"There were similar disappearances three years ago, and they were all boys born on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month?"
Jun Bufan frowned, pondering, "Such events are truly strange and bizarre. I've read in scattered ancient records that some dark and evil individuals, in order to cultivate certain wicked martial arts, would seek out specific people, such as maidens of pure yin!"
"Maidens of pure yin?" Yan Lichu asked, frowning.
"That is, girls born on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. It seems to be the work of some evil martial artist, or perhaps an evil and dark organization!" Jun Bufan said.
Yan Lichu suddenly realized with a gasp, "That's right! Three years ago, a minor inspector in the South City district accidentally witnessed it. He said the perpetrator could scale walls and move like a ghost. At the time, everyone thought he was hallucinating. Now that I think about it, this must have been a martial artist from the jianghu!"
"That should be correct. If it is indeed the work of some evil jianghu organization, then with the skills of your inspectorate personnel, it would be very difficult to apprehend them!" Jun Bufan sighed.
"Who's to say otherwise? Otherwise, this case would not have remained unsolved for three years. Now, with the reappearance of the pure yin maiden disappearances, the pressure on our inspectorate is immense, especially for me as the director, bearing such a heavy responsibility!"
Yan Lichu then turned to Xiao Yunlong and said, "Mr. Xiao, I am at my wit's end. That's why I've come to seek your advice. If this continues, I fear I may not be able to keep my position!"
Xiao Yunlong's expression remained calm as he asked, "Since this matter involves people from the martial arts world, why don't you seek help from the Martial Alliance? I recall that the Martial Alliance was established to regulate and manage affairs within the jianghu, wasn't it?"
Yan Lichu sighed deeply upon hearing this. "Mr. Xiao, you may not know, but when the Martial Alliance was first established, it did indeed accomplish many practical deeds. In those years, the jianghu forces in Jiangdong were much more peaceful. However, as the Martial Alliance's influence grew, it also became corrupt."
"Especially since the current leader of the Martial Alliance is obsessed with martial arts and rarely manages affairs. The three deputy leaders below him each cultivate their own factions. As their subordinate forces grow stronger, even my words sometimes go unheeded. The Jiangdong Martial Alliance today is no longer what it once was."
"So that's how it is. It seems it's time to properly cleanse this corrupt Jiangdong Martial Alliance," Xiao Yunlong said, narrowing his eyes.
Yan Lichu did not respond, as Mr. Xiao's statement was of great significance. Even as the Director of the Jiangdong Inspectorate, he dared not express his opinion casually, as it involved too much.
"Mr. Xiao, for the sake of my sincere efforts to benefit the people of Jiangdong, and to prevent more pure yin maidens from being harmed, please help me!"
Yan Lichu straightened his posture and bowed respectfully with cupped hands.
Xiao Yunlong nodded slightly and said sternly, "For those words, I cannot stand idly by!"
"Thank you, Mr. Xiao. Mr. Xiao, your righteousness is truly admirable. I, a citizen of Jiangdong..."
Before Yan Lichu could finish, Xiao Yunlong waved his hand to interrupt him, "There's no need for pleasantries. By the way, how many pure yin maidens have gone missing so far?"
"Five disappeared three years ago, and four have gone missing in the past two days!" Yan Lichu replied.
"Four, so that means one more is missing!"
Xiao Yunlong immediately said, "Yan Lichu, you must go back immediately and use big data to investigate all females in Jiangdong between the ages of sixteen and eighteen, and see how many were born on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month!"
Yan Lichu, not yet comprehending, asked, "Mr. Xiao, what do you mean?"
Xiao Yunlong said gravely, "If my guess is correct, there will be one more pure yin maiden missing and harmed next. Investigate according to what I just said. Females between sixteen and eighteen born on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. There shouldn't be many who meet this condition. Once you have the information, mobilize all available personnel and resources of the inspectorate for deployment!"
Yan Lichu finally understood and nodded, "I understand. I already conducted a big data investigation three years ago. There weren't many who met the criteria, only about a dozen. Even after three years, there shouldn't be too many. Deployment should be fine, but..."
"But what?" Xiao Yunlong asked.
Yan Lichu said, "But if Mr. Xiao's prediction is accurate and the perpetrator strikes again, since they are a martial artist from the jianghu, it's likely that our ordinary inspectorate personnel will have difficulty apprehending them!"
Xiao Yunlong looked at Jun Bufan and Liang Bendao and said, "You two, cooperate with Director Yan during this period and ensure the perpetrator is apprehended on the spot!"
"Yes, Big Brother!" Jun Bufan and Liang Bendao cupped their hands in acknowledgment.
Yan Lichu's brow finally relaxed, and he sighed, "With the help of you two, there shouldn't be much of a problem. Based on the perpetrator's modus operandi and timing, they are usually in the old district of the South City, and it's concentrated at night. As long as we keep a close watch on that area, we should have some success!"
Xiao Yunlong said sternly, "When the perpetrator appears, try to capture them alive. Be sure to notify me immediately. I want to interrogate them personally!"
Seeing Xiao Yunlong's very serious demeanor, Yan Lichu and the other two cupped their hands in agreement and quickly departed, preparing to begin the big data analysis and deployment.
After breakfast and a brief period of rest, Xiao Yunlong took the square jade seal and the ancient jade artifacts obtained from the Wei and Zuo families and headed to the Tang family.
These three ancient artifacts were all treasures of considerable value, and most importantly, they contained a trace of spiritual energy. Xiao Yunlong intended to gift them to his elder cousin, Tang Bowen, for his cultivation.
Initially, Xiao Yunlong had considered giving the square jade seal to Liu Ruyan, as they had been together for so long without him giving her anything substantial.
However, after careful consideration, he realized that Liu Ruyan already had that peculiar golden orb of light in her dantian. If she absorbed the spiritual energy from the square jade seal, it might cause a conflict, turning good intentions into bad, potentially leading to injury, qi deviation, or even death.
Therefore, after much deliberation, Xiao Yunlong abandoned that idea.
In fact, for Liu Ruyan's current cultivation situation, the most important aspect was essence, not variety. Moreover, she already had that extremely peculiar and domineering ball of light within her. For her, the most crucial thing was to continuously develop and tap into her own potential, rather than absorbing energy from the outside.
"I should have gotten a piece or two of jewelry without spiritual energy from the Wei and Zuo families!"
Thinking this, Xiao Yunlong shook his head and smiled, then drove away from Ziyun Villa and arrived at the Tang family's old villa.
The morning sun was already quite bright and radiant, and the sky was as blue as dyed oilcloth.
Grandfather Tang Zengshou was still tending to his beloved flowers in the courtyard.
Elder cousin Tang Bowen was in a wheelchair in a corner of the courtyard. However, today, he was not reading as usual but had his eyes closed, conserving energy.
Of course, only Xiao Yunlong knew that he wasn't closing his eyes to rest, but was secretly cultivating.
Tang Bowen was undoubtedly a rare martial arts prodigy, or rather, a monstrous talent. His martial arts aptitude was even slightly stronger than Liu Ruyan's.
After Xiao Yunlong helped him guide his qi, he had not only memorized the complete circulation path of the Great Heavenly Cycle but could also independently mobilize the strand of internal energy that Xiao Yunlong had stored in his dantian to complete the Great Heavenly Cycle circulation.
This also meant that Tang Bowen had entered the realm of a minor master of internal energy. Of course, his situation was special, as his legs were paralyzed, preventing him from practicing martial arts like a normal person.
Generally, there were two ways to enhance one's dantian's internal energy: one was to continuously practice and refine martial arts techniques, which would gradually make one's internal energy more refined and powerful; the other was to cultivate internal energy methods and continuously circulate the Great Heavenly Cycle.
However, Tang Bowen could not use either of these methods. Due to his paralyzed legs, he naturally could not repeatedly hone his skills through practicing martial arts techniques. Moreover, he did not have any internal energy cultivation methods.
Of course, Xiao Yunlong possessed internal energy cultivation methods, but at that time, he had promised the mysterious old man that he would not pass them on privately without his permission. Therefore, it was naturally impossible to teach them to his elder cousin now.
As for Tang Bowen's current situation of merely circulating the Great Heavenly Cycle, it might allow him to absorb the essence of heaven and earth in extremely subtle ways to enhance his internal energy, but this speed could be described as glacial.
It could be said without exaggeration that if he relied solely on this method, even after a hundred years, Tang Bowen would not be able to cultivate to the level of a Grandmaster of Transformation.
It was precisely for these reasons that Xiao Yunlong thought of getting him some ancient artifacts imbued with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. On one hand, he did not want to bury his cousin's monstrous martial arts talent; on the other hand, it was also to repay the kindness the Tang family had shown him in the past.
Upon seeing Xiao Yunlong take out the three ancient artifacts, Tang Bowen, sitting in his wheelchair, was both surprised and delighted. However, he still waved his hands and declined, "Yunlong, these are all antique artifacts, treasures worth a fortune. I cannot accept them. Besides, you should probably use them for your own cultivation!"
"To ordinary people, they are indeed valuable antiques, but to me, they are just objects, and I don't need them for my cultivation. Please accept them!"
Xiao Yunlong placed the three ancient artifacts on his lap without further ado, then turned to leave.
"This, this is really..." Tang Bowen was momentarily at a loss.
Xiao Yunlong paused and said, "Almost forgot, using these things is very simple. When you circulate your Heavenly Cycle in the future, just place them at the lower dantian position!"
Tang Bowen no longer demurred and nodded heavily, "Yunlong, thank you this time..."
"We are brothers, why say thank you!"
Xiao Yunlong waved his hand and walked directly towards his grandfather, intending to chat with the elder about family matters.
However, the sisters Tang Wenya and Tang Zijun suddenly came down from upstairs and directly confronted Xiao Yunlong, shouting, "Xiao Yunlong, you troublemaker, why are you still here? You've already implicated our fourth aunt's family, and now you truly want to get us killed?"
Tang Wenya looked furious, with her hands on her hips, glaring directly at Xiao Yunlong.
Tang Zengshou, who was playing chess with his grandson, coldly reprimanded, "Wenya, what's wrong with you? Why are you yelling at Yunlong so early in the morning?"
"Grandpa, you ask me why I'm yelling at him? Why don't you ask what this troublemaker did yesterday!" Tang Wenya said indignantly.
Tang Zengshou naturally did not ask Xiao Yunlong and continued playing chess with his grandson as if nothing had happened.
Tang Wenya stomped her feet in anger.
At this moment, third aunt Mo Qingqing also came out from inside. Seeing the situation, she said coldly, "Old Master, it seems you don't know what happened yesterday. Let me tell you, yesterday, this troublemaker Xiao Yunlong not only broke the legs of the young master of the Sun family but even openly killed Sun Lihu. You should know who Sun Lihu is, right? He's a captain in the Jiangdong City Lord's mansion!"
"And that's far from all!" Tang Wenya said, hands on her hips, gritting her teeth. "Originally, my fourth uncle saw that this kid Xiao Yunlong had some medical skills and could cure that strange蛊毒 (gu poison). So, my fourth uncle mediated. Originally, the Deputy City Lord of Jiangdong, Liao Huachen, had promised that as long as this Xiao fellow was willing to treat his father's illness, he would guarantee no further pursuit. However, this Xiao Yunlong refused to cooperate and even offended Deputy City Lord Liao Huachen!"
It must be said that Tang Wenya had a sharp tongue. She finished speaking without even taking a breath.
Her mother, Mo Qingqing, seeing her finish, immediately added, "Liao Huachen is the Deputy City Lord of Jiangdong, with immense power and influence. Offending him is tantamount to seeking death! Moreover, this Xiao fellow has also offended the Jiangdong Pavilion, and it's even said that he has provoked the Jiangdong Martial Alliance. Now that he has offended all three major supreme powers of Jiangdong, isn't this like a frog drilling into a snake's hole, seeking its own demise?"
"Old Master, say something! If this continues, we will be killed by this troublemaker!" Mo Qingqing and Tang Wenya shouted in unison.
Tang Zengshou had no choice but to put down his chess pieces and look up at the two, saying, "What do you want me to say?"
As he spoke, the old man narrowed his eyes and added, "I understand now. No wonder you rushed back from the Li family overnight. It turns out you were worried about Deputy City Lord Liao Huachen's retaliation?"
Tang Wenya snorted, "Can we not worry? After all, Liao Huachen had made it clear that he would not let this matter go. Moreover, he also said that anyone who dared to harbor this Xiao Yunlong would not be spared. Grandpa, what is the strength of our Tang family now? Let alone fighting the Deputy City Lord, even the Sun family is not as strong. What if that Liao Huachen finds out we are harboring him..."
"Shut up!" Tang Zengshou seemed to be angered and said coldly, "I'll tell you one last time. This is Yunlong's home. He can come and go as he pleases. No one can drive him away. If you are worried about being implicated, then leave now!"
"Old Master, how can you say such a thing? Wenya is your granddaughter, and Junwen is your true grandson. Although Xiao is also a grandson, he has the surname 'Xiao' from his mother's side!" Mo Qingqing cried out.
Old Master Tang slowly stood up, looked at the three of them one by one, and then said word by word, "Do you believe me if I say I will make my will now and pass all my property to Yunlong?"
At this, Mo Qingqing and Tang Wenya fell silent, as if their lifeline had been grasped. Finally, they could only obediently lower their heads and turn into the hall.
Xiao Yunlong shook his head secretly, "Alright, Grandpa, there's no need to be angry and harm your health. I heard that Sixth Uncle's side had some trouble, so I'm going to take a look!"
Saying this, he got up and walked away.