Tiantu’s Disappearance
“What was the trend you noticed?” Mu Yu inquired.
“The younger and more advanced the patient, the more frequent the bouts. The onset occurs during our sleep at night; it feels as though our bodies are taken over. We, nonetheless, feel perfectly fine upon rising.”
“You lose control over your body?” Mu Yu thought to himself, One’s consciousness is certainly most vulnerable at night, but what’s the catalyst here?
“Are all fiends victims of the condition?” queried Mu Yu.
“No. The number of identified cases definitely has trended up, though. Sunshine Valley is the residential area closest to the ruins. Sitting between us and the ruins are only a wilderness and forest. Statistically speaking, our valley has the most recorded cases. I would estimate half of our populace in the valley suffer from it.”
“How about the races suffering from it? Does it discriminate?”
“According to my analysis, there is no correlation between our bodies and the condition but it is correlated to our cultivation. Generally speaking, Primordial Infant Realm cultivators and beyond are susceptible to it.”
“I don’t have any leads based off the information you’ve provided, sorry.”
“It’s all right. Ancestor Phoenix is as lost as we are. I was just testing my luck. It doesn’t impact our day to day life, so I don’t want to make a big deal out of it, either.”
“Mu Yu, Doctor,” Qiao Xue burst through the clinic and hollered. “Grandpa Tiantu is in trouble.”
“What trouble?”
Qiao Xue led the duo over to Elder Tiantu’s residence, where a crowd was already assembled.
“What happened?”
They weaved through the crowd to see Elder Tiantu, his chubby wife and, presumably, his daughter, crying with a six centimetre white divine silkworm in their arms.
“Mu Yu, Doctor, perfect timing. You have to help their family,” urged Mrs. Zhu.
“What happened to him?” asked Mu Yu, looking around to see where the other two young divine silkworms from the family of eight were.
“Doctor, Ancestor Phoenix told us to go to you if anything happened before she departed. Three of my children have gone missing,” cried Elder Tiantu.
Say what? Mu Yu pondered.
“Calm down first. Did the three of them go somewhere to play? Have you searched for them?” asked the doctor, treating the issue with urgency, especially because of the divine silkworms’ precious blood.
“You know my children don’t like to run about, and they understand me. They should evolve and develop intelligence within another two to three years, which is why they never leave the house. Two of my kids were not feeling well recently, which is why we took care of them and let the other three stay in another room. When I woke up in the morning, though, all three were missing. Also, I found their blood by their bed!” explained Elder Tiantu, sobbing.
“Blood?! Show me,” urged the doctor.
Mu Yu inwardly analysed, I smell mulberry trees and the aroma of pork meat buns coming from Elder Tiantu’s residence. Though the property is located quite far down the cliff face, there’s plenty of light. I can tell where the three kids were sleeping, but I think I should hold off on commenting and focus solely on information gathering at this point. There are definitely traces of white blood, but there’s not much to go by based off just that. I can’t track the three since they haven’t left any traces behind on the mulberry trees.
“Doctor, I am worried somebody intends to harm my children.” Elder Tiantu pointed to Mu Yu, claiming, “We were perfectly fine until you came here. You must’ve kidnapped my children for their blood!”
“Mr. and Mrs. Tiantu, Mu Yu has been with me all day yesterday and today. I can also guarantee he would never do that.”
“As soon as he came to Sunshine Valley, he claimed our blood could neutralise poison, and then our children went missing. I’ll bet anything he’s involved one way or another!” accused Mrs. Tiantu.
“Mr. Tiantu, Mrs. Tiantu, I have no reason to kidnap your children. I was forced to take your blood to save the nine-tailed cat brothers; I have no need for your blood, otherwise.”
“Why would anyone kidnap our kids, then? They were fine until you showed up, so you’re the most suspicious!” protested Mrs. Tiantu, glaring at him as her husband did.
“M-”
Mu Yu grabbed Qiao Xue’s hand as she tried to defend him, signalling to her that it was futile to dispute it. He didn’t perceive them to be abhorrent fiends over their accusations for he could understand how they felt, and he was sure the doctor would ensure fairness.
The doctor opined, “There isn’t enough information to draw any conclusions at the moment, but I assure you Mu Yu isn’t the culprit. Due to your unique ability, we have no means of tracking your children. Can everyone help search the valley for any traces of them please?”
“What’s all the fuss about?” Jiao Dahu came over and asked as everyone started to leave, smiling.
“What are you two doing here?” Qiao Xue questioned.
“We’re here for Mu Yu. Our lord wishes to have a word with him for attacking other fiends without rhyme or reason at the imperial city entrance days ago.”
“I don’t have anything to say about it,” Mu Yu stated.
“Oi! Mind your manners, you imperious human!” Jiao Dalang lashed out.
“Oh, so you did assault other fiends! You must’ve been involved in our children’s kidnapping them!” erupted Mrs. Tiantu.
“What happened to your children?!” Jiao Dahu exclaimed.
Upon hearing Mrs. Tiantu tear-ridden recount, Jiao Dahu wiped his grin off his face and assured, “Don’t cry, Mrs. Tiantu. Since Ancestor Phoenix is out, the two of us will help you. If this human is behind it, we will ensure he pays for his crimes!”
“Jiao Dahu, you have no authority to make any calls in Sunshine Valley,” asserted the doctor.
“Of course, of course, we have no authority as long as you are here, Doctor,” feigned Jiao Dahu, bowing insincerely.
“You can track the scent on their clothing, can’t you?” asked Mrs. Zhu.
“No, we don’t leave any smell behind,” answered Elder Tiantu.
Because of the weak nature of divine silkworms, that was their only defence mechanism.
“Don’t we have a bloodhound fiend, Shi Fangquan, who has the best nose among us? He can trace any trace of blood. We can ask him to trace the trail of blood or whatever,” proposed Jiao Dahu.
Mu Yu immediately questioned, “Nobody mentioned anything about blood to you, so how do you know to ask about the trace of blood the children left behind?”
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