This Scholar Looks Familiar

"I'm done shopping, let's go."

Yan Shuyi touched her cheek and muttered, walking somewhat dazed towards the first floor of Qionghua Pavilion.

As she reached Lu Qingqiu, Du Zhu, and Qian Yunxiao, she suddenly came to her senses. She sized them up, and her sword intent suddenly surged.

Spirit Sword Mountain's sword dao primarily cultivated the sword heart. Even without projecting spiritual energy outwards, its sharpness was enough to make one tremble.

The three of them held their breath, their eyes gradually narrowing.

They had seen the woman once yesterday on the Ascending Immortal White Jade Platform. Their impression of her was mainly of her unparalleled beauty and her mysterious, noble background.

Seeing her for the second time today, buying things for Ji You, they felt she was more like a lively, delicate young lady.

But now, standing face to face, they felt an oppressive pressure.

It had nothing to do with their realm, but rather a sense of condescension.

Du Zhu and the other two's first reaction was, "Who is this woman?"

Why did her aura change so drastically the moment she turned, constantly surging?

Little did they know, if this Young Master Jian hadn't decided on a whim to come find people to play with, with their status, they would likely never have had the chance to meet her in this lifetime.

However, to the relief of the three, the cold and sharp woman before them made no move and simply turned and went downstairs.

What they didn't know was that the Young Master Jian had actually wanted to poke them a few times with her sword to let Ji You know that she was actually a very imposing woman.

"Ji You, I want to eat candied fruit."

"..."

Ji You followed her downstairs, watching the Young Master Jian walk with her hands behind her back, her steps steady, her demeanor completely different from when they arrived.

However, her imposing demeanor didn't last long before she started skipping around again uncontrollably.

What a strange woman...

Ji You muttered to himself, and suddenly saw a scholar walk past. The scholar was also staring at him with a peculiar expression.

Ji, the fierce bandit, was slightly taken aback. He thought the person looked familiar, but then dismissed it, thinking it didn't matter.

"Brother Ji, what are you doing here? I was just about to go to Mount Ni to deliver a letter for you."

"?"

Behind Apricot Blossom Alley in the west of the city, near the corner of Chunhua Alley, stood a tiled house. This was Kuang Cheng's residence after he joined the Immortal Affairs Supervision Bureau.

The small room had only three feet for sleeping, and besides that, there was a desk and books scattered all over the floor.

Behind the tiled house was a small courtyard with fallen leaves piled up, looking like it hadn't been tidied yet.

Ji You followed Kuang Cheng into the house and sat down before the desk. Yan Shuyi, knowing they had something to discuss, sat in the courtyard and drank tea obediently.

"I'm going to leave Shengjing for a while to investigate the matter of the Evil Seed. My return date is uncertain, so I've come to inform you."

Kuang Cheng glanced at him. "Is that so? But you didn't seem to recognize me on the street."

Ji You's expression immediately became more serious. "That was just a bit of disguise on my part."

"Brother Ji is so cautious, I suppose that's understandable..."

"Right, why did you ask someone to send me a message?"

Kuang Cheng lowered his voice. "As I mentioned last time, the Immortal Affairs Supervision Bureau is investigating Wei Li's embezzlement of taxes. We've made some progress, and I've also taken this opportunity to find some clues regarding the missing children from the orphanage."

Ji You looked at him. "Did you find the mastermind?"

"I led my colleagues to investigate Yanxing Post Station outside the city and discovered that a batch of infants was being sent to Xuan Yuan Immortal Mansion."

Kuang Cheng couldn't help but clench his fist. "Xuan Yuan Immortal Mansion does the most in refining medicine with human lives. We witnessed it in Yuyang County before. Sect Master Ji, please don't let them off the hook when you take over."

Ji You thought of Qiu Ru and said, gripping his teacup, "Of course not."

"Additionally, there's one puzzling detail among these clues that I can't figure out."

"?"

Kuang Cheng lowered his voice. "The infant disappearances didn't start at the orphanage. Children have been disappearing for three years now. Some were even stolen from their parents' sight right after they were born."

"So far, I've investigated 138 cases. There are case files in several Shengjing government offices, and the reports are relatively concentrated."

"Most bizarrely, three princes in the palace have also disappeared one after another."

"But I checked the exit records of Yanxing Post Station, and the number of transportations doesn't match. Half of these children were not sent to Xuan Yuan Immortal Mansion."

Ji You frowned slightly. "Besides Xuan Yuan Immortal Mansion, is there anyone else?"

Kuang Cheng then took out a slip of paper from his bosom. "I've investigated a few places, also from the records of Yanxing Post Station. I think there's something wrong."

Ji You unfolded the paper and looked at it, his brow furrowing.

After Kuang Cheng joined the Immortal Affairs Supervision Bureau, he was assigned clerical work and didn't get involved in investigations, so his days were relatively peaceful.

But like Ji You, he didn't want to be idle and felt he should be doing something. So, he started investigating the case of the missing infants.

As for why, it all stemmed from the first time Kuang Cheng went to the orphanage to deliver quilts and met that scrawny child.

The child's name was Hu Wa. He didn't want anything, only knelt and kowtowed, begging Kuang Cheng to help him find his sister, with whom he had a deep bond.

Before investigating, Kuang Cheng already knew that the infant theft was likely related to an Immortal Sect.

After all, in this world, commoners struggled to even feed themselves. Who would steal hundreds of children?

Even so, Kuang Cheng felt he owed Hu Wa an explanation.

Now that the investigation had indeed uncovered traces of an Immortal Sect, but Kuang Cheng was powerless to proceed, he hoped Ji You might have a solution.

However, he hadn't expected that when Ji You saw the contents of the note, he felt a chill run down his spine.

There wasn't much on it, only the names of three small towns.

Qiling Town, Yuhe Town, Beisha Town.

Ji You was silent for a long time, instinctively tightening his grip on the note. "Why did you pick these locations from the Yanxing Post Station's transport records?"

"One of Yanxing Post Station's convoys frequented these places too often. These are remote small towns; even if they were buying supplies from the capital, they shouldn't have a trip every month. Moreover, their travel times perfectly coincided with the disappearances."

After speaking, Kuang Cheng looked at him, somewhat puzzled. "Do you know these three places?"

Ji You crumpled the note in his palm. "No, I've never seen them. But I'll go take a look for you and let you know if I find anything."

"Thank you, Brother Ji."

"You've reached your limit investigating this far. Focus on your promotion. Don't forget that the Kuang Family's burden rests entirely on your shoulders now."

Kuang Cheng nodded upon hearing this. "The Wei Li corruption case is almost concluded. The Ministry of Revenue has replaced a large number of officials. His Majesty is determined to implement new policies; he even changed the era name from Taiwu to Taiyuan. I'll have more opportunities to do things for the people."

Ji You looked up. "The imperial court is no safer than the martial world. Don't be too aggressive in anything, and don't let anyone use you as a pawn. Remember what I told you last time: pursue Wei Li's granddaughter, or pursue a princess!"

Kuang Cheng turned to look at Yan Shuyi, who was sitting in the courtyard. "Is that your Sect Master's granddaughter?"

Yan Shuyi was currently sitting on a stone bench, her eyes fixed on the single withered leaf hanging from a tree, her expression demure.

Ji You followed his gaze and after a long while, chuckled lightly. "No, just a cute young lady."

"..."

As the words fell, their shoulders suddenly jolted.

It was as if some energy had suddenly shot out, and in that instant, the single withered leaf on the tree, along with its branch, snapped off.

The Young Master Jian, who was sitting on the stone bench drinking tea, remained unfazed, only his beautiful eyes narrowing slightly.