"Where did the Sect Leader and Master disappear? Has anyone gone there to look for Miss Pang?"

"They didn't say." Pang Qian thought, resting her chin on her hand, and said, "But... I heard from others that it seemed to be at a carpenter's house. Previously, there was a series of disappearances in the county, and the Sect Leader and Master went to that carpenter's house to investigate. Later, Junior Martial Uncle Pang also went there, and ended up falling ill.

Everyone was quite frightened. Some even said that the carpenter's shop was a Ghost Realm. Yet the Sect Leader and Master returned safely, saying it wasn't a Ghost Realm. Instead, it was an extraordinary place where they merely took a walk inside, only to find that nearly two years had passed outside."

Li Yuan's pupils contracted. He lifted the curtain to look outside. The night in Hua Mo County was still lively, with people coming and going in the busy streets. In front of the restaurant, someone was even shouting, "Snow Brew, Snow Brew of Hengwu Restaurant, limited quantity, first come, first served!"...

Hengwu Restaurant had long been famous across the Three Counties, with many restaurants from various places ordering wine from Hengwu. It seemed this was one of them.

"Stop the carriage."

Li Yuan suddenly called out.

The carriage stopped.

Pang Qian said, "Ancestor, do you want to drink wine?"

Li Yuan smiled and said, "No, I want to let the young lady off."

"Oh, right, we've been traveling for quite a distance. I'll get off now..." Pang Qian stuck out her tongue, lifted the curtain, and jumped off the carriage.

Immediately after, the curtain lifted again. Li Yuan leaned against the window and shouted, "Miss Han, Miss Pang, since there's no Life Atlas here anymore, I won't enter the city. I have urgent matters to attend to, farewell."

The words came so suddenly that Han Ying and Pang Qian were left stunned, unable to react for a moment.

Han Ying hurriedly said, "Ancestor... Did we fail to entertain you? The Sect Leader has already prepared a banquet, just waiting for you ahead..."

Li Yuan smiled and said, "Then please thank her for me."

After saying that, he put down the curtain and said, "Old Wang, turn around and go back."

Everyone was dumbfounded, even Tang Nian looked at his adoptive father surprised, not knowing what had happened.

"Old Wang."

Li Yuan coldly commanded.

Only then did Old Wang at the Imperial Hand Seat come to his senses, turned the carriage around, and headed back in the direction they had come from.

"Get out of the city, quickly."

Li Yuan continued.

Old Wang raised the whip, shouted "giddy up," and the carriage wheels spun rapidly. In no time, they reached the city gate. The guards saw the Ancestor leaving again and dared not stop them, hurriedly opening the gate.

Not long after, several fast horses approached at the end of the street, leading with a woman in a dark sword robe different from ordinary disciples. Her demeanor was imposing, full of the aura of a superior, and the dual swords on her back were very conspicuous.

Upon her arrival, she dismounted with a leap. The city guards quickly saluted, shouting "Greetings to the Sect Leader."

This was none other than Pang Dantai, the Sect Leader of the Frost Sword Sect.

"Where is the Ancestor?"

"The Ancestor... has left the city."

"How long ago?"

"Almost as long as two sticks of incense."

"Got it."

Pang Dantai looked slightly displeased as she turned her head towards the two disciples who came to greet her.

Han Ying and Pang Qian hastily apologized.

"Never mind, perhaps the Ancestor has other matters." Pang Dantai said, "Tomorrow, I'll have Third Lady take you two... forget it, I'll have Third Lady go to the Blood Saber Sect to apologize and inquire about it."

...

Outside the city, wilderness, white mist rose again, and the world seemed dim and hazy.

Tang Nian couldn't contain her curiosity and asked, "Adoptive father, why are we leaving?"

Li Yuan said, "The young lady who came up had a corpse smell on her, didn't you smell it?"

"Corpse smell?" Tang Nian was startled, her little heart skipped a beat, and chills ran down her spine. Instinctively, she clung to the cold Big Puppet. She might dare to kill, but she was still afraid of ghosts.

She recalled it for a while and said, "I... I only smelled a fragrance."

"What kind of fragrance?"

"It was like a kind of herb, a woody scent."

"But that woody scent concealed a corpse smell."

Li Yuan closed his eyes, reminiscing.

He had long heard of the series of disappearances that occurred in Hua Mo County. Miss Pang Yuanhua even wrote a letter seeking assistance. This time he went over mainly to look at the matters related to the Life Atlas and secondly to discuss the disappearance cases with Pang Yuanhua.

Pang Yuanhua's disappearance was already peculiar to him. He specifically called a disciple onto the carriage, and upon smelling... he detected corpse smell.

"Old Wang, did you smell the corpse smell?" Li Yuan asked again.

The coachman, having overheard the conversation in the carriage, was already frightened and replied tremblingly, "Re...Reporting to Master, I... I didn't smell it either."

Li Yuan thought for a moment, perhaps it was because he had smelled a faint corpse smell on Wu Ya before, so he was sensitive to such odors?

"Master, where are we going now?"

"Find a place in the wild, we'll spend the night outside tonight."

"Yes, Master."

In the darkness, Li Yuan only felt goosebumps rising in waves. Perhaps having experienced it a few times before, this time... he was not as terrified.

But Tang Nian was extremely frightened and even took the initiative to move closer, leaning against Li Yuan.

"Adoptive father, are they really ghosts?"

"As long as there's a slight possibility, adoptive father won't take risks.

So given the situation just now, adoptive father chose to leave the city rather than explore where there might be danger."

"I understand... Adoptive father... but what should we do next? As soon as it's dawn, should we go back to Shanbao County?"

Li Yuan thought for a while and smiled, "Let's wait for someone."

"Who?"

"Pang Yuanhua."

"Isn't she missing?"

"But that's what someone with a corpse smell told me.

The more they say Pang Yuanhua is missing, the safer Pang Yuanhua might be."

"What if she doesn't come?"

"Niannian, as long as there's a slight possibility, adoptive father will wait."

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