Wait a minute, where is my master?

Great Xia Calendar, year 2305.

July 14th, heavy rain.

Jin Xu pushed open the door and saw Xia Yunzhao, who had been waiting outside.

"Good morning, Taoist," she greeted.

"Good morning, Miss Yunzhao," he replied.

"Would the Taoist like to join me for a bowl of wontons?" she asked.

"No, thank you," he declined.

This exchange had become a routine between them every morning since Jin Xu had started living in the room.

After spending the night cultivating in the library, he asked Li Mi for a large water tank the next day, which he placed by the window to serve as Yu Yaoer's dwelling.

As for Little White, after shape-shifting, she lay on the edge of the tank, claiming it felt like sleeping at Xuanxu Temple.

Seeing Xia Yunzhao there, rain or shine, the young Taoist couldn't help feeling a bit troubled.

Every morning, the Seventh Princess of the mighty Great Xia Empire would wait outside his door on time. Sometimes she invited Jin Xu to investigate the Demon Sect's clues in the city, other times to have another bowl of wontons at the snack stand.

At first, the young Taoist would agree politely, but he learned to refuse when he realized she would come every morning.

After all, one cannot eat tasty wontons every single day. Besides, every investigation for clues about the Demon Sect in the city turned up nothing.

Jin Xu and his party had been living in Gusu City for over a dozen days by now.

Xuanxu Temple had been closed for the same length of time, and the devotees from Qian Deng Town started to inquire about the whereabouts of Taoist Jin Xu.

During their time in the city,

other than on the second day, when Jin Xu told Li Mi about what he discovered with his Spiritual Sense covering the entire city, and the city guards and Cultivators following these leads to unearth numerous Demon Sect followers from Yingchun House and a certain residence,

there were no other leads for the rest of the time.

Unfortunately, the Demon Sect followers all had prohibitions placed on them. After being captured, they bled from all seven orifices and died, yielding no useful information upon interrogation.

Since then, Gusu City had been calm and peaceful, as if the Demon Sect had disappeared altogether.

Even the cases caused by the Transformation Fruit outside the city had decreased significantly.

But the more peaceful it became, the grimmer Li Mi's expression grew.

It all seemed too much like the calm before a storm. Moreover, there was bad news about Xu Qian, whom he had sent to Shangjing City.

He had lost contact.

Xu Qian, who should have arrived in Shangjing City five days ago, was nowhere to be heard from.

Upon learning this, the young Taoist silently prayed in his heart for this seventh-grade Great Xia patroller, who was not very powerful but had a strong sense of justice,

"I hope he is safe."

...

"Temple master, what are we going to eat today?" Little White asked, squeezing past Jin Xu's legs in her original form, raising her dog-head inquiry.

Within the patroller's dwelling, she discovered that appearing in her true form did not invite strange looks, so she only transformed into human shape when leaving the premises.

Little White and Yu Yaoer had been having a good time in the city these past days, occasionally rescuing half a suckling pig or a lamb from the streets for fun.

After all, they didn't have anything else to do.

In the beginning, Jin Xu brought Little White around the city to see if her keen nose could be of use. Unfortunately, she didn't catch the scent of any Transformation Fruits, but they did find several restaurants with decent flavors.

"...Let's go see if Mr. Li needs any assistance first, then we can get something to eat," he suggested.

Jin Xu walked forward a few steps to make way. Little White dashed out from behind the door, followed by Yu Yaoer, dressed in a golden-red chiffon dress.

Little Fish Demon initially wanted to move around in its natural form at the night watchmen's station.

But it was promptly stopped by Jin Xu.

A somewhat large Husky wandering within the station might go unnoticed, but a large carp floating around would be far too supernatural.

Jin Xu led the way toward Li Mi's study.

The Husky and Yu Yaoer followed closely behind.

Trailing at the end was the Seventh Princess of the Great Xia Dynasty, who had been denied.

...

Xia Yunzhao had been quite troubled these past few days, for previously, Taoist Jin Xu had always accepted her invitations.

Why had he been refusing her in recent days?

The Seventh Princess was feeling heartstruck for the first time, and now, being far from Shangjing City, she didn't even have a close confidante to remind her.

Otherwise, she would understand that one cannot use the same two excuses to invite someone out for over ten days.

Of course, even if she did come to understand and changed the excuses,

given Jin Xu's temperament, he still might not agree.

...

Without a word spoken en route, the group arrived at Li Mi's study.

"Taoist, Seventh Princess."

Upon seeing Jin Xu and his party, Li Mi put down the official documents in his hand and stood up from behind the wooden desk to greet them.

From his complexion, it seemed that this Fourth Grade official, who had reached the Void Refinement Realm, had recovered from his injuries, but there was still a hint of seriousness between his brows.

"Mr. Li, still no clues?"

The young Taoist asked calmly.

"Sigh, during these days, I've had the three from Qingmu Academy lead teams to inspect the area, but there's still no trace of the Demon Sect, as if they've vanished into thin air," Li Mi said.

Li Mi was well aware of the principle that one cannot defend against a thief every day. In the past half-month, the atmosphere in Gusu City had become increasingly tense, yet they were still clueless about the whereabouts of the Demon Sect and their actual intentions.

"Once tomorrow passes, I can send a message to the Empress Dowager, and then we'll see if Shangjing has some clues that we're not aware of," Xia Yunzhao said, winking at Jin Xu as she covertly transmitted her voice, "By then, I can also inquire with the Empress Dowager about the whereabouts of your master."

The young Taoist smiled gratefully at the princess upon hearing this.

On the side, Li Mi, watching the imperial Seventh Princess suddenly start exchanging "meaningful glances" with this mysterious and powerful young Taoist, was a bit confused.

"Taoist, Mr. Li has a request." Li Mi simultaneously transmitted his voice secretly.

Jin Xu looked at him puzzledly, wondering why these two were still secretly communicating in front of each other.

"If the Demon Sect really pulls off something grand and you find yourself powerless, please ensure the Seventh Princess's safety within your capabilities," Li Mi said.

The young Taoist was puzzled. Even though the night watchmen were under the Great Xia Imperial Family, Li Mi seemed overly loyal.

"Because the Seventh Princess has special significance to Great Xia..."

Before he could finish transmitting, Mei Shouyi rushed into the study in a flurry, exclaiming, "There's a clue, we've found a clue about the Demon Sect!"

Everyone turned to look at him, and they saw that he was holding a Transformation Fruit enveloped in Spiritual Power in his open palm.

"Are you sure it's not bound by any prohibitions?" Li Mi asked, as he had been burned by such a thing before.

"Who do you think you are looking down on, little Mimi? I've checked thoroughly, there's absolutely no prohibition on it! If you don't believe me, test it on your Thousand-mile Sky Patrol Device," Mr. Mei asserted confidently.

Hearing this, Li Mi took the Transformation Fruit and led everyone to the hall where the Thousand-mile Sky Patrol Device was located, simultaneously asking, "How did you come by this thing?"

Mei Shouyi slapped his forehead and said, "That's right, you guys better hurry, because of this thing, a Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator from the Zhao family has disappeared, and now we don't know if he's alive or dead."