Chapter 410: Forceful Abduction
The two of them and the beast burst into the residence at the rear.
Bloodstains were everywhere, leaving a long trail across the front courtyard and all the way to the front door.
Young Master Wang was holding the burly Instructor Sun, frantic and at a loss.
"Instructor Sun, you have to hold on! You have to hang in there..."
Bai Mo sized up Instructor Sun. Half of the middle-aged man’s shoulder was a mangled mess, and a bloody wound gaped on his forehead.
He clearly wasn’t long for this world. It was remarkable he had managed to drag his battered body back from outside the city at all.
Instructor Sun coughed up a clot of blood blocking his throat and struggled to draw a breath, his gaze already losing focus.
"My... my boy..."
"...Young Master Wei... Young Master Wei was captured..."
As he said this, his body suddenly trembled. He began convulsing, unable to speak.
Young Master Wang’s eyes bulged as he roared:
"Brother Wei!! What happened to Brother Wei!?"
Young Master Wang fell into despair as he saw Instructor Sun about to breathe his last.
Bai Mo darted forward and pushed two Pills into Instructor Sun’s mouth. With a deft pinch and lift on his throat, the Pills slid down into the man’s stomach.
The Pills took effect quickly.
Young Master Wang felt Instructor Sun’s body grow warmer in his arms. The man’s heart pounded frantically, and the color of his face shifted continuously.
He breathed a small sigh of relief.
’Whatever the case, he didn’t die. That means there’s still a chance.’
After a long moment, Instructor Sun’s eyes snapped open.
He stared blankly for a moment, took a long breath, and haltingly said:
"Young Mas...ter Wei... was taken by those villains..."
"Those villains... they’re powerful... I was no match for them..."
Young Master Wang’s expression faltered, but he gritted his teeth and said:
"It’s okay, Instructor Sun. You rest first. As for your injuries..."
He instinctively glanced back at Bai Mo.
Bai Mo nodded.
"Just focus on recovering. You’re not going to die."
So, Young Master Wang carried the man into a room, carefully laid him on the bed, and hastily bandaged his wounds with whatever was on hand.
Bai Mo’s Pills were powerful, and the bleeding had already stopped.
Young Master Wang hurried out and shut the door, his expression instantly turning grim.
"Damn it, who did this!?"
He and Young Master Wei had always kept to themselves and weren’t the type to provoke others.
The first thing that came to mind was a business conflict.
The two of them had opened a shop in the city. Thanks to their connections with the Demon Hunting Teams, they often stocked rare and curious items. Their business was steadily growing, and they were already becoming well-known.
"Did we really manage to offend someone like that?"
Given what had happened to Instructor Sun, he didn’t dare delay and immediately headed out.
"Shopkeeper Bai, I’ll have to trouble you to keep an eye on things here!"
Bai Mo agreed. "Not a problem."
He glanced at Ah Er, who then entered the room.
Before long, Young Master Wang returned with an elderly physician.
The old physician had an urgent look on his face. Hiking up the hem of his robes, he hurried into the room.
At the same time, a number of men from the Demon Hunting Teams gathered outside the courtyard.
They were clearly people Young Master Wang had called upon through his own connections.
These men looked at Bai Mo, who was standing in the courtyard, their faces filled with surprise.
Bai Mo offered them a slight, cupped-fist salute, leaving the men feeling startled and honored.
Young Master Wang walked over to them, his face dark.
"Everyone, you know what kind of people Brother Wei and I are. We do our best to get along with others, and I can say for certain we have no mortal enemies!"
"And yet, someone has now abducted Brother Wei..."
He bowed deeply and pleaded:
"I’m not a powerful man myself. Please, I’m asking all of you for your help. I will be sure to repay this debt!"
"Don’t worry, Young Master Wang. We still remember the drinks you bought us..."
The men all patted their chests, accepting the task. Without another word, they turned and left.
Without pausing for breath, Young Master Wang immediately went to spread the word, asking Cultivators from all the Demon Hunting Teams to keep an eye out.
That was the good thing about the Demon Hunting Teams in Immortal Arrival City—they were very united.
This was especially true after Lanshan had risen to prominence and united some of the Demon Hunting Teams, creating a powerful new movement.
That evening, someone came looking for Bai Mo.
It was Han Meng, one of Lanshan’s followers. He hadn’t found Bai Mo at the shop, but managed to find him here at Young Master Wang’s place.
"Boss Lanshan is missing!"
Han Meng’s forehead was beaded with cold sweat.
Lanshan was a renowned figure in Immortal Arrival City.
When it came to martial skill, he feared no one except for the disciples of the Xuandao Sect.
With Lanshan in trouble, he really didn’t know what to do. Fortunately, he’d heard Bai Mo had returned and came to seek his help.
Bai Mo frowned.
"Don’t panic. Tell me everything, slowly."
Han Meng grabbed the nearby teapot, shoved the spout into his mouth, and took a long, hard swig before finally exhaling.
"At dusk, Boss Lanshan headed to the foot of the mountain. He was planning our route for two days from now, but he had also heard about what happened to Young Master Wei..."
"And then... a man like him just vanished into thin air!"
"We’ve been searching everywhere, but we can’t find him."
Qin Wen, standing nearby, spoke up.
"Could he have gone into the mountains?"
This made Han Meng even more frantic. He denied it, saying,
"There have been so many Demon Beasts in the mountains lately, luring people to their deaths! No matter what happened, Boss Lanshan would never be reckless enough to take that kind of risk!"
Qin Wen fell silent.
Lanshan was a cautious man who always played it safe.
He’d been leading a Demon Hunting Team for years. If he were that impulsive and hot-headed, he wouldn’t have survived this long.
Bai Mo stood up abruptly.
"Let’s go."
"We’ll go take a look."
Lanshan and Young Master Wei were both people he knew; it was unthinkable to just sit by and do nothing.
Qin Wen quickly tried to stop him.
"Shopkeeper, don’t be rash! We don’t know how dangerous this is. What if..."
Bai Mo waved a hand, reassuring him.
"I’m no expert at tracking. I’ll need to go ask for help from a fellow disciple."
***
「The moon hung high in the sky.」
The group arrived at the foot of Celestial Barrier Mountain. The moonlight cast a deathly-pale glow upon the mountain, making it look like a malevolent, soul-devouring place.
The night wind was biting.
The group first went to the spot where Young Master Wei had been abducted.
The area was a mess, with toppled archery targets and stones scattered everywhere.
This was from Young Master Wei and Young Master Wang’s archery practice, not from the fight itself.
Instructor Sun had been taken down in a single blow; he hadn’t even had a chance to put up a fight.
The senior disciple from his sect, whom Bai Mo had persuaded to come with a bottle of Pills, crouched down to carefully examine a patch of flattened grass.
He pinched a bit of soil and sniffed it. His casual expression shifted, suddenly turning serious.
’He had just been thinking of this as doing a favor for a friend, but now, it seemed he’d stumbled upon something unexpected.’
Bai Mo watched his expression closely.
"Senior Brother?"
The disciple snapped out of it, dusted off his hands, and stood up.
"It’s a branch of the Holy Dao Sect. They call themselves the Child Altar."
"There’s no mistake, it was them..."
Bai Mo also looked down at the grass, but he couldn’t see anything unusual.
"The Holy Dao Sect?"
"Didn’t they come to our sect to ’spar’ just the other day? They left in utter defeat. Why are they showing up here now?"
The disciple sneered.
"People from this sect wander the world, searching for people to turn into their ’Holy Children.’ It’s utterly disgusting..."
"They probably got snubbed at our sect’s gates and came back out, unwilling to give up, to recruit more members for their branch..."
At this, he suddenly looked at Young Master Wang.
"That friend of yours... is he still a virgin?"
Young Master Wang was taken aback for a second, but then he quickly replied:
"He is! Young Master Wei is very self-respecting. He has never... been with a woman..."
"That explains it."
The group then went to follow the route Lanshan had taken.
When they reached a certain spot, the disciple they’d brought along for help stopped short.
"It’s that disgusting stench from the Child Altar people again..."