Wait a minute, where is my master?

On the outskirts of Wild Wolf Ridge, in a small mountain hollow.

Yu Yaoer and Little White were lying on the ground, covered by a thin veil that concealed their scents.

Deceiving Heaven Veil, one of the life-saving treasures given to her by Little Fish Demon's grandmother, could block the sensing of Spiritual Power by those below the Divinity Transformation.

"Little White, are you sure you didn't smell it wrong?"

Yu Yaoer asked for confirmation again.

The two women had initially come to gather herbs.

However, halfway through, Fat Wolf from Wild Wolf Ridge suddenly came to seek help from Little White, saying that two strange people had arrived in his territory and sealed off the entire mountain top. Any of his wolves that entered would wander out dazed and confused.

Upon hearing this, Little White knew a formation had been laid out, so she pulled Little Fish Demon over to investigate.

Although she had now taken all the wild wolves and wild dogs within a hundred miles under her command, she still favored the first wolf that had come seeking her refuge.

But as soon as they arrived, she noticed something was off—there was a faint scent of the Transformation Fruit on the wolves that had wandered in and out of the formation, dazed.

Fearing she had smelled wrong, Little White immediately had a wolf enter the formation and walk through again.

Only then did she confirm, there was indeed something amiss here.

Upon hearing Little White's speculation, Yu Yaoer decisively took out the Deceiving Heaven Veil, covering everyone's scents.

"Little Yu, I am sure, there really is the scent of the Transformation Fruit inside this formation."

Seeing Little White's resolute eyes, Yu Yaoer chose to believe her.

"Then let's go back and tell the Master about this."

"Okay."

The two women did not overestimate their capabilities but instead planned to return to the temple to strategize further.

Little White also specifically instructed the wolves to stay away from Wild Wolf Ridge for the time being, and those without a place to stay could temporarily move to Little Platform Mountain.

Then, draped with the Deceiving Heaven Veil, she and Yu Yaoer hurried in the direction of Xuanxu Temple.

...

Qian Deng Town, a mansion's back courtyard.

Jin Xu opened his eyes and looked at the two constables, big and small, staring eagerly at him.

He spoke with a steady tone, "No luck."

???

Foreman Li almost choked on his saliva. Seeing the young Taoist looking confident and self-assured, he thought they had found the demon.

Actually, the young Taoist himself was quite puzzled; he had swept the entire town with the power of his Spiritual Sense, and the Qi of most people in the town was the normal grey-white color. Even if there were anomalies, they were within a normal range.

That kind of abnormally revolting Qi was nowhere to be seen.

However, there were two spots radiating faint golden Qi—one was the old acquaintance Tian Gou Taoist, who surprisingly was still residing in Qian Deng Town.

The other was a building resembling a family shrine, inside which were statues of a man and a woman, with a bridge made of a thousand oil lamps under the statues.

Ignoring Tian Gou Taoist, it wasn't that Jin Xu looked down on him, but with Tian Gou Taoist's level of Spiritual Power, murder could be accomplished, but silently killing several people without being discovered, was indeed quite difficult.

Focusing on the family shrine building, Jin Xu inquired if the two constables knew about this structure.

Before Foreman Li could speak, the younger constable did.

"Taoist sir, I know, this shrine was built based on the legends of our town. Every year on the seventh day of the seventh month, a grand meeting is held, and many young men and women from the town participate."

Old foreman nodded on the side, confirming it.

"Then take me there to have a look."

Jin Xu said thoughtfully.

Upon hearing this, the young constable led the way to the shrine, as if he frequented the place often.

On the way, Foreman Li also shared with Jin Xu that after finding the oil lamp, they had investigated this shrine but found nothing abnormal; everything inside the shrine was as it had always been.

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the three of them arrived in front of the shrine.

"This is it."

The young constable pointed at the not-so-large but exceptionally exquisite building in front of them and said,

"As it turns out, the family of that woman's husband was the largest contributor when this shrine was built."

Li Bancaptain sighed, not knowing what he was lamenting.

The little Taoist instructed the two to wait outside, then he stepped in himself.

Actually, without his saying, Old Bancaptain never intended to go in, while the little constable was raring to try, but after being instructed, he obediently stayed outside the door.

Entering the shrine, Jin Xu ignored the two statues on the stage and the bridge formed by a thousand oil lamps.

Instead, he first looked around, the hall was not big, but the decoration was exceptionally exquisite. Around the walls, the legends of Qian Deng Town were carved in the form of paintings.

Walking up to a carving showing a man lifting an oil lamp, the calm voice of the little Taoist rose.

"Come out, stop hiding."

The faint golden Qi he had felt earlier was emanating from the oil lamp in this mural.

But this golden Qi was filled with a sense of righteousness and tranquility, containing no trace of murderous intent or karmic force.

Jin Xu had especially observed the prisoners in the jail of Gusu City when his Spiritual Sense swept over it earlier, there were cultivators among those people, but those who were locked up all had varying degrees of red and black in their faint golden Qi.

This was why he wasn't ready to conclude that the oil lamp in the shrine was the culprit.

"Did you come here because of the murder in the town?"

A voice spoke, and at the same time, the mural emitted waves of light, then the light detached from the wall, suspended in mid-air, and transformed into a bronze lamp.

Huh? The opponent bringing up the issue was unexpected to Jin Xu.

"You know about what happened in the town?"

The little Taoist asked, closely observing the oil lamp in front of him.

The lamp had an ancient design, was completely bronze in color, with a shallow layer of oil floating on the lamp dish, and in the center, there were two intertwined wicks, tiny and rather cute.

No different from a normal oil lamp, except that this one could float and speak.

Jin Xu concluded.

"I receive the townsmen's offerings and also have a duty to protect them, I am aware of the murder," the lamp said in a voice that was upright and peaceful, giving listeners a sense of relaxation.

"Only..." The lamp hesitated to continue.

The little Taoist understood right away—another one who loved to be enigmatic. He did not continue the discussion but just kept wandering around the shrine, looking at the murals on the walls.

He did not want to encourage this kind of practice.

The bronze lamp, not sure whether it was due to less interaction with people or having never encountered someone like this, was momentarily stupefied, thinking, why isn't this person asking me?

With a sizzling sound, a small flame ignited on the wick, and then the lamp continued.

"Only, the murderous creature is highly skilled in cultivation, I can only just manage a draw with her. Since you've managed to detect my presence, you must be highly skilled. Could you help me eliminate her?"

After listening to what the flying lamp said, Jin Xu wandered back from the other side, took a close look at this bronze lamp, and then said to her,

"Are you sure?"

...

...

Entrance of Qian Deng Town

Three scholars, appearing mature and dressed in Confucian robes with crossed collars, entered the small town.

The one on the left wearing a plum-colored Confucian robe said, "I say, let's stay in this town for a while before heading to Gusu City, especially since the principal said it's okay as long as we arrive before mid-July."

The one on the right, wearing a jade green robe, nodded in agreement, "Right, going early just means dealing with Li Mi's sour face."

The one in the middle, clad in a dark green robe and holding a wooden ruler, said, "Emperor Xia asked for aid from the academy because he fears that the Demon Sect is up to something major. He sent all the scholars to support various cities of the Xia Dynasty. Do you two think we're just on an academic excursion?" After saying this, he knocked each of their heads with the ruler.

The arrivals were precisely the Three Cold Friends of Qingmu Academy.

In fact, if it weren't for Mei Shouyi's strong interest, claiming there was a touching legend in the town that he wanted to see,

they would be in Gusu City by now.

While they were discussing, the three scholars suddenly saw an impressive streak of golden lightning

striking through the center of the town and piercing the sky!

ps: Thanks to Serapis56 for the monthly ticket, and thank you all for your recommendation tickets.