Could Sect Master Martial Uncle Agree?

Facing Third Senior Brother's astonished gaze, Zhou Qing could only say, "I forgot where I saw this stuff. I was just asking."

Yan Xiaohu got to his feet and explained to Zhou Qing, "This is rather obscure. It counts as a rare tracking material—colorless and odorless. Even someone in the Nascent Soul Realm might not notice if they accidentally came into contact with it. But there's a kind of Black Spirit Hound with an incredibly sharp nose."

"To obtain this stuff from Demonic Beast spirit turtles, you have to rely on those Black Spirit Hounds to find the spirit turtles' lairs..."

Listening to Third Senior Brother, Zhou Qing's heart tightened.

He looked carefully at the Jade Pendant again.

"What's wrong?" Seeing that something was off with Zhou Qing's expression, Yan Xiaohu stopped explaining and leaned closer curiously.

Zhou Qing said, "Third Senior Brother, my nose may be more sensitive than an ordinary person's. After hearing what you said and combining it with what I know, if I'm not mistaken, this Jade Pendant has been smeared with Spirit Turtle Fluid."

As soon as he said this, Yan Xiaohu stared at Zhou Qing in disbelief.

"Really?"

"Seriously?"

"But Spirit Turtle Fluid is colorless and odorless. How did you smell it?"

"Didn't you just say even those Black Spirit Hounds can smell it? Why can't I?"

"Right, right, right. If that's true, then your nose is something else—better than a dog's! Let me see whether the inside is built differently from mine. Why can't I smell anything?"

"Third Senior Brother, take your chubby hand away. That's not the point. The point is the Spirit Turtle Fluid!"

"Right, right, right. I nearly delayed the important matter. Looks like this was a premeditated operation. Could Yin Xiao be the one who kidnapped Cui Yingying and the others?"

Heart Insight Points +7

The note above Yan Xiaohu's head changed in the blink of an eye from God-like Little Junior Brother to Little Junior Brother More Impressive Than a Dog.

Zhou Qing's cheek twitched.

Was that supposed to be praise or an insult?

Frowning, Yan Xiaohu picked up the Jade Pendant and examined it repeatedly against the sunlight outside, then brought it beneath his nose and sniffed hard.

Zhou Qing said, "Yin Xiao's cultivation is, at most, on par with Cui Yingying's. Even if he wanted to use force, there's no way he could make more than two hundred people vanish without a sound, much less cruelly slaughter half of them."

Then the two looked at each other and spoke in unison, "Azure Flame Dao Palace!"

Yan Xiaohu sucked in a cold breath. "Could it be that Si Kong Yan, the Palace Master of Azure Flame Dao Palace, has pursued the Profound Abyss Immortal for so long without success that he's planning to force her to submit?"

But Zhou Qing shook his head. "If that were the case, Si Kong Yan could have kidnapped them in complete secrecy. There'd be no need for him to have Yin Xiao secretly apply Spirit Turtle Fluid as a tracking method."

Yan Xiaohu pondered aloud, "It really doesn't add up. The people from the Azure Feather Immortal Sect left in batches. Cui Yingying and the others should have been the last batch, so what exactly do the people from Azure Flame Dao Palace want?"

"Can't figure it out. My head hurts. Fourth Child, get down on the ground and sniff around again. See if there are any other clues."

Zhou Qing turned and left.

He really thinks I'm a dog.

"It's all for solving the case. If I had a nose like yours, I'd be itching to climb onto the roof beams and sniff around right now," Yan Xiaohu said, his words brimming with envy.

Not long afterward, the two carefully searched the rooms where the other Core Disciples had stayed, but unfortunately found nothing.

Now, the only leads pointed at the Azure Feather Immortal Sect and Yin Xiao.

"I'll send the relevant clues to Master first and have them stay alert. After all, as we get farther and farther from the Taiqing Sect, messages will take longer to reach us—or may not reach us at all."

After saying that, Yan Xiaohu took out his token and reported their findings to Mo Xingjian.

Before long, they received their master's reply: "Understood. Be careful, and remember to take good care of Fourth Child."

That night, the two stayed with several other True Disciples at a fairly decent inn in Flame Dragon City.

Inside the room, Zhou Qing fed the Old Hen two spirit stones, and then there came a knock at the door.

The moment he opened it, Yan Xiaohu rushed inside carrying paper and a brush.

"Quick, quick, quick! Fourth Child, help me out. That yuè zhuó Beast Bone Soup we had on the east side of the street this afternoon—how do you write those two characters?"

Yan Xiaohu spread open his booklet and hurriedly handed over the brush.

Puzzled, Zhou Qing looked toward the booklet. When he saw that everything everyone had eaten and drunk since departing Little Spirit Peak had been recorded in painstaking detail, he was stunned.

"Third Senior Brother, this is...?" Zhou Qing asked in confusion.

Yan Xiaohu said, "Expense reimbursement, of course. Look, searching for people wasn't supposed to be our job, yet we've been sent out to search while risking our lives. They can't delay our cultivation and make us pay out of our own pockets too, can they?"

"When the people are found, the Azure Feather Immortal Sect will be grateful to Sect Master Martial Uncle. If they aren't found, no one will care about our expenses along the way. Wouldn't that mean we took a loss? Nobody's money gets blown in on the wind, right?"

Listening to Third Senior Brother, Zhou Qing felt that something about it was off, yet he couldn't put his finger on what.

"Then who are you seeking reimbursement from? Everyone from the Thirteen Peaks has been sent out this time. If everyone calculates things this way, wouldn't the sect have to spend a huge sum?"

Zhou Qing casually wrote the two characters "Yuezhuo" and asked curiously.

After receiving the characters "Yuezhuo," Yan Xiaohu looked at the abundance of strokes and immediately began grumbling and swearing.

Then he happily put away the booklet. "Of course I'll ask Sect Master Martial Uncle. Would I cheat my own master? Besides, do you think Old Mo would give me money?"

"Could Sect Master Martial Uncle agree to that?" Zhou Qing asked in surprise.

Yan Xiaohu's tiny eyes immediately curved into slits with laughter.

"How could he possibly agree? But he couldn't withstand me making a fuss—no, it should be called laying out reason with righteous words. In the end, he had no choice. From then on, as long as it was a public mission assigned by the sect, I'd get reimbursed."

Yan Xiaohu wore a smug expression as he said this.

Zhou Qing clapped repeatedly in admiration.

"So the people from the other peaks get reimbursed too?" Zhou Qing had not expected Sect Master Martial Uncle to be so considerate toward them.

But Yan Xiaohu shook his head. "Those guys are thin-skinned. They can't bring themselves to ask. They think what I do is petty and embarrassing, so every time, I'm the only one who gets reimbursed. Because of this, Sect Master Martial Uncle doesn't just dislike me—Master wasn't in his good graces for quite a while either."

Zhou Qing said, "..."

Yan Xiaohu chuckled. "That's called keeping public and private matters separate. But I, Yan Xiaohu, have always been precise to the smallest detail. You saw it just now—I didn't overreport even a single bit."

"No, no. Third Senior Brother is meticulous in all he does. This junior brother admires you," Zhou Qing quickly said.

Yan Xiaohu was delighted. "Of course. All right, I won't disturb your rest any longer. We have to set out early tomorrow, so get some sleep."

"You too, Senior Brother!"

After seeing Yan Xiaohu off, Zhou Qing could not help laughing again.

How should he put it? Third Senior Brother's lively nature seemed to have an endless supply of humor waiting to be unearthed.

The next day, Zhou Qing yawned as he pushed open his door. The moment he came down the stairs, he froze.

"Senior Brother Zhou, you're awake. Come eat breakfast with us. We just ordered some tofu pudding, and it's still hot."

Lu Yaoyao invited him with a radiant smile.

Heart Insight Points +5

Beside her, Li Daoxuan looked at Zhou Qing with a face full of disdain. The note above his head changed once again from lustful rogue who couldn't stop eating shit to lustful rogue like a dog-skin plaster.

What, did that meal I treated you to at Jade Cuisine Hall last time mean nothing?

Who's the dog-skin plaster here? Don't you two have any idea?