Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 582 Whereabouts
When the appointed time arrived, Shi Chun, deep underground, took action again, piling up fuel and burning it until it became intoxicating. Before long, the passage between the two worlds was reopened.

He slipped inside again, quickly attracting the attention of Wu Jinliang and Lao Changtai who were nearby.

Upon meeting, Wu Jinliang immediately asked, "How is it? Can it be used?"

“It’s usable.” Shi Chun nodded, glanced around, and gestured with his head, “Let’s go. We shouldn’t stay here any longer. Let’s go back and talk about it.”

Wu Jinliang grabbed his arm, "Springtime, we probably can't come here again."

Shi Chun was taken aback and asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"

Wu Jinliang: "The souls here in Langdangchuan Jishu are being taken away by people repeatedly. Lao Xi told us that it is happening far too frequently, and it is difficult not to alarm the higher-ups. This is beyond his ability to suppress. He said that Yongdian is about to make arrangements here. He advised us not to show our faces here for the time being, otherwise it will be very dangerous."

Lao Changtai, who was standing to the side, nodded repeatedly, indicating that he was right.

Wu Jinliang patted the two black cloth bags on his waist, "So I also had Lao Xi capture the souls of two more hyenas, so I had two extra as spares."

Shi Chun hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Where are the corpses of the two hyenas?"

Wu Jinliang turned around and pointed at Lao Changtai, "Then it must all be on him."

Shi Chunli said to Lao Changtai, "Take the two wolf corpses to the location of the soul mechanism in the 'Qiangyu Palace' of the underworld immediately. We'll meet there next time."

Upon hearing this, Wu Jinliang immediately knew that the next time he would use the Incense of Death to enter the Underworld, he would not be killing hyenas, but killing people directly. According to the records in the books about the Underworld that they had read before, the place where the souls of ordinary people go after death is the 'Qiangyu Palace'.

Lao Changtai nodded: "Okay, I'll remember."

"Let's go." Shi Chun gestured to Wu Jinliang with a sideways turn of his head.

This place was indeed not suitable for lingering, so the two quickly left.

Lao Changtai glanced around and quickly left...

In Yaoshan City, a man wearing an exquisite black ring was pacing back and forth in his inn room, puzzled, as he had not yet been able to wait for the merchant.

A knock sounded on the door, followed by a familiar woman's voice, "My lord, are you there?"

The man was taken aback, then hurriedly opened the door. He saw a gentle-looking woman, his wife. He glanced outside, then quickly ushered her in and asked, "Why are you here?"

The woman handed over a letter, saying, "I met someone on the road who said he was your boss. He said that the merchant had something come up and wouldn't be coming for the time being. He asked you to check out of your room and go home to wait. He said he would contact you again if anything came up."

The man hurriedly opened the envelope, and as he took out the letter, he saw a note with a thousand gold coins attached. After reading the contents of the letter, he found that it was similar to what the woman had said, and the note was his wages.

I'm not afraid of anything else, I'm just afraid of not getting paid. With the money in hand and such treatment, what is there to worry about?

The man immediately put away the letter, showed the amount of money in his hand, and laughed, "Let's go, let's buy some good food on the way home."

So much money? The woman's eyes lit up, and she became happy.

The couple left together, checked out of their hotel room, and went to buy groceries, displaying their simple affection along the way.

The person secretly keeping watch didn't disturb them, but simply observed them discreetly...

Deep in the vast grassland, Xiao Sheng, who had arrived, had already met with Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang.

In front of Xiao Sheng, Wu Jinliang personally sealed the two soul-binding bags into two iron boxes.

His use of fire-based techniques made it seem like he was skilled in weapon crafting.

He had no choice but to show off his skills.

Finally, a completely sealed iron box ended up in Xiao Sheng's hands. Wu Jinliang kept asking how it was going, but Xiao Sheng remained silent as he looked through it.

When pressed, Xiao Sheng finally managed to say, "I didn't expect you to be so talented."

So Wu Jinliang grinned from ear to ear, revealing a mouthful of white teeth and chuckling. Men are sometimes so easy to coax.

Shi Chun then handed Xiao Sheng a handwritten letter, saying, "Go to the city and find a suitable person to deliver this and the letter to our home in the capital of Dongsheng. Pay him enough money and tell him that they will reward you handsomely after they see the letter."

There's no need to go into too much detail; he doesn't believe that Xiao Sheng, with his abilities, couldn't even handle such a small matter.

"Okay." Xiao Sheng accepted the order and left.

As for the other letter and the iron box, Shi Chun took them with him personally. He was going to another city to find a suitable person to deliver them.

The reason for separating was to be on the safe side.

There was no other way but to go to the underworld. If there was any mistake, they could be trapped there forever. They had to be extremely careful.

After finding suitable recipients to deliver both letters and the items, the three of them gathered together again and found a safe place to continue waiting...

In the capital of Dongsheng, outside a magnificent clothing store, Xiang Lan'er and Feng Chi got off their carriage and walked in together. After browsing around the store for a while, they both went to the back room to try on clothes.

The shop owner, who had led the two to the inner room, suddenly changed her expression. She quickly pushed open a back door through a wall, gestured for them to enter through a tunnel, and then immediately closed the back door behind her and rushed back outside to guard the shop. Xiang and Feng went through the tunnel to a room at the end, where they found the gaunt, blue-clad Qing Ye waiting for them.

Without much formality, they nodded to each other and then sat down.

Knowing that the two women couldn't stay any longer, Master Qing asked, "Has Shi Chun contacted you yet?"

Xiang Lan'er shook her head, "I haven't been in touch for a long time. I've heard nothing from them. I don't know where they've gone, or even if they're alive or dead."

Master Qing then asked, "Aren't there any signs of the Mingshan Sect members contacting the outside world either?"

Xiang Lan'er: "They either disappear without a trace or stay at home cultivating. We are also observing them secretly, but we haven't seen any signs of any further contact."

Feng Chi, however, sensed something else amiss and asked in return, "Master Qing, does the higher-ups know where Shi Chun is?"

Xiang Lan'er was taken aback, wondering what she meant by that.

Master Qing calmly replied, "If I knew, I wouldn't be asking you."

Feng Chi became even more adamant, saying, "No, the frequent meetings and questions asked recently indicate that something is definitely related to this. Since something has happened, there must be a location where it occurred. Master Qing, we are mainly targeting him, but you are keeping things related to him from us. How are we supposed to maintain our composure in the future?"

This tone displayed an unusual assertiveness, especially when facing this Master Qing.

Upon hearing this, Xiang Lan'er suddenly realized what was going on and stared intently at Master Qing, saying, "Master Qing, what are your intentions in keeping this from us for so long, leaving us clueless and waiting?"

Seeing that the two were about to explode, Master Qing could understand. Anyone would get angry if they had been searching aimlessly for almost two years, only to find out that they had been deceived, or even deceived by their own people.

He thought for a moment and said, "It's not what you think. The higher-ups didn't know where he was before and didn't pay much attention. It was only after some things happened recently that they realized where he was."

"Something happened?" Feng Chi immediately asked, "Where is she? What happened?"

This cultivation world is vast and boundless, with countless hidden corners and nooks. If something happens in any of these corners, it's like a wave splashing in the ocean, and it's very difficult for them to detect it with their 'eyesight'.

Qingye calmly replied, "They should still be in Jukuzhou on the Xiniu side."

"The demon realm?" Feng Chi asked in surprise.

Xiang Lan'er also asked in surprise, "Why did they run off to the demon realm?"

Master Qing: "Who knows? The two of them initially worked odd jobs at a horse farm outside the city of Jukuzhou. Later, Shi Chun went to work as a servant in a bookstore inside the city. During the time he disappeared, he basically hid in that bookstore."

"The library? He does like reading, which suits his style, but it's a bit unreasonable for him to stay away from home for a year or two..." Feng Chi muttered to himself, then asked, "Master Qing, is there anything special about the library?"

Master Qing: "If there's anything special about it, it's that the library has a large collection of books, and the library owner has three beautiful daughters."

Three beautiful daughters? Xiang and Feng exchanged glances, both of them having some rather inappropriate thoughts.

Especially for Xiang Lan'er, she still vividly remembers the time when Shi Chun unleashed his beastly nature on her.

But after she rejected him that time, Shi Chun gradually became indifferent to her, until he disappeared without a trace, which made even her master, the Holy Venerable of their lineage, express his dissatisfaction with her.

The implication was that such things must not happen again, and if they could reconcile, she would gladly give him her body.

Master Qing continued, "The reason we found him hiding there was because something happened at that library that even alarmed the Demon Queen, which attracted the attention of the higher-ups. When they investigated the situation, they discovered that those two guys were actually there, and they might even be at the center of the vortex."

Feng Chi's expression twitched as he asked, "What could have alarmed even the Demon Queen?"

Xiang Lan'er was also incredulous, never expecting that those two guys had quietly stirred up such a big trouble again.

Master Qing: "I don't know the specifics either. The higher-ups also want to know what he's up to and want to find him. The problem now is that if our branch can notice it, the other two branches can also notice it. Heaven knows how many eyes are on him. The higher-ups have mobilized a lot of resources to search over there. Judging from the information we have gathered from various sources, there are quite a few parties involved in looking for him, but we still can't find even a trace of him."

Lan'er asked suspiciously, "So you came to us because you suspect he's already back?"

Master Qing pondered, "This time, it seems we won't be able to return easily. The fact that news from that side has been so tightly controlled, preventing it from leaking out, tells us how many forces are involved. Now, at the Xun Sect in Juku Continent, who knows how many people are interfering? It's already completely under control. With so many eyes watching, there's no way we can get away with it. Even with the full support from above, it'll be difficult. Unless we get help from a master who can shatter the void, but none of the three demonic lineages possess that kind of power."

"We're contacting you to find out if they've contacted you, and to see if we can help the higher-ups find their hiding place. Since they can't get out, we need to seize all the remaining value they have; we can't let them fall into other people's hands."

Feng Chi's face twitched violently, and he replied crisply, "The higher-ups are overthinking it. He'll definitely come back alive."

"..." Qingye and Xiang Lan'er stared at her in unison, feeling as if they had seen this scene before.

After Xiang Lan'er coughed lightly with her hand over her mouth, she said, "We have a mother-child talisman that connects us with them, so let's go there ourselves."

Master Qing: "You can't go. Going there would be like walking into a trap. It might expose your demonic identities. Do you know why the place we contacted you only used once and then stopped? You're probably already under close surveillance. Besides, it wouldn't do you any good if you went."

Based on the clues you provided, and considering Shi Chun's destination, the higher-ups have conducted a thorough investigation near the Xun Gate on the relevant route. They've already identified the Mingshan Sect members responsible for relaying messages, and we've taken them into custody. However, since the major upheaval in Jukuzhou, that guy doesn't even trust or contact his own people. Even the mother-child talisman they use for communication is useless; not even ghosts know where they're hiding. What use do you think you could possibly be? You might even be controlled by someone else, putting the higher-ups in a passive position.”

Xiang Lan'er was slightly surprised. "The higher-ups have taken the people from the Mingshan Sect into custody. How are we going to explain this to them?"

Master Qing: "He wouldn't know who did it. Besides, if he can't get away with it, would he need to explain himself?"

(End of this chapter)