Chapter 1763 — Home at Last!

"Could it be Yao Yao?" Elder Li asked, a subtle shift in his expression.

"Yao Yao? You mean Gu Mengyao?" The Grand Elder gave a cold snort. "Do you think that's possible? A mongrel with impure blood, awakening her bloodline and receiving the inheritance? I know you want to bring her back to the Dark Night Palace, but there's no need to spout such illogical nonsense at a time like this! You're a veteran of the Dark Night Palace—whether it's her or not, don't you know in your heart?"

"This..." Elder Li looked somewhat embarrassed. "I was only speaking offhand..."

"Perhaps a new Dark Phoenix spirit beast has been born into the world?" the Grand Elder speculated.

"Oh? If that's the case, and we capture the Dark Phoenix and have Wan'er consume it, then wouldn't that mean... the Dark Night Palace could restore its former glory?" A gleam of light flashed in Elder Li's eyes as he asked.

"Indeed, but I'm only making a guess..." the Grand Elder said. "Have the Shadow Group continue the search, and send people to the nearby towns to ask around—see if anyone witnessed any strange phenomena."

"Yes!" Elder Li answered, and immediately dispatched people to continue gathering information.

The Shadow Group worked with remarkable efficiency, and word soon came back! That word shook the entire Dark Night Palace!

In the council hall of the Dark Night Palace, every face was grave.

"That hunter, Wang Laoliu, says he caught a Dark Phoenix while hunting?" The Grand Elder's breathing was rapid—whether from excessive agitation or something else, it was hard to say.

"Whether it's a Dark Phoenix is still unclear, but he says it was the legendary black phoenix." The Shadow Group leader in charge of the investigation spoke. "According to other townsfolk, some say it was a wild black chicken, others say it wasn't... The accounts differ, and it's hard for anyone to say clearly what it actually was."

The Grand Elder on the dais nodded. Even they had never seen a true legendary Dark Phoenix; there were only a few descriptive lines in the Dark Night Palace's records, and no one could say clearly what one actually looked like.

"Are there any photographs?" the Grand Elder asked.

"No. Few townsfolk use camera phones, and it was late at night—hardly anyone would have brought a camera, so no photographs were left..." the Shadow Group leader said. "To these people, it was just a wild black chicken—nothing worth photographing..."

"Then where is this black phoenix now?" This was what the Grand Elder cared about most.

"According to Wang Laoliu, he sold the black phoenix to four out-of-town tourists for ten thousand yuan—one man and three women. When asked about their appearance, he couldn't say clearly either; at the time everyone's attention was on the ten thousand yuan, and few noticed what the four looked like. Besides, it was dusk and the light was poor. Wang Laoliu would only say the three girls were very pretty, and he didn't dare stare at them..." the Shadow Group leader said. "Later, when I asked about the four's movements, someone said they were seen heading toward the farmland on the edge of town... presumably they've left the town..."

Hearing the Shadow Group leader's report, the Grand Elder's expression shifted unpredictably. If what Wang Laoliu killed really was a Dark Phoenix, and others had eaten it, the Dark Night Palace had suffered a tremendous loss—they could weep at the thought!

But if it wasn't, how was yesterday's phenomenon to be explained?

"Keep investigating! Check the town's hotel records—see if there's any lead!" the Grand Elder said. "Also, send a team to pursue them along the direction they left town..."

"Yes!" The Shadow Group leader received the order and continued the investigation, while the Grand Elder and the others did not leave, waiting in the council hall the whole time for news!

The matter was too important—no one had the heart to leave early.

The Shadow Group's findings soon reached the Dark Night Palace again. The four had stayed at the town's only small budget hotel, registered under the name "Ling Yi," but through the Shadow Group's intelligence channels, they could not determine this person's specific identity and suspected the name was false.

Wei Zhao's identity as Ling Yi had been fake from the start, so it was only natural the Dark Night Palace couldn't find anything.

What disappointed everyone, however, was not this, but that last night, Ling Yi had rented an induction cooker from the hotel—presumably to cook and eat the black phoenix himself. If four people had shared the black phoenix, the purity of bloodline after eating it would be even less than Wan'er's, and whether they were found or not would be utterly meaningless!

Thus, upon hearing this news, the Grand Elder was deeply disappointed. "It seems now that the game they bought was indeed the legendary Dark Phoenix spirit beast, and when they ate it, some phenomenon may have occurred—but a Dark Phoenix divided among four would no longer pass on its bloodline. There's no point in our searching further."

Everyone fell silent. None was more disappointed than Wan'er. If another inheritor appeared, or if the Dark Phoenix were given to her to consume, she would no longer have to suffer here every day. Once she received the bloodline's awakening and inheritance, she would become the sole master of the Dark Night Palace!

Then the Grand Elder would no longer interfere in her other affairs, and she could go to reunite with Gu Pengzhan and Gu Mengyao!

"Keep searching a while longer—perhaps there's more than one Dark Phoenix; there may be another. Question Wang Laoliu carefully about where he caught it, and we'll send people to lie in wait!" Elder Li instructed the Shadow Group leader.

"Yes..." Though everyone knew the hope was slim, even a sliver of hope was worth having.

Meanwhile, Wei Zhao had already set out with Tang Yun, Gu Mengyao, and Shen Yushu toward West Star Mountain Village.

A foreboding had settled in Wei Zhao's heart, so he did not rest on the road this time. He drove furiously the whole way, letting Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, and Tang Yun rest inside the car.

The three did not know the reason and assumed Wei Zhao was simply eager to get home, so they raised no objections. In truth, even if they had, Wei Zhao would not have known how to answer.

After another day and night of hard driving, the destination—West Star Mountain Village—was before them. Because there was no highway nearby, this final stretch was agonizingly slow; otherwise, at Wei Zhao's speed, they would have reached West Star Mountain Village long ago.

"Is this the place? The scenery is so beautiful! Brother Arrow, if your injury hadn't healed last time, we'd have settled down here, right?" Shen Yushu gazed at the green hills and clear waters before her and spoke with envy.

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