Chapter 967: Seeking Someone

After leaving the Hunting Pavilion, Lu Ye flew directly towards his small courtyard. As he landed, Yiyi and Lin Yinxiu were still building snowmen. A recent snowball fight had shattered their previous creations, and now a new batch was taking shape.

Seeing Lu Ye return, the two girls exchanged glances, sharing a silent understanding, and secretly began rolling snowballs.

"Stop playing, there's a mission," Lu Ye said in a low voice. Yiyi and Lin Yinxiu quickly straightened up. Xiao Xinghe also emerged from the room.

Lu Ye held up the jade slip in his hand and shook it. "This is our team's first mission in the strict sense, so we must do it well."

"Yes!" Yiyi and Lin Yinxiu responded loudly in unison. Even Xiao Xinghe clasped his fist in agreement.

Privately, he was their Third Senior Brother, but in this team, Lu Ye was the captain, and Xiao Xinghe understood that clearly.

"Let's go," Lu Ye called out, summoning his spirit boat.

Several streaks of light shot into the sky, swiftly departing from Haotian City.

Mid-journey, Lu Ye explained the detailed information about the mission. Lin Yinxiu and Xiao Xinghe listened quietly.

After Lu Ye finished speaking, Xiao Xinghe then said, "From the sound of it, the most difficult part of this mission will be finding the person. However, if we have the assistance of local Nightingales, it shouldn't be a major issue."

Lu Ye thought the same, but to be safe, he still asked Lin Yinxiu, "What do you think?"

"How do you want me to look at it, Captain?" Lin Yinxiu countered with an innocent expression. Since joining Lu Ye's team, she had always adhered to one principle: do whatever the captain asks; always be the most obedient.

Xiao Xinghe thought for a moment and said, "That matter might be quite troublesome."

"How so?"

"I once heard Lord Chief say that tasks which seem simple are actually the ones the various Enforcement Hall teams are least willing to take on. This is because they require a lot of time to find the target. Some targets, knowing they've committed an offense, naturally go into hiding. If an Enforcement Hall team takes on a mission and cannot find the target's whereabouts for a long time, they can only give up. Therefore, these types of missions are often forcibly assigned."

"That's how it is?"

No wonder those seemingly simple missions remained in the Hunting Pavilion. Lu Ye had initially thought it was because they offered little reward. Now it seemed that was only part of the reason; the biggest reason was the difficulty in finding people.

That made sense. The Nine Provinces were vast, and even Bing Province alone was extremely expansive. If cultivators who'd committed offenses were determined to hide, it would indeed be difficult to track them down.

Deploying a Spirit Sea Realm grand cultivator to search for targets with divine sense would be a good choice, but how could a Spirit Sea Realm grand cultivator come to do such trivial tasks? They all had important matters to attend to.

"Once we arrive, how should we find the local Nightingales?" Lu Ye asked again.

"The Captain can simply use his Guard Token. You currently hold the position of Enforcement Hall Captain within the Law Enforcement Department. By activating the Guard Token to send out a message, if there are Nightingales within a hundred-mile radius, they will come to find you."

Lu Ye nodded slightly. That was convenient.

As they flew, Lu Ye considered visiting the Heavenly Secret Treasure Vault to find a larger flying spirit tool. At the very least, it should be able to accommodate a team of eight, just like King Gengwu's team. When traveling, one person from the team could pilot it, while the others rested and cultivated, without wasting too much time.

Two days later, in a certain part of Bing Province, Lu Ye and his companions appeared. They turned to look around; lush vegetation and fragrant flowers filled the desolate mountains and wilderness.

The map showed this place as Gualiang Mountain. There were no prominent sects here, only a few major families were established.

Lu Ye picked up the Guard Token from his waist, activated it by channeling spirit power into it, sent out a message, and waited quietly.

A reply came swiftly.

This meant there were Nightingales within a hundred-mile radius, which was good luck.

The Nightingale organization was extremely mysterious. The list of Nightingales was known only to Gan Youdang. Within the entire Law Enforcement Department, no one knew the complete list except for Gan Youdang. This was primarily to protect the Nightingales' safety and to conceal their whereabouts.

After all, most of the Enforcement Hall's work involved offending people. The Nightingales, hidden in the shadows gathering intelligence, were also despised and resented by many.

After waiting for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Lu Ye suddenly turned his head to look in one direction, held up the Guard Token from his waist, and called out, "Enforcement Hall's Lu Ye!"

In that direction, a figure slowly revealed itself, a hundred feet away.

Lin Yinxiu and Xiao Xinghe were both stunned, as neither of them had detected the person's arrival. But Lu Ye could perceive it instantly. That perceptive ability alone made them feel inferior.

The newcomer appeared to be a woman, and a Ghost Cultivator, otherwise she couldn't have infiltrated within a hundred feet before Lu Ye detected her. Her figure was petite and graceful. She wore a mask, obscuring her true face.

After confirming Lu Ye's identity, she quickly stepped forward and clasped her fist, saying, "Greetings, Sir!"

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow slightly. Since joining the Bing Province Guard, he had only ever called others "Sir." Being addressed as such by someone else was a first for him.

Judging by the spirit energy fluctuations she displayed as she moved, her cultivation was only at a basic True Lake Realm level.

Her cultivation wasn't honed on the battlefield; instead, she became a Nightingale. Evidently, she was planning for her future, because Nightingales also received a monthly stipend. Moreover, if Lu Ye could successfully complete this mission, she would also receive a share of the rewards.

As for war merits, no cultivator in the Nine Provinces disliked them. Among those of the same True Lake Realm cultivation, some toiled tirelessly, while others displayed foresight.

Lu Ye raised his hand and presented the mission jade slip. "This is the target of this mission. Have you seen them recently?"

The Nightingale took the jade slip, briefly examined it, and said, "The last time I saw them was ten days ago. It was right here in Gualiang Mountain. I haven't seen them since then."

"Take us to where you last saw them," Lu Ye commanded.

"Yes!" The Nightingale acknowledged the order and immediately flew off in one direction.

The three team members followed closely.

An hour later, they arrived deep within Gualiang Mountain. Only then did the Nightingale stop and say, "This is the place. That day, I encountered a demonic beast here and fought with it. I only observed from a distance."

The mission target was at the True Lake Eighth Realm. The Nightingale was only at a basic True Lake Realm level, so she naturally didn't dare to get too close.

Ten days had passed. Even if there had been any traces, they would have long since vanished.

Lu Ye observed for a moment, but found nothing. He then said to the Nightingale, "You may go. Be careful."

"Yes." The Nightingale acknowledged, bowed respectfully, and quickly disappeared from sight.

"Should we split up and search?" Xiao Xinghe asked.

Lu Ye nodded. "If you find anything, contact me immediately." The target's cultivation wasn't very high; even if Lin Yinxiu encountered them alone, it wouldn't be a big problem. Splitting up to search would naturally be the most efficient.

The three team members immediately split up and searched in three different directions.

Although Gualiang Mountain had no established sects, many rogue cultivators had settled there. As Lu Ye searched, he encountered some bustling about in the mountains.

Most of them were gathering herbs there to earn some meager cultivation resources.

Rogue cultivators who chose to stay there were mostly those who disliked restrictions on their freedom, or those who cherished their lives. Otherwise, they could have joined the Bing Province Guard and wouldn't have to live so frugally here.

Lu Ye naturally wouldn't comment on this. Everyone had their own aspirations, and it was futile to force them. In the cultivation world of the Nine Provinces, the cultivator community was vast, encompassing all kinds of people.

Those who committed offenses were well aware of the consequences of violating the Guard's laws, yet they still committed evil deeds. Even the strictest laws could not constrain the complexities of human nature.

Although Lu Ye was at the True Lake Realm, he had already developed divine sense. With his divine sense spread out, he could clearly perceive any disturbance within a one-mile radius.

Therefore, his search efficiency was much greater than that of other True Lake Realm cultivators. If the mission target appeared within a one-mile radius of him, they would have nowhere to hide.

Unfortunately, there were no discoveries by nightfall.

Night fell, and the four team members gathered once more.

Lu Ye now understood the mission's difficulty. Just as Xiao Xinghe had said earlier, the mission itself wasn't difficult; apprehending a True Lake Eighth Realm cultivator was simple. Any of the four team members could easily handle it. The challenge lay in finding the person.

If they couldn't find the person, nothing else mattered.

This was also why such missions were not favored by Enforcement Hall teams and why they often had to be forcibly assigned.

But the plump old man from the Hunting Pavilion was right. If they couldn't even complete these missions, how could they hope to achieve anything significant? This was probably Gan Youdang's test.

This was the team's first mission in the strict sense. If they returned empty-handed like this, it would be inexcusable.

"It's late. Should we continue searching tomorrow?" Lin Yinxiu suggested.

Other Enforcement Hall teams typically consisted of eight members, but they only had four. Their search efficiency wouldn't be high like this.

"No need!" Lu Ye shook his head and took something out of his storage space.

Lin Yinxiu gazed at it intently and was slightly stunned, "This is..."

"A Tracking Compass?" Xiao Xinghe instantly recognized the item in Lu Ye's hand and couldn't help but exclaim, "With this, finding someone couldn't be simpler!"

He then asked perplexedly, "Captain, if you had this, why didn't you use it earlier?"

*What does he know!*

This item was worth eighty thousand war merits.

He still didn't know how many war merits this mission would yield. Lu Ye had originally intended to save where possible, but now it seemed that trying to save eighty thousand war merits would mean spending a huge amount of time searching, making it not worth the effort.

With all that time spent searching, he could be doing something more worthwhile.

So, even though the cost was significant, Lu Ye had no choice but to use the Tracking Compass.

"It's a bit of a waste," Xiao Xinghe said.

A rare treasure like the Tracking Compass was hard to come by. He had only heard of it, never seen one with his own eyes.

Using it on a mission target who was only at the True Lake Eighth Realm was indeed a waste.

If this item were put up for sale, no matter who it was sold to, it would fetch a huge profit.

"It's fine."

A Tracking Compass might be incredibly rare to others, but to him, it was just eighty thousand war merits. As long as he had enough war merits, he could exchange for it at will in the War Merit Pavilion.