197: Chapter 197 Mysterious Disappearance

One day later.

Huang Jinglong returned in triumph, carrying the head of Bone Crusher Immortal Master from the Bone Fiend Sect.

He tied the head to the city wall, leaving it for vultures and wild birds to peck at.

This caused the people of the Immortal City to cheer, and their morale was greatly boosted!

Gu Lingye's previous invasion had cast an extremely oppressive atmosphere over the entire Immortal City, and rumors spread in the taverns that the Demonic Path was ready to strike.

Their primary target was Yellow Ox Immortal City.

Countless people fled, and panic was widespread.

Unexpectedly, in just two days, Yellow Ox reversed the situation.

Not only did he set up a stacked Formation comparable to a Tier 4 Formation, but he also killed the chicken to warn the monkeys by beheading Bone Crusher Immortal Master.

It was said that Gu Lingye came again but was blocked by the great Formation and could only leave in frustration.

...

The next day.

Huang Jinglong still sat in the main hall, but his brow showed not a hint of joy.

Recalling the information obtained from Liu Fuqi's soul search, the latter had not encountered Xu Changsheng, nor had the Cultivators under him.

"Where did that Xu Changsheng go?"

Now Gu Lingye and two other Golden Core Cultivators from the Bone Fiend Sect were taking turns guarding outside the Immortal City almost twenty-four hours a day.

Including Liu Fuqi, who fell by his hand yesterday, nearly half of the Bone Fiend Sect's Golden Core True Persons had been deployed.

If not for the Bone Fiend Sect Master, Perfect Lord Bone Fiend, practicing an extremely dangerous secret technique and needing to be in seclusion for decades, he probably would have come to kill them long ago.

The original intent of expelling Xu Changsheng was to ease the relationship between Yellow Ox Immortal City and the Bone Fiend Sect.

Unexpectedly, after his maneuvering, the rift between the two had only deepened.

He waved his hand and took out a smooth grey stone.

He injected spiritual energy.

A five-colored light screen appeared before him, and within the shimmering light was the scene of the South Gate of the Immortal City.

The image showed midday; the towering East City Gate was wide open, with a continuous stream of Cultivators entering and leaving.

Huang Jinglong's gaze locked onto two figures in the corner of the gate.

One of them was indeed Xu Changsheng, and the person meeting him was Shen Chong, the Chief of the East Guard Department.

After the two spoke a few words, Shen Chong left with a cupped-hand salute. Xu Changsheng turned back toward the Immortal City, bowed, and then left the frame without looking back.

No problem; Xu Changsheng had indeed left the Immortal City right under his nose.

He waved his hand again.

The five-colored light screen vanished, and another greyish-white light screen appeared.

This was the surveillance footage from thirty li outside Yellow Ox Immortal City. The screen was curved, surrounding him in a circular layout.

Compared to the screen at the Immortal City gate, the image was much coarser; faces could not be seen clearly, only silhouettes.

Huang Jinglong's vast Divine Sense spread out, sending all the images into his Sea of Consciousness to form a holographic projection.

He closed his eyes and checked carefully.

He did not miss a single blade of grass, tree, bird, or insect.

Until fifteen minutes later.

His eyes slowly opened, carrying a hint of confusion.

He could not find Xu Changsheng's figure.

The latter seemed to have vanished from the world the moment he stepped out of Yellow Ox Immortal City, leaving no trace.

His brows furrowed tightly.

He took a deep breath, exerted force with his palm, and clenched his fingers, crushing the grey stone.

"Clatter, clatter."

The interior of the grey stone was crystal-clear glass, which fell to the ground and turned into debris.

At the same time, the previously extinguished light screen reappeared, and it was much clearer and more detailed; the faces appearing in the screen could finally be seen clearly.

Not only that.

The sounds of chirping insects and birds came from the image, and the fragrance of grass and trees wafted past his nose.

Huang Jinglong lightly patted the Spirit Beast Bag at his waist.

A flash of emerald light flickered, and a crystal-clear little snake appeared on the ground. It was less than three inches long, with fleshy lumps on either side of its nose, nimbly sniffing the air.

He ordered, "I told you to remember his scent back then. You remember it, right?"

The snake's head nodded vigorously.

"Then sniff well. If you perform well, I can give you that Tier 2 Beast Essence Pill today."

The vertical pupils on both sides of the snake's head showed a human-like gleam of joy as it happily bit its own tail.

...

For the next day and night, Huang Jinglong remained standing in place.

Until the last image dissipated, turning back into Spiritual Qi and returning to heaven and earth.

He picked up the emerald spirit snake from the ground in front of him. "Still nothing?"

The spirit snake was also extremely exhausted, its body curled into a ball, showing no response.

He put it back into the Spirit Beast Bag.

His brows knitted together as he muttered to himself, "Where on earth did he go?"

There were two possibilities now.

Either Xu Changsheng encountered an irresistible ambush before meeting the Demonic Path—only those Robber Cultivator organizations could have done that, and he could investigate them later.

Or Xu Changsheng left and then returned, and was currently still in Yellow Ox Immortal City.

This possibility was much smaller than the first. Yellow Ox Immortal City was heavily guarded; the four main gates and four side gates all had Tier 3 small surveillance Formations.

A mere Foundation Establishment Cultivator could not possibly sneak into the Immortal City without a trace.

But Huang Jinglong was unwilling to let go of this possibility. He took out a dark green paper communication talisman and injected spiritual energy.

The communication talisman began to burn.

The heat lifted it, making it dance within the hall.

Until the last corner turned to ash.

A strange ripple spread from the center of the hall, and Huang Jinglong watched the center silently.

Following the ripple was a speck of black light.

It suddenly expanded in a hemispherical shape, shrouding the entire hall in darkness within a few breaths.

A voice suddenly came from the empty hall.

"Huang Jinglong, it's been a hundred years. You're finally willing to summon me? I thought I'd have to wait until the moment of your fall."

"Enough pleasantries, Fellow Daoist Zhuiying. Since we signed a contract back then, I have no reason not to use it."

"Hehe, tell me, what do you want me to do? Kill someone? Curse? Interrogation? I'm an expert at all of them."

"None of those."

"Oh? I only signed a contract with you; I didn't say I'd risk my life for you. Huang Jinglong, don't get too greedy."

"No, what I want Fellow Daoist Zhuiying to do is very simple."

"Oh? Let's hear it."

"I want you to find someone."

"I thought it was something big. Just finding someone? I'm an expert at that."

"I want you to find a man named Xu Changsheng in the Immortal City. He has a Foundation Establishment cultivation, so it shouldn't be too difficult."

He took a portrait out of his Storage Pouch, showing a Cultivator in a green robe with an unremarkable face.

"Oh? Just a Foundation Establishment Cultivator? That's easy. Leave it to me."

At this moment, if one looked closely at the Void Realm, they would see a faint wisp of black gas lingering around the portrait.

"This guy looks quite honest. How did he offend you?"

"Cut the crap. If you can really find him, I will naturally explain my history with him."

Hearing the urgency in Huang Jinglong's voice.

The voice echoed again.

"There's no catch, right?"

"Let me be clear, I will give you three months at most. That's enough time for me to walk every inch of the Immortal City."

"Fine, I trust Fellow Daoist Zhuiying."