Even though several days had passed, this scent remained clearly perceptible within the world of the Gu insect.
Conversely, blood splattered on a person would clash with the aura of the living, causing the residual scent to dissipate quickly.
Xu Wangliang's expression shifted slightly as he followed behind Wu Changli. Two more Xu family marrow-tempering stage enshrinements accompanied them. If they truly encountered the killer, they would suppress them immediately with overwhelming force.
The Gu insect was extremely fast, comparable to the running speed of an ordinary person. After fifteen minutes, the insect stopped in front of a courtyard, poised to fly inside.
Wu Changli hurried to protect the Gu insect and turned to look at Xu Wangliang behind him.
Xu Wangliang looked at the courtyard before him; it was merely an ordinary person's residence. His ears twitched slightly, but he heard no sound coming from within the courtyard.
With a flicker of movement, Xu Wangliang arrived atop the courtyard wall. Indeed, the place was empty.
The two Xu family enshrinements landed in the courtyard and kicked open the doors. The interior was spotless, with nothing left behind, as if no one had ever lived there.
"That sword stayed here for a period of time."
Seeing no danger, Wu Changli entered the courtyard and pointed to a specific spot. That was where the scent was most concentrated, clearly indicating a relatively long stay.
"Find the broker and ask about the situation here," Xu Wangliang said in a heavy voice.
Soon, the broker responsible for this courtyard was summoned. Upon seeing Xu Wangliang, the broker was struck with terror. Nowadays, who in Xingfen City did not know about the affairs of the Xu family?
"Who was renting this courtyard originally?" Xu Wangliang stared at the broker.
The broker had a good memory. Despite being scared to death, he described the appearance of the person who had rented the courtyard at the time in great detail.
Wu Changli remained silent on the side. He estimated that they likely wouldn't find the person in this situation, as the appearance was most likely a disguise. Xu Wangliang naturally knew this as well, but he would not let any possibility slip by.
Once the broker left, Xu Wangliang turned to Wu Changli.
"The weapon wasn't discarded, which is a good sign. As long as the target hasn't left Xingfen City, we can drag them out!" Wu Changli said hurriedly.
"I will have to trouble Enshrinement Wu once again!"
"It is my duty, my duty!"
Wu Changli gave a conciliatory smile and summoned the Gu insect. He pointed forward, and the insect circled the courtyard once before flying out.
The group followed behind. After only a short while, the Gu insect arrived at another courtyard.
Xu Wangliang frowned slightly. He sensed that this courtyard was also empty. He leaped into the yard, and indeed, there were no traces of habitation.
"This thief is truly cautious!"
The words seemed to hiss through Xu Wangliang's teeth; the way the culprit kept moving from one hideout to another made him increasingly furious.
"Zhi!"
The Gu insect let out a long cry. Upon hearing this, a look of joy appeared on Wu Changli's face.
"The scent here was left two days ago. That person likely hasn't left Xingfen City yet!"
"Good!"
Xu Wangliang nodded. Wu Changli immediately directed the Gu insect to continue chasing the next location. However, after circling the courtyard for a while, the insect did not fly out.
Wu Changli's expression changed, and he let out a strange, long cry, somewhat similar to the Gu insect.
The insect responded a few times, and Wu Changli's brow furrowed deeply.
The Gu insect's intelligence was not high, so Wu Changli could only communicate with it simply. The result of the communication just now was that this was the last place the Gu insect had detected the sword's scent.
"What happened?" Xu Wangliang asked.
"The sword... seems to have disappeared..."
Wu Changli spoke somewhat haltingly. The conclusion was somewhat inconceivable, but that was the information obtained from the Gu insect.
Xu Wangliang's face turned dark, as if it were about to drip water.
...
In the courtyard, Chen Fei held a tree branch, practicing simple sword techniques.
The sword blade and the longbow had long since been stored in his spatial compartment. Chen Fei did not know if the Xu family had methods to track them, but the possibility of the blade becoming a marker was highest.
Discarding it randomly was an option, but Chen Fei didn't know what methods the enemy might use, and he feared that discarding it might actually increase the probability of them finding him. As for melting it down directly, he worried the blacksmith shop might report him, which would be more loss than gain.
It was better to just throw it into the spatial compartment. The compartment could even freeze the passage of time for food; Chen Fei truly did not believe the Xu family had any means to break through the limitations of the spatial compartment.
Because the spatial compartment was somewhat sensitive, after Chen Fei had rescued Chi Defeng that day, he had run to another courtyard to thoroughly organize the items within the compartment.
He spent a considerable amount of time staying in that location before returning to his current courtyard.
Chen Fei did not practice alchemy; he simply dressed as an ordinary martial artist. Yesterday, when the Xu family's search party came knocking, Chen Fei stuffed them with over a dozen taels of silver, and they left.
The Xu family's search party was a lucrative position; by taking a few taels from every household, they could fill their pockets. Because of this, the search process was merely a formality; they never truly expected to rely on such a method to find anyone.
"Sword Five can heavily wound or even kill a marrow-tempering stage expert in a head-on collision. But that He Yuanqiu... his marrow-tempering stage was somewhat inflated."
Chen Fei looked at the branch in his hand, the scenes of that day's battle replaying continuously in his mind.
Over the past few days, Chen Fei had been summarizing the gains and losses of that battle while also reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of his own martial arts techniques. Only through such real life-and-death combat could one discover their own flaws.
"Creak!"
The courtyard gate opened, and Chi Defeng returned from outside. After so many days, Chi Defeng's injuries had long since recovered. Recently, he would occasionally take advantage of going out to buy food to gather some information.
Chen Fei looked up, only to see Chi Defeng with a slight frown.
"Pingyin County... has fallen into it!" Chi Defeng whispered.
Chen Fei couldn't help but be stunned. Although he had long anticipated such a result, hearing it for real still caused a stir in his heart.
"How do you know? Did someone from Pingyin County escape to Xingfen City?" Chen Fei asked.
Chi Defeng nodded. He placed the food on the stone table, poured two cups of wine, drank one himself, and let out a long sigh.
Chen Fei sat in a chair and drank with Chi Defeng.
Chen Fei could not deal with even slightly stronger anomalies, let alone a calamity of this scale. It could only be said that because his strength was too low, even if he knew many things, he was powerless to change them.
This was the sorrow of the weak, and the reality for the vast majority of people in this world.
*The wind blows willow blossoms, fragrant throughout the shop; the lady presses the wine, calling guests to taste. Please ask the flowing water of the east, who possesses the longer sense of parting?*
While Chen Fei and Chi Defeng's minds were filled with myriad thoughts, only the wine cups in their hands did not stop. Taking advantage of the drunken mood, Chi Defeng began to tell his story.
The story was very ordinary, without twists or entanglements. It was simply about a youth who wanted to see the world of the martial arts.
Chi Defeng spoke haltingly, but Chen Fei listened very intently, until Chi Defeng collapsed onto the table in loud, wild laughter.
Five days passed in a blur. The city remained in constant turmoil, and the Xu family had not given up their search.
Until the Xianyun Merchant Caravan arrived in Xingfen City.
"A thousand taels per person?"
Chen Fei found it somewhat unbelievable. Chi Defeng nodded slightly.
Chen Fei tilted his head back to look at the sky. This Xianyun Merchant Caravan clearly could have just taken it by force, yet in the end, it chose to trade for it with a ticket.
(End of Chapter)