Chapter 230: Nowhere to Be Found

Chapter 230: Nowhere to Be Found

What would happen to Cuowenbu next and the subsequent changes that would occur within the Daoist Order as a result would have nothing to do with Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu ran along the coastline of Cuowenbu with the aid of the Jiamas and came to the east side of Cuowenbu.

Since Cuowenbu spanned a large area, the east and west of Cuowenbu were almost two different worlds. The west of Cuowenbu was the vast, barren West Gobi. However, the east of Cuowenbu was an oasis, known as the Eastern Oasis.

It was no wonder that White Jade Hall chose to hide out here. In terms of environment, the Eastern Oasis was certainly much better than the West Gobi. After all, the secret society members were not ascetics, so they would hope for better living conditions.

Following the map given by the Innkeeper, Qi Xuansu ran for several kilometers until he found a small river in the southwest of the Eastern Oasis. He traced its source upstream and walked for several more kilometers to find that the creek had disappeared into an underground river.

Thus, Qi Xuansu had no choice but to dive into the water. The rock formation was about 60 centimeters above the water’s surface, so Qi Xuansu had to swim forward until the river water reappeared above ground. Since water naturally flowed to places with lower terrain, Qi Xuansu figured that the elevation here was lower than where he was before.

Qi Xuansu emerged from the water and saw mountains all around. He looked up and saw only a thin slit of blue sky through the mountain peaks. The scenery was peaceful, with green mountains and blue waters. But there was an eerie silence all around, hinting at danger.

He could not help but secretly admire White Jade Hall’s ingenious thinking. This gap within the mountains was so narrow that even if a Heavenly Being were to fly overhead, it would be difficult to spot this hidden sanctuary. One would need to be actively looking to be able to discover this place.

Qi Xuansu walked out of the river. Fortunately, the cash notes, mother-child talismans, and the Divine Dragon Pistol were all waterproof. He only had to channel his qi to steam-dry his clothes. Then he continued walking along the riverbank for several kilometers before coming to a green valley full of flowers. This place was surrounded by mountains, so it was protected from the cold draft, making it an ideal place to spend the winter months.

There was a small village not far from the entrance, consisting of about a dozen houses of various sizes gathered together. There were no fences between the houses, and there were fields and mulberry orchards around. It truly was an idyllic setting.

Qi Xuansu followed a path into the village and found that the place was deserted, without a single person in sight. He went into a house to check for traces of habitation. The firepot was no longer warm, and there was no visible dust buildup, indicating that the people who lived here had left for not more than a few weeks.

He roughly calculated the time. It took him about a day to return from the reclaimed land to The Inn; another day to get from The Inn to Cuowenbu; three more days to get from the West Gobi to the Eastern Oasis of Cuowenbu; and less than a day to get to this hidden valley. Six days had passed since then.

It seemed that White Jade Hall had evacuated during this period.

Qi Xuansu walked through the empty village and came to the other side.

There was a huge manor here, which did not look like the local buildings in Yongzhou. Instead, there were obvious elements of the Imperial Capital’s architecture. It resembled the various summer gardens built by the Imperial Capital’s dignitaries outside the Imperial Capital, such as the famous Yuqing Garden.

The content of the letter was simple. It roughly explained the reason they had to leave this hideout, which was the Daoist Order. It even described the Daoist Order as a schizophrenic giant whose actions were uncoordinated due to having multiple personalities.

Although this giant’s limbs often fought each other, sometimes even slapping itself in the face and allowing pests to gnaw at it, it was still a strong giant in its prime. It was unstoppable when it drew its sword.

The Daoist Order was plagued with fierce internal fighting, but once they reached a consensus on something, they were ruthless and unrelenting. In a short time, the Daoist Order would sweep their sword across the entire Cuowenbu. Thus, it would be difficult for members of White Jade Hall to continue residing here. This was the reason they left.

However, the owner of this place would still keep his word to Madam Qi and pay off his debt owed. The letter was signed off by Mountain Ghost.

This was unexpected, but reasonable. Since White Jade Hall was a council made of multiple secret societies, the existence of Qingping Society members was expected. Qi Xuansu figured that Mountain Ghost and Madam Qi were both representatives of the Qingping Society in White Jade Hall. But for some reason, Madam Qi left and had no plans on returning any time soon.

As for the relationship between Mountain Ghost and Madam Qi, it seemed that they were former colleagues, or perhaps Mountain Ghost had taken over Madam Qi’s position in White Jade Hall.

Qi Xuansu read the letter again, not finding any obvious submissive tones in Mountain Ghost’s word choices, so he should be on the same level as Madam Qi. Madam Qi was a B-rank member of the Qingping Society, so Mountain Ghost was probably also a B-rank member.

That was all he could gather from the letter.

Qi Xuansu read the letter twice more and even tried to put it over a flame and soak it in water to make sure there was no hidden message. But to his disappointment, that was all there was to the letter.

Mountain Ghost only mentioned repaying the debt but did not go into details about said debt.

Qi Xuansu thought, So... How is he planning to repay the debt? What even is the debt? Where should I collect the payment?!

“Ugh! I hate how mysterious he’s being!” Qi Xuansu cursed under his breath and put down the paperweight he had been holding.

Wait...

Qi Xuansu suddenly widened his eyes, feeling a sense of déjà vu.

1. Traditional Chinese must-have stationery items include brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone.☜