Yu Qing thought about it and agreed. They were all people who did not care about worldly opinions. For example, that shepherd would never be part of a group with others.
He did not know why such a thought had flashed through his mind. Upon rational reflection, he realised he had indeed been overthinking.
Nan Zhu added another sentence, “By the way, the Third Master said, with so many guests arriving, there will be a banquet tonight to entertain them grandly, and we are invited too. He said the First Master, who is in closed door cultivation, might also make an appearance.”
Yu Qing glanced at Qiao Qie’er, “In that case, later on Old Nine and I will go handle some matters. If we can return in time, we will attend together. If not, you two go.”
Qiao Qie’er and Nan Zhu exchanged a glance, both utterly puzzled.
Nan Zhu asked suspiciously, “What are you going to do?”
Yu Qing was silent for a moment, then said slowly, “I want to try and see if I can find that man in black from last night.”
Nan Zhu was taken aback, “Why are you looking for him?”
Yu Qing: “I want to know whether that youth killed last night was murdered by him.”
Nan Zhu slumped his shoulders and sighed, “Ah, the person is already dead. Does it matter who killed him?” He stopped just short of saying it was none of their business.
Yu Qing said firmly, “It matters very much. Why was it not someone else killed, but precisely that youth who had contact with us? If it really was the man in black from last night, I want to know why he chose to target that youth. If it was not the man in black, why is Rift Valley Villa saying it was him?”
Nan Zhu asked in shock and suspicion, “You suspect Rift Valley Villa is lying? What would be the point of using the life of one of their own clan members, and a youth at that, to tell a lie?”
Yu Qing: “Just now, I thought the same. The fact that it was one of their own clan members basically represented the truth of the matter. But looking back, I keep feeling something is slightly off, so it is necessary to find that man in black to confirm.”
Nan Zhu rolled his eyes directly, “Completely unnecessary. Even if you confirm who it was, what then? Do you still want to avenge that youth?”
He was somewhat afraid of this Old Fifteen’s impulsive tendencies in certain respects. The first time Old Fifteen drew his sword to attack Yun Xi, he had nearly scared Nan Zhu to death. Clearly Yun Xi was stronger, and clearly they had used every means to make Yun Xi believe they were all on the same side, yet who knew that when this Old Fifteen’s hot blood rushed to his head, shouting the slogan “Born as a human being,” he would just go and do it, completely reckless and heedless. It would have been hard not to be frightened.
Yu Qing: “Do you not think that man in black might know a great deal about matters concerning Rift Valley Villa?”
“Uh…” Nan Zhu was slightly startled. Thinking about it, if one spoke like that, judging from the man in black’s words of persuasion, there did seem to be this possibility, and the likelihood seemed quite high. He hesitated and said, “You mean…”
Yu Qing: “The true key to Rift Valley Villa probably lies within this mountain. On the surface it appears relaxed, but in fact the mountain passages are guarded layer upon layer, the defences are tight, and it is impossible to reach the interior. Relying on just the few of us to figure out the situation inside would probably be very difficult. Since that is the case, we might as well change direction and approach from a different angle.”
Nan Zhu suddenly saw the light. He understood. Starting from the man in black’s side to gather information might actually be simpler. The man in black had become their lead.
Qiao Qie’er lowered her head slightly, her lips pressing together tightly.
“That may be so, but where do we find that man in black?”
Nan Zhu shook his head again and sighed.
Yu Qing: “Others may not be able to find him, but that does not mean I cannot. Since this place is a clan, incense for ancestral worship should not be lacking. Help me get some.”
Incense again? Nan Zhu roughly understood what he intended to do. That ghostly trickery made him somewhat speechless. After a brief silence, he said, “If that is the case, we might as well go together. More hands make light work.”
“We need to go into the tunnels, pitch black places. Too many people would only create confusion. Having Old Nine to watch my back is enough. The clan emblem itself indicates that this Rift Valley Villa must be hiding something. You stay here and observe the situation.”
Meanwhile, in a stone chamber built somewhat like a temple, the lights were blazing. In the position of the shrine was a statue of a man.
An old man with long hair draped over his shoulders and a golden circlet on his head, with white hair and a youthful complexion, held an oil pot in his hand and added oil to the lamps on row after row of lamp stands, his expression indifferent. This person was none other than Wu Dao, the First Master of Rift Valley Villa.
The Second Master Wu Xieshan, with white hair and dark whiskers, stern and unsmiling, was also present.
The Third Master Wu Heyun was relating to the two of them the circumstances of the three groups of guests.
“Ning Chaoyi…” Wu Xieshan muttered to himself, then asked, “Outside there are also markets for our Rift Valley Villa’s fine grape wine. Why run all the way here to buy it?”
Wu Heyun: “They said they were just passing through and came by conveniently. What could I do, drive them away?”
Wu Xieshan: “I am not saying you should not have received them. Did you not sense something amiss? The seasonal trading period has not yet arrived. Normally at this time, apart from regular merchants with fixed sales routes, few people come. These past two days have been remarkable. Yesterday a group came to exterminate demons on their way through, and today three groups came to buy wine. Compared to normal, are people not arriving rather too concentrated and frequent this time?”
Wu Heyun: “Of course I know. But again, can I drive people away? Our villa’s thousands of years of custom is thus, treat guests with courtesy. Even if we suffer some slight, it does not matter. In short, as long as guests can part on good terms, we do not make enemies. For ordinary matters, bowing one’s head and yielding a step is acceptable. We try our utmost to avoid bringing external trouble upon ourselves.”
The First Master Wu Dao, who had his back to the two as he slowly added oil, spoke up, “No one is saying you did wrong. This custom must continue to be observed. Do not bring entangled grievances upon the villa. It is easy for complications to arise, and that would produce unpredictable consequences. But the situation is indeed abnormal. We hope no disturbances arise. Keep a close watch.”
Wu Heyun gave an affirmative sound, “I know.”
…
A knock sounded. Yu Qing opened the door and saw it was Nan Zhu, so he let him in.
Inside, Mu Aotie had already arrived and was waiting. Yu Qing had already told him the specific situation.
Nan Zhu walked into the room and handed over a bundle of incense he was holding. Yu Qing took it and stuffed it directly into his sleeve.
Qiao Qie’er’s bright eyes flickered, not knowing what the incense was for.
Yu Qing tilted his head to signal to Mu Aotie, “Let’s go.”
Nan Zhu reached out to stop him and reminded him, “Should we not inform Wu An?”
Yu Qing: “If we inform him, he will definitely follow. Leave him for now. If he asks later, just deal with it. Say we went to search for demon traces. We came to exterminate demons, we cannot just sit here doing nothing, can we?”
“Alright.” Nan Zhu sighed.
So the three men went out. Yu Qing and Mu Aotie left directly. The two went down the steps all the way to the bottom.
Exiting the mountain, Yu Qing looked around to get his bearings, then led Mu Aotie in the direction where the man in black had disappeared. That was the downstream direction of the water flow. He remembered that the child with golden blood had also gone downstream underground.
It might not necessarily mean anything, but he still treated it as the priority direction to track.
The two quickly entered the grape fields. Along the way they occasionally encountered Wu clan members working between the ridges.
After travelling through the fields for a while, Mu Aotie, who was responsible for keeping watch behind them, suddenly warned, “Wu An is coming.”
Yu Qing looked back and saw that Wu An was indeed flying towards them. It seemed their departure from the group had been discovered, but that was normal and expected. He did not linger to wait, pretended not to see, and directly darted into a nearby pit hole. Mu Aotie followed and jumped down.
“Take the water route, leave no traces.”
Having spoken, Yu Qing was already treading on waves and moving swiftly across the water.
For Mu Aotie, whose cultivation was similarly at the Profound Breaking realm, achieving this level of wave treading was not difficult. He ran closely behind.
The two turned here and there in the hidden channels for a while. Only after confirming they could no longer be easily tracked did they go ashore. At this point, Yu Qing finally pulled out a stick of incense under a shaft of light cast by a pit opening and lit it. At an underground intersection where four directions crossed, he stared at the burning smoke and observed quietly.
Mu Aotie watched him in great puzzlement. After hesitating for a long while, he finally could not help but ask, “Can you really ask the gods to show the way?”
Yu Qing said casually, “Guess for yourself.”
Mu Aotie was speechless.
Yu Qing observed for quite a while but discovered nothing unusual. Seeing that he could not find a clue for the moment, he finally just took Mu Aotie straight to the furthest downstream point.
After shuttling underground for a good while, until no light spots could be seen at the end, Yu Qing finally tried to poke his head out of the nearest pit opening to look around. He discovered they had indeed reached the end of the grape fields.
He looked around, dropped back from the opening, and looked towards the pitch black ahead, not knowing where the water channel that continued forward led.
He took out a glowstone for light, stared at the smoke from the incense in his hand for a while, and muttered to himself, “It’s ventilated…” Then he continued forward.
Mu Aotie also took out a glowstone and followed behind. Faced with darkness, his vigilance naturally arose. He slowly drew his sword with one hand and followed cautiously on guard.
They had not gone far when the two discovered that signs of artificial excavation in the underground hidden channels were becoming fewer and fewer. Finally the passages on both sides disappeared completely. To continue forward, they could only wade through water.
Having come this far, they naturally would not stop easily. The two once again treaded on waves.
The babbling stream flowed cheerfully all the way, and the terrain also sloped gradually downward. At the end they discovered the sound of rushing water had grown louder. The stream at this point suddenly dropped sharply in elevation and split into three, flowing in three directions.
Beneath the drop, no one knew how deep it was. It seemed bottomless. At least with the light from the glowstones in their hands, they could not see the bottom. Moreover, the space of the three outflows was not large. They all seemed like underground fissures. The smallest fissure required a person to turn sideways to squeeze down.
The two martial brothers listened carefully to the sound of water crashing down, trying to estimate the approximate height of the drop. However, it was no use. Below there should be layer upon layer of protrusions washed by the water. With their hearing ability, it was difficult to figure out.
Yu Qing also threw away the lit incense in his hand. The airflow below sucked the smoke away. He could not observe anything using the smoke either.
Seeing Yu Qing walk towards the largest underground gap in the middle and slowly draw his sword, Mu Aotie saw that he did not intend to give up. He immediately flashed over and said, “Let me go down first to take a look.”
Before Yu Qing could say anything, he directly jumped down.
Yu Qing did not hesitate either, and jumped down after him.
The figures of the two martial brothers holding glowstones, one above the other, were in mid air. Relying on their cultivation, they feared no high cliff. Their descent was not fast. Behind them was the scene of water rushing against the cliff face. The protrusions that occasionally jutted from the cliff face in the dim light and shadow seemed like lurking ferocious demon beasts, as if peering at them from behind the flowing water.