Emilio Compton and his two companions’ complexions changed simultaneously, and they swiftly put down their chopsticks, running directly outside the camp.
The night breeze was cool, seemingly less piercing than before.
Emilio Compton walked to the nearby grass and stretched out his hand to touch it. Indeed, the wild grass, which had been frozen solid, had become soft again, and it was moist on the surface. Wiping it off, his hand was covered with a thin layer of water.
Emilio Compton’s face suddenly darkened: "There’s a problem!"
The complexions of Nikolai Jimenez and Elise Parry turned ugly as well.
"Go check the ice in the lake!"
The three of them dashed toward the nearby frozen lake like the wind, and when they reached the lake, their faces all turned extremely grim!
The dry and solid ice surface was now covered with a thin layer of water, and at the bottom of the lake, what were previously scattered, hard pieces of ice had all melted away, leaving pools of water in the low-lying areas of the lake bed.
Kaenu Hail also arrived beside the three of them and instantly frowned upon seeing the situation: "The small pieces of ice have melted, and the large ice blocks are starting to thaw..."
Nikolai Jimenez’s face was the color of iron: "Someone has stolen the Water-Fire Mirror!"
Kaenu Hail’s expression shifted slightly: "Someone stole the Water-Fire Mirror and without it controlling these ice blocks, they’ve reverted to their normal state. Now with temperatures around twenty-six or twenty-seven degrees, the ice blocks are naturally starting to melt?"
Elise Parry said in a stern voice: "Our people have been watching the whole time and there has been no anomaly in the spiritual energy. Who could have stolen the Water-Fire Mirror without anyone noticing?"
The three of them looked at each other, and then their eyes suddenly widened in unison.
"The Water-Fire Mirror was in that fish’s belly. That’s why the fish could grow so strangely large in just half a year. And because it was inside the fish, the Water-Fire Mirror didn’t trigger any anomalies in the spiritual energy!"
Kaenu Hail’s eyes also widened suddenly: "The hole on the fish’s body!"
Elise Parry’s beautiful face turned ashen: "That person discovered the Water-Fire Mirror hidden in the fish’s belly before us, so he directly cut open the fish’s belly and took the Water-Fire Mirror. No, he must also have a Space Ring or a spatial bracelet. He put the Water-Fire Mirror into the Space Ring, isolating it from the world and blocking any anomalies in the spiritual energy!"
Emilio Compton’s eyes widened in shock: "Ordinary cultivators can’t detect spiritual energy, much less any abnormalities in it. He could sense spiritual energy, accurately strike and take the Water-Fire Mirror right before everyone, and he had a Space Ring. He’s not an ordinary cultivator; he’s a Cultivator!"
Nikolai Jimenez turned on his heels: "Find him!"
All four of them sprinted back toward the camp. But their expressions were grim. Kaenu Hail was somewhat less troubled. His primary concern had been to establish good karma and enjoy the spectacle. Despite his covetousness for the Water-Fire Mirror, he didn’t have any intention of taking it illicitly. Therefore, even if it was stolen right from under him, he was more surprised than anything else.
However, the feelings of Emilio Compton and the other two were quite different. They felt as if they had been fiercely slapped in the face.
A Cultivator had been pretending to be an ordinary cultivator all along, hiding among the crowd and willingly playing the role of an ice-breaking worker for such a long time—all for the sake of striking first at the end!
They’d gone through all the trouble to organize this event, spent so much time digging, only to have the fruits of their labor plucked by someone else!
The four of them rushed back to the camp and gathered everyone together in an instant.
"Those who found that big fish when finishing up, step forward."
Seth Hoffman and the rest stood out looking utterly bewildered.
When Kaenu Hail saw Seth Hoffman, he was taken aback but said nothing.
Now, no matter who it was that stole the Water-Fire Mirror, they had made enemies of the three major Blessed Lands of Cave Heavens, especially the Eastern Peak Sanctuary of the Sacred Mountain because if found here, it would belong to the Eastern Peak Sanctuary by right.
"The fish that you dug up?"
Looking at everyone’s ashen faces, Seth Hoffman’s heart sank, sensing trouble.
"Yes, everyone saw it when it happened."
Emilio Compton asked: "There was someone who fell, and his hand went right into the fish’s belly. Who was that person? Point him out."
Seth Hoffman was taken aback. He didn’t know the man well; they were merely working next to each other.
Members of Carson Flores’s ice-breaking team were singled out. After a moment of looking back and forth amongst themselves, they realized Carson Flores was missing.
"We’re teammates with him, but we’re not close. We just know that his name is Alec Cash, and he’s from Xinhai. At the time, his hand went into the fish’s belly, and it was dirty. He said he was going to the restroom to clean up his hand, and then we didn’t see him again."
"Check the surveillance!"
There were surveillance cameras set up high on the construction site. Emilio Compton and the others checked the footage and saw the big fish being extracted, the crowd gathering around, Carson Flores squeezing into the crowd, eventually tumbling onto the fish, clumsily shaking off his hand and leaving the crowd before not returning to the camp. Instead, he crossed the opposite bank and disappeared into the woods.
It was clear that this man had seized the opportunity to steal the Water-Fire Mirror and then casually made his escape.
Emilio Compton was furious. The item was practically in their grasp, yet due to a moment of negligence, it had been intercepted by others!
He glared fiercely at everyone and shouted: "Who is this person, what’s his background? Whoever tells me will be handsomely rewarded!"