Nanyang Prefecture, Tao Hua Fang, inside the old Chen Residence.
Sikou Yu stood beside the wooden bed in the bedroom, holding a hollow bamboo tube as long as a middle finger.
Inside the bamboo tube was a tiny golden insect, the size of a soybean.
The insect resembled a cricket, with two antennae on its head that were longer than its body.
At the moment, the insect’s antennae were poking out of the straight tube, swaying left and right over the bed.
“Are you sure this is Chen Mu’s residence?” Sikou Yu looked at the listless insect, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, “The scent is too faint.”
“It’s probably because no one has lived here for a long time,” Sun Fu said nervously, bending down.
Chirp chirp chirp…
The insect, which had been quietly resting inside the bamboo tube, suddenly started to chirp.
Although it was not large, its voice was sharp and piercing, extremely loud.
Sikou Yu’s eyes lit up as she spread her palm to support the bamboo tube.
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The insect spread its wings and flew about, constantly hitting the walls of the bamboo tube.
It seemed tiny, but its strength was not insignificant. The bamboo tube spun continuously in Sikou Yu’s palm. Finally, it pointed in one direction and stopped moving, and the insect also lay down without fussing anymore.
Sikou Yu’s eyes brightened, “Let’s go!”
A group of people followed Sikou Yu out of the residence in high spirits.
They were quickly led to the outside of another residence by the guidance of the insect.
Chirp chirp chirp!
The insect suddenly issued a sharp series of chirps.
“Could it be that this guy didn’t run away and is living nearby?” Sun Fu was overjoyed in his heart.
The group barged into the residence, pushing open the door, and a moldy smell rushed out.
“He has stayed here,” Sikou Yu observed the nearby residence.
“Clever like a crafty rabbit with three burrows,” she remarked.
“Keep searching.”
The group returned to the streets again.
Chirp chirp chirp!
Before long, the insect started chirping again.
The group once again burst into a residence. It was still an abandoned yard.
“He really is like a crafty rabbit with three burrows,” Sikou Yu was not annoyed.
Beneath the cunning, there must be something wrong with this person! Perhaps the Ebony Wood is truly on him!
“Continue the search!”
Chirp chirp chirp!
Chirp chirp chirp!
Chirp chirp chirp…
“How many houses has he rented exactly?” Sikou Yu stood at the street corner, looking back at the path they had taken, completely baffled.
“This is the seventh one,” Sun Fu was also stunned.
So it turned out that you’ve rented almost all the houses on this street!
Not only rented, but moved into each one.
What a lunatic!
…
At the Chen Residence, under the cool pavilion,
Chen Mu sat with his eyes slightly closed, slowly adjusting his breathing.
Practicing the Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse all day, even with ample rest, still made his eyelids heavy and his head dizzy.
Just now, while he was feeling drowsy,
An instinctive rhythm of breathing suddenly emerged. It was the Red Falcon Shape Cultivation Technique he had toiled over for a year and a half.
The Divine Intent Diagram of the Red Falcon spontaneously appeared in his mind. Chen Mu’s irritated spirit instantly became refreshed.
It was like drinking a sip of cold water when feeling parched and thirsty. Or like getting a half-hour nap during a night of Cultivating Immortality.
The whole person felt as if he had shed his shackles, light and comfortable!
“The Divine Intent Diagram has this effect too?!”
He immediately began using the improved Breathing Method.
As long as he sat still, he could cultivate in conjunction with the Divine Intent Diagram.
Not as explosive as formal practice, yet because of its subtle control, it seemed even more mystical.
By focusing on his breathing for just a quarter of an hour, his drowsy head became completely clear!
“Big mistake, I actually forgot about the Red Falcon Shape Cultivation Technique!”
“Even the most rudimentary Shape Cultivation Technique is still a magical method that can change one’s constitution and develop Soul Strength!”
The Breathing Method, combined with Proficiency, would further accelerate the speed of the Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse.
“They complement each other, boosting on top of boosts.”
“I’m running out of fresh fish.”
“Can’t even guarantee the freedom to eat fish anymore,” Chen Mu, annoyed, looked at the Five Ghosts Bag.
“Little Five, why don’t you burrow into the Luo River yourself and catch some fish?”
Five Ghosts Bag: “…”
…
In the afternoon.
Sikou Yu lazily sat on a sedan chair, which was carried by two burly men, one at the front and one at the back.
Five or six other similarly dressed short-tunic strong men stood around—the best of Startling Swan Gang, specially assigned for his command.
Sun Fu, holding a bamboo tube in his hand and sweating profusely, walked ahead guiding the sedan chair.
After a whole day of roundabout searching, they were no closer to their target.
“This guy is really goddamn crazy! Why wander aimlessly around the city?!” Sun Fu couldn’t help cursing in his mind.
The insect inside the bamboo tube could track scents, but its accuracy was lacking—it would react to any trails the target had left behind.
This led them from the south of the city to the north, then back from the north to the south.
They had been through two market districts and two entertainment towers.
Even traipsed around over a dozen docks along the Luo River.
“Sun Fu, it’s getting late. I’m going to have fun on the Red Ship.”
“Keep the Soul-Locking Insect with you, you take two guys and keep searching,”
“Whenever you find a clue, come and notify me,” Sikou Yu said nonchalantly. After a day of searching, even his urgent desire for the ebony wood was dampened by a loss of patience.
Sun Fu’s heart trembled.
That was the ruthless character who could kill Sect Leader Lin Que, now entrusting the search to him and a few others? Without Sikou Yu, an expert, if they actually encountered their quarry, they’d undoubtedly die!
He wanted to speak up but upon raising his head, he was met with Sikou Yu’s impatient look. His eyelids twitched.
Having spent a few days together, Sun Fu found him to be extremely capricious.
Just two days prior, a cook was kicked and had his leg broken for adding too much salt to a dish.
If he dared to retort, his fate…
“My Lord, you go enjoy yourself. Once we find a clue about that person, I’ll immediately notify you!” Sun Fu smiled ingratiatingly.
If only he hadn’t been greedy for that silver.
…
After Sikou Yu left on his sedan chair, Sun Fu and two other men remained.
The trio slowly made their way to Shanglin Neighborhood.
The golden beetle suddenly began to chirp loudly, its bamboo tube pointing straight at a particular residence.
Sun Fu didn’t even lift his gaze, his expression numb as he walked toward the courtyard next to the willow forest.
This wasn’t their first encounter with such circumstances.
“Do you think Chen Mu belongs to the rabbit zodiac? Why else would he dig himself so many hideouts?” The strongman to Sun Fu’s left complained with a disgruntled face.
“Feels more like a mouse, timid as one!” The man on the right chuckled, making fun.
“This residence is probably another empty one,” the man on the left said resignedly.
After turning circles all day, their patience waned. Right now, Sikou Yu’s gang would undoubtedly be enjoying themselves on the Red Ship. They too yearned to join them for a good time.
“Enough. Once we find the man and get our reward, even owning the Red Ship would be possible!” Sun Fu scolded with a vexed expression.
“Hmph, ‘find him’—as if it’s that easy,” the strongman on the left scoffed, disdainfully glancing at Sun Fu.
This man originally served under Zuo Sheng. Quietly, he had moved to Sikou Yu’s side.
A crawling sycophant, not fit for companionship!
Grinding his teeth, Sun Fu didn’t speak further. To stay alive, he could no longer consider the opinions of others.
Chirp chirp chirp!
Just then, the cry of the Soul-Locking Insect suddenly grew more intense.
Sun Fu’s heart leapt violently.
“Could it be that we’ve really found him?!”
He hurriedly took two steps forward, preparing to climb up the willow tree outside the courtyard to take a look.
But just as he reached the base of the tree, the Soul-Locking Insect suddenly fell silent.
Not only that, but it also started to hit against the bamboo pole, indicating a completely opposite direction.
“Let’s go; he’s certainly not here,” the man on the left said with a touch of schadenfreude.
Sun Fu clenched his teeth, his hands gripping the tree, ready to leap up—having come all this way, he refused to leave without at least checking.
The two strong men shrugged.
“Do you smell anything?” the one on the left asked as he sniffed the air.
“Stir-fried green onions,” the one on the right inhaled deeply, his stomach grumbling, “It’s mealtime, right? Shall we get some food first?”
“Let’s go, let’s go,” the one on the left agreed with a laugh, hooking arms and heading off into the distance, not bothering to wait for Sun Fu.
Sun Fu lifted his hand to stop them but eventually his strength left him and he let his hand fall; he was hungry too: “Damn that smell of green onions!”
Looking up at the tree he had halfway climbed: “Forget it, why bother?”
He then jumped down from the willow tree, his face filled with dejection, and followed the other two into the distance.
…
Inside the cool pavilion, smoke billowed.
Chen Mu slowly opened his eyes.
“It seems someone was calling my name?”
“Probably just a misconception.”
“This Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse is really taxing to perform.”
“Even with Shape Cultivation Technique to restore energy, it’s still so draining, now I’m even hearing things,” Chen Mu shook his head with a sigh.
He closed his eyes and continued chanting the spell.