371: Kidnapping and ransom

"Don't cry! Don't cry!"

Ling Lu was crying so hard that her face was streaked with tears, her little face full of fear, which made Peach Blossom Demon Lord feel heartbroken watching her.

She raised her hand and gestured lightly. Ling Lu's vision blurred, and she suddenly found herself sitting beside Peach Blossom Demon Lord.

"Such a beautiful face, it won't look good if you cry it all up!" Peach Blossom Demon Lord reached out to wipe away Ling Lu's tears and comforted her with a smile, "This seat will not harm you. If I wanted to harm you, why wait until now, and why bother unlocking your restraints?"

"Really?"

Ling Lu didn't have much experience, and she started to believe it a little once someone coaxed her.

"Of course!" Peach Blossom Demon Lord held her hand. "This time, my subordinates captured the wrong person. In a few days, I will send someone to take you back."

She opened her jade hand, and a honey peach overflowing with a sweet fragrance appeared before Ling Lu. "This Spirit Peach has the effect of increasing cultivation, extending life by thirty years, and beautifying the skin. How about taking this as an apology from this seat?"

"Does it really have beautifying effects?" Ling Lu was pleasantly surprised, but also somewhat suspicious. "You aren't lying to me, are you?"

"Uh... why would this seat lie to a little girl like you? If you don't believe me, you can just throw it away; I won't force you to eat it."

"Mn! I believe you, Auntie."

Ling Lu picked up the Spirit Peach, brought it to her nose to sniff it, and then began to eat it in large bites.

This girl was big-hearted; she had figured it out. Peach Blossom Demon Lord's strength was clearly not low, and since she couldn't resist anyway, it made no difference whether she believed her or not.

"Auntie?" Peach Blossom Demon Lord was stunned!

"Oh!" Ling Lu swallowed the Spirit Peach in her mouth and explained, "Father said that whenever I see a beautiful female Cultivator, I must call her Auntie."

"By the way, Auntie, what is your name? Are you interested in marrying my father? Then we would be family."

"You are the most beautiful Auntie I have ever seen, even prettier than Aunt Yue Li. Father will definitely dote on you!"

"Who is Aunt Yue Li?" Peach Blossom Demon Lord asked.

"Aunt Yue Li is just Aunt Yue Li!" Ling Lu thought for a moment. "She is a Disciple of my father's Revered Master, with False Core cultivation. Her cultivation is even higher than my father's!"

Peach Blossom Demon Lord chatted with Ling Lu. As they talked, the Heart-Bewitching Gu inside her body activated, intending to directly view Ling Lu's memories regarding Liu Xuan through an illusion.

She was just a little girl at the early stage of Qi Refining. If not for the fear that Liu Xuan was truly the person behind the scenes, she wouldn't need to use the Heart-Bewitching Gu to forcibly search her soul.

"Hum!"

A phantom of a book manifested within Ling Lu's Divine Soul, blocking the illusion created by the Heart-Bewitching Gu. It could bewitch Ling Lu, but it could not directly view her memories.

"This is... a Spirit Treasure phantom!!"

"How is this possible?"

"Could Liu Xuan really be the person with the Divine Beast Bloodline behind the scenes!!"

A Spirit Treasure is a supreme treasure that only a Spirit Transformation Dao Lord can possess. Although it was only a phantom in Ling Lu's Divine Soul, it indicated that she had the support of a big shot at the level of a Spirit Transformation Dao Lord behind her.

"Is it Dao Lord Qing Xuan? Does he also want to secretly participate in the war between the Beast Taming Sect and the Demon Court?"

"No! Dao Lord Qing Xuan specializes in the Dao of the Sword and the Dao of Alchemy; it is impossible for him to have a book-type Spirit Treasure, nor could he have a Divine Beast Bloodline!"

"Auntie, what's wrong?"

Ling Lu was completely unaware of the methods Peach Blossom Demon Lord had employed, and seeing her dazed, she asked in confusion.

"It's nothing; I'm just a bit curious about your father. Can you tell me more about him?"

"Okay!"

The more Ling Lu looked at Peach Blossom Demon Lord, the more beautiful she found her. If she could trick her into going back to be her father's Dao Companion, she could solve her own crisis and also receive a reward from her father—killing two birds with one stone.

Ling Lu hung out with her older sister Ling Meng; although she looked dazed on the outside, she wasn't actually stupid.

...

Liu Family residence.

The news of Ling Lu's disappearance was quickly discovered by Ling Meng, who had gone to play with her. After sending people to search to no avail, she immediately went to find Ling Lu's mother, Yang Xiaoyun, to ask about the situation.

Yang Xiaoyun hurriedly went to find Ling Hui, who was in charge of affairs within the city, and asked her to use the power of the City Lord's Mansion to investigate the entire city.

The results came out quickly. Young Miss Ling Lu was not in the city and had truly gone missing. Judging from her movements before she disappeared, she had likely been kidnapped.

Liu Xuan had many children, and he placed great importance on them. Over the years, it was inevitable that desperate scoundrels would target them.

However, the Liu Family's protection for these Young Masters and Young Misses was extremely strong; ordinary Robber Cultivators could not possibly succeed.

Liu Xuan was refining pills in the Pill Refining Tower. Yang Xiaoyun wanted to wait until he finished refining before asking for his help, but Ling Meng couldn't wait. She flew directly to the Pill Refining Tower and told him the whole story.

"Father, you must save Little Sister Ling Lu as soon as possible!" Ling Meng, who had been clever and bright since she was young, immediately had red eyes, her expression full of worry and panic.

Among all the siblings, Ling Lu had the best relationship with her. Just thinking about Ling Lu suffering or even dying made her heart ache with every twitch.

Liu Xuan's Divine Thought moved to communicate with the spirit treasure genealogy, and seeing that Ling Lu's page was intact, he felt much more at ease.

The spirit treasure genealogy not only had the function of checking the status of clan members, but it could also directly locate them through their Divine Soul connection.

Activating the genealogy with his Divine Thought, Liu Xuan used himself as the origin point and calculated the current location of his daughter, Ling Lu, through the genealogy's positioning.

Upon calculating this, he was dumbfounded. Ling Lu had run off to a place one hundred thousand li away. Based on the Peach Blossom Sect map he had seen, this girl's current location was... the heart of the Peach Blossom Sect.

"Father, don't just stand there! Tell me quickly where Little Sister Ling Lu is, and send people to save her!"

"Ling Lu is fine, don't worry!" Liu Xuan came to his senses and first comforted his daughter, Ling Meng. "This matter is quite complicated. Go back and tell Aunt Xiaoyun not to worry; Father will personally send people to save her."

Ling Meng was still worried, but Liu Xuan's prestige was extremely high. Since he had spoken, no one dared to say more.

"Understood!"

"Father, you must save Little Sister Ling Lu and bring her back as soon as possible!"

Liu Xuan waved his hand and gave her a reassuring smile.

After his daughter Ling Meng left, Liu Xuan's expression suddenly became serious. 'Why did the Peach Blossom Sect take my daughter?'

Ling Meng had been missing for less than two days. To be able to cross the battlefield front lines and bring someone to the heart of the Peach Blossom Sect one hundred thousand li away in such a short time was something a Foundation Establishment Cultivator could not do; at least a Golden Core True Person would have to take action personally.

"Kidnapping and extortion?"

"If it's kidnapping and extortion, why take her so far away? If a Golden Core True Person is taking action, why kidnap this girl Ling Lu? Wouldn't it be better to kidnap sons like Fourth Brother Dao Cheng or Ninth Son Daozhen?"

Unable to figure out the reason, Liu Xuan put it aside for the moment. The most important thing now was how to save his daughter.

Although this girl Ling Lu loved to cry, she was obedient and sensible, and Liu Xuan usually doted on her especially. Moreover, she had a sixth-grade Spiritual Root and had recently broken through to the sixth layer of Qi Refining, ranking just behind the first tier among all his children. It was impossible for Liu Xuan to easily give up on saving her.

After pondering for a moment, Liu Xuan already had a strategy in mind. He sank a portion of his mind deep into his Sea of Consciousness to communicate with a point of Divine Soul imprint within it.

At the same time, one hundred thousand li away, in the Yulan Hall of the Peach Blossom Sect, Immortal Master Gu Sha, who was in seclusion and meditating, opened his eyes. His gaze was slightly different from before.