Could it really have been someone else who did it?"
Sha Tongtian was full of doubt, wondering when he had offended such a master.
Peng Lianhu said earnestly, "That kid, for now, don't touch him. If he's connected to the murderer, as long as he's with us, the murderer will show up sooner or later."
"Once we're in the Prince's Manor, we can ask Lingzhi Shangren and the others for help. We'll definitely be able to take down the opponent!"
The more Sha Tongtian listened, the more he felt Peng Lianhu made sense, nodding repeatedly.
Guo Jing, locked in the Prince's Manor dungeon, felt more and more wronged the more he thought about it. He truly hadn't committed murder.
But besides him, there was no one else at the scene.
Suddenly, a figure flashed through Guo Jing's mind.
That scholar in a long gown, who seemed utterly powerless!
"Even though I accidentally implicated you, you took my money, stripped me of my coat, and then you even framed me!"
"Bad guy, don't let me find you!"
Guo Jing, who couldn't even curse properly, immediately shed tears of grievance.
After surviving the great disaster, Chu Yang's life didn't change much. He still taught during the day and listened to stories at night.
Previously, Chu Yang only occasionally went to the teahouse to listen to stories.
But ever since Xiao Huang suddenly disappeared, his visits to the teahouse became more frequent.
Chu Yang would habitually order a table of food and wait from dusk until nightfall.
He thought, what if one day, while eating, that smelly brat suddenly popped out from a corner…
But for several days in a row, Xiao Huang was nowhere to be seen.
He had simply vanished into thin air, as if he had never appeared in this city.
"That smelly brat usually has such a foul mouth and is so cheap; could he have offended someone, been beaten to death, and thrown into a ditch?"
The more Chu Yang thought about it, the more he felt it was possible. Xiao Huang was always disrespectful when joking with him.
He interacted with the other person using a modern mindset and didn't see any problem, but others, especially those with status and position, would certainly not accept it.
If he offended some high-ranking official or noble, the outcome would be unimaginable.
In ancient times, where human lives were as cheap as grass, for a beggar like Xiao Huang, let alone one dying, even if a hundred died, no one would care.
"Even if I report it to the authorities, the government might not care about the life or death of a small beggar. To find him, I have to rely on myself."
Having transmigrated to this world for so long, Chu Yang couldn't find a second person he could call a friend besides Xiao Huang. He found it very difficult to stand idly by.
The difference in values between modern people and ancient people was not just a little bit. Chu Yang found it harder to find someone he could talk to on a daily basis than winning the lottery.
If Xiao Huang really kicked the bucket, Chu Yang would have to return to the predicament of having no one to talk to for a long time.
Returning to a spiritual wasteland was a very terrifying thing.
After a hurried dinner, Chu Yang once again went to the City East Earth God Temple. Although Xiao Huang wasn't there, most of the city's beggars gathered in this place.
When it came to finding people, if Beggar Clan disciples said they were second, no other force would dare to claim first.
As soon as Chu Yang entered the temple, he was hit by a stench that almost made him vomit his dinner.
"Mr. Chu."
The beggars in the temple brightened at the sight of Mr. Chu.
Immediately, they swarmed out and surrounded Mr. Chu in no time.
The beggars at the Earth God Temple were very familiar with Mr. Chu, because this "Mr. Chu" often gave them food and was considered one of the top philanthropists in the beggars' hearts.
Chu Yang didn't disappoint them. He bought a lot of delicious food on the way. After all, it was a bit awkward to ask for help empty-handed.
After tossing roast chicken, steamed buns, and a pile of colorful food to the beggars, Chu Yang began to explain his purpose.
Hearing that Chu Yang wanted to find someone, the beggars displayed the demeanor of Beggar Clan disciples, shedding their usual lazy and slovenly appearance and becoming incredibly serious.
"Mr. Chu, don't worry. As long as the person you're looking for is still within Southern Song territory, we will dig three feet deep and find him."
The spokesperson of the Earth God Temple, a six-pouch disciple named Dayong, made a solemn promise, thumping his chest loudly.
"Then I'll leave it to all of you."
Chu Yang cupped his hands towards the beggars in the temple, acting very courteously. As a renowned scholar in the ten-mile radius, he certainly gave these Beggar Clan disciples enough face.
Dayong grinned from ear to ear. With his vanity satisfied, he became exceptionally attentive to the matter.
Before Chu Yang even left, Dayong began to instruct his subordinate Beggar Clan disciples to go out and search for the person.
The beggars scattered, and the Earth God Temple immediately became deserted.
Finding someone wasn't something that would yield results in a short while. Seeing this, Chu Yang didn't linger and left the Earth God Temple before it got dark.
Three mornings later, as Chu Yang was teaching his morning class, there was a sudden knock on the courtyard gate.
Chu Yang opened the door and saw that it was Dayong.
However, at this moment, Dayong didn't look as confident as before. He said in a grave, low voice, "Mr. Chu, we found the person, but… the situation is not optimistic."
Chu Yang frowned and asked, "Dayong brother, what do you mean?"
Dayong took a deep breath and explained, "Our brothers in the clan, based on the clues you provided, traced your friend's whereabouts. He seems to have been abducted by a young master."
"Originally, those brothers planned to help you rescue him, but that young man's martial arts were formidable. Our few brothers were no match for him at all, and they all got injured…"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Chu, it's our lack of strength. We couldn't help you."
Chu Yang didn't say much, but instead turned and went into the house, took out a money pouch, and directly stuffed it into Dayong's arms.
Dayong opened the pouch and was immediately startled to see the generous amount of money inside. He quickly handed the money pouch back, "You mustn't, Mr. Chu. I'm already ashamed enough for not being able to help you rescue your friend. How can I take so much silver?!"
Chu Yang pushed his hand back, shaking his head, "Take it. It's for the brothers to treat their injuries. Winter is approaching, and if they have injuries, they might not make it through."
"Treat them well, and make sure they don't suffer any lingering ailments."
Dayong's eyes immediately reddened. He tremblingly took the money pouch back. "Mr. Chu, you are a good person. I thank you on behalf of my brothers. However, please rest assured, I will find a way to ask the Chief Elder of the Main Altar for help with this matter."
"No need to trouble them." Chu Yang shook his head, "Just tell me all the information about Xiao Huang. I'll handle the rest myself."
Dayong became anxious and urged, "Mr. Chu, please don't be impulsive. That person is truly a master. You, a scholar with no power to truss a chicken, cannot defeat him."
Chu Yang smiled, "I'm not that foolish. I'll ask someone else to act when the time comes."
Dayong didn't know what other masters Chu Yang knew, but seeing his confident demeanor, he stopped trying to dissuade him.
"The person who abducted your friend doesn't seem to be a master from the Central Plains martial arts world. His martial arts techniques have a bit of a Western Regions feel."
"Currently, they are in a Prince's Manor in Yanjing City…"
Dayong recounted the specific situation, and the more Chu Yang listened, the stranger he found it.
Logically speaking, if Xiao Huang had offended someone, he would most likely have been killed on the spot. What kind of master would abduct a small beggar to such a distant place?
"Damn it, could these two have had a romantic dispute?"
"Most likely not a proper master…"
Chu Yang subconsciously imagined a splendid male-on-male drama, then shivered violently, feeling a chill in his heart.
"Damn, suddenly I don't really want to save him anymore…"
The next day, after Chu Yang finished his last class, he announced the decision to close the private school for holidays to his students.
Cheers erupted, and the courtyard was once again a scene of chaos.
Seeing them so happy, Chu Yang also smiled happily, and then immediately assigned a large amount of holiday homework, ensuring that the flowers of the motherland could spend every day productively.
The cheers abruptly stopped. The bear children were dumbfounded, then cried tears of joy.
Chu Yang nodded with a smile, and pushed the door open, leaving contentedly.
Yanjing City was located within the territory of the Jin Kingdom, serving as its capital.
It was quite far from the small Southern Song city where Chu Yang resided.
In this chaotic, integrated world, the geographical map was completely different from the one in Chu Yang's memory; his previous knowledge of geography held no reference value.
Maps were rare in ancient times. Chu Yang searched the entire small city but couldn't find a complete map.
Finally, the storyteller at the teahouse gave Chu Yang a somewhat worn-out parchment map.
This map had accompanied the storyteller on his travels north and south, and it was so worn it had developed a patina. Someone with slightly poor eyesight might not even be able to make out the text marked on the map.
Chu Yang sighed, taking the map and preparing to set off.
Actually, Chu Yang wasn't worried about the map being unclear. He planned to fly there anyway, so long as the general references were correct.
Under the cover of night, Chu Yang used Super Lightweight Rock Technique to fly high into the sky. No one noticed him in the pitch-black night.
Looking down from high altitude, the scenery was remarkably similar to that patinated map, with a hazy feeling.
In the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, Chu Yang had already reached the Southern Song border and saw a majestic frontier pass.
Beyond that lay the territory of the Jin Kingdom.
Chu Yang crossed the border pass and soon arrived in Jin Kingdom territory, seeing city after city. Yet, he didn't feel as if he had "gone abroad," because from the architectural style, there was no discernible difference between the two sides.
Following the direction indicated by the map, Chu Yang flew straight, and Yanjing City soon appeared before him.
Compared to the small Southern Song city he had lived in before, the Yanjing City before him was more than ten times larger. From a distance, it looked like an ancient beast dormant on the earth.
Even in the dead of night, the city was still brightly lit, appearing very prosperous.
The Jin people seemed not to bother much with curfews.
The brightly lit Yanjing City made it difficult for Chu Yang to land. After flying a circle around the city, Chu Yang finally landed in the relatively quiet northern part of the city.
This seemed to be a residential area for commoners, far less bright than other places.
The common people worked from sunrise to sunset, and it was utterly quiet.
"Yanjing has many high-ranking officials and nobles, and there's more than one Prince's Manor. Where exactly is that Xiao Huang?"
"It's late at night now, and most people are sleeping. Observation Haki won't work; I can't perceive anything…"
"Forget it, I'll find a place to sleep and worry about it tomorrow."
Chu Yang walked alone on the main street, and it was very quiet around him.