Everyone felt a heavy dread in their hearts. Everyone guessed what had happened.
Gao Su Cun still refused to believe what he heard. He dismounted, hoping against hope, and asked Cui Yuan:
"Our goods?"
Cui Yuan fell to his knees: "Uncle, when we left the city, the goods were still there!"
Gao Su Cun clenched his fist, but eventually relaxed it. He simply smacked his forehead. They had truly found themselves a headache!
Liao Sen sat calmly on his horse, his face unperturbed, completely motionless. Only he understood that his own shop was likely in the same predicament. Moreover, his disciples hadn't been so lucky.
He glared at Gao Su Cun with a hint of displeasure. "Who asked them to get involved in all this?"
The three sects were under the patronage of the Song family, but it was due to the son of Steward Liu Lu, a disciple of the Liuxiang Sect, that the Liuxiang Sect was most keen on killing Niu You Dao. Now, they had to share in this bitter fate.
Whack, whack!
Gao Su Cun smacked his forehead again, then turned and looked at Cui Yuan.
"Who dared to do such a thing in the city? Perhaps when you left, you let something slip to someone? Think carefully, who could have stolen everything?"
The three shops held quite valuable items. If all the goods were counted, their total losses could amount to several million gold. Therefore, if there was a chance to find the robber, they absolutely had to find him.
Cui Yuan shook his head:
"Uncle, we know nothing about this. I truly don't know who could have stolen the goods."
Gao Su Cun pointed at the Sniffer on another disciple's shoulder:
"And what's wrong with the Sniffer? Didn't you use it to chase Niu You Dao? Why has it been leading us all this way?"
"This?" Cui Yuan froze, inwardly cursing Niu You Dao. It was bad enough he robbed the shops, but why did he leave the threads for himself?
Cui Yuan replied, feigning surprise:
"Uncle, how could this be? We were locked in a battle to the death with Niu You Dao and had no idea what was happening in the city!"
Liao Sen, still on his horse, spoke up:
"Whoever left the Sniffer might be connected to Niu You Dao."
Gao Su Cun furrowed his brows, thinking it was plausible. He asked Cui Yuan again:
"The Sniffer, weren't its tracking balls given to Lei Zong Kang? Didn't he go after Niu You Dao?"
Cui Yuan: "The disciple personally handed the Sniffer's tracking balls to Lei Zong Kang. There can be no mistake about that. He truly followed Niu You Dao. The disciple truly doesn't know what happened with the Sniffers. The disciple truly doesn't know!"
Liao Sen dismounted and approached Gao Su Cun:
"Could it be that Niu You Dao returned to the city? And that Lei Zong Kang left the tracking balls again? That's also impossible. How would they know that there was no one in the shops? Were there people left in the city who were monitoring our shops? But that doesn't quite fit either. We and Niu You Dao had no prior connection."
From the very beginning, they didn't understand much. Everything was shrouded in fog for them. Every possibility seemed plausible. The few people present couldn't piece together the full picture.
Wu Qian Hao also came closer and said:
"They fought to the death, and at roughly the same time, the shops were emptied. Furthermore, someone left tracking threads using the Sniffer. Now it's much clearer."
Liao Sen: "Clearer? What's more important to do now? Search for the thief or chase after Niu You Dao?"
Gao Su Cun: "Both options are important. Perhaps Niu You Dao stole everything himself. Brother Wu, perhaps you could take some men and inspect the battle site. And we will follow the Sniffers. We'll maintain contact using Bird Kings. What do you say?"
The two men nodded, and the group set off once more.
Only with time did they realize that the Sniffers were leading them in the same direction that Cui Yuan and Yao Yu Liang had indicated.
They traversed desert, then steppe, and it was only before a hill that the Sniffers suddenly pointed in a different direction.
The group halted. They proceeded to the battle site, recalling their Bird Kings for the time being.
It was clear that a battle to the death had taken place here. Yet, no people were visible, nor any corpses. The cultivators noticed that disciple techniques appeared to have been used here.
Yao Yu Liang and Cui Yuan couldn't determine whether the others had been killed or not. After all, no corpses remained on the spot. However, even if there had been any, it would have been difficult to identify them. For by this time, wild beasts and vultures would have long since torn the bodies apart.
Liao Sen, looking at the battle site, asked:
"When did the battle take place?"
The two men estimated and replied: "Roughly five hours ago."
Gao, Liao, and Wu exchanged glances and calculated that Niu You Dao could indeed have returned to the city and robbed them during that time.
Wu Qian Hao spoke gravely:
"Five hours. And how did you travel? By that reckoning, you should have returned to the city long ago."
Cui Yuan hastily replied:
"The disciples were escaping. And how could we dare to return by that route? We had to make a detour, which is why it took us so much time."
Gao Su Cun: "Niu You Dao must have been prepared for this. If he didn't know that there was no one in the shops, how would he dare return to the city? Didn't you two tell him about it?"
Cui Yuan replied with a mournful voice:
"Uncle, do you doubt that your disciple would betray the sect? Or reveal important information? If the disciple truly gave away his teachers, would Niu You Dao not have killed us? Why would he let us go?"
Yao Yu Liang also looked at the distrustful Wu Qian Hao:
"Exactly, exactly. Master, we miraculously survived and truly told them nothing."
After this, Cui Yuan and Yao Yu Liang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that they hadn't been exposed yet. But if they were exposed, they wouldn't live!
However, people no longer doubted them. Indeed, why would Niu You Dao, who even dared to kill an envoy of the Yan Kingdom, spare these two?
Everyone's attitude towards the two softened. After all, they had fought in a battle to the death, sustained injuries, and nearly lost their lives, and now they were even suspected? Everyone imagined how Cui Yuan and Yao Yu Liang must be feeling right now.
Wu Qian Hao patted Yao Yu Liang on the shoulder and said:
"Yu Liang, you know this matter is serious. I had to thoroughly investigate everything."
Yao Yu Liang nodded and replied, feigning grievance:
"The disciple understands."
Now, everyone concluded that Niu You Dao had most likely robbed them. After all, the Sniffers and the timing aligned — everything pointed to him.
Now, with the exception of Cui Yuan and Yao Yu Liang, only the other disciples could have told them about it. But who? You can't question the dead. And now, with the three sects united, it was no time to look for culprits. Thus, they decided not to bring up the matter for now.
"Truly despicable!" Liao Sen ground out through clenched teeth. "At least others had some survivors. That bastard shouldn't be called Niu You Dao; 'Bandit Niu You' suits him far better!"
Gao Su Cun spoke seriously:
"Perhaps Lei Zong Kang hasn't revealed himself yet, which is why he keeps leaving the tracking balls. We must continue to pursue them!"
Wu Qian Hao: "Or perhaps they left a bait for us!"
Gao Su Cun: "Brothers, tell me then, what should we do? Should we just give up?"
Wu Qian Hao's eyes widened. "That's nonsense, isn't it?" He wanted to capture Niu You Dao.
Three sects couldn't even capture one person, lost disciples, and were even robbed by him? This was simply a joke! After this, they'd be lucky if they were merely assigned to guard the gates.
Liao Sen said discontentedly:
"Now, even if we have to go through mountains of swords or seas of fire, we must capture him at all costs! We continue. Only by capturing him might we recover our belongings and perhaps atone for our failure!"
Now, even if they showed up at the Ling Sect and asked for their pills back at the original price, the Ling Sect would simply refuse them. Their sects were no stronger than the Ling Sect!
"These riding horses are for relays, so we don't waste time resting the horses. You two, return on foot!"
Yao Yu Liang and Cui Yuan were injured. If they followed, they would still be of little use.
The two men watched the riders depart, and only then did they breathe a sigh of relief. They had managed to deceive their teachers after all.
However, looking around, they were once again speechless. They would have to walk back for half a day again. Had they just walked all this way for nothing?
But they had no choice, so the two walked beneath the moon.
Day was breaking, the sun beginning to rise. Along the way, they encountered a large post station.
Niu You Dao and his group had been riding all night. Now, their twelve horses were exhausted. Even though they swapped horses, a horse's strength was still limited.
At the post station, they could grab a bite. Post stations specifically ran such businesses. And while everyone ate, Niu You Dao instructed Hei Mudan to negotiate with the stationmaster to change horses.
Before this, they had encountered many post stations, but all of them were small. They couldn't swap so many horses at once there, but this large station could.
However, all the horses at the station were government-owned, and the stationmaster couldn't simply swap them, let alone sell them. But Hei Mudan placed a 100-gold note before him, and immediately the stationmaster changed his tune. He immediately offered to exchange their horses, even providing them with fine steeds.
"This is an imperial secret message! Quickly, attend to them and help them change horses. Give them good horses!" the stationmaster told a stablehand.
Niu You Dao did not wish to linger at the post station, so as soon as they changed horses, they immediately set off again.
A stable cleaner was sweeping the stables. He bowed his head as Niu You Dao and the others departed. And when they had ridden away, the cleaner raised his head, set aside his broom, and immediately walked into the courtyard.