Ruan Pei immediately turned around and explained the situation to the gang members behind him. The crowd buzzed for a moment, then scattered, pouring into the streets and alleys.
"Master Luo, where was the Second Young Master abducted, and who was he with at the time?" Ruan Pei asked.
After briefly recounting what had just happened, Luo Bin said no more. The odds of finding Chen Jing with these Green Bamboo Gang members, none of whom had entered the realm, were slim.
Still... something was better than nothing. It beat having no help at all.
Luo Bin said goodbye to Ruan Pei and headed toward the street. He looked closely and saw that the young rickshaw puller who had driven him earlier was still waiting there.
"Sir, would you like another ride?"
"Sure."
This time, Luo Bin gave him a few extra silver coins, but didn't specify a destination. He let the young puller go wherever he pleased, because by now he could barely sense that dampness belonging to his "kind"...
A rickshaw wasn't as fast as a car, but its agility let it dart through streets and alleys. In crowded areas, it was much faster than a car...
Luo Bin silently sensed the passive ability of [Water Ghoul]. At last, near Long Wind Pier, he noticed something amiss.
"So that's why it suddenly disappeared. The moisture from the Li River is steaming over the pier. From far enough away, it throws off my ability to sense moisture..."
"Let's see what kind of demons and monsters you two women really are."
Two li north of Long Wind Pier.
In a derelict two-story building, Chen Jing lay unconscious and limp on the dusty floor.
In the Great Xin Republic, a turbulent land torn by chaos, this place—eerily like one of the unfinished buildings from Luo Bin's previous life—made a decent refuge for ordinary people.
But unfortunately, according to the folk tales and prophecies circulating in the streets of Ping City...
The place seemed to be haunted...
Four or five figures had gathered there. Two of them were unmistakably the women who had been with Chen Jing at Qunyu Garden earlier. The deliberate, ingratiating humility in their eyes was gone.
One woman's expression held a trace of longing...
Just then, someone slowly emerged from the shadow of the stairwell. His voice was hoarse. "Did that Luo Bin fellow not follow Chen Jing?"
"No. But there's something strange about him. His aura seems much stronger than when he appeared last time..." The woman with the sharp, spirited brows spoke.
"Last time? The Moon Veil Pavilion?"
"With Chen Tianren supplying him with precious medicines, and his talent being quite good to begin with, how could he not improve quickly?" the hoarse-voiced man said.
The other woman was dressed like a student, with a curvaceous figure. She licked her dry lips. "Before you take one of his souls, can you let me have some fun with him? I've been craving this little fellow for ages...
"Back when he was at the Women's Normal School, I saw him running to Black Sheath Hall every day, always parading around in front of us.
"Such a handsome young master from a wealthy family—I can't let him go to waste..."
The spirited-browed woman sneered. "You're cultivating the 'Pseudo-Joy Zen' of Entangling Emotion Valley. Don't suck him dry and turn him into a mummy. The Daoist still has to return him, after all..."
The voluptuous woman dressed like a student chuckled. She tugged off her stuffy coat and swayed forward, her body sinuous and wanton. "You can all step outside for a bit. I'll call you when I'm done. It'll be quick..."
The hoarse-voiced man cursed under his breath. "You little lecher."
He turned and led the four people beside him downstairs. As the robes of the man ahead fluttered while he climbed the stairs, the hem of a blue Daoist robe showed beneath them.
The spirited-browed woman asked in confusion, "Daoist, if we're targeting the Chen Family, why not just kill Chen Jing?
"Why go to all this trouble to seize one of his souls? Won't he end up an idiot, just like Chen Manqing?"
The man known as the Daoist said, "Chen Manqing has already moved out of the Chen Family. The benefits I got from taking one of her souls were negligible. There's hardly any useful information left to squeeze out of the Chen Family through her...
"Especially since Chen Tianren wants her to marry that Luo Bin. A rift has already formed between them. Chen Manqing has been steeped in foreign culture, so she won't submit so easily. For now, she's no use to us.
"As for Chen Jing, he's the Chen Family's heir. Even if he hasn't been exposed to many things yet..."
"That doesn't mean he won't be in the future. Chen Tianren will surely pass the weight of the Chen Family onto him, step by step. As long as I control the degree to which [Spirit Binding and General Commanding] influences him, he won't become as drowsy as Chen Manqing..."
"I see..."
They had all experienced the old Daoist's mastery of Spirit Binding and General Commanding firsthand. After all, anyone whose soul was seized would be like someone with a listening device planted inside their body... Every word and deed would be under surveillance.
One of the men in the group spoke up. "Daoist, Wu Gou was planted as a covert agent during the Elite Selection that day, and he got us Chen Manqing's personal effects.
"We've had him stay by her side, but it seems he's been having some problems lately..."
"What kind of problems?"
"He seems to have feelings for Chen Manqing..."
The man known as the Daoist chuckled twice and clapped his hands in approval. "Even better. Let Chen Manqing feel his sincerity and drain the resources she has stored away. Then let him and that young man named Luo Bin fight like dragons and tigers. Wouldn't that be even better?"
"The Daoist truly sees everything coming!"
As the woman's sultry moans drifted up from downstairs, the group gradually fell silent.
The Daoist looked out the window.
"At last, I can collect a little interest on the Pei Family's debt of vengeance... Next, all that remains is to see when Jiang Lin falls out with the Chen Family.
"It's also time to start making plans to seize that marvelous technique..."
The Daoist's heart surged with excitement. As long as he could get his hands on that marvelous technique, he would no longer be under the Pei Family's thumb, manipulated by the handle they had on him. Then, with the world at his feet and his Profound Mastery, he could head far away to Jinmen...
No matter how unfathomable the Pei Family was now, they wouldn't be able to reach him there.
As he dreamed up his plans for the future, a feral laugh came from the staircase on the other side. It even silenced the woman downstairs, who had been engaged in her indecent affair.
"Old Daoist, look who I've brought back!"
The rickshaw puller carrying Luo Bin was clearly gifted. In an age when even in the wilderness, frozen corpses lined the roads, he had managed to pull Luo Bin for such a long time through sheer, astonishing endurance.
He had caught Luo Bin's attention...
And he wasn't like the people at the bottom, their minds muddled and dull, their faces sallow and gaunt...
Along the way, Luo Bin sensed that dampness while chatting with the puller, whose name was Liang Shuisheng. It was a particularly memorable name.
They were almost at their destination.
Liang Shuisheng gazed at the derelict building in the distance and recalled the rumors circulating through the streets and alleys. He couldn't help warning Luo Bin. "Sir, that building's haunted... A lot of refugees don't dare go in. Cats and dogs have wandered inside before, and the next day their flesh had shriveled up, leaving them mummified..."
Luo Bin's thoughts stirred. "Haunted? What kind of haunting?"
Liang Shuisheng had only heard the rumors secondhand. When he saw Luo Bin wanted details, he couldn't help feeling stumped. "I've only heard things. I don't know the specifics.
"But you shouldn't go somewhere that dangerous alone. And the Ping City Evening News has been reporting on 'missing persons' cases a lot lately..."
"Missing persons?"
Luo Bin's heart tightened. Linking it to Chen Jing's abduction, he realized there might well be a connection.
Seeing that Luo Bin didn't seem concerned, Liang Shuisheng grew anxious. "Sir, if you really want to go in and look for someone, I'll come with you!"
Luo Bin looked at Liang Shuisheng's resolute, bright eyes and fell briefly silent. Several words suddenly surfaced in his mind:
"This man's not bad."
Before you continue