Daishan Turns The Wind Chapter 11

The door was open, and there were several people inside the room, but no one was speaking.

Dark clouds drifted past the window. The cold wind from the lake rushed in, which should have been refreshing in summer, but now carried a chill. It rattled the windows, creating a sound like fingernails scraping a wall.

Gan Daqiang stood there, his eyes sweeping over the room’s furnishings, a cold sneer playing on his lips.

Gan Youyou, supported by an attendant, took a step back, curtsied, and bowed.

The incense stick burned out, leaving a final wisp of blue smoke that highlighted Gan Youyou’s ashen face. His eyes were heavily bruised underneath, and he looked so frail he could be blown away by the wind.

Gan Daqiang sat down arrogantly. Before he could speak, Gan Youyou hurriedly moved over, half-knelt beside him, and poured tea. His hands were scalded red, but he didn’t make a sound, keeping his head bowed the entire time.

Even from such a distance, Feng Yuluo could clearly see the child unconsciously trembling, and he clenched his fists in anger. This person named Daqiang must be a complete bastard!

Gan Daqiang set down the teacup. His voice was not loud, but Gan Youyou jumped in surprise, as if waking up. He rose in a panic, went into the inner room, retrieved a wooden box, and presented it with both hands.

A servant stepped forward to open it. Inside were silver and jewels.

Gan Daqiang smiled, a sinister, terrifying look like a hungry wolf. Satisfied, he raised his hand to pat Gan Youyou’s head.

Gan Youyou retreated in alarm, his lips turning purple. He looked like he was about to collapse.

Gan Daqiang’s expression darkened. His knife-like gaze lingered up and down, subjecting Gan Youyou to a silent flaying. He snorted and then left.

The entire process was bizarre and deeply unsettling.

Not only was Feng Yuluo furious, but Shan Wuzhou’s expression was also extremely grim. His breathing was ragged, and he crushed a roof tile in his hand.

Feng Yuluo hesitated. What was wrong with him?

He quietly tugged on Shan Wuzhou’s arm. Shan Wuzhou took a deep breath, wrapped his arm around his Ancestral Master, and flipped off the roof.

Feng Yuluo had never seen Shan Wuzhou like this before. After a moment of thought, he quickly bought him a candied hawthorn skewer.

Sweetness could soothe the heart. Only after seeing his expression soften did Feng Yuluo relax slightly. Suddenly, his heart stirred, and he remembered Yuanbao eating melon seeds.

The food that brings comfort to people is different, and there must be a deeper reason behind it. Could sunflowers be the breakthrough point for Yuanbao’s salvation?

The street was livelier now. People were out busy with their livelihoods. There were many novelties coming and going, and the aroma of steamed buns and meat pies from the breakfast stalls filled the air.

Shan Wuzhou recovered, feeling a little awkward. Fortunately, his Ancestral Master was broad-minded and didn’t seem to pay him special attention. Shan Wuzhou cleared his throat and called out “Ancestral Master” twice.

Feng Yuluo snapped back to attention: “Huh?”

Shan Wuzhou asked if climbing onto the roof to observe the situation inside the room meant he suspected something.

Feng Yuluo let out an “Oh,” and suddenly became very fierce and indignant.

Yesterday, Gan Daqiang had also brought his attendants to Illusion Moon Pavilion. An incident occurred that day, causing Gan Youyou’s performance to be delayed, which led to the guests whispering.

This suggested that Gan Youyou had almost never been late for a performance before.

Later, the owner of Illusion Moon Pavilion personally came out and escorted Gan Daqiang away before Gan Youyou finally took the stage.

Today, Gan Daqiang came to find him, and Gan Youyou was pale and trembling, eventually handing over a large sum of money!

It was obvious. Gan Daqiang was definitely bullying Gan Youyou. Yesterday, with Gan Daqiang present, Gan Youyou couldn’t even perform normally.

Gan Youyou’s body was so weak, he must have been subjected to long-term torment and intimidation. Since the Ancestral Master had witnessed it, there was no way he could stand idly by.

Father, adoptive father—these titles were not a shield against death. The next time they met, he would ask Gan Youyou if he needed help. If he did, Feng Yuluo would intervene openly. If not, he would intervene secretly.

At the very least, he would beat him up twice.

What he didn’t say was that most of the disciples on Feng Mountain were adopted after suffering great hardships, and Feng Yuluo couldn’t stand to see a child wronged.

Shan Wuzhou lowered his head and smiled. The suffocating feeling of seeing Gan Youyou being coerced disappeared, and he recalled the warm memories of Feng Mountain.

He remembered the two thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine disciples on Feng Mountain, each causing one trouble, resulting in countless messes the Ancestral Master had to clean up year-round.

After his outburst of indignation, Feng Yuluo deflated. Seeing Shan Wuzhou laughing like that was baffling. Was this supposed to be funny?

Shan Wuzhou masked his smile: “I thought you suspected Gan Youyou was the mastermind.”

It was a casual remark, but Feng Yuluo was struck as if by a sudden revelation, freezing in place.

“Hiss! Now that you mention it, Gan Youyou is very suspicious.” Feng Yuluo began to think seriously. “He has a knot in his heart, he has fear, and he urgently needs external help.”

The inner fear was that Gan Daqiang!

Gan Daqiang was overwhelmingly oppressive. Just meeting him without speaking was enough to make Gan Youyou panic and suffer. It was entirely possible that Yuanbao’s avatar was targeting him.

Moreover, Gan Youyou was very weak. Besides his poor health, creating the Wandering Thought Illusion also depleted his mental energy. Gan Youyou ran out of stamina after playing just two pieces of music. Everything made sense!

The only thing that didn’t make sense was…

“If he had Yuanbao’s help, and had already captured over twenty people, he could have captured Gan Daqiang long ago. He wouldn’t have to suffer this torment anymore.”

That made sense.

Shan Wuzhou recalled the previous case and mused: “Could it be that Gan Youyou is too afraid of Gan Daqiang and is accumulating strength? Like Zhao Zisheng, who only dared to capture the person she feared most after capturing eight murderers.”

Feng Yuluo shook his head: “Gan Youyou is indeed afraid, but Yuanbao wouldn’t be. Yuanbao would definitely see that Gan Daqiang is all bark and no bite. Just now, I only stood there and said one sentence, and Gan Daqiang, despite having several attendants, didn’t dare to confront me. It was the same at Illusion Moon Pavilion; he went there but didn’t cause trouble, and left immediately when the owner spoke to him. Simply put, this person bullies the weak and fears the strong. He only dares to oppress Gan Youyou and harass ordinary people.”

Shan Wuzhou hummed, feeling troubled and headache-ridden.

Investigating cases was much harder than practicing swordsmanship!

The last case was difficult too!

But in the last case, the Wandering Thought Illusion captured murderers whose killing intent was too heavy for Yuanbao and Zhao Zisheng’s inner demons to withstand. Plus, Zhao Zisheng actively sought their help, so the matter was resolved quickly.

This time, however, twenty-three people were captured in ten days. Clearly, Yuanbao and the original host could temporarily sustain it. Furthermore, the doors to the missing persons’ locations were closed, making it very difficult for them to find an entry point.

For now, they could only investigate the commonalities among the missing people.

Feng Yuluo told him about the plight of Kang Xiaole’s brother, angrily cursing that such people existed in the world. The more he cursed, the angrier he became. Kang Zhiwei and Gan Daqiang—neither of them was any good.

Shan Wuzhou listened, his eyes cold. Suppressing his disgust, he said, “So, there is a heavier reason behind this. The missing people might have done something wrong to someone else.”

Feng Yuluo sighed, feeling sad when he thought of Kang Xiaole. He looked cheerful on the surface while working, even humming tunes to himself, but how much pain must he have been bottling up all these years? Two good people were ruined.

He couldn’t help but grit his teeth in hatred.

If that bastard was still alive, he would definitely slice him into eight pieces. When they found Kang Zhiwei, he would beat him twenty-eight times!

In any case, Kang Zhiwei’s actions were a clue.

By extension, the other twenty-two missing people were not simply gone because they were sick.

They needed to ask more people to verify how the missing individuals had wronged others.

Time to go questioning again. Feng Yuluo felt a little bad, blaming himself for not being smart. The investigation was disorganized and lacked focus, forcing Shan Wuzhou to run errands back and forth.

First trip: Investigating who was missing.

Second trip: Checking the missing locations to see if they could enter the illusion.

Third trip: Taking Feng Yuluo to each location to look for clues, where they found the dead leaves.

Fourth trip: Asking family members if the missing people were all sick.

Now, the fifth trip: Asking again how the missing people had wronged others.

A cultivator’s legs were still legs. Feng Yuluo told Shan Wuzhou to rest and offered to run this errand himself. As the Ancestral Master, he had to treat his disciple well.

Shan Wuzhou refused, however. His expression was calm as he found a tea stall and told Feng Yuluo to wait there.

Anxiety rose in Feng Yuluo’s heart after he sat down. He instinctively felt something was strange, grabbing Shan Wuzhou’s sleeve and repeatedly asking if there was a problem.

Shan Wuzhou looked down at his Ancestral Master, noticing that when his master looked up, his wide eyes were round, like a small, adorable furry creature reluctant to see its companion leave.

This thought made his blood rush, and he couldn’t resist the sacrilege of reaching out and stroking the back of his Ancestral Master’s head.

Feng Yuluo was instantly stunned, angrily wanting to jump up and hit him.

Shan Wuzhou quickly retreated: “It’s nothing. I’ll be back soon.”

Feng Yuluo was furious, his face flushed. He pulled out his Ancestral Master’s authority and ordered him to tell the truth immediately.

Shan Wuzhou hesitated repeatedly.

Only then did Feng Yuluo learn that because of the four or five rounds of repeated questioning, people were very unhappy, annoyed, and would give him attitude.

Shan Wuzhou didn’t want his Ancestral Master to be given attitude by anyone. Feng Yarui, the sect leader of Feng Mountain, had instructed them to yield to the Ancestral Master in all things. How could a disciple allow outsiders to cause his Ancestral Master any grievance when they were out?

Moreover, given Shan Wuzhou’s own feelings, he could tolerate it even less.

Feng Yuluo immediately forgot his disciple’s transgression. He stood up full of fire, insisting on going together.

Did they think the Ancestral Master was dead if they dared to bully a Feng Mountain disciple?

Feng Yuluo was full of momentum: “Let’s go!”

When they arrived at the person’s door, Shan Wuzhou asked the questions, and it went very smoothly. The person spoke calmly and in detail about the situation.

The missing person in this family was the fifty-year-old man, the same place where the first dead leaf was found.

The family vaguely suggested that the old man hadn’t done anything wrong, saying they hoped he would be found quickly. They were genuinely worried after so many days, especially since the old man was in poor health.

The overly sincere tone felt a little fake.

Sure enough, the daughter-in-law, who had been silent in the corner, had red eyes. She stepped forward and stated frankly that they shouldn’t bother looking for him anymore because she didn’t want the old man to return.

In fact, no one in the family wanted the old man back. However, due to filial piety, they hadn’t dared to say it openly and had tried to stop the daughter-in-law from speaking.

Shan Wuzhou: “What did that old man do?”

It turned out the old man had been cruel to his daughter-in-law, constantly finding fault and imposing strict rules. The whole family couldn’t stand it and hoped he wouldn’t come back.

This didn’t seem quite like Kang Zhiwei’s behavior. Shan Wuzhou frowned, looked around, and asked about the mother-in-law. If the old man was missing, why wasn’t the mother-in-law present?

The daughter-in-law gave a bitter smile: “Where else could she be? She’s long gone.”

The reason the old man was so unrestrained was that he had been accustomed to mistreating his wife before. His wife died in her forties, and the old man continued his tyrannical behavior by mistreating his daughter-in-law.

Shan Wuzhou turned his head. Feng Yuluo was standing nearby, holding a stick. Their eyes met, exchanging a single thought:

This was now very similar to Kang Zhiwei’s actions—indirectly causing someone’s death!

Finally, they had a commonality. The two rushed to the second house.

In the second house, the missing person was a middle-aged aunt in her forties. The two brothers in this family were arguing over dividing the family property when the second brother’s wife suddenly disappeared.

The second brother’s family wanted her back. Their words sounded genuine, and the children were crying.

But the eldest brother’s family did not want her back. Because the second brother’s wife was too outspoken and uncompromising, the eldest brother’s family had suffered losses several times, and the eldest brother’s daughter had even been secretly frightened by the second brother’s wife a few times.

However, after careful questioning and investigation, the second brother’s wife had not directly or indirectly caused anyone’s death.

“…”

Did the similarity break again?

Feng Yuluo was confused and rushed through the remaining houses.

After questioning everyone, they found that only these two cases involved indirectly causing someone’s death. The others had not harmed anyone to the point of death.

Fortunately, they were prepared this time.

After pressing them, sixteen families secretly admitted that they did not want the person back, while seven families expressed a desire for the person to return.

In the former group, the deep-seated conflicts were mostly family or neighborhood disputes.

Those people claimed they were exhausted from working every day and also had to endure arguments and abuse. It was too annoying, and the disappearance was a relief—they were finally free.

In the latter group, the seven families said the missing people were relatives. Although they were sick, they were very good to their families, and they would never abandon a family member just because they were ill.

The commonalities were incredibly chaotic.

After Feng Yuluo and Shan Wuzhou summarized and sorted the information, they were completely lost, squatting by the roadside in contemplation.

Cultivators investigating cases—they were only making things difficult for themselves.

Shan Wuzhou’s cultivation was strong. He didn’t even breathe heavily after running around with his Ancestral Master. He used a leaf to fan Feng Yuluo and a handkerchief to wipe his sweat.

Feng Yuluo was so overwhelmed that he didn’t even react to the impropriety of the action.

Shan Wuzhou took the opportunity to indulge, feeling very satisfied taking care of his Ancestral Master. But he was also timid, only daring to look at Feng Yuluo’s chin and forehead.

After a long while, seeing that his Ancestral Master was still worrying, Shan Wuzhou put away the handkerchief and tried to distract him, asking, “If we find a commonality, what’s the next step?”

Feng Yuluo blinked, then turned his head: “You got me.”

Shan Wuzhou: “…”

Shan Wuzhou: “?”

Maybe they should hire a constable.