Investigation

The dying man's voice still alerted some people. Before long, someone came over to investigate.

When those people saw so many of them, and could not even gauge the cultivation of the one leading them, they did not dare fight at all. Even with weapons in hand, they backed away in fear.

Hua Yichen looked down on them for their cowardice. With a flick of his whip, he lashed around one of them and dragged him over.

"A bunch of cowards, too scared even to fight."

Seeing that there were quite a few enemies and that their cultivation was about the same as theirs, Feng Wuhen, Shen Ziheng, and Bing Ling tightened their grips on their weapons and took the initiative to fight them.

Meng Hongying and Qin Leyan watched from the side with itching hands, but neither of them could fight in a place like this because of what they cultivated.

One was a beast tamer. In such a narrow tunnel, there was no way for her contracted beasts to fight. Releasing them would only create more trouble.

The other was a sound cultivator. The moment she took out her weapon to fight, the sound from her instrument would openly expose their location, drawing even more people over to capture them and alerting the enemy.

So, to avoid causing trouble or being discovered, the two of them could only stand to the side and watch the show.

When Feng Wuhen began fighting, he was somewhat restrained at first, but he quickly grew accustomed to it, his strikes becoming cleaner and more decisive.

The Jade Bone Sword in Feng Wuhen's hand danced into afterimages, its sword moves growing ever sharper. His opponent could barely cope at first, but the longer the fight went on, the more powerless he became. Cuts covered his body.

It was Feng Wuhen's first time fighting someone other than Bing Ling. His months of hard work had not gone to waste. Before his mind could react to thrust, stab, slice, twist, and lift, his body had already made the corresponding movements.

But to make his mind keep pace with his body, he slowed his attacks at the beginning. Once his mind and body had grown accustomed to each other, he knew the time had come.

His hand shifted, changing from a lifting strike to a thrust. One sword pierced straight through the heart.

There was no time to savor the feeling of killing someone for the first time. There were still enemies nearby, so Feng Wuhen raised his sword and charged forward again.

Xia Jingcheng stepped back at just the right time to give them an opportunity to train. He stood together with Qin Xiaoran, watching Feng Wuhen and the other two fight.

"The disciples Mount Grand Mystery recruited this time are truly impressive. Every one of them is a first-rate talent. Especially those two—they should be the best among cultivators their age.

"The most formidable is Junior Brother Feng. He improves in battle, and his progress is obvious.

"I think it will not be long before he becomes the leading figure of his generation. In a few years, he might even surpass both you and me."

Hearing Xia Jingcheng praise his junior brothers so highly, Qin Xiaoran said proudly, "Of course. Which disciple of Mount Grand Mystery does not possess exceptional talent? This time, we truly did take in many fine seedlings. Besides those who came with me, several other junior brothers and sisters are also outstanding.

"But among all those junior brothers and sisters, Junior Brother Feng is still the best.

"Whether it is his spiritual roots, innate physique, or comprehension, he is at the very pinnacle—no less than my youngest martial uncle.

"Beyond that, his character is also very good. For us cultivators, aside from cultivation, the most important thing is cultivating the heart, and cultivating the heart is even more important than cultivation itself.

"To help them grow faster, I accepted the task of taking my junior brothers and sisters out to gain experience, and chose this mission for them."

When Qin Xiaoran had selected missions at Merit Hall, he had already realized that what was happening in Radiant Moon City was not simple.

There were too few clues, and this mission had not been posted by the Radiant Moon City Lord. Instead, a relative of an outer sect elder from Mount Grand Mystery had asked that elder to post it.

That alone showed that there was something wrong with the Radiant Moon City Lord. Thus, besides finding those children and rescuing them, their mission this time was—

To find out why the Radiant Moon City Lord had not reported the children's disappearances to Mount Grand Mystery.

But speaking of that, why had Dao One Sect come here?

"Senior Brother Xia, the mission we accepted was posted by a relative of an outer sect elder. What about your Dao One Sect? Why did you appear here?"

Xia Jingcheng thought it really was quite a coincidence. "What a coincidence. We learned what happened here because a relative of one of our inner sect senior brothers lost a child. They remembered that he was at Dao One Sect, so they told him about it. That senior brother posted the mission, and then we came."

Qin Xiaoran felt that it was indeed quite a coincidence. Also, everyone seemed to have plenty of relatives.

While the two of them were talking, Feng Wuhen and the others had already dealt with their opponents. All three of them had blood on their hands.

It was not that they were unused to it. The blood simply clung to them in a sticky mess, making them feel uncomfortable.

Feng Wuhen looked at the blood splattered across his clothes and shoes, frowning impatiently. He formed a Dust-Cleansing Art with his fingers, and his clothes immediately became spotless and fresh.

After dealing with that small group, they continued forward. The tunnel was simply too long, and they guessed that it must lead somewhere.

So they quickened their pace and soon reached the end. Thick earth lay before them, with the only exit directly above their heads.

"There must be a mechanism to open the door overhead. Spread out and search."

Qin Xiaoran began searching first, then instructed Feng Wuhen and the others to search as well.

Girls were meticulous, and Qin Leyan especially so. She spotted an area whose color differed from the surrounding dirt. "Brother, come look! This patch is a different color from the surrounding area. It's darker. This should be the mechanism we're looking for."

Seeing that she had found the mechanism, Qin Xiaoran had her step back. "I'm going to press it. You all be careful."

Feng Wuhen stood behind him, staring at Qin Xiaoran nervously. Qin Xiaoran raised his hand and pressed down. The instant he did, a rumbling sound echoed out, and loose dirt fell from above.

Bing Ling hurriedly dodged to the side, afraid the stuff would fall onto his head.

The passage above them opened. Xia Jingcheng climbed up first, saw that there was no one in the room, and quickly said to those in the tunnel, "There's no one here. Everyone, come up."

Feng Wuhen and the others climbed up one after another. Once Qin Xiaoran came up, the tunnel entrance closed.

They examined the room. There was a desk with a chair behind it, and vases as high as an adult's waist stood on either side of the desk.

A landscape painting hung on the wall behind the chair, lending the room an elegant air.

The study was not large, containing only one bookshelf. Once they had all come out, the room was packed with people.

"Is this the legendary cunning rabbit with three burrows? The tunnel beneath that residence actually leads to this residence. I wonder whether there's another tunnel here that leads to some other residence?"

Bing Ling felt over every object in the study, wanting to see whether there was another mechanism that might reveal a secret passage.

But aside from the secret passage they had just emerged from, there was no second secret passage in the room.

Bing Ling still felt there had to be another secret passage, only not in this room. He wanted to check outside, but the moment he lifted his foot, Feng Wuhen grabbed him.

"Senior Brother, be careful. Who knows what it's like outside? Let's observe from the window first. We can go out once we see that it's safe."

Bing Ling thought that made perfect sense. He ran to the window and gently pushed it open a crack, peering outside through the gap.

There was nothing outside. Apart from a few trees and some flowers and grass, there was not a single person.

Still uneasy, he swept the area with spiritual power again. No one was hidden even underground, though something else seemed to be buried beneath the earth.

He planned to bring Feng Wuhen back to dig around after everything was over and see what good thing was buried below.