Chapter 767: Extra Chapter 4: 4

Time quickly passed three o'clock; Liu Junyan urged Xiao Jiu to go rest quickly.

Xiao Jiu waved his hand, sketching on paper while telling Liu Junyan, "You go to sleep first; I'm not tired. I want to quickly restore the rune on the old turtle's back, find a way to lift the curse—maybe I can find a clue from the method of this cursing rune."

The old turtle, repaying a kindness, fell into its benefactor's trap without defenses—understandable.

But the old turtle's cultivation was profound then; ordinary traps could hardly hold it.

So either its benefactor is highly cultivated, or the benefactor enlisted an expert to help.

Either way, the other side must have a master overseeing things.

Under heaven, experts—whether from a sect or self-taught—always have a distinct style of their own school.

Often, from the opponent's moves, the magical implements used, even things like these runes, one can trace the origin.

Xiao Jiu didn't want to waste this precious clue.

Liu Junyan felt Xiao Jiu was right, so she stopped urging her, instead mimicking Li Qingying's usual manner—she warmed a cup of milk for Xiao Jiu and then kept her company while they studied.

As the two expected, Huang Fan returned quickly; Xiao Jiu rose at once and asked, "How did it go?"

"That old man is really strange," Huang Fan said. "When he left our Yin Dang Hang, he trembled, leaning on a cane and walking slowly, but the farther he got from Yin Dang Hang, the quicker his steps became. After leaving Wufu Town, it seemed as if some force was pulling him forward—his steps flew fast. A group of people sprang out from Horizontal Thorn Lane, I exchanged a few moves with them, then when I went to pursue, the old man's figure had already vanished."

Liu Junyan said, "It shouldn't be that the farther he gets from Yin Dang Hang, the faster he walks; rather, the closer he is to that old well, the stronger the seal array in the well affects him. Did the people you fought show their faces?"

Huang Fan shook his head. "No faces shown, and his moves were utterly without pattern—I couldn't tell anything."

Liu Junyan nodded. "Go back and rest first; the coming period may be very busy."

Huang Fan said, "At your command."

Xiao Jiu and Liu Junyan both spent the night without sleep.

Around five o'clock, the second group returned to report, having narrowed the area where the old man might be, preliminarily determining it was likely in Suedi.

But Suedi is still too large; further narrowing the range requires some external help.

After dawn, Xiao Jiu had preliminarily restored the suppressing rune; neither she nor Liu Junyan could tell which school it belonged to.

Xiao Jiu then called Fang Chuanzong, asking him to help investigate two matters.

One, help check the famous ancient wells in Suedi that are at least three hundred years old.

Two, see if we can trace the origin of that suppressing rune.

These two tasks were also assigned to the Jiǔyàn qū side.

After all, the project is enormous; we need to cast a wide net.

Fang Chuanzong obviously also kept an eye on Yin Dang Hang's movements; he immediately asked, "After Yin Dang Hang reopened late at night, the news that they successfully completed their first Yin Dang transaction has reached my side, and I've already sent people to investigate the old turtle's origin, hoping to find some clues."

Xiao Jiu thanked him, sent the image of the suppressing rune over, and then, urged by Liu Junyan, took a brief nap.

Around nine o'clock, a child came to Yin Dang Hang and handed a letter to Xiao Jiu.

That child was a local; Xiao Jiu knew him.

Upon entering, his eyes were vacant, his movements stiff—clearly he was being controlled.

As soon as the letter reached Xiao Jiu's hand, the child collapsed.

Fortunately, Xiao Jiu was quick-eyed and quick-handed; she caught the child, condensed a bit of true qi in her hand, and infused it into the child's forehead. The child gradually woke up, completely unaware of what had just happened.

Xiao Jiu knew she couldn't get any information from him, so she merely notified the child's family to take him home.

Xiao Jiu opened the envelope and pulled out the letter inside.

On the paper, written in a flourishing hand were four large characters: "Mind your own business!"

Heh, the other side indeed couldn't sit still—they came to the door with threats!

Xiao Jiu had just stuffed the paper back and tossed it on the counter when Li Qingying arrived.

The two sat down to talk.

Li Qingying said, "I checked the foreign personnel who entered last night; strangely, I found no one."

Xiao Jiu snorted coldly, "Those keeping an eye on our Yin Dang Hang aren't ordinary folks; they have ways to cover their tracks."

Li Qingying nodded, then said, "But I did trace the origin of the group that fought Huang Fan last night and delivered the note to the child."

Xiao Jiu raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You found that out so quickly?"

"Hmm." Li Qingying's face looked a bit grim. "These people's info has long been posted at Gui Shi; they take jobs for money and have done plenty of heinous things, but this time they've met with karmic retribution..."

Xiao Jiu frowned. "They were all silenced?"

Li Qingying hummed in affirmation.

"That fast?" Xiao Jiu gave a small start, then realized, "They must have been silenced last night; the one who delivered the note to the child today was a corpse."

Upon receiving the affirmative answer, Xiao Jiu wished she could whip the corpse of the other side!

In adult disputes, dragging a child into the fray is nothing!

Shameless!

This whole group was killed and silenced; the other side is too cautious—trying to act on this lead, following the vine to melon, is impossible.

Li Qingying saw the dark circles under Xiao Jiu's eyes and felt pity. "Xiao Jiu, I know this matter is vital for you and Yin Dang Hang, but you're not made of iron—please rest."

Xiao Jiu smiled. "It's fine; I'll make it up by meditating and circulating my qi when I have time."

Li Qingying sat a while longer before leaving.

In the afternoon, Fang Chuanzong's side had news.

He called and said, "The records of ancient wells in Suedi over three hundred years old are too vague to be definite, but I did trace the origin of that suppressing rune—only the old Daoist and his sect had already perished over three hundred years ago."

In other words, that line of inquiry via the suppressing rune is a dead end.

After hanging up, Xiao Jiu even thought of going to Suedi herself, but she hadn't expected Liu Junyan to go first.

When Huang Fan relayed the message back, Liu Junyan was already halfway there.

Huang Fan said, "Seventh Lord said that the old turtle has been sealed in the ancient well for at least three hundred years and still can produce turtle essence, which shows the well is certainly not a dry one. Since there's water, regarding the water system, if he handles it, there's no problem that can't be solved. Seventh Lord tells you to rest well and wait for his good news."

Xiao Jiu then abandoned the idea of going to Suedi herself and decided to approach the matter from another angle.

Suedi isn't far from Wufu Town; if Liu Junyan goes by water, it's quite fast.

But no one expected that, on the evening of the second day after Liu Junyan's departure, a sudden rainstorm hit the Suedi side, breaching several river dikes in succession and flooding the surrounding villages and towns...