Investigation and Speculation [2 Updates, Please Subscribe]

Chapter 77 Investigation and Speculation [Second Update, Please Subscribe]

Jiufengling, Bailanfeng.

Bailan Peak is one of the nine peaks, and Zhou Jiahui's home is located here.

Unlike Zhou Jiahe, who never married or had children, Zhou Jiahui had a Taoist partner and children.

Her Daoist partner, Shen Xin, was originally a disciple of the Three Absolutes Sect. After the Three Absolutes Sect split up, he did not choose to join the Spirit Beast Manor, but instead stayed with the Zhou family with his children and accompanied her to Nine Peaks Ridge.

Seven days had passed since Zhou Jiahui left Jiufeng Ridge, and her Daoist partner Shen Xin, who had not seen her return, was beginning to worry.

"Seven days have passed already, why hasn't Jia Hui returned yet? Usually, five days is enough for her when she's gone!"

Inside the room, Shen Xin, whose hair was already turning white, paced back and forth with a worried expression, feeling very uneasy.

After hesitating for a long time, he still couldn't let go of his worries and took the initiative to go to Pagoda Peak to visit the clan chief Zhou Daoyi to inquire about the situation.

As Zhou Jiahui's Daoist partner, although he did not know what Zhou Jiahui was doing after leaving the family, he knew that it was under the instruction of the clan leader, Zhou Daoyi.

So when he saw that his Daoist partner had been away for many days and had not returned, he could only go to the clan leader Zhou Daoyi to inquire about the details.

"What? Jia Hui hasn't returned for seven days?"

Inside the Zhongping Hall, Zhou Daoyi was surprised to learn from Shen Xin that Zhou Jiahui had been away from home for seven days.

Then a look of worry flashed in his eyes, and he nodded to Shen Xin, saying, "I am aware of this matter. I will immediately arrange for someone to investigate it. You should go home and wait for news."

Shen Xinwen immediately bowed deeply to Zhou Daoyi and said, "Then I'll leave it to the clan chief!"

After dismissing Shen Xin, Zhou Daoyi pondered for a moment, then summoned Zhou Jiahe, the peak master of Baozhi Peak, and ordered in a deep voice, "Jiahui went to that underground river to collect the slime of the poisonous spiny fish, and hasn't returned for seven days. I'm worried that something might have happened to her. Go to Hongya Market immediately, take Zhengchun with you, and go to that underground river to investigate and see if she has been there!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jiahe was immediately startled, and a look of worry for his cousin instantly appeared on his face.

She immediately replied in a deep voice, "Yes, junior will obey the clan leader's orders."

Without a moment's delay, he immediately led the two large-horned blue sheep to Hongya Market.

"What? Aunt Nineteen hasn't returned for seven days!"

Inside the Spirit Beast Pavilion, Zhou Chun was equally astonished when he learned of this from Zhou Jiahe, who had rushed over.

Without a moment's hesitation, he immediately nodded and replied, "Alright, I'll go with you right away, Aunt Thirteen!"

So the aunt and niece quickly left the market, and then, somewhere outside the Red Rock Mountains, they transferred to the large blue sheep brought by Zhou Jiahe and headed straight for the underground river.

Of course, although the two were anxious, they did not let their guard down and used various methods to detect the situation behind them to prevent being followed.

After arriving at the edge of the mountain range, the two settled the two large-horned blue sheep in the cave where Luo Guangshun had once kept his horses, and then walked together to the pool.

Before long, the two arrived at the edge of the pool.

"There are no recent traces left; Nineteenth Sister definitely hasn't been here in the last seven days!"

At the edge of the pool, Zhou Jiahe scanned the pebbly beach inch by inch with his divine sense, and then, with a very grim expression, he reported the findings of his investigation.

For safety reasons, and following Luo Guangshun's example, Zhou Jiahui, on Zhou Chun's advice, never ventured into the underground river when she came to the pool alone to catch venomous spiny fish and collect their slime; she only used blood as bait.

So if she had recently caught a venomous stickleback by the pond, even if she cleaned up before leaving, there would definitely be some traces left behind.

And most importantly, every time Zhou Jiahui came, she would leave a scratch on an inconspicuous stone by the pool to prove that she had been there.

Zhou Jiahe has not found any scratches left by Zhou Jiahui on the stone.

"It seems that Aunt Nineteen met with misfortune on her way here!"

Zhou Chun spoke his judgment in a low voice, his tone very heavy.

Seven days have passed, and Zhou Jiahui has not even reached the pool yet.

If something truly unforeseen happens, the chances of survival are slim!

"Since the clan leader assigned Nineteenth Sister to do this task, she has also been given the Heart-Connecting Ant. Even if she encounters an accident, as long as she is not killed instantly, she can secretly leave the Heart-Connecting Ant as a mark."

At this point, Zhou Jiahe immediately looked at Zhou Chun and said, "We must return to the clan immediately and ask the clan leader to use the Heart-Connecting Ant Queen to search for Nineteenth Sister's whereabouts!"

"Okay, let's do it that way!"

Zhou Chun nodded and immediately returned with Zhou Jiahe to the cave where the Great Horned Sheep were kept. Without waiting for the two Great Horned Sheep to rest, he fed them a strong medicine to stimulate their life potential and make them run at full speed.

After running for most of the distance, exhausting both of the large-horned blue sheep to death, Zhou Chun and her niece Zhou Jiahe then used their flying artifact to complete the remaining half of the journey, returning to Jiufeng Ridge at top speed.

"Alright, I understand the situation. You all should rest well. I'll have the Third Elder personally escort the Heart-Connecting Ant Queen to make the trip!"

Inside the Zhongping Hall, after listening to the report from Zhou Chun and Zhou Jiahe who had rushed back, Zhou Daoyi's expression turned grave, and he quickly responded.

Zhou Chun and Zhou Jiahe were also truly exhausted, and upon hearing this, they immediately returned to their lodgings on Baozhi Peak to rest.

After resting for half a day, Zhou Chun got up with a heavy heart.

The situation surrounding Zhou Jiahui's disappearance is extremely delicate at this juncture.

Now that Ling Shou Zhai has just been revitalized thanks to the huge sales of "Touch of Despair," it would be a big problem if the production of "Touch of Despair" were to run into trouble at this time.

Moreover, Zhou Chun was even more worried about another thing: if Zhou Jia Hui really had an accident, would the location of the underground river be known to outsiders?

With such heavy thoughts on his mind, he couldn't sit still and went to Hundred Herbs Peak.

"Although the formula for the Touch of Despair powder is complex, it's not a pill after all, so there aren't any major difficulties with alchemy techniques. If a cultivator who is proficient in medicine-making and knows all the ingredients thoroughly were to analyze it, I can't guarantee that they wouldn't be able to reverse-engineer the formula!"

"Therefore, if we don't want outsiders to be able to replicate this poison, the only way is to strictly control the leakage of the stickyfish's mucus. Without this mucus, even if outsiders replicate the powder formula, it will be useless!"

On Baiyao Peak, when Zhou Chun asked him a question, Zhou Jiawei did not hide his opinion.

This answer undoubtedly made Zhou Chun feel even heavier.

What the Third Elder, Zhou Daoquan, said upon his return from outside made the faces of the several Zhou family members who knew the truth turn extremely ugly.

"I took the mother worm and ran back and forth along different routes four times, but I didn't receive any response at all. This tells me that the worm on Jia Hui's body is either dead or has been taken to a very far place!"

Inside the Zhongping Hall, several members of the Zhou family who knew the story were gathered, listening to the Third Elder, Zhou Daoquan, explain his experience on this trip.

The Heart-Connecting Insect is a special kind of strange insect tamed by the Zhou family. Its mother insect and its offspring can sense and lock onto the location of the offspring even if they are hundreds of miles apart.

Therefore, every core member of the Zhou family, as well as some elite members who receive special attention, carries a larva of the Heart-Connecting Ant with them, hiding it in the sole of their shoe or in their trouser pocket.

In this way, if they encounter life-or-death danger outside, they can send the larvae of the Heart-Connecting Ants deep underground, allowing their family to find the location of their death and make it easier to track down the murderer and avenge them.

Upon hearing that Zhou Daoquan had led the Lianxin Lou mother worm out to search several times but had not found the offspring worm on Zhou Jiahui's body, all the Zhou family cultivators present realized the seriousness of the matter.

Without prior arrangement, Zhou Chun and the others all turned their gazes to the clan leader, Zhou Daoyi, awaiting his speech.

"The Heart-Connecting Insect is a special spiritual insect that my Zhou family re-cultivated after establishing itself in Nine Peaks Ridge. Even ordinary members of my Zhou family are unaware of its existence. It possesses no magical power, making it highly unlikely to be discovered by enemies!"

"Even if Jia Hui were captured alive, she should know to leave Lian Xinlou behind to secure the family's future. She wouldn't be foolish enough to let the enemy take her and Lian Xinlou away together!"

"Therefore, we have reason to believe that Jia Hui was not only murdered, but it's also possible that the lovebirds she carried with her were discovered and destroyed!"

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Zhou Daoyi slowly expressed his opinion.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Daoquan immediately raised his eyebrows and said in a deep voice, "Does the clan leader believe that someone within the clan revealed the existence of the Lianxin Lou? That someone colluded with outsiders to harm Jia Hui?"

"That possibility cannot be ruled out!"

Zhou Daoyi nodded with a gloomy expression.

"Nineteenth Sister was killed while collecting the slime of the venomous spiny fish. An outsider assassinated her, presumably for the slime. In that case, wouldn't the Spirit Beast Manor be the prime suspect?"

Zhou Jiahe gritted his teeth as he said this, "That makes sense. Only they would be most likely to learn of Lian Xinlou's existence from a traitor within the family!"

Her speculation is quite reasonable.

However, as the clan leader, Zhou Daoyi could not make such a conclusion based on such a speculation.

He quickly waved his hand and said, "We can't make such a hasty decision. Perhaps there wasn't a traitor, but Jia Hui was simply ambushed by a powerful opponent and was killed or captured without any preparation!"

After saying that, he said in a deep voice, "The most urgent task now is to find the actual location where Jia Hui had the accident and determine the truth by investigating the scene!"

However, just as he finished speaking and was about to arrange for people to search extensively for the location of Zhou Jiahui's accident, Zhou Chun, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up.

"If, and I mean if, Aunt Thirteen's theory is correct, and the enemy who plotted against Aunt Nineteen was after the slime from the venomous spiny fish, shouldn't he have waited until Aunt Nineteen went to the pool to lure out the fish before making his move?"

"If it wasn't because of the venomous sticky fish's slime that Nineteen Aunt was harmed, then given Nineteen Aunt's cultivation level, what kind of powerful being could have prevented her from even keeping the Heart-Eating Insect alive? Why would such a powerful being harm Nineteen Aunt?"

Seeing that everyone's attention had been drawn to him, Zhou Chun continued:

"If it's the former, since there's no trace of Nineteen Aunt being at the pool, it means she was killed halfway there. It also means she discovered the enemy following her beforehand and had plenty of time to leave behind the Heart-Connecting Ants."

"The fact that the enemy knew she was in charge of collecting the venomous sticky fish slime, accurately tracked her, and was discovered by her, and then managed to wipe out the Heart-Connecting Ants, means there must have been a leak within the family!"

"If it's the latter, we need to consider why such a powerful person would harm Aunt Nineteen. What benefit would he gain from doing so?"

Compared to Zhou Jiahe's speculation, which was mixed with personal resentment, Zhou Chun's analysis was undoubtedly much more reasonable and did not carry any personal likes or dislikes.

This further aroused the attention of the clan leader Zhou Daoyi and the elder Zhou Daoquan.

After a moment's thought, Zhou Daoyi looked up and said, "Let's talk about the latter one that Zheng Chun mentioned first. If it is the latter, then the person who murdered Jia Hui can only have one purpose: to confuse the public and mislead us into turning our hatred towards the Spirit Beast Manor."

"But based on this alone, we have no evidence whatsoever. The Zhou family certainly wouldn't cause trouble for the Spirit Beast Manor. If he wants to incite a major conflict between the Zhou family and the Spirit Beast Manor, he'll definitely have to use other methods to stir things up!"

At this point, his expression turned slightly cold, and he said in a chilling voice, "If that's the case, then we just need to remain unchanged and wait for the murderer who killed Jia Hui to reappear!"

But he also knew in his heart that the possibility was actually not very high.

Therefore, his expression quickly changed again, and he said with a sorrowful look, "If it's the former, then it's truly a misfortune for the family!"

After hearing his analysis, everyone felt that the truth was pretty much one of these two possibilities.

Elder Zhou Daoquan quickly chimed in, "Then let's proceed on two fronts simultaneously. First, let's conceal the news of Jia Hui's disappearance and avoid making a big fuss, to see if there really is some mastermind behind it all!"

"On the other hand, we're closely monitoring and investigating any family members who know about Lian Xinlou, to see if we can find out who the traitor is!"

These words should have been spoken by Zhou Daoyi, the clan head, but since Zhou Daoquan was a clan elder, it wasn't considered overstepping his bounds; at most, it was just somewhat inappropriate.

However, Zhou Daoyi obviously wouldn't care about that.

He nodded in agreement, saying, "Yes, that's how it will be done. I'll give instructions to Jia Hui's partner and children!"

After speaking, he glanced at everyone in the hall, finally fixing his gaze on Zhou Chun.

He said, "Zhengchun, you don't need to return to the market for now. I will arrange for someone else to take your place. You will stay in the clan and assist me in investigating the traitor within the clan!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Daoquan's gaze sharpened slightly, as if he were deep in thought.

Zhou Jiahe didn't react much and remained in grief.

Zhou Chun was taken aback for a moment, then hurriedly replied, "Yes, junior obeys."

(End of this chapter)