Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 259 Lost Contact
Did Xu Zibu actually die?
Li Xiangming returned to Dendrobium Market with a belly full of doubts.

The moment he saw the corpse, he felt that the Faceless Man was seeking revenge on behalf of the Mang Cult.

However, Xu Zibu died from a sword wound.

The Faceless Man is not a swordsman. If he came for revenge, there would be no need for him to fake a fatal wound.

Unless he has ulterior motives.

The faceless man did not appear in the forest, but was discovered by Li Xiangren in the nameless valley.

If Lee Sang-in can recognize the Faceless Man, then the Faceless Man must also be able to recognize Lee Sang-in.

If the opponent had wanted to fight Lee Sang-in, the battle wouldn't have been so short.

If the other side doesn't want to fight Li Xiangren, there's no reason for them to stay in the nameless valley.

This is enough to show that the nameless valley was the location that the Faceless Man deliberately chose to delay Li Xiangren.

There were only two purposes for doing this: first, to make Li Xiangren discover Xu Zibu's body.

The second is to let others discover the Faceless Man's body.

But neither of them makes sense.

If the second objective is true, and someone discovers the sword wound on the Faceless Man's body, combined with Li Xiangren remaining at the scene, the Li family will definitely be thrust into the spotlight.

Although Xu Zibu has no relatives or sect, it doesn't mean he has no connections.

If some people want him dead, then there must be others who want him to live.

Not to mention that this is the crucial moment when the Enlightenment Spring is about to be born.

Did your Li family kill Xu Zibu because you already had information about the Enlightenment Spring and deliberately killed him to cover it up?
This is a classic case of framing someone.

The faceless man is trying to find the Li family to take the blame.

However, in retrospect, it was the Li family who were the first to find Xu Zibu's body.

The "traps" set up around the valley were another group of Qi Refining cultivators.

The Faceless Man couldn't possibly be unaware of Lee Sang-in's strength.

These "traps" couldn't hold him back at all.

Once Li Xiangren escapes, how can there be any talk of framing him?

This is also the point that Li Xiangming finds most puzzling.

It seems that the Faceless Man's purpose was simply to make Li Xiangren discover Xu Zibu's body.

But what's the point?
Amidst all the confusion and doubt, Li Xiangming returned to Dendrobium Market to inquire further.

However, several days passed, and Xu Zibu seemed to have vanished into thin air, with no news of him whatsoever.

"Xu Zibu is really dead!"

That morning, Li Qianchang came to Li Xiangming with a heavy expression.

He took out a notice that announced the termination of the cooperation between Yanyumen and Xu Zibu.

This also means that ordinary cultivators can no longer find Xu Zibu through the black market.

As one of the biggest intelligence sources in Zhangning Prefecture, Xu Zibu alone is comparable to the entire Yanyu Sect.

After cooperating with Xu Zibu, the intelligence capabilities of the Misty Rain Sect were greatly enhanced, resulting in substantial profits.

There's no reason for them to suddenly give up on Xu Zibu, this valuable asset.

The only explanation is that the Misty Rain Gate simply cannot find Xu Zibu.

Or perhaps they were certain that Xu Zibu was dead.

Li Xiangming finished reading and remained silent.

At first, he thought that the emergence of the Enlightenment Spring would cause a great uproar.

Therefore, he rushed to Zhangning Prefecture in order to seize the initiative.

However, the reality is that even in the largest cultivation market in Hao County—the Dendrobium Market—not a single word about the Enlightenment Spring has been heard.

It seems that only Xu Zibu has been known to have access to the Enlightenment Spring.

But now, this person has died inexplicably.

"Perhaps the Enlightenment Spring was just a false rumor that Xu Zibu deliberately spread to create momentum for himself. He just didn't expect that this news would become his death warrant."

Li Qianchang voiced his conjecture. Li Xiangming remained silent; he did not believe this claim.

Xu Zibu was able to dominate Zhangning Prefecture for thirty or forty years; there's no reason for him to die from his own smokescreen.

There must be some crucial hidden information that hasn't been discovered yet.

However, these things were beyond the scope of concern for the Li family, who had traveled from afar.

It seems that this opportunity to access the Enlightenment Spring is destined to fail.

Li Xiangming was filled with disappointment and helplessness. He glanced at Li Qianchang and asked uncertainly, "Has there been any news from Green Cloud Cave?"

A few days ago, he had instructed Li Qian to frequently visit Zhang Min.

On the one hand, they wanted to understand the current situation of their sect, and on the other hand, they wanted to find out about the Enlightenment Spring.

After all, Li Qian learned about the Enlightenment Spring from Xu Zibu when he was asking him about the Green Cloud Cave.

There may be some unknown connection between the two.

With Xu Zibu already dead, Green Cloud Cave undoubtedly became the last glimmer of hope for finding the Enlightenment Spring.

But Li Xiangming didn't have much hope for this, because he was very familiar with Green Cloud Cave.

He could say with almost certainty that the Green Cloud Cave could not possibly contain the Enlightenment Spring.

"No news!"

Li Qianchang cautiously looked up at Li Xiangming: "The people we sent to Green Cloud Cave have gone missing."

"Lost contact?"

Li Xiangming frowned: "Didn't you say there was nothing unusual about Green Cloud Cave?"

Li Qianchang wiped his forehead and explained in a low voice, "Everything was normal half a month ago, but recently it seems that someone has been secretly lying in wait near Green Cloud Cave. Without exception, everyone who passes by has been arrested."

Li Xiangming was startled. Besides the Li family, there were others who had designs on the Enlightenment Spring.

In order to monopolize the opportunity, these people did not hesitate to hide the news and avoid attracting more competitors, which explains why there has been no news of the Enlightenment Spring in Dendrobium Market to date.

"They must have obtained some solid intelligence to have been able to find Green Cloud Cave."

Li Xiangming immediately realized what was happening.

Xu Zibu did eventually sell some of the intelligence.

The Li family knew about the Enlightenment Spring because of the Green Cloud Cave.

From the outside, Green Cloud Cave is nothing more than an insignificant Foundation Establishment power in Hao County, and is not worth paying attention to at all.

It's unlikely that outsiders would learn about the Enlightenment Spring by inquiring about Green Cloud Cave, as the Li family did.

On the contrary, they most likely learned about the Enlightenment Spring from Xu Zibu, and thus learned about the Green Cloud Cave.

Could it be that Master Green Cloud Fairy really obtained the legendary Enlightenment Spring from somewhere and brought it back to Green Cloud Cave?

The thought flashed through Li Xiangming's mind.

But he quickly suppressed his inner turmoil.

All speculation is pointless; we might as well go and see for ourselves at Green Cloud Cave.

Just as Li Xiangming was about to go find Li Xiangren, Li Qianchang said again, "It seems that some bad news about Xiangren is circulating in the market."

"Oh?"

Li Xiangming looked serious and quickly asked.

After a long while, he learned that news of Xu Zibu's death had already spread widely.

The rumored culprit is a mysterious swordsman.

Although the rumors did not name names directly, Li Xiangren, as an outsider who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage, undoubtedly fits the image of the murderer.

In addition, he was not entirely unknown in Zhangning Prefecture.

If someone appears in public too frequently, it's easy for others to become suspicious.

After much deliberation, Li Xiangming decided to have Li Xiangren temporarily avoid the limelight at the Dendrobium Market.

He then went ahead to gather information outside the Green Cloud Cave.

(End of this chapter)