Chi Changye frowned. “There is no need. You can simply return to the mountain to cultivate.”
Regardless of whatever underlying reasons might exist, Geng Xinghe would undoubtedly be pleased to see those souls vanish.
Bringing this little rascal along would almost certainly guarantee that he would stir up trouble.
Chi Changye cast a glance at Geng Xinghe, mulled it over for a moment, and cast a talisman.
The talisman flashed with golden light and sank into the ground, vanishing from sight.
The azure-clad immortal turned back to look at his obedient, lovely little disciple. “Let’s go. I’ll send you back up the mountain first.”
Knowing full well that his master would never take him along, Geng Xinghe did not press the matter further, nodding quietly in submission. “Yes, Master.”
Upon returning to Mount Yuxu, Chi Changye did not take Geng Xinghe straight back to Peak Chiyue, heading instead to the main peak to see Yue Qianfan.
Hearing that Chi Changye intended to return to the mortal realm once more, Yue Qianfan stared at his sickly, deathly-pale complexion and grew thoroughly exasperated. “Chi Changye, even if your strength is formidable and unrivaled, you still shouldn’t be courting death like this!”
Look at his current state, anyone would believe he was a ghost if they saw him now.
The man’s spiritual aura was so faint it was practically impossible to sense!
“Then what do you suggest I do?” Chi Changye asked coldly, his usual calm demeanor fraying into a hint of irritability. “Three hundred souls, vanished into thin air without a trace, completely pristine. If I don’t get to the bottom of this, I won’t have peace of mind.”
The immortal and mortal realms had enjoyed three centuries of peace; if they remained cautious, they could secure another few centuries of tranquility.
There was no demonic breath, no ghostly malice, and no trace of immortal spiritual power, such a thing was fundamentally impossible to happen!
For someone to wipe away the traces so cleanly right under Chi Changye’s investigative nose meant that whoever carried out this deed was far from ordinary.
Yue Qianfan disagreed. “I’ll send people to investigate this matter. Can’t you properly tend to that ghost-like body of yours for once?”
Chi Changye disagreed as well. “I couldn’t even detect anything myself; who are you planning to send? Those fellows from the Inspectorate?”
He placed no trust in those individuals who usually could only investigate minor incidents of Yin-energy haunting or end up injured trying to capture high-grade demonic beasts.
Should there genuinely be a formidable mastermind lurking in the shadows this time, he would only end up having to rescue them, which meant unnecessary trouble.
Whenever possible, it was always best to rely on oneself.
Furious and exasperated, Yue Qianfan snapped, “Since you’ve already made up your mind, why did you even come to talk to me?”
When had Chi Changye ever listened to a word he uttered as sect master?
What was the point of him coming over here just to do this redundancy?
Chi Changye shoved Geng Xinghe forward, the boy had been standing quietly off to the side without a peep. “If I descend, Xinghe will have no one to look after him. He is young, lacks sufficient cultivation, and cannot practice fasting yet. I must trouble you to help me take care of him.”
Yue Qianfan felt an urge to curse again. “Chi Changye, are you dropping off an orphan? I refuse. Take your disciple and look after him yourself.”
He looked ready to kick the bucket and never return.
If Chi Changye’s disciple turned out to share his exact temperament, he’d be driven to an early grave of sheer frustration!
Yet Chi Changye was notoriously protective of his own.
No matter what trouble the little rascal stirred up, he couldn’t be beaten or scolded; everyone simply had to wait for Chi Changye to return and deal with him personally!
He refused to take him in!
Unless Chi Changye coaxed him properly.
Chi Changye was unaccustomed to pleading with others.
Rebuffed, the azure-clad immortal frowned.
After a brief pause, he spoke slowly, “Very well, then I will take him down the mountain with me.”
Yue Qianfan grew even more furious.
Was Chi Changye some kind of stubborn river clam?
He’d offer a single sentence of entreaty, and the moment you refused, he immediately pulled right back into his shell?
Yue Qianfan loathed Chi Changye’s twisted, stubborn personality to the core.
“Fine, leave him here. I’ll look after him myself,” Yue Qianfan said in a huff.
What else could he do, could he really just wash his hands of the boy?
In a rare display of mild amusement, Chi Changye smiled faintly. “Thank you, Qianfan.”
Yue Qianfan sneered and batted away the hand Chi Changye had rested on his shoulder. “Save it. Just make sure you damn well return alive, or else I’ll dump your disciple into the Demon-Sealing Abyss at the back mountain.”
Chi Changye’s brow furrowed, though it smoothed out a moment later. “Go ahead and dump him. Once he’s thrown down there, I’ll have nothing left to worry about, so I won’t even need to come back.”
“Hoh, well isn’t that something, Immortal Lord Yaoguang actually knows how to make jokes,” Yue Qianfan mocked sarcastically. “Alright, go tend to your business. Rest assured, your disciple is in my hands; he won’t be lost, he won’t die, and if he gets too thin from hunger, you can fatten him back up when you return.”
Matters having reached this point, Geng Xinghe had nothing left to say.
The boy offered Yue Qianfan a respectful bow. “Geng Chen thanks the Master Uncle and apologizes for troubling you.”
An obedient, sensible youngster was infinitely more pleasing than Chi Changye.
Satisfied, Yue Qianfan patted Geng Xinghe’s shoulder. “Good child, just stay at the main peak for these next few days.”
Geng Xinghe replied with respectful docility: “I wouldn’t dare impose upon Master Uncle’s kindness. However, I am accustomed to Peak Chiyue, and since my master is away, the grounds still require sweeping and tending. I can simply come to the main peak every morning for instruction and return in the evening.”
“That works too,” Yue Qianfan agreed, finding nothing objectionable about the arrangement.
If Geng Xinghe went back to sleep there, he wouldn’t even need to waste brainpower assigning the boy a room, convenient enough.
Still feeling somewhat uneasy, Chi Changye instructed Geng Xinghe, “Do not cause trouble while on the mountain, and defer to your master uncle in all matters.”
Geng Xinghe answered with submissive compliance: “Master, rest assured.”
Only then did Chi Changye feel secure enough to transform into a streak of azure light and vanish from the spot.
Leaving the main peak behind, Chi Changye headed straight down to the Ninefold Netherworld.
A figure completely shrouded in dark ghostly mist was already waiting for him by the edge of the churning, bubbling lava and blood pool.
“Immortal Lord Yaoguang,” the figure within the black fog greeted, its voice hoarse and deep, defying categorization as human and rendering its gender entirely indistinguishable.
“Mn,” Chi Changye nodded. “Have you verified the news I sent down yesterday, Lord Envoy?”
“I ordered two thousand ghost guards under my command to thoroughly search every corner of Shangjing, yet none of those three hundred souls left a single trace, nor have the nearby city gods discovered any clues,” the ghostly mist continued, it was none other than the Ghost King of Fengdu.
“Not a single clue?” Chi Changye frowned.
“None. For now, we can rule out any leakage of demonic aura,” the Ghost King stated.
“After all, the Immortal Lord’s anti-demon seal is constantly monitored by us in Fengdu; there are no gaps whatsoever.”
Chi Changye twiddled his fingers in silence.
The boiling pool of lava and blood radiated a sickeningly sweet, scorching heat that forced Chi Changye to take half a step backward. “Is there nothing else?”
“Well, I did find one small detail,” the Ghost King mused, lowering his voice after a moment of thought.
Even through the shroud of fog, Chi Changye keenly perceived the shift in his tone.
The azure-clad immortal lifted his eyes to fixate upon the Ghost King. “What is it? Does the clue you uncovered point to the Xiaoyao Sect, or does it point to me?”
Hesitating for a fraction of a second, the Ghost King finally spoke, “One of our ghost guards was a constable in his mortal life, exceptionally skilled at tracking down traces. At the scene, he discovered a lingering residue of immortal spiritual power, which closely resembled, your personal cultivation lineage, Immortal Lord.”
“I was at the scene. Is it not entirely normal for my spiritual energy to be left behind?” Chi Changye’s voice was cold. “And there is nothing unusual about a mix of residual spiritual energy and the soul’s aura of the deceased either. The boy who committed the murders is my disciple, as the Lord Envoy surely knows.”
Had he not deliberately refrained from teaching Geng Xinghe how to obliterate souls, he had no doubt that, given the boy’s mindset at the time, he would have casually murdered and soul-destroyed them in one go.