Clues that Brought More Questions.

Aiden finished reading and breathed out heavily, slamming the report on the table with a loud sound.

"Where is he now?" - he asked with a hoarse voice.

"Unknown, Sovereign. His trail disappeared in the vicinity of a battlefield. He escaped with heavy injuries. All we know it was battle one on one." - Third said evenly. Her voice sounded emotionless, yet calming.

"And he lost miserably." - Aiden gritted his teeth. - "I thought I made a mistake. A miscalculation. But it turns out I was right in one thing. Tang Hao was there for Tang San every time he did something with a certain risk. He was always protecting his son from the shadows. He was there when Na'er died, but failed to protect her, and now we don't know whether he is dead or alive."

"Sovereign. If I were you, I would have made the same decision you did." - Third said with a rare tinge of emotions in her voice.

Aiden looked at her shortly and closed his eyes, tracing the face with a palm. He became exhausted over the news.

"I had nothing back then but my own hands. And I knew that with my level of power and Spirit Hall abilities, I couldn't protect her. What could I have given her back then? She was a naive person with no knowledge of human society at all. She needed to learn and live in the proper environment a young woman deserves to live in. With friends, proper education, and protection. It was a gamble... a gamble on a crowd of children of the same age, history, and qualification, a gamble on Yu Xiaogang and his smarts, a gamble on Tang San and his father. Tang Hao was the only Titled Douluo I could have reached out to. Although it was through a connection with his son. The only high-level backer I could have thought of at that time. And the one who won't kill her after knowing her real identity. If it ever would have come to light. I sent her away, Qingyue... in hopes that she will spend several years of her childhood in peace and will be protected by one of the strongest experts out there. I hoped to give her stable childhood with friends and not a life of a vagabond with me, when I wasn't strong enough to even protect myself. I couldn't hold the responsibility of that back then. And now I can never do that either. But that wasn't enough." - Aiden sighed and sat by the table. - "Fuck... that sucks."

"You didn't make a mistake, Aiden." - came a reply. Third rarely used to call him by his name after she became his Number. But it worked both ways. - "You were weak and even now you are not strong enough to go head to head with experts of this world. One of the strongest faction of humanity hunted her with great resources. They sent a flock of their Titled Douluos just to get one girl. There was nothing you could have done about it. Aiden, you would have died in front of her, or even worse. But why didn't you follow her?"

"I was a target and I understand how unique my skill set is, let alone spirit ring age. Even my eyes are a glaring beacon. Back then I didn't have a proper way to mask it, unlike now. Finding me was easier than her, just because of those facts. Also, they tried to find us as a pair. She needed to disappear from there. I stayed to kill everyone who could have seen her. Essentially, there were no witnesses left. Even that guy who escaped after fighting Na'er was killed. That was a thorough cleanup. Yet... not enough again. I don't understand. How? How the fuck did they track her down? Just how?"

'It is not like we are in the modern world with digital devices and the internet. Information here spreads in a medieval way. Even spirit masters live a way more isolated life in terms of information than it was in his previous life. They use special means to deliver messages and letters to keep contact. With such a primitive method of spreading information, how can they track her down? What am I missing?'

= Master, this world lacks one thing but excels in the other.

'Meaning?'

= Aura trails, reconstruction through time manipulation, earth memory, divination, memory reading methods. There are many supernatural means to find a person, but very few masters are capable of it. Many can perform aura search, but it is not sustainable after several hours and it is not reliable at all. Especially after the battle where they all mixed and in chaos. One needs an example of the aura to do the tracking. As for the other methods. I believe they all were lost with the destruction of cultivation civilization. But demons might have them all. You yourself learned memory reading through the soul and should know how forceful and informative it can be.

'Divination?'

= It is not as simple as you think. One has to pay the price for revealing the secrets of Heaven. And Na'er was not a trivial person in the world's fate by virtue of her bloodline alone. Even more so – by connection with you. I can state with certainty that if it was the Divination method, whoever performed it paid a colossal price in return.

'Am I that special?'

= Are you seriously asking that? I can assure you of one thing. Anyone who wants to find anything about you through Divination will die without even seeing anything. In that regard, you are protected.

'Because of the connection with Him?'

= Yes. Also, because of your own life and martial spirits.

'Wait, wouldn't closeness to me protected her in that case?'

= From Divination. You won't like my answer. Yes. To some extent. But ultimately she was not you. The most such protection can achieve is for the diviner to pay a heavier price.

Aiden felt a firm grip of a slender hand on his shoulder and snapped out of his inner dialog.

'When I tried to come up with the safest place for her to be, Tang San naturally came to my mind first. He is the original MC and has one hell of a badass father. I thought that near him Na'er will be safe. If Tang San is not lucky enough, who is? After all, Xiao Wu was and is perfectly fine near him. And Yu Xiaogang took care of her identity. Just like I asked him in the letter. He really hid her splendidly, forging alternative history for her. He stated that she was his student from a remote village... he really could take care of the paperwork and left no trails there, giving Na'er new life. Human life. I don't understand, where did it go wrong?'

"Aiden. If you are weak, you can't avoid some things. You are entangled in something way beyond what a boy your age should have ever faced. All I can say... you did what you could. Everything possible with resources at hand." - Third sat by his side. Graceful and calm, with stoic resilience like a mountain. - "If you ask me, I would say one thing. You weren't wrong in sending her there. It was the right call for a little girl to have a proper education and a safe environment. To properly cultivate in human form we need to learn human way and society. It can't be done without exposure to many people."

Aiden breathed out haphazardly.

"Perhaps you are right about that. We all are extremely strong in hindsight. I made a call. We both, her and me, paid for it."

"You really think too much. Take me, for example. Do you remember the time when you with several others from Numbers saved me? I already gave up living. My only thought was to find a place for my boy and then die at their hands. But your interference saved me and here I am. Was your decision to attack my pursuers right or wrong? You saved me and it was a good call." - she said patiently. She was always cool-headed, offering not emotional consolation, but reasoning. That's what Aiden appreciated in her the most. - "You did many right things. Don't make one mistake overshadow many lives saved by you. Dragon Fang is the proof of many right decisions you made. None can be perfect and infallible. Life is not a fairy tale where every wish comes to fruition and every situation works out to your benefit. Sometimes we die, another we kill. You lose some, you gain some. Move forward to your aim, that is all that matters."

Aiden looked at her silently. That was the first time Third, Long Qingyue, talked so much. He breathed out sharply and nodded. Clarity of thoughts returned, and he nodded, feeling grateful inside. Even if logically he understood what she said beforehand, hearing it from another person meant a lot.

"What about the orphanage and the granny caretaker?"

Third sighed and placed another report on the table. It was the last one her Sovereign ordered to compile. Aiden read through it and slammed the table to dust.

"Dead? All of them?"

"We can't say for sure, but that is what local authorities stated. As for the caretaker. She is certainly dead." - said Third.

"So, most likely she was interrogated and gave out our information. That's where the trail started." - said Aiden. - "They are meticulous in their path of slaughter. As sad as it is, we are not talking about her. Tang Hao. He fought someone deep in the forest the day Na'er was killed. Right?"

"Correct. And even now, nothing can grow there. It is a land of death, deep to the very soil."

Aiden nodded. Aside from that, there was no clue, and the power that contaminated the ground can be anything. Poison, corrosion, death.

'Death?'

"Third. Send someone to the little settlement on the border of the swamp. Gurong Town. Check it out. There was a strange occasion of undead attack there. Ask people about it. If it happened again, collect everything you can find about it." - Aiden furrowed. Can those things be connected? Is the culprit the same person?

'Is it a lead? It is one! Tang Hao and power of death. I need to find the old man of Tang San. Finally, something that can bring light to the events of that day.'

"Also, the key priority is to find Tang Hao. Do everything possible. He is the witness I need." - he gave another order. Sadly, Aiden didn't know the exact location of the mountain where Tang Hao kept company with his wife and also when he did that. But that place is the most probable one.

If he is still alive.