"This is strange." Zhou Yang frowned.
In Dingbei City, Dashun Trading Company mainly robbed male cultivators, while Taiqing Sect mainly captured female cultivators. Now that both male and female cultivators are being spared, which force could be responsible?
"Bai Meng, take us two to the street to have a look." Pu Zheng said.
"Okay." Bai Meng nodded.
"I'll go too, Lin Cheng, please keep an eye on the station!" Tiehu naturally didn't want to stay in the house, but the station couldn't be empty, so he told Lin Cheng to stay behind.
"Okay." Lin Cheng was naturally unwilling to stay alone at the station, but Tie Hu beat him to it, so he had no choice but to stay.
The four of them headed south and arrived at the small Free Square Market in a short time. There are not many stalls in the market, but the sounds of selling and bargaining come and go, making it really lively.
They walked through the stalls, and the stall owners all knew Tiehu and others and greeted them one after another. Tie Hu was also talking and laughing with them, and Zhou Yang smiled for a while. This senior brother was really a familiar person.
Tiehu and Baimeng led Zhou Yang through a small alley at the southern end of Tongshun Street and arrived at the boundary street between Tianxing Gate and Daye Sect.
The scene on Jie Street was very different from that of Ziyoufang City just now. Not only the Tianxing Sect, but also the entire street was sparsely populated, and the shops in front were deserted and no one cared about them.
Some shops have long been closed and locked, and Nuo Dajie Street looks very depressed. Only the posters of a wine shop not far away are still fluttering in the wind, and there are people walking around in a tailor shop next to the wine shop.
"It's all caused by the cultivator's disappearance. The Boundary Street was bustling before. Alas!" Tiehu sighed.
"Where is the missing family?" Zhou Yang asked.
"It's right behind the wine shop." Bai Meng said.
"Let's go take a look."
Bai Meng hurriedly walked a few steps, leading the way.
After bypassing the wine shop, there is a small alley behind, with dozens of households on both sides of the alley.
Bai Meng and Tie Hu took the two of them into the alley and stopped at the main entrance of a house.
"This is it." Bai Meng took the lead into the courtyard, and the three of them followed one after another.
The yard is not big. There are three main rooms directly opposite the gate and several side rooms on both sides. There are some plants and trees planted in the yard. It looks like an ordinary house.
Hu Zhiran and Zhong Ming, who were sitting in the living room, saw Zhou Yang and others coming in, so they stood up to greet them. A young man standing opposite them with his hands lowered hurriedly moved away and turned to look at Zhou Yang, his eyes filled with sadness.
This man is not tall and has a cultivation level of Lingtai Level 5, which shows that he is the master of suffering.
There were several cultivators in the room, and Myolie was among them. After seeing Zhou Yang, her eyes suddenly shone.
"Captain Pu, Brother Zhou, why are you here?" Hu Zhiran said, cupping his fists.
"The two of us came to Team 36 to perform our duties. When we heard about the disappearance of cultivators, we came over to take a look." Pu Zheng nodded.
"Thank you both."
"Captain Hu, what's going on?" Zhou Yang glanced at the young man and asked Hu Zhiran.
"This man's name is Liang Yu. He is the eldest son of the owner of this family. When he returned from an outing yesterday, his house was empty. His father, younger brother and younger sister had all disappeared." Hu Zhiran glanced at Liang Yu and said.
"Oh. Then don't they have any relatives or friends in Dingbei?"
"No, his family has been staying in the hospital recently. Even if he goes out, he only goes to Tongshun Street to walk around. He has never stayed overnight." It seems that Hu Zhiran has already asked clearly.
"There are no signs of a fight?"
"No. I sent people to search the courtyard. There were no signs of fighting or any useful clues."
"What kind of cultivation level does Liang Yu's family have?" Pu Zheng asked.
"His father is at the sixth level of the Lingtai, but he is injured. His younger brother and younger sister are both in the middle stage of Kaiyuan."
"Oh. When did Brother Liang leave the house? Before leaving, did your father do anything unusual? Or did he tell you anything?" Zhou Yang turned to Liang Yu.
"When I left home three days ago, my father didn't have any explanations, nor did he do anything unusual." Liang Yu bowed and replied.
"Oh. He disappeared within three days. Captain Hu, have you asked the neighbors and others?" Zhou Yang asked again.
"The police asked and said that they saw Liang Yu's father at noon the day before yesterday. The time of disappearance should be the night before yesterday or the morning of yesterday. The possibility of committing the crime during the day is very small, so it should have happened late at night the day before yesterday."
"Oh. Captain Hu, what do you think of this?"
"Brother Zhou, how about we return to the station and discuss it in detail?" Hu Zhiran did not answer directly, but winked at Zhou Yang.
Zhou Yang understood, so he nodded and said: "Okay, let's go back to the station first."
"Captain Hu, please make the decision for me and find out the whereabouts of my family as soon as possible!" Seeing that Hu Zhiran was about to leave, Liang Yu hurriedly bowed deeply and begged with tears in his eyes.
"Don't worry, I'll find out later." Hu Zhiran comforted and led everyone out of the courtyard.
"Is there a strange smell?"
"Exactly, but it was just a lingering fragrance. It has probably dissipated by now." Zhou Yang nodded.
After leaving Jie Street, before Hu Zhiran could speak, Zhou Yang told Hu Zhiran what he had discovered.
When he first entered the living room of Liang Yu's house, he smelled a faint fragrance, if it was there or not, if Zhou Yang's senses weren't so sharp, he wouldn't have been able to detect it.
"I haven't even heard of it. Brother Zhou, it's really you!" Hu Zhiran glanced at Zhou Yang with a strange expression.
This guy is not only powerful, but he also has such keen senses and smells. How did he do it!
"Liang Yu's younger sister is only fourteen years old. It is said that she cannot use spices at this age. There are only grasses and no medicine in the yard, and Liang Yu, his father and younger brother do not use spices. So where does this strange fragrance come from?" Zhou Yang analyzed.
"Are you talking about the bandits who sneaked into the hospital?" Pu Zheng said.
"It's possible. I heard that similar incidents happened before?" Zhou Yang changed his tone.
"Yes, two incidents happened a month ago, one behind the tailor shop, and the other on the territory of Daye Sect." Hu Zhiran nodded.
"Did it happen at the same time?"
"Exactly. In both cases, the family disappeared after the person with the highest cultivation level went out, and there was no sign of a fight in either case."
"Oh, at what level are the two families with the highest cultivation level?"
"Lingtai late stage. Do you mean to say that the cultivation level of the bandits sneaking into the courtyard should not exceed the Lingtai late stage?"
"It's very possible, and the number of people is not large, or they didn't think about robbing them by force."
"That's right, the strange fragrance in Liang Yu's house should be caused by a kind of ecstasy medicinal herb. Those bandits sneaked into the yard and knocked people unconscious before taking them away, so there were no traces of fighting. Is that so, Zhou? brother?"
"I think so. What do you think, Captain Pu?"
"If it was a female robber who committed the crime, she might leave a scent behind!" Myolie interjected.
"This possibility cannot be ruled out." Pu Zheng nodded.
"Haha, this is really possible!" Tie Hu agreed.
"But even if there were, there wouldn't be only one female cultivator, otherwise she wouldn't be able to take three of them away at the same time." Zhong Ming said.
"It's a pity that I didn't smell the scent you mentioned. Otherwise, it would be possible to find out whether it was the scent of the female cultivator or some other scent." Myolie said with some regret.
"Yeah, you're the only one who smelled that fragrance, and there's nothing we can do about it." Tiehu shrugged.
Because Liang Yu had not made any enmity with anyone, nor had he failed to repay his debts, the possibility of being committed by his enemies was ruled out, and his family did not have the habit of staying away from home overnight.
There are various signs that there should be robbers sneaking into the hospital and taking Liang Yu's family away. As for the process and details, they don't know.
In fact, Hu Zhiran has already reached the above conclusion through investigation, but there is no evidence.
Now Zhou Yang said there was a strange smell in the living room, which further confirmed his guess. This is probably what happened in the previous cases of cultivators disappearing.
Hu Zhiran had heard in Anping that Dashun Trading Company in Dingbeicheng started by selling cultivators, and he had also heard about the Taiqing Clan's abduction of female cultivators.
This matter also happened on the territory of Daye Sect, and Daye Sect was a vassal of Taiqing Sect. It stands to reason that rabbits don’t eat grass beside their nests, so it shouldn’t be Taiqing Sect’s fault.
Then there is only one possibility left.
But isn't Dashun Trading Company afraid of arousing public anger by doing this?
Hu Zhiran also reported the matter to Song Dahu. Song Dahu did not express his opinion and only said not to investigate further.
It seems that this incident is no accident. The mastermind behind it must not even be able to offend the Tianxing Sect.
If it was really Dashun Trading Company, then all their speculations would make sense.
Zhou Yang also meant this, but what could they do? Even the Tianxing Sect cannot afford to offend forces, and a small thirty-sixth team is not worth mentioning.
But in the long run, the prestige of Team Thirty-Six here will be seriously damaged.
This matter is very difficult. It is neither an investigation nor an investigation. It is a dilemma. Although the cultivation world adheres to the law of the jungle, Team 36 has an obligation to ensure their safety after receiving protection fees from others.
Zhou Yang and others frowned deeply.
After some discussion, the leaders decided to return to the station and immediately convened a meeting with all members of Team Thirty-Six.
Team Thirty-Six currently has thirteen members, including three late-stage Lingtai cultivators, six mid-stage Lingtai cultivators, and one early-stage Lingtai cultivator.
At this time, Li Tong and Mo Weinan had already reached the peak of Kaiyuan, and Myolie was just a hair away.
At the meeting, Hu Zhiran announced three orders in public:
1. The previous cases of missing cultivators will no longer be investigated, but arrangements must be made to comfort the families of the missing cultivators.
2. The thirty-sixth team all entered the station and were divided into three groups to patrol the area under their jurisdiction. Each group was composed of one late-stage Lingtai cultivator and two mid-stage Lingtai cultivators.
3. If you encounter bandits, if you are unable to kill them all, just scare them away without pursuing them. He did not explain the specific reason for this, and could not explain it.
Hu Zhiran divided the work among all the members. He, Zhong Ming and Wang Dahai were in a group; Pu Zheng, Lin Cheng and Liu Wen were in a group; Zhou Yang, Bai Meng and Wu Changan were in a group.
Tiehu, Li Tong, Mo Weinan and Xing'er are responsible for guarding the station and liaison matters.
