He Yuzhu returns in Siheyuan

Chapter 893 Only Investigation

“Sir, look.” A team member carrying a longbow suddenly stopped and pointed to the gnawed tree stump next to him. “The teeth marks on this are still fresh, and the wood chips at the edges haven’t dried completely. It looks like they were just left yesterday. Judging from the size of the teeth marks, they should be from an adult bear demon. But there’s not a trace of demonic energy around here. It’s abnormally clean.”

The old man crouched down, his fingertips gently tracing the teeth marks on the tree stump—deep enough to bite through a trunk as thick as a bowl, undoubtedly the work of a bear demon. But his divine sense, like a pebble thrown into a bottomless pit, searched the surrounding area but couldn't detect even the slightest fluctuation of demonic energy, as if the bear demon had vanished into thin air after gnawing on the stump.

“Keep going.” The old man stood up, patted the dirt off his hands, his expression grew increasingly solemn, and the doubt in his eyes was like a thick fog that wouldn’t dissipate.

The group walked deeper into the valley for about an hour, crossing a miasma-filled swamp—a place usually teeming with venomous dragons, but now only bubbling black water and decaying aquatic plants remained. The sight before them stunned everyone—the valley, which should have been the entrance to the dragon's lair, was now completely empty, as if swept clean. Huge, palm-width dragon scales lay scattered on the ground, their former luster gone, dull like ordinary carapaces; the totems carved on the rock walls, symbols of the dragon's majesty, were slashed to pieces with sharp tools, and broken dragon horns could be seen in the rubble, their patterns blurred and indistinct.

But apart from that, there was nothing. There were no signs of a fight as expected, no dragon corpses, not even a trace of the dragon's unique, oppressive aura. It was as if dragons had never existed here, and the scattered scales and horns were just illusions deliberately left behind to deceive people.

"This...how is this possible?" Wang Ran exclaimed in shock, the animal hide map in his hand falling to the ground with a "thud," covered in mud. "The dragon race are ancient divine beasts, with tough hides and thick flesh. Even if there was infighting, they should have left some traces. How could they suddenly disappear so cleanly? There's not even a trace of blood..."

The old man stood in the middle of the valley, eyes closed, a faint spiritual light emanating from his body. His divine sense spread out like an invisible net, carefully examining every inch of land and every crevice of rock. But the result remained the same—nothing but deathly silence, not even the scent of insects.

He slowly opened his eyes, a chilling glint flashing in them, colder than the mist in the valley.

There was nothing left in the misty forest.

This is even more terrifying than encountering a massive army of monsters—because you don't know whether behind that emptiness lies destruction or an even more despairing unknown.

The old man slowly raised his hand, a wisp of pale golden spiritual energy gathering at his fingertips, which he gently touched to the ground. The moment the spiritual energy entered the earth, it vanished without a trace, as if a pebble thrown into an icy lake had been frozen solid. His pupils contracted slightly—even the earth's spiritual energy had become lifeless; this was no natural phenomenon.

"Search." The old man uttered only one word, his voice as cold as ice.

The team members immediately scattered, their fingertips brushing against the broken horns, scales, and even digging through the rubble to examine the soil. But everything they touched was like a lifeless specimen, devoid of even the most basic elemental fluctuations. A skilled hound hunter released his hound, but the normally agile dog merely paced restlessly in place, barking wildly at the empty valley, refusing to take a single step forward.

“My lord,” the spirit dog master said, his face pale, “the spirit dog said… the ‘qi’ here is dead, as if it has been forcibly drained away.”

Wang Ran picked up the largest dragon scale. The scale's edges were still broken and serrated, clearly indicating it had been forcibly peeled off. Strangely, there was no trace of spiritual energy remaining at the break, and even the aura inherent in the dragon scale itself had vanished completely. It felt no different from ordinary animal armor. He squeezed it hard, and the scale crumbled into powder with a "crack."

"This is..." Wang Ran's voice trembled, "Dragon scales are harder than refined steel, how could they crumble so easily?"

The old man stood in the shadows of the ancestral hall, leaning on a carved wooden cane. The qilin pattern on the cane's tip was blackened by incense smoke, yet still gleamed faintly in the dim candlelight. His eyelids were droopy as he squinted at Wang Ran below the steps, his brows furrowed like a knotted old piece of wood. His voice was filled with suppressed urgency, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth: "Tell me, what exactly happened? The dragons in the Misty Forest, and those demons that have roamed there for hundreds of years, how could they all vanish overnight? Were they blown away by the wind, or did they evaporate into thin air?"

Beads of sweat trickled down Wang Ran's forehead, soaking his collar. He hunched over, his back bent like a taut bow, his voice filled with confusion and fear: "My lord, this is absolutely impossible. We've set up three layers of hidden sentries around the perimeter, keeping watch on all four entrances, day and night in shifts. Not even a mosquito could fly past. Let alone a giant like a dragon—its scales are visible from three miles away, and even a rabbit running out would be easily identified by the sentries. But these past few days, the sentries have reported that the forest is eerily quiet, without even the slightest trace of demonic energy, let alone any living creatures entering or leaving... What on earth is going on? I'm completely baffled. It's like... like the entire forest has been uprooted."

The old man slammed his wooden cane heavily on the ground with a dull thud, making the pebbles on the ground jump and the candlelight in the ancestral hall flicker, casting a long shadow of his. His face was ashen, his cloudy eyes swirling with shock and anger—he had never seen anything like it in his life. "What's going on? I need a straight answer!" he shouted, his cane leaving several white marks on the ground. "Was it wiped out by some reckless sect, or did they use some incredible magic to hide it? It can't just vanish without a trace! And the Dragon Pearl? Did it disappear with it?"

Wang Ran felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He was completely bewildered, so how could he possibly give a coherent answer? But faced with the old man's persistent questioning, he could only bite the bullet and agree, his head bowed even lower, almost touching his chest: "Rest assured, sir, I will immediately lead my elite disciples deep into the forest to investigate. We will dig three feet into the ground and search every fallen leaf to find out the truth. Whether they are dead or alive, whether they have fled or are hiding, I will give you an explanation."

The old man suddenly raised his eyes, a glint of ruthlessness flashing in them, like a wolf lurking in the shadows. He had hoped that the Dragon Pearl in the Misty Forest could help him break through the Golden Core bottleneck and stabilize the precarious situation caused by the surrounding enemies. Now, not only was the Dragon Pearl gone, but even the dragons and demons guarding it had vanished. Wasn't this cutting off his escape route? How could he not be furious? "Wang Ran," he said, enunciating each word clearly, his wooden staff twirling half a circle in his palm, the Qilin's fangs pointing directly at his wrist, "I'll give you ten days."