Chapter 1801: His Whereabouts

His Whereabouts

Li Leider looked up to see a mountain peak towering over the grayish-white earth.

Seeing this familiar mountain peak again after two years, Li Leider's gaze was somewhat complicated... He climbed up the steps step by step. The hem of his British Overcoat fluttered silently, and the blue silk on his fedora looked elegant and profound under the sunlight.

Just like this, Li Leider stepped up to the very top of Clown Peak step by step.

A short figure was sitting in front of a bare stone house, pinching several small stones in his hands and playing with them tirelessly.

He occasionally leaned forward to flick the stones, making them lightly strike each other, and occasionally pointed at the void in front of him, babbling and laughing loudly, as if there was a playmate belonging to him in an unseen place.

Li Leider stood still in front of him and said respectfully:

"Fifth Martial Uncle."

The Clown tilted his head, babbled at Li Leider, and then went back to playing wildly on his own.

"Li Leider requests the Martial Uncles to open the door."

As his voice fell,

An illusory curtain was drawn open from above the cliff.

With familiar ease, Li Leider took a step forward. His figure was concealed within the curtain, vanishing without a trace.

When he reappeared, Li Leider was already situated in a vast, open grassland... A continuous stretch of snow-capped mountains stood in the distance. Several brightly colored houses were close at hand. Countless colorful flags fluttered in the wind, emitting faint rustling sounds that subconsciously made one feel relaxed.

Li Leider gently closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The familiar fragrance of earth mixed with the smell of cooking smoke drilled into his nasal cavity... The times he spent here in the past flashed through his mind like movie scenes.

Having not returned in two years, this place actually hadn't changed at all.

"Martial Nephew."

In front of one of the houses, a man in white smiled and waved at him.

A smile surfaced on Li Leider's face. The iceberg-like indifference that originally covered his face melted like snow at this moment. If those Thief Saints of the Fire-Stealers were to see this scene, their jaws would probably drop in shock...

Li Leider stepped forward and bowed respectfully:

"Greetings, Martial Uncle."

"You ah, finally know to come back for a visit... Why were you out for so long this time?" Ning Ru Yu patted his shoulder and carefully sized him up from top to bottom. "Not bad, you've gotten a bit sturdier."

Li Leider smiled, not knowing how to answer.

"Where is your Master? Didn't he come back with you?" Ning Ru Yu asked.

"...No." Li Leider paused. "He said he still had some matters to deal with and told me to come back first."

"Ning Ru Yu nodded. "Your Master is just like you, very busy recently... Go back and rest for a bit first. Remember to come to your Third Martial Uncle's house for dinner tonight."

"Okay."

After bidding farewell to Ning Ru Yu, Li Leider walked toward the direction of the other houses.

The original five houses on the grassland had become six at some unknown time. As Li Leider's footsteps tread over the soft grass, he caught sight of a certain house to the side out of the corner of his eye, subconsciously stopping his steps.

That house currently had no one living in it. A wooden sign hung on the door, seemingly somewhat aged, with four neat large characters written on it:

—Home of Old Six.

This was where his Master used to live.

Li Leider stopped at the door, his gaze somewhat complicated. No one knew what he was thinking. Only after a long while did he step forward and continue walking toward the back.

Soon, the sixth house on this grassland entered his line of sight.

It was a house with a layout similar to his Master's house. Small blue and black flags fluttered in the wind on the roof. At the door of the house, there was also a wooden sign standing there, with neat Chinese characters written on it:

—Li Leider.

Actually, at the very beginning, what Li Leider wrote on this sign was [Rider Li]. But later, Ning Ru Yu said why would a perfectly good Ancient Vault of the Drama Path write foreign text, and in the end, changed the sign back to the Chinese "Li Leider"...

However, looking at this sign now, Li Leider found it more and more pleasing to the eye.

"Ancient Vault of the Drama Path..."

Li Leider muttered to himself, "I'm back again, huh..."

He took off his fedora and pushed the door open. With a slight creaking sound, the door slowly closed.

...

"Mister Chen, long time no see."

In the office within the Mother Tree of the Integration Faction, a man wearing a gray shirt and plain black-framed glasses smiled as he pushed a cup of hot tea toward Chen Ling.

Chen Ling grunted in affirmation and took the Tea Cup. Through the rising steam, he could see many lively children playing at the entrance of the Integration Faction, their laughter and playful noises carrying over from afar.

"Yeah..." Chen Ling smiled. "It should have been seven or eight years already?"

"Eight years exactly."

Teacher Ye seemed to recall something, his gaze somewhat emotional. "When you graced us with your presence back then, you really gave the entire Integration Faction a fright... I almost thought the Integration Faction was going to be wiped out."

"That's all in the past." Chen Ling waved his hand. "How is the situation with the Integration Faction now?"

"As you can see, the children are all very healthy... With your guidance, our research in the direction of Fusion has also progressed very smoothly."

"That's good."

"If it wasn't for Mister Chen's reminder, the Integration Faction might have gone further and further down the wrong path... In the end, it definitely would have caused a huge catastrophe and become a menace to humanity." Teacher Ye's tone was extremely serious. "We of the Integration Faction owe Mister Chen a massive favor."

"Let's not talk about that for now." Chen Ling paused for a moment. "I came this time because I wanted to ask about that matter..."

"Understood."

Teacher Ye stood up, took a document from the bookshelf to the side, and opened it. "All these years, the Integration Faction has been searching for 'Jian Changsheng' in every corner of the Gray World according to Mister Chen's description... But it's a pity that up to now, we don't have a single sighting report on him."

Hearing the final sentence, Chen Ling's body jolted slightly, and the faint glimmer in his eyes immediately dimmed.

"Not even in the Gray World... really?" he muttered to himself.

Nine years ago, Chen Ling had already mobilized Liu Qingyan's informants in all the major human bastions, casting an inescapable net to search for Jian Changsheng's whereabouts... However, ever since the Yan family in the Aurora Bastion was raided and the Yan father and son were murdered, Jian Changsheng had completely disappeared without a trace. Regardless of which bastion it was, there was no news of him, as if he had Vanished Into Thin Air.

But Chen Ling was very clear that the deaths of the Yan father and son must be related to Jian Changsheng... After all, according to the original life trajectory and abilities of the Jian Changsheng in this world, he absolutely did not have the ability to solo kill the Yan father and son, considering they had a Ritual Artifact for protection. The deaths of the Yan father and son were not only related to the Jian Changsheng of the sixth-generation world, but also definitely related to the Jian Changsheng of the fifth generation.

After that, Chen Ling utilized the power of the Integration Faction to start searching in the Gray World... After all, if Jian Changsheng was still alive and wasn't active in human bastions, he could only be in the Gray World... But looking at it now, there wasn't the slightest progress here in the Gray World either.

He wasn't in the Gray World, nor the human bastions... Then where else could he go?