54: Chapter 54 The Guide Bug

After Mo Xiaochuan left Xianyuan Pavilion, Innkeeper Wu Youcai looked at Elder Zhou Xuanze, who had collapsed on the ground, and was so frightened that he was dumbfounded for a moment.

A person who had been alive just a moment ago lost his breath in the blink of an eye, and black blood was still flowing from his mouth and nose.

The waiter ran down the stairs, came to Innkeeper Wu Youcai's side, and asked:

"Innkeeper Wu, what should we do now? Shouldn't we notify the Xuanyang Sect immediately?"

"If those two people run too far and the Xuanyang Sect can't find the murderer, we'll be in big trouble."

Hearing this, Innkeeper Wu Youcai finally came back to his senses.

He glanced outside Xianyuan Pavilion, but those two Cultivators wearing exotic clothes had already vanished without a trace.

"Quickly go prepare a horse."

"I will make a trip to the Xuanyang Sect myself."

The waiter acknowledged the order and hurriedly ran toward the backyard.

Mo Family Village, Mo Shoutian's home.

In the main hall, Chen Xiuyun sat by the table looking at the account books, occasionally glancing outside the courtyard gate.

In the courtyard, Mo Chengye, Mo Chengan, Mo Chengfeng, and Mo Chenglie were having a snowball fight, and the laughter of the children drifted into the room from time to time.

Yesterday afternoon, her father, Chen Wanshan, braved the snow to rush back to the Mo family, bringing back the news of half a broken jade.

After hearing this, Mo Shoutian immediately went to the backyard to find Mo Xiaochuan.

It wasn't until dinner time that Chen Xiuyun learned from her father-in-law that Mo Xiaochuan had already left Mo Family Village.

At first, she wasn't too worried.

Over the years, Mo Xiaochuan often went out in disguise to sell Medicinal Pills, and it was common for him to return later.

But after a whole night passed until noon the next day, Mo Xiaochuan still hadn't returned, and Chen Xiuyun began to feel a bit restless.

If Mo Xiaochuan went to Jiuzhou City with a caravan, a trip might take ten days to half a month. But if he went out alone, he would usually return in a few hours and rarely spent the night outside.

Although her eldest son, Mo Chengyue, was only seven years old, he noticed that his mother had something on her mind and asked:

"Mother, are you worried about Father?"

Chen Xiuyun looked at her sensible son and reached out to stroke his head.

"How do you know Mother is worried about your father?"

Mo Chengyue thought for a moment and said:

"Father didn't come back last night, and Mother keeps looking outside the courtyard gate."

Chen Xiuyun smiled slightly.

"You child, how can you see everything?"

"When Mother usually looks at accounts, she never looks outside, but today she has already looked many times."

Mo Chengyue said this, and then added:

"However, Father is so amazing; nothing bad will definitely happen to him."

Chen Xiuyun stroked his head and asked:

"How do you know your father is amazing?"

"I saw Father step on the broken water sword and fly away."

Hearing this, Chen Xiuyun quickly reached out and covered his mouth.

"Dayue, when did you see that?"

"I saw it twice a few days ago."

Chen Xiuyun glanced outside the door, made sure no one else entered, and then lowered her voice to say:

"Your father knows how to fly on a sword. That is a secret of our Mo family, and you cannot tell anyone else, understand?"

Mo Chengyue nodded.

"I know, Mother."

"You can't tell your younger brothers either."

"Mm."

Hearing her son's promise, Chen Xiuyun let go of his hand.

Just at this moment, Mo Shoutian returned from the backyard and walked into the main hall.

He had just gone to the practice room to ask Nannan and Xiao Niuzi, but before leaving, Mo Xiaochuan hadn't told them when he would be back.

"What are you two mother and son talking about?"

Mo Chengyue glanced at Chen Xiuyun and said:

"Grandfather, Mother is worried about Father, so she keeps looking into the courtyard."

Mo Shoutian glanced at Chen Xiuyun and said to Mo Chengyue:

"Dayue, go play with your younger brothers in the courtyard first. Grandfather has a few words to say with your mother."

Mo Chengyue looked at his mother again, then climbed down from the stool and turned to run out of the main hall.

After he left, Mo Shoutian asked:

"Xiuyun, are you worried about Xiaochuan?"

"Mm."

Chen Xiuyun did not hide it.

"Father, in the past when Xiaochuan went out alone, he would return in at most a few hours. This time he hasn't returned all night, nor did he send anyone to pass along a message."

Mo Shoutian sat down on a nearby stool.

"Xiaochuan is no longer the child he was ten years ago."

"The fact that he hasn't returned means those two people are still in Qingshi Town, or he has found out about other matters."

"Wait another day. If there is still no news tomorrow, I will have someone go to Qingshi Town to inquire."

Chen Xiuyun nodded.

After finishing, Mo Shoutian also glanced outside the courtyard gate.

On the other side, Mo Xiaochuan restrained the Qi on his body, following a few miles behind two foreign Cultivators.

After leaving Qingshi Town, the two did not fly on swords, but instead followed the official road all the way north.

The two of them inspected the towns and cultivation forces along the way, so they did not travel by flying swords.

They were only in the Middle Stage of the Lingtai Realm, and as long as Mo Xiaochuan didn't actively approach, they couldn't discover that someone was following them from behind at all.

The three of them, one ahead and two behind, walked until dark.

That night, the Senior Brother and Junior Brother stopped in an abandoned Mountain God Temple.

Mo Xiaochuan hid in the distant woods, releasing his Divine Sense to listen to the movements inside the temple.

After lighting a fire, the Junior Brother took out two pieces of dry rations from his bundle.

"Senior Brother, how much longer do we have to walk north?"

"I don't know either."

After saying this, the Senior Brother took out a black wooden box from his bosom.

After the wooden box was opened, a thumb-sized black bug crawled out from inside, spun around in his palm a few times, and finally pointed its head toward the northeast.

The Senior Brother watched for a moment and said:

"The Junior Martial Uncle carrying the mother bug has changed direction again."

The Junior Brother took the dry rations handed to him and complained:

"We have been out of Black Water Valley for thirteen years already, and the Junior Martial Uncle up ahead changes places every few days. When on earth can we rendezvous?"

"Back then, in order to find Senior Qingli, the one hundred and twenty Disciples were divided into four routes, and each route scattered separately."

The Senior Brother put the black bug back into the wooden box.

"Every time we arrive at a place, we must disperse to search. After the search, we can only rely on the child bug to find the Junior Martial Uncle carrying the mother bug again."

The Junior Brother glanced at the wooden box.

"This thing can only tell direction, and we don't even know how far the distance is. What if the mother bug is thousands of miles away from us? How long are we going to have to chase?"

"Even if we can't catch up, we still have to chase."

The Senior Brother said:

"If we still can't rendezvous with the Junior Martial Uncle and the others, how can we explain to Master when we go back?"

The Junior Brother asked again:

"What if this child bug dies?"

"Then we will completely lose track of them."

The Senior Brother closed the wooden box and tucked it back into his bosom.

"Eat up and let's get on the road. The mother bug is constantly moving; the longer we delay, the further away we will be from the Junior Martial Uncle and the others."

Hearing this, Mo Xiaochuan, who was hiding in the woods, also figured out why these two people kept walking north.

They hadn't found clues about the broken jade, but were instead chasing Cultivators of the Black Water Valley on the same route.

That black bug could only point out the direction where the mother bug was, and the people ahead were constantly moving.

If Mo Xiaochuan returned to Mo Family Village now, by the time he chased after them again, these two people would likely have changed direction long ago.

Furthermore, the Junior Martial Uncle carrying the mother bug and the other Black Water Valley Disciples should know more than the two people before him.

He could not just give up this hard-earned clue.