"Mr. Mo is back!" Ji Dong frowned and exclaimed, "But sir, he..."
Indeed, Mo Jianli rode the Changhe Sword Light across the sky and landed right before them. Yet his hands were empty; there was nothing there, not even the fishermen's corpses.
"My apologies." Mo Jianli landed and ignored Zhu Junfeng and Mister Tai'an. Instead, he walked up to the fishermen, bowed, and said, "This old man has failed your trust. Not only did I fail to find Sun Lao Er and the others, I did not even find their remains!"
"Sir, didn't you look downstream?" Several fishermen asked in utter disbelief.
"Of course I did!" Mo Jianli showed no irritation at the fishermen pointing fingers at him and explained calmly, "This old man searched several miles around the area, including the riverbed!"
"Hiss..." The fishermen were horrified, their entire bodies nearly trembling. "C-could it be...?"
"What it is, this old man does not know. I saw nothing, so I dare not make wild claims. But for the time being, do not come out to fish at night," Mo Jianli said gently. "We will certainly investigate around Changsheng Town for the cause, but there may be unforeseen mishaps. Wait until the truth comes to light before you..."
"But we make our living by fishing! Even if we do not come out at night, we still have to come to the Liao River during the day!" One fisherman gathered his courage and spoke.
"Alas..." Mo Jianli sighed, glanced at Zhu Junfeng, then said to the fisherman, "Changsheng Academy of our Chongyun Sect will do its utmost to protect your safety. But you must also be careful yourselves!"
Then Mo Jianli reached into his robes, took out a silver ingot, and handed it to the fisherman. "This is for Sun Lao Er's