After that day, most things developed as Yue Jinghua had expected, with Guo Ziyu and his wife successfully arriving at Fengdan County through the Transmission Array at Mazaro Mountain.
However, there was one aspect that differed; the Chaos Mantis, after vanishing that night, did not immediately launch an ambush on Sha Xi but instead went silent and left no trace, obviously smarter and more cautious than Yue Jinghua had anticipated.
Guo Ziyu and his wife left silently, causing Sha Xi and others who followed to find nothing.
Several mercenaries tasked with the job sealed off all the trails leading out of town to Xuan Beast Ridge, but found no traces of Guo Ziyu and his wife. It was as if they had used the Earth Tunneling Technique and vanished overnight.
This infuriated Sha Xi even more, and she raged like thunder in the inn that she stayed in, while her maid reminded her, "Divine Goddess, if we can’t find Ximing, we could just look for that young mercenary again. You remember, that day, the young mercenary was with Ximing’s group."
"Right, have Li Rui and his people bring that greenhorn mercenary back to me for a thorough interrogation. If he doesn’t talk, then give him the Heartless Water to drink," Sha Xi said with a satisfied smirk.
Heartless Water is an interrogation concoction developed by the Divine Court, which causes those with weak will to lose their minds and answer any questions posed to them upon its consumption.
To their knowledge, the mercenaries hurried back to report that they could not locate Yue Jinghua.
"How do you people conduct business? Can’t find someone, and now you can’t even capture a little mercenary," Sha Xi scolded, feeling like everything had been going wrong since arriving at Five Saints Town.
Li Rui stood there, a Five-star Mercenary, his face ashen with humiliation. If it weren’t for Divine Pattern Sha Yan’s sake, he would not tolerate being bossed around by a girl.
After swallowing his pride, he stepped forward, "Lord Sha Xi, the brothers are not to be blamed for this. The small team you mentioned did not pick up any tasks from the local branch, so it doesn’t have a record of the boy’s whereabouts. I’ve already asked around, and it seems that his small team recently took on a civilian task and went into the forest to gather ingredients as a group."
"Gathering ingredients? Hmph, Ximing might very well have slipped away with them secretly. How big can the Xuan Beast Ridge be? Let’s enter the forest together and find them," Sha Xi decided without a second thought.
Indeed, Yue Jinghua and her companions had just accepted a task related to food ingredients.
This task to find food ingredients was initiated due to Hops. Original content can be found at Nove1Fire.net
Unable to find hops in Mountain Market, and after Guo Ziyu and his wife had fled to Fengdan County for refuge, Yue Jinghua had no choice but to temporarily put off the brewing of beer.
However, one day, while having breakfast at White Moon Pavilion, she unexpectedly found hops in one of the breakfast dishes.
Upon inquiry, she learned that the dish was prepared by Chef Mi Xiu of White Moon Pavilion. When questioned about the hops, Chef Mi Xiu immediately realized what she was asking about.
White Moon Pavilion is a well-known resort-style inn and dining establishment in Five Saints Town, where Chef Mi Xiu loves to create all kinds of exquisite dishes, particularly enjoying the challenge of developing innovative recipes.
Usually, to develop new dishes, he enjoys venturing into Xuan Beast Ridge to pick various fresh and unique Spirit Grasses.
This so-called Hops, referred to by Yue Jinghua as the New Spirit Grass, was something he had gathered on an occasional foray into the mountains, accompanied by a female mercenary.
"Is this female mercenary you’re talking about called Weiwei?" Yue Jinghua immediately connected her speculation with the missing reserve team member Weiwei of the small team.
"Indeed, it is Weiwei. Speaking of which, many of the ingredients I use were found with Weiwei’s help. It was her who led me to find this Spirit Grass," recalled Chef Mi Xiu.
When Yue Jinghua asked Chef Mi Xiu to help locate the hops, the affable chef played coy, "I can give you the exact location, but I have one condition. I’ve heard that your small team takes care of various problems for the townsfolk. Here’s a commission for you: I’ll tell you where the hops are, but you must help me gather a few ingredients."
The ingredients required by Chef Mi Xiu were very special, usually gathered by designated individuals. When Weiwei was around, she helped deliver ingredients twice a month.
However, for some reason, Weiwei had not returned, leaving Chef Mi Xiu out of stock and urgently in need of a new supply. Since he couldn’t spare the time, he had no choice but to commission Yue Jinghua and her companions.
Yue Jinghua knew in her heart that once the Ximing couple left, the people from the Divine Court would soon come looking for trouble, as well as the whereabouts of the Hops and the long-missing Weiwei—all these were her motivations for entering Xuan Beast Ridge.
It had been quite some time since Yue Jinghua had entered Five Saints Town, and she had yet to encounter that female mercenary known as the Healer, Weiwei.
Previously, Yue Jinghua had inquired Qin Dongting about Weiwei’s whereabouts. Qin Dongting actually thought for a long time and couldn’t recall what that female mercenary looked like, until he remembered the Healer, realizing there indeed was such a woman in the small team.
"Second Generation Soldier"—all the mercenaries were personally recruited by Luo, and they didn’t have much friendship with each other. Qin Dongting’s only impression of Weiwei was: peculiar.
She was a woman who always carried various kinds of strange and unusual herbs with her every day.
Each month, aside from the usual tasks, she spent at least two-thirds of her time searching for herbs in Xuan Beast Ridge, paying no attention to other members of the team whatsoever.
"As I recall, her healing skills are quite good, but I don’t have much of a relationship with her, so it’s not worth the effort to find her," said Qin Dongting in an indifferent manner when Yue Jinghua proposed to enter Xuan Beast Ridge to search for Weiwei in the vast mountains.
"Oh? Then I also don’t have much of a relationship with you, so there’s no need to give you this fan that’s been reforged," Yue Jinghua said as she played with the newly refined Mountain and River Fan crafted from Buzhou Soil, a fox-like expression on her face.
After getting the Buzhou Soil from the short man, Yue Jinghua started the refinement that very night.
Unexpectedly, that bowl of Buzhou Soil from the short man turned out to be genuine.
After being refined with Chaos Fire and Lotus Fire, the Buzhou Soil perfectly blended into the Mountain and River Fan.
Hearing Yue Jinghua say this, the corner of Qin Dongting’s mouth twitched, and his gaze fell on the fan in Yue Jinghua’s hand.
With a graceful flick of her long, slender fingers, she unfurled the fan in a swift motion.
Seeing the newly crafted Mountain and River Fan, Qin Dongting couldn’t help but hold his breath in awe.
His Mountain and River Fan had originally been made with high-quality Lao Mountain Water Jade for the ribs, and Earth Qilin Skin for the face, giving it a flawless white body with just a single stream and stone design.
But now, after being reforged by Yue Jinghua, this new Mountain and River Fan was transformed as if reborn.
Beneath the shimmering candlelight, the ribs of the fan had changed from white to pitch black, like steel that had undergone a hundred refinements, or dark jade, shining brilliantly.
On the fan face, that stream was like one swelled by heavy rain, expanded into a river, with surging water that looked as though it could overflow at any moment.
And that stone depicted on it now appeared as if redrawn by a master of ink and wash painting, with the mountain taking shape from a mere dot, its ravines clearly defined.
With a "snap," Yue Jinghua closed the fan and tossed it to Qin Dongting.
"Remember, as teammates, we stand together until death. I present you with this Spirit Fan; in return, you owe me a lifetime of loyalty," Yue Jinghua’s intention was merely to tell Qin Dongting never to abandon his teammates and to foster a sense of teamwork, but her words somehow took on a different meaning in Qin Dongting’s ears.
He snorted coldly, neither making a promise nor refusing, as he took the fan and lightly tapped it with his thumb and forefinger.
At that moment, the Mountain and River Fan snapped open, like a drunkard encountering a peerless wine or a lecher meeting the most exquisite beauty. Qin Dongting’s eyes were filled with nothing but fascination.
After a while, he finally uttered a word: "Let’s go."