The Village That Vanished Mysteriously (13)

Notting City, Martial Soul Branch Hall.

In a bright, tidy office, Ma Xiunuo, the Master of Martial Soul Branch Hall in Notting City, sat behind a desk with a quill in hand and an inkwell beside him, handling official duties as he pondered.

As the Master of Martial Soul Branch Hall in Notting City, Ma Xiunuo was responsible not only for the annual Martial Soul Awakening ceremonies in the villages surrounding Notting City.

He also had to maintain order within the soul master world around Notting City and handle all manner of affairs involving soul masters and Soul Beasts in the surrounding areas.

Although Spirit Hall worshiped the Angel God,

on the Douluo Continent, it was by no means merely a religious organization. It was also an official institution responsible for handling the affairs of the continent's soul master world and maintaining its order!

If the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire governed the order of the mundane world, then Spirit Hall governed the order of the soul master world on the Douluo Continent!

Whether Soul Beasts entered the human world and injured people, soul masters oppressed ordinary people, or Evil Soul Masters caused trouble, Spirit Hall had to deal with all of it.

"Knock, knock, knock..."

Suddenly, someone knocked on the office door.

"Come in."

At Ma Xiunuo's call, a deacon dressed in a Spirit Hall uniform pushed open the door and entered, respectfully handing a letter to Ma Xiunuo.

"Master Ma Xiunuo, the higher branch hall has sent a letter. It has been marked Red Emergency. Please review it!"

"Red Emergency?"

Hearing this, Ma Xiunuo's expression tightened, and a hint of gravity appeared on his face.

Red Emergency usually meant an extremely urgent matter. In the decades he had served as the Master of Martial Soul Branch Hall in Notting City, he had never received a letter of Red Emergency level.

What had happened?

Uneasy and doubtful, Ma Xiunuo took the letter and opened it. As he read, his brows quickly furrowed deeply, and his expression became increasingly grave.

"Have Deacon Su Yuntao and Deacon Si Si come here."

After finishing the letter, Ma Xiunuo immediately said in a low voice to the deacon who had delivered it.

Before long, Su Yuntao and Si Si arrived.

Upon entering the office, Su Yuntao could not help asking in confusion, "Master Ma Xiunuo, you summoned us. Is there something wrong?"

"Of course there is, and it may well be something serious."

Ma Xiunuo spoke gravely. With one hand behind his back, he rose to his feet and handed the letter he had received to Su Yuntao.

After taking the letter, Si Si curiously leaned over and read it together with Su Yuntao.

"What? Zijing Viscount's entire family was murdered near Mountain Ridge City, and all the villagers of Zijing Village in his Zijing Territory mysteriously vanished, with only a large number of wolf footprints left at the scene?!"

After reading the contents of the letter, Su Yuntao's expression changed drastically.

"Wolf footprints? Could Wolf Thieves have attacked Zijing Village and murdered Zijing Viscount's entire family?"

"But isn't an imperial border legion stationed around Notting City? Weren't the Wolf Thieves in this area completely wiped out decades ago? Could they be Wolf Thieves who wandered over from somewhere else?"

"Whether it was an attack by Wolf Thieves has not yet been determined. It is possible, but there are many suspicious points..."

Ma Xiunuo stepped out from behind the desk, clasped his hands behind his back, and spoke in a low voice as he shook his head.

"But one thing is certain: investigating the truth will require a certain level of strength. The higher branch hall has already issued us orders to send three deacons from the Notting City Martial Soul Branch Hall to assist in the investigation."

"Besides that, the City Lord of Notting City will also send people, and the city lords and Martial Soul Branch Halls of the several major cities around us must likewise send people to investigate together."

"After all, this happened in a city near Notting City. If we do not get to the bottom of it, it may happen here someday as well."

"Go back and make preparations. Within three days, we are to head to Mountain Ridge City and rendezvous there."

"Yes!"

While Ma Xiunuo received his assignment,

Xiao Kuang received the same mission at the City Lord's Mansion in Notting City.

When he saw that the mission required him to join the soul masters sent by the Notting City Martial Soul Branch Hall, as well as the city lords and soul masters sent by the Spirit Halls of several nearby cities, in traveling to Mountain Ridge City to investigate the murder of Zijing Viscount's entire family and the mysterious disappearance of the villagers of Zijing Village,

Xiao Kuang was stunned for a moment, suddenly recalling the mysterious soul master Chen Xuanfeng, who had taken his son Xiao Chenyu as an Unofficial Disciple and promised to teach him a Self-Created Soul Skill, all so that Xiao Kuang would help gather information.

That Chen Xuanfeng seemed to have told him to pay attention to cases where people in a place suddenly disappeared.

He had not expected that before finding such an incident himself, he would receive precisely this kind of mission. What a coincidence!

Xiao Kuang was rather pleased.

With this information, he could report back to Chen Xuanfeng. At least Chen Xuanfeng had not taught his son Xiao Chenyu a Self-Created Soul Skill for nothing.

As for the mission, Xiao Chenyu did not think much of it.

According to the intelligence they had received, many wolf footprints had been left behind in Zijing Village, where all the villagers had mysteriously vanished. There was a ninety percent chance that Wolf Thieves were causing trouble!

Since they had been able to slaughter Zijing Viscount's entire family, these Wolf Thieves were no simple foes. Xiao Kuang certainly could not deal with them alone.

But if the Empire and Spirit Hall worked together, mobilizing the city lords and soul masters from all the surrounding cities to investigate, resolving the matter would not be difficult.

After receiving the news, Xiao Kuang immediately left the City Lord's Mansion in Notting City and returned to the castle outside the city, where he told Chen Xuanfeng about it.

Chen Xuanfeng was instantly filled with excitement.

"Take me with you! When you go to Mountain Ridge City, take me along!"

Upon learning that all the villagers in a place called Zijing Village had mysteriously disappeared, Chen Xuanfeng immediately demanded that Xiao Kuang take him along to Mountain Ridge City.

Xiao Kuang naturally nodded in agreement.

A few days later, in Mountain Ridge City.

Soul masters dispatched by the Martial Soul Branch Halls of Notting City and four nearby cities, along with the city lords of the major cities, all gathered in Mountain Ridge City. They prepared to head with the Master of Martial Soul Branch Hall in Mountain Ridge City to Zijing Village on the outskirts of the city to assess the situation.

Setting out from Mountain Ridge City under the lead of the Master of Martial Soul Branch Hall there, more than twenty soul masters headed together toward Zijing Village.

After traveling for over two hours, they finally arrived at Zijing Village.

"So this is Zijing Village?"

After arriving at Zijing Village, Ma Xiunuo could not help feeling puzzled.

Though the many houses before them looked somewhat old and worn, they had essentially not been damaged. Yet as they walked through the village, they could see many enormous wolf footprints on the ground.

Judging by their size, these footprints did indeed closely resemble those left by Wolf Thieves.

But the problem was, if Wolf Thieves had attacked Zijing Village and abducted all the villagers, why was the entire village so "clean"?