At the same time, Su City North Mountain.
Shen Congwen, Tang Xin, and Jian Chunqiu arrived here once again, where the climate was much lower than in the city center.
"The signal we tracked vanishes right around here, but look at this place – aside from the vast expanse of Snow Mountain, there’s nothing, not even a trace of a car."
Tang Xin was extremely surprised. When the last location of the vehicle was tracked yesterday, she was even more shocked because this place, unless your car had wings to fly, it was impossible to drive up here.
The terrain of North Mountain was perilous. Even walking people frequently lost their footing and risked tumbling down cliffs, let alone driving here.
Shen Congwen also furrowed his brows, a look of urgency on his face. This was truly baffling - two people in good health had simply vanished into thin air.
"Elder Jian, have you discovered anything?" Shen Congwen pinned his hopes on Jian Chunqiu. In his eyes, Ancient Martial Artists were omnipotent. They might notice things mere mortals could not - perhaps some trick at play here.
Jian Chunqiu stood with his hands behind his back on higher ground, his eyebrows tightly knit. He glanced around but did not notice anything unusual.
However, there was always an odd feeling here that made him intuitively sense that this place was not as simple as it seemed on the surface. Yet no matter how he looked or probed with True Qi, he could not discern anything.
Actually, this spot was where Chu Ge and Huo Tianqian had accidentally entered the Mysterious Formation. However, Master Guangde had already set up a Barrier when he designed the Array.
Since the Mysterious Formation had been in place for nearly ten years, with no Ancient Martial Artist having entered, Master Guangde re-established a Barrier yesterday to isolate it from the outside world – a Barrier not even Jian Chunqiu could detect.
Shen Congwen held a map in his hands and quickly found discrepancies.
"Look, the terrain here doesn’t quite match the one on this map," Shen Congwen said as he spread the map on the ground, pointing to their location: "Although where we’re standing is just a small mound, the terrain here is rugged. Even a small mound wouldn’t be navigable by car, but if you look at the map, it shows this area to be flat."
Shen Congwen admitted feeling something was odd about this place, but couldn’t recall what exactly at the moment.
They had visited yesterday and, after an unsuccessful search, he went to the Territorial Survey Station and through connections obtained a detailed topographical map of North Mountain.
Tang Xin also realized this anomaly. She wasn’t quite understanding, "There hasn’t been any tectonic movement recently, so how could there suddenly be additional hills here?"
Jian Chunqiu watched the two squatting there, murmuring something incomprehensible, then descended from his elevated position, approached them, and inquired, "What have you found?"
Shen Congwen was about to say something when his gaze abruptly shifted to something behind Jian Chunqiu...
At the foot of North Mountain, several Japanese individuals dressed in kimonos arrived, followed by dozens of young, strong men, all primed for action.
Yamamoto Buki was pressing his lips tightly together, with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes fixed ahead, saying, "According to our investigation, Chu Ge vanished right around here."
"A full-grown man can’t just disappear without a trace. Search thoroughly; alive or dead, I want to see a body. Is that clear?"
As those people were about to begin their ascent, someone halted them.
"Hold on!" Brother Yamamoto shouted, "Remember, our main objective isn’t Chu Ge. If you come across anyone alive, do not engage in conflict immediately; report back to us! The priority this time is the secret manual! Whoever finds that manual will be generously rewarded."
The group split up and began their ascent.
Yamamoto Buki also went up the mountain with Brother Yamamoto and a few other Japanese.
"Any news from Honda Sakura?" Brother Yamamoto asked, haunted by the image of a white-robed Ancient Martial Arts expert, whose martial arts definitely ranked on par with, if not beyond, Chu Ge’s. When had such an expert appeared beside the Shen Family, and they had received no intel on this – a grave oversight!
Lao Si behind him shook his head, "Honda Sakura said that this person seems to have appeared out of nowhere; he has never been to Su City before."
"Appeared out of nowhere? Just because he hasn’t been to Su City doesn’t mean he doesn’t exist! Can’t she expand the search radius?"
Brother Yamamoto was getting angry, "This Honda Sakura, her efficiency in handling matters is truly getting worse! Since that old man in white can’t be traced in Su City, then expand the search. He’s not invited by the Shen Family, so he must be targeting someone else. Chu Ge is from Shanghai; let Honda Sakura investigate there!"
"Brother, Honda Sakura doesn’t have the capability to extend her reach to Shanghai. Besides, I don’t think that white-haired old man is that formidable. It seemed like he didn’t want to fight us yesterday. Maybe it was just a coincidence?"
"A coincidence? What kind of coincidence? The coincidence of just passing by?" Brother Yamamoto was on the verge of being driven mad by Lao Si’s IQ," Enough! Do as I told you, no need for so many questions!"
Yamamoto Buki, who had been silent by the side, felt searching here was a waste of time.
"Third, why are you so silent today?"
Looking back at Lao Wu, who had spoken, Yamamoto Buki irritably responded, "Chu Ge is sneaky and cunning, for all we know, they might be deceiving us!"
Yesterday, both of their missions failed, and they had suffered heavy casualties; to this moment, Lao Er laid unconscious in the hospital, a resentful lump stuck in his throat.
"Chu Ge hasn’t recovered his martial arts, he must have been pretending yesterday!" Yamamoto Buki felt increasingly uneasy after leaving, deeming their understanding of Chu Ge flawed. If Chu Ge had really regained his martial arts, how could he have let them return and rescue his own brother?
Thinking about this made Yamamoto Buki feel suffocated and extremely upset.
"Even if he hasn’t recovered his martial arts, the Sword Qi that appeared on him yesterday was also very odd. We must not act rashly without understanding the situation first. Have you forgotten how the two teams on previous missions were completely annihilated?"
Brother Yamamoto’s piercing gaze was fixed on Yamamoto Buki, this impulsive Third always worried and upset him.
If it weren’t for Brother Yamamoto holding him back, Third might have spoiled far too many things.
Yamamoto Buki was well aware of what Brother Yamamoto meant. He too had sensed the Sword Qi yesterday, Qi that was at least Grandmaster level or above.