CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Li Feng first checks the first quadrant of the floor. With ground magic, and a spell similar to the one that allowed him to overhear the conversation in the restaurant, Li Feng can identify where people are moving across the stone floor. Every step makes a tiny vibration which gets sent to Li Feng, directing him to where the movement is happening.

Because Ya didn’t know where exactly she escaped from, Li Feng doesn’t investigate the apartments that open to the stairway. There are a few people here and there, but no groups larger than three. There’s the chance of part of the group not being on the ground, or being in a separate location, so Li Feng includes all groups of three or more in his search.

Most apartments don’t give Li Feng any signal back, their residents probably sleeping or away from their home. Six apartments have three people in them, and one has four. The first apartment Li Feng selects to search is the one with four people in it, and he immediately makes his way over to it.

The apartments on all levels of the mine look identical, and there is no way to look inside the apartment except for opening the door or the viewing hole, but Li Feng can’t open either of them from outside the apartment. Instead, Li Feng uses ground magic to open a small hole next to the door, allowing him to see inside the apartment. The magic is silent, and nobody in the apartment notices as Li Feng looks inside.

It’s four men sitting around a table and playing a card game. Li Feng doesn’t have any reason to believe they have something to do with Lam Bai’s disappearance, but he keeps his spell active around their room, ready to alert him if someone leaves. Closing the hole in the wall, Li Feng goes to investigate a room with three people in it.

In the end, none of the apartments show any sign of Lam Bai or five men that would have kidnapped her. Li Feng searches the remaining three quadrants of the level, in order, but doesn’t find anything there either. At last, having searched everywhere, he returns to the stairway and Ya.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Did you find them?” Ya asks.

“No,” Li Feng says, walking onto the stairway down. “I’m going to search the next floor.”

The seventy first level of the mine is similar to the seventieth, and Li Feng has the identical results from his search. There are a few groups of three and four, and a single group of five, but they are all doing ordinary things in their apartments. The seventy second and third levels are the same, and Li Feng restricts his search rooms with four or more people as he searches the remaining seven levels.

This search yields no results relative to Li Feng. Even after going back and looking through all the apartments with just three people in them, Li Feng doesn’t find any signs of Lam Bai.

“Maybe we should ask the Chen family for assistance,” Ya suggests as she and Li Feng ascend to the seventieth level of the mine.

“No, I will not ask another family for assistance,” Li Feng states. He had goals to become the next Heavenly Ascended Emperor. It would look bad if he was seen asking for help from other families instead of relying on his own power. Besides, Li Feng still has a few tricks up his sleeves.

“Then, what will you do now?” Ya asks.

“Tell me, has the mine ever flooded before?” Li Feng asks.

“That’s outrageous,” Ya says. “Of course not.”

“And how about cave ins?” Li Feng asks.

“Occasionally, but they’re usually constrained to a few levels,” Ya answers.

“Do the residents evacuate, or do they stay in their apartments,” Li Feng asks.

“I don’t know,” Ya replies. “I’m sure some come to the stairway and others stay at their apartment.”

“Follow me,” Li Feng says and ascends one level. “Tell me if you recognize any of the men from your attack,” Li Feng tells Ya, and the floor begins to shake.