Chapter 123 Human Trafficking

"Elder Wei, Elder Zeng."

Lou Yuqing and Ling Yunxiao went to greet them.

With a flick of his wide sleeve, Kui Tu stopped them from finishing their greetings and said in a deep voice, "Yu Qing, you all remove the magic array. Junior Brother Zeng and I will go in to deal with the demonic tide."

The oppressive aura of a Nascent Soul cultivator emanated faintly, causing everyone in the cave to remain silent, especially the cultivators from the market, who were seeing such a powerful figure for the first time.

"Yes." Lou Yuqing cast a spell into the array plate, and the defensive shield immediately disappeared.

At the same time, everyone put away the great formation.

Without the obstruction of the two major magic arrays, the demonic energy erupted like a geyser.

Zeng Xuangan snorted coldly, his spiritual power surged, and he instantly suppressed the demonic energy back into the crevice. He and Kui Tu transformed into two streaks of light and entered it.

Lou Yuqing and the others had no idea what was happening down there. They only heard a loud rumbling sound, followed by a low, shrill cry, as if a living creature was screaming in agony.

After an unknown amount of time, the two elders finally returned to the ground.

Kui Tu held a flag shrouded in demonic energy in his hand. He glanced at the crowd with admiration: "The altar has been destroyed, and the demonic tide will not descend again. You should all be credited for this."

Lou Yuqing hurriedly replied, "Reporting to the elder, according to the Black Demon Sect disciples, there are two other places, Blackwater Ravine and Frozen Secret Realm, where demonic tides are brewing."

Zeng Xuangan said with disgust, "He really has the heart of a thief who will never give up."

The demonic calamity fifty years ago was spearheaded by several major demonic sects, with the Black Demonic Sect being one of them. They committed numerous atrocities, sparing not even mortals.

Kui Tu looked at the demonic artifact in his hand and said, "This Soul Banner is the medium of the demonic tide. Without it, the Black Demon Sect's plan will be ruined. You have been working hard for many days, so you can rest. The sect will handle the matter of the demonic tide."

After saying this, he and Zeng Xuangan took the prisoners away without any hesitation.

"Phew." One after another, people breathed a sigh of relief.

The arrival of the two elders brought a sense of security, but it also felt like a heavy stone was pressing on their hearts.

Only Lou Yuqing and Ling Yunxiao withstood the pressure. She summoned the Azure Jade Boat and said, "Now that things are settled here, I'll take my leave."

Ling Yunxiao thought for a moment and said, "I will go with you to collect the offerings. After all, it was because you helped me that your mission was delayed for a few days."

Lou Yuqing was taken aback for a moment: "Okay."

Having more helpers is also good.

Si Nidie watched calmly, concluding that the other party had ulterior motives.

On the other side, Blackwater Ravine.

Lu Guange stared at the dark cave ceiling, his eyes mechanically shifting for a moment. Beneath him was a hard stone slab, and a cool sensation washed over his back.

He was pinned to the spot, unable to move at all. A full six months had passed since he accidentally wandered into this place.

If it weren't for the sudden recovery of his Foundation Establishment stage spiritual power and his strong desire for revenge, he probably wouldn't have been able to hold on.

But how long can he hold on like this?

Despair rose in Lu Guange's heart.

"boom!"

At that very moment, a hole appeared above, and soft sunlight poured in.

Gao Xuexi exclaimed incredulously, "Lu Guange!"

From her perspective, there was an altar covered in magical runes inside the cave.

The young man lay flat in the center of the altar, his cheeks sunken, his body emaciated, with hardly any flesh on him, like a skeleton, his life force almost extinguished.

It's her.

Lu Guange belatedly retrieved his memories. In fact, when he learned of the engagement in his youth, he had never met Gao Xuexi.

It doesn't matter which family he marries, as long as it doesn't hinder his pursuit of the Great Dao.

The day he broke off the engagement, he saw his fiancée for the first time. She was beautiful and stubborn. That was his first impression of her, and also his last.

And now, her anxious voice rang in my ears: "Master, seniors, Lu Guange is here!"

Lu Guange closed his eyes.

I'm so tired, but I'm saved.

Gushan City.

The jade boat quietly stopped ten miles outside the city.

Lou Yuqing assigned patrol locations to everyone, and Ling Yunxiao was given a very large area, which she euphemistically called "the capable should do more work".

She herself took on many tasks.

Ling Yunxiao readily accepted: "Okay."

Watching the departing figures of the crowd, Lou Yuqing entered the city alone, and after many twists and turns, she arrived at a secluded house.

She took out the token and infused it with spiritual power.

After waiting a while, no one opened the door.

Lou Yuqing took out the keepsake and checked it over. After confirming that it worked properly, she guessed, "Could it be that he's not home right now?"

As I hesitated about whether to leave, a slight friction sound reached my ears.

Lou Yuqing's eyes changed slightly, and she unleashed a bolt of lightning, bursting through the door with a bang.

There were two cultivators in the courtyard, one of whom was a supervising disciple of the sect and was being held hostage by the other, a tall and burly man.

Upon seeing Lou Yuqing burst in, the supervising disciple hurriedly cried out, "Senior, save me!"

When the token appeared, he received the message, but due to restrictions on his movements, he could only deliberately make noise to seek help.

When the man realized his plan had failed, his face hardened, and he wanted to kill the supervising disciple.

Lou Yuqing would not let him succeed. She knocked the other party's magic weapon away and bound his body with lightning ropes. She looked at the supervising disciple seriously and asked, "What's going on here?"

The supervising disciple coughed twice, bowed, and said, "Greetings, senior. I have discovered a major matter and was just about to ask the sect for help when this person started following me and tried to kill me."

The man angrily retorted, "Stop twisting the truth! You're the one who kidnapped my sister. I'm asking you to hand her over, is that wrong? Your entire sect is full of scoundrels who collude with each other!"

Lou Yuqing, who was innocently scolded: "..."

The inspector was furious: "Why would I kidnap your sister? I've been investigating this case these past few days, and suddenly you're choking me and interrogating me. How am I supposed to know what you're talking about!"

The man roared, "Stop playing dumb! I saw it all!"

"Stop for a moment, you two are giving conflicting accounts." Lou Yuqing initially trusted her own people, but seeing that the man didn't seem to be lying, she looked at the supervising disciple and said, "You speak first."

The supervising disciple reported in detail: "Cultivators have been frequently disappearing in the city. The city lord's mansion has sent people out, but they have not found any clues yet. I investigated secretly and found that it is related to the black market."

The man sneered repeatedly: "You must have something shady going to the black market. Senior, don't be fooled and let such a shady person ruin the sect's reputation."

Based on what they just said, he deduced that Lou Yuqing was not a cultivator who disregarded human life. Although he didn't know which sect she came from, her cultivation level was definitely not simple.

The supervising disciple roared in fury: "Are you ever going to stop? How dare you slander me in front of a senior! Show me the evidence if you dare!"

Despite the numbness from the lightning, the man retorted defiantly, "I saw it with my own eyes, how could it be false!"

Lou Yuqing seized on this point and pressed further: "Did you see your sister being kidnapped by him with your own eyes?"

The man hesitated for a moment: "No, but it was definitely him who did it."

He regained his confidence when he said the second half of the sentence.

The supervising disciple nearly vomited blood in anger, and blurted out, "What are you talking about if I didn't see you! If I kidnapped your sister, may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death!"

"I hope you get chopped to ashes..." the man scoffed, but before he could finish speaking, he suddenly froze and screamed, "Ah!"

Lou Yuqing casually withdrew her hand: "This is a small lesson. You dared to attack a disciple of the Wendao Sect without any evidence, and even tried to silence him in front of me. Do you know how serious your crime is?"

Wendao Sect is the major sect that governs this area!

The man was convulsing from the electric shock. His usually simple mind finally came to its senses, and regret welled up inside him. He realized he had acted impulsively.

The supervising disciple felt a surge of satisfaction. Touching his neck, which had almost been chopped off, he said coldly, "You say I kidnapped your sister? Then give me a clear explanation, or you'll be going to jail to be punished!"

Lou Yuqing withdrew her spell, adopting a protective stance: "Speak."

She also wanted to know where the other party's confidence came from.

Once the man recovered, a hint of fear appeared in his eyes. He honestly said, "Senior, my sister and I make a living by reselling goods. A few days ago, we went to the black market to explore new markets."

"My sister said she was going to browse the spirit pet stall and would be right back. I waited for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, but she didn't come. So I went to look for her, but I couldn't find her anywhere."

Upon hearing this, the supervising disciple glared at the man and asked, "What does this have to do with me?"

Lou Yuqing didn't understand the man's thought process: "Yeah, what does this have to do with him?"

The man said indignantly, "In the following days, I went to the black market to look for him and saw him often loitering around the spirit pet stalls, behaving strangely, so I came to interrogate him."

The supervising disciple: "..." You're sick!

The man continued, "Senior, after your interrogation, you will surely find out the truth. My sister has never dared to step on an ant since she was a child. I beg you, senior, to do justice for my sister and me!"

Bang bang bang!

The man knelt on the ground and kowtowed, his forehead quickly becoming bloody.

His movements were sudden, and by the time Lou Yuqing tried to stop him, he had already kowtowed several times.

She shook her head: "You're too stubborn. It might not be a bad thing in other things, but in this case, you've made a huge mistake."

"Senior, my investigation shows he's the most suspicious. Are you trying to protect him?" The man cried out, offering his neck for execution. "You might as well kill me too, so my brother and I can be reunited in the afterlife!"

The supervising disciple felt a disgusting sense of utter helplessness, like a scholar encountering a soldier—unable to reason with him. He trembled with anger: "I can't reason with a brain-dead idiot like you. If you want to die, go outside and kill yourself. Don't dirty my place!"

Lou Yuqing didn't interrupt them. It was good to let the supervising disciples vent their anger. They already knew what they needed to know. Instead of arguing with that man, it was better to just search the system.

She brought up the gossip panel, and the progress of the system tasks section was displayed as 2/3.

It seems the crisis at Blackwater Ravine has been resolved, with only the Icebound Secret Realm remaining unresolved. The secret realm is scheduled to open in two months; I wonder what the sect plans to do next.

If we wait patiently for that long, the daylily will probably be too cold.

Lou Yuqing had a thought and typed in the search bar: "What happened to the missing cultivators from Gushan City?"

The system's mechanical sound soon began.

The Tan family of Gushan City secretly seizes and trades cultivators.

Human trafficking!

Lou Yuqing's face darkened. The Tan family had really gone too far.

Just then, the communication array lit up, and a line of text appeared: "Yuqing, a disciple has gone missing."

Lou Yuqing understood everything. The Tan family must have seen that the disciple was unfamiliar and secretly kidnapped him: "Well done, they actually dared to mess with us!"

His entire body crackled with lightning, and his anger soared to its peak, startling the supervising disciple and the man into immediate silence.

The next moment, Lou Yuqing disappeared.

Ling Yunxiao received a reply shortly after sending the message: "Summon your disciples to the Tan family."