Chapter 148: Pressing Forward (2)
I heard Dong E was recently selected to serve in the Six Alliances' Internal Affairs Hall. Perhaps she's just a bit too sensitive to spies. Yang Zongchun soothed her, "Don't worry, Senior Sister. I think this is just a deception. Even if we look for someone wearing Xinghai Palace attire, it won't be of any use."
"You say." Dong E let out a breath.
"Look, this person seemed to be in such a hurry to leave that he didn't even notice he had left his storage bag behind, leaving it in Junior Brother Xi's hands. But he remembered to take a set of Junior Sister Qu's clothes. Isn't that a bit strange? I think the storage bag seems to have been left behind to scare people, and the clothes may have been destroyed long ago."
"That's right." Dong E nodded. "But I just can't figure it out. Why didn't he take any of these spirit coins and magic tools?"
"He doesn't kill simply for the sake of killing. He's actually quite deep and forbearing. Even when faced with a thunderbolt, he still set up a deception. He's incredibly meticulous. Perhaps he's afraid something in the magical artifact could be traced back to him." Yang Zongchun sighed. "However, this caution also caused him to miss a message from Junior Sister Qu, revealing a flaw."
"There is still some information here, but I cannot find it with my limited power, so I have to ask my senior sister for help." Yang Zongchun bowed.
Dong E naturally would not refuse and immediately asked, "What should I do?"
"I've heard that Senior Sister's practice of the 'Ten Paths of Music' can 'restore physical form and manifest illusionary form'. I wonder if I could try to perform it here?"
"Of course." Dong E sighed, "It's just the effect of the thunder. I don't know how much effect it will have. I will do my best."
Dong E's cultivation had reached the late Jindan stage, her mind techniques refined. Her hands seemingly casually rested on the pipa in her arms, plucking it a few times. But the sound of spring water hitting stone transformed into endless, brilliantly colored silk threads that sliced through the air. As her finger patterns shifted, the horizontal and vertical threads seemed to enclose the world within a single room, forming a square tower of infinite height and breadth.
The music became more urgent, and the lengths of the cut silk strings also changed, forming numerous illusory shadows within the square building. Some were too tall to be human, while others resembled human figures. However, just as the structure was about to be completed, the residual vibrations of the thunder destroyed the silk strings.
Seeing the silk string building about to collapse, Dong E frowned. She switched her spiritual power to plucking the four strings with her fingertips, and the music stopped. Her fingers moved rapidly, creating phantoms. Finally, she pressed down on the four strings and swept them downward. The sound of the pipa suddenly poured out. The square building constructed of silk threads paused, and suddenly, space was split open along the silk strings!
This is one of her magical powers, Legelou.
The music expanded as if tangible. Yang Zongchun stared at the ground, only to see that, despite the residual pressure of the heavenly thunder, the four corners of the ground were still being forcibly reconstructed by the music, revealing a partial shape. It was the remnant of a formation. He immediately memorized it.
The music was ultimately no match for the spiritual power of the heavenly thunder. As the music slowly faded, Dong E stopped plucking and looked at Yang Zongchun, not feeling any strain. "Did you see clearly what you were looking for?"
"That's right." Yang Zongchun said, "The formation just appeared on the ground, which finally solved some of my doubts."
"You also understand formations?"
"That's not the case. I have already sent the formation to one of Yi Fengyin's senior sisters, asking her to help look at what kind of formation it is, but I have a rough guess in my mind. This should be a space-type formation used to isolate sound transmission and communication."
As soon as he said this, Dong E immediately understood: "No wonder Qi Tao and the other two junior brothers didn't ask for help from Fellow Daoist Long Lancheng. It seems that the murderer must have planned it in advance, setting up the formation in advance and then luring the three people into the formation. It seems that they must have been constantly monitoring their whereabouts and had a good grasp of their personalities to achieve such a smooth operation."
"The fourth so-called independent cultivator who was traveling with us must be the murderer! At the very least, he's an accomplice!"
"Chen Ranming!"
Ding Jing Zhenren suddenly asked Yang Zongchun, "How can we be sure that there is only one murderer?"
Yang Zongchun quickly replied: "Although his methods are complicated, looking at the corpses, we can see that his killing habits are the same, and the spiritual energy traces left behind are also the same."
Master Ding Jing was lost in thought. Dong E, unable to contain himself, spoke directly, "Since he's such an evil demon, how can we allow him to wreak havoc here again? Since he's been to Fu Jishan with us, he must have left traces behind."
"So Fu Jishan gathers evil spirits and lives alone in the river, which is indeed suitable for evil people to practice." Yang Zongchun nodded.
The two Jindan cultivators were eager to make a move and looked at Master Ding Jing expectantly, but Master Ding Jing said, "No."
"Senior, why is this happening?" Dong E and Yang Zongchun were stunned.
Ding Jing Zhenren seemed to have made up his mind long ago. The first thing he said was not this matter, but something else: "Young friend Yang, can you let me keep those Demon Sect items you obtained, including the Demon Sect storage bag, for the time being?"
Yang Zongchun was a little confused, but his respect for his senior made him naturally take out the things and offer them with both hands: "...Of course."
Dong E looked doubtful, but hesitated and didn't say what was in his mind.
Zhenren Dingjing accepted the item and confirmed that Yang Zongchun hadn't kept it. He stroked his beard and finally said, "We must not act rashly in this matter. If this was just a single evil cultivator committing evil, there's nothing to worry about. But if it involves the demonic Zang Yao Sect, it's a different matter."
"Are there any of you who serve as law enforcement guards in the Internal Affairs Hall?"
Dong E glanced at Yang Zongchun and saw him shaking his head. She continued, "Although I was selected into the Internal Affairs Hall, I have not participated in the selection of law enforcement guards. I am only a listener."
"So." Master Ding Jing twirled his beard again and lowered his voice. "Then I won't say much more about this matter. This is a secret within the six alliances, and it will be useless for you youngsters to listen too much."
"You only need to know that although the Zang Yao Sect occupies the demonic lands of the two states, there is a natural barrier between us and the demonic lands. We cultivators have tried many methods but are still unable to enter and exorcise the demons. For thousands of years, no demonic cultivators have appeared in this area of the Zang Yao Sect. But now, an exception has appeared. Do you understand the seriousness of this situation?"
Ding Jing Zhenren brushed off his sleeves, his eyes gleaming. "If we can obtain this demonic cultivation method and cross the chasm, then we, the righteous path, will have no problem eliminating the demons for the heavens! This matter is of great importance. I must first discuss this with my fellow Daoists before making any plans. You must not alert the enemy."
Dong E felt that there was something strange about these words, but if that was the case, then bringing Shen Ranming to justice would naturally be a better option. She clenched her fingers, and the precious pipa trembled slightly with her movements. "So, are we going to let Shen Ranming go free?"
"Of course not." Master Ding Jing remained calm, unfazed by Dong E's somewhat offensive question. "I have a secret method. Even without a location mark, I can use the artifact to reverse-engineer the location of the owner. It just takes some time. Once the portrait of Longlan City's bounty is out, along with the location, you two can use Young Friend Yang's tracking technique to follow the demon cultivator and monitor him."
"Now, let's go back to Longlan City first." Master Dingjing made the final decision.
Second update~ There is a small contradiction here, not a mistake~
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