"Did Xiaoyu not come back last night? What's going on?"
Jiang Ming's eyes narrowed. Although Lu Xiaoyu was rebellious and mischievous, she had never stayed out all night.
Lu Qingfeng quickly said, "As you know, now that Xiaoyu has sensed her blood Qi, she often goes near the mountains outside the city with her friends to practice martial arts. The mountain forest she goes to is on the periphery of the mountain range. There are only ordinary beasts there. They can't hurt people like her who could sense their blood Qi. That's why I let her go. Xiaoyu also knows her limits. She never goes deep into the forest and comes home on time every night. However, she didn't come back last night!" Lu Qingfeng looked worried. "And the others haven't come back either! Did they get lost in the mountains?"
"I don't think so!" Jiang Ming did not want to think negatively. "Lu Xiaoyu is young. However, she is more familiar with that forest than you, Old Lu. She's very unlikely to get lost there! Leave this matter to me. Old Lu, you don't need to worry about it anymore!" Jiang Ming said in a deep voice. Although he did not know where Lu Xiaoyu was, Jiang Ming had a hunch that she was in trouble. "Keep in touch with the family members of her friends. If there's any news, crush this jade talisman."
Jiang Ming handed Lu Qingfeng a white jade talisman. It was a type of communication talisman. Although it could not transmit accurate information, it could be used by mortals. As long as it was crushed, Jiang Ming would be able to sense it.
"Yan Chixia… who are you?"
Lu Qingfeng looked at the shimmering jade talisman and stammered. Jiang Ming was definitely more powerful than he let on.
"I will definitely bring Xiaoyu back!" Jiang Ming patted Old Lu's shoulder and quickly turned to leave.
The Black Horse Gang was one of the leading forces in Clearwater City. There was a first-class martial artist in the sect, and he was one of the strongest in the city.
However, today, in the deepest part of the Black Horse Gang's base camp, the famous leader of the Black Horse Gang was standing respectfully in front of someone.
"You said that you met some strangers in the mountains these days?" Jiang Ming was sitting on a bamboo chair and eating an orange. When he heard the other party's reply, he stopped and looked up at the Black Horse Gang's leader.
Although Jiang Ming did not deliberately reveal his strength in Clearwater City for more than a year, he had encountered hunters from the Black Horse Gang several times in the mountains outside the city. Once, he saved the life of the Black Horse Gang's leader by killing a mid-stage Qi Refinement Realm demonic beast. He also let the Black Horse Gang's leader know that he was an immortal cultivator.
After that, the Black Horse Gang had been trying to curry favor with Jiang Ming. They had helped Jiang Ming collect a lot of martial arts techniques in Clearwater City, which saved Jiang Ming a lot of effort. However, they did not find very many.
The Black Horse Gang's leader quickly explained, "Clearwater City is extremely remote, and there are very few outsiders hunting in the nearby mountains. Half a month ago, one of our hunting teams encountered a group of strangers. They took three of our members to guide them through the mountains and have yet to return."
"Your hunting team should also be made up of martial artists, right? Are the people who took them very strong?" Jiang Ming's eyes narrowed slightly.
"According to my subordinates' speculations, they should be immortal cultivators!" the Black Horse Gang's leader said in a low voice, his expression slightly uneasy.
Although he was a big shot in Clearwater City, he was essentially an ant in front of immortal cultivators.
"Immortal cultivators?" Jiang Ming was also surprised. He had encountered immortal cultivators passing by here. However, the spiritual energy here was thin, and no immortal cultivators had ever stopped here for long.
The nearby mountains were the same. The spiritual energy was absurdly thin there as well. The mid-stage Qi Refinement Realm demonic beast that Jiang Ming killed was one of the strongest demonic beasts in the area.
What was going on with the group of immortal cultivators that had appeared out of nowhere?
"Call your men over. I want to know the details of the matter," Jiang Ming said in a deep voice.
* * *
After two hours, a ray of green light rose from Clearwater City and flew out of the mountain.
"There are six or seven immortal cultivators. However, they don't seem to be very strong."
On the Spirit Sword Shuttle, Jiang Ming recalled the information he had just received.
According to the hunters of the Black Horse Gang who had not been caught, the place where they met the immortal cultivators was not far from the place where Lu Xiaoyu often went.
When they encountered them, the Black Horse Gang's martial artists also tried to resist. However, the other party had used talismans, magical tools, and other underhanded means to defeat their hunting team.
"The captain of that hunting team is only a second-class martial artist. If he were to encounter an immortal cultivator in the middle stage of the Qi Refinement Realm, he would not stand a chance. However, since they've used magical tools and talismans, it means that they won't be much stronger than the hunting team. Most of them should be early-stage Qi Refinement Realm cultivators."
Jiang Ming guessed that the Black Horse Gang's hunting team had just been frightened by the sight of the talismans and the magical tools. Otherwise, they might have been able to kill a few of them if they had fought head-on.
A streak of light shot out and Jiang Ming soon arrived at a mountain forest.
