Chapter 42: Go To The City Lord Mansion

Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Go To The City Lord Mansion

The next morning, Sui Sui and Yizhou got up early and began looking for more information about the disappearances. If they wanted to solve the case, the little information they had gathered so far was clearly not enough.

They spent the morning asking around, though most of the questioning was left to Sui Sui since Yizhou could not be bothered to interact with strangers. Unfortunately, their efforts yielded little. Most people only knew the same rumors and details they had already heard.

After another fruitless conversation, Sui Sui turned to Yizhou.

"It seems that if we want to find out more, we’ll have to go to the City Lord’s Mansion and join their investigation team. Otherwise, there probably isn’t much else we can learn from the people here. What does Senior Brother think?"

Yizhou fell silent for a moment.

Truthfully he had no interest in joining the group gathered by the City Lord. Investigating the matter on their own would be much more convenient, especially since he did not want too many witnesses around if they really managed to get their hands on the Soul Bell.

However, most of the useful information was undoubtedly being kept by the City Lord’s Mansion. He could sneak in and investigate on his own, but that would only create unnecessary trouble.

Besides, although he was confident in his abilities, he could not guarantee that he would remain unnoticed, especially when he still had no idea about their level, plus the city lord mansion would definitely be guarded.

Joining the investigation team would therefore serve two purposes. Not only would it give them access to information they could not obtain on their own, but it would also allow him to observe the other cultivators and determine whether any of them might become a problem later.

After considering it for a moment, Yizhou finally nodded.

"Let’s go."

Before heading to the City Lord’s Mansion, they changed their appearances once again in case they encountered anyone familiar.

Sui Sui changed his hair color, while Yizhou helped him transformed his face into a completely different one. Since Sui Sui could now cultivate and his health had improved considerably, he could finally ditch the veil hat and dress normally.

They also prepared their new identities. This time, they would be two unaffiliated rogue cultivators from the northern region, which meant their names had to change as well.

Sui Sui was surprisingly excited about the idea of pretending to be someone else. He even suggested several names he remembered from famous characters in the modern world, including a few English names.

Unfortunately, Yizhou rejected every single one, saying that he had no idea where Sui Sui had heard such strange words and that names like those were far too uncommon. Using them would only make them more noticeable.

"Then what type of name do you want? I already suggested everything I like," Sui Sui said.

"Choose something normal. What kind of name is Caleb or Xavier? I don’t know where you heard such words. Your imagination is really vast," Yizhou said.

Sui Sui sulked. He thought those were perfectly good names. Clearly, the people here simply had no taste.

After thinking for a while, he decided it would be better to use something he was already familiar with, Sui Sui thought for a but before coming up with one that he likes.

"How about my name be Tuanzi (Dumpling), Bai Tuanzi? It’s my baby name back home," Sui Sui said with a hint of anticipation, tilting his head slightly as if testing how the name would sound "Sounds pretty okay, right?"

He then fell into thought, tapping his chin as he considered what name would suit Yizhou. Since Yizhou was the protagonist, Sui Sui felt he needed something equally imposing and fitting for someone of his status.

"Then for you, hmm..." Sui Sui murmured, his eyes lighting up as an idea struck him. After a brief pause, he said with certainty, "How about you go with the name Aotian? I think this should be okay, ba?"

Yizhou pondered the name for a moment before finally agreeing. At least this one sounded somewhat normal, and he was too lazy to come up with one himself.

On their way to their destination, the streets were noticeably quieter than usual, with only a few people venturing outside. Most seemed wary, keeping their heads down as they went about their business.

The scene changed completely when Sui Sui and Yizhou arrived at the City Lord’s Mansion.

Even outside the entrance, a large number of cultivators had already gathered. Most stood in groups, their clothing and appearances clearly marking them as disciples from different sects.

There were also a few cultivators standing alone or in pairs, likely rogue cultivators or disciples from smaller sects who had come to try their luck with the commission.

Seeing so many people gathered here, Sui Sui could not help thinking that the reward offered by the City Lord must be quite substantial. Otherwise, there would not be so many cultivators willing to involve themselves in such a troublesome case. At the same time, solving the case would also be a good opportunity for them to make a name for themselves.

Among the groups gathered outside, Sui Sui suddenly noticed a familiar shade of blue.

They were disciples from the Wenjian Sect.

Several disciples were standing together a short distance away. They had probably also heard about the disappearances and been sent here to investigate. Unfortunately, they were too far away for Sui Sui to make out exactly who had come.

Seeing their group, Sui Sui couldn’t help but wonder whether the Wenjian Sect disciples had also learned about the Soul Bell, or if that information was still being kept under wraps.

Sui Sui glanced at Yizhou, silently asking whether they should approach anyone or simply wait where they were.

Yizhou met his gaze.

His expression alone made the answer clear.

Absolutely not.

Sui Sui silently looked away. As expected, Yizhou had no intention of making friends with them.

With no intention of approaching anyone, Sui Sui could only stay where he was and wait with Yizhou.

Right now he was actually feeling nervous.

He was nervous because this was the first time he had ever participated in something like this. It felt almost like one of those detective cases he used to read about in novels.

At the same time, he was nervous because he knew practically nothing about investigations beyond the superficial things he had picked up from reading.

More importantly, there was something about this entire situation that bothered him.

In The Path of the Heavenly Tyrant, there had never been an arc like this involving the protagonist. In the first timeline, Yizhou had never even come to the Northern Region. He had probably been too low level at the time to be chosen for such a mission. It was only after his rebirth, when his cultivation advanced much faster, that Venerable Yu Xin had selected him to participate in this mission.

And after that, Yizhou had never returned to the Northern Region.

So why had this happened now?

Was this another consequence of Sui Sui changing the plot, or had this incident always happened but simply never been mentioned in the novel?

Sui Sui could not say for sure.

Whatever the reason, he would have to find out for himself.

For now, there was nothing else they could do except wait.

The cultivators gathered outside the City Lord’s Mansion gradually grew a bit more as they waited for the appointed time. Since Sui Sui and Yizhou had arrived early, there was still some time before they would be allowed inside.

Sui Sui had also gotten up earlier than usual that morning, and after standing around for a while, the drowsiness he had been trying to ignore finally caught up with him.

He found a small stone to take a sit and quietly closed his eyes, intending to rest for just a moment, he wasn’t actually sleeping, just resting.

Everything was going peaceful.

Then, without warning—

A loud scream of a woman suddenly erupted from somewhere nearby.

Before Sui Sui could even open his eyes properly, the situation around him descended into chaos.

Everything happened far too quickly.

One moment, he was standing there half-asleep.

The next, his feet had already left the ground, and he found himself securely held in someone’s arms.

Before Sui Sui could even understand what was happening, Yizhou had already moved.

He carried Sui Sui with one arm while drawing the sheathed sword at his waist with the other. A gust of white mist swept through the area, followed by a chilling aura that instantly silenced the surrounding commotion.

The hem of Yizhou’s deep azure robes and the tips of his ink-dark hair swayed in the wind as he landed, sword in hand.

The weapon was not his usual sword.

The sword he had used for years had been broken back when he first entered the Ice Cave. At the time, Yizhou had used it to break through the crystals underwater when he was unable to use his spiritual energy.

Since the sword was already damaged beyond repair, he had simply left it behind and purchased a temporary replacement.

It was nothing special, merely a low-quality sword he had picked up because he needed something to use.

Yet in Yizhou’s hands, even an ordinary sword seemed completely different.

The blade was silver-white with blue patterns running along its surface, its edge carrying a faint chill that made the surrounding air seem colder.

Coupled with Yizhou’s naturally domineering aura, the sword no longer looked like an ordinary weapon. Instead, it resembled an icy abyss buried beneath a frozen wasteland, cold and imposing enough to make those nearby instinctively hold their breath.

Yizhou stood straight, his expression calm as he looked toward the source of the disturbance.

The rampaging spirit beast charged again.

Yizhou moved as his sword flashed, with the swift movement of his sword, the next moment, the beast was forced to the ground, completely subdued before it could hurt anyone else.

By the time Sui Sui could see what had happened, the commotion had already come to an end.

Yizhou lowered him back onto the ground, and only then did Sui Sui finally understand the situation.

While he had been drifting off to his la la land, the steward appointed by the City Lord had arrived to lead everyone inside. However, before they could even begin, one of the cultivators’ spirit beasts had suddenly gone berserk and attacked everyone nearby without warning.

Yizhou had simply happened to be the closest person to Sui Sui when it happened, which explained why he had reacted so quickly and subdued the beast.

Sui Sui’s gaze fell on the spirit beast lying on the ground.

It looked like a tiger, its body covered in dark stripes that ran across its iron-gray fur. Sui Sui recognized it as an Ironstripe Tiger, a low-grade spirit beast.

These spirit beasts were different from the Mythical Beast Race. Their bloodlines had been diluted over thousands of generations, making them far weaker and less intelligent than true mythical beasts. Even so, in the Human Realm, a spirit beast was still considered valuable, especially one that could be tamed and cultivated alongside its owner.

However at this moment, the Ironstripe Tiger still looked manic despite its miserable state. Even now, it showed no sign of calming down; if it had not been forcibly subdued, it would likely have continued lashing out and attacking anyone nearby.

Just as Sui Sui was examining it, an angry voice suddenly came from the crowd.

"What do you think you are doing to my spirit beast?"

Footnotes:

Tuanzi (团子): Literally "dumpling"; a cute nickname used to describe someone small, soft, and adorable.

Aotian (傲天): Literally "proud/arrogant toward the heavens"; a common dramatic-style name often associated with an overbearing or ridiculously powerful character like the main protagonist.