Phoenix Destiny
chapter-286

After they passed through White Heron State, Lu Mingshu stopped cultivating for the entire day. Other than helping to row the boat too, she spent most of her time staring at the map and observing the scenery. Looking at her staring at the map, Xie Zhanghui couldn't contain it anymore; "Miss Lu, what's on the map?"

"I'm trying to match the scenery with the map," she said.

She was trying to build up a model in her mind. She had travelled from Green Hills Bank too and passed by where Xie Lianzhen did, it was just that the distance was too long, so she was unable to remember it all. Thus, the model would help since she would not be able to take down all the data.

Lu Mingshu expected this to take up a lot of time. He had been missing for a few days, and the traces he left might have already disappeared, which would make finding him way more difficult. All she could do was build a model in her head and try to figure out things that were out of place.

The rowboat was fast. Not long later, they reached the route where Xie Lianzhen was last seen.

This route was a normal one, and there was nothing weird about it. It was an easy route that many passed by daily. Water beasts that endangered one's life was nowhere to be found. Nobody had ever gone missing here, so it was no wonder why Xie Zhanghui and the rest did not believe that he was kidnapped.

In fact, Xie Zhanghui still didn't believe Lu Mingshu's theory. "Miss Lu, how could Young Master disappear here? Look, most of the people here are still in the Body-Tempering Realm!"

When taking cultivation into consideration, Xie Lianzhen – who was very close to breaking into the Spirit Realm – should be the one with the highest cultivation in the area. However…

"That's what may bring him trouble."

Xie Zhanghui paused for a while before shaking his head in denial. "Who dares to offend Zhongzhou?" Offending Xie Lianzhen would mean offending the queen, and that would mean offending Zhongzhou. Zhongzhou was closely related to the Seven Truth Platform, which had many Assimilation Realms. Offending them would not be a smart move by any means.

"How do you know others would know who he is?"

"It's impossible that they wouldn't," Xie Zhanghui answered. "The skills that Young Master is equipped with are very distinct. As long as one is aware of current affairs, it would be simple to tell."

"You're that sure that he would show up as who he really is?"

Xie Zhanghui side-eyed her. He couldn't tell what she really meant, but it wasn't wise for him to ask.

Lu Mingshu said nothing else and went back to her map.

On the second day, the helpers whom Xiahou Shan had left him were going around to ask for information.

The military officer looked at Lu Mingshu weirdly. She's such a beauty, but indeed a femme fatale. If not for her, we wouldn't be here for such a long time. Seeing Xie Zhanghui arrive, he immediately stood up straight and answered all his questions.

Xie Zhanghui returned to the rowboat swiftly.

"What did he say?"

"He came back empty-handed." Xie Zhanghui shook his head.

Lu Mingshu looked down and waved to the officer.

The officer raised his eyebrows and swiftly jumped onto their rowboat. He just bowed to her since he did not know how to address her.

"How may I help you, Miss?"

"Other than humans, are there any other things out of place?"

"Miss, what do you mean…?"

"The environment or the weather, for example."

"Weather?" The officer thought for a while before responding. "The Ming River's weather is fickle. There will be thunderstorms and downpours all of a sudden, but that's normal."

"Can you try to recall what else they mentioned? Any small detail will do."

Hearing her, a few things immediately popped up in his mind. For example, the Jianghu people had been complaining about bad weather and surging food prices recently.

"Oh, somebody mentioned they met up with a water dragon tornado recently, but nobody was injured."

Lu Mingshu nodded and repeated her question once more. She repeated the same question until the officer could no longer answer her, then she ended it.

The officer bowed and went back to his boat.

After the rowboat got further, a soldier on board mumbled, "Does this Miss Lu have dementia? Why does she keep repeating the same thing?"

The officer gave him a tight slap and chided, "Nonsense. Don't bullshit about things related to our noble."

"Aren't I just speaking the facts?" The soldier sulked. "She keeps making you repeat the details! If it's not her memory failing, what else…?"

On the rowboat, Lu Mingshu turned to Xie Zhanghui. "Let's find people to ask too."

"About what?" Xie Zhanghui was slightly annoyed. Of course, he trusted Lu Mingshu's memory. He saw how good it was and how observant she was during the Qilin Festival. He just didn't understand what she was thinking. The officer repeated very clearly what she wanted to know. What was there to ask again? Was it that fun?

"Same question. Weather, environment, and such."

"…"

Even though he didn't understand what she was thinking, Xie Zhanghui did it anyway. With his status as a guardian, there was no doubt about his capability. The pair stopped around the route and asked every boat that passed by them. With them being powerful and generous, everyone was willing to cooperate with them.

As for what to ask, Xie Zhanghui handed it all to Lu Mingshu since it was all useless information to him.

After a few days, Xie Zhanghui could no longer hold it in.

"Miss Lu, what have you been trying to do?" These past few days, Lu Mingshu asked everyone she met the same few questions; weather, timing, environment…

As if she couldn't hear him, she continued scribbling on her paper, only looking up at him after she was done. "I now know what happened during the past few days."

"Didn't they all say that there was nothing out of place?"

Lu Mingshu dried the ink and threw the paper over. "Have a look."

Xie Zhanghui opened it up to see a detailed and neat timeline.

July 27th, cloudy day, no changes. July 28th, drizzling in the morning, thunderstorm soon after….

Xie Zhanghui took a glance and eyed her. "Your point?"

"Are you sure you manage the fifth clan?" Lu Mingshu rolled her eyes. "I really suspect the Seventh Truth Platform's standard."

Xie Zhanghui clenched his fist and yelled, "Miss Lu!" I know roasting people is your hobby, but what situation are we in now? Does she even know how urgent this is?

Lu Mingshu stopped and turned to a page, pointing a line out to him. "Look at this."

Xie Zhanghui squinted his eyes to have a closer look. "July 30th, water dragon tornado in the morning."

"So you suspect…?"

"It's uncommon here in Beiming, but it has been appearing quite a few times recently, matching with his timeline." Lu Mingshu clicked her tongue. "We can stop asking now and see if we will meet up with a water dragon tornado or not."