The Gentleman Offering Free Spiritual Root Testing

The next morning, Ye Qingwu's message talisman descended from the sky, landing on the stone table in the courtyard. Lin Zhiyue, Cen Xi'er, Liu Fengyao, and Jiang Yuezhan sat around the table as the talisman unfolded into a translucent green light screen.

Ye Qingwu's voice came from within, concise and clear: “I have made contact with the city lord. Low-grade cultivators began disappearing in the city half a month ago. Initially, the city lord thought they had simply gone out to travel, until a corpse was dredged from the moat. The death was gruesome—the body completely shriveled, looking as if its cultivation and essence had been drained by something.

“Based on this, the city lord deduced that demonic cultivators have sneaked into the city. Cultivators have been disappearing one after another within this half-month, with seventeen missing so far. Moreover, the situation worsened three days ago—children have started disappearing from the city, all under the age of seven. Five have gone missing so far.”

The light screen went quiet for a moment before Ye Qingwu's voice sounded again: “Go ask around the vicinity today and see if any suspicious people have been spotted recently.”

Lin Zhiyue acknowledged her, then spoke the information she had organized in her mind: “During the night market yesterday evening, we noticed people deliberately concealing their aura at several alley entrances on the street corners. They wore ordinary clothes, but their eyes kept scanning the passing cultivators.

“In another narrow alley, I caught a glimpse of a silhouette in the shadows, and its outline didn't look like that of an ordinary citizen. That person seemed to be following us. I didn't make a scene at the time, but I can confirm that the four of us are being watched, at the very least.”

Ye Qingwu's voice sounded again, her tone half a degree graver than before: “Since they have already noticed you, ensure your own safety first. Continue to move around the city acting as ordinary cultivators, and do not reveal your identities. I will arrange for someone to meet up with you. I will personally lead a team to investigate those alleys from the night market today. Stay safe, and send a message immediately if anything happens.”

The light screen collapsed into a thin line and dissipated into the air. Lin Zhiyue sat back down on her stone stool, and the expressions of the four became a bit more serious than before.

Following Venerable Qingwu's instructions, the four of them spent the next few days outside gathering information.

In less than two days, Lin Zhiyue had already mapped out most of Yunting City's layout in her mind.

What drew her attention the most was the city's Qibao Pavilion—cultivators streamed in and out of that shop from morning till night, making it the most densely populated spot for cultivators in the entire city.

Meanwhile, across the street from Qibao Pavilion's entrance, at the diagonal tea stall, and in the corner of the adjacent alleyway, several concealed auras would always consistently appear over these few days.

It was worth mentioning that the eyes originally tailing them from the shadows had gradually withdrawn, likely because the four of them had stayed together the entire time, leaving no opportunity to catch any of them alone.

At noon on the third day, while pretending to pick out spiritual materials at the entrance of Qibao Pavilion, Liu Fengyao caught sight of the person sitting at the diagonal tea stall. He was the exact same tall, thin man who had been keeping watch during the night market two days ago.

Once she returned and mentioned this, the clue confirmed Lin Zhiyue's suspicions. Lin Zhiyue spread out her hand-drawn map once again.

Qibao Pavilion was located slightly south of the city center, where several main streets and alleys intersected. If someone were to stake out near Qibao Pavilion long-term, the flow of cultivators throughout the entire city would practically be right under their noses.

At dusk, Lin Zhiyue led Cen Xi'er, Liu Fengyao, and Jiang Yuezhan to an alley entrance in the east of the city.

Twilight was slipping from the rooftops. The night market lanterns were not yet fully lit, leaving the light on the streets in that ambiguous zone between dimness and brightness.

From afar, she saw several figures walking over from the other end of the alley. Leading them was a young female cultivator wearing a gray-blue cloth dress. Her strides were small but swift, and the sword hilt peeking from her waist was mostly hidden by her hem.

Three people followed behind her, all dressed in plain clothes, but Cen Xi'er and Lin Zhiyue recognized them at a glance. They were the senior brothers and sisters sent by Elder Qingwu to meet up with them!

As the two groups drew close, the young female cultivator in the gray-blue dress was about to greet them, and Liu Fengyao beside her was also eager to speak, but Lin Zhiyue spoke up first.

Weaving her voice with the warmth of someone running into old friends on the street, she raised her voice slightly: “It's been so long, Fellow Daoist Qiao, Fellow Daoist Zhou! Are you also visiting Yunting City?” She smiled and cupped her hands to them, naturally shifting her body slightly to block the alley entrance behind her. “Why don't we go to Yunting Restaurant for a meal together? My treat!”

The leading female cultivator in the gray-blue dress—Senior Sister Qiao—was startled for a moment, but immediately caught on. She returned the greeting with a smile and a bright voice: “Oh, Fellow Daoist Lin! What a coincidence, we also just arrived not long ago. Yunting Restaurant has a great reputation. Since it's your treat, I won't stand on ceremony.” After speaking, she naturally gave a look to the people behind her.

Senior Brother Zhou, a round-faced young man with a gentle expression, also smiled and cupped his hands, saying, “Then we shall gladly accept.” Senior Brother Li and Senior Brother Liu nodded respectively. The half-breath pause between them was seamlessly covered by this exchange of pleasantries, making them look as natural as old acquaintances meeting by chance in a foreign town.

The seven of them walked along the street toward Yunting Restaurant.

Lin Zhiyue walked a few paces ahead, leading everyone through several streets before settling down in an inner private room on the second floor.

Once the door was closed, Senior Sister Qiao set up a soundproofing barrier. After ensuring there were no listening ears, everyone finally relaxed and took their seats.

Senior Sister Qiao took out a thin booklet from her sleeve, flipped through a few pages, and lowered her voice: “Junior Brother Li and I investigated the families who lost their children.

“Without exception, every single one of those missing children had visited a spiritual root testing stall before disappearing. Apparently, it was an old gentleman who didn't charge anything, offering free spiritual root tests for children. If he found a child with a spiritual root, he would praise them a bit, making the families very happy.

“But when these families went back to look for the old gentleman later, they found the stall was already gone, and no one nearby knew where he went.”

Lin Zhiyue took the pages handed over by Senior Sister Qiao and flipped through them. The verbal accounts of several families were recorded on them, and the times and locations all matched up.

She said nothing and handed the pages to Cen Xi'er. Senior Brother Zhou added from the side: “Junior Brother Liu and I went to see the corpses recovered by the city lord's side. There are three in total, all low-grade cultivators, and they died the same way—their essence was drained, their spiritual roots were stripped, and their meridians were shattered from the inside. It looks as if some demonic cultivation method was used to forcibly tear out their spiritual energy foundation by the roots. The remaining corpses haven't been found yet, likely already disposed of.”

The private room fell silent for a moment.

Liu Fengyao sat by the window, looking down at her fingers, while Cen Xi'er flipped through the pages once more before placing them back on the table.

Leaning back in her chair, Lin Zhiyue connected the words of Senior Sister Qiao and Senior Brother Zhou in her mind: the gentleman offering free spiritual root testing, the missing children who were all declared to have spiritual roots, and the cultivators whose spiritual roots had been gouged out.

She took out her hand-drawn map from her sleeve and spread it out on the table. Tapping her fingertip on a blank area in the west of the city, she pointed out the suspicious locations she had marked on the map to the others.

Senior Sister Qiao leaned in to take a look, then compared the addresses of the missing children's homes from her thin booklet with the locations marked on the map. There was indeed an overlapping area between the two.

She looked up at Lin Zhiyue, who looked back at her without saying a word.