Fate Unknown

A tense atmosphere filled the small study. The butler stood respectfully to one side, and upon glancing up, he noticed the solemn expressions on the faces of his two masters.

"How could you guard them like that? Those four managed to escape! Their cultivation had already been crippled, how could they escape so easily right under your noses?" Fu Yinqiu couldn't help but rebuke.

She simply couldn't understand it. The group of people in the West Courtyard had long since lost their cultivation and were probably no match for ordinary people. Moreover, the Jimo Household's dungeon was not only heavily guarded but also had an array set up.

Any unusual activity will be detected by the guards immediately.

Therefore, for hundreds of years since the dungeon was built, no one has been able to escape from here. But today, it has been broken!

If it were someone else who escaped, Fu Yinqiu wouldn't be so angry. But it was Jimo Hong's family who escaped, and they are currently leading the way for the family head and his entourage.

She didn't believe for a second that there wasn't something fishy about his wife and children disappearing at this time.

After Fu Yinqiu's reprimand, the guards felt both guilty and aggrieved.

When the formation issued the warning, they rushed over as fast as they could, but it was too late. They really hadn't expected that this group of people who had lost their Spiritual Power would still have the ability to escape from the dungeon.

Sang Ying glanced at the guards who had their heads bowed, then turned to comfort Fu Yinqiu, saying, "Madam, please don't be angry. The most important thing now is to find out how they escaped and bring those four back. What's done is done, blaming them won't help."

Fu Yinqiu sighed. She knew this principle all too well, but with her husband and son gone, she and Sang Ying were in charge of Rizhao City. Such a heavy responsibility on her shoulders made her dare not slack off in the slightest.

"In my opinion, those four people in the west courtyard probably didn't escape on their own; they were likely rescued." Sang Ying came to this conclusion after listening to the guards' descriptions.

Fu Yinqiu and the others agreed with her words. In their opinion, the group of incompetent fools in the West Courtyard couldn't come up with anything without Jimo Hong's advice.

If it weren't for someone's help, they would probably have been locked up in the dungeon for life.

Quickly regaining her composure, Fu Yinqiu pointed to one of the guards and asked, "How did you discover something was wrong? What did you see after you arrived at the cell? Tell me everything in detail, without missing a single point."

Having served as the mistress of the family for many years, Fu Yinqiu's imposing presence was quite intimidating.

Once she spoke, the guard naturally dared not conceal anything and immediately recounted everything he had seen and heard, without holding back in the slightest.

Besides him, Fu Yinqiu called on a few others to repeat their explanations. Their versions were basically identical, and it seemed there were no problems.

But the last person added, "Oh, by the way, when we got there, my subordinate seemed to have seen a wisp of black smoke in the cell."

"Black smoke? Are you sure you saw black smoke?" Fu Yinqiu quickly asked.

When she asked the question, the guard's previously confident tone immediately became hesitant. "I'm not entirely sure either. When I saw that the cell was empty, I instinctively glanced up and saw a wisp of black smoke drifting away. I initially thought I was mistaken, since no one else seemed to have noticed anything unusual."

If Fu Yinqiu hadn't repeatedly emphasized that she should be told about every single detail, the guard probably wouldn't have remembered this.

Seeing that she couldn't get any more information from them, Fu Yinqiu waved for them to leave.

The study fell silent again, with only Sang Ying, Fu Yinqiu, and the housekeeper remaining.

The butler spoke first, "Should I go and investigate that black smoke again?"

Fu Yinqiu rubbed her throbbing temples and nodded to him. "I'll leave this matter to you. Make sure to screen everyone connected to the black smoke. Those related to Eternal Night City are of utmost importance!"

The steward accepted Fu Yinqiu's advice and hurried out to attend to it.

On the contrary, Sang Ying pondered the words "black smoke" for a long time, seemingly lost in thought.

Seeing her expression, Fu Yinqiu immediately softened her voice and said, "We will definitely be able to find out about this. It's probably just some kind of backup plan left by Jimo Hong. There shouldn't be any major problems, so don't worry."

Although Sang Ying was also assigned the important task of guarding the city, Fu Yinqiu secretly didn't want her to get involved in these troublesome matters.

Sang Ying could easily see the lady's concern for her, but not wanting to cause her any trouble, Sang Ying could only reply, "Of course I trust you, Madam. Rizhao City will surely be safe and sound until the head of the family returns."

Fu Yinqiu smiled and patted Sang Ying's hand affectionately.

Although they appeared relaxed, they were both somewhat heavy-hearted.

Sang Ying, in particular, had a bad feeling as soon as she heard the word "black smoke".

After leaving the study, Sang Ying returned to her room. She took the small basket off the windowsill, lifted the top layer of Jiaoren Silk, and revealed the small black snake sleeping peacefully underneath.

Perhaps it shouldn't be called a little snake, since although it has no scales, it still has a horn that has been cut off in half on its head.

"Why isn't he awake yet?" Sang Ying couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

Cang Lian transformed into human form and sat down at the table, casually grabbing a piece of pastry and stuffing it into her mouth.

While returning the energy, he said, "Senior has clearly absorbed too much Spiritual Qi and can't digest it quickly. Let him sleep a little longer; perhaps he'll regain some strength when he wakes up."

Sang Ying only learned later that the soil of Myriad Phenomena Mountain had a special healing power for Jiang Zhuoxue. He had only been integrated into the earth for a few days when he absorbed a lot of the overflowing Spiritual Qi.

He benefited greatly, especially from Sang Ying's sharp sword strike.

So after they resolved the matter in the mine, Jiang Zhuoxue couldn't help but fall into a deep sleep to repair herself.

Although she knew that his strength would recover somewhat after he woke up, Sang Ying was still a little worried about him in his current state.

"Hopefully, everything can be resolved before the senior wakes up!" Sang Ying sincerely hoped.

Unfortunately, things in this world rarely go as planned.

Three days after the patriarch and his party left, news came that the Jimo Household patriarch's flying boat fleet had encountered a turbulent current on its way to Yao Zhou. All of the dozen or so flying boats in the fleet were swept into the turbulent current, and their fate was unknown!

Upon receiving this news, even someone as strong as Fu Yinqiu felt a wave of dizziness and nearly fainted on the spot.

Fortunately, Sang Ying was watching her closely and caught her immediately.

Fu Yinqiu's vulnerability was fleeting; she quickly regained her composure and coldly instructed the steward, "Suppress this matter. Absolutely no outsiders must know. Send people to search for the patriarch's whereabouts as soon as possible, and order the City Lord's Mansion to increase patrols. Our Rizhao City is likely about to face a considerable upheaval!"

Upon hearing this, the butler disregarded everything else and quickly arranged all the affairs.

However, they were a step too late. By the next day, news of the disappearance of the Jimo Household head and his group had already spread throughout Rizhao City. Along with this, what weighed heavily on everyone's minds was the Evil Cultivator from Eternal Night City who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and surrounded Rizhao City completely!