My best friend asked me if I was still doing system tasks.

When Luo Hanying saw the baby crying loudly after losing his mother's milk, his father said that if there were no other way, he would not have let him fend for himself. But are goat milk, cow milk, and rice soup really that rare?

A poor family can't even afford to feed and clothe their children.

The wife, who lost her husband, shoulders the burden of the family alone. She says she is lucky because she has a small stall at home where travelers can rest and she can earn a little money from them.

Her husband was already idle, and now that she was the only one managing things, there were fewer arguments. Her in-laws were in tears all day and bedridden, and they didn't have time to complain about her.

In a estranged couple, the absence of one partner can actually provide breathing space.

There are even families left with only elderly people living alone and young children, and couples who support their families have disappeared together. What will become of their future?

An endless sorrow spread through the town; they lost their families, their friends, their passion for life, and their hope for survival.

Jin Caiyu complained that she hadn't gotten any useful information after visiting people all morning.

Luo Hanying thought for a moment and comforted her, "Don't say that, you guys are still quite capable."

Actually, I couldn't understand the old people's speech very well. It was all dialect and accent, so I could only understand a little bit by guessing.

It takes real skill for you to be able to discern what's useful and what's nonsense from their words.

Everyone:...

Ran Jie: "Junior Sister Luo, this isn't how you comfort someone."

Luo Hanying chuckled twice to cover her embarrassment.

Jin Caiyu knocked on another courtyard door, and a young man slowly opened it. Upon seeing their appearance, he knew they were cultivators.

"What brings you here, esteemed immortals?" the young man asked cautiously, blocking the doorway.

Jin Caiyu glanced at the contents of the jade slip and then said, "You must be Guo Maoxin, right? Your wife, Di Hong, has disappeared, is that right?"

Guo Maoxin didn't know why they were asking about this, so he nodded and said, "Yes."

Excuse me, what is this place?

Jin Caiyu's small face was serious: "It's like this, we are cultivators from the Shiren Sect. We were entrusted by the Lu family to search the residence of the missing people and ask their relatives and friends about the details before their disappearance."

Guo Maoxin then invited the man into his home. He hurriedly placed a pot of hot water on the table and nervously rubbed his hands together, saying, "I am truly sorry, my esteemed immortals. My wife was responsible for preparing the tea leaves at home, but she has now disappeared, and I do not know where the tea leaves are. I cannot serve you any tea."

"That's alright, don't bother, we still have to go to the next household after we finish asking."

Lan Shihai smiled and patted Guo Maoxin on the shoulder, saying, "Please sit down."

Ran Jie's clear eyes fell on Guo Maoxin, and she politely asked, "Would you mind if we searched your house for clues?"

Guo Maoxin immediately replied, "Sure! Of course! My family doesn't have anything valuable, so please search freely, Immortal Master!"

Jin Caiyu conducted her routine questioning, while Fu Xueyun assisted in taking notes. The remaining people then split up to search the interior and exterior for details.

Luo Hanying was not as good at investigating details as Ji Daoyun and the others, so she simply took the bronze mirror made of spiritual energy and used it to look at the scene inside the house. After all, sometimes the human eye cannot see some things, but the bronze mirror can, such as the formation in the forest.

A light flickered in the mirror, and Luo Hanying excitedly approached, clutching the bronze mirror. She then rummaged through Di Hong's dressing case and found a bead imbued with spiritual energy.

The beads were engraved with patterns, but she didn't understand ancient patterns and couldn't make out what they were.

"Junior Uncle, come and look at this bead. There's an array on it."

Luo Hanying called out to Ji Daoyun, handed him the bead in her hand, and then said, "My mirror discovered its unusual nature. I don't know what the formation on it is, I can only tell that there is a formation."

She had never seen such a formation before, and the formation was not functioning, so she had no way to deduce its location and find the key point.

Ji Daoyun held the green bead in his palm, extended his divine sense to observe it, and then quickly summoned a glass box to seal the bead inside.

He interrupted Jin Caiyu and Guo Maoxin's conversation and asked him, "How did you get this? Given your family's circumstances, you wouldn't buy such expensive jewelry for your wife, would you?"

Guo Maoxin could see the single bead on the braided bracelet through the clear glass, indicating that it was his jewelry.

"I can't quite remember if it was last year or the year before, but it was around the Flower Festival in February. Hongniang and I went out for a spring outing to celebrate the festival. Just then, the three brothers came to our Jinye Town to sell jade by cart. The price was very cheap, so Hongniang and I each bought a hairband and a bracelet."

Guo Maoxin recalled what happened back then and slowly said, "I remember they said that this kind of spirit jade was dug out of an abandoned spirit stone mine, so it was rich in spiritual energy. Wearing it for a long time can prolong life, keep you young, strengthen your body, and make you more energetic than usual when you work."

At the time, it seemed quite a few cultivators liked it. They said... oh right, they said it was a particularly good deal to be able to buy spirit stones with mortal gold and silver.

Ji Daoyun pressed for confirmation: "So, most of the people and cultivators in Jinye Town have bought such items?"

Guo Maoxin nodded: "Yes, you can buy spirit stones for just a few dozen coins, and they have so many effects, everyone is eager to get them."

The one I have is quite expensive; including the cost of the craftsmanship of the patterns and the skill of weaving, it costs one tael of silver.

The cheapest kind of bracelet, made of beads about the size of my little fingernail strung together, only cost seventy coins.

Ji Daoyun seemed confident and asked, "Was your wife wearing a hairband you bought from them when she disappeared?"

Guo Maoxin was taken aback, and after thinking for a moment, he nodded repeatedly: "She wore it! She had a new dress made in the color of Xiangfei those two days, which matched the pure white jade on her hairband. She always dressed like that!"

The matchmaker disappeared because of the spirit jade they sold?!

“Yes, there is a teleportation array on this spirit jade.” Ji Daoyun picked up the communication jade slip and contacted the Lu family to tell them the news.

Guo Maoxin slumped in his chair, his face pale, feeling both relieved and terrified: "Luckily, I didn't wear it because I thought it would be inconvenient to knead dough, otherwise I don't know where I am now..."

"Is your family's business selling noodles?" Luo Hanying asked casually.

"Yes, I usually need to knead dough and cut noodles, and I felt it was inconvenient to carry this thing around, so I reluctantly put it away."

Guo Maoxin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, "No wonder I was so reluctant to take this thing off back then, it turns out it was the problem..."

Ji Daoyun informed the Lu family of this news, asking them to remind the surrounding residents not to wear such things on their bodies anymore. He also told them to inquire whether any similar spirit jade items had flowed into the lives of ordinary people and cultivators.

At the same time, the Lu family also informed them of the new investigation results.