What do you mean by saying that the corpses I sew are all ominous creatures?

"This is just the most reasonable speculation at present."

Lei Zhenshan sighed.

"The Gu techniques of the Southern Frontier are unpredictable and mysterious. Some of the lost forbidden techniques can indeed parasitize the soul or natal Gu in another person's body."

The problem is, we've now lost the opportunity to verify this hypothesis.

"Jiang Ling has gone missing."

I uttered four words calmly.

"right."

Lei Zhenshan nodded, his eyes turning somewhat cold and sharp.

"Since the Zhou family's witchcraft case ended, the General Administration has retrieved all the surveillance footage in Jiangcheng and even used the Skynet system, but they have not found any trace of her."

She vanished into thin air, and even her parents, who were completely unaware of the situation, can no longer contact her and have reported her missing to the police.

"What about the saintess from Ten Thousand Butterfly Valley who was captured?"

Thinking of the fact that the whereabouts of the copper coin sword are still unknown, I looked up at Lei Zhenshan.

"Now that she's been taken to the provincial bureau, surely they'll find something out of her?"

Regarding Jiang Ling, or regarding the current schemes of the Butterfly Valley.

Upon hearing this question, Lei Zhenshan frowned even more deeply, a hint of annoyance flashing across his face.

"We didn't get anything out of them."

He said in a deep voice.

"Ever since that saintess was taken to the interrogation room of the provincial bureau, she has become completely insane."

All she did every day was drool, giggle foolishly, and kowtow to the corner of the wall, muttering some southern Xinjiang dialect that no one could understand.

Lei Zhenshan paused for a moment, as if recalling some unpleasant scene.

"The provincial bureau even invited an elder from Maoshan who was proficient in soul-searching techniques to try to forcibly read her memories."

As soon as the elder began casting the spell, he suffered a severe backlash and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

The elder said that a very vicious restriction had been placed on the saintess's sea of ​​consciousness.

If anyone tries to pry into her memories, the restriction will instantly shatter her three souls and seven spirits.

Her mind was like a tangled mess torn apart by wild dogs; nothing useful was left.

Upon hearing this, I fell silent.

This tactic of cutting off one's tail to survive is indeed consistent with the ruthless style of those secretive cults.

They'd rather turn a high-ranking official into an idiot than leave the authorities any clues to investigate.

"All leads have gone cold."

I stated this fact calmly, my tone revealing no emotion.

"The leads regarding Jiang Ling and Wan Die Valley have indeed reached a temporary stalemate."

Lei Zhenshan looked at me, and a serious expression suddenly appeared on his usually cold and hard face.

"But during this time, I've been investigating your parents' situation as a top priority."

Previously in Jiangcheng, I mentioned two suspected locations to you: the depths of the Tibetan glacier and an unnamed island in the East China Sea.

As he spoke, he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and rummaged around for a moment.

I thought he would take out a map or something that belonged to my parents.

However, what Lei Zhenshan took out was a metal identity tag with edges soaked in blood and a dark brown color.

He gently placed the blood-stained ID card on the desk and pushed it in front of me.

His already deep voice now carried an even more profound and unyielding weight.

"The Tibetan region has been completely ruled out."

I paused slightly, my gaze falling on the identification tag, which had a number and a name I didn't recognize engraved on it.

I didn't press him immediately, but looked at him and waited for his next words.

Lei Zhenshan leaned back in his chair and lit another cigarette.

"As you know, I've been keeping the investigation into your parents' whereabouts a secret from the General Administration, using my personal connections and conducting it covertly."

I sent three of my top experts to investigate that snow-covered valley in the Kunlun Mountains of Tibet.

He extended three rough fingers, then slowly retracted two, a flicker of pain crossing his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by composure.

"Two were lost, and only one survived by risking his life to escape back, who is the brother who brought back this identity token."

The information he brought back was very clear: there were indeed traces of your father there.

However, it was cleverly integrated into a massive and malevolent feng shui trap.

The moment anyone tries to get close or uses any means of reconnaissance, the entire murder plot will be activated.

That was a dead end; there was absolutely no way out.

I listened quietly, not showing much surprise, but simply following his words to sort out the situation in my mind.

"So, someone knows you're investigating this matter."

I analyzed it in a calm tone.

"Or rather, the force that caused my parents' disappearance has not let its guard down for the past twenty years."

They set traps in places where clues might be left, specifically to hunt down people like you who are trying to find the truth.

Lei Zhenshan nodded, tightening his grip on the cigarette between his fingers slightly.

"That's right. The other party is very vigilant and ruthless enough."

The fact that the trap in Tibet was triggered means that we have already alerted the enemy.

This also proves one thing from another perspective—the fragment of the Nine Provinces Cauldron that your parents took away back then involved interests far greater than imagined.

This was enough to make certain lurking behemoths nervous for twenty years.

He slammed the cigarette butt into the ashtray on the table and crushed it forcefully, his gaze sharpening once more.

"Since the Tibetan area is a carefully laid dead end, then let's look at another suspected location that we previously identified."

That nameless, isolated island in the East China Sea is currently the only and most likely real clue.

Upon hearing the words "isolated island in the East China Sea," I put down my teacup and sat up straight.

"Is there anything special about that island?" I asked.

Lei Zhenshan did not answer immediately, but dipped his finger in the tea.

He simply drew the outline of a coastline on the tin table, and then made a dot at a point far from the coastline.

"That island is located in a very remote area, on the edge of international waters."

On all publicly available nautical charts and satellite maps, that area is either blank or marked as a reef area shrouded in thunderstorms and sea fog year-round.

Ordinary ships simply cannot get close. Once they enter that area, all electronic navigation equipment will malfunction, and compasses will spin erratically.

Lei Zhenshan looked at the water stains on the table that were gradually drying, and said in a low voice:

"My people once tried to hire the most experienced local fishermen to drive specially modified boats closer to the area."

But when they were still more than ten nautical miles from the island, they encountered a strange reverse current.

Something enormous seemed to be stirring things up underwater, and the ship almost broke apart, ultimately forcing it to return to port.

The feng shui and magnetic field of that sea area are as chaotic as a pot of boiling water.

Upon hearing this, I frowned slightly.

Even modern ships and experienced fishermen cannot get close, which suggests that the island is not only surrounded by natural barriers, but is also likely protected by some kind of massive concealment formation.