was where information flowed most freely.
People from all walks of life, merchants from north and south, all gathered here.
"Have you heard? Ao Yong, the Earth Ranking expert known as the 'Overturning Sea Saber,' entered seclusion some time ago and broke through into the Innate Realm in one stroke. His fame has soared!"
"What's so impressive about that? Fairy Yue of the Moon Spirit Sect made the Hidden Dragon Ranking at only nineteen. Now that is a true daughter of heaven!"
"Which person on the Hidden Dragon Ranking isn't a dragon or phoenix among men? In the future, they are destined to become great figures who command the winds and clouds."
Shen Che drank his tea while committing these scattered scraps of conversation to memory.
The Earth Ranking. The Hidden Dragon Ranking.
The martial world of this world seemed even more fascinating than he had imagined.
Just then, the once-noisy hall suddenly fell silent.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked toward the inn's entrance.
Three figures walked in.
The leader was a young man of twenty-three or twenty-four, dressed in a white brocade robe. He was handsome, with a long sword in a jade scabbard at his waist, and carried himself with extraordinary bearing.
Two young women followed behind him.
One wore a fiery red fitted outfit. She appeared sixteen or seventeen, with pretty features and large eyes that darted about, brimming with lively spirit.
The other wore elegant plain green robes. She was around the same age, carrying a sheathed longsword on her back. Her temperament was cool and aloof as she quietly followed behind.
The moment these three appeared, an invisible boundary seemed to separate them from the other martial wanderers in the hall.
"Innkeeper, three superior rooms."
The young man at the front spoke. His voice was gentle, yet it carried an unquestionable authority.
"Certainly! Esteemed guests, please head upstairs!"
The innkeeper's face broke into a broad smile as he personally stepped forward to lead the way.
"Xue Xi, I'm still a little worried."
As they passed the table beside Shen Che, the green-clad girl spoke quietly to the red-clad girl.
"Even official Demon Queller Envoys from the Demon Suppression Division have met their end here. The three of us..."
"Relax, Qing Xuan."
The red-clad girl called Xue Xi patted her shoulder and lowered her voice, though it still reached Shen Che's ears clearly.
"With Senior Brother Mo here, what are you afraid of?"
"He's an expert on the Hidden Dragon Ranking. With the three of us joining forces, as long as we don't run into some old monster of the Innate Realm, we'll be more than capable of handling it."
The three followed the innkeeper upstairs.
Shen Che lifted his teacup and took a sip.
The Hidden Dragon Ranking.
A sect mission.
Huafeng County.
The clue had delivered itself to his doorstep.
Night deepened.
Shen Che sat in meditation in his room, regulating his breathing, but his ears remained attentive to every sound outside.
Just after midnight.
Three black shadows silently flipped out from the second-floor windows like civet cats. After a few leaps, they vanished into the night.
Shen Che opened his eyes.
He waited for about the time it took an incense stick to burn before also climbing out through the window.
Relying on a physique and senses far beyond those of ordinary people, he followed the faint traces of aura left by the three, neither hurried nor slow, hanging behind them.
The three headed west all the way. Before long, they left the county town and stepped onto a dirt road leading into the wilderness beyond the city.
Moonlight was obscured by dark clouds. The surroundings were pitch-black, with only the rustling sound of wind passing through the treetops.
Shen Che's figure melted into the darkness, nearly becoming one with his surroundings.
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