Chapter 1521: The ’her’ and ’him’ (2)

"I will handle their admission once they decide," Fei Chen told Yang Qing once they were outside the Escort Agency.

"Thanks. I appreciate it," said Yang Qing, smiling gratefully before his attention drifted to the green jade token in his hand. Through his spiritual sense, he immediately fed all he had learned to Senior Veiled Destiny for analysis.

"What do you think of this whole thing?" Fei Chen suddenly asked as both he and Yang Qing watched the crowd of cultivators walking on the road in front of them.

"At this point, not much, beyond the fact that I am thankful Jiang Hao and the others are alive and back," said Yang Qing, breathing a sigh of relief before adding, "These stories don’t always end up that way."

"That they do not," Fei Chen said somberly.

Just as he and Yang Qing were about to part ways, their attention was drawn as they both turned to their left, where an incorporeal oriole was flying toward them. It was deep silver in color with a shade of glistening deep gray in its eyes and beak. Cultivators around didn’t seem to notice it as it flew and perched itself on Fei Chen’s shoulders.

"It’s amazing how you can sense it despite not being contracted to one," Fei Chen commented as he petted the oriole that was nuzzling itself against his chin, prompting a small smile from him.

Looking at the bird with clear fascination, Yang Qing said, "It’s only because it is filled with Abyssal Yin Qi; without it, I doubt I’d be able to sense it. Even now, all I see is a formless black fog of Abyssal Yin Qi. I can’t tell what it looks like."

"I don’t get why the Order only hands them to you guys and refuses to hand us one. I tried to redeem one, and it cost three hundred thousand merit points. Three hundred thousand!" Yang Qing repeated in frustration. "I get spectral orioles are creatures of the void and hard to get, but given every Silver Eagle Guard gets one, clearly they must have plenty of eggs. Is it really so hard to give out even one? Stingy Order," Yang Qing grumbled as he looked on enviously at the formless lump of black silver fog perched on Fei Chen’s shoulders.

The Spectral Oriole perched on his shoulder was something every member in the Guard Division of the Order received, as did those in the Flying Shadow Hawks Division, and from what Yang Qing heard, even the Roaming Inquisitors.

That spirit beast was a creature born in the Void, as such it could freely access it and swim through it like a fish through water without risk of corrosion from the Void energy. It was also one of the few creatures from the Void that could freely shuttle between the Void’s environment and the outside world, meaning the real world. Most Void creatures were like fish out of water; once taken out of the Void, they’d struggle to survive in the environment outside of it.

But that wasn’t the case with the Spectral Oriole, as it could subsist in the outside world. However, as free as it was, there were restrictions, such as needing to consume abyssal yin qi to sustain itself in the outside world, and its form would shrink.

Yang Qing had read that even the Spectral Oriole currently perched on Fei Chen’s shoulder, which was no larger than his palm, would be about as large as a whale in the Void. It was only when it was outside of the Void that it had to shrink its form to reduce the backlash of being outside of its natural environment.

But despite the restrictions, it was something the Order greatly cherished, if the merit points for acquiring one were any indicator. The reason for that was their ability to seamlessly shuttle between the Void and the outside, which made them fast in the sense that their ability to easily navigate the Void allowed them to shorten distances between places. Furthermore, their phantasmal, incorporeal form allowed them to escape the senses of most cultivators.

Take the Spectral Oriole perched on Fei Chen’s shoulders as an example. It was still in the core formation realm, the eighth stage to be precise, and yet it could easily escape the senses of most palace realm cultivators from the early stage all the way to the late stage. Only people like Yang Qing and maybe Feng Xin, whose physiques allow them a deep sensitivity to all Yin forms and energies, that they can use the abyssal yin qi the Spectral Oriole uses to sustain itself in the outside world to sense its presence. If it were in the Void, where it could use the Void’s spiritual qi instead of the substitute abyssal yin qi, Yang Qing would not be able to sense it.

The Spectral Oriole wasn’t the most combatively gifted spirit beast in the Void. If anything, it was probably the weakest in that area. However, it more than excelled when it came to concealing its presence, sneaking into places, and utilizing its sensory abilities. These features made the Order select it for the Guard Division, the Flying Shadow Hawks, and the Roaming Inquisitors.

Its sensory abilities could be shared with those who had formed a spiritual bond with it, which also enabled them to see and interact with it, much like Fei Chen was doing with his Spectral Oriole.

Their ability to cover long distances in a short amount of time made them excellent for sending and receiving information, especially when discretion was paramount. The Spectral Oriole provided both speed and secrecy. Furthermore, interference was difficult given its ability to seamlessly shuttle into the Void, making it nearly impossible for most cultivators to pursue. The Void was so dangerous and vast that even Soul Formation Cultivators treated it with extreme seriousness and wariness.

As Yang Qing lamented and enviously wondered how he might acquire one, the Spectral Oriole perched on Fei Chen’s shoulder vomited a grey cylindrical jade slip. Fei Chen immediately unlocked it with a special incantation.

After reading the contents, he passed the slip to Yang Qing, saying, "I had the Flying Shadow Hawks investigate the Sunset Bank Manor. I asked them to cross-check if anyone from the Manor was associated with one of the kidnapper’s identities. It turns out one of the manor’s elders is rather close with a Xue Peng."

"Xue Peng, the Guest Elder of the Drunken Dream Formation Manor?" Yang Qing interjected.

"Yes," Fei Chen said, nodding. "An Elder Mui Bingwen of the Sunset Bank Manor is considered to be on the level of sworn brothers with Guest Elder Xue Peng, according to the report. Many of the formation arrays in establishments owned by Sunset Bank Manor have been handled by Drunken Dream Formation Manor, with Guest Elder Xue Peng being the primary on a great majority of those commissions," Fei Chen said meaningfully.

"You think they could have been involved?" he asked.

It took Yang Qing all but a few seconds to consider and dismiss the idea. "I doubt it," Yang Qing said, shaking his head. "If their relationship is as close as the report suggests, given the kidnapper’s conduct, I doubt he would have allowed the connection to be so easily exposed."

"That being said," Yang Qing continued, his expression turning thoughtful, "his relationship with them is likely a real one, even though he used one of his personas for it. He must trust Sunset Bank Manor, or perhaps Elder Mui Bingwen, to a great degree for him to entrust Jiang Hao and the others to the Manor."

Concluding his thoughts, Yang Qing said," They may not know much about the kidnapping, but they might know a great deal about the kidnapper. They might even know the ’him’ and ’her’ he mentioned to Jiang Hao when he took him."