Chapter 262

Castella Volcano, in the Jin Hui wheat field.

Elder Grant was rubbing his hands with a face full of joy. The wheat seedlings swayed gently in the wind, full of vitality.

Another day had passed.

Since he followed Gao De's instructions yesterday and watered the wheat field with bitter neem grass water, there had been no new cases of Jin Hui wheat seedlings withering.

A small portion of the seedlings that had previously shown signs of disease had even regained their vitality.

If nothing unexpected happened, this problem that had kept him from sleeping for several days had been solved.

Standing beside Elder Grant were Gao De and Luo Yiqi. Looking at Gao De—

A little person was sitting squarely on his left shoulder, swinging her legs nonchalantly, looking like she had nothing to do.

"This time, thanks to you." Elder Grant solemnly expressed his gratitude to Gao De.

Gao De corrected him with a smile: "Not me, but her."

"Amazing!" Elder Grant lowered his head and looked at Fuluola with shining eyes.

Fuluola ignored Elder Grant and turned her head to look at the wheat seedlings in the field.

Seeing this, Elder Grant thought for a moment, cupped his hands, and imitating Gao De's manner, solemnly expressed his gratitude to Fuluola again: "This time, thanks to Lady Fuluola's intervention."

"Hmm~"

Only then did Fuluola turn her head back and hummed in response.

Seeing Fuluola's performance, Elder Grant had no dissatisfaction at all; in fact, his heart was full of affection.

"It's a pity that she is a magical pet summoned through magic. Otherwise, no matter what, I would have to name a price and buy Lady Fuluola from you," Elder Grant sighed.

Although he spoke casually, Gao De's expression turned stern, and he said earnestly: "Elder, you misunderstand. Although Lady Fuluola is my magical pet, this is only her origin, not her status. Lady Fuluola is my companion, and we are in an equal relationship."

Elder Grant was stunned upon hearing this, but seeing Gao De's expression was exceptionally serious, he thought for a moment and actually apologized: "It was I who offended."

"Let's discuss your matters in detail at my place." Once the pest infestation of the Jin Hui wheat seedlings was solved, Elder Grant finally had the mind to attend to other things.

"Good!" Luo Yiqi, who saw hope, felt a joy in his heart and said quickly.

Elder Grant's willingness to help didn't necessarily mean he could clear Catherine's name, but currently, Elder Grant was indeed the only person he could count on.

If that didn't work, he would have no choice but to disregard Catherine's wishes and return to the sect to seek help from that person.

In the room specifically used for receiving guests and discussing matters at Elder Grant's residence.

Gao De habitually scanned the room's furnishings and found that there were no exquisite pieces of furniture at all, not even wooden furniture.

Even the table was a stone table made of gray stone.

Even as an elder of the Enduring Zhenbing tribe and one of the upper echelons of Phoenix, Elder Grant's "mansion" was actually quite simple, not even as good as that of a small merchant with some assets in Hogan City.

There was no help for it; the conditions in the northern realm were just like this.

At least it wasn't a simple tent, but a solid building.

After sitting down on the stone stools, the servant of Elder Grant's house poured three cups of hot water for the three of them.

Looking at the strange, weed-like plant floating in his cup and the yellow soup that looked like it had faded, Gao De hesitated for a moment before taking a light sip.

The result was unexpectedly good; it was light but had a hint of sweetness.

"Actually, as soon as the Saintess was taken away, I went to inquire about the specific situation," Elder Grant said first after taking a light sip of the "hot drink."

Saintess? Gao De felt a stir in his heart when he heard Elder Grant's address for Catherine.

So, this was Catherine's true identity? "It's just that I had only just learned about some of the situation when something happened here in the volcanic soil, and I couldn't attend to it afterward," Elder Grant added by way of explanation.

"Understood." Luo Yiqi didn't dwell on this; the top priority was to clear Catherine's name and rescue her as soon as possible.

He looked at Elder Grant and waited quietly for the follow-up.

Elder Grant didn't equivocate and detailed the situation he had learned to Luo Yiqi, including the cause and effect, with every detail fully explained:

"Some time ago, a hunter squad in the tribe actually discovered a frost giant lizard hatchling with thin dragon blood on the snowfield."

"You must also be clear about the power and divinity of dragons, so even if it only possessed thin dragon blood, the potential and value of this hatchling were immeasurable."

"That hunter squad knew the value of the hatchling, and after a brief hesitation, they decided to take a risk, taking advantage of the fact that the mother frost giant lizard was away, and captured the hatchling, then rushed back to Phoenix overnight."

"An adult frost giant lizard has at least third-circle combat power, and the elites among them can even reach fourth-circle combat power. That hunter squad was also afraid that the mother lizard would find out the hatchling had been abducted and track them down by scent."

"With the combat power of an adult frost giant lizard, they would be unable to cope."

"So they released a hunting falcon at the first opportunity, sending this news back to Phoenix first, requesting the tribe to send reinforcements to meet them."

"However, when the reinforcements sent by the tribe arrived at the path and location agreed upon in the message, they couldn't find a trace of the hunter squad at all."

"If they had been caught by the mother lizard and died in her mouth, they would certainly have left some traces."

"But the tribe's hunters searched for a long time and didn't find even a single trace, as if this hunter squad, along with that dragon-blood hatchling, had just vanished into thin air."

"Undoubtedly, vanishing into thin air is impossible; something must have happened."

"To be able to do it without leaving a trace, it could only be humans."

"This deduction had only just been made when the hunters in Phoenix received a report from the tribesmen below, saying they had seen suspicious figures near their homes and discovered some abnormalities."

"When the tribe's hunters arrived according to the report, what they found was the Saintess and that hunter squad that had vanished into thin air."

"Only... every member of the squad had become a corpse."

"As the only living person at the scene, the Saintess was naturally regarded as the prime suspect," Elder Grant said with a helpless shrug.

"What suspect? It's completely unreasonable! Whether that hunter squad was killed on the snowfield and then the bodies were brought to Phoenix, or they were first captured back to Phoenix and then killed, it makes no sense at all," Luo Yiqi's voice grew louder involuntarily, unable to control his emotions anymore.

The hunter squad disappeared on the snowfield, and the bodies were found in Phoenix.

Which murderer would be stupid enough to deliver the evidence to their doorstep? Were they in a hurry to die?

"Isn't this a blatant frame-up?"

"That may be so," Elder Grant naturally understood this logic too. He sighed and revealed a deeper reason: "But after examination, all seven hunters died under the unique spell 【Blade of Ice】 of your Snowfield Guardians."

"【Blade of Ice】 is not only the unique spell of your Snowfield Guardians, but can even be called one of your signature spells. Outsiders are absolutely impossible to master it, so... even if this matter was not done by Catherine, it must be related to your Snowfield Guardians. Under these premises, the tribe naturally won't let your Saintess go easily."

As these words fell, Luo Yiqi's expression changed again and again.

"Whether it is to recover the lost dragon-blood hatchling or to give an account for the seven dead hunters, the tribe will never let the Saintess go easily... unless Her Excellency the Saintess is prepared to reveal her identity, then perhaps there might be a turning point," Elder Grant affirmed.

"Impossible, Catherine will absolutely not take the initiative to reveal her identity." Luo Yiqi knew Catherine's personality too well.

Thus, he fell into deep thought.

After a long time, Luo Yiqi suddenly raised his head, "Can you take me to see the scene where the hunter squad's bodies were found?"

Elder Grant frowned slightly, but finally nodded: "No problem."

In front of a residential house deep in an alley in Phoenix.

The wall connected to the gate had collapsed, and the rubble and dust were left uncleaned, scattered all over the ground, looking exceptionally messy.

"This is the scene, and your Saintess was also taken away from here," Elder Grant introduced to Luo Yiqi.

"Why would Catherine come here?" Luo Yiqi looked at the dilapidated house in front of him, his brows furrowed, very puzzled.

Coming all the way here, they were already far from the main street. If it weren't for Elder Grant leading the way, they wouldn't have ended up here no matter how they wandered, let alone entered the residence inside.

This point was something Luo Yiqi really couldn't figure out.

Since he couldn't figure it out, Luo Yiqi temporarily skipped it.

He walked in through the passage that was "wide open" after the collapse.

In the inner room, there were two members of the Enduring Zhenbing tribe on guard.

However, Elder Grant stepped forward and said a few words, and the two members of the Enduring Zhenbing tribe left the inner room first.

Elder Grant lifted the animal skin curtain and led Luo Yiqi and Gao De inside.

The light in the room was dim, and a faint smell of blood still permeated the air.

"The bodies of the hunters of our tribe were lying in this room at the time. According to the condition of the bodies, it can be determined that it should not have been more than half a day since their death," Elder Grant revealed another detail.

Obviously, this detail was not good news for Luo Yiqi.

But now, he had suppressed the emotions in his heart.

The more unfavorable the situation, the more he needed to be calm.

His eyes and nose both had a faint, imperceptible spiritual light flash away at this moment.

As a hunter skilled in tracking, Luo Yiqi was professional in searching for traces and details.

The reason he wanted Elder Grant to bring him to the scene was to see if he could find any missed details or even key evidence through his own abilities.

He looked around, carefully observing every corner.

In the dust on the ground, Luo Yiqi found some subtle footprints.

But there were many people coming and going at this scene, and some footprints couldn't provide any information.

"There are no traces of any resistance or fighting... so those seven hunters should not have died here, but died elsewhere first, and then were dumped here."

"For seven living human bodies, to be sent into Phoenix silently without being noticed is not a simple matter. This might be a breakthrough... we can ask the guards at the city gate if they found any suspicious situations among the people entering the city these past few days."

Luo Yiqi made judgments while checking, and at the same time put forward his own ideas, "It just so happens that you have added an interrogation step for entering the city recently, so you should have some impression."

"What you said is indeed reasonable; I will have someone handle it," Elder Grant nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

"After Catherine was taken away, how many people have been here?" Luo Yiqi sniffed and asked again.

"None. After a detailed inspection of the scene, the tribe sent two people to guard this place, and no one else has come here since."

"The most intense smell here is the smell of the two guards. In addition, there is a slightly fainter smell of blood and the smell of people intertwined. Looking at the concentration, it's the same group of people; it should be left by those who took Catherine away..."

"These are all normal, but what's not normal is that apart from these smells, there is no other smell of living people."

"Unreasonable, it's impossible for it to be this clean. At most it would be fainter, but it shouldn't be completely non-existent," Luo Yiqi muttered to himself.

"Unless someone understands your ability and had already done work on the scent when setting up the scene," Gao De, who had been listening on the side for a long time, said softly.

He had suffered from Luo Yiqi's ability before and knew clearly how sensitive Luo Yiqi was to scents.

"Yes... whether it's the cause of death of the seven dead hunters or the handling of the scene, it all indicates that the real murderer must have come from the sect, so they would understand my methods and know how to target them," Luo Yiqi said slowly, his tone sounding exceptionally heavy.

"With the methods the murderer has shown so far, perhaps the method I mentioned earlier about starting from suspicious situations at the city gate is also highly likely to be unfeasible."

"Since I can think of this breakthrough, the murderer must also be able to realize it and will have corresponding countermeasures."

Gao De nodded in agreement.

Since the murderer could set up such a trap, logically speaking, it was unlikely they would leave too obvious flaws.

However, Gao De thought for a moment and suddenly said: "Perhaps there is another breakthrough."

"Hmm?" Luo Yiqi, who was deep in thought, subconsciously raised his head to look at Gao De.

Gao De smiled slightly, and his gaze turned to Elder Grant.

"How many years has the Elder been responsible for the planting of Jin Hui wheat?" he asked.

"Forty or fifty years, I suppose?" Elder Grant was stunned for a moment, not understanding why this was the turn of the conversation, but he still answered subconsciously.

"Before this, Jin Hui wheat should have never suffered from ice nematode infestation, right?" Although Gao De was asking, he already had the answer in his heart.

If it had happened before, Elder Grant wouldn't be like a headless fly this time.

"It is indeed the first time," Elder Grant nodded.

"Then has the Elder ever thought about how these ice nematodes appeared? And why have there never been ice nematode infestations before, but it just so happened that this infestation suddenly appeared when Catherine encountered this incident?" Gao De asked back.

The two were startled, and then both were awakened by the words.

Seeing that the two had reacted, Gao De continued: "It's not easy to find a breakthrough from the death of the hunters; it's better to take a different path and start from the ice nematode infestation."

"I dare not say that these two things were done by the same person, but I can be certain that they must be related."

(End of chapter)