Stop it, Taoist, Your Fight almost Ruins the DAO!

Half-asleep, Yi Chen heard some familiar words again.

He opened the door grumpily.

Lin Baihu wore a stern face, clad in armor with a sword at his side, followed by two guards standing outside the door.

Leveraging his just-got-out-of-bed grumpiness, Yi Chen couldn't help but tease:

"What's the matter, my Daoist friend Lin, in such a hurry?"

"Did your dad find you a stepmother?"

Yi Chen didn't even bother to ask how Lin Baihu had found where he was staying. It would have been strange if the authorities in Ping'an County couldn't find the inn where he was lodged.

Lin Baihu: "....."

"Please spare me the jokes, Taoist. This time I have come to request your assistance and accompany me to Yangjiawu Fort."

Lin Baihu entered the room with a grimace, put a package on the table, and without any formality, grabbed the teapot from the room and began to drink straight from it.

After gulping down the tea, Lin Baihu then spilled out the whole story, like pouring out beans.

It turns out that the third daughter of the Prefect of Mingguang Prefecture above Ping'an County had disappeared.

The place was within Yangjiawu Fort.

The Prefect's daughter was fond of traveling and enjoying the scenery. On this trip, when she arrived near Yangjiawu Fort, she decided to stay there for the night.

Unfortunately, she disappeared last night, alongside a number of villagers.

So early today, the remaining attendants of the Prefect's daughter came to the authorities in Ping'an County in a panic seeking help.

"Taoist, the current Prefect of Mingguang is from the Cui family."

"According to the attendants who reported the incident, they went to bed quite early last night, but villagers saw what looked like a small blood-red meteor falling from the sky and smashing into the fort."

"Yet there is not a single trace on the ground, not even a crater."

"Then, this morning, they discovered that their young lady and some villagers had vanished," Lin Baihu said solemnly.

"Is it the Cui family, one of the ninesurnames under heaven?" Yi Chen said, taken aback, and turned to ask.

"Exactly, who else but the Cui family could have such influence?"

With Lin Baihu's explanation, Yi Chen immediately understood.

At first, he was puzzled as to why the authorities would take a disappearance so seriously, but it turned out that a 'Heavenly Dragon' person was missing.

The law of Da Yue also includes the principle that princes are subject to the same laws as commoners, but some appearances are just for show—it's better to hear about them than to take them seriously.

On the surface, it seemed as if everyone was equal, which sounds quite beautiful, but in reality, for this concept to hold true, you first have to be considered a person.

Sometimes you think you're a person, but in the eyes of some, you're merely a chordate, a mammal, a primate.

In the past life, the so-called beacon of humanity, the Eagle, incorporated "We the People" into its fundamental law, to enthusiastic applause, only for everyone to realize later that "We the People" actually translated to "We are the people..."

In a world where might is kept to oneself, equality for all is even more unattainable.

"This really has… nothing to do with me."

Yi Chen's first reaction was to refuse. He frowned and said, "What about your father? This kind of incident should hardly fall on you, a hundred-household officer."

"My father secretly went to the capital several days ago to escort the left arm of the Longevity God, right. You also know about last night's anomaly; I really have no confidence in handling it alone. My father's deputy handed the task down to me, and I had no choice but to come here and shamelessly ask for your help," Lin Zhengyi said with a distressed expression while opening the package on the table.

Inside were ten little yellow fish, each worth ten taels.

Next to the small yellow fish, there was a fist-sized piece of fiery red Sun True Gold.

This caught Yi Chen's attention, and he found it hard to look away.

A hundred taels of gold was one thing, amounting to no more than about twelve hundred taels in total, but the value of the Sun True Gold was something else entirely.

This item was the best material for crafting Pure Yang Divine Weapons, a special mineral that only forms in extremely yang places over tens of millions of years. Yi Chen had no idea how Lin Zhengyi managed to get his hands on it.

The security bureau sure was a big spender.

If this Sun True Gold could be fused into his Dragon-Slaying Sword, it would undoubtedly enhance its power even further.

After much consideration, Yi Chen decided to agree to accompany Lin Baihu and his party.

The hefty gift from Lin Baihu was one reason, but the main concern was the fear of him truly meeting an accident and dying at Yang's stronghold.

If that happened, not only would all the relationships Yi Chen had carefully built with Lin Zhenbei come to naught, but he might also end up on Lin Zhenbei's bad side.

After all, a father who has lost his only son would only remember that his son had once come to him with a generous gift, requesting his help, only to be ruthlessly rejected.

Besides, Yi Chen was also quite interested in the blood-red meteor. He was curious about what it truly was and what impact it might bring to this world.

Being there to explore in person meant he wouldn't be completely in the dark if something similar happened in the future.

Having firsthand information was also very important.

Moreover, other experts from the security bureau would surely go on this trip. If he himself were to get involved in a similar event in the future, where would he find so many quality "consumables" to fill the trenches...

He couldn't possibly experiment rashly with land mines on himself, after all. It's better when there are more people around.

A certain devious Taoist was calculating this all with a clack-clack of his abacus.

The mysterious events at Yang's stronghold were just the disappearance of some common folk, and since there were people who managed to escape and report the incident, it seemed that any weirdness would probably be limited in strength.

At least that's how it seemed for now.

Now that Yi Chen's strength had greatly increased after breaking into the Strength-Breaking Realm and Lin Baihu was no weak hand either. Together with the strength of the security bureau's men, even if an accident occurred, it wouldn't be hard to carve a bloody path out.

Worst comes to worst, who among these people could outrun him?

With this thought, Yi Chen no longer hesitated and immediately accepted the offer with surprising ease.

Lin Baihu, who had thought they'd need a few more exchanges to finalize the arrangement, was quite surprised and a touch of gratitude appeared on his face.

He had been prepared for Yi Chen to refuse or raise his price.

He knew Taoist Yi Chengzi all too well, a man who only cared about tangible benefits. According to intel, Hidden Dragon Temple was in the middle of expansion and in need of funds. Lin Baihu had five little yellow fish hidden away in case Yi Chen asked for more, but they ended up being unnecessary...

"Although the Taoist is quite scheming, he does step up when it matters. I really judged him with the heart of a villain,"

A shade of embarrassment came over Lin Baihu.

He, who was always looking to take advantage, immediately pounded his chest and promised that if Yi Chen could not find the right person to smelt the Sun True Gold, his father had a friend who was a master at crafting artifacts and could help fuse the Sun True Gold into the Dragon-Slaying Sword.

After agreeing on the partnership without delay, Yi Chen and Lin Baihu took the lead, seated in a tall carriage with dozens of the security bureau's men following behind. They left the city in a mighty procession and galloped towards the direction of Yang's stronghold.

In the carriage, besides Yi Chen and Lin Baihu, there also sat a young maidservant with high cheekbones and thin lips. Her facial features were not bad, but she had a somewhat mean aura about her.

Her name was Yue Ya, and she was the close servant of the inexplicably vanished third young miss, joining them on the journey.

Pushing their mounts to the limit, they arrived near Yang's stronghold in just over an hour.

With a leap from the carriage, Yi Chen looked up at the birds overhead and his gaze suddenly sharpened to a point.

Above Yang's stronghold, birds did not pass.

A flock of wild geese cried out strangely as they avoided flying over Yang's stronghold, diverting their path.