“Why?”

Ye Qiu looked at the Dragon King in confusion.

They had finally found a lead on the culprit, confirming that the assassination attempt on the Ninety-Thousand-Year-Old was orchestrated by the Shaman God Sect. So why was the Dragon King advising him to stop investigating?

The Dragon King said, “I just told you, the Shaman God Sect has no bottom line. They’re a bunch of lunatics. I’m afraid that if you provoke them, they’ll retaliate.”

“If we stop now, you’ll be dead in three days,” Ye Qiu said.

The Dragon King laughed nonchalantly, “I’m already a dying man. Whether I die sooner or later makes no difference.”

“But I don’t want to lose an arm,” Ye Qiu said seriously. “I’m so handsome and have a good job. If I lose an arm, I’ll be disabled, and finding a wife in the future will be difficult.”

“That’s still better than provoking the Shaman God Sect.”

“Dragon King, if we find the culprit and hand him over to the Ninety-Thousand-Year-Old, this matter will have nothing to do with us. If the Shaman God Sect wants revenge, they should go after the Ninety-Thousand-Year-Old.”

“The Shaman God Sect will definitely go after the Ninety-Thousand-Year-Old. They won’t give up after this failed assassination attempt. But likewise, they won’t spare you either.”

“If they really come after me, I can rely on the Ninety-Thousand-Year-Old and the Dragon Gate to fight the Shaman God Sect.”

“You’re too naive,” the Dragon King said. “The Shaman God Sect is very mysterious. Even if you find the culprit and pass the Ninety-Thousand-Year-Old’s test, he won’t have the time to help you deal with the Shaman God Sect.”

“Why is that?” Ye Qiu was puzzled.

The Dragon King explained, “Because the Ninety-Thousand-Year-Old’s top priority right now is to sweep away all the underground forces in the world. Before unifying the world, he can’t spare the time to deal with the Shaman God Sect.”

Caught between a rock and a hard place!

Ye Qiu frowned.

If he continued to search for the culprit, he would provoke the Shaman God Sect and possibly face retaliation. If he stopped, the Dragon King would surely die, and he would lose an arm.

After thinking for a while, Ye Qiu made up his mind and said, “Let’s find the culprit first. Even if the Shaman God Sect wants revenge, that’s a problem for later.”

The Dragon King wanted to persuade him further, “But…”

“Dragon King, don’t you want to find the person who poisoned you?” Ye Qiu said. “If we find the culprit, we might uncover information about the Shaman God Sect and their branch in Jiangzhou. We might even find the person who poisoned you back then.”

“I think Ye Qiu is right. We should continue to search for the culprit,” Zhao Yun supported Ye Qiu’s idea.

The Dragon King said, “I also want to find that person from back then. If I can take revenge before I die, I will die without regrets. But doing this will definitely bring the Shaman God Sect’s retaliation upon you, Little Ye.”

“We’ll deal with that later. For now, let’s focus on finding the culprit!”

Seeing Ye Qiu’s determination, the Dragon King finally nodded.

Zhao Yun asked, “Now that we know the Shaman God Sect is behind this, where do we go to find them?”

The Dragon King said, “I’ve searched for so many years without finding any trace of the Shaman God Sect. Now the Ninety-Thousand-Year-Old has only given us three days. It will be very difficult to find the culprit.”

“Not necessarily,” Ye Qiu smiled.

The Dragon King glanced at Ye Qiu and asked, “Do you have a plan?”

“Yes,” Ye Qiu nodded.

Zhao Yun curiously asked, “What plan?”

“Don’t worry about the details. As long as the culprit is still in Jiangzhou, I can definitely find him.”

After speaking, Ye Qiu quietly formed a hand seal and muttered the incantation for a tracking spell. Soon, a wisp of black smoke appeared before him.

“Go!”

With a soft command from Ye Qiu, the black smoke drifted into the elevator.

“Let’s go!”

Ye Qiu led the Dragon King and the God of War into the elevator, down to the hotel lobby. The black smoke floated around the lobby before heading straight out of the hotel.

Ye Qiu followed the black smoke through several twists and turns on the street, finally entering a secluded alley.

The alley was winding and narrow, with weathered stone slabs on the ground. It was eerily quiet, with not a soul in sight.

“Be careful. I have a feeling we’re very close to the culprit,” Ye Qiu warned.

The Dragon King immediately became highly alert, his eyes scanning the surroundings.

Zhao Yun also reached behind his back, gripping his gun.

Ye Qiu followed the black smoke deeper into the alley, which eventually stopped at the entrance of an old courtyard.

“This is the place.”

Ye Qiu stopped and pointed at the courtyard gate.

The Dragon King and Zhao Yun looked up to see a dark, heavy door, tightly shut, with no indication of what lay inside.

“Little Ye, is the culprit inside?” the Dragon King asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” Ye Qiu replied, uncertain if the culprit was inside. “But even if the culprit isn’t here, there must be clues inside.”

“Zhao Yun, go knock on the door,” the Dragon King instructed. “Be careful.”

Zhao Yun nodded slightly and slowly approached the door, raising his hand to knock.

“Knock, knock, knock!”

After a while with no response, Zhao Yun called out, “Is anyone home?”

He repeated this several times, but there was no answer.

Zhao Yun turned to Ye Qiu and asked, “What now?”

“What else? We break in.”

“Bang!”

Ye Qiu kicked the door open, and a strong stench immediately assaulted their senses, making them nauseous.

“Let’s go in and take a look,” Ye Qiu said, covering his nose as he led the way inside.

Zhao Yun and the Dragon King followed closely behind.

The living room was a mess, with moldy food on the table covered in flies, making it extremely disgusting.

The floor was littered with beer bottles and sunflower seed shells.

It was clear that people had lived here before, and more than one person at that.

Ye Qiu exchanged a glance with the Dragon King and Zhao Yun, and the three of them began to search the house separately.

“Dragon King, Ye Qiu, come here quickly,” Zhao Yun’s voice suddenly called from one of the rooms.

Ye Qiu and the Dragon King rushed in.

Upon entering, the first thing they saw was an old bronze incense burner. Behind it, against the wall, was a wooden plaque.

The plaque had no words on it.

Ye Qiu quickly fetched a bowl of water from the kitchen and splashed it on the plaque. Soon, a snake-shaped pattern slowly appeared, the totem of the Shaman God Sect.

Below the totem were four small characters:

Jiangzhou Branch!

“Who would’ve thought the Shaman God Sect’s Jiangzhou branch was here,” Ye Qiu said in surprise.

“Now that they’ve fled, finding their branch is useless. Damn it,” Zhao Yun cursed.

The Dragon King sighed, “We finally found some information on the Shaman God Sect, but it’s another dead end. We’re too late.”

“No worries, they can’t escape.”

Just as Ye Qiu finished speaking, they suddenly heard a sound at the door: “Knock, knock—”