The three of them came to the entrance of the cave and found more than twenty marks left by antler blades on the cave wall, as well as several marks on the ground outside the cave.
Zhao Lin and Wei Shi used iron rulers and fists to beat every place. It took nearly an hour to deal with everything.
"Brother Zhao, it should be fine. Shall we go to Zhongyin Mountain now?"
Wei Shi raised his head to observe the nebula and judged that the time was approximately Chen hour, so he suggested.
Zhao Lin slightly waved his hand, "You go first, I'll wait for two more days."
Wei Shi was startled, "Why?"
Zhao Lin did not answer and asked instead: "Brother Wei, let me ask you a question: Whether it is the Sheng family or the sect, if you investigate the cause of Sheng Jinlong's disappearance, how will you proceed?"
Wei Shi thought for a while and replied: "Investigating the monks who were performing tasks when Sheng Jinlong entered the Yinfeng Realm."
Zhao Lin continued to ask: "How to investigate so many people? Are they tried one by one?"
Wei Shi pursed his lips and thought for a while, then asked tentatively: "See if there are any enemies?"
Zhao Lin nodded, "Yes, that's the idea. Motive is the key. Sheng Jinlong has offended many people. It is inevitable that conflicts may arise when they meet in a small world."
"So the first step in the investigation is to screen and find all the monks who have had issues with him."
"Or there may be no grievances in the first place, but they become enemies while performing a mission, such as discovering Yin Feng Grass or Star Peony at the same time, and then a dispute arises."
At this point, he paused and continued: "The second thing is strength. Sheng Jinlong's cultivation is at the ninth level of Qi Refining, and his magic weapons and talismans are all top-grade. It would be difficult for ordinary monks to kill him."
"So the second screening basis is to judge from the monk's cultivation level."
Wei Shi's face lit up with joy, "Then aren't we safe?"
Zhao Lin shook his head gently, "Not necessarily! If the first two rounds of screening have no results, the number of suspects will be further expanded."
"Don't forget, Sheng Jinlong asked us to do coolies for him on the spirit boat, but we didn't agree."
"When we arrived at Zhongyin Mountain, he used the divine seal technique to mark us, but he also failed. Others can see this."
Wei Shi frowned: "He is the one causing trouble for us, not us."
Zhao Lin smiled and said, "It's no use. Our suspicions are greater than others. What if we had a grudge and were waiting for revenge in the small world?"
"But we have a very strong reason to exclude suspicion: he is of low level and weak in strength. He cannot be his opponent, let alone kill him!"
"If I go and tell others that I killed Sheng Jinlong, will they believe it?"
Wei Shi shook his head, "I don't believe it."
"What if the two of us work together?"
"This... I still don't believe it, but it's much more likely."
Wei Shi looked suddenly enlightened after saying this, "Brother Zhao, let's go out separately and pretend we're never together, so we can get rid of suspicion!"
Zhao Lin smiled and said: "That's the truth. If someone asks about this matter, how will you answer?"
Wei Shi said simply: "It's just a sentence, I don't know, I haven't seen it."
Zhao Lin nodded, then told Wei Shi some techniques for dealing with cross-examination, and finally said: "Practice hard, and when your strength reaches a certain level, even if the Sheng family finds out, they won't be able to do anything to us."
Wei Shi gave a solemn salute, "Brother Zhao, see you later."
After speaking, he glanced at Li Yuanyou.
Zhao Lin understood and said with a smile: "Leave Daoist Friend Li's affairs to me. Brother Wei just goes out and understands the mission."
"Sorry, Brother Zhao..."
"Be careful on the road, see you soon."
Wei Shi identified the direction and walked towards Zhongyin Mountain.
Li Yuanyou originally thought that both of them were leaving, but he didn't expect Zhao Lin to stay, so he was naturally happy to have someone to keep him company.
Returning to the innermost cave, Zhao Lin suddenly thought that he had forgotten something.
There are three ways to absorb spells in the spiritual map. One is to absorb the soul, the other is to trace the spells during life from the bones, and the third is to capture them at close range.
When I killed Sheng Jinlong just now, I forgot about this and even burned the body.
A ninth-level Qi refining monk must know a lot of spells.
But then I thought about it, judging from Sheng Jinlong's performance, he should have the spiritual roots of metal and wood, which have no intersection with him.
"Forget it, be careful next time. Besides, if he really masters the master-level spell, I won't be able to kill him."
Zhao Lin felt relieved quickly, took a Sanyang Pill, took out the spirit stone, practiced martial arts, and at the same time considered whether there were any omissions in handling the matter.
After thinking about it, I think it's not a big problem.
After all the people were burned to ashes, even if the magic weapon and inner armor were disposed of, no matter how capable the Sheng family was, it would be difficult to find out that it was done by them.
But when it comes to talking about a thousand things, strength is the last word.
If you reach the Purple Mansion realm, even if the Sheng family knows the truth, there is nothing they can do about it. If you become a golden elixir, it will be the Sheng family's turn to worry.
Looking back on this sect mission, it can be said that it was full of twists and turns.
First, he met bandit cultivators, then he met ghosts and ghost cultivators after entering the small world, and then he met Sheng Jinlong at the ninth level of Qi refining.
As long as there is a calamity that cannot be overcome, life cannot be saved.
But correspondingly, the harvest is also really rich.
Those who caught the bandit cultivator were rewarded with 500 spiritual stones and 200 good deeds. At the same time, they also seized several spiritual stones, spiritual rice, and talisman pills.
He went into the Yinfeng Realm to perform a mission and picked a large amount of Yinfeng grass and star peony. He also learned a water-bending technique and obtained a piece of Wuyang Iron.
A double harvest of spiritual stone good deeds!
"Sure enough, wealth is gained through danger."
Zhao Lin sighed secretly, and suddenly felt something strange in his body, and his spiritual orifice seemed to be loose, so he quickly calmed down and started practicing his skills.
About the time I was drinking tea, a soft sound came from the "Qimen" point between the chest and abdomen - a spiritual orifice was opened!
"Surprisingly...this is okay?"
Zhao Lin was greatly surprised. There was very little spiritual energy in the Yin Wind Realm and the Yin energy was very strong. In addition, it was difficult to calm down and practice these days. Unexpectedly, a spiritual aperture opened up, which was faster than the training speed in the Spiritual Dao Academy.
After thinking for a long time, Zhao Lin came to the conclusion: Cultivation is not only about cultivating skills and spells, but also about cultivating one's body and mind. It means that one must constantly respond to external pressure in order to grow.
Especially as a martial artist, I need to fight and fight. This is similar to martial arts. Working behind closed doors will only lead to a dead end.
After thinking about this, Zhao Lin felt relieved and the path of cultivation became clearer.
Two days passed quickly, and on the third day, Zhao Lin left the cave.
"Brother Zhao..."
Before leaving, Li Yuan stopped talking.
Zhao Lin understood what he was thinking and said with relief: "I will report the matter to the sect when I get out, and then go to Sanshan County to inform your family."
"Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Li, the sect will definitely reward you for finding out the disappearance case 20 years ago. I will not hide it and report it regardless of circumstances or reasons."
Li Yuanyou heard what he said was reasonable, and felt much more at ease, saying, "Thank you very much."
Zhao Lin then asked again: "Can you think of your family now?"
Li Yuanyou said sadly: "Still not."
"It's okay, I should be able to remember it when we meet."
"Okay, I'll wait for your news, take care."
Li Yuanyou stretched out two tentacles, making a cupped hand gesture.
"Take care of yourself!"
Zhao Lin left the cave and went to the west of the Yinfeng Realm instead of going to Zhongyin Mountain.
According to the mission information description, the western part of the Yinfeng Realm is low-lying and densely covered with water networks. It is a water country.
According to previous experience, there are few spiritual herbs here, so monks rarely come here.
Zhao Lin was very cautious along the way, avoiding monks and hiding away when he encountered monsters. He only encountered a few ghosts that had not developed intelligence and dismissed them casually.
After walking for half a day, we walked into a beach.
There is a muddy pond in the beach, which is dozens of feet in diameter and exudes a putrid smell. There are many moss and calamus growing around it.
Zhao Lin found a stone and threw it over. The stone quickly sank to the bottom, popped up a few bubbles, and quickly returned to its original shape.
"This is it."
Zhao Lin took out Sheng Jinlong's inner armor and antler blade from his pocket.
Both of these things are very valuable, and their market value is only higher than that of Wuyang Iron.
But it has the emblem of the Sheng family engraved on it, and maybe even a secret mark. It must not be left on the body, nor can it be taken out of the small world.
With two "dong dong" sounds, Zhao Lin threw the inner armor and antler blade into the mud pond and watched them sink with his own eyes.
No matter how capable the Sheng family is, it will take a lot of time to find these two things.
…
At three o'clock in the hour, Zhao Lin rushed to Zhongyin Mountain.
The shuttle boat has stopped at the top of the mountain, and there are more than a dozen monks on the boat who have completed their mission and are preparing to return to the outside world.
When the monks saw Zhao Lin, they all had disapproving looks on their faces. They were probably thinking in their hearts: The low-level monks from the third level of Qi Refining had also come to join in the fun.
Zhao Lin didn't take it to heart. Cultivation represented a monk's status, and it was human nature to praise someone who was superior and to belittle someone who was inferior.
The monk in red who was driving the boat was the one who sent Zhao Lin in that day. He recognized him and asked casually: "Fellow Taoist, did that guy give you any trouble?"
Zhao Lin knew that the other party was talking about Sheng Jinlong, so he deliberately smiled bitterly, "I haven't met him. If I can't afford to offend him, why can't I hide?"
The red monk smiled and said "Yes", "Then you are lucky, go out and leave early."
Zhao Lin quickly thanked him and thought in his heart: "A monk usually stays in the small world for more than a month. In another twenty days, someone will definitely realize that there is a problem, and the Yinfeng Valley will be bustling by then."
Not long after, the boundary shuttle boat rose and carried the group of people through the barrier of the small world to the Shadowwind Valley.
After leaving the valley, Zhao Lin was hit by the dazzling sunlight and narrowed his eyes slightly.
I haven't seen the sun for many days, and I feel warm all over my body, giving me a feeling of returning to the human world.
The other monks behaved similarly to Zhao Lin, and some even burst into laughter.
Everyone transferred to the spirit boat and soon arrived at Zhouyi outside Qiuyang County.
Entering the Yinfeng Realm to pick spiritual grass is a state-level task. In principle, the task can be returned in any county in Xiniu State.
Zhao Lin didn't want to carry so many spiritual herbs around, so he went straight to Qiuyang County after getting off the boat.
The monks in the same boat had the same idea as Zhao Lin. A group of more than 20 people passed through the mountain gate and came to the Shanggong Hall.
Qiuyang County is not big, but the Good Merit Hall is not small, because it is close to Yinfeng Valley and Yinfeng Realm. Every day, monks come here to return tasks and exchange spiritual stones and good deeds.
This is the busiest time.
The Shanggong Hall in Qiuyang County has one deacon and three acting disciples.
The deacon is an old man with gray hair, sitting back on a chair, holding a newspaper in one hand and a tea cup in the other, looking very leisurely.
The Fang Bao is similar to the Tong Bao in the mortal world. It records the recent major events of the sect, military situation, news and rumors, the prices of various cultivation items, and the movements of the outer sect. It covers almost everything.
Three acting disciples sat behind the counter, receiving the monks who came to hand over tasks.
Zhao Lin looked at it for a while and found that most of the spiritual herbs handed over by the monks on missions only had a dozen or more, and most of them were Yin Feng grass with no good deeds.
"Would it be too ostentatious if I brought out nearly three hundred spiritual herbs?"
"It doesn't matter if you are more ostentatious, it means that I have been picking spiritual herbs and have no time to do other things. Sheng Jinlong's matter will not be suspected of me."
When I thought about it, I felt at ease.
The disciples doing the counting were quick, and it wasn't long before it was Zhao Lin's turn.
Zhao Lin took out the body-illuminating stone, the acting disciple checked the mission record, took out a stone box made of ground stone and placed it on the table.
"Put the spiritual herbs in."
The Distele Stone is a kind of stone produced in Yinfeng Valley. It contains the energy of the three yins and can preserve yin spiritual herbs and demonic insects for a long time.
Zhao Lin glanced at the stone box and immediately said: "This one is too small, change it to a larger one."
The acting disciple was stunned for a moment, said nothing, and took out a larger stone box from under the counter.
"Is this enough?"
Zhao Lin said calmly: "It's still not enough."
The face of the acting disciple changed, and he looked up at Zhao Lin. Seeing that he was only at the third level of Qi Refining, he sneered, "What a big tone, I want to see how many spiritual herbs you have picked!"
As he spoke, he took out the largest stone box from under the counter.
Zhao Lin still shook his head, "One is not enough, I need two."
The acting disciple said displeasedly: "Aren't you entertaining me?"
The conversation between the two attracted the attention of others, who all looked over curiously. Some of the monks who had returned the task originally wanted to leave, but they all stayed after seeing this.
The deacon, who had been silent the entire time, was reading the newspaper and drinking tea and said, "Give it to him."
The acting disciple glared at Zhao Lin and had no choice but to take out another large stone box.
The hall became quiet for a while, and even the disciples working at the other two counters stopped doing anything, wanting to see how many spiritual herbs Zhao Lin had picked.
Zhao Lin took off the lock bag, unlocked the restrictions, and dumped it into a stone box.
The star peony fell "thumping" and filled most of the stone box in the blink of an eye.
The practicing disciple opened his mouth wide and was speechless. The onlookers' monks' eyes were straightened, and there was a sound of astonishment in the hall.
Seeing this, the old man who had been reading the newspaper lost his composure and looked over in surprise, looking Zhao Lin up and down.
After a while, the star peony was poured out, and the dark wind grass began to fall, and the stone box was almost full.
Zhao Lin changed the stone box, and another large amount of Yin Feng Grass fell down.
The monks who came with Zhao Lin looked at each other, thinking: "I'm afraid the harvest of all of them combined is not as much as his alone."
The attitude of the disciple who received Zhao Lin immediately changed and he sighed: "Oh, there are too many! Slow down and don't spill it."
"Senior Brother Hu, Junior Brother Qian, come and help us count together."
The spiritual grass must be counted as soon as possible, otherwise the quality of the spiritual grass will be affected if it is exposed for a long time. (End of chapter)
