Chen Qing returned to his residence. It was already deep into the night, yet he felt no sleepiness at all.
He carefully recalled his final conversation with Huang Mei, trying to uncover more clues from it. But there were too few clues, and their direction was vague. The Renzhi Seat within Tianshu Pavilion, or perhaps someone even higher... the scope was still far too broad, like searching for a blurry shadow in the fog.
Moreover, the truthfulness of Huang Mei's words remained especially uncertain.
At noon the next day, a burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the courtyard.
"True Disciple Chen! True Disciple Chen!" A young Outer Sect disciple ran breathlessly to the courtyard gate. Too panicked to mind etiquette, his voice trembled with alarm.
Chen Qing pushed open the door and walked out, looking at him calmly. "What has you so flustered?"
Upon seeing Chen Qing, the disciple hurriedly bowed. "Reporting to True Disciple Chen, it's Deacon Huang Mei! She... she's gone! This disciple went to the deacon's room this morning to ask for instructions regarding some matters, only to find that she was absent. I asked the others, and they all said they hadn't seen Deacon Huang since last night! There was no one in her room either, this... this..."
This disciple had clearly only recently arrived at the East Pole City outpost and lacked seniority. Faced with a deacon vanishing without explanation, he naturally did not know what to do.
Chen Qing waved a hand and said solemnly, "There is no need to panic. Deacon Huang Mei has not gone missing. She was acting under my secret orders and went out to investigate the movements of the remaining Demonic Sect forces. This matter is of great importance, so it was not publicized."
He paused, his tone