Lonemoon was almost done with his small talk. As if suddenly recalling something, he said, “Oh, that’s right, Lady Chu. You’re a local. I think you must be better informed than we are. We happen to have something we’re unsure about and we would really appreciate if you could help us with it?”

　　“What’s it about?” Chu Tao asked after pondering for a moment. “Sir Lonemoon, please don’t worry. I am indebted to you. If there’s anything I can do to help you, I will definitely do all that I can.”

　　“It’s nothing especially important or urgent either,” Lonemoon answered politely, smiling. He paused to think about how to ask about the spirit seed in a way that would not sound suspicious.

　　That was when Shen Ying beside him suddenly pulled out the image that spirit seed left behind the last time. A colourful egg-shaped image bounced up. “We’re looking for this. Have you seen it around?”

　　“Heh heh…” Lonemoon was so shocked by Shen Ying that he choked on his own saliva. He turned to glare at Shen Ying. Why the hell did you raise that so quickly? Wasn’t the spirit seed a very important thing?

　　“Well…” Chu Tao took two steps forward to take a closer look. Something flashed across her eyes but she suppressed it immediately. Smiling, she replied, “I haven’t seen an egg like this before. I’m sorry I cannot be of much help to you.”

　　“Oh.” Shen Ying stored the image back in her bag.

　　Chu Tao continued to entertain them politely. Due to the time difference, the sky darkened a bit earlier. After treating them to a sumptuous dinner, she unwillingly instructed her servants to lead the guests to their respective rooms.

　　“Shen Ying, why did you take the spirit seed out?” Lonemoon pulled her aside and questioned her the moment they entered the guest room. How could she draw so much attention to themselves with something as important as the spirit seed?

　　“This is nothing but a colourful egg. It’s just how Mi Le decided to decorate it. It’s not actually its true form,” Shen Ying replied. “Apart from managers, other people would assume that this is nothing but a body of energy. They won’t be able to see anything special about it.”

　　So that explained things. Lonemoon heaved a sigh of relief. “In other words, we can look for it openly without having to worry that others might find out.”

　　“Mm.” Shen Ying nodded.

　　“You should have told me this earlier!” Lonemoon suddenly felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. This made things much easier. “Alright, we will go around and ask more about it tomorrow. Get some rest.”

　　He opened a door, intending to return to his own house. Something popped into his mind. He turned around and said, “Oh right, be good and stay in this house. Don’t turn around.” They were not in their own plane. If they got lost, not only might they not be able to find each other, they might not even be able to return to their own planes.

　　“Oh,” Shen Ying answered. Seeing that Lonemoon and Chef were about to step out of the door, Shen Ying quickly added, “Don’t worry, Chef will be here to watch me!” She reached out and pulled Chef back next to her.

　　Lonemoon glanced at Chef, then at Shen Ying. He nodded seriously. “Mm.” Then, he turned and returned to his own room, not realising that Chef’s face was now bright red.

　　——————

　　The next day.

　　Perhaps Chef took… good care of her the night before, Shen Ying was behaving extraordinarily well the next day. Although she did wake up a bit later, she did not get lost.

　　Yet…

　　“Where’s Father Niu?!”

　　The master and disciple duo looked at the empty room that looked like it had not been stayed in at all the previous. For a second, they were stumped. Did Father Niu finally set his mind to walking out on them forever?

　　“Master?” Chef’s cheeks were still slightly flushed as he addressed his own master.

　　“Let’s take a look around.”

　　“Mm.” Chef nodded. He released his divine perception to scan the surroundings, but did not sense that Father Niu was around anywhere. In fact, there was nobody else left in the house. Even the servants who had been standing by the entire night before as well as Lady Chu Tao were gone.

　　The two of them ran around the yard to take one final look, but could not find a single soul.

　　“What’s going on?” Chef stopped to think. Although last night… Heh! He had been a bit distracted indeed, but they must have noticed everyone disappearing one by one.

　　“What’s that?” Shen Ying reached out and pointed to the left.

　　Chef walked closer to the thing and found that there was an oddly shaped leaf on the ground. It looked like a little green person. Using his divine perception to take a closer inspection, he found that there were remnants of a special aura in the leaf. It was spirit Qi.

　　He frowned and caused a gust of spirit Qi to travel toward the leaf. Immediately, it became larger and took on the form of a human. It was now a little demon dressed in green robes. The little demon looked around, confused. “Where am I?”

　　Chef jumped. He rushed forward and caught the little demon, then felt its meridians. Yi Qing found that this little demon’s spirit Qi was weak, and it had just become a gremlin. All it needed was a little spirit Qi from Yi Qing before it could turn into a gremlin. That was strange. From the looks of it, this gremlin would not be able to remain this way for a long time. Instead, once its spirit Qi dissipated the next day, it would likely turn back into a little leaf.

　　“Master, the servants we saw in the yard yesterday might all have been just like this gremlin.” Perhaps that was why they all disappeared. It looked like they just returned to their true form. What’s more, they already knew that this place was filled with gremlins, yet they did not take a closer look at their source. The only one who was not a gremlin was that Lady Chu Tao. “I think the woman we met yesterday took Father Niu away.”

　　But Father Niu’s cultivation level was not low. How could he have been taken away so easily and so quietly?

　　“Oh.” Shen Ying nodded.

　　“Master, I think we should make a trip down to the city to look for the three robbers we met yesterday. Maybe we can find out more about this lady.” If she had really taken Father Niu away, then her being robbed was just a show. For all they knew, she set it up on purpose. But for what?

　　Shen Ying had no objections. With that, both of them packed up and left the bungalow. They entered the city and asked around, but they found no clues. Instead, they learned that the bungalow they stayed in yesterday was normally rented out to others, and the owner of the bungalow was from Ling Yi City. That meant that the people living in the bungalow frequently changed. No matter how hard Shen Ying and Yi Qing tried, they could not locate the three gremlins they met the day before.

　　It was almost as if someone had cut off all traces of their activity. In the face of this difficulty, Shen Ying and Yi Qing decided – they would eat before they continued.

　　They knew that Father Niu was different from ordinary people. There was no need for them to worry about him. What’s more, given his cultivation level, he would not be hurt by demons, no matter how strong they were. In fact, when it came to things like finding people, Father Niu was a professional.

　　Thus, when the master and disciple had finished asking everybody in the city and had realised that they could no longer track Father Niu down, they made the wise decision to wait until Father Niu found them. They would wait for their father to pick them up. The two of them returned to the empty bungalow and stayed for a couple of days more.

　　Since Chef was naturally good at saving food, they did not have to worry about their meals either. That was up until a few days later, when the owner of the bungalow came to take the bungalow back. Then, they had no choice but to stop waiting for Father Niu to come around and pick them up.

　　“Master, I’ve asked around. The people here don’t use spirit stones, immortal stones or even silver for their currency.” Yi Qing looked at Shen Ying guiltily. He really knew nothing about earning money. “We have nowhere to stay tonight, and there’s still no news of Father Niu in the city. Why not…” We go around to look for him ? We’ve already lost him for several days anyway.