Starting as an infant, with parents who are blond-haired delinquents?

This clue is their only lead in the current situation.

It was troublesome, but not dangerous. From the beginning, apart from Liu Feng's sudden sneak attack that made him feel somewhat threatened, Zhang Chaoqiang no longer had that feeling.

Soon, Bai Lu, one of the three flying martial artists present, led the investigator team and flew into the air to scout ahead.

Beast crystals that replenish spiritual energy kept appearing in his hands, so that he could replenish the spiritual energy that his body was constantly consuming due to maneuvering.

Unlike Zhang Chaoqiang, this was also the first time he had seen Bai Lu fly. This kind of normal flight, where he didn't have to frantically flap his arms and legs or use any aggressive movements, made Zhang Chaoqiang extremely envious.

Little did he know, he was actually being envied by others, by those sixth-level investigators. With only the strength of a first-level martial artist, he had miraculously mastered a flight-type martial art. You should know that even they, at the sixth level, had never truly experienced the special feeling of stepping into the air or hovering in the air!

After temporarily bidding farewell to Bai Lu and his group, Zhang Chaoqiang continued his search for Liu Feng's previous whereabouts.

The sky was a vast expanse of white, and even the sunlight was not particularly noticeable.

It took about half an hour to find the route, covering a distance of about five kilometers.

Regarding the accuracy of the route search, Huang Feng had basically dug deep along the way to search the route Liu Feng had taken, but he had not found anything.

"Why is this happening?"

One investigator suddenly realized that after being in the Jushan Mountains for some time, he felt that something was wrong with his body.

He looked down and saw the pendant he was wearing on his chest. It was made from a piece of demon beast crystal core and had originally been shining brightly, but now it was clearly somewhat dimmed.

This crystal core was of great significance to him, so he paid close attention to it at all times. Therefore, he was the one who was most able to notice the changes that were happening.

At first, the people around didn't pay much attention, after all, it was just a small second-tier crystal core, which had already lost a lot of its spiritual energy reserves due to being carved.

Furthermore, crystal cores of this level do not contain much spiritual energy, which will gradually dissipate and evaporate over time.

So it's not uncommon for this thing to fade.

"Don't worry about it, Lao Song. The sunshine in Minjiang City is obviously brighter than in our Zhongzhou City, so it's not impossible that you're mistaken."

"Maybe."

Although he did feel that it seemed to have dimmed a bit and the spiritual energy within it had indeed dissipated somewhat, he wasn't too bothered by it.

As the saying goes, fireworks are fleeting, and beautiful things always come to an end; this is a fact that cannot be stopped.

So he put the pendant he was wearing around his neck into his spatial ring. The air inside was thinner, and the spiritual energy dissipated much more slowly compared to the real world.

Their words, along with the actions of investigator Lao Song, caught the attention of Zhang Chaoqiang, who was multitasking, and he began to keep a close eye on things.

While searching for traces of Liu Feng's last visit, he pondered to himself.

"Under no apparent circumstances, the spiritual energy within the crystal core is evaporating at a faster rate?"

Normally, the crystal core contains the spiritual power of the demon beast in its previous life. The higher the level, the more spiritual power is contained in the crystal core, and the slower it needs to be lost between heaven and earth.

Therefore, the lower the level of the crystal core, the more obvious the change in spiritual energy loss.

At a normal flow rate, the spiritual energy contained within a first-order crystal core will generally be completely lost within ten years.

Second-order crystal nuclei, probably in about twenty years.

Fourth-order crystal nuclei will probably be around a hundred years away.

Some ancient high-level crystal cores that have been passed down from ancient times have been preserved to this day by using storage methods developed over thousands of years on Earth, which have slowed down the rate of spiritual energy loss.

Within this Jushan Mountain, there was no way to sense or perceive the fluctuations in spiritual energy or other energy sources. Therefore, Old Song could only suspect that the color of his crystal core had dimmed visually.

Zhang Chaoqiang had a peculiar thought: Could it be that the spiritual energy loss in the crystal core pendant worn by Lao Song was related to this Jushan Mountain?

Or perhaps it has an inseparable relationship with the hidden thief among them, and there are other clues?

He didn't say much; it was all just his guess. After all, it was very possible that Old Song's eyes were mistaken, simply because the sky was white and the sun was not visible.

However, the light was perhaps a bit too intense, and it might have overshadowed the original radiance of the crystal core.

However, practice is always the only and fastest way to test the truth.

He placed a first-order crystal core in his hand, gently holding it, and exposed it to the vast white sky and the not-so-fresh, even somewhat murky air surrounding Jushan Mountain.

Then, without forgetting his main task, he continued to analyze and search for a route.

On the other side, under Bai Lu's commanding leadership, they explored the southeast side, which was the opposite direction from the direction Zhang Chaoqiang, Huang Feng, and the others were currently traveling.

Covering an area of ​​tens of thousands of square kilometers, what they need to do is survey the terrain and quickly search for any traces or figures of human activity on the ground.

After searching nearly one-tenth of the area, Bai Lu had almost used up all his spiritual power on flying. He paused his flight, landed on the ground, and quickly used his own [Healing] on himself.

Instantly, because his current state of lacking spiritual power was the most obvious and primary state, the [Heal] skill directly restored fifty percent of his spiritual power.

However, it can only be used once per day on the same individual.

"Strange, why is the crystal core being consumed faster than I usually absorb it? And I haven't been able to quickly replenish the spiritual energy consumed by flying."

"Damn it, could it be that the resources allocated by the bureau this time have been reduced in quality? They're so inefficient!"

The thought of the central government taking orders from above automatically brought Zhang Chaoqiang to mind. He presumptuously assumed that the resources allocated this time were a reminder that if they failed to recruit Zhang Chaoqiang, future resources would not only cease to be provided…

It's very likely that they're all being built to these specifications!

Therefore, he had to resolve the matter of Jushan as soon as possible, because he felt that the longer he stayed there, the more Zhang Chaoqiang's effects and influence would be reduced and he would occupy the most important position.

Then they wouldn't be able to leave Zhang Chaoqiang with the impression that the Investigation Bureau was powerful.

Soon, Bai Lu and his group caught their first "influenced person" in a cave at the southeastern foot of Jushan Mountain, about 30 kilometers from the mountain's border.

When Bai Lu came to him, the man was neatly dressed and showed no signs of distress.

"Come with me!"

Before the man could react, he was taken away by one of the investigators behind Bai Lu.

Immediately afterward, in the process of finding the next "victim," the investigators around him interrogated him.

They mostly asked him where he had been in the past few days, and his answers were very simple...

"Sirs, I'm just an ordinary tourist. For the past five days, I've been wandering around the area around Jushan Mountain, not staying in any one place for long..."

Soon, another two hours passed...

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5."

The number of people is exactly the same as previously recorded. It seems to be just those five.

Bai Lu clapped his hands.

Now that we've found them all, it's time to go back and reunite with Huang Feng and Zhang Chaoqiang.

Chapter 184 The last step

Located on the northwest side of the mountain range, Zhang Chaoqiang and Huang Feng's group were waiting at a fixed point.

They had been searching along the route Zhang Chaoqiang had taken for some time, and now they stopped at a fixed location to wait.

During the wait, Huang Feng glanced at the white sky and muttered, "Several hours have passed. I wonder how things are on Bailu's side."

Meanwhile, with his spiritual energy still abundant, he maintained his levitation by emitting spiritual energy.

My body floated smoothly to a height of nearly fifty meters.

Only a few black dots could be seen in the vast Jushan Mountains, which almost blend into the white horizon.

These black spots, without any surprise, should be Bai Lu and another team of investigators.

In the sky, the short, chubby Bai Lu was in charge of guiding the way, while those running and galloping on the ground were, unsurprisingly, the investigators.

And that's not all; the original team of eight investigators now has five more.

The five additional figures are essentially consistent with the number of "affected" individuals who disappeared on Jushan Mountain previously.

The reason for this was that Bai Lu's operation went very smoothly this time, and he successfully captured them.

Soon, Bai Lu, who was in mid-air, also spotted Huang Feng fifty meters below. In an instant, he put away the compass in his hand and told the investigators to hurry up and catch up.

Not long after, at 2 p.m., the two groups of people reunited after being separated for several hours.

It was midday, and since we were using what we had on hand, we decided to make the most of the local ingredients. Sometimes, wild game tastes pretty good, giving off a rugged, mountainous vibe. Several investigators were responsible for capturing the wild animals around us, and then we started barbecuing and cooking them.

The rising smoke and the aroma it produced made Liu Feng, who was still in a frenzy, follow the most primal instinct of a living being: appetite.

Not only him, but also the martial artists who had entered Jushan and stayed there for several days hadn't eaten anything special. When they smelled these aromas, they couldn't help but drool.

As martial artists, their spiritual energy can replenish their body's normal functions at any time, so supplementing their nutrition through food is no longer necessary.

However, humans and monsters have survived and developed for so many years, so eating is certainly not just for filling one's stomach, but also for ensuring the normal functioning of one's life.

Instead, it evolved into an enjoyment, a ritual. From simply being full, to the point where food was no longer necessary to maintain normal bodily functions, it became an interest in their appetite.

Deliciousness became the primary requirement; eating was no longer a necessity, but rather a hobby.

So, a strong aroma wafted over, and the group wasn't hungry, but rather looking to satisfy their cravings.

Unfortunately, they didn't get any food.

In those rugged mountains, the unusually thin pheasants and other birds and beasts, the emaciated wild boars, and the wild cattle that lived near the water sources all became their food source.

During the cooking process, Huang Feng and Bai Lu, along with several investigators from Ling Ding's team, conducted a detailed interrogation of the five martial artists that Bai Lu had found.

The time of entry, the purpose, and so on.

They used answers they knew to verify whether they were telling the truth.

Then, various interrogation techniques were used to further question the individuals.

He looks almost exactly like Liu Feng.

They were also somewhat bewildered, as they hadn't really had any particular destination in mind when they came in; it was just a vague idea of ​​"sightseeing" that had inexplicably arisen in their minds.

Over the past few days, they have traveled almost all over Jushan Mountain, sleeping on the ground while admiring its desolate landscape.

There was no particular reason to linger in those places or to have any destination in mind that I felt I had to go to this time.

For the time being, this explanation is exactly the same as Liu Feng's explanation just now, and neither of them has any clear purpose.

"So, having stayed here for so long, have you run into each other?"

Huang Feng and Bai Lu's powerful aura suppressed them completely, making the five people, whose average strength was only around the third or fourth level, so that they didn't dare to even breathe.

In this environment, they naturally dared not say anything out of turn and could only truthfully disclose their situation.

The answer is, no.