“You’re Han, right?”

“That’s right, Han. Han, as in ‘Zhou Quan’ for Zhou, and ‘Qing Shui’ for Qing.”

“Which family do you come from? I don’t think there are any Zhou families in Black Cloud Town.”

“I’m not from any family, Miss Yun. I come from an ordinary household.”

As they walked out of Black Cloud Town, Han and Yun Duo had this exchange.

The task that Lu Qingmo had assigned was not within Black Cloud Town but in a village located about ten miles west of the town.

“Oh,” Yun Duo nodded in surprise.

“Just call me Yun Duo,” she added.

“Then how did you end up studying under the teacher? Many people want to become his disciple, but he never accepts anyone.”

“I’m a disciple of the Taibai Martial Arts School, and the school sent me to study under Aunt Mo.”

Han could guess Yun Duo’s background, as Black Cloud Town only had one major family—the Yun family.

As long as there were people and descendants, there would always be family power, even in foreign realms. However, the formal disciples of the three great martial arts schools were not inferior in status or talent compared to the people from such prestigious families.

Han glanced at Yun Duo. She was quite cute, but nothing remarkable—ordinary in every sense.

“She’s really just ordinary, without any notable features,” Han thought.

“So, you’re a Taibai disciple. That explains a lot…” Yun Duo said, nodding before realizing, “You practice both martial arts and Daoist arts?”

“Yes.”

“You’re so impressive.”

“I’m Yun Duo, fifteen years old, from the Yun family. I’ve been learning Daoist arts from the teacher for two and a half years. I’m currently in the ‘Night Wanderer’ stage,” Yun Duo explained, her curiosity piqued.

“Han, what’s your level?”

The Daoist arts had two stages: Night Wanderer and Day Wanderer. The evil monk could be considered a Night Wanderer. Yun Duo, the girl walking beside Han, was currently at this stage.

Han, a bit helpless, faced her endless stream of questions.

“We’ve only just met, and you’ve got so many questions,” he thought.

“I just started soul cultivation. I’m still at the Visualization stage,” Han explained.

It was natural for temporary partners to discuss their strengths.

“Oh,” Yun Duo nodded thoughtfully. “No worries, soul cultivation is quick. You don’t need to rush.”

“I’ll protect you on this mission.”

Yun Duo had reached the third stage of soul cultivation after two and a half years of training, while Bai Ruoyue, the top martial talent of Black Cloud Town, took six years to reach the third stage in martial arts. The special nature of soul cultivation was evident.

However, soul cultivation couldn’t always progress that quickly. If they had to fight, even if they tied up several Yun Duos, they still wouldn’t be able to defeat Bai Ruoyue.

Yun Duo continued asking questions, and Han realized that she was quite talkative. He felt she was a bit naive, almost like she wasn’t quite all there.

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Whether she was truly naive or just pretending, Han couldn’t tell.

Soon enough, they arrived at the task location: Gao Family Village.

A name that instantly filled Han with an urge to complain.

They weren’t going to run into a pig demon here, were they?

“Yun Duo, do you have a plan?” Han asked, respecting the senior disciple, even though she was still a registered student.

After all, she had helped Lu Qingmo with many tasks, so she must have quite a bit of experience.

“Huh? Me?” Yun Duo glanced at Han and then at Gao Family Village, deep in thought. After a moment, she said, “I’m not sure.”

“…”

So after thinking for a while, that’s all she came up with?

“How did you solve things when you worked for Aunt Mo?” Han asked, unable to hide his disappointment.

Yun Duo replied honestly, “I went home and talked to my father. He sent someone to help me.”

That’s a solid excuse. Han thought, seeing the task-expert aura around Yun Duo dissipate, revealing her true identity as a fresh newbie.

Now, with a clearer perspective, Han understood. She was just a fifteen-year-old girl; it wouldn’t be fair to expect too much.

After all, the world had its Yang Xings, twelve-year-olds who committed murder, so it also had girls like Yun Duo.

“We’ll first check a few households and then go find the village chief of Gao Family Village to get a detailed understanding of the recent events,” Han said.

“Okay.”

Three days earlier, the villagers of Gao Family Village had reported several disappearances to the authorities in Black Cloud Town. Both adults and children had gone missing. The town’s garrison had investigated but found nothing, though they did uncover some clues related to Daoist arts. The matter eventually reached the Ghost and Spirit Affairs Bureau.

According to the garrison’s intelligence, Han and Yun Duo secretly went to the homes of the six missing people.

Many details were already recorded in the files, but the perspective of cultivators and that of ordinary constables were vastly different.

At the fourth house, Han and Yun Duo found something.

The missing person was a child, and under Han’s mental probing, he discovered several animal hairs hidden in a secret corner of the child’s bed.

“Could it be a demon’s doing?” Yun Duo asked.

None of the six families kept animals with such fur, nor were any of them involved in farming or butchery.

Han didn’t respond but collected the hairs and moved on to the next house. At the sixth household, they made the same discovery.

“What kind of animal is this fur from?” Yun Duo asked.

Han shook his head. “I can’t tell.”

There were so many animals in the world, and aside from chicken feathers, it was hard to immediately identify the fur of other animals.

“We shouldn’t go to the village chief’s house just yet. Let’s search the village for more of these,” Han suggested.

Without the constraints of a special underwater environment, Han’s mental reach had increased significantly, and it didn’t take long for him to search the entire village.

Sure enough, he found more of the same fur in the corners of the village, and following the trail led them to the southern part of Gao Family Village.

“They went south?”

During their search of the village, Han and Yun Duo also discovered what animal the fur came from: donkey fur. Some villagers kept donkeys, and the fur matched perfectly.

However, the donkey fur they found didn’t match the color of the ones raised by the villagers.

They made their way to the village chief’s house, with Yun Duo following obediently behind Han, doing exactly as he instructed.

“Village Chief Gao, when you reported to the authorities, you mentioned that a wandering Daoist came to your village recently?” Han asked.

“Yes, that Daoist rested here for a while, asked for a bowl of water, and then left,” Village Chief Gao explained. “But not long after he left, people started disappearing in the village.”

“Is there anything south of the village? Where could they have gone?”

“To the south, there’s a teahouse. Further south, you’ll reach Niu Family Village,” the village chief answered.

“Do the villagers ever drive donkeys south?”

“Sometimes, yes. A few days ago, someone bought several donkeys and headed south.”

Han continued asking the village chief a few more questions before leaving with Yun Duo, heading straight south.

Soon, they saw the teahouse, and in the distance, they spotted about ten donkeys tied up.

This time, the color matched perfectly.