Chapter 30: Men Should be Strong and Muscular
Ever since then, Zhu Yao had pestered her master for three days, however, in the end, he still did not give in. And, she realized that, the more she praised Wang Xuzhi, the stronger was her master’s refusal. Zhu Yao became a little suspicious, and wondered if her master had been bullied by a spoiled brat in the past as well.
However, his supervision over her cultivation had become more diligent, and she had basically stabilized herself in her current realm. Her master stated that she could tackle Azoth really soon. However, in the end, she never had the opportunity to form her Azoth Core.
In Ancient Hill Sect, before Essence-stage disciples could breakthrough into Foundation, they must first head down the mountains for field training, with a Foundation disciple taking the lead. Very evidently, Wang Xuzhi was in this batch was well. Practitioners heading out for field training was the best method to raise their mental states, and Zhu Yao, who built her Foundation in a single night, did not have this sort of opportunity. No matter what, she had to try it out as well. This time, her master did not actually stop her, and simply instructed her a few things that she needed to watch out for, before letting her down the mountain.
When she arrived at the meeting area, other than Wang Xuzhi, whose eyes momentarily sparkled, even the corner of Reverend Zi Mo’s lips evidently twitched a little, however, he did not have any reason to refuse her participation. Hence, he had no choice but to swap out Yan Yuehong, who was initially supposed to lead the party, and had her take over.
Under Yan Yuehong’s resentful gaze, Zhu Yao walked over to her own party. Four Essence-stage disciples and one Foundation disciple were placed in every team, and Zi Mo was rather tactful, as he placed her in Wang Xuzhi’s team.
Zhu Yao looked at her team, realizing Xiao Yi was in her team as well, she rubbed her forehead. This is really some god-tiered fate we have.
Sect Master waved his sleeves, and dozens of leaves flew out. Slowly, they enlarged themselves, appearing on the open space. These leaves were exactly the same as the leaf they sat on when they entered the sect. Back then, she even thought that it was a mystical treasure of some sort, but it turned out to be simply a common transportation tool used in the sect.
With Zi Mo’s single command, all of the teams left.
As a team leader who was suddenly assigned to the team, Zhu Yao called her team members to board the leaf. Wang Xuzhi said his goodbyes to his master, had a short conversation with Yan Yuehong, and was the last person to board the leaf. Seeing that everyone was ready, she finally inserted her spiritual energy into the leaf, having it rise into the skies and catch up with the rest of the teams.
In just a short moment, they had already left the sect, and was flying over the huge sea. Zhu Yao turned to look at her own teammates. Other than Wang Xuzhi and Xiao Yi, the other two were both girls, and they looked like they were in their teens as well. They were like blooming flowers, and when she compared herself to them, a feeling of resentment to her own age suddenly welled up inside her. It seemed like her master’s decision to have her breakthrough into Azoth as soon as possible was a correct decision. Once one breaks through into Azoth, one will be a step closer to being a deity. One’s lifespan will be increased to a thousand years, and age will no longer matter after then.
Zhu Yao was not familiar with the two girls, and could only chat with Wang Xuzhi, who was by her side, helping her support the flight. “Hey, little wimp, what did you say to Little Three earlier?”
Little Three? Wang Xuzhi was startled for a moment, and only after a short while did he finally realize she was talking about Yan Yuehong. Giving her a light smile, he took out a jade tablet from his clothes. “This is our field mission this time.”
“Mission?” Zhu Yao was a little baffled. “Isn’t this supposed to field training? Why is there a mission?”
“The mission is the details of our field training!” He gave her a ‘this is common sense’ expression. “Every team has their own respective mission to complete.”
“Oh!” Isn’t this a business trip then? Zhu Yao’s enthusiasm instantly fell by a half.
“When we return, the sect will bestow corresponding rewards to the teams that complete their missions.” Looking at her unenthusiastic expression, Wang Xuzhi asked curiously. “What did big sister Zhu Yao think it was?”
Zhu Yao’s face cramped, as she silently swallowed down her thoughts of touring the mountains and seas, eating delicacies, and her questions of where they were heading to play.
“Kuh, then, what’s our mission?” Zhu Yao hurriedly changed the topic.
Wang Xuzhi inserted spiritual energy into the jade tablet in his hand, checking its contents. After a while, he replied. “It’s in the southwest direction, a small town near Silent Melancholy City. It’s rumored that just recently, people had been disappearing. And, in a single month, the total number amounted close to fifty. Our mission is to head over to the town to investigate the cause.”
The name ‘Silent Melancholy City’ came from the nearby Silent Melancholy Forest. Because practitioners would frequently head over to the Silent Melancholy Forest to capture spiritual beats and gather spiritual herbs, Silent Melancholy City became the largest supply city for practitioners. And their target destination for this mission, was a small town just a few kilometers away from Silent Melancholy City.
The town was named Silent Town. Zhu Yao then asked casually, if there was another town named Melancholy Town. Wang Xuzhi actually nodded, and Melancholy Town was actually nearby, a place north from here. Zhu Yao silently retorted how the naming sense of this world was actually rather uniform.
The number of residents in Silent Town was not many, and the people passing by were mostly practitioners heading towards Silent Melancholy City, hence, the town was not really luxurious-looking. Zhu Yao’s team rushed and arrived at the town before sunset. For convenience sake, Zhu Yao had her team change into regular clothes, and they found an inn to stay in.
Taking the opportunity to start up an idle chatter while sipping on his tea, Wang Xuzhi consciously began to inquire about the missing people in the town. Seeing that the few people in front of him were practitioners, the inn owner unhesitatingly told them everything he knew about the situation.
The situation seemed to have began a month ago, and people in the town disappeared one after another. These people comprised of townspeople and travellers who had stayed in for the day, however, all of them were men. And they were all strong and muscular men who were at the prime of their lives. No one knew how these men disappeared, and there were no abnormal disturbances. They simply disappeared from their rooms the next day, when others opened their doors and looked for them in their rooms.
“The people who disappeared were all men.” One of the young girls who came with them, looked at Xiao Yi beside her with a worried expression. “Big brother Xiao Yi, then you’re…”
Zhu Yao recalled that the name of this girl was Ling Long. She had met the girl five years ago, and the girl had always been by Xiao Yi’s side. It seemed like she was his die-hard fan.
“Junior-martial sister Ling Long, don’t worry, senior-martial uncle Xiao Yi is so amazing, he will definitely be fine.” The other girl named Su Zi consoled her, and with sparkling eyes, she turned to look at Wang Xuzhi. “And, there’s my senior-martial brother Wang as well! Senior-martial brother Wang, you will definitely protect us, right?”
Zhu Yao looked at the girl’s eyes which were about to shine out stars, and then, she silently looked at little wimp next to her. Eh! There’s something interesting to watch! First love, or something like childhood friends? These little self-made fan clubs are just too dazzling! Ah, youth~
However, Wang Xuzhi’s expression did not change, rather, he looked towards Zhu Yao, and said with a respectful tone. “Grand-martial aunt, how do you think we should deal with this situation?”
Everyone seemed to have recalled that they actually had an “elder” among them, and they turned to look at her one after another.
“Don’t worry, didn’t the inn owner explain it earlier?” Zhu Yao waved her hands, and then, she strongly patted on Wang Xuzhi’s chest. Emphasizing on every single word, she said. “The people who disappeared were. Strong. And. Muscular. Men! You two do not fit the requirements.” They were not even fully grown yet, why were they so worried for?
Wang Xuzhi did not reply, and simply stared as she pulled her hand back, his ears were turning red at an abnormal speed. Su Zi at the side began to pout her lips, as she glared at Zhu Yao with an expression filled with resentment. Even Xiao Yi and Ling Long had weird expressions.
Uh… Had she done something that angered them?
“Kuh kuh, you people have an early rest today.” Ah, she did not care anymore, it was more important to complete the mission as early as possible. “Tomorrow, everyone shall split up and look for clues, we will then gather back here at this inn in the night.”
“Yes!” The four of them replied together, and then, they headed to their own rooms.