158: Chapter 158: The snake emerges from the cave.

That night, at Tianhua Inn.

Xia Zhong gathered all his subordinates into his room.

"Did everyone have any success today?"

The people present reported one after another.

But the results left Xia Zhong very unsatisfied.

Because they had investigated everyone from the Five Great Families in the Inner City, but had not found any target that matched the description of the warlock.

"Do you all think that the warlock who assassinated the Young Marquis is not among the Five Great Families?" Xia Zhong asked with a frown.

One of them said: "Master Xia, this subordinate believes that since that warlock dared to plot against the Young Marquis, it means he is not afraid of being exposed!"

Xia Zhong nodded thoughtfully: "Continue."

The man continued: "The Five Great Families are too conspicuous. Since that warlock is confident enough not to be discovered, he certainly wouldn't be hiding among the Five Great Families, or even in the homes of the wealthy. The best method is to disguise himself as an ordinary person, so that no one would suspect him. Of course, it's also possible that after he plotted against the Young Marquis, he had already left Linjiang Prefecture!"

Xia Zhong nodded in deep agreement, very much approving of Meng Qian's assessment.

That warlock had either already left Linjiang Prefecture or was extremely confident in his own disguise and remained somewhere in Linjiang Prefecture.

But regardless of which it was, it would be extremely difficult to ferret the other party out.

After all, they didn't know the other party's appearance, age, or even whether they were male or female.

Were they supposed to check all several million people in the Prefecture City?

If the other party had already escaped Linjiang Prefecture, they would have even less of a lead.

After all, Linjiang Prefecture is so large, and so many people come and go every day.

They were also unsure which day that warlock left.

Asking them to investigate the movements of everyone who had left Linjiang Prefecture in the past few days was a massive undertaking, and with their small number of people, it was impossible to accomplish.

After dismissing this group of subordinates, Xia Zhong called the pair of warlock master and apprentice into his room.

"Old Master Li, did you and your apprentice have any success?"

The old warlock, addressed as Old Master Li, said: "Reporting to Master Xia, today our master and apprentice pair wandered to many places, but did not sense any warlock's Qi."

"Then, Old Master Li, do you have a way to find that warlock as soon as possible? After all, the matter entrusted by the Marquis is not something we can afford to neglect, right?" Xia Zhong stared at the old warlock and said.

After the previous analysis, he felt that completing this task was truly too difficult.

Therefore, he intended to shift the pressure onto this warlock master and apprentice.

"Master Xia, you truly overestimate this old man!" The elderly warlock said with a bitter smile: "The warlock who plotted against the Young Marquis is no ordinary person. If he intends to hide, it is truly difficult for us to find him."

Suddenly, the elderly warlock's heart stirred, and he said: "However, this old man does have a method to lure the snake out of its hole."

"What method?" Xia Zhong asked somewhat excitedly.

The elderly warlock said: "The Cultivation resources required by warlocks are relatively rare. If the Marquis Mansion could produce a piece of Spirit Medicine suitable for a warlock to use, perhaps we could fish that warlock out. Of course, the Spirit Medicine used for fishing cannot be just anything; it must be of great benefit to a warlock's cultivation improvement to possibly lure the other party out!"

Xia Zhong's eyes lit up, feeling that this plan to lure the snake out of its hole was indeed brilliant.

However, he could not produce the Spirit Medicine to be used for fishing, so he would have to rely on the Marquis Mansion to provide this bait.

"Old Master Li, this strategy of yours is very ingenious. If it succeeds, I will definitely help you request a reward from the Marquis!"

After dismissing the warlock master and apprentice, Xia Zhong called over two subordinates to give them instructions, and then he utilized his movement technique and headed towards the Royal Capital.

At the moment he leaped out of the city, a question suddenly occurred to Xia Zhong.

Since the Marquis urgently summoned Lord Fan Jun back, why did Lord Fan Jun have to ride a horse instead of relying on movement techniques to rush back?

One must know that Lord Fan Jun is in the Blood Refining Realm; if he utilized his movement technique to rush back to the Royal Capital, it would be at least several times faster than riding a horse.

Take himself for example; in order not to delay finding the culprit, he did not choose to ride a horse, but relied on his movement technique to rush back to the Royal Capital.

Surely Lord Fan Jun wouldn't have failed to think of this, right?

Of course, this thought flashed and vanished.

The most important thing now was to retrieve the Spirit Medicine from the Marquis Mansion to fish out that warlock.

As long as he caught that warlock, the Marquis would certainly not skimp on his reward.

He had been stuck at Late-stage Refining Viscera for several years already; if he could rely on the Marquis Mansion's reward to Cultivate Late-stage Refining Viscera to Perfection, he would also have a chance to Breakthrough to the Blood Refining Realm.

On the other side, at the Chen Mansion, in the backyard.

"Husband, let's do it one more time, that way this concubine can conceive your child sooner!" Liu Xiangyue's coquettish voice rang in Chen Hu's ear.

But Chen Hu shivered: "Xiangyue, we have already done it a full six times in the past few nights. Such things cannot be overdone, otherwise, it will damage both our bodies. Besides, the matter of having children depends on fate."

"Alright, Husband makes sense. Then let's wash up and go to sleep."

Liu Xiangyue could easily see that Chen Hu was making excuses for his own stubbornness, and she found it somewhat amusing, but she did not expose him.

Soon, Liu Xiangyue called over Ruyi and Zhizhi to wash their bodies.

After tidying up, Chen Hu closed his heavy eyelids and instantly fell into a deep sleep.

Time flew by, and it was the next morning.

After a night of rushing, even though Xia Zhong was at Late-stage Refining Viscera, he felt quite exhausted.

He could not afford to rest and immediately headed to the Weiwu Marquis Mansion to meet the Marquis, lest the Marquis go on duty, forcing him to wait until evening to see him.

"This subordinate, Xia Zhong, leader of the Wanyan Pavilion's Wind Chasing Unit, pays respects to the Marquis!"

Seeing Xia Zhong, who was travel-worn and kneeling before him, Marquis Weiwu Wei Zhenjiang frowned slightly: "Speak, did Fan Jun send you because the culprit has already been caught?"

"Lord Fan Jun?" Xia Zhong was stunned: "Marquis, wasn't it you who urgently summoned Lord Fan Jun back to the Royal Capital?"

"When did this Marquis summon him back?" Wei Zhenjiang snorted coldly, simultaneously realizing something, and immediately scolded: "Speak quickly, what is going on with Fan Jun?"

Xia Zhong immediately used concise words to recount the situation.

After listening, Wei Zhenjiang's face could not help but turn as black as the bottom of a pot, because he had never urgently summoned Fan Jun back to the Royal Capital.

Consequently, he summoned a confidant and ordered him to go to the Wanyan Pavilion's stronghold to issue an order for Fan Jun to come and see him.

After giving the order, Wei Zhenjiang's gaze fell back onto Xia Zhong: "Since Fan Jun handed the task of tracking down the warlock to you, why did you rush back to the Royal Capital?"

Xia Zhong hurriedly recounted the situation they encountered in Linjiang Prefecture, then explained the plan to lure the snake out of its hole, and stated that this strategy was proposed by the old warlock.

"Not bad!" Wei Zhenjiang nodded: "This strategy is acceptable!"

Soon, under Wei Zhenjiang's instructions, the butler took his subordinates to the Marquis Mansion's treasury to retrieve three pieces of Spirit Medicine beneficial to a warlock's cultivation.

"I am giving you these three pieces of Spirit Medicine to go fishing, but you must bring them back intact. Butler, introduce these three pieces of Spirit Medicine to him; this Marquis has other important matters!"

"Yes!" The butler acknowledged the order.

Soon, Wei Zhenjiang arrived at his study, and the confidant who had gone to deliver the message also returned: "Marquis, Lord Fan Jun is not in the Royal Capital!"

Although Wei Zhenjiang had already anticipated it, hearing that Fan Jun had not returned to the Royal Capital, his expression still became very ugly.