Chapter 151: A mystery deepening (Patreon)

Liu Wei spent about two weeks traveling between the major settlements of the territory to contact allies and associates of his and set up an information network. The number of contacts he had wasn’t nearly approaching what the head of a pillar family could have called upon, but together with some generous funding, it was enough that he would soon learn of any notable sightings of fire cultivators in the region.

That was, of course, relying on that cultivator not having traveled in secret, which was not that likely to begin with. Still, some chance at information was better than none and Liu Wei didn’t exactly expect to be delivered the name and identity of the perpetrator on a silver platter. He just needed a solid lead that he could start following.

After returning to Moonlake City, he spent some involving himself in the Li Family’s internal politics to fulfill Niung Li’s request. He soon found that the old man’s description had been underselling the troubles his grandson was facing. There was a vocal faction led by two of his uncles that opposed his leadership and resisted his every action.

Liu Wei took his time working himself into the issue, subtly backing Wen Li’s authority without ever letting on that doing so was his goal. He had spent more time practicing power politics of this kind on a much tougher stage than any of the Li Family’s members had lived, so it didn’t take him long to outmaneuver the opposing faction and undermine their authority.

Aside from this, he also had some other things to do, like paying a visit to the city prince once his presence in the city started circulating, and delivering a piece of writing that Professor Lei had had him take along to the academy.

During all this, he didn’t neglect continuing his cultivation. He had found a quiet glade in a forest near the city that he spent most of his nights at, contemplating the Dao and practicing his mastery over the Zither. He’d improved quite a lot with the latter after he’d helped Elder Chen, and there was still no end to its abilities in sight.

It was one of these mostly quiet days that Liu Wei decided to pay a visit to the Fei Family, the family of Liting, one of the disciples that had disappeared about two months ago, that was based in Moonlake. They had already been sent a letter explaining the situation, but Liu Wei felt that it was only right that he took some time to meet them himself, now that he was here already.

The Fei Family was, by all measures, a small and mostly unremarkable clan. One of many associate families of the Li Family, they had been active in the city’s guard forces for a couple of generations, but never managed to properly distinguish themselves from the countless other families just like them that made up the ranks of the city’s lower nobility.

Their small estate was located close to the edge of the upper district. No guard was posted at the gate, so Liu Wei used the knocker to make himself known.

He’d had the Li Family arrange the meeting beforehand, so he wasn’t surprised, though mildly amused, to sense a small group of figures already waiting right behind the gate. The moment they heard his knocking, they pulled open the gate and immediately bowed in unison.

“The Fei Family greets the honored Elder Liu Wei!”

“I greet the members of the Fei Family. Please raise your heads.”

After they had done so, one of them, a middle-aged man with a bushy, brown beard, stepped forward.

“I am Heng Fei, Patriarch of this small family. Those behind me are our elders. We are all deeply honored to be in the presence of a man as distinguished as yourself! Please let me guide you inside.”

Liu Wei followed the man inside, where he was soon served a cup of tea while sitting across from the family patriarch, the elders standing a little to the side.

“I hope that what we are able to serve you is to your satisfaction.”

“It is.”

“Pray tell, what leads a man like you to seek out a family like my own? I hope we have not done you wrong in some way?”

“No, no. Of course not. I am here because of the incident surrounding Liting.”

Heng Fei’s face showed confusion, though he did his best to hide it, and he stayed silent for a while.

“I’m… not sure I follow.”

This, in turn, puzzled Liu Wei. To a small family like this, a member becoming a disciple of the Lunar Peaks Sect had to be a massive deal and her disappearance should have been a major topic of concern for them.

“Say… did you not receive the letter we sent you?”

The man’s face paled as his expression rapidly turned from confusion to worry.

“My deepest apologies, but have not received any letter or such from the sect.”

Liu Wei frowned. The sect’s correspondence was handled only by people had very high trust in. For a letter to disappear without them being notified about it was a rarity.

Heng Fei fidgeted with his cup of tea, visibly uncomfortable with the situation. Liu Wei supposed it was only natural. From his perspective, it looked like his family had unknowingly become involved in a situation serious enough that an elder would show up on their doorsteps.

“You need not apologize. The letter’s disappearance is hardly your fault and the matter at hand does not involve any wrongdoings on your family’s side. Although, given that you were unaware, I’m afraid I come as the bearer of very bad news. The disciple from your family, Liting Fei, has recently gone missing alongside one other disciple and we have not been able to locate either of them.”

Liu Wei had expected to see shock or disbelief, but his explanation only seemed to confuse Heng Fei and the family elders even more.

“A disciple from our family? You mean… you mean a disciple to the Lunar Peaks Sect? I… I apologize, but I am not aware of someone like that. Nor do I know of a family member by the name of Liting.”

Liu Wei leaned forward.

“Excuse me?”

Liu Wei didn’t know how to respond to that. Had the sect made a mistake? Was there another family of the same name that she belonged to? Had she lied about her affiliations and the sect had failed to properly check them?

“If I may…”

One of the elders, an old woman supporting herself with a cane, stepped forward.

“I’m in charge of coordinating the family’s lesser branches, so I have some insight on the matter. If memory serves, I do know of a Liting from our family’s line. I believe she was the daughter of a man by the name of Yong Fei.

“He isn’t closely related to the family’s main line and does not reside in Moonlake City. He’s not a cultivator either and I was always under the impression that he was leading a pretty regular life – I would never have guessed that his daughter made it into the Lunar Peaks Sect.”

“I see.”

Heng Fei looked relieved that he hadn’t been left on the spot.

“I did not know that… I can’t believe a family member of ours made it into the sect and we weren’t even notified.”

Liu Wei stroked his beard.

“That is a very unusual situation indeed.”

Along with the letter that had gone missing, it was a coincidence to the point of being somewhat suspicious that it was this exact disciple that had gone missing. It was the first truly unusual thing he learned about either of the two missing disciples, though it didn’t seem to provide an immediate clue to their disappearance.

If investigating the disappearance had still been his primary focus, Liu Wei would have tried to follow this lead by searching for the girl’s father next. Unfortunately, his current situation was even more pressing so, for better or worse, he had to leave that investigation up to the sect. Still, that wasn’t a reason to leave the father in the dark.

“Well then, could you please inform this Yong Fei about his daughter’s situation?”

“I do not know where he currently resides.”, the old woman answered. “But we will naturally try to find him.”

“Thank you. I apologize for surprising you with this matter like this, it was not my intention. And I apologize also, of course, as the then leader of the Training Hall for allowing your family member’s disappearance to occur at all. Please relay these apologies to the girl’s father as well, once you have found him.

“The sect will naturally continue its investigation into the matter and inform you, should any developments occur.”

“We thank you for your consideration, honored elder!”

“I am the one who should thank you for your hospitality.”

Liu Wei had hoped to meet the Fei Family to apologize on behalf of the sect, give them some more detailed information about the situation than the letter had and perhaps learn some things about the missing girl. Instead, he left the meeting with more questions than he had come with and a distinct feeling that he was missing a big part of the picture.

If only he had the time to properly investigate this matter instead of having to deal with his own banishment…