Chapter 44 Investigate

The old man is the oldest member of the River Clan and the son of the founding ancestor, his name is Wilad River. His eyes had a deep blue color that contained wisdom and intelligence, if you look closer, one could see an illusion that a river was circulating around them. Coupled with his long and smooth silvery white hair, he looked like a gentle old man. He was wearing a blue colored robe with a flowing river design and ripples formed with every step he took as if he was walking on water.

“Congratulations Ancestor,”

“Congratulations father,”

“Congratulations grandfather,”

Zander, Killboy and the others immediately sensed that Wilad’s cultivation had increased again and was only a step away from breaking into the next realm. This made everyone excited and knew that this would make their standing in the city more stable. After losing their founding ancestor during the war, their foundation was shaken and the only thing that held it from collapsing was the protection from the royal family due to their ancestor’s contributions and the fact that they still had Wilad, a peak Dao Formation expert.

Wilad smiled with satisfaction when he saw the members of his clan.

“Thank you, everyone, we can have a meeting and a celebratory banquet at a later date in the grand hall.”

Everyone understood his meaning and departed after offering more pleasantries leaving only Zander and Killboy.

“What happened?”

Wilad’s eyes turned sharp and knew something was off. This made the father and son duo shiver inside, they both knew that Wilad joined his father during the war and experienced a lot of bitter battles. Despite his gentle appearance, hidden deep inside was a war veteran that could unleash a massacre when needed be.

“Father, Taba and Butchog are both dead,” Zander went straight to the point and waved his hand to show their mutilated corpses.

Wilad was shocked and furrowed his brows after looking at his descendant’s pitiful appearance then sighed. He then waved his hand and water covered both corpses and their wounds started to close up making them look better. From what he saw, he could tell that the killer had a lot of hatred against Taba and Butchog. He also knew how the father and son acted but despite that, he did not care much due to Killboy and his son’s presence who both showed great potential. This resulted in Taba and Butchog being pampered too much to the point that they formed unsavory tastes of pleasure.

“Tell me what happened,”

“Father, it’s like this...” Zander started to narrate all the details he knew and did not skip anything. Although he loved his son and grandson, he did not exaggerate and told the events as truthful as possible, aside from his fear or being caught lying, he had his own principles. He lived far too long and knew that exaggerating things might lead to disaster, especially that their foundation was still a little shaky inside the city.

After listening, Wilad sighed again and could not hide his disappointment toward himself and his deceased descendants.

“Perhaps we were too lenient, it could be said that this is partly our fault for pampering both of them,”

“Father,” Zander could not refute what his father said, this was also the reason why Butchog’s wife took her life because she couldn’t bear the shame of being married to a disgusting husband.

“Let’s go talk to Joey and ask him what happened,” Wilad suggested and the trio headed towards the main hall.

The trio was waiting at the main hall while Wilad sat on the main throne. A while later, the door opened, Elder John and Joey walked inside then greeted in a respectful manner while half kneeling.

“Greetings, Ancestor, Clan Leader,”

“Rise,” Wilad commanded nonchalantly but his voice brought pressure when Elder John and Joey heard it.

“Elder John, you may take your leave,”

Elder John acknowledged and excused himself then closed the door. Joey was left their alone feeling all the pressure making him sweat due to nervousness.

“Joey, tell us everything you know,” Zander spoke this time and urged Joey to spill all the beans.

“Reporting to Ancestor and Clan Leader, after I broke through by one minor realm, master Butchog told me to keep it a secret and wait for his command. Due to the upcoming chaos at Sin City, we were asked to evacuate with the sole daughter of the city guard captain, Blue. The little girl was fancied by young master Taba but she did not like him and constantly rejected him. With this opportunity, we secretly informed the local bandits at the Hummingbird Forest about our journey. By the time we were attacked, the little girl’s guardian was busy fighting the bandit leaders and I took the opportunity to deal him a killing blow in secret. After that, the little girl was forced to take shelter with us, without his guardian, it was easy for us to take her inside master Butchog’s residence and feigned ignorance when people started to inquire about her. Young master Taba took her in the basement and after that, I did not know what he did with her. Days later, Blue’s father and his companions came knocking on the door demanding to see his daughter but were rejected by master Butchog. The trio then stayed inside the city according to our informants. The night I lost consciousness, a merchant named Alibaba came in with a new batch of young girls and was offered to master Butchog. I was meditating when they took the girls at the basement, it was around that time when suddenly I could not hold on to my consciousness despite my struggles, that was the last thing I remember.”

Joey was nervous the whole time but was still able to tell his side of the story. Gritting his teeth, he mustered all his courage and asked the question that had been bugging him the whole time.

“If I may ask, did something happen to master Butchog and young master Taba?”

“They are both dead,” Zander answered in a serious manner making Joey’s pupils shrink.

Thud!

“I am sorry for failing my task! I tried to hold on but I just couldn’t. Please punish me for being incompetent!”

Joey kneeled on both knees and started to kowtow while banging his head on the floor.

“Stop, this could not be blamed on you,” Wilad waved his hand and an invisible power landed on Joey making him stand up.

Joey was startled but did not resist, he did not even wipe his bleeding forehead.

“Killboy, take Joey with you and go investigate this matter. Do not confront anyone, just investigate. I do not want us having anymore conflict due to them. We will decide what to do after your investigation, I am hoping for results within two days,”

Wilad commanded and dismissed all of them leaving him alone in the main hall.

“I have to fix everything before my lifespan runs out, sigh, this was my mistake. Father, I have failed you, I was never as talented as you to begin with.”

Wilad mumbled while staring into the distant past, he saw the back of his father. A figure leading a legion against an opposing kingdom, clad in a golden battle armor full of dents due to countless battles. He held a spear in his right hand, standing firm like a mountain that could not be moved. Raising his spear, he shouted and lead the charge fearlessly.

.....

Eznho was in a trance while reading books regarding the Halo Realm. He only snapped back to reality when one of the librarians woke him up from his concentration. Being cut short made him grumpy but there was nothing he could do except leave with dissatisfaction. Despite that, he read all of the important parts and the only ones left were miscellaneous things.

He went straight back home and had dinner with his family, after having conversations with them, he went to his room and contemplated all the things he learned.

According to what he read, the Halo Realm was the real first step in the cultivation path, the Cleansing Stage was a far cry from it and was only considered the preparatory stage. There were many things one could do when they reach the Halo Realm such as having the ability to cast spells and skills using heavenly energy. Aside from that, one's consciousness can now come out of the body to sense the surroundings and what comes with it is heavenly energy.

Meaning, you can now attack using heavenly energy that you have accumulated inside your dantian, albeit, with a limited distance. One of the main reasons for this was because once you enter the Halo Realm your body and soul will have a great transformation.

As for the process, the book has described it but not in great detail – forming a halo of heavenly energy inside the dantian but of course, knowing the process is easy but doing it is another story. Aside from that, another requirement is to have a cultivation method that allows you to form the halo.

I can only truly experience these things once I will break through to the Halo Realm. And another problem is that I don’t have any cultivation method.

Eznho frowned but was more determined than ever, he wanted to do a lot of things but was limited by his strength. His excitement gradually subsided and he started to practice cultivation using the breathing technique he knew.

Everything has its own time, first and foremost I have to reach the peak of the cleansing stage first before anything else.

.....

Killboy and Joey did not waste any time and immediately began their investigation. They started with the guards but it yielded nothing and had the same answer as Joey, they just lost consciousness out of nowhere. Making no progress with them, they went to find Alibaba but was told that he left a few of hours ago with a caravan to make another business deal at the neighboring city and did not tell when he will be back.

With the new information they gathered, they immediately rode the fastest mount available and went to catch up with Alibaba’s caravan. Two hours later, they caught up with Alibaba,

“Lord Killboy, how can I be of assistance? To think that an esteemed individual as yourself would tire himself out just for me,”

Alibaba greeted them with respect but nervousness was slowly building up inside him. Ever since he found out that his servant who was investigating the siblings died mysteriously, he knew something was wrong and planned to get out of the city for the time being to avoid troubles, alas, he moved out too late and was now faced with the current situation.

“Let’s cut the crap, Alibaba, where did you get the girls you offered to lord Butchog the other night?”

Joey did not have the patience for pleasantries and wanted to get to the bottom of this matter and show to the clan that he was still useful.

Alibaba was dissatisfied with the hostile attitude but did not show it.

Che, a servant such as yourself dares to throw his weight in front of me? Hmph! Better to live a mortal and enjoy riches rather than become a cultivator but is someone else’s dog.

“All of them have been acquired from low-class families, most of them have been sold to me and I made sure that they did not have any backings,”

“Are you sure?” Killboy asked with narrowed eyes.

Wait a minute, shit!

Cold sweats ran down his spine when he remembered about that arrogant person who disappeared after selling the eye-catching girl.

“Well,” Alibaba wanted to lie but he was afraid he would be caught.

“I’ll ask again, are you sure?” Killboy was serious this time and emanated a pressure with a small hint of killing intent.

Alibaba did not dare to lie after feeling the pressure that nearly made him faint.

“There was this arrogant guy who came to my shop when I was preparing to go to lord Butchog’s residence. He came in unexpectedly and brought with him an exquisite and good looking girl, he told me her family gave her to him as a form of payment. I was skeptical but she was really a rare merchandise and I was in a rush at that time, so I bought her and offered it to lord Butchog. I told my men to investigate him, but it yielded nothing, he vanished like a smoke.”

Alibaba told them everything he knew, except for the fact about his subordinate's death which he thought was not related to the incident at all. If only he knew...

Killboy furrowed his brows after Alibaba narrated the events he knew, without saying anything, he rode his mount and headed back to the city. There was no point asking about anything anymore, what he needed to do next was find the missing girls and try to figure something out.

After seeing the duo left, Alibaba let out a huge sigh of relief.

“What a mess, I should probably stay away from that city for a while,”

A second later, a burly middle-aged man walked towards him emanating the aura of a Halo cultivator.

“What do we do now?” the burly man asked with a hint of amusement.

“We continue our journey, remember not to tell anyone about Onyok’s death. Who knows what kind of monster we poked this time,”

Alibaba answered with fear and got on his carriage leaving Limber in a daze. He was the one who found out about Onyok’s death, he could still vividly remember his face. A face full of fear and regret, the formations were never triggered and the thing that killed Onyok was his own shattered crystal ball. One could only imagine how the killing happened, with his life experiences, he knew better and did not want to have anything to do with the person behind Onyok’s death.