Chapter 60: Not Found

As they spoke, an attendant's shouts echoed from within the inn.

“Mr. Shi, Mr. Wu, where are you? Please come out, we need to see you. Mr. Shi, Mr. Wu...”

Soon, the sound of guest room doors opening one after another could be heard, indicating they were checking each room. Before long, the shouts were heard directly below them.

After the footsteps moved away, Wu Jinliang quietly asked, “Bian Weiying? No way. We have no grievances with her; why would she harm us? Be honest, did you touch her when I wasn't looking? Don't think I didn't see you touching Xiang Lan'er the whole way. You're too lustful.” He clearly remembered how Shi Chun had held Xiang Lan'er while running – the position was utterly indecent. He had wanted to switch places and hold her himself, but Shi Chun prioritized a woman over a friend and refused. And then, Shi Chun even had to pretend to chase Xiang Lan'er. It just wasn't fair. Couldn't he have been the one to chase her? He was so tall and good-looking.

Shi Chun found it strange. When had he ever touched Xiang Lan'er? What nonsense was this fellow spouting? Wait, what time was it? They couldn't even speak above a whisper, and this guy was still thinking about touching women. If their situation wasn't so dangerous, and they didn't dare to alert anyone, he would have given this guy a good kick. He whispered, “Don't talk nonsense. The scar on the web of the hand of the person next to Bian Weiying is similar to the scar on the hand that attacked us in the carriage. It’s in the same position; it shouldn't be a coincidence.”

At his words, Wu Jinliang's nerves immediately tensed. He widened his eyes to look, but Wei Bian had already lowered his hand, and the angle wasn't good. He could only vaguely make out what looked like a scar, but couldn't see it clearly. Still, he knew very well that Chun wouldn't joke about something like this. Filled with trepidation, he whispered, “Then what do we do? This is their territory, and they have the numbers. Just a few of their people would be stronger than us, and they have an endless supply of immobilization talismans. This is trouble. Why are we so unlucky? Everything has gone wrong since we came out. Look at Old Dong and Big Stone.”

As he spoke, he tugged at Shi Chun’s sleeve and pointed to the slovenly old man under the eaves across the way. “Isn't he a master? Can that old man be trusted?” Shi Chun replied, “You ask me? Who am I supposed to ask? We barely know him. He wouldn't even reveal any details about himself, and we've never tested him. Do you really expect us to entrust our lives to him on our first try? This is Wukang Mountain, and Bian Weiying is handling affairs in the city as the City Lord. Are you sure they'll intervene? Unless we have absolutely no other option, we can't rely on that old man.

“The most important thing now is to find a way to contact Feng Chi and tell her the truth. They have deep roots here and should be able to resolve this. The problem is, we don't know where she is, or if there's even enough time. We need to find the innkeeper; he might know her whereabouts. No, wait. With such a commotion, unless she's not in the city, the inn should have already reported to her. She's most likely nearby but finds it inconvenient to show herself. We'll hold out for now. She won't just stand by; she should be figuring out a solution.”

Wu Jinliang thought for a moment, then nodded. “You're right. We'll hold on for now. If it really comes down to it, we'll try our luck with that old man.”

“Mr. Shi, Mr. Wu, where are you? Come out, it's alright...”

The attendant's haunting voice rose again. After moving past them, it descended towards the ground floor. Before long, the attendant's figure appeared in their line of sight, now downstairs outside.

The attendant forced a wry smile at the innkeeper and the others. “I’ve searched everywhere; they're not here. I don't know where they went.” The innkeeper was somewhat speechless and pressed, “Did you search *everywhere*?” The attendant, looking absolutely certain, replied, “I’ve checked every floor, top to bottom. They really aren't here.” Whether Bian Weiying and her people would believe this was beside the point; there was no way they would give up just because an attendant said so. It wasn't that simple. Bian Weiying cast a cold glance at Wei Bian standing nearby.

Wei Bian understood, immediately waved his hand, and commanded, “Search!” A group of Wukang Mountain disciples immediately rushed through the inn's main entrance and fanned out to search. “This, this...” The innkeeper spread his hands, unsure what to do, and helpless, could only watch. Things seemed to be taking an unexpected turn, making the nearby onlookers even more intrigued. They paid no mind to the light drizzle.

The gaunt man in green on the rooftop tilted his head to look at Feng Chi, seemingly also wanting to ask, ‘What's going on?’ Feng Chi was already frowning and muttering, “Not here? Did they climb out the back window? Why run if it was self-defense?” Let alone common practice, even under heavenly laws, as long as it's clearly defined as self-defense, there would be no punishment for killing. That's a basic principle of justice. Seeing the commotion of the crowd rushing in downstairs, Shi Chun nudged Wu Jinliang with his hand, and they retreated from their corner on the rooftop.

Wu Jinliang quickly followed. Before slipping through the ceiling opening and dropping to the floor, they rubbed their bare feet against each other to remove any accumulated dust from the rarely cleaned attic, ensuring no footprints would be left on the floor once they landed. The oil lamps in the hallway were dim, and hurried footsteps could be heard downstairs. The two men crouched low, half-squatting on the hallway floor, listening intently to the sounds downstairs.

Listening to the footsteps below and discerning the sounds of doors opening and people rushing into rooms to search, they roughly determined the search pattern. Shi Chun whispered to Wu Jinliang, “The old method: we take a gamble! If it doesn't pay off, we have two options: first, directly break through the wall and rush towards the old man to see what happens; second, break through the wall again and rush into the neighboring building.” He pointed to the oil lamp on the wall. “We can start a fire. Go ahead and charge, burn everything. The bigger the fire, the better. It doesn't matter whose house it is, the more that burns, the better. In short, the more chaotic and widespread the commotion we create, the better. It will make the demonic cultivators discover our location and create an opportunity for them to act amid the chaos. I refuse to believe they'll just stand by when we've already caused trouble and are fighting for our lives. They might not understand the gravity of the situation yet, so we need to force them to rescue us!”

Regardless of the outcome, they were clearly prepared for failure. Wu Jinliang nodded. “Alright.” Shi Chun then produced the short blade from his sleeve, pointed to the innermost guest room on that floor, and calmly said, “Let's get to work!” Without a thought as to whether the knife had just been used on someone, he held it in his mouth after speaking.

Wu Jinliang quickly rose and stealthily moved to the door of the corner guest room. He gently opened the door using a spell, entered to confirm the room was empty, and then leaned out from the doorway to give an 'all clear' signal. Shi Chun quickly took off his clothes and used a clean part of them to wipe away the dust on the floor that had fallen from the ceiling. He then swiftly tiptoed into the corner room. Just as they quietly closed the door, several people rushed up the stairs, aggressively pushing open guest room doors one by one to search.

Once the leading figure came up, his eyes immediately fixated on the ceiling. He called out, “Two of you, go up and check.” Immediately, some people opened the ceiling panels and climbed in one after another, illuminating the space with golden-purple ethereal flames, searching the cramped area where they had to bend low. Before long, one person burst into the room where Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang were hiding, aggressively pushing the door open and barging in. But the instant he stepped inside, the sharp tip of a short blade appeared lightly above his head, like a dragonfly touching the water, and then plunged fiercely downward.

The man never dreamed that someone would dare to brazenly assassinate him in their territory, within Linkang City, inside this very inn. His eyes widened, and his mouth opened. Although he couldn't utter a sound, and his body was only trembling, a hand conveniently reached down and covered his mouth. Shi Chun, who had delivered the blow, used his shoulder for leverage and quietly landed. Wu Jinliang, who had padded over from inside, gently reached out and caught the illuminating golden-purple essence that fell from the man's hand. The body was quickly dragged to the side of the bed. Wu Jinliang, following closely, immediately pulled the blanket over the man's head and wrapped him. Only then did Shi Chun pull out his blade, cleanly and without blood. Afterward, he quickly stripped the Wukang Mountain disciple's clothes from the body and rapidly put them on himself.

“Nothing.” “Not here either.” “No discovery.” Responses came one after another from the hallway. Before long, the leading figure checking the hallway came over, glanced into the room, and asked, “Well?” With his back turned, seemingly diligently searching under the bed while holding the luminous gold for light, Shi Chun replied, “Nothing here either.” In reality, Wu Jinliang was lying under the bed, cuddling a corpse wrapped in a blanket beside him.

Just as Shi Chun had said, this was truly a gamble, with an extremely high chance of failure. Fortunately, the leading figure merely took a glance and didn't pay much attention to Shi Chun's voice before turning and leaving. Shi Chun quickly stood up, gripping the luminous gold's light, and crept to the doorway to listen intently to the sounds outside. Before long, someone from the other end of the hallway shouted, “There seem to be artificial marks on the ceiling up here. I don't know if they were left before or by those two.”

The leading figure's voice rang out, “Regardless of the marks, I'm just asking if anyone is up there?” The other person replied, “No, the three of us checked thoroughly. Definitely no one. It's empty up there; no one could hide.” “Honestly, it's been so long already, they must have left ages ago.” Someone who was unaware complained. “Just do what you're told. Why so much chatter? Let's go.” Soon, a series of footsteps descending the stairs could be heard.

Shi Chun peeked into the hallway outside the door, then slipped back to the side of the bed. He leaned down and said, “You wait here. I'll go up and check.” Wu Jinliang grunted in affirmation. Shi Chun immediately slipped out of the room, poked open the ceiling panel again, and climbed back up, once more crouching at his original spot to peer down. Among the search party, some were looking around in the inn's lobby, while others had followed out the main door. The group, astonishingly, failed to notice that one of their comrades was missing.

The leading figure approached Bian Weiying, saluted, and then reported to Wei Bian, “We've searched thoroughly, from top to bottom, even magically scanning the ground. We didn't miss the pillars or beams. No one. They're definitely not here.” Wei Bian quickly turned to look at the man who had previously climbed into the carriage. The latter awkwardly replied, “Indeed, I didn't see anyone come out.” Let alone them, even the innkeeper and the attendant couldn't help but exchange secret glances. They really weren't there? They hadn't seen anyone leave. Where could they have gone?

The gaunt man in green on the rooftop and Feng Chi, cloaked, also found it strange. Based on the innkeeper's response, the people should still be inside the inn. Bian Weiying smiled, then turned to look at the 'Anle Inn' sign. “Well, that's truly odd. Either you're all blind, or this building is haunted.” She hadn't sought shelter from the rain. Even though it was fine drizzle, after some time, her clothes were damp. She turned to the innkeeper, a half-smile on her face. The innkeeper was helpless, unsure how to explain. Wei Bian declared fiercely, “City Lord, I'll lead them for another thorough search!” He knew very well that once Old Liu, the assassin, was dead, and he saw the two culprits flee into the inn, he immediately ordered his men to stake out the inn to await the City Lord's next decision. He still trusted his subordinates.