Clan Cultivation: The Ye Clan

"what?"

"Maybe I saw it wrong."

"You must be mistaken, I didn't see anything."

The two people speaking were sent by the Zheng family to find Li Jie.

Unbeknownst to them, in that very instant, they missed the chance to learn the truth.

They found nothing and, after searching outside all day, returned to the city lord's mansion to report back.

Inside the city lord's mansion, Clan Chief Zheng glared angrily at his kneeling subordinate, demanding, "What did you just say?"

His subordinate was sweating profusely, but had no choice but to answer truthfully, "Master, after my investigation today, only two days ago did a servant see Li Jie at Yiran Residence."

"I saw him come out of Yiranju, looking hurried, and leave quickly."

After saying this, his subordinates quickly lowered their heads, not daring to look at Chief Zheng again.

What kind of place is Yiranju? It's an ordinary, dilapidated courtyard, but it also serves as a warehouse!

Chief Zheng pushed his subordinate aside and quickly left the study, heading towards Yiran Residence.

No, definitely not!

He wouldn't dare do such a thing, but if...

Impossible, impossible.

With anticipation in his heart, Chief Zheng strode towards Yiran Residence.

Upon reaching the door, I quickly took out my key and opened the door.

A surge of blood rushed to Chief Zheng's head, causing him to stumble and nearly lose his balance.

The subordinates who followed quickly stepped forward and helped Chief Zheng up.

The subordinate glanced cautiously at the warehouse before quickly averting his gaze.

He thought to himself, "This Li Jie is truly ruthless and heartless!"

He stole everything from this warehouse; that's ruthless.

Chief Zheng regained his senses, steadied himself, and walked inside, still unwilling to give up.

There's also a hidden door, yes, there's also a hidden door.

He strode inside, ignoring the people behind him, and quickly headed towards the cabinet.

I opened the cabinet and went inside.

Chief Zheng collapsed to the ground. It was over; it was truly over now.

The subordinates hiding by the door saw that Chief Zheng's expression was not good, so they wisely stayed at the door and did not dare to go in.

After waiting for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and seeing that there was still no response from inside, I hesitated for a moment, then mustered up my courage and went in.

Once inside, I discovered there was a hidden door.

Hesitating again and again, he cautiously poked his head out and looked into the hidden door.

Then they saw Chief Zheng sitting blankly on the ground.

They quickly went inside and helped Chief Zheng up.

Chief Zheng seemed to only come to his senses at this moment. He looked at his subordinates, steadied himself, pushed one of them aside, and shouted, "Go, bring the witnesses here."

"Ah...yes." The subordinate quickly left to fetch someone.

Chief Zheng looked at the empty house in front of him with a face full of regret. He had let a wolf into the house!

Regret it!

Before half a cup of tea could be brewed, his subordinate led in a slightly plump old woman.

As soon as the old woman entered, she sensed that something was wrong and immediately knelt down to greet Chief Zheng.

Chief Zheng didn't even glance at the old woman, and coldly asked, "Tell me everything you saw, in detail."

The old woman raised her head slightly, glanced at her subordinate, and hesitated whether to speak.

The men looked at the old woman and thought she had no sense at all. Was this the time to dawdle?

He went straight up and kicked the old woman, sending her sprawling to the side, cursing, "The master is asking you a question, why don't you just tell the truth or wait to be beaten?"

Chief Zheng glanced at his subordinates, then looked at the old woman and said, "Speak."

The old woman dared not cry out in pain. She quickly got up, knelt in her original spot, and said tremblingly, "That was the evening before last, right after the competition ended. I was sweeping the floor in the opposite courtyard when I happened to see Fellow Daoist Li walking this way. I was busy at the time and didn't pay attention to which courtyard he went to."

"Then how come you said you saw him walk out of this courtyard?" the subordinate asked hurriedly.

"I didn't see him at the time, but after I finished my work, when I was slacking off at the door, I saw him coming out of Yiranju. He looked hurried, that's all..." After saying that, the old woman was still a little guilty. Would the master punish her for slacking off?

Chief Zheng had no time to pay attention to such a trivial matter at the moment.

Upon hearing this, his face turned as black as ink.

"Can you be sure it's Li Jie?" Chief Zheng asked through gritted teeth.

“It was indeed him I saw,” the old woman said truthfully after thinking for a moment.

Upon hearing this, and seeing the expression on Chief Zheng's face, the subordinate still voiced his guess.

"Master, could it be that someone used magic to change their appearance and did this?"

Upon hearing this, Chief Zheng's cold gaze fell directly on his subordinate. "Do you have any evidence?"

The subordinate immediately lowered his head, "Not at the moment."

Chief Zheng glared at his subordinate, "Then why are you still talking?"

Has the messenger sent out to gather information sent back any news?

"Um...we haven't found Li Jie yet, nor have we found Ye Zhenzhen. The Ye family has also sent more people and they've been searching, but it seems they haven't found her either."

"Keep searching, find him alive or dead."

"Yes." The subordinate left to make arrangements.

Chief Zheng ignored the old woman who was still kneeling and left.

Cotton Rain Pavilion.

Ye Anbo received news that something seemed to have gone missing from the City Lord's Mansion, and that the Zheng Clan Chief had fallen ill from anger, ordering all Zheng Clan disciples to do everything in their power to search for Li Jie and Ye Zhenzhen.

Ye Anbo looked at the scout and asked, "Do you know what's missing from the City Lord's Mansion?"

The scout shook his head. "It's still unknown."

"Go down and continue gathering information."

Ye Anbo pondered to himself, what could the City Lord's Mansion have lost that would make Clan Chief Zheng so furious that he fell ill?

Something feels off, but what is it?

Ye Anbo unconsciously rubbed the thumb ring on his right index finger, thinking for a while, but still had no clue.

Just then, Ye Shibai returned.

Ye Amber stood up and bowed, and the two sat down.

Ye Shibai looked at Ye Anbo and said, "Anbo, I have already spoken with Clan Chief Zhou and Clan Chief Qi, and they are also very dissatisfied with this competition."

"I told them my conjecture about the City Lord's Mansion, and they were all very angry. They said they would be prepared and, if the Zheng family went all out, they would join forces to take over the City Lord's Mansion."

Upon hearing this, Ye Anbo frowned. "Taking over the City Lord's Mansion isn't difficult, but if the people behind the City Lord's Mansion come, it might be hard to deal with them."

“We’ve discussed this issue together. Chief Qi said he has a way to control Chief Zheng and make him a puppet.”

"Oh, I've never heard of that before!"

"Yes, the Qi family is not to be underestimated. But let's put that aside for now. What are your thoughts on taking over the City Lord's Mansion?"