Alarmed and Suspicious

More than ten days passed in silence.

Before the courtyard gate of Jade Serenity Pavilion's rear yard, several men stood with bowed backs, waiting to pay their respects. Yu Pan, the shopkeeper of Jade Serenity Pavilion, was conspicuously among them.

About a quarter of an hour later, a leisurely voice finally sounded from within the courtyard. Hearing it, the men waiting outside visibly relaxed and entered one after another.

The courtyard was not large. Ash-white stone walls surrounded it, while a path paved with jadeite ore slag stretched toward a spiritual locust tree in the center. Beneath the tree stood a spiritual jadeite stone table, several stone stools, and a figure in a green robe seated there.

"Disciples Yu Pan, Niu Yang... pay respects to True Disciple."

The men hurried forward and bowed in salute.

"No need for formalities."

Chu Mu casually set down the book in his hand and turned to look at the five men bowing before him.

Given Emerald Lake's peculiar nature, the Longevity Sect's arrangements here naturally extended beyond Jade Serenity Pavilion alone.

Several marketplaces surrounding Emerald Lake had disciples stationed in concealment.

The five men before him were five separate undercover lines, strangers to one another and unaware of each other's existence.

However, for the sake of convenience, after entering Jade Serenity Pavilion that day, he had directly invoked his authority as a True Disciple to summon these five men and forcibly consolidate the Longevity Sect's intelligence network at Emerald Lake, searching for Yun Ying's whereabouts.

Chu Mu asked casually, "How are things?"

At those words, the men exchanged glances. In the end, Yu Pan stepped forward and bowed. "Reporting to True Disciple, we have uncovered some traces, but our cultivation is shallow, so we did not dare pry too deeply..."

"From what we have