13 Hunt or be Hunted (3)

Back in Ye Chen's room :

The plain-looking middle-aged cultivator started munching on peanuts displayed on the table. His hair was let down in a messy style and he was wearing only his inner robes*. The rumoured cool but deadly Elder Ming is nothing but a slob in private. Ye Chen's eyes twitched when he saw his Shizun spit out the shells on his floor.

Cursing in his heart, Ye Chen thought that maybe he didn't want to accept any disciples because If they saw this side of him, they would have run away with disgust. Fortunately for Ye Chen, he has long gotten used to it.

"Shizun, have you identified the TianAn Sect disciples that may be injured?" Ye Chen asked.

Elder Ming shook his head, "We did not manage to find that piece of cloth you mention, but I have done some investigation on all the TianAn disciples that attended the ceremony. Including Mu Lian, there were a total of eight of them."

"However… upon investigation, none of them were anywhere near the scene when that happened."

"That's odd, I heard someone calling out for help saying that a TianAn disciple was taken." Ye Chen recalled.

"Did you see or talk to the person who shouted for help?" Elder Ming added.

Ye Chen frowned as he recalled running towards the waterfall without considering looking for the voice source. "At that moment, I felt that every second was precious, so I did not…"

Elder Ming massaged his temples and let out a small sigh, "You reckless brat...Even I am surprised you are still alive. Better count your blessings."

"All thanks to Shizun and the group of elders for saving me just in time. The last few Grimoire snakes were weakened but they were still very strong. If you hadn't come in time to get rid of them and bring me back, I would have died!" Ye Chen nervously let out a laugh, expecting Elder Ming to continue lecturing him.

A wave of silence filled the room.

Elder Ming, "What are you talking about? We only got to the cave an hour after the fireworks were thrown. By the time we got to the cave, there was only you and Mu Lian."

"Ehh? But I heard a bunch of people coming towards the cave and some fighting noises. Also, quite a few emergency fireworks were heard...Because of that, the remaining beasts were distracted..." Ye Chen tilted his head in confusion.

"Multiple emergency fireworks were fired near the vicinity of the cave but the one that led us to you was the one Mu Lian threw. We were all busy attending to the sudden surge of emergency fireworks and by the time we got to you, it was already an hour later. If not for Mu Lian playing the flute for that hour, I think you would have already crossed to the other side.* You need to thank that cousin of yours, he overexerted himself playing an hour straight and collapsed right after I took you away."

Ye Chen's heart began to fill with guilt and appreciation. and Ye Chen assumed that Mu Lian had no part of his rescue, and only aided in his recovery once he was rescued. He never knew what happened because Mu Lian refused to talk about it.

Elder Ming rubbed his chin and added, "But it was quite strange because those that threw the emergency fireworks claimed that some spiritual beasts suddenly became crazy and were chasing them for a distance...but thankfully none of them was hurt since the beasts were not in a herd...unlike your situation."

Each time Elder Ming spoke, Ye Chen's face darkened a little. Everything felt too coincidental and even an idiot like himself would be able to tell that something was going on.

Noticing the aura around Ye Chen getting colder, Elder Ming pats the teenager's head and says, "Do not worry my dearest disciple, I will investigate deeper and see what else I can find. Meanwhile, don't do anything rash while your body is not at 100 percent yet.

Upon hearing "Dearest disciple", Ye Chen's cold aura dissipated and instead, started having goosebumps while glaring at his Shizun, who was laughing loudly.

Elder Ming knew he wouldn't like it but wanted to calm him down, he succeeded. Ye Chen was then asked about his day out at the town and warned him to lay low until there are more conclusive findings to this odd situation.

"Alright, I will leave you to it. Since you have already recovered, we will have some practical lessons. The past month of theory lessons must have bored you. Have a good rest and I will see you tomorrow." Elder Ming left the room after the depressing conversation.

Lying on his bed staring at the roof tiles, Ye Chen recalled the conversation with Elder Ming that night and thought to himself, "Ah…not sure why… but I really want to see Mu Lian now."