Fairy, please don't do this!

Lin Qingci asked with some confusion, "What kind of cultivation?"

She couldn't recall any sword technique within the sect that required practicing with one's back to others.

"The cultivation of a pretentious king..." Gu Jinzhao thought to himself, then looked at Lin Qingci and changed the subject to the trial mission: "Junior sister, what are your plans for handling this matter of the missing children?"

Lin Qingci pondered for a moment, then parted her cherry lips and said, "Wait for the rabbit to run into the tree stump!"

Gu Jinzhao picked up a cup of tea, took a sip, and asked leisurely, "Tell me more about it!"

Lin Qingci organized her thoughts and said calmly, "We just checked the information in the jade slip. Most of the children went missing between dusk and late at night, and the locations are scattered across seven or eight villages under the jurisdiction of Yunhe Town."

"It may seem chaotic, but upon closer analysis, there are several villages where no children have gone missing to this day."

“The thief was extremely cunning. He only committed his crimes in one place each time, and after succeeding, he would disappear for several days. He would never commit crimes in the same village repeatedly. He was obviously an experienced and habitual criminal.”

She paused, then continued, "If we enter the village where the crime has occurred in a high-profile manner to investigate, it is easy to alert the thieves, making them wary, or even causing them to lie low for the time being."

"Therefore, we believe it is better to focus our efforts on villages where no cases have yet occurred, but which, based on the patterns of disappearances and the analysis of the surrounding environment, are highly likely to become the next target."

Gu Jinzhao nodded in agreement: "Since it's a case of waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree stump, where have you chosen to lie in wait?"

Lin Qingci and Ji Shan exchanged a glance and said in unison, "Peach Blossom Village and Iron Back Village."

Mo Zangfeng said calmly, "Since you two have made your decision, then proceed according to the plan!"

Before long, the four of them split into two teams.

Gu Jinzhao and Lin Qingci went to Peach Blossom Village, while Mo Zangfeng and Ji Shan went to Iron Back Village.

……

As night falls, Peach Blossom Village seems to be covered with a thick layer of ink, so dark that you can't see your hand in front of your face. The only sound is the faint whistling of the night wind as it passes through the old locust tree at the village entrance and the fences of each house.

However, this deathly darkness did not last long.

A few dim, flickering lights illuminated the dirt road in the village.

It was a patrol team of three or five young men from the village, carrying lanterns and patrolling around.

"Oh, what a tragedy! I heard from people in Wangjiazhuang next door that another child went missing in their village the night before last, only six years old!"

"Those damned, black-hearted, rotten-guts beasts, they only target children, aren't they afraid of being struck by lightning!"

"That's right! In my wife's village, a little girl went missing half a month ago, and they haven't found a single hair on her head since!"

"The county officials came several times, investigated and searched, but they found nothing!"

"Everyone says they weren't ordinary human traffickers, but rather those evil cultivators who use dark magic!"

"If that's really the case... what good are these few machetes and hoes we have? They could just wiggle a finger and we'd be lying down!"

"What can we do? We can't just sit here and wait for those beasts to come knocking on our door and ruin all the kids in our village, can we?"

"I'll stay up one night at a time, at least it'll give me peace of mind!"

Just as the group was talking, a dark shadow, like a nimble raccoon, silently leaped across a high rooftop not far from them and landed on the roof of another low house.

Its movements were as swift as lightning and incredibly light, without making the slightest sound.

In the distance, at another, more secluded corner of the rooftop.

Lin Qingci, who was concentrating with her eyes closed, suddenly opened them: "Senior brother, someone's here! It's a thief who just entered the ninth rank!"

Gu Jinzhao had already noticed it. Upon hearing this, he simply nodded slightly and remained silent, only watching the dark figure moving rapidly between the rooftops.

The shadowy figure seemed to know the village's patrol routes by heart, always managing to cleverly evade detection.

He quickly rolled over and landed in a courtyard.

The stray dog ​​inside seemed to sense something and started to bark, but the dark figure flicked its finger, and a pebble instantly pierced its head, leaving it motionless.

The shadowy figure had a clear objective and went straight to the window of the main house.

He gently poked a hole in the thin paper window, then took out a bamboo tube from his waist and inserted it through the hole.

Then he opened his mouth and blew, and a wisp of smoke silently drifted into the room.

After about fifteen minutes, estimating that the sleeping gas had fully taken effect, the dark figure pressed his ear against the window and listened for a moment. After confirming that everyone inside was unconscious, he gently used his dagger to pry open the simple window latch and leaped into the dark room.

When he climbed out of the window again, he was holding a sleeping boy in his arms.

The shadowy figure cautiously looked around, and after confirming that no one was watching, it followed the route it had come from, and with a few leaps, it left Peach Blossom Village and disappeared into the night.

The entire process was seamless; from infiltrating to succeeding and leaving, he didn't alert any of the village patrols, clearly a seasoned pro.

At that moment, Gu Jinzhao and Lin Qingci concealed their auras and followed.

The shadowy figure moved with incredible speed and was extremely familiar with the terrain, choosing secluded paths and overgrown field ridges to traverse at breakneck speed.

Occasionally, patrolling villagers would catch a glimpse of it from afar, only feeling a gust of cold wind and a dark shadow flash by. They would think it was a wild bird or their imagination, never imagining that it was a thief who had kidnapped the child.

However, no matter how fast he went, Gu Jinzhao and Lin Qingci remained steadily hanging behind him.

After chasing for nearly a hundred miles, the terrain ahead began to become rugged, and the dark figure disappeared into a dense forest.

Gu Jinzhao and Lin Qingci followed closely behind and also rushed into the forest.

However, after taking less than ten steps, a sudden change occurred!

The forest path I had just walked along was silently swallowed up by a thick, grayish-white fog that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, and my vision instantly became blurred.

Even more bizarrely, the aura and figure of the dark shadow in front of them vanished without a trace the instant the mist appeared, like a drop of water falling into the sea!

Lin Qingci paused, her pretty face slightly hardening: "It's an array!"

Gu Jinzhao narrowed his eyes and scanned his surroundings.

The fog carried a faint chill, not so thick as to completely obstruct vision, but it noticeably interfered with and distorted one's spiritual perception, and made one's sense of direction blurry.

"A basic illusion array, with some concealment of aura. It is not of high grade, but it is cleverly arranged and blends well with the environment."

"Junior sister, if you want to break the formation, you need to find the location of its core!"

Gu Jinzhao quickly made a judgment.

This formation was naturally useless to him.

He was familiar with everything in the game, including this forest and this formation.

Lin Qingci frowned slightly, pondering, "If we forcibly break the formation, the fluctuations in spiritual energy will inevitably alert the formation setter or the thieves inside."

"It would be unwise to alert them before we know exactly how many of these thieves there are and how strong they are."

She took a deep breath, raised her delicate hand, and her ten fingers moved swiftly like butterflies flitting among flowers, forming a complex and profound hand seal.

As spiritual energy was injected, a faint light shone from her fingertips, quickly outlining a palm-sized Bagua diagram, subtly resonating with the surrounding mist.

"The Kan position is in the north, governs water, and the Life Gate is hidden."

"The Li position is in the south, which represents fire, but it is not a way out."

"The Zhen position is in the east, associated with wood, and full of vitality."

"The Dui position is in the west, associated with metal, and its sharpness is unstoppable..."

Lin Qingci closed her eyes slightly, her mind completely immersed in the deduction of the Bagua diagram and the sensing of the surrounding array's energy.

In less than a breath, she suddenly opened her eyes and looked southeast: "The Xun position seems dangerous, but it hides a glimmer of life!"

Before she finished speaking, she moved swiftly, like a swallow darting through the clouds.

Gu Jinzhao quickly followed, feigning doubt, and asked, "Junior Sister is also knowledgeable in the art of array formations?"

Lin Qingci weaved through the seemingly chaotic misty forest, calmly replying, "When I was young, I only dabbled in some basic formations with an elder in my family, but I was only a jack-of-all-trades and master of none."

"I never thought I'd actually need it today!"

Gu Jinchao exclaimed, "Junior Sister, you know so much, being knowledgeable in both alchemy and formations."

Lin Qingci is indeed a cultivation genius!

Even without the sword bone, he will still amaze the world in the future.

Now that he possesses the Sword Bone and memories of his past life, among his peers, apart from Mu Yiren, there are very few who can compare to him.

The two communicated telepathically while rapidly traversing the illusion array.

About an incense stick's time later, the view suddenly opened up, the thick fog dissipated abruptly, and a cool night breeze swept over them. They were now standing steadily at the other end of the forest.

Looking ahead, one could see the thief, under the cover of night, already speeding towards a valley, unaware that he was being followed.

Before long, they arrived near the entrance to the valley.

The terrain here is more secluded, with steep cliffs on both sides and a narrow entrance that can only accommodate two or three people walking side by side.

Outside the valley entrance, several figures were patrolling back and forth, all dressed in uniform dark blue outfits.

Although they did not deliberately reveal their aura, their movements were steady and deliberate, clearly indicating that they all possessed cultivation and were far superior to ordinary mountain bandits.

The two exchanged a glance and tacitly disappeared into a dense thicket outside the valley entrance to observe carefully.

"This valley must be the hideout of this gang of thieves."

Lin Qingci lowered her voice.

As she spoke, she took out a paper crane from her bosom, gathered spiritual energy at her fingertips, quickly wrote a few lines of small characters on the crane's wings, and then pointed with her finger.

The paper crane took flight and quickly disappeared into the vast night.

The next step is to wait patiently.

Gu Jinzhao knew that she was sending a message to Ji Shan.

After all, there was more than one thief; it was a gang.

Without knowing the situation inside, it's impossible to act rashly. We must wait for Mo Zangfeng and Ji Shan to arrive before making a decision...

Chapter 59, Junior Sister's Sleeping Potion (3K)

About half an hour later, two figures quietly approached from a distance and soon slipped into the bushes where they were hiding. It was Ji Shan and Mo Zangfeng.

Ji Shan muttered under her breath, "Brother Mo and I spent most of the night squatting in Tiebei Village, and we didn't even see a ghost!"

"Junior Sister Lin, you've had a much smoother time here. Not only did you find the thieves, but you also located their lair so quickly!"

Gu Jinchao smiled but remained silent.

He has good fortune, so it's natural that he would run into thieves.

In the game, these thieves appear randomly.

Without him, even waiting passively would probably take some time.

Ji Shan glanced at the figures patrolling at the entrance of the valley and frowned: "Although the individual cultivation levels of these people patrolling outside are not high, there are quite a few of them, and their actions are quite organized, so they are definitely not a rabble."

"Just who are these people?"

"Just grab a 'speechless' officer and ask him, then the truth will be clear."

Lin Qingci said calmly, "But we must not alert the others in the valley."

“We can do it like this… and then like this again…”

She hesitated for a moment, then revealed her plan.

As Ji Shan listened, her eyes gradually brightened: "This method is feasible!"

Having reached a consensus, the two women no longer hesitated and quietly left their hiding place, sneaking towards the dense forest on the other side of the valley.

Gu Jinzhao and Mo Zangfeng remained where they were, continuing to monitor the movements at the valley entrance.

After watching them leave, Mo Zangfeng looked at Gu Jinzhao and transmitted his voice, "Junior Brother Gu, you also cultivate the Heavenly Fate Path. Can you calculate which force the valley belongs to and how many Rank 1 cultivators are in it?"

Gu Jinzhao closed his eyes and pretended to make hand seals to deduce: "It is a force composed of evil cultivators called the Green Gang."

"Among them are twelve people of the ninth rank, five people of the eighth rank, and two people of the seventh rank!"

He knew that Mo Zangfeng did not fully believe in his cultivation of the Heavenly Mandate Path, which was why he was deliberately testing him.

Mo Zangfeng was somewhat suspicious: "How can such a small gang have so many powerful members?"

It wasn't that he didn't believe it, but rather that Gu Jinzhao's deduction was too absurd.

Because Yunhe Town is just a remote little place, it's already a great achievement to have two or three cultivators who have reached the highest level.

It's truly unbelievable that so many cultivators suddenly appeared.