A little earlier.
Crowds thronged around the Altar of Heaven and Earth, while the distant countryside was fairly quiet.
Dressed in a black cloak, with gold-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, Bu Yuehua sat among the treetops, gazing at the sacrificial ceremony in the distance.
Coal Ball, won over by regular feeding, perched obediently on a branch, bobbing its head and chirping, "Coo, cheep~" It was probably saying-good and evil get their due in the end; whom has Heaven ever spared?
Those words were meant for old man Lü, who had been hunting them everywhere!
Bu Yuehua had risen early today. She had been wandering around when she overheard people from the Eldest Princess's Residence discussing some activity in the Divination Sect. She had quietly gone to investigate, only to learn a bombshell-Lü Yan had disappeared!
According to the Divination Sect's disciples, Lü Yan had returned to his lodgings last night, and nothing had been heard from him since. A disciple had gone to visit, only to find the door open and a few drag marks left on the floor.
Although the scene looked like a kidnapping, the disciples of Five-Spirit Mountain hardly dared entertain that thought. Only when their sect leader still had not returned by daybreak did they seek out their martial uncles in the Capital City. After inquiries and investigations involving the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the Phoenix Etiquette Bureau, and other agencies, they confirmed that Lü Yan had either gone out alone or disappeared.
At first, Bu Yuehua did not believe this account at all. After all, as the second-in-command of the entire Divination Sect, Lü Yan was a genuine patriarch-level figure. At Fire Phoenix Valley, he had fought five of them alone and sent them scurrying away with their hands over their heads. Even with