"Hmm, I've been busy with the affairs of Dragon King Hall and indeed forgot about this matter. Let me see what the elder martial uncles have written to us."
Upon hearing the reminder from the two junior brothers, Shen Cangsheng hurriedly began to whistle.
But after whistling several times, he saw no sign of the messenger pigeon returning from outside the window.
"Impossible!"
Seeing this, Shen Cangsheng's brows furrowed even tighter, murmuring, "Considering the speed of the messenger pigeon, it only takes a day to fly from the Capital City to Kunlun, and entering Kunlun Ruins then returning to the sect should take only two days. It has been almost ten days now. Even if it was delayed a bit in the Kunlun Ruins, it should have returned to the Capital City by now!"
His two junior brothers also felt that something was quite wrong.
Logically speaking, even if the trip from Capital City to Kunlun Ruins should only take a bit over three days, and round trip including rest shouldn't exceed eight days, it should have brought back the message the day before yesterday. Even accounting for some delays, it should have returned by yesterday or today at the latest.
But there was still no movement…
This cast a shadow over their hearts, bringing with it a bad premonition.
"Senior brother, go get the life medallion to see if there has been an accident,"
one junior brother suggested.
The so-called life medallion is a special jade medallion crafted by their sect. Made from a unique material, it stores a drop of essence blood, continuously emanating a glow. If the essence blood's owner meets a mishap, the entire jade medallion will shatter directly.
Spirit birds like the messenger pigeon, being extensively used, naturally have a life medallion. This way, if the messenger pigeon vanished without sending messages in time, they could check if the medallion indicated any accidents.
"Hmm."
Shen Cangsheng agreed and then went upstairs to search for the life medallion in a storage room.
At last, he looked down at a shattered jade medallion in the drawer, his face as black as coal.
The life medallion was indeed shattered!
The two junior brothers of Shen Cangsheng entered, limping.
They had been recuperating near Shen Cangsheng for nearly ten days. Although their wounds had healed significantly, it still takes a hundred days to fully recover from bone and muscle injuries. Even with the aid of top-quality healing medicine and being martial artists themselves, they were not yet able to move as freely as before.
"Senior brother, this…"
They looked at the shattered jade in the drawer, their expressions growing grim.
Shen Cangsheng's face was clouded with uncertainty, saying, "Judging from the cracks on the jade, it must have shattered ten days ago, which means the messenger pigeon was killed just after leaving Capital City!"
Normally nobody could tell when exactly the jade shattered, but the life medallion was different. Containing spiritual energy, it slowly dissipated once broken, so Shen Cangsheng could tell when the medallion shattered just by looking.
No need to take it to advanced instruments for analysis.
"Ten days ago, who could it have been? The new Dragon King?"
A junior brother's face turned dark as he quickly thought of Mu Jinyu.
After all, their miserable condition was all thanks to Mu Jinyu's doing.
"It shouldn't be him!"
The other junior brother spoke with a grave expression, "He hadn't even entered Dragon King Hall at that time, and given his age, he wouldn't know about the affairs of the Kunlun Ruins. There must have been someone else helping him."
"Then who could it have been?"
As the junior brother asked, he began speculating, "The Old Dragon King?"
"It's possible, given that Mu Jinyu is his grandson but... if he really wanted to help, why not just kill us outright? When our sect came to investigate later, he could easily claim we died heroically. Why go through all this trouble?"
Shen Cangsheng waved his hand and said, "Given the Old Dragon King's character, he would not have tried to kill me, although it's very likely that it was his doing."
Pausing for a moment, his eyes flashed brightly, and he added, "However, besides the Old Dragon King, there is another who might also take such a risk. I believe the real culprit is him."
"Who?!"
Two junior brothers asked in unison.
Shen Cangsheng replied, "Beidou Tianshu, Xiang Mantang!"
"Him?" Upon hearing this, the two junior brothers also recalled Xiang Mantang, whom they had met once before.
Regarding this man, they had always harbored apprehension, considering him a very dangerous person.
If it were him, it wouldn't be impossible.
But doubt arose again, and they asked, "But on the engagement day, he didn't show up at all. How would he know we were humiliated by Mu Jinyu? Even if he learned the news later and wanted to come to our aid, we had already released the messenger pigeon; it couldn't be such a coincidence, could it?"
Shen Cangsheng replied, "It's precisely because he didn't show up that day that I suspect it was him; he has been monitoring us, which is why shortly after I released the messenger pigeon, it was killed."
While speaking, Shen Cangsheng's face contorted with a ferocious expression, "Whether he did it or not, since the Old Dragon King has died, I now believe the murderer is Xiang Mantang!"
"Hmph, such a Jinyu Mantang, constantly spoiling my plans. Do you think just because you've become the Tiance True Dragon and taken over Dragon King Hall, that I would no longer dare to seek revenge?!"
A murderous intent was hardly concealable in Shen Cangsheng's eyes, reaching a critical point of madness.
Originally, he had expected that a senior uncle from his sect would soon come forth to seek justice for him, which is why Shen Cangsheng had been enduring so far, even though he had been harshly humiliated by Mu Jinyu that day, he had been suppressing his fury, not making a scene at Dragon King Hall!
When Mu Jinyu became the new Tiance True Dragon, he even abased himself by kneeling on one knee and loudly hailing him as Dragon King.
All this was under the assumption that a senior uncle from his sect would seek justice for him; this was why he was willing to adopt the attitude of sitting back and watching the drama, submissively acknowledging Mu Jinyu as his superior.
But now, knowing that the messenger pigeon had failed to leave the Capital City right from the start, his plans were completely ruined, and he was furiously enraged!
He was almost driven insane!
Having learned the truth, Shen Cangsheng felt like he was just a joke in the eyes of Jinyu Mantang.
He had originally wanted to laugh at their plight, but unexpectedly, in their eyes, he had long been a joke!
Clenching his fists tightly, the violent emotions in his chest almost caused him to lose control and create a huge disturbance in Dragon King Hall!
If it weren't for the fact that he knew he was no match for Jinyu Mantang, he would have already gone there to demand justice.
"Ding!"
Just then.
Shen Cangsheng's cell phone chimed with a message alert.
Shen Cangsheng took out his phone, initially planning to smash it to vent his anger, but after a casual glance at the screen, he immediately stopped his action.
"This…"
Shen Cangsheng looked at the message, then unlocked his phone, clicked on an app with a dragon head icon, and as the screen displayed a slowly opening palace gate, Xiang Mantang's newly posted message appeared within the Dragon King Hall's internal software...
It was about looking for a girl, which was a bit challenging because Xiang Mantang provided too little information, and there was only a childhood photo of the girl.
"This guy is clearly abusing his power!"
Shen Cangsheng murmured softly, then added, "This little girl, could she possibly be Xiang Mantang's younger sister? Why does she look somewhat familiar?"
Shen Cangsheng's two junior brothers leaned over and took a glance at the photo of the little girl, murmuring, "She does look six or seven points similar to Junior Sister Li. Could it be her?"