Dimensional Hotel
Chapter 374 Clue Connection

Chapter 374: Chapter 374 Clue Connection

Yu Sheng had finally understood that this Master Uncle Xuan Che was indeed a master adventurer. He could pull out bizarre items he found in all sorts of strange places anytime, which, in a sense, could be considered a Dora A Fairy...

"Looking back now, that station must’ve been an abnormal space node—not an Exotic Realm, since there wasn’t a ’depth difference’ between it and the real world," True Man Yuan Hao said, holding the odd mask in his hand as he recalled, "That black-clothed Cultivator was probably trying to find something in the station but got trapped inside by the endlessly looping abnormal space..."

Yu Sheng listened beside him, bewildered, his gaze involuntarily following the strange mask in the other’s hand, and only after the other’s words fell did he subconsciously speak: "Where is that station? Can it still be found?"

"Finding that asteroid belt isn’t difficult, but the station is gone," True Man Yuan Hao shook his head, a hint of regret in his expression, "I went back to look for it in the second year and found nothing there, likely completely swallowed by the abnormal space—such abnormal spaces can’t be maintained for long, and a year is enough for it to collapse and perish. It’s just hard to say how this abnormal space was formed, maybe the station’s equipment malfunctioned, or it encountered some natural phenomenon? It’s hard to say."

For a moment, the hall fell silent, everyone pondering, and True Man Yuanling broke the silence after a while: "Apart from that? Did you investigate that black-clothed person’s identity at the time?"

"Couldn’t find a thing," True Man Yuan Hao sighed, "The person had nothing with them to prove any identity or origin, almost as if they had appeared out of nowhere, clearly thoroughly prepared with the intention of dying without revealing secrets, added to with quite thorough body tempering marks, making it hard to trace back their origins. But... though I couldn’t trace back their origins, I did discover something else."

Yu Sheng and True Man Yuanling spoke in unison: "Something else?"

"He had a piece of jade fragment in his mouth, likely put in during the last moment when he realized survival was hopeless."

Yu Sheng blinked, and turned to see a thoughtful expression on True Man Yuanling’s face, becoming curious: "What does that mean?"

"It’s likely offspring from Handing or Shuji frontier," True Man Yuanling said, explaining to Yu Sheng, "Holding a stone in one’s mouth at the point of death is a habit of many groups living at the border of Star Domain because many frontier planets were harsh environments back then. Early pioneers faced dangers, sometimes unable to preserve their bodies or lost in the void of Exotic Realm unable to return home, thus they held the belief of putting a hometown stone in their mouths at death to seek their soul’s return home. This passed down through generations, turning into a local custom even after frontier planets stabilized."

"Moreover, because different frontier planets are spaced far apart with distinct resources, this custom has slight variations. Whether it’s holding purple-gold, stone-crystal, white stone, or long rock, only those from Handing or Shuji frontier offspring hold jade in their mouth."

Yu Sheng listened in awe to this "folk knowledge" known only to locals of Feiyu-13b Star Domain, and soon realized: "Then this matches our previous judgment that those black-clothed Cultivators were indeed from the border, from a pioneering planet..."

"That’s right," True Man Yuanling nodded solemnly, "Moreover, if those black-clothed Cultivators truly came from ’Shuji,’ this even aligns with another clue."

"What clue?"

"That old Yun Qingzi," True Man Yuanling said solemnly, "A thousand years ago, it was observed he fought with an unknown formidable opponent and disappeared near a barren star close to ’Shuji’!"

At that, Yu Sheng’s eyes widened instantly, a flash of insight crossing his mind, connecting numerous previously scattered clues in a common path, instantly stringing them together—

A thousand years ago, Immortal Sect ancestor Yun Qingzi fought a fierce battle with an unknown enemy near the border planet ’Shuji,’ leaving only remnants on the battlefield and then missing for a millennium; a thousand years later, a Deceitful Exotic Realm appeared near the Taixu Spirit Hub, and a group of black-clothed Cultivators, suspected to come from ’Shuji,’ suddenly emerged seeking the so-called ’Emperor’s Legacy’; simultaneously, the long-missing Yun Qingzi appeared in a ’dream vision,’ his goal also the ’Emperor’s Legacy.’

Moreover, Yun Qingzi seemed to have changed drastically, recorded from a gentle, elegant Immortal Realm elder to becoming odd...

However, True Man Yuan Hao did not know what his junior brother was talking about, and he seemed dazed for a moment before being taken aback: "Yun Qingzi? That ’Border Desolate Immortal’ who disappeared a thousand years ago? Why bring up that elder suddenly?"

"This matter might relate to this missing elder," True Man Yuanling pondered carefully, slowly began to speak, "In a dream vision, Yu Sheng saw someone claiming to be ’Yun Qingzi,’ and that person was also seeking the ’Emperor’s Legacy.’

Immediately, he recounted all matters related to ’Yun Qingzi,’ with Yu Sheng supplementing frequently, and once everything was explained, True Man Yuan Hao and True Man Yuanhe in the hall were both left dumbfounded.

After a while, the tall and lean True Man Yuanhe abruptly burst out: "Maybe I should go back and attend to my Treasure Beast Pavilion, having been away for so many days, I wonder if the disciples have completed their assignments..."

"Don’t rush off, you’ll be even more troubled seeing your disciples refining land-air-sea cockroaches and mosquitoes with a lifespan of ten years when you go back," True Man Yuanling immediately blocked his junior brother, "If this matter indeed implicates an ancient great power, even bringing out things from the ’Old World,’ none of us here can remain idle."

True Man Yuanhe sighed: "Oh, just wanting to focus on research, why is it so difficult..."

Sitting on Yu Sheng’s shoulder, Erin suddenly had a bright idea: "So, those black-clothed Cultivators might’ve been sent by that ’Yun Qingzi’? He sent them to find the ’Emperor’s Legacy’?"

"We can’t rule out this possibility," Yu Sheng said with a serious expression, then looked up at Yuanling and Xuan Che, "What’s the current situation with that black-clothed cultivator we captured earlier? Can we interrogate him?"

True Man Yuanling pondered for a moment and nodded slightly: "...Ideally, it would be more prudent to ’prepare’ him for another day or two, but since we now have ’Yun Qingzi’ and ’Shuji’ as breakthroughs, we can go and ask him."

"Alright, let’s interrogate him now," Yu Sheng immediately said, "Let’s see if that guy will confess anything useful."

A moment later, led by True Man Yuanling and Xuan Che, Yu Sheng and his group arrived at a remote location some distance from the main hall of Queyun Palace.

The stone walls here were towering and surrounded by a eerie forest, with a persistent chill seemingly lingering between the forest and high walls, giving the impression of countless alert eyes watching everything around. Inside those gray-white walls stood only a plain and unassuming building.

As soon as Yu Sheng stepped into the courtyard within the high walls, a sudden feeling of inexplicable heaviness and oppression welled up inside him, as if countless voices were whispering in his ear.

Erin, perched on his shoulder, instinctively straightened her body, casually and irritatedly waving her small hand to the side: "What are they mumbling about?"

In the next second, Yu Sheng heard a sharp "sizzle" sounding in the air, as a small flash of black light emanated from the doll’s fingertips, instantly silencing the entire courtyard...

With a "thud," Yu Sheng saw a pitch-black shadow suddenly imprint onto the exterior wall of the plain building, the shadow twitching as it slid down, transforming into a black-clad, veiled woman.

The scene fell silent in an instant, leaving Yu Sheng startled: "...Who is this?"

"...A disciple guarding from the Heart Inquiry Pavilion," True Man Yuanling admitted, looking a bit embarrassed, "She must have reflexively used the ’Heart Inquiry Spell’ to check if there was any malicious intent among those entering the courtyard—this child is a bit rigid, and even when I come over, she routinely ’inquires’ me. I apologize for causing offense to you guests."

"Ah this," Yu Sheng felt even more embarrassed than True Man Yuanling when he heard this, quickly nudging Erin on his shoulder, "Hurry and apologize, you didn’t hold back at all with your strike..."

While speaking, Xuan Che had already gone forward to help the veiled, black-clad woman up. She looked around dazedly before finally focusing her gaze on True Man Yuanling, and slightly belatedly stepped forward to salute: "Master, I was just attacked..."

Before she could finish speaking, Yu Sheng took Erin a couple of steps forward, and the little doll lowered her head midair: "Um, sorry, I thought someone was blowing in my ear, so I instinctively retaliated."

Black-clad woman: "...?"

She clearly still hadn’t figured out how she ended up plastered to the wall.

Meanwhile, Yu Sheng felt another wave of emotion in his heart—usually, he only saw Erin being smacked against walls; this was the first time he saw the little doll manage to plaster someone else to the wall. Truly, specialization works wonders, and when it comes to spiritual attacks, this 66.6 cm tall dwarf pumpkin truly never backs down!

"Miss Erin’s skill in Soul Suppressing and Soul Stealing is truly extraordinary," Master Yuan Hao instinctively glanced at the small doll a few times. His sword-like brows furrowed, appearing somewhat puzzled, "But as I know it... the Alice puppet doesn’t seem to specialize in this type of magic technique, do you? You seem to mainly excel in curses?"

Erin blinked at the words, a little befuddled: "Is, is that so?"

Yet she only hesitated for a moment before nonchalantly waving her hand: "Ah, just about, because I’m very formidable!"

She then turned to the black-clad female guard once again, sincerely apologizing: "I’m sorry, are you alright?"

The other woman finally realized what had happened a moment ago, looking at her master and fellow seniors, feeling somewhat at a loss: "I-I’m fine, just now..."

"We’ll discuss what just happened later, we are here to interrogate the Evil Path cultivator," True Man Yuanling interrupted her, "How is the other person’s condition?"

"He is currently in a stupor, disciple worries he might wake and seek to end his life, so just administered some Sealing God Locking Heart and Soul Calming and Wisdom Condensing Pills to him..."