After dealing with the mentally challenged prefect, Xu Long went to the inn to wait.
As mentioned before, in ancient times when network communication was underdeveloped, besides the government, the easiest places to gather information were inns and brothels.
The former is a mixed bag, with people from all regions and industries, including peddlers, swordsmen, and even some from the lowest rungs of society and illegitimate businesses.
The latter were mostly literati, officials, and nobles; even some low-class emperors would visit brothels.
Don't laugh, ancient brothels were nothing like modern ones.
A normal prostitute is proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and has a superior appearance and figure.
They are the brothel's cash cows; they can't be allowed to be touched by men so easily.
Even the worst prostitute is incomparable to modern celebrities.
Because all prostitutes are virgins and possess various skills and knowledge.
Generally speaking, there are only two possible outcomes for ordinary prostitutes after they reach adulthood.
One was redeemed by a high-ranking official and became a concubine, thus completely reforming her ways.
Another option is to publicly auction off one's virginity, after which she becomes a prostitute—essentially a modern-day celebrity...
Oops, I misspoke!
They are equivalent to modern-day healthcare workers.
Having cultivated for so long, Xu Long has long since transcended base desires.
He would never go to a brothel or anything like that.
Who, being a decent person, goes to a brothel?
Are people who go to brothels decent people?
Ugh, disgusting!
In ancient times, there were few entertainment facilities. Besides chatting, people in inns mainly ate some food and drank some wine.
Xu Long sat for more than half an hour and finally heard something that might be useful.
Have you heard?
From a corner no more than ten meters away, a shifty-eyed man cautiously glanced around. Noticing many people secretly watching him, he continued with satisfaction, "Another one has died. This is the sixteenth this month."
"Wasn't he missing? How come you're saying he's dead?"
The man opposite him looked suspicious. They just couldn't find anyone; how did they end up eating at the banquet?
"So many people have gone missing, the longest being two years ago, have they ever been found?"
The man scoffed, his tone dripping with sarcasm. However, knowing that the government was not to be trifled with, he lowered his voice considerably, "Our prefect of Chuzhou wouldn't even bother with anything without a bribe. He'd rather spend his days visiting brothels than concern himself with anything in Chuzhou."
"Shh, are you trying to die?!"
Upon hearing his words, his companion's expression changed drastically.
He cautiously glanced around and breathed a sigh of relief when he found no one was paying attention.
"Be careful what you say; the government never reasons with you."
"Alright, alright, I'm tired of living. If I can drag these government bastards down with me, it'll be worth it."
"But I don't want to be dragged down by you..."
The two chattered quietly, but Xu Long had no intention of listening any longer.
He got up and went to the two people, placing his hand on their heads.
Including these two, everyone in the entire inn seemed to ignore Xu Long's presence and continued doing their own thing.
The soul search lasted for half a minute, Xu Long returned to his position.
Because he protected their souls so carefully, the two of them would only feel tired for a while at most.
Rest for a few days and you'll be fine.
"The situation is worse than I thought!"
Xu Long frowned. According to the memories obtained from the soul search, these missing people had nothing in common.
There were men and women, young and old, day and night, from all walks of life and all regions—all kinds of people were represented.
If we have to point out a commonality, it's that they are all located within a hundred-mile radius of Chuzhou.
Isn't that obvious?
The location calculated by Xu Long is within a hundred li radius of Chuzhou!
At least the last Dream Realm had a small, dilapidated temple; this place has absolutely nothing!
It's nothing but rocks!
Xu Long was a little discouraged, but he wasn't in a hurry, because being anxious would be pointless.
Time flies, and two months have passed in the blink of an eye.
Xu Long, feeling restless, decided to go out and take a look.
If there had been a problem, it would have been discovered long ago.
The lack of progress suggests that the root of the problem may be beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.
Or rather, everyone overlooked the crucial information.
Today the weather is fine and sunny, with not a cloud in the sky.
Xu Long withdrew all his power, shouldered his pack, and hurried on his way like an ordinary passerby.
In ancient times, transportation was underdeveloped, and the only means of communication between counties and towns, and between cities and prefectures, besides horse-drawn carriages, were walking.
Xu Long didn't buy any horses because he's just an ordinary person now.
They hadn't gone far when a horse-drawn carriage caught up from behind.
The driver was a very rough and uncouth man. Upon seeing Xu Long, he asked magnanimously, "Hey, brother, where are you going? Need a ride?"
"OK!"
Xu Long nodded and climbed directly onto the carriage.
In ancient societies, there weren't many cameras, especially in remote areas. After a murder and the disposal of the body, no one could find any evidence.
Even if Di Renjie and Bao Zheng came together, there was nothing they could do.
Because the area was sparsely populated, the body was not discovered until many days later.
Their bodies either rotted, were torn apart by Beast, or were eaten by mosquitoes.
It's impossible to tell who it is!
Then a gust of wind and rain, and even the traces on the ground are gone.
This driver's magnanimity wasn't due to genuine generosity or a lack of caution, but rather because he was a professional in this line of work.
To put it simply, he's a professional robber.
Disguised as a merchant, he would wander in the wilderness and invite anyone traveling alone to join him.
They would chat and observe simultaneously; if they were certain they could win, they would kill and rob the victim.
If you can't beat them, then poison them.
When he was hundreds of meters away, Xu Long could smell the blood on him and see a resentment about him.
This was left behind by the person he killed. Since the coachman was not a cultivator, he could not see the resentment and therefore could not remove it.
But Xu Long was different; his cultivation was about to Tribulation Transcendence, and it could be sensed from a great distance.
Sure enough, after getting into the car, the driver started making conversation.
"Brother, where are you from? Do you have relatives? Where are you going? Are you married?"
The driver was very kind; if he were a fool, he might actually have taken him for a good Samaritan.
However, Xu Long had seen countless people, and he could tell what color of shit Xu Long was going to take just by the way he bent over.
Trying to teach someone a lesson in front of him? That's incredibly presumptuous!
Xu Long has been cultivating for hundreds of years in mission worlds, making him practically a thousand-year-old man.
He's incredibly adept at understanding human relationships and reading people's expressions; he's practically a master of deception.
"I'm a native of Chuzhou, and I'm visiting relatives in Zhuzhou. All my family members were killed by bandits, except for a distant cousin. To be honest, I'm going to Zhuzhou to marry her. We've been childhood sweethearts..."
Xu Long's face was full of shyness, as if he really was a pure-hearted man who went to marry his cousin, just as he said.
Congratulations in advance! May you have a son soon!
The driver laughed three times, thinking to himself, "This time it's a sure thing!"
His gaze swept over the package beside Xu Long. With his parents dead and no relatives, this package must contain all his family's assets.
Traveling alone from Chuzhou to Zhuzhou, the cost of the CDs along the way would be at least ten taels of silver.
Hehehe, ten taels of silver! That's enough for me to have a good time at the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion.
Thinking of this, the driver was in a great mood and actually opened the package and took out a gourd of wine.
"Try it, this is brewed by me personally. It's a family secret recipe, unique in the world."
Thanks!
He took the gourd of wine and tasted it. It was sour and astringent, like his mother's urine, and tasted awful.
Actually, these wines were alright among ordinary people, but Xu Long was used to drinking fine wines and eating all kinds of delicacies. How could he possibly be interested in such things?
Xu Long took a small sip and put the gourd down.
Although the wine tasted bad, it wasn't poisoned; the driver was just testing it.
As expected, when he saw that Xu Long only took a sip without moving his throat, the coachman's expression became slightly more serious.
In his view, Xu Long must be very wary, which is why he didn't drink the wine in the gourd.
Little did they know, Xu Long simply disliked the taste and had no other intentions.
He is not afraid of any deadly poison, even the most potent poisons that can turn a soul to ashes in an instant are ineffective against him.
It is, after all, a threshold for achieving Saint; a strong will can ignore all attacks targeting the soul.
As for the deadly poison in the flesh...
Is there anything more terrifying in this world than the Power of Oblivion?
How does my wine taste?
The driver suddenly asked.
"I don't like drinking, but I can feel a spicy smell entering my nasal cavity."
Xu Long shook his head with a wry smile, feeling just like an ordinary person choking on alcohol.
It must be said that Xu Long's acting skills are truly top-notch.
All the poor villains he fooled deserve an Xiao Jin.
"I see!"
The driver nodded, clearly believing him.
This person was very talkative, chatting and laughing all the way, which easily put people at ease.
That seemed to him indeed, because Xu Long appeared completely unprepared.
Actually, he was overthinking it; Xu Long didn't care about him at all.
"By the way, I heard a lot of people have gone missing recently. I wonder if they've been found yet?"
Xu Long asked casually.
He found it quite interesting, like an ordinary person, using his wisdom to investigate the silence, instead of rushing up to search for the soul directly.
"You mean that? At least fifty people have gone missing in the last six months."
The driver sighed, his expression turning ashen.
The prefect was incompetent, indifferent to the lives of ordinary people, and only concerned with his own enjoyment.
Without sending someone to investigate the missing persons, it's impossible to find any common ground.
Given this premise, ordinary people have no way to specifically avoid risks, so the deaths of those people were meaningless.
To put it bluntly, this prefect is utterly incompetent.
Anyone with a modicum of sense would try to investigate, even if it's just to put on a show.
"Sigh, when will this world ever end!"
The coachman shook his head; even bandits worry about making a living.
If ordinary people are living poorly, he won't be able to steal anything.
Furthermore, robbery is ultimately not a legitimate path; if one encounters the government cracking down on bandits or runs into a tough opponent, death is certain.
Who would willingly do something so high-risk, low-reward if they weren't forced into it?
Of course, this is not to whitewash robbers, but simply to state a very harsh fact.
Robbery, murder, and other evil deeds are wrong.
But if it's about survival, then it's not his problem, but the country and society that are wrong.
When even basic survival is a problem, how can you expect people to be kind?
For some reason, after chatting with Xu Long for a while, the driver felt a sense of kinship with him.
He was a little reluctant to kill Xu Long, and even considered becoming sworn brothers with him.
He retired to the countryside and never again did such heinous things.
Boom! Crack!
A sudden clap of thunder startled the driver, making him tremble violently.
It was broad daylight, and the weather was perfectly clear, when suddenly it started thundering.
Is this God's anger?
Amitabha! Infinite Heavenly Venerable! May Heaven protect us!
I am a bandit, so I should focus on robbing and killing people along the way. I shouldn't be half-hearted and even think about retiring to the countryside. I am simply ungrateful!
The driver thought to himself, a fierce glint suddenly flashing in his eyes.
After walking for so long and rambling on for so long, it's time to get down to business.
I'm a bandit; I've killed at least thirty, if not fifty, people.
Unfortunately, before he could turn around, just as he was about to kill, his entire being seemed to have been eroded by millions of years of time in an instant, turning into ashes.
"I see, so specific conditions are required for this to manifest. Before, it required entering a dream; here, it's the torrential rain."
Ignoring the coachman, Xu Long gazed at the courtyard that was faintly visible in the distance, but did not rush to approach it.
The heavy rain came so fast that it went from a light Kung Fu Hustle to a deluge in the blink of an eye.
The once clear sky suddenly became pitch black, and only lightning could tear the night apart.
The heavy rain gradually formed a curtain of water, making the courtyard increasingly clear.
Xu Long released his mental energy, and his mood eased slightly.
Unlike the Dream Realm, this place can be entered by the real body.
However, the more this is the case, the more it demonstrates that they are extraordinary.
It's unknown how long this place has existed, or how many people have entered it during that time.
The fact that it has persisted under such circumstances speaks volumes.
With a thought, the carriage immediately turned and headed towards the courtyard.
It looks like less than 300 meters, but it's incredibly difficult to walk.
It took them a full fifteen minutes, swaying and moving slowly, to finally reach within thirty meters of the courtyard gate.
"Good heavens, looks like they spotted me a while ago!"
Looking at the courtyard in front of him, Xu Long smiled slightly.
There is no doubt that this courtyard has an owner.
Because the courtyard itself is merely a fragment of an unformed small world, it has no consciousness of its own.
Oh, actually it was conscious, but Xu Long killed it within the Dream Realm.
In this situation, there are only two possibilities.
One possibility is that it lies dormant in the courtyard, unseen by anyone. Another possibility is that it reveals itself and moves towards other fragments.
These fragments are of the same origin and will instinctively attract each other.
The courtyard is thus revealed.
However, the current owner of the courtyard clearly did not want to meet with Xu Long, so he kept the courtyard under control and kept the two at a distance.
Unfortunately, this creature seemed unfamiliar with the power of space, and its methods of using it were also terrible.
It's said that Xu Long, a powerful figure capable of directly confronting someone who has mastered the Law of Space-Time, could have his methods broken even by someone who has only scratched the surface.