1846 Missing Yao Changying And Strained Empires

Lin Mu's question was concerning the state of the city and there was no one better than the people in front of him to answer it.

"That is still ongoing, but will be ending tomorrow officially. Things have stabilized a bit and matters are being discussed among the representative of the Holy Topaz Empire, Dao Wind Empire, Huiqing Empire as well as the temple." Daoist Chu was the one to speak this time. 

He held a jade slip in his hand and was reading from it.

"Hmm… any chances of the conflict extending further?" Lin Mu asked just in case.

"There is still a chance for war, but they were still negotiating on how to resolve the situation." Crown Prince Feng Shun replied. "The Emperor has been busy in this too." He revealed a bit about his father.

"And what about Yao Changying? Any news on her?" Lin Mu still hadn't forgotten the way she had acted and her possible intention to take revenge in the future.

As such it was important for him to be updated about her.

"Nothing." Crown Prince Feng Shun shook his head. "Both the Imperial Court as well as the Temple are searching for her but there are no traces left. We don't know how she did it, but she managed to escape the cordon that had been set up as well.

Everyone's movements beyond the capital would have been known, but there seem to have been no change in it." He explained.

Hearing this Lin Mu furrowed his brows, wondering about the options that Yao Changying had.

"Do you think she might have used a teleportation talisman?" Lin Mu suggested.

"We thought of that too, but investigating where one went using it is hard. But even if she did use one of them, we highly doubt she managed to leave the Dao Wind Empire this quickly." Crown Prince Feng Shun replied having some doubts of his own.

'Should I investigate it myself?' Lin Mu wondered. 'But considering it has been this long, the Spatial Disturbances should have settled down leaving little to go on from.' He reckoned.

"Regardless of wherever she is, she can't run for long. After all the only way for her to return to the Holy Topaz Continent would be through the cross continent teleportation array." Commander Dui stated.

"Mmhmm, guess we just need to wait and see." Lin Mu replied. "I should prepare for the fight tomorrow." He said.

"Yeah you should focus on that." Crown Princess Shang agreed. "Also, your companions came to see you before too. But you were still recuperating."

"Ah yeah, I'll go meet them too." Lin Mu guessed that they might have been concerned.

"I'll get a servant to guide you there. You can also pick any of the empty rooms to stay in for the time being." Crown Prince Feng Shun said before calling for one. "Take him to the other guests."

"Yes, Crown Prince." The servant who had appeared immediately responded.

Lin Mu went along the servant and was brought to the second wing of the Mansion where the residential quarters were located. They were relatively simple, but still large enough to be comfortable for all. 

Most of them were empty from what Lin Mu could tell using his Immortal sense, but five of them were not.

"Here it is," And sure enough the Servant came to a stop in front of those rooms.

"Thank you," Lin Mu said, dismissing the servant.

~Knock~knock~

Lin Mu lightly knocked on the door and waited for a couple of seconds. 

"Brother Mu Lin!" And soon enough, the door opened to the face of Lu Xu. "You're fine now?" 

"Yeah, I've recovered." Lin Mu nodded his head.

"Right on time. Seems like you'll be fighting the third Prince tomorrow." Lu Xu had also gotten the news and knew about the timing.

"Mmhmm, I just came to meet you all once before the match." Lin Mu replied.

"Ah yeah, let's call the others." Lu Xu said before knocking on the other doors.

The others left their rooms and saw Lin Mu, making their eyes gleam with joy.

"Are you fully recovered now brother Mu Lin?" Ming Dandan asked showing some concern.

"Yeah. I shouldn't have any issues." Lin Mu nodded his head.

"That's good. I knew you would be fine." Qian Wen said with a smile.

"We shouldn't take too much of your time Brother. The match is tomorrow, so you should just focus on it. We can always celebrate later." Luo Liqin suggested.

"I agree." Ming Aolian nodded his head.

"We can still talk a bit, I have time." Lin Mu wasn't in that much of a hurry.

"If you say so." Lu Xu replied.

The group talked for an hour, discussing a few of the things that had happened in the past few days while Lin Mu was recuperating. They told him about the condition of the people who had been injured by Yao Changying as well as the fact that half of them had ended up dying.

The Temple had managed to save the rest, but it had come at the expense of their cultivation bases. For the luck ones, it had only regressed by a little, but for the most unfortunate ones they ended up falling several stages.

And this was on top of getting their meridians damaged along with their body. It was not the kind of damage that would be recovered easily.

After they were done talking, Lin Mu left and took one of the rooms nearby. 

~huu~

"I should check in on the Sleepscape." Lin Mu hadn't been there for a while and decided to enter.

He closed his eyes for a bit and soon fell asleep. 

~rustle~

And when he opened his eyes, he was standing in front of the Immortal Apple tree that was gently swaying in the wind.

"Master!" 

~WHOOSH~

A red blur charged into Lin Mu's embrace radiating warmth.

"Little Shrubby…" Lin Mu held the beast and stroked its head for a bit realizing he had kept him holed up for some time now without talking to him.