Wait a minute, where is my master?

In the illusion realm.

The Old Dean had already used all sorts of torture methods, yet this little Taoist he "captured" only admitted that his master's disappearance was related to him and refused to reveal where he had hidden the Tianxing Taoist.

"Hiss, this thief's mouth is really tough. If the 'Truth-Telling Skill' were not ineffective on this little Taoist, I..."

As the Old Dean was thinking, he suddenly felt the scene before his eyes become blurry and then it started to shatter.

It was actually quite normal that he couldn't get results from the interrogation in the illusion realm, for illusions derive from the memories and heart realm of the person under the spell.

After many practices, Jin Xu could only slightly guide what the person saw, and could not fabricate the results of things out of thin air.

In reality.

The scholar with the pale face suddenly opened his eyes and looked around. First, he was stunned, then he sprung up and flew backward.

He realized that he had unwittingly fallen under the spell of an illusion technique.

After all, in reality, he came here only intending to probe around a bit. Those killing arrays and methods he had just hallucinated hadn't been set up by him at all!

"When did you make your move?"

The pale-faced scholar who was also the Old Dean had a look of uncertainty on his face, and his body involuntarily trembled.

Well, this time he was scared.

For him, a Confucian practitioner at the top of Crossing Tribulation realm, to fall into an illusion unknowingly and also ignore so many illogical behaviors, the means of this eerie little Taoist had exceeded his imagination.

"Could this person not be from the Nine Provinces Realm, but instead a descendent from the Immortal Realm?"

This idea uncontrollably popped up in the mind of the Old Dean of Qingmu Academy.

"Firstly, my master's disappearance has nothing to do with me; I'm also looking for him. Secondly, I did not mean any offense. When I visited you at Qingmu Academy, you tried to 'kill' me without saying a word, which is why I just used an illusion to test you."

Jin Xu put down the chopsticks in his hand and greeted the astonished pale-faced scholar with a bow, choosing to be upfront. The other party's performance in the illusion could not be faked, and it seemed that the relationship between the other party and his master was indeed very good.

Moreover, the little Taoist now had the upper hand facing the Old Dean—those who fell for his illusion so easily were likely unable to beat him.

He no longer had to worry about the other party suddenly attacking him, putting his life at risk.

The Old Dean, who had retreated to the corner of the private room, was initially startled by Jin Xu's words, then his whole body began to tremor in an odd way.

His real body was stimulated by the little Taoist's words, and he coughed violently.

"You tried to 'kill' me without saying a word when we first met???

"And even if my Xuanhuang Mud Doll was seen through, how does this little Taoist know who my real body is?"

The pale-faced scholar naturally did not know that Jin Xu had learned the unique 'Dongxuan Spirit Vision' of the Great Xia dynasty, and of course, even if he knew, he would still choose to meet using his mud doll identity.

Because the real 'Dongxuan Spirit Vision' should not be able to see through a Xuanhuang Mud Doll.

"Cough, you've recognized me?"

"Yes."

"My master's disappearance really has nothing to do with you?"

"Yes."

"I..."

The Old Dean didn't quite know what to say; he came here full of confidence with his Mud Doll identity to express concern for his old friend and take the risk of probing for information.

But he found himself caught in someone's illusion from the start, and then his true identity was recognized by the person. Everything was unfolding completely differently from what he had imagined.

How could he probe for information now—no, the Old Dean now felt it was awkward even to be here.

The private room fell silent for a time, and the atmosphere turned strange.

Chef Jiang sat to the side, completely befuddled. He sensed that the two of them must have had interactions in the past, but what exactly had transpired was beyond his understanding.

Fortunately, before the atmosphere could become even more bizarre, Shopkeeper Sun entered with a server to bring in the hot dishes.

"Distinguished guests, your dishes have arrived. Oh, Mr. Yan, you're admiring the painting?"

On the wall to the left of the scholar with the pale face hung a painting, the work of a famous artist.

Upon entering and seeing the other standing in that corner, Shopkeeper Sun naturally assumed that he was looking at the painting.

"Ah, yes, indeed, admiring the painting, admiring the painting…"

The scholar, impersonating the Old Dean, naturally shifted his gaze to that painting and found it to be a bamboo, signed by one of the "Three Friends of Winter"—Zhu Chuanren.

Shopkeeper Sun politely had the server set the hot dishes on the table and offered a brief introduction to the painting's provenance to the scholar before leaving with an apologetic smile.

This little interlude shifted the room's atmosphere back to normalcy.

The Old Dean also returned to his seat at the square table.

Back at the table, he began by clarifying the previous misunderstanding but insisted that he had never intended to "kill" Jin Xu. He quickly glossed over this matter and then inquired about Tianxing Taoist.

"How long has your master been missing?"

"My master has been missing for several months now. I visited you at that time because of this matter, only at that time you..."

Jin Xu didn't finish his words.

Just now, the Old Dean had told him that he had only meant to give him a scare, not expecting such an intense reaction.

"Cough, cough, it's all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. So after visiting me that day, did you also go to the White Emperor Pavilion?"

As a significant power, Qingmu Academy evidently had a habit of subscribing to the Tingfeng Building's publications, and the Old Dean remembered reading in one edition that the White Emperor Pavilion had also experienced a Golden Thunderbolt.

"Yes, but the Elder Pavilion Master there also did not know of my master's whereabouts."

The young Taoist did not initially disclose the story of the Elder Pavilion Master's infatuation and the attempt to detain him in exchange for his master, considering it was still his master's old friend—better to save some face.

Then he heard the Old Dean sitting opposite him snort coldly, with a hint of mockery, "Huh, it's surprising that madwoman from the White Emperor Pavilion didn't detain you."

"...Actually, she did detain me, but she didn't manage to keep me,"

the young Taoist muttered to himself while taking a bite of food.

Then he heard the Old Dean continue, "But with your abilities, that madwoman probably couldn't keep you if she wanted to. Anyway, let's not talk about that. You should tell me in detail about the events leading up to and following your master's disappearance."

Having witnessed Jin Xu's capabilities, the pale-faced scholar disguised as the Old Dean couldn't think of any reason why the young Taoist would need to deceive him, given his current strength. Thus, he provisionally believed that Tianxing's disappearance had nothing to do with him and started to help with the analysis.

On hearing this, Jin Xu recounted in detail everything that had happened before and after his master went missing.

The Old Dean held his cup of wine, pondered for a moment, and quickly caught on to a key point.

"You're saying that when you went into Tianxing's room, you found only an ink jade fishing rod on the ground?"

"That's correct, only that item was on the ground,"

Jin Xu replied, a look of curiosity flashing in his eyes, puzzled as to why the other man was focusing on this detail.

It certainly couldn't be a case of murder for treasure, as the treasures were not missing—only the person was.

"That's odd, you haven't been with your master long enough to know. Such occurrences were frequent after your master acquired the ink jade rod, although he would usually return quickly. Even the longest absence never exceeded three days."

"Hmm!?"

Jin Xu tilted his head slightly, his forehead marked with a large question mark.

What did he mean? From the way the Old Dean spoke, it sounded as if his master had a habit of going missing?