Wait a minute, where is my master?

Jin Xu looked at the scenery of the northern lands beyond the sphere, clearly feeling the Husky beside him becoming slightly excited.

"Temple master, temple master, another hundred yards ahead and we'll be in the Snow Wolf Clan's territory!"

"Once we get to the tribe, I'll treat you to some cod... oh, I forgot Little Yu doesn't eat fish.

"But that's okay, apart from fish, we also have snow rabbits, snow foxes, snow bears, and the like in the Extreme North.

"If it really comes down to it, I can take you to the neighboring Golden Lion Clan. I know where the clan leader keeps his private stash of food in his little vault.

"Um, that is if he hasn't changed its location."

Little White obviously became more talkative, pacing back and forth in the narrow Golden Spiritual Power Shield, both excited and agitated.

One moment he talked about taking the two for delicious food, the next about introducing his parents, playmates, and the Great Elder who personally sent him to the Nine Provinces Realm.

Seeing this, Jin Xu exchanged a glance with Yu Yaoer, the corners of their mouths lifting slightly.

A hundred yards wasn't much distance for a Taoist's Escape Technique, so the Husky didn't stay excited for long inside the Golden Spiritual Power Shield before the three of them arrived.

The Taoist manipulated the Golden Spiritual Power Ball to land on the ground, and as the golden light dissipated in an instant,

the Husky at his side sneezed from the suddenly colder air, then let out a long howl to the sky and revealed its true form.

It began to run swiftly across the thick layer of snow.

"No wonder Huskies have a nickname called 'throw-hands-away'..."

Watching Little White quickly become a small dot in the distance, Jin Xu couldn't help but mutter internally, although he knew the Husky wouldn't get lost.

But before he and Yu Yaoer had walked much further, the Taoist found the Husky rushing back towards them at an even faster pace.

"Little White, what..."

Jin Xu was about to ask what was wrong when he and Yu Yaoer were suddenly buried by a thick layer of snow kicked up by the Husky's abrupt stop.

"...Ptooey, ptooey, Little White, why did you run back?"

The Taoist activated his Spiritual Power to brush off the snow around him, spitting out the snow he had swallowed while reaching out to pull Yu Yaoer, who was still stuck in the snow, to his side.

Little Fish Demon seemed not to be very cold-resistant, as she was covered by the thick snow and struggled momentarily without breaking free.

"Temple master, it seems like all the tribespeople in our territory have disappeared!"

A hint of panic showed humanly on Little White's massive wolf face.

"What?"

Jin Xu instinctively turned to look at him, releasing the hold on Yu Yaoer he had.

Little Yu uttered a cry of surprise and fell back into the snowpit.

"I just charged to the entrance of the tribal gate and realized that unlike usual, there were no guards, which felt wrong.

"So I immediately rushed in and circled around, but I found the nearby houses empty and no one answered my shouts. I thought the situation was eerie, and I remembered what you always teach us about not standing under a wall in danger, so I hurried back."

The giant Husky said this while digging Yu Yaoer out of the snow pile with its paws.

"Yes, you did the right thing."

Jin Xu thought to himself that the teachings he gave the two girls seemed to have paid off to some extent.

He then had a thought and spread his Spiritual Sense in the direction Little White had run back from.

Moments later, he frowned slightly.

Little White's guess was correct; after a brief scan with his Spiritual Sense, he found that the vast territory belonging to the Snow Wolf Clan was indeed deserted, without a single wolf in sight.

"Temple Master?"

Having placed Yu Yaoer on his thick fur to warm up, Shiqi looked at the little Taoist with a somewhat worried expression.

"After a brief inspection, there truly are no signs of your clan members around this area. However, I didn't detect anything strange or dangerous either.

"Let's go, we'll enter and see if we can find any clues."

After speaking, the little Taoist lightly tapped the ground with his toes and jumped onto Little White's back, then asked with some curiosity.

"Speaking of which, Little White, didn't you notice that the scent in your clan's territory was a bit off before?"

After all, the change in odor intensity should be quite noticeable whether or not there are Snow Wolves living in an area.

"The scent was a bit faint, but I thought it was because I hadn't returned for so long and my nose couldn't handle the cold climate.

"Also, I was a bit excited about coming home, so I subconsciously ignored it."

As they conversed, Little White had already stepped through the clan's grand gate.

Jin Xu turned his head to look around and noticed that the area was basically filled with neatly arranged dome-shaped ice houses.

"The scent is just slightly faint, so it seems that your clan members must have disappeared not too long ago. Otherwise, in this cold weather, the scent would have likely completely dissipated by now.

"You two stay here; I'll go inside and have a look."

With that, he leapt from Little White's back and randomly entered one of the ice houses.

After a few moments, the little Taoist emerged and entered another ice house.

In this manner, he checked around seven or eight houses before returning to the two women's side with a puzzled expression.

"I've checked everything inside the houses, and they're all quite similar, nothing unusual. Moreover, there are no signs of struggle.

"Little White, do you have something like a Communication Jade Token, something you can use to contact your people?"

Shiqi shook his head in silence.

When she stepped into the Nine Provinces Realm, other than the fish she was gnawing on at that time and the beast skin clothes she wore, she didn't bring any possessions.

"Hmm... In that case, let's go take a look at your father's dwelling and the most important places in your clan to see if we can find any clues.

"Based on the current signs my Spiritual Sense has investigated, it appears your clan members left voluntarily and haven't encountered any danger."

The little Taoist patted Shiqi's paw and comforted him with a few words.

Yu Yaoer, who had recovered quite a bit from the cold while on his back, also said,

"Little White, don't worry. Even if something is wrong with your clan members, now that the young master is here, they'll be alright."

Perhaps comforted by one of them, the human-like worry on Little White's face lessened slightly. She bowed to signal Jin Xu to hop on, then led the two towards the depths of the clan's territory.

An hour later.

Under the huge platform from which Little White had originally been fished away, Jin Xu, with a puzzled look, stroked his chin in silent thought.

The trio had visited every place within the Snow Wolf Clan's territory, both important and unimportant.

Yet they hadn't found a single clue, nor any sign of battle.

According to Little White, although their clan was not large in number, there were still about ten to eighteen thousand of them.

Surely so many Snow Wolves couldn't just vanish into thin air, right?

"Little White, shall we ask around the nearby tribes?"

After pondering for a short while, Jin Xu suddenly looked up and made the suggestion.