After failing to find either of them several times in a row, Gong Chenying began to feel suspicious and uneasy. She could not tell whether Gong Shanhe had entered seclusion and activated the restrictions inside, or had gone out.
Yet she already felt that something was amiss. Could such a coincidence truly happen?
She immediately flew to the Tianli Hall. There, she did indeed find people, but only two—the Third Elder and Fourth Elder. Everyone else was absent.
Before she could speak, the two already knew why she had come and told her several things...
"Qionglin Sect vanished without a trace overnight two years ago. Could this have something to do with Father and the others?
"If it did, they should have returned two years ago. Were they injured, or did they suffer some unforeseen calamity?"
Atop the cliff, Gong Chenying's thoughts were in turmoil.
Ever since Gong Shanhe and Li Yan left, the Third Elder had spared no expense to hire several Wind Informants from the market. She had them gather extensive information on major events in the northern region, and every half month, she sent someone to retrieve the news.
To avoid arousing suspicion—lest someone with ulterior motives think the Tianli Clan was coveting something in the north, or lest Qionglin Sect had spies likewise investigating news of the Tianli Clan—
the information she ordered the Wind Informants to gather concerned major events across the broad northern region, rather than specifically the sea domain where Qionglin Sect was located. The people she sent out were also disguised, giving those Wind Informants no chance to recognize them.
However, Qionglin Sect was simply too far from the Tianli Clan. Thus, the news the Third Elder and the others received was always delayed, at best from several months earlier, and sometimes