"Have you found out anything?" Li Guang asked his fellow cultivators.
"Sorry, we haven't found any traces. We should think about asking the government's assistance. They may have some clues, and it will speed up our progress as well."
"No. How many times do I have to tell you we can't rely on the government?" Li Guang gritted his teeth.
On the one hand, they had been searching for two days and had expanded their search to the entire city. On the other hand, they still couldn't find a single clue. There hadn't even been a single battle.
Normally, if Li Xue, Zhao Xin, and Su Han had fought each other, their battle would have caused an uproar. Yet, not a single person had noticed anything significant recently. It was clear that if Li Xue had killed Zhao Xin and Su Han in this place, people would have heard about it.
After some contemplation, Li Guang explained, "There are three possibilities. First, Li Xue has grown so strong that Zhao Xin and Su Han can't even fight her. The second possibility is that they fought each other outside the city."
"Outside the city, huh?"
"What do you mean Li Xue has grown too strong? Are you implying that continuing this matter is just a death sentence?"
"No. It's practically impossible for Li Xue to grow that strong in a short period of time. If that were the case, she would have returned to the sect and suppressed us. That's why I've come to the conclusion that Li Xue has used a method that can eliminate Zhao Xin and Su Han without anyone noticing. That's the third possibility."
"Is there such a method? I mean, you can use poison, but Li Xue is not adept in poison."
"Sneak attack? Even if she can do that, it's hard to imagine that Zhao Xin and Su Han died without a fight."
Li Guang looked down, falling into deep thought. Meanwhile, the other two continued the conversation.
"As expected, we're going to find the traces of her outside."
"But how wide should we search? It's practically impossible to find her outside. Even if there is a trace, if they fought in a remote location, no one would know."
Li Guang could only let out a long sigh. After everything they had figured out, he had reached the same conclusion. "In any case, we should search for traces outside, or we won't be able to explain anything to the senior brother. For the time being, we'll continue investigating the city for another two days. After that, we'll search outside for a week before coming back to the city to ask the government. Since we're bound to fail, we should just use the government as the last resort."
The two cultivators exchanged looks and agreed with the arrangement, as they also didn't want to be away from the sect for too long.
Now that they had another plan, Li Guang and the others continued their investigation. Li Guang was careful enough not to split up the group in case of Li Xue's sneak attack.
While Li Guang and the others continued their conversation, Hao Yu was arguing with someone else.
"What do you mean that you won't do anything?" Hao Yu slammed the table while gritting his teeth.
The opposite party was a middle-aged man, older than Gao Ke. He was sitting calmly in front of Hao Yu as though he was treating Hao Yu as a child throwing a tantrum. While stroking his long beard and closing his slanted eyes, the man said with a confident tone.
"Exactly as I said, the East District won't be doing anything to help the cultivators unless we are asked."
"Do you know that your place is harboring a criminal, East District Administrator?" Hao Yu shouted in anger. The criminal he referred to was none other than Li Xue.
However, the East District Administrator simply said, "This is why you're too young, Hao Yu. You might have worked as an Assistant Administrator, but you haven't built enough experience."
"What do you mean?"
"Criminal? Can we believe that she is a criminal just because the other cultivators said so? If that's the case, how about I deem you as a criminal, Hao Yu?"
"You..." Hao Yu looked like he was losing the argument. At the same time, he couldn't refute those words.
"You have to show proof that she is a criminal. In other words, unless there is a written record from the Iron Mountain Sect, I'm not considering her a criminal. This must be an internal conflict within the sect, and it hasn't reached that point yet. So, stand down, Hao Yu. Even if you ask for Gao Ke's help, I won't budge on this matter."
"If that woman is truly a criminal, then you should know that there are going to be more casualties."
"I know. However, our city won't be participating in the internal conflict of the Iron Mountain Sect. We are a city established by the dynasty, not the sect."
"..." Hao Yu kept gnashing his teeth out of frustration. "Then, what will you do if there are more casualties?"
The East District Administrator could only sigh, thinking Hao Yu should know when to give up. He said, "As I said, without the official record from the sect or their personal request, I won't help them. You don't know about this, but there is an unwritten rule that cultivators shouldn't meddle too much with the government. The fact that they're hiding their identities means that the issue hasn't reached that level yet."
Hao Yu's expression darkened. "I..."
The East District Administrator thought enough was enough. Hao Yu wasn't his subordinate, so he stated, "Hao Yu. I'm the South District Administrator. This matter has been directed to my South District Office. Hao Yu, you should feel thankful that the cultivator didn't kill you. Do you think I don't know that you asked little Jiang to help you with the inspection to find out about the cultivators?"
"I..." Hao Yu looked down, but his anger had gradually disappeared.
"I will show you how to handle cultivators. That's why you should go back. And tell little Jiang that he is going to be punished if he does this again." The Administrator sighed while waving his hand, dismissing Hao Yu.
Hao Yu could only hang his head low as he exited the room. Yet, no one realized that Hao Yu was actually smiling inside. Letting Li Xue do whatever she wanted? That was precisely what he wanted.
As soon as he left the East District Office, Hao Yu never returned to the South District Office.
…
A few hours later.
The group had grown tired as they were investigating one place at a time.
"Senior Brother Li, don't you think that what we're doing is just a waste of time? We should have split up. This way, we can cover the entire city."
Li Guang, who had just finished talking to someone, shook his head. "Are you an idiot? What if we split up and she takes us down one by one? That's the last thing we want."
"That's..."
Li Guang raised two fingers. "In any case, I know two things. First of all, the fact that she rejected Senior Brother meant the red-light district was the last place she would go. And if she was still within the city, she should be in either the residential area or the cultural area."
"We have investigated the entire South District yesterday."
"But why those two? How about the market?"
"Residential area is perfect to hide her. That's why I told you to search the houses while I diverted the owner's attention. As for the cultural area, it is easy to become a disciple here. If a certain establishment is hiding her, we can easily find her. The merchant area is impossible because that's where most people go. She will be recognized sooner or later."
"Is that so?"
They were a bit confused, but since Li Guang had said so, they didn't question it too much. Unbeknownst to them, Li Guang had a lot of connections as someone from a wealthy family. So, the merchant area had been investigated by another party.
More importantly, the fact that they didn't even consider the red-light district showed how safe it was for Li Xue.
"Anyway..." Li Guang stopped them and turned his head, finding another store. This time, the store had quite a grand hall, exhibiting many paintings inside. His instincts, as someone from a wealthy family, told him that he had to go inside just to take a little peek. That's why he said, "Let's investigate this building."