Chapter 3018 Karmic Bonds Come Rolling In

His Excellency Henry was missing?

It wasn't that the old man had discovered intel, but rather that the old man himself was the intel?

The whisper from Chief Yuan brought truly shocking news—

To think a dignified high-ranking regional official of the Night Watchers had actually learned to cover things up right in front of a group of leaders, employing the Spring and Autumn brush style without batting an eye?

A quick review of the exchange revealed that Yuan Shan hadn't told a single lie.

She had said, "It's my teacher," instead of "My teacher is looking for you," and "There are some special discoveries on my teacher's end," instead of "My teacher made some special discoveries." Across that entire exchange, not a single sentence had actually implied any subjective initiative from Old Man Henry.

If the truth ever came to light, she might inevitably be branded as playing tricks, but the nature of the offense wouldn't fall into the most egregious category.

In short, just who exactly was corrupting the organizational backbone they had worked so hard to cultivate?

Faced with such a degradation of conviction, even Professor Fu—who didn't hold an official position within the Night Watchers—sighed in lamentation.

"When?"

Naturally, issues of conduct couldn't be fixed overnight. Heartache aside, Fu Qian instantly focused on the details, his tone completely flat.

"Half an hour ago. I chatted with my teacher for a bit after lunch. He felt a little tired, so he went to rest first."

Although theoretically she was one of the hosts, as the guest beside her—who didn't even know the way—began to ask questions, Yuan Shan completely composed herself and shared what had happened.

It had already been half an hour since she noticed? For a High-Tier Transcendent, that was enough time to encounter far too many things.

Fu Qian gave a slight nod, understanding Yuan Shan's anxiety.

"And you must have searched many places after that?"

Naturally, it was also enough time to do many things.

"Yes, I went to a few places, but I didn't see anyone."

Sure enough, Yuan Shan nodded again, indicating she had already searched all over.

"This place suppresses perception quite heavily, so searching is rather inefficient."

...

As expected, she must have already visited all the places the old man usually strolled around.

Running a full lap in such a short time while trying her best not to let anyone notice anything unusual—it had certainly been tough on Chief Yuan.

It was exactly as he had imagined, and Fu Qian easily empathized with how thorny the situation was. As for why she had to avoid being noticed? That was actually the exact same reason she hadn't gone through internal channels to ask for help.

The old man disliked certain people, and those people didn't necessarily like him either.

Don't forget the special constitution of that two-family house cat.

Suspected to be an avatar of both Blazing Rainbow and The Abyss simultaneously, his abilities were the absolute pinnacle of corruption.

In Fu Qian's view, the fact that the Night Watchers allowed this figure to retire respectably and move about freely outside was already considered incredibly lenient.

The crucial point was that when Henry came over this time, he had shown up with two massive dark circles under his eyes, putting his poor condition on full display.

According to Yuan Shan, he also hadn't been following medical advice earlier, failing to come in at the scheduled times to stabilize his condition.

With all these factors stacked together, his sudden, unannounced disappearance left room to imagine the worst possible outcomes.

If the matter were escalated to the official level right now, it would likely be very difficult to resolve peacefully.

"So after making a round, you wanted to try your luck at Drifting Street?"

Completely understanding Yuan Shan's choice, Fu Qian was instead curious about how she had managed to find him.

"No, I went there specifically to find you." Yuan Shan sighed softly.

"On one hand, I felt the situation was somewhat severe. On the other hand, I had a feeling you might be there."

...

Interesting. It seemed the seawater really had been stirred up and muddied.

They appeared to have only exchanged a few details in conversation, but at that moment, as Fu Qian looked around the Birthday Party where the weather remained perfectly clear, he actually sensed a hint of clamor.

Even though the omnipresent undercurrents were no longer visible after shattering the second Temporary Folder...

She hadn't communicated with anyone else, and she had only gone to Drifting Street because she felt that "Professor Fu might be here." It seemed this wasn't the first time he had heard something similar, was it?

Perhaps Old Man Logan earlier had been secretly called over by Chaumont for a diagnosis after obtaining his consent.

But the similarity between his instinctive excuse back then and Yuan Shan's current explanation inevitably aroused Fu Qian's vigilance.

There was certainly no need for Yuan Shan to lie about this sort of thing. In other words, when she failed to find her teacher, she genuinely and instinctively wanted to seek help, and instinctively guessed that he might have come to this core commercial district.

The former was actually quite reasonable. After all, to some extent, he and the master-disciple duo now belonged to a community of shared interests.

Even though he was undoubtedly under official scrutiny, she could still attempt to ask for help subtly. But to guess so accurately right off the bat was, quite frankly, a bit fishy.

"This place is quite large. It must have taken you a lot of time to rush over, right?"

Without breaking his stride, Fu Qian turned his head and cast a glance toward Drifting Street.

"It wasn't too bad... Although the buildings in the Birthday Party change frequently, the overall layout is still fairly stable."

The question was perhaps a little too detailed. Yuan Shan clearly didn't understand Fu Qian's intent, but she still recalled the events seriously.

"After guessing that you might be there, I rationally planned out a route and arrived in about ten minutes."

...

Ten minutes. That seemed to line up perfectly.

The other time node Yuan Shan revealed still allowed one to sense her untold hardships.

After all, this was a vital stronghold of the Night Watchers. Sprinting the entire way would easily trigger alarms, not to mention that the subtle atmosphere was already strained by the hidden three-way standoff among Half-Art, Corvos, and Soral.

Just like in the small shop earlier, everyone might not completely believe what came out of your mouth, but you still had to keep up appearances.

Therefore, even after giving up hope of finding him on her own and turning to seek help, it was best to keep her pace as natural as possible. Chief Yuan had clearly mapped out a route to the commercial street with ease, exceedingly confident she hadn't taken any wrong turns—which was actually quite reasonable.

Considering her usual hobbies, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she had an "Affinity for Shopping" trait.

What Fu Qian found interesting was the exact point in time she had decided to seek help.

Ten minutes? Feeling the contour of the Karmic Bond in his pocket, Fu Qian noted that it was exactly when he had received this gift.

And then the Blasphemy Monarch, Logan, and Yuan Shan—several old acquaintances—had appeared one after another right after...

Some might argue that his old acquaintances had also appeared with high frequency earlier, but one couldn't forget that he had been actively moving around before.

But during those ten minutes, he hadn't changed locations once; he had simply holed up in a small shop.

Karmic Bond. The moment this item was placed in his hands, it seemed a multitude of "karmic bonds" truly came surging toward him.

He didn't even need to do anything at all.

Was this His Excellency Corvos's true goal? Was this also why Kelin had dropped off the item and left immediately, not caring in the slightest whether he would use it or how he would use it?

He could only say that the Karmic Bond had a deep connection with this place, and the probability that the Birthday Party was the Seedbed of the Palace had increased once again.

"Is this the place?"

Marveling at the handiwork of the Conservative Faction, he had absolutely no intention of throwing the Karmic Bond away in that moment. He simply stopped in his tracks alongside Yuan Shan and looked up at what was in front of them.

It appeared to be a clock tower?