104 The trail left by a blind man (2/2)

An eyelid twitched. No longer having the patience to deal with Liu Suye's annoying personality, Peng Zhugen promptly saw himself out. His goal was simple, he wished to find out where that enigmatic Tu Caihe ran off to.

It should have been easy to spot a man, crippled with blindness and without a hand. But recalling the odd reports of the person that oversaw the wine supply gave Peng Zhugen doubts.

He was about to eagerly rush over to Tu Caihe's tent, which was aggravatingly on the other side of the camp, and tried to see if he could find traces of tracks. However, the simple act of getting there was a lot more difficult than he imagined.

There was a crowd blocking the path. He spotted a pretty girl atop a white horse. Chen Leike was there to greet her with others, mostly of the Ascending Dawn Sect.

”Young Master Chen! Did you miss Nan Chang?” She chirped loudly, falling into his arms that reached out to catch her. ”Have things been troublesome here without Nan Chang? Nan Chang brings news about the south! Do you want to hear about it? Nan Chang met up with Young Master Yuan and the Ivory Sword Saint on her journey. I had a lot of fun!”

Chen Leike laughed at her antics and scolded her lightly, ”Who gave you the permission to leave Reling? I have a feeling it wasn't the Sixth Elder! What happened to cultivating like a good little disciple?”

”Boo, Nan Chang was bored! Nan Chang misses Young Master Chen!” She shamelessly threw her arm around Chen Leike while veering her gaze to the crowd.

A lot of other Ascending Dawn disciples seemed to be trying to get her attention as well, ”Nan-guniang! How is my Dajie? She was sick when I left so I'm worried about her!”

”How's the border looking with Muguan Province? There hasn't been anything going on there right? My Shixiong is stationed in one of the southern watchtowers.”

She politely answered their questions and even handed off some items and letters.

Peng Zhugen tried to remind himself that he had more important things to tend to, but he couldn't lie and say he wasn't interested about news of the south.

The people who he left back home have been mysteriously quiet in terms of communication. And Peng Zhugen was naturally a private person who did not correspond often even when away for long periods of time. But he had caught wind of polarizing rumors about what was going on down there.

Of course, he couldn't admit that he wasn't aware of what was going on back in his own home, and he knew of Nan Chang briefly from the past. There was a time when Peng Jipei associated with such a floozy woman.

”Nan Chang,” he called her bluntly. ”So you've met with Yuan Xuelan.” Though they were not related by blood, they were still cousins. And thus it was appropriate for him to inquire without seeming too suspicious.

Nan Chang pulled herself away from Chen Leike and respectably bowed with hands clasped, ”Greetings Sect Leader Peng!” She gave him a honeyed smile before saying, ”Yes! I managed to meet up with him on my travels. He is doing quite well!”

”...Did you stop by at my Hidden Mist Manor?”

She tilted her head, her peach blossom eyes explored his and for a moment Peng Zhugen was fearful that she could discern his anxiety. But she made no comment about that, and simply answered, ”Unfortunately no. They were looking for Zhao Fanyu. I believe they've made their way to Haishang.”

Peng Zhugen let out a breath, both relieved and disappointed. ”Is that so? I see. Then I will be off, I have important matters to attend to.” He made his leave, only to stop and turned back around, ”Do not block the road. It is annoying and unsightly.”

Chen Leike chuckled, ”Hello to you too, Sect Leader Peng.” He said with a sarcastic tilt. But he was not given an answer either way and watched Peng Zhugen saunter off.

Only when the Sect Leader of the Hidden Mist sect was out of sights did he turn to Nan Chang and ask, ”Why did you lie?”

”Hm?” Nan Chang blinked up at him with wide innocent eyes, ”Isn't it better this way? I feel bad for Sect Leader Peng. He's already so stressed!”

Chen Leike raised a brow as he slipped an arm around her waist, ”Your kindness is wasted on a guy like that, my cute Xiao Chang'er.”

She giggled and leaned into him sweetly, ”Maybe! But I felt like being nice. Nan Chang can be cute too, don't you think?”

Chen Leike wasn't so sure about that but he only smiled and played along with her.

Outside of Tu Caihe's tent, there was no immediate evidence of a barrier and Peng Zhugen suspected that it could only be felt from inside the tent itself. But he was not interested in Tu Caihe's belongings and wanted to find the man himself. He looked around and asked people that came and went.

There weren't many people, aside from those that were stationed to keep watch. Most of the cultivators were busy either training, cultivating nearby or helping out with building the weapons they will soon use.

But no one claimed to see Tu Caihe leave his tent and were shocked when Peng Zhugen told them that he had left.

Was it that difficult to spot a blind man with a missing hand?

Apparently so. Tu Caihe was clearly using some sort of misleading spell.

Peng Zhugen however was not without his own tools. He pulled out a mist-dispersing lamp from his interspatial ring. People watched him curiously but since he was a sect leader and they were well aware of his personal task of finding the culprit for the wine poisoning, no one interrupted him or asked questions.

A trail of incense rose from the lamp, its smell saturating the air around him. He waved the lamp around the entrance of Tu Caihe's tent until the incense smoke warped into a thin, delicate line.

Perfect.

All Peng Zhugen had to do now was follow this trail to find that Tu Caihe!