This is the ninth Horde.
Chen Qing and Wei Gongcheng investigating very urgently, but this island was really big, almost as big as the Jiangnan in terms of area, and it had a lot of mountains. Most importantly, the island was too scattered. The distance between Horde Horde was about the same as the distance between Liuzhou and the farthest county town. It would take an ordinary person more than a whole day to ride a fast horse.
The two used their supernatural powers to travel swiftly, but searching for newborns scattered across the fourteen Horde was still quite troublesome, given that the Underworld was sealed off and teleportation through temples was impossible.
Chen Qing glanced at the sky. The two of them had tried their best to speed things up, but two whole days had passed and they still hadn't found a clue.
Judging by the time, Ziyue should have returned to Jiangnan by now, right?
The island was far enough away that the two of them were on a merchant ship, not a military vessel supplied with energy stones. It took them a full ten days to get to the island, and with the two days they had already been delayed, Chen Qing calculated in his mind that by now, Ziyue and the others had probably already begun making contact with the South Sea.
A sense of unease welled up in Chen Qing's heart. Although the two seemed to have no connection, he felt something was amiss whenever he thought about it.
The Horde chief warmly welcomed them and held a bonfire party. The white man still treated Chen Qing with great respect. After all, he was someone who could control life, death, and spirits, and who could provide so many conveniences here. He wasn't stupid; his fate in his next life was in Chen Qing's hands.
After exchanging a few casual pleasantries, Chen Qing explained his purpose: he wanted to see the newborn children.
The excuses they used were all the same: they said they had learned through divination that those children were blessed and might be the future stars of good fortune, so they wanted to see them in advance. The other Horde were overjoyed to hear this and took them to see the newborns, but the tribespeople here had strange expressions when they heard this.
Chen Qing's heart skipped a beat; he knew something was wrong. His face remained impassive as he said, "In the previous Horde, newborns always received a shaman's blessing at these kinds of gatherings. Here you are..."
"The wizard is injured."
"You're injured?" Chen Qing feigned confusion. "Did something happen?"
The tribesmen exchanged glances, and finally the old chieftain spoke up, "His Highness Prince King of Qin is the lord of this island; there's nothing we can't tell them."
Although this is a pristine island, untouched by the zombie horde, the West Sea Army displayed overwhelming military might when it reclaimed the island. Furthermore, the Divine Path Style sect's unique Underworld Samsara system meant that as long as people believed Chen Qing could control the Samsara of life and death, even the most stubborn and superstitious natives would submit.
The West Sea Army stationed on this island are usually treated like nobles, and many are even more revered than clan leaders. Chen Qing's status goes without saying.
" King of Qin Highness, that witch doctor was injured before the children went missing. He must have been cursed and is now delirious!"
"A curse?" Chen Qing's expression immediately turned serious. "Why wasn't this reported to the garrison?"
The clan leader and the others remained silent, but Chen Qing, sensing something was amiss, said directly, "Just say what you have to say, don't hold back."
"We... we..." The clan chief hesitated for a moment, but finally a strong middle-aged man beside him spoke up, "Let me speak."
Chen Qing nodded at him, and the man breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "After the wizard was injured, he went completely insane, as if he had suffered immense terror. He even went berserk and bit people. Our Horde has been here for so long, and we've never seen anything like this before. The older generation has heard that there are many extraordinary people and events in the Middle-earth Continent, and that there are spells that can control people's minds. We suspect that the wizard saw something he shouldn't have seen, and that's why he was punished. As for those children, they were brought here by you adults."
"Oh?" Chen Qing laughed, "How did you know those children were brought by us?"
The middle-aged man took a breath and said, "The old shaman said that he can see the ghosts of the dead. So every time someone in the Horde dies, the old shaman performs a soul-soothing ritual. According to him, in the past, the soul would linger in the body immediately after death, but once it was truly dead, it would be taken away by a force. But now, since Your Highness Prince King of Qin and you have taken over this area, the spirits of the dead can linger here and be taken away by the day and Night Wandering God. This is why most Horde are willing to believe in you."
"I see." Chen Qing nodded slightly. No wonder the Horde were so quick to pledge allegiance when the faith was spread here; it turned out the shamans here could communicate with spirits.
"The shaman witnessed the Day Wandering God leading several young men of similar skin color to us, wandering around here. He personally stated that this was where they would live from now on. Then, a few days later, several women in the village became pregnant, the number of whom was exactly the same as the number of men the Day Wandering God had brought."
Chen Qing nodded. "Those children were indeed arranged by us. They are from another country. Because they wanted to retain their skin color from their previous life, they did not want to be born in the Central Plains, so they chose to be here."
"Skin color?" The middle-aged man was taken aback. "Are you stupid? Just because you want this skin color, you're giving up the rich Central Plains?"
In the past, to strengthen their faith, the nobles on this island all went to Jiangnan and brought back a lot of goods. They were also trying to establish maritime trade here. At that time, everyone who went to Jiangnan was full of longing for it. But now they are told that some people chose to be born in this poor Horde because of their skin color and gave up such a good place in the Central Plains.
Are you out of your mind?
Chen Qing also felt that these Westerners, who were so fixated on skin color, were a bit off-track-minded, but now was not the time to dwell on such trivial matters. She continued, "Because you believe that these children were deliberately arranged by us, you didn't dare to go to the garrison after they went missing, right?"
"Yes"
"I understand." Chen Qing nodded. "Have all the children disappeared?"
"All seventeen are missing."
"They've all disappeared." Chen Qing's face was grim; it seemed that the problem lay with those few people in this Horde.
Of course, there couldn't have been as many as seventeen. In order to prevent them from forming gangs and harming the local area, these white people were deliberately separated and their origins were mixed up and distributed among various Horde. It's unlikely that exactly seventeen of them were problematic.
That can only mean that, in order to prevent themselves from finding any clues, the remaining people took their compatriots with them.
"Take me to see where those children were born."
Upon hearing this, the old clan chief immediately led Chen Qing to the homes where those children were born and also summoned their parents.
They were already extremely anxious because of the child's disappearance and the sorcerer's mental instability. Now that His Highness the King of Qin has come to investigate in person, they naturally have to cooperate.
Led by the parents, Chen Qing arrived at the place where the children usually lived.
People in this world conceive and give birth very quickly, usually within three months. Even so, according to the timeline, all the babies are only about three months old and cannot even crawl on the ground under normal circumstances.
But they disappeared with extraordinary speed and clarity.
Chen Qing visited all seventeen houses and immediately found no trace of them!
The so-called traces are the children's scent. The clothes the children wore, the things they came into contact with, and even the parents themselves no longer smelled like the children.
It was completely wiped out!!