The Wordless Scroll

It was a grand residence, quite imposing, yet stepping inside revealed a strange desolation.

Not long after entering the courtyard, someone approached from the backyard, their cultivation at the early core formation stage.

The man scrutinized the group of four warily before asking solemnly, "Who are you looking for?"

Nangong Ning tossed the dao jade from her hand. It arced through the air, and the newcomer raised his hand to catch it steadily, his divine sense sweeping over it.

Falling Cloud Peak, Nangong Ning, third-generation disciple.

He immediately trotted forward and bowed with cupped hands.

"Li Feng of the Supervision Hall greets Grand-Ancestor Nangong."

Evidently, the young man before them was a fifth-generation disciple of the Wendao Sword Sect.

In the Wendao Sword Sect, he was considered a junior among juniors.

Although the Wendao Sword Sect had been established for ten thousand years, there were only eight generations of disciples within the sect.

According to sect tradition, when new disciples joined, those with exceptional talent would study under second-generation disciples, while those with superior talent would study under third-generation disciples. The rest were left to be divided among the fourth-generation disciples.

Furthermore, the Wendao Sword Sect had a prevalent trend of taking disciples on behalf of one's master.

Those in the know understood the implications.

As for those beyond the fifth generation, they rarely took disciples at all.

"There is no need for such formality."

Li Feng stood up and returned the dao jade with both hands.

After receiving it, Nangong Ning asked calmly, "Are you the only one here?"

Li Feng replied, "Yes. Everyone else is out on business. If Grand-Ancestor has any instructions, you may tell me."

Nangong Ning got straight to the point. "What do you know about the missing infants in Yecheng?"

Upon hearing this, Li Feng's expression visibly stiffened. He said in a low voice, "Seniors, please follow me."

He led the way toward the back hall.

The group exchanged glances but followed without a second thought.

On the way, Xu Xian grumbled to Song Qingshu, "Is the Supervision Hall always this understaffed?"

Song Qingshu smiled and said, "Little Grand-Uncle might not know, but the Supervision Hall of the Wendao Sword Sect has a total of one hundred and eight branches. Even if a branch oversees an entire city, it is equipped with five disciples at most. Furthermore, most of them are at the core formation stage. If it weren't for that, missions like the one we took wouldn't fall to us."

Xu Xian muttered, "Five people? It feels far too few. It doesn't seem safe."

Ruan Zhong interjected, "Five is plenty. In a place like Yecheng, a core formation cultivator can walk with their head held high. Five of them would be enough to slaughter the entire city."

Xu Xian rolled his eyes and lectured, "Don't you know there's always a taller mountain? You shouldn't underestimate the mortal world. Places this chaotic are where dragons and tigers hide. Who knows if a great ascension stage expert might suddenly pop out of some corner..."

From the moment he stepped into Yecheng until arriving here, he had sensed no fewer than ten core formation cultivators mixed in the crowds.

But Xu Xian didn't want to say it.

Because nine out of those ten were from the Wendao Sword Sect.

As for how Xu Xian knew? It was simple—they all carried sword light.

Only people from the Wendao Sword Sect could possess a life-bound sword from the Sword Mound.

Ruan Zhong scratched his head and said sheepishly, "Uh... what Little Grand-Uncle says is right. I'll keep it in mind."

They passed through the backyard and entered a room.

After inviting the four to sit and pouring tea for them, Li Feng mysteriously retrieved a scroll from a hidden compartment.

He placed it into Nangong Ning's hands and said gravely, "This was given to me by the Hall Master before he left. He specifically instructed that if anyone from the sect came to investigate the missing female infants, I should hand this over to them."

Nangong Ning opened the scroll. After just one look, her elegant brows furrowed deeply. She looked up and asked, "Did your Hall Master say anything else?"

Li Feng thought for a moment and eventually shook his head. Staring at the scroll in Nangong Ning's hand, he changed the subject:

"To tell the truth, we originally had five people. One of them disappeared mysteriously three months ago. We searched for a long time but found no trace of him. Half a month ago, the Hall Master followed a lead regarding the missing disciple and accidentally discovered that a large number of female infants have been mysteriously disappearing in Yecheng over recent years—all of them less than a month old. The Hall Master suspected this was likely related to demonic cultivators, so he reported the matter to the sect. He left this scroll behind, told us to look after the hall, and then left. He hasn't returned since, and he didn't say where he was going..."

The group grew thoughtful after hearing this.

Nangong Ning closed the scroll and nodded slightly. "Thank you for your hard work." She then looked at the other three, signaling with her eyes.

Understanding her intent, the three rose one after another to leave.

Li Feng stood up to see them out.

When they reached the door, Xu Xian suddenly stopped and looked back at Li Feng. The latter greeted him with a smile.

Xu Xian suddenly asked, "Your name is Li Feng, right?"

Li Feng smiled. "Yes. Li as in plum, Feng as in the edge of a blade."

Xu Xian nodded and gave him a deep, meaningful look before saying strangely, "I'll remember you. Keep up the good work."

Li Feng was taken person, laughing foolishly.

"Haha, I certainly will."

After leaving the Supervision Hall, Xu Xian remained frowning.

Song Qingshu and Ruan Zhong leaned in toward Nangong Ning, staring at the scroll in her hand. "Senior Sister, what's inside?"

Nangong Ning casually handed it to Song Qingshu.

"See for yourself."

Song Qingshu took it and slowly unfurled it in his hands.

Ruan Zhong craned his neck, peeking from behind.

It was a sheet of yellowed xuan paper, completely blank. However, a few drops of dark red remained in the corner of the paper, looking as though cinnabar had been accidentally spilled.

Ruan Zhong was stunned. "Nothing's written here?" he said, confused.

Refusing to believe it, he even used his nascent soul divine sense to investigate, but he still found nothing.

Even the meticulous Song Qingshu furrowed his brows, his eyes filled with perplexity. His long fingers inadvertently rubbed the red spots on the paper before he brought them to his nose to sniff.

"Blood?"

Nangong Ning said calmly, "Yes. And it's the essence blood of a female infant less than a month old."

Song Qingshu narrowed his eyes in thought...

"Let me see." Ruan Zhong snatched the paper and observed it closely, not forgetting to lean in for a sniff. "It really is."

He then looked at the other two, his eyes still vacant. "What was he trying to convey?"

Song Qingshu propped one elbow on his hand and stroked his chin, analyzing, "The matter of the demonic cultivators started with the theft of the infants. The Hall Master specifically left this paper stained with an infant's blood, so there must be a connection. If I'm not mistaken, the blood on here likely belongs to one of the stolen female infants."

Ruan Zhong nodded as if he understood, chiming in, "That makes sense. I thought so too."

Song Qingshu's brow furrowed slightly as his tone shifted abruptly:

"However, we can't tell much from the bloodstains alone. More than one infant was stolen, so there's no way to verify which one it is. Furthermore, looking at the color of these stains, they've been there for some time. The essence within has long since dissipated, making it impossible to use tracking techniques to trace its source. However, if the infant were still alive, we could attempt a deduction using feng shui divination. Unfortunately, none of us three are skilled in that..."

Nangong Ning lowered her eyes, lost in deep thought.

Ruan Zhong said offhandedly, "That's not hard. We can just go back to the sect and find someone who knows how."

Song Qingshu remained silent.

Nangong Ning said softly, "Going back and forth would not only be a waste of time and effort, but it would also be too much trouble. If the infant is dead, not even the ancestors could deduce anything. The blood on this paper is at least half a month old. If they really fell into the hands of demonic cultivators as we suspect, the likelihood of a month-old infant surviving is extremely low..."

Song Qingshu bowed his head in agreement.

Ruan Zhong, who never liked using his brain, held out his hands. "Then what do we do?"

Nangong Ning deliberately slowed her pace and looked at Xu Xian. "Little Grand-Uncle, do you have any thoughts?"

Xu Xian had kept his head down the whole time. Coming back to his senses, he looked up in a daze.

"Hmm?"

Song Qingshu noticed that something was off with Xu Xian and asked, "Little Grand-Uncle, are you feeling unwell?"

He realized that since leaving the Supervision Hall, Xu Xian had been looking worried the entire way.

Xu Xian hesitated before saying, "It's nothing."

Nangong Ning tilted her head slightly and asked gently, "Does Little Grand-Uncle think we are wrong?"

Xu Xian glanced back at the Supervision Hall, which had already disappeared at the end of the long street.

He gave an answer that didn't match the question. "Don't you all feel that Li Feng from just now was a bit... off?"