My Twin Sugar Mommies and Two Systems are 100 Years Late! Chapter 15.
It did not take long for Bingruo and Yuruo to investigate the core of the Yan Clan's territory. Their cultivation bases were far more profound than whatever "Old Ancestor" was hiding in a coffin somewhere beneath the clan.
The known cultivation realms were Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, Soulshift, and—while not the end of the path before ascending to immortality, the limit of the Pacified Grace Star—Void Refining.
All the Void Refining and Soulshift Realm big shots of the Human Race were too busy assaulting the Burning Mountain Demon Race and the other six races trapped in the Black Lotus Secret Realm. Thus, as Soulshift Realm figures—even though they were only of the Sixth and Fifth Layers, respectively—the duo could hardly imagine encountering danger unless the God of Bad Luck took a particular interest in them.
At their realm, their Divine Senses' range was more than enough to cover the entirety of the clan's core territory many times over. Yet, for some strange reason, they could not locate anyone whose appearance matched the portrait perfectly.
"Sister Bingruo," Yuruo called as soon as she arrived at Yan Anle's courtyard. "You found the same thing, right?"
"It seems so." Bingruo glanced down at the Fragrant Blood Flowers.
Yuruo lifted her hood, revealing a young lady with straight but partially braided silver hair, a pair of double-lidded dark brown eyes, and an oval face. Like everyone else in her clan besides the current Empress, she was white-horned. Specifically, two snow-white horns jutted out from just beneath her hairline.
"Most of the people in the clan do not even seem to know of or recall his existence, while those who do believe he is long dead. They remember him as a freeloader who was unable to cultivate but lived out his years in luxury." She folded her arms as she walked around the courtyard, observing the living quarters of the one their Empress held in such high regard.
Bingruo pulled her attention away from the flowers. "Her Majesty's prophecies have all proven correct, no matter how outlandish they seemed. Could it be different this time? Hmm... but this place seems to have been recently lived in. Maybe he just stepped out?"
She closed her eyes and spread her Divine Sense out again to search the clan. It did not take long to reconfirm that he was not there. Then, she expanded it to cover the entire city. Still, no good news.
When she opened her eyes and frowned, Yuruo saw this and asked, "Sister Bingruo, what do we do now? We can't just return empty-handed, right?"
"What else can we do? Send the news back to Her Highness while we wait here." Bingruo sighed. "Wherever he went, he will be back today—unless he has left the city entirely."
Yuruo thought about it and felt it made sense. There was indeed nothing else they could do. "Could he have begun an epic journey? He might have been an ordinary person before, but that was then. If he has already chanced upon the opportunity that turned his fate around, it would only be natural that residing here and living a mundane life would no longer satisfy him."
Bingruo's eyes widened slightly in realization. "We wouldn't happen to be so unlucky, arriving just hours or days late, would we?" Her expression turned serious, and she pulled out a simple Communication Talisman, igniting her Spiritual Qi to burn a message into it. "Her Highness must be informed. No matter what opportunity he found, his cultivation base cannot be more than Qi Refining. He shouldn't have traveled far by now."
Just then, her Divine Sense picked up a sudden change in the spatial consistency nearby. A spatial gate flickered into existence, and two figures stepped out into the residence.
"This is…" Yuruo naturally noticed it as well.
Bingruo's Divine Sense ignored the walls, and the appearance of the two figures became as clear to her as if she were standing right in front of them. An old man and a young lady?
"As expected, things involving Her Majesty's prophecies cannot be ordinary. In this backwater place, there is actually a Secret Realm that no one knows about. Although, judging from the subtle energy fluctuations, it is a very low-level one, it is still a Secret Realm nonetheless." Yuruo clicked her tongue inwardly as she communicated with Bingruo through Divine Sense. "I'm quite curious, though. The opening of a secret realm, no matter how small, should cause a much stronger disturbance than this; so, how is this one so subdued and localized?"
"What's the point of thinking about this now?" Bingruo shook her head in minor disappointment. "While interesting, it's a shame that neither of these two is our target."
Yuruo suggested, "Still, I think their appearance here and that peculiar Secret Realm must be connected to the fellow we seek. Hypnotizing them will definitely give us a lead on his whereabouts!"
"Yuruo, no!" Bingruo hurriedly stopped her.
Yuruo, who had already raised her hands to perform the hand signs for the Hypnosis Spell, halted. She raised a brow and probed, "Why?"
"Tampering with the souls of others is one thing. Even if their souls are injured—or worse, they die—it would be somewhat acceptable." Bingruo transmitted her stance, exhaling. "But what if something happens to people connected to our prophesied benefactor? He will take us for enemies!"
"That… is logical," Yuruo admitted, exiting her spell-casting posture. "In that case, do we just follow them around, hoping to find clues?"
"For now, that seems to be the only way." Bingruo resumed imprinting the Communication Talisman with information. "Unless Her Highness or Her Majesty dictates otherwise."
Once finished, she activated the talisman. It vanished, presumably transmitting the message to Sun Ziyun. The two ladies—one still hooded and the other proudly displaying her horns—silently observed the pair. They couldn't help but notice that the relationship between the newcomers was a bit indescribable. Indeed, seeing a Foundation Establishment figure diligently accompanying an ordinary mortal and calling him "Young Master" was a strange sight, no matter the lens.
Only a few seconds after Bingruo sent the message, a similar talisman appeared in the air beside her. She reflexively lifted her left hand to grasp it.
Yuruo's expression shifted. "Her Highness came to a conclusion so quickly?"
It only took Bingruo a brief moment to read the information. Once finished, the talisman turned to ashes and dissipated. "No, it's a message that was already on its way," she said, shaking her head. "Her Majesty has divined more information related to this Yan Anle. Apparently, beside him, there is a woman…"
She relayed the Empress's discovery to her companion.
"A woman always accompanying him…" Yuruo muttered thoughtfully. She glanced at the two people who had emerged from the low-level Secret Realm and were preparing to head out. She casually gestured, and a scroll appeared in her hand. Unfurling it, she looked at the portrait of the young man. "Say, Sister Bingruo, doesn't this gray-haired mortal's appearance share some resemblance to the person in the portrait?"
Bingruo was not dull. A single back-and-forth glance between the portrait and the elderly man was more than enough for her to realize the truth. "Yan Anle has yet to establish his Foundation, so of course he has yet to undergo a great surge in lifespan. He would still look like a decrepit old man!"
She felt like slapping her forehead.
"I'll do it this time." Yuruo pulled out a Communication Talisman and sent the news to their Princess.
Bingruo did not mind this. "Mm. Let's follow him in the meantime and see what he is up to."
Yan Anle, blissfully unaware of being shadowed by two Soulshift-strong demons, soon stepped out of his residence for the first time in forever, Dou E in tow.
As they trudged through the clan's walkways, some people glanced at them from time to time, curious, but most ignored them after a single glance. Many ordinary mortals resided within the clan, working as servants. While Yan Anle's outfit was somewhat noble, it still consisted of ordinary mortal robes, not Dao robes. So, they generally concluded that he must be a servant cherished by his master, the Foundation Establishment young lady.
It is a good thing that Dou E could not hear their thoughts, or else she definitely would have hastily clarified, insisting that her Young Master would always be the Master in their relationship, not she.
Her Young Master, on the other hand, preferred it this way. He had yet to grow, so it was better to be looked down upon and ignored, allowing him to quietly accumulate and realize his potential.
Soon, one of the clan's gates came into Yan Anle's line of sight. Suddenly, someone ran in and hurried over to one of the gatekeepers.
"Brother Stone, there's bad news!"
"Hmm? What is it this time, you red-faced drunkard? Did you lose another pouch of spirit stones at the gambling house?"
"Hey, what do you mean by that, Brother Stone? I already said last time that I will never be gambling again! Humph! Forget it, that is not so important now! Hurry, pack your bags! We need to leave immediately before it is too late!"
"Pack our things? Leave the clan? Before it is too late? You, calm down and tell me exactly what has happened!"
"Brother Stone, it's Young Master Wuji of the main branch. That rascal has caused big trouble this time! The Sword River Sect has declared war on our Yan Clan!"
"What?! Why?! Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that they announced the engagement between Young Master Wuji and one of the Sword River Sect's core disciples?"
"Brother Stone, no more dawdling! We can talk as we walk!"
Yan Anle, who was only a few steps shy of exiting, halted. That whole exchange stirred up a storm in his heart.
Of course, it was only natural for others to be moved when they heard their clan and a sect were on the brink of war, but for him, there was a point that struck him even harder.
That point was the name "Wuji."
This was because, if his memory was not failing him, one of his two siblings, whom he had not seen or communicated with in decades, bore this name: Yan Wuji!