CSMCDB - Chapter 171
Chapter 171
Due to the disappearance case, Wen Yuncheng and Lin Jinyu temporarily took up residence in the small town. Since she wasn't marking any more dragons, Wen Yuncheng's monitors were now free. She went from door to door asking about the disappearances and placed monitors on three families who were planning to move out of town.
After all, the townspeople were already starting to panic. If Fu didn't want to expose too much, they would likely choose to target families who already intended to leave. That way, even if those families disappeared, it would be difficult for the Empire to find anything suspicious.
Of course, Wen Yuncheng was just trying her luck; her resources were limited. If there were no limit to the number of monitors, she would have definitely placed one on every single household. As long as Fu dared to make a move in this town, she would absolutely know.
To keep a low profile and avoid attracting attention, Wen Yuncheng deliberately used Illusion Dream to disguise her cultivation as a third-layer Star Apostle. With her youthful face, disguising herself at this level wouldn't arouse much suspicion. As for Lin Jinyu, although she didn't have a spirit treasure to conceal her rank, she intentionally masked it, making it difficult for others to probe her specific level.
“When we get back to the Imperial Capital, I'll see if I can use those dragon corpses to get you some spirit treasures. Ones that can conceal your rank, hide your aura…” Wen Yuncheng calculated the value of the dragon corpses in her storage ring. Back then, even a tiny bit of dragon blood was treated as an incredible treasure. But now, times had changed!
Of course, to others, dragon corpses were still extremely precious. After all, for cultivators of the same rank, let alone defeating a dragon, even catching up to one was difficult. Unfortunately for the dragons, the one targeting them was Wen Yuncheng, who had monitors.
Looking at the dragon corpses in her ring, Wen Yuncheng suddenly thought of the Green Flood Dragon King and the Dragon Ape King in the Demonic Beast Great Forest. If she used these as bait, could those two sovereigns be persuaded to betray their allies again?
[The Dragon Race has secret realms and an ancestral burial ground.] 1947 bluntly shattered Wen Yuncheng's fantasy. [If the Green Flood Dragon King has any ambition, he'd be hoping to enter the Dragon Race's ancestral burial ground to undergo a complete transformation, recast his draconic body, break through his bloodline limitations, and step into the ranks of the Star Emperors in one fell swoop.]
Wen Yuncheng: …What about the Dragon Ape King?
[As for the Dragon Ape lineage, it's impossible for them to become dragons; the gap is too wide. However, if they were to gain something from the Dragon Race's secret realm… they could also break through their limits. To these demonic beasts, nothing is more important than strength. If you could slay the Dragon King and take control of Dragon Island, or if you possessed some heaven-defying treasure that could grant them a complete rebirth, they would pledge their loyalty to you.]
Wen Yuncheng rolled her eyes. If she could slay the Dragon King, why would she even care about the Green Flood Dragon King or the Dragon Ape King? With that kind of power, wouldn't it be better to just focus on her little machines? Not bothering to waste any more words on 1947, Wen Yuncheng silently made a note of the things she needed to prepare for her Little Ice Mountain. Once she returned to the Imperial Capital, she would go look in the treasury.
Hmm, after blowing up three fortresses, asking for a Heaven-rank spirit treasure shouldn't be too much, right? Wen Yuncheng was currently decked out in Profound-rank gear, which clearly didn't match her status anymore. It would be great if she could get two Heaven-rank spirit treasures; she also wanted to snag a Heaven-rank sword for Lin Jinyu.
…She wondered if the imperial treasury even had that many treasures. Publicly, they might not, but they probably had some in private. She could ask the First Princess then… Speaking of which, the more she thought about it, the more it seemed like Wei Qingyu was the Empire's next successor. No matter what happened in the Empire, the First Princess always seemed to be the one assisting with matters. The Third Prince was a complete waste, not even worth mentioning, and the Second Prince's presence was frighteningly low. The other princes and princesses hadn't accomplished anything significant either. Only the First Princess had the experience, the merits, and the strategic mind…
Hmm, the First Princess was held in such high regard now, and she herself had contributed to that, right? Asking for two Heaven-rank spirit treasures wasn't excessive, was it? With that thought, Wen Yuncheng made up her mind.
In the Imperial Capital, the First Princess, who had just begun dispatching people to gather data on population movements in various towns, suddenly sneezed, and her right eyelid began to twitch uncontrollably.
“Your Highness? You should rest,” Zero requested, materializing from within the First Princess's shadow.
“It's nothing. I'll rest after I've reviewed the summary.” Wei Qingyu waved her hand and gave a self-deprecating smile. “My cultivation hasn't progressed, and I'm getting older, after all.”
“Your Highness is still young. As for your cultivation, it's only because you've been too busy to find the time…”
“Enough. I don't care about such things. If you want me to rest sooner, come help me finish reading this report. …First, go summon the other shadow guards.” Wei Qingyu thought about what Wen Yuncheng had told her. With keywords like “the Fu organization” and “blood sacrifice,” it was impossible for her not to take it seriously. Unfortunately, the higher-ups were currently overwhelmed by the Huanling threat, so internal affairs weren't being given much attention. In any case, she had plenty of free time, so she might as well take charge of this matter and handle it properly.
She had raised so many shadow guards, yet she'd never had them carry out any assassinations. Now, they were being called upon to help compile data. It was truly… oddly amusing.
Lin Jinyu and Wen Yuncheng waited in the small town for a week. One of the three families Wen Yuncheng was monitoring left first. Wen Yuncheng carefully watched their movements and saw that they entered another city safely, without being kidnapped or anything of the sort. So, she removed the monitor and placed it on a different household.
“Seriously, were we exposed? Is Fu not going to make a move on this town?” Wen Yuncheng paced back and forth in the room, agitated. Although she had spent the week assembling machines and Lin Jinyu had been cultivating as usual, so the time wasn't wasted, a whole week passing with no news was just too frustrating. If she'd been out dragon-slaying, she could have killed at least one by now.
“Perhaps it's just a coincidence. Do you want to go check other towns?” Now that they were both Star Kings, they could travel quickly without a Gugu Bird. If Wen Yuncheng wanted to check the situation in another town, they could just fly through the night.
“Ah.” Wen Yuncheng finally stopped pacing and sat down on the edge of the bed. “But I'm afraid that if we leave, Fu will make a move here.”
“We'll wait a few more days.” Sensing Wen Yuncheng's hesitation, Lin Jinyu made the decision for her.
The next day, Wen Yuncheng received a communication from the First Princess. The towns near the Imperial Capital had indeed seen an influx of residents, but even including those who hadn't registered their move and were considered “drifters,” the total number was less than half of the residents who had left the various remote towns.
In other words, a significant number of residents had indeed gone missing.
On the evening she received the news, Wen Yuncheng discovered that the location of one of the households suddenly began to move at high speed! “They're here! They've finally made a move!” Wen Yuncheng was ecstatic, but the three Apostles sitting beside her calmly continued assembling machinery, seemingly accustomed to her sudden outbursts.
“…Stop assembling.” Wen Yuncheng sighed and packed up the parts, putting them into her storage ring as she spoke to Lin Jinyu. “Jinyu, once their position stabilizes, we'll go check it out directly. You wait outside while I go in disguised to scout the place. If there are no Star Emperor-level enemies, we'll make our move. It would be best to capture a few prisoners.”
As she spoke, Wen Yuncheng hesitated again. What if the residents were only being held temporarily and the blood sacrifice hadn't started yet? Should she wait longer, or should she rely on her monitors to mark the higher-ranked individuals there? Never mind, she'd scout the place first and assess the situation.
Once the location stabilized and stopped moving, Wen Yuncheng took out a map and marked it. Then she took out a display screen and saw that the family seemed to be locked in a dim dungeon, surrounded by many others who were also imprisoned.
Recalling her three Apostles, Wen Yuncheng summoned her Floating Magnetic Disk and rushed toward the location with Lin Jinyu.
The marked location was an abandoned village. Wen Yuncheng stopped outside. Lin Jinyu surveyed the surroundings and instructed her, “No matter the situation, come back before your disguise wears off.”
“I know!” Wen Yuncheng left her three Apostles behind, then activated her camouflage skill and slipped inside.
The houses in the village were dilapidated and covered in cobwebs. There wasn't a single trace of human life. Choosing a place like this as a base… was quite secretive.
Following the monitor's signal, Wen Yuncheng arrived at an empty space inside a house. The marker was right beneath her feet. It seemed she would have to find a hidden mechanism or a secret room…
[It's in the house.] 1947 scanned the area and gave a direct answer. [Look at the dust! There's obviously less dust in this room!]
“…” Wen Yuncheng said nothing. She really hadn't noticed any difference.
With 1947's guidance, Wen Yuncheng quickly found the so-called “secret passage.” Its design was extremely simple, without even a formation array. Perhaps this was the ultimate form of discretion? After all, if there were a formation, unless it was exceptionally exquisite, a passing Star Emperor might notice something amiss. Wen Yuncheng's mind wandered as she descended the secret passage. The first section of the path was completely dark. She proceeded cautiously until she reached the bottom, where she finally saw the faint light of a candle.
Wen Yuncheng: This place… the design is so retro.
Wen Yuncheng quickly scouted the entire underground base. There was only one Star King guarding the place, but the various dungeons were filled with people. A few Star Lord-level Fu members stood guard at the dungeon entrances, their expressions uneasy as they drank wine. “How many batches have we caught already? Is it still not enough?”
“With so many people disappearing, the Empire is bound to notice something's wrong. A lot of our bases have suddenly vanished. I'm really afraid we'll be next…”
“Sigh, I wonder when Star Venerate Yi will come again. This dungeon is almost full. The next handover shouldn't be far off, right?”
“The lord probably knows… We just need to obediently guard these people.”
“I wonder if gods really exist in this world, with us doing this whole blood sacrifice business…”
“Shut up! Do you have a death wish?!”
A Star Venerate? A handover?
Wen Yuncheng stroked her chin. If she wanted to find the location of the blood sacrifice, she would have to mark that Star Venerate. In that case, she obviously couldn't rescue these residents now. Acting now would only alert the enemy.
But, if she waited to find the blood sacrifice location, what if she arrived too late?
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