Found I

Hearing Yan Kai say such things, Lu Sheng did not get angry. He merely smiled.

"Since that is the case, I shall put out the word among the city's people from all walks of life for the two Daoist Priests. Should you need help, you may go directly to any clothing shop, apothecary, or Blacksmith Shop in the city. They will all provide the three of you with whatever convenience you need."

"That will do." Yan Kai nodded solemnly. "Then, since that is settled, we shall take our leave first and go have a thorough look at Lotus Flower House."

"Please, Daoist Priest." Lu Sheng said with a smile.

"I'll go as well."

The wandering heroine Zhuan Feng followed suit.

After watching Yan Kai's group of three leave, Lu Sheng gave orders that they were to move freely throughout the entire Lu Family. No one was to stop them.

"Sheng, do you think those three will be of use?" Lu Quan'an walked in from outside. He had overheard their earlier conversation as well.

"Whether they are useful or not is irrelevant. They could see that I was injured, and a single bottle of medicine was enough to cure me. That alone was worth every coin we spent." Lu Sheng replied calmly.

"You will have full authority over this matter. Everyone in the estate, including me, will follow your arrangements. Go ahead without worries!" Lu Quan'an said earnestly.

"Thank you, Father." Lu Sheng smiled.

After Lu Quan'an left as well, Lu Sheng returned to his bedroom, where Xiao Qiao fed him nourishing bird's nest soup spoonful by spoonful.

Ever since his earlier injury, he had not seriously worked on improving the martial arts within his body.

After all, with his body damaged, consuming his essence, qi, and spirit to improve his martial arts would not be growing stronger—it would be courting death.

But now that the Yin Qi in his body had been driven out, he began considering how he should chart his path forward.

As he drank the bird's nest soup, Lu Sheng sat in the rattan chair in his little courtyard, his eyes half-closed as he remained lazily motionless.

"Young Master, Miss Qingqing has not returned for several days. Could it be...?" Xiao Qiao asked softly, worry written across her face.

"No need to rush. Rushing will not help. Leave professional matters to professionals; if we go, we will only get in their way." Lu Sheng shook his head.

"This servant merely sees Second Madam crying every day until her eyes are red and swollen. My heart aches for her."

Xiao Qiao lowered her voice.

"Young Master, do you think they can do it?"

"They should be able to uncover something. As for how much, that is unclear." Lu Sheng answered casually, though inwardly he was wondering whether what Yan Kai had said was true.

On careful consideration, there was no reason for them to deceive him. If they truly meant to swindle money, that small bottle of Returning Yang Water alone would have been enough to let them make a fortune.

For the moment, those few could shoulder this matter, so there was no need to hurry.

The demon ghost in Lu Estate had also been dealt with, so it was safe for the time being.

But from what Yan Kai had said, there were likely quite a few demon ghosts within Nine Links City.

A dense sense of crisis immediately rose in Lu Sheng's heart.

That one demon ghost from before had already forced him to exhaust every ounce of strength before he could deal with it. If several more came... "You may leave first. I want some peace and quiet, and to rest." Lu Sheng suddenly said.

Xiao Qiao gave a soft acknowledgment, helped him onto the bed, tucked him beneath the covers, and then withdrew from the room on her own.

With a creak, the door shut.

Lu Sheng slowly sat up from the bed. He got down and took a small gray paper packet from a drawer in the bookcase.

He gently opened the packet. Inside lay some fine grayish-white powder.

This was what had remained after that demon ghost died.

Lu Sheng did not know whether it was useful, but something left behind by such a supernatural creature might always have some use. Thus, he had not thrown the powder away, instead keeping it carefully stored.

He spread the powder out on the tabletop.

"It seems that if I want to learn what this thing is for, I'll have to start with those two, Yan Kai and the other Daoist Priest."

He fell into thought.

After putting the powder away, he finally returned to bed and slept soundly.

When he woke, night had already fallen.

Xiao Qiao was lighting the lamps in the room. At an age as fresh as a flower, her slender figure had already begun to take shape.

"Cough, cough." Lu Sheng coughed lightly, feeling refreshed from head to toe after waking.

Xiao Qiao immediately noticed and hurriedly turned around.

"Young Master, you're awake! There is freshly simmered snow fungus soup in the kitchen. Would you like a bowl?"

"What time is it now?"

"It is nearly the Hour of the Pig." Xiao Qiao quickly answered.

Lu Sheng calculated it. The Hour of the Pig was between nine and eleven at night.

"So late already. Has there been any news from those people who went out during the day?"

"You mean those Daoist Priests?" Xiao Qiao asked.

"Yes."

"Brother Yu Han has been waiting outside for quite some time. There should be news." Xiao Qiao replied.

"Send Yu Han in."

Lu Sheng rubbed his temples and began getting out of bed to dress.

By the time he had tidied his outer robes, the burly man from before, Yu Han, entered.

"Young Master." He cupped his hands in salute.

"Has Daoist Priest Yan Kai sent word?"

"Yes. Daoist Priest Yan Kai visited the Zheng Family and, half an hour ago, resolved a case there similar to the previous disappearances. He has now gone to Old Xu Residence." When Yan Kai was mentioned, a trace of admiration appeared on Yu Han's face once more.

This man had actually resolved that bizarre matter so quickly.

Yu Han had seen the demon ghost's appearance before. It could possess people, fly, move swiftly, and carried an intensely poisonous miasma about its body. Even Young Master had been caught off guard and fallen victim to it.

Yet that Daoist Priest could easily deal with such a monster. He truly was an expert among experts.

Lu Sheng was not surprised.

"What about Miss Zhuan Feng?"

"We have already found some clues. This subordinate sent several men out of the city with Miss Zhuan Feng. There should be a reply soon."

Yu Han answered.

"As expected of professionals. Once such matters reached their hands, clues emerged in less than a day." Lu Sheng sighed. "Come. Accompany me to eat something. I hope my sister is safe."

Neither Yu Han nor Xiao Qiao dared respond. No matter how they answered such a matter as servants, it would only bring trouble.

Lu Sheng led the two out of the bedroom. Two guards remained posted at the entrance, while outside, a whole table of wine and delicacies had already been prepared.

Several maidservants were briskly wiping the bowls, chopsticks, and wine cups.

Lu Sheng sat down, picked up his chopsticks, and took a bite of food, bringing it to his mouth just as he was about to begin eating.

"News! Young Master, there's news!"

An urgent cry suddenly came from outside the courtyard.

Lu Sheng sprang to his feet and saw a servant staggering as he ran through the courtyard gate. Panting heavily, he shouted aloud.

"Second Miss—there is news of Second Miss! At the ruined Taoist Temple outside the city!"

There were three Taoist Temples outside Nine Links City, but only one could be called a ruined Taoist Temple.

It stood north of Nine Links City, near the White Ice Ocean, amid a stretch of rolling barren mountains. There was a Taoist Temple among those mountains, though no one knew which Dao Lord it enshrined, nor when it had been built.

Lu Sheng knew of the place because he had gone there a few times on spring outings as a child.

Whenever it rained outside, they would take shelter in that ruined Taoist Temple.

"Is it the Taoist Temple near the White Ice Ocean?" Lu Sheng pressed.

"It is indeed that place." The servant hurriedly answered. "Miss Zhuan Feng said that the missing people are very likely gathered within that Taoist Temple. She said we may go investigate ourselves."

"What about Daoist Priest Yan Kai and the others?"

"They have already gone ahead!"

Lu Sheng narrowed his eyes. His body had only just recovered, and he should not have been in such a hurry to join the excitement.

But such an opportunity was hard to come by.

It would be fine if this Daoist Yan Kai intended to stay here for a long time. Yet from what he had learned, Yan Kai and the other man did not seem to be planning to remain here. Rather, they seemed to be following some clue and merely passing through.

"It seems that if I want to pry the legendary secret arts of exorcising ghosts, or some profound method, from this Daoist, I'll have to think of a way."

Lu Sheng's original plan had been to obtain from Yan Kai some of the cultivation methods used by the legendary Qi Refining practitioners and immortals.

Since demon ghosts existed, perhaps the methods of those immortal cultivators existed as well.

"Gather a dozen or so men. We will go take a look."

With that thought, Lu Sheng gave his order.

"Yes!" Yu Han quickly replied.

The night wind howled, abnormally cold and piercing to the bone.

Among the mountains, a long line of red torches moved swiftly through the hills.

At its head rode Lu Sheng, wrapped head to toe in a thick coat.

Behind him was Yu Han, followed by more than a dozen guards.

After traveling through the night for the time it took an incense stick to burn, the group soon found the road Zhuan Feng had mentioned, the one leading to the ruined Taoist Temple.

They carried torches and wore weapons such as sabers, swords, and bows. Clad in leather armor and helmets, they looked little different from actual soldiers.

After advancing several hundred more steps through the cold wind, they finally saw a dilapidated gray-yellow Taoist Temple amid the forested mountains ahead.

Flickering firelight continually shone from within the otherwise quiet, dark Taoist Temple, along with faint shouts and silhouettes of people.

The wind was too fierce. Even when Lu Sheng strained to listen, all he could hear was the wind, which covered the sounds from inside the ruined Taoist Temple.

When they were still a hundred paces away from the Taoist Temple, he raised a hand, signaling the group to stop.

Now that they were closer, everyone could hear the shouts coming from within. It should have been Daoist Priest Yan Kai.

"Young Master, what should we do?"

Yu Han was somewhat nervous, and sweat had begun to bead on his forehead.

"No rush." Lu Sheng tightened the fox-fur coat around himself. The snow-white, fluffy fox fur snugly wrapped his neck, making him look warm just by sight.

"If we go over now, we can only become a burden to the Daoist Priest. So we cannot rush."

Lu Sheng said in a low voice.

The group waited a while longer. The firelight inside the Taoist Temple gradually grew brighter, while Daoist Priest Yan Kai's shouts became increasingly distinct and clear.

Lu Sheng waited quietly outside for a time. Only once the shouting within the Taoist Temple gradually ceased did he signal for a guard to give him a torch.

He took the torch in his own hand and approached the Taoist Temple.

Yu Han wanted to stop him, but after thinking it over, he gritted his teeth.

"Follow him!" he shouted, becoming the second to walk after Lu Sheng.

The remaining guards and servants all felt their scalps prickle, but the estate's rules stood like mountains, and they had no choice but to follow Yu Han forward.

Though Yan Kai stood ahead of them and Young Master led the way, most of these guards and servants were greenhands who had never seen blood. It was already no small feat that they could hold their ground in such a situation without running away.