Chapter 456: Past Remnant Images, Old Daoist of the Market

With a single step, Du En had already carried Zhu Qing to the front of his house.

In a city slum filled with Qi Refining cultivators, Zhu Qing, at the peak of Qi Refining, clearly belonged to the group with the best family circumstances, so the place he lived in was not too cramped; it was a three-room courtyard house sufficient for five or six people to live in.

However, there were not actually that many people; there were only the traces of life of the two siblings, so it appeared quite spacious and livable.

After being set down, Zhu Qing was still a bit dazed, then he came to his senses, very consciously opened the door, and began introducing things to Du En.

"The main room is the crafting workshop; I usually refine artifacts inside, and my younger sister makes small puppet parts. This room on the left is where I live, and my younger sister lives in the right room. I haven't touched anything inside..."

He rambled on a bit, his introduction tinged with a sense of reminiscence and melancholy.

Du En did not mind this; he waved his hand to stop the guards from following, and stepped inside with a slight frown.

To the eyes of the Holy Pupil, who was semi-permanently residing here, the wrongness was clear at a glance! Sheng Zhaoshui and An Shen also sensed it, so they simultaneously employed Daoist secret arts to enhance the depth of their observation.

Mirror Moon True Pupil.

Nether-Viewing Dharma Eye.

One pupil seemed to reflect a dark moon, capable of breaking illusions to see the truth.

The other's gaze was like ripples in a dark abyss, able to see straight to the bottom.

Under the enhancement of such pupil techniques, they also saw what Du En saw.

There were certain sky-blue traces spread throughout the courtyard, like some kind of image scarring; they would flicker slightly from time to time due to the movement of people, but they would not disappear or collapse because of it, as if they had been implanted into this house.

Such an obvious anomaly could not be detected at all from the outside, even though the three of them had reached it with their divine sense a step earlier, wrapping and covering it layer by layer, yet they had still detected absolutely nothing.

Even now, being here in person and using Daoist secret arts, they could only see the shallow surface layer; they could feel that something was hidden within that flickering, but they were unable to see it.

This was truly astonishing, and consequently, it left them only with solemnity and gravity.

So, Du En began to exert his power.

Brilliant gold surged from the depths of his eyes, and in the blink of an eye, it flowed into his entire pupils.

Holy Pupil combined with Golden Eye! Perfect to the extreme, its depth was already comparable to the Earth-grade Daoist technique, Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils!

Boom! His gaze seemed to shatter some barrier directly, or perhaps it fulfilled some prerequisite; in any case, in their eyes, the hidden interior now flowed to the outside.

"Brother, you're back!"

A crisp female voice suddenly rang out, causing people to turn their heads abruptly to look at the room on the right where Zhu Yi lived, only to see its door open and a young woman in home-cleaning attire walk out to welcome her returning brother.

Zhu Qing did not see this, and there was no contact between them; he was still there explaining the situation, only stopping because Du En stopped, his eyes filled with unease and worry.

"This is?"

"A remnant image of the past?"

"How could it be lodged so deeply and so secretly? I didn't even notice it at all before? And how could it be just an ordinary remnant image?"

Sheng Zhaoshui watched the remnant image of Zhu Yi's past, performing daily actions from who knows how long ago—welcoming her brother, discussing the day's harvest, what to have for dinner, and other extremely ordinary domestic matters—muttering to himself, his eyes becoming exceptionally grave in their depths.

Because this was hidden so deeply and had only finally surfaced now, it was just like this, recording a segment of the scene that had occurred in this house previously.

There was no other information, only the most ordinary domestic life.

But this, in turn, appeared eerie, because what was hidden by such means ought to be some major secret.

Unless, this was actually just a hint.

The greatest possibility was that the Falling Feather Supreme was hinting to them not to have the slightest bit of wishful thinking.

I know you have come.

So, perform well.

The eyes of both the person and the god were extremely grave, because as it seemed, the True Monarch was unexpectedly useless and could not secure them any space or time for covert operations.

But, was that really the case? In fact, the current situation could also be interpreted as the True Monarch reminding and hinting to them that this woman named Zhu Yi would be the key to this game, and that they must hurry to find her! The daily remnant image itself provided no useful information; it was only to make Zhu Yi's existence stand out!

Of course, Du En and the others would not be that naive, so even someone as calm as Du En was frowning slightly at this moment, his gaze filled with a trace of gravity, and the overall atmosphere quietly became heavy due to the influence of the three, causing Zhu Qing, who had just finished speaking and stopped, to feel a jolt in his heart.

He dared not ask more, only waiting expectantly, not even daring to look at Du En.

In the slanting light, he caught a glimpse of Du En personally searching the house inside and out several times, then standing back in place empty-handed, falling into a moment of dead silence.

"What is the best course of action now?"

An Shen's inquiry seemed somewhat unnecessary, reflecting the jumbled thoughts currently in his own mind.

"In short, the goal hasn't actually changed: find the missing person. So, take this Zhu Qing, keep him by our side to observe, and then go to investigate the place where that young master went missing. Since they are both missing, perhaps it is all connected."

Sheng Zhaoshui made a mature suggestion; in fact, there was no need to say it, because they all knew they had to do this.

Thus, nodding slightly, Du En spoke to Zhu Qing: "Your sister's matter is somewhat special; it is not a simple thing to find her and bring her back. From now on, you will just follow us."

"Yes, yes, everything is up to the orders of the Great One!"

Zhu Qing could not find his sister on his own, so naturally, he had no objections at all.

"Just in case, I will give you some things for self-defense."

As Du En said this, he picked out some items from the belongings of the Venerable Nine Clouds that he could use, then casually took some materials and made a small, fifth-grade mid-tier puppet; it could sweep across the world invincible in the Qingxuan Star Realm, but on the surface, it was gray and plain, very inconspicuous, looking like a toy monkey holding a gong.

"Thank you, Great One! Thank you, Great One!"

Facing these second and third-grade items that he could never normally come into contact with, Zhu Qing was naturally ecstatic, thanking them repeatedly on the spot; after taking them, he was overjoyed, and even his worry for his sister was temporarily dispelled a little.

However, regarding the palm-sized fifth-grade puppet, he only recognized it as a puppet and did not notice its true nature; he took a casual look and did not pay much attention, focusing mainly on the two third-grade items.

It seemed there were no problems...

Du En thought to himself. Then he turned around and walked out of the courtyard.

Zhu Qing followed hurriedly.

Because he hadn't put the things in his hand away properly, the guards saw them.

The guard leader's pupils shrank, his tiger-like body shuddered, and then he was met with Du En's gaze, immediately breaking into a cold sweat on his back; he braced himself and stepped forward to pay his respects: "Does the Venerable One have any findings?"

"Hmm, the situation here may have some connection to the disappearance of that beast. This matter cannot be underestimated; the danger is actually not small. You all must prepare yourselves mentally for what is to come."

Receiving such a simple reply, the guard leader's thoughts were somewhat chaotic.

The more he looked at the person before him now, the more he felt it was not his master, but the other party did not seem to be a vicious or evil person either. So, had his master really encountered an accident? With the young master missing, the other party had come to investigate and unexpectedly focused on this place; after the investigation, they seemed even more grave than before... It seems this disappearance incident truly cannot be taken lightly. Perhaps his master sensed danger and sought a fellow Daoist from beyond the Void to come and help?

The guard captain felt a sense of wishful thinking, but at the end of the day, it was because the upper limit of the Qingxuan Star Realm was only at the early stage of Spirit Severing, and coupled with the many measures and arrangements at the City Lord's main hall, in his understanding, it was impossible for anyone to silently kill his master.

Thinking this way, he felt slightly at ease.

Returning to the guards, he immediately ordered: "You all heard it; this matter is of great importance, so do not have too many idle or trivial thoughts, and even more so, do not have any wishful thinking. From now on, you must be extremely cautious!"

"Yes!"

The guards felt a chill in their hearts and hurriedly responded in unison.

Du En saw that the captain was quite sensible, so he didn't say anything more, turned around, and headed toward the next destination.

The people in the Poor Cultivator Den could finally breathe a sigh of relief for the moment, and the news began to spread in all directions.

The group picked up their pace and soon arrived at the place where the Venerable's only son had gone missing.

In a dark alley on the outskirts of a marketplace, several guards of the young master were waiting there in anxiety and fear, pacing back and forth, appearing particularly uneasy and apprehensive.

Because of their poor supervision, because of the Venerable's ruthless methods, because...

"How is the situation?"

Du En's disguised voice came over, immediately startling them so much that they shivered, throwing themselves onto the ground like toads, sticking to wherever it was dirty, and kowtowing repeatedly to admit their mistakes.

"These few are probably just thinking about how to get you to forgive their sins!"

Sheng Zhaoshui couldn't help but say this, perhaps to relieve the pressure; after finishing, he chuckled, looking as if he had returned to his normal state.

However, he was not wrong in his judgment; these few who were confessing were indeed just thinking about what to do to make their attitude of confession appear the most sincere and proactive.

—If there were a pile of dung present now, they would definitely hit it with their heads; the main point was to show their attitude and win sympathy and forgiveness! Du En didn't even look at them, observing the surroundings, and after confirming there were no clues, he turned his head directly to look at the City Lord's Mansion guard whose face was still swollen.

The other party was very clever and immediately stood out to speak: "The Lixiao Marketplace outside is where the young master acted recklessly before. Those few people were just small-time cultivators setting up stalls; they would normally hide when encountering trouble, but they would eventually have to enter and exit through the marketplace's entrance, so the young master, who was unaware, probably wanted to stake out the place to wait for them."

The other party pointed to the gatehouse, the only entrance and exit of the marketplace, and stated his speculation.

To be honest, this seemed a bit like stating the obvious.

He clearly understood this himself, and after laying the groundwork, he hurriedly continued: "Although the young master was hiding in the dark, it is said that a Nascent Soul stage cultivator is currently living in seclusion in Lixiao Marketplace, and there are records of them taking action before. If the other party was here at that time, perhaps they already discovered the young master and might know some clues."

Then let's go ask.

Du En expressed this thought with actual action.

The guard captain's eyes flashed, as if he had been waiting for some kind of answer just now.

It seems that this Nascent Soul stage cultivator in seclusion is said to be in seclusion, but in the eyes of those who care, it is actually quite clear, and they also have some connection with Venerable Jiuyun.

Du En thought this, recalled Jiuyun's life, and quickly locked onto a few targets that could fit.

While he was still thinking about this, the large group of people had already filed out.

Seeing the leading guard raise the banner, the people in front of and behind the marketplace gatehouse were suddenly shocked, and some who were already uneasy were now terrified to the extreme, nearly scared out of their wits.

Clearly, when the Venerable's only son ran here to commit evil deeds before, he had once made some harsh threats, which led to the current misunderstanding.

Also, because there was no concealment here, the few Golden Core stage rogue cultivators in the marketplace with high cultivation and sufficient divine sense had already appeared here, anxious like ants on a hot pan, yet they bit the bullet and did not immediately come out to greet them, fearing that stepping out would mean death! They were waiting for someone.

This was visibly apparent.

Du En didn't need to stop and wait; as the crowded people on the distant main road quickly dispersed, a figure wearing a bright red robe appeared there.

Before the person arrived, their voice came first.

"Jiuyun! You are quite imposing now! What? Do you really want to wash the marketplace in blood for your beast of a son?!"

Although this person was only at the late Nascent Soul stage, their tone was very impolite, and the City Lord's Mansion guards didn't have much of a reaction, looking as if they had expected it.

It really is him, Old Daoist Chili.

Du En thought this and secretly observed the other party.

This Old Daoist Chili was, just like his name, already looking very old, with wrinkles piled up on his face, layer upon layer. At this moment, with his expression of great rage, they kept surging, but it wasn't disgusting; instead, it was like flames burning fiercely, possessing a different kind of majestic appearance.

The reason he was not afraid and was impolite was because he was an old acquaintance of Venerable Jiuyun, and Jiuyun was a junior who had been saved by him many times in the past.

At the same time, the old daoist's lifespan was coming to an end, and he could not see the dawn of breaking through to extend his life, so naturally, he had no scruples; he said what he dared to say, completely following his own character, which was still quite righteous.

Because of this character, his reputation among rogue cultivators was very high; he could be called a person of high virtue and prestige, and invisibly, he was the head of the rogue cultivators in Jiuyun City, so under normal circumstances, Venerable Jiuyun would not haggle with him too much.

Now that it was replaced by Du En, he naturally wouldn't care even more, and he chose to step out from the crowd directly.

"Fellow Daoist Chili is joking. I didn't come here this time to stand up for that degenerate beast, but for another important matter. That is why I have mobilized so many people; I didn't expect that you were living in seclusion here recently."

"Hmph! Don't try that on me! Do you think I wouldn't know you were here? Also, who doesn't know that you usually wantonly indulge your precious only son? And your group of subordinates—if I hadn't been intentionally avoiding them, I'm afraid I would have already died from all kinds of difficulties, both overt and covert, right?"

Once these heart-piercing words were spoken, the guards' expressions changed drastically. A few wanted to scold him, but looking at Du En in front, they ultimately restrained themselves and didn't dare to speak casually.

They just felt that if they disrupted or dragged down his pace at this time, the outcome would be very miserable! (End of chapter)