After dinner, Nuannuan led Yang Fei stealthily toward the center of the city.

Amid the bright lights, a Gothic-style temple with numerous auxiliary buildings appeared before Yang Fei's eyes.

Yang Fei drew in a sharp breath, looking at Nuannuan in disbelief.

"Are you saying the Fire Gate's headquarters is actually here?"

Nuannuan nodded affirmatively.

"Yes, the Fire Gate is also known as Zhu Rong Gate, and Zhu Rong is the most revered deity among the local indigenous people. This temple is the headquarters of Zhu Rong Gate."

Yang Fei clicked his tongue in amazement; he never expected the Heavenly Fire Sect to have such a large force, blatantly appearing in a modern city.

Nuannuan's expression was solemn, and she spoke softly.

"Although the Heavenly Fire Sect isn't recognized by the government office, this Zhu Rong Temple is a landmark of this city and a famous tourist spot."

"The temple is not open to visitors at night; if the police find us, it could be troublesome."

Yang Fei nodded: "Don't worry, I'm just going to search for Dan Dan's whereabouts; I'll leave right after rescuing Dan Dan."

Nuannuan acknowledged with a hum and led Yang Fei quietly into the temple.

At the temple entrance stood towering stone pillars with many inscrutable carvings, the heavy stone gate tightly closed.

On both sides of the entrance were guards on duty. Yang Fei noticed that besides the duty personnel, there were other hidden armed guards.

He immediately believed Nuannuan's words to some extent.

Yang Fei stealthily infiltrated the guard room, quietly knocking out the staff inside.

Just as he reached the temple entrance, he saw Nuannuan step forward, fists and feet flying, already engaged with some unknown armed forces.

Yang Fei launched Extreme Tiger, leaping fiercely toward the fight.

The leader of the men turned his head at the noise, only to see a fist magnifying endlessly before his eyes.

Bam!

The man's face turned blue and purple, knocked unconscious by Yang Fei's punch.

The two men besieging Nuannuan abandoned her, brandishing daggers as they lunged at Yang Fei.

Yang Fei sidestepped their daggers, grabbed their hair, and forcefully collided their heads. They groaned, collapsing softly to the ground.

The last two men saw the unfavorable situation; one reached for a whistle, ready to blow.

Yang Fei kicked, sending him flying.

The man crashed against the stone gate, his bones shattered, spewing blood from his mouth, and fainted.

The last man was terrified, raising his hands high, kneeling on the ground, begging for mercy.

Nuannuan delivered a palm blade to his Dazhui acupoint, knocking him out instantly.

These five were martial arts experts, but with only Dark Force cultivation, they were no match for Yang Fei and Nuannuan.

Yang Fei subdued this squad, stuffing all five into the guard room, then pushed open the stone gate.

The heavy, towering stone gate slowly opened.

A vast courtyard with a tall temple and treasure pagoda appeared before Yang Fei.

Strangely, the entire temple was deathly silent, with no sounds of activity.

Could it be that the entire Heavenly Fire Sect headquarters had only the few people outside?

Yang Fei exchanged a glance with Nuannuan; both were somewhat startled.

Yang Fei signaled to Nuannuan, and the two began to search the temple and auxiliary buildings separately.

Upon entering the temple, Yang Fei noticed a thin layer of dust covering the floor.

Clearly, it hadn't been cleaned for many days, with scattered litter and scraps of paper on the ground.

In the temple's center stood a god statue—beast-headed, human-bodied, clad in red scales, with fire snakes through its ears and riding a Fire Dragon, the god statue was of Zhu Rong from Huaxia's ancient mythology.

The statue was imposing and tall, surrounded by numerous offerings, indicating frequent worship practices.

Yang Fei hadn't expected such a legendary Ancestral Witch to enjoy the earthly offerings in this foreign land.

Yang Fei knew the legend of the Twelve Ancestral Witches, but he didn't believe those tales were true, finding them too fantastical.

Even the once-glorious cultivation civilization on Earth couldn't have produced such world-destroying figures.

It was merely ancient humans' imagination about powerful cultivators.

Just like modern perceptions of martial arts experts—flying and vanishing into thin air, omnipotent.

However, Yang Fei understood that these were just common people's incomprehension of martial arts experts' realms, a unilateral fantasy.

Thus, Yang Fei had little respect for this Zhu Rong Ancestral Witch.

He moved behind the Zhu Rong statue and found staircases spiraling upward, indicating that the temple had more than one floor.

Yang Fei ascended the spiral staircase to the second floor of the temple.

The second floor was a spacious hall, resembling a conference room, equipped with various modern devices.

Desks, large-screen LCD TVs, and speakerphones were among the office tools.

Yet the scene appeared ransacked, looted clean, leaving only some scattered paper scraps and personal items.

Yang Fei stared blankly at the hall, imagining Heavenly Fire Sect's leaders conducting meetings here.

From the situation, it seemed Zhu Rong Gate had temporarily relocated its headquarters, moving all documents and withdrawing all personnel.

And at least a week ago, this place had become an empty temple.

Yang Fei was puzzled, picked up a page from the floor, but it was a scripture without meaning.

He searched thoroughly but found no clues—not even a shadow of a person.

Yang Fei discovered another spiral staircase at the hall's corner and went up to the third floor.

The third floor served as a living area for the temple staff, with rooms containing bedding and toiletries.

Garbage bins were filled with daily trash, smelling of mold and trash stench.

Yang Fei checked each room, ultimately confirming that this so-called Heavenly Fire Sect headquarters had been completely evacuated.

"What exactly happened to make Heavenly Fire Sect decide to evacuate its headquarters?"

Yang Fei was full of questions; he didn't believe that the Heavenly Fire Sect withdrew because of fear of him, as he was not that powerful yet.

Yang Fei wandered in a circle, descending the stairs with a head full of doubts.

Nuannuan was right; this was indeed the headquarters of Heavenly Fire Sect, evident from the conference room's setup and the discarded documents.

However, this headquarters had been abandoned by the sect, though for reasons unknown.

As Yang Fei descended, he met Nuannuan, who also looked incredulous.

"Where is everyone? How could Heavenly Fire Sect's headquarters suddenly vanish?"

Yang Fei shook his head, sighing.

"Great, Heavenly Fire Sect's headquarters is gone, and Dan Dan's trail is lost as well."

Nuannuan's eyes twinkled with thought, and she suddenly clapped her hands.

"Uncle, do you think they might have gone to the Ancestral Altar?"

"After I left Holy Peak, the Wu Clan's Twelve Branches were in a panic, and didn't William say they planned to march to Holy Peak for an alliance at the Ancestral Altar to revive the Wu Clan?"

Saying this, Nuannuan found it increasingly plausible.

"Yes, that's it, and your friend Dan Dan is surely taken away by them too."

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