261: Chapter 262 Wrong Place

No evil qi was detected.

Whether it was the main courtyard, side halls, study, or the servant quarters, or even the secluded corners of the estate, everything was as clean as a blank sheet of paper.

There wasn't a trace of evil qi lingering in the air; it didn't look like a place where a Demon lived at all.

Unless the Demon's grade exceeded the limit of the Qi Observation Technique, or the Sun Family possessed a treasure specifically for concealing evil qi.

The former was unlikely.

With Lin Ye's current mastery of the Qi Observation Technique, even a half-step fifth-grade Demon could not escape his detection.

Furthermore, given the sensitivity of the Spirit Ape Meditation Technique, even if it were truly beyond the range of the Qi Observation Technique, he would still be able to sense some anomalies, rather than being completely clueless as he was now.

As for the latter, Lin Ye had never heard of any treasure that could conceal evil qi.

Even if one truly existed, it was not something a mere Sun Family could possess.

"Could it be that I made a mistake?"

Lin Ye stopped in his tracks and began to reorganize the information he had gathered.

First, there was definitely evil qi on that young girl, which meant she must have come into contact with a Demon recently; there was no doubt about that.

That left only two possibilities: either the girl was lying and had contacted someone other than the masked individual recently.

Or... the masked individual was not from the Sun Family at all—or to be more precise, they did not live in the Sun Family estate!

Lin Ye suddenly opened his eyes, turned to look at Old Man Shen walking ahead, and lowered his voice slightly: "Elder Shen, that Demon might not be in the Sun Family estate."

Old Man Shen paused slightly: "Are you saying we made a mistake, and the Sun Family has no connection to the Demon?"

Although the Demon Suppression Division always adhered to the principle of "better to kill by mistake than to let one slip," the Sun Family was not some minor household. If they really found nothing in the end, the other party certainly wouldn't let it go easily.

It wasn't that he was afraid of the Sun Family, but if word of this got out, it would somewhat affect the reputation of the Demon Suppression Division.

"That's not it. The Demon is indeed related to the Sun Family, but we might have looked in the wrong direction."

"I previously thought the masked individual who threatened that father and daughter was a direct descendant of the Sun Family, but now it seems that is likely not the case."

"It is more likely that the masked individual is from the Flying Eagle Gang!"

Old Man Shen narrowed his eyes: "The Flying Eagle Gang? Then we shall change course to the Flying Eagle Gang."

It must be said that Old Man Shen was truly decisive and did not drag his feet; he couldn't be bothered to ask for the reason. Since Lin Ye said the Demon might be at the Flying Eagle Gang, they would go there directly.

As for conducting secret investigations, that was completely out of the question.

Why would they, the Demon Suppression Division, need to explain their actions to others?

Once suspicion arose, the charge was already established. Regardless of this or that, they would search first and ask questions later.

Lin Ye had only just joined the Demon Suppression Division, so he wasn't quite used to this overbearing style of operation.

Seeing that Old Man Shen was about to turn and leave, Lin Ye grabbed him.

"Wait, if we just leave like this, the head of the Sun Family certainly won't let it go."

"And if my deduction is wrong and the Demon is indeed hiding in the Sun Family estate..."

"...then if we leave, it will be difficult to find it again."

"Then what should we do?" Old Man Shen was a bit dumbfounded.

He was accustomed to acting in a hurried and vigorous manner.

He had experience dealing with Demons, but if he were asked to handle anything tactical, it would be outside his area of expertise.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have reported his direct superior in the past.

"I have an idea. Elder Shen, you continue to stay at the Sun Family estate to investigate."

"Firstly, you can keep the head of the Sun Family in check and prevent him from using this as an excuse to cause trouble. Secondly, you can prevent any fish from slipping through the net."

"As for the Flying Eagle Gang, I will go there to investigate. Elder Shen, do you think this method is feasible?"

After hearing this, Old Man Shen did not hesitate for long before nodding: "Fine, we'll do as you say."

"By the way, remember to take Zhang He with you."

"That kid is quite familiar with the Gang strongholds in the outer city. With him leading the way, you can avoid taking detours."

He wasn't worried that Lin Ye couldn't handle the Demon alone.

Previous experiences had long since proven how formidable the other party's strength was; "monster" was the only word to describe it.

The only thing Lin Ye lacked was experience in dealing with Demons.

With Zhang He, a veteran Demon Suppression Captain, there to fill in the gaps, it would be enough to ensure everything went perfectly.

Lin Ye naturally accepted Elder Shen's suggestion gladly.

He wasn't one for personal heroism, and besides, he really didn't know where the Flying Eagle Gang was.

Making up an excuse, Lin Ye walked straight out of the Sun Family estate.

Seeing Lin Ye come out, Zhang He, who had been hiding in the shadows, appeared: "How was it? Did you find any traces of the Demon?"

"No, but I suspect the Demon is over at the Flying Eagle Gang."

Lin Ye explained the situation briefly and concisely.

"Elder Shen is inside keeping the Sun Family in check. Let's head to the Flying Eagle Gang stronghold now and take a look."

Zhang He naturally had no objections.

"Alright, follow me."

After saying that, he took Lin Ye towards the outer city.

The Flying Eagle Gang's stronghold was located in the southern district of the outer city, near the city wall. It wasn't small, and the guards were much stricter than those of the Black Stone Gang.

Even at this hour, the stronghold was still brightly lit.

Lin Ye did not choose to barge in directly, so as not to alert the enemy.

"Brother Zhang, set up the Demon Locking Array on the perimeter. I'll sneak in and take a look first."

Zhang He nodded, then took the array base from his bosom and began to set up the array.

Lin Ye lightly tapped his toes and silently vaulted over the two-zhang-high courtyard wall. He landed without making a sound, and not even a trace of his aura leaked out.

This was naturally the effect of the Breath Concealment Technique.

He had taken the time to learn it on the way back to the county town.

Although the grade of the Breath Concealment Technique given by Chu Yunfei wasn't high—it was just a common Cultivation Technique—its effectiveness was not bad at all.

Coupled with his Comprehension Ability, which was far beyond ordinary people under the enhancement of the Spirit Ape Meditation Technique, his cultivation of such a common technique could be described as "progressing by leaps and bounds."

After spending just a little effort, he had already practiced it to the Realm of Flowing Water, and the effect of concealing his aura was extremely significant.

Under the cover of the night and with his powerful perception, Lin Ye was unobstructed along the way.

He didn't search one by one; that would be too troublesome.

As one of the four great Gangs, the Flying Eagle Gang had at least ten thousand members.

With such a massive population, he wouldn't finish searching even by daybreak.

Therefore, he set his target directly on the Flying Eagle Gang leader, Han Ying!

In his view, since the Demon wanted to use the influence of the Flying Eagle Gang to grow in secret, there was nothing more suitable than possessing the body of the Flying Eagle Gang leader directly.

Anyway, they were gangsters; it was reasonable for one or two members to go missing occasionally, right?

"As expected!"

As Lin Ye got closer to the core of the stronghold, wisps of faint evil qi began to diffuse into the air.

Ordinary people naturally couldn't see this kind of qi; only those who had cultivated the Qi Observation Technique could perceive it.

Following the direction from which the black qi was coming, Lin Ye finally stopped outside a courtyard with a vast area.

Although it wasn't as luxurious as the Sun Family estate, it was not lacking in scale.

But this was normal; after all, compared to the inner city where every inch of land was worth gold, buying land in the outer city was much cheaper.

Avoiding the Flying Eagle Gang members guarding the outside of the courtyard, Lin Ye vaulted into the yard.

At this moment, a middle-aged man was standing on the Martial Arts Training Ground in the center of the courtyard.

He was burly in build, with a rugged face, and was wearing a grey-brown martial suit.

He activated the Qi Observation Technique, and the next second, the information in Lin Ye's field of vision made his pupils constrict slightly.