Chapter 99: Chapter 63: Who Sank Down?

Others might not care, but that didn’t mean Zhao Rui and the others didn’t.

A good friend had suddenly vanished. How could they possibly act as if nothing had happened?

Zhao Rui and his friends had gone to Wang Zhanshan to ask about the details of the search.

Knowing how close they were, Wang Zhanshan had patiently explained the situation.

He had contacted the local Government Office, as well as the fire department and the Patrol Office, to conduct a sweeping search of the mountains and ravines Zhang Kui might have visited.

But they found nothing.

As for the sealed cave that Zhang Kui had mentioned—the thing Zhao Rui really wanted to know about—Wang Zhanshan refused to say a word. He only said that it wasn’t their place to be concerned with it.

When Zhao Rui mentioned Sunset Peak, Wang Zhanshan cut him off immediately, scolding them and telling them not to let their imaginations run wild.

The Government Office was already doing everything it could.

Searching for one person in such a large area was like finding a needle in a haystack; all they could do was wait patiently.

Zhao Rui and his friends felt helpless, but they could only trust the Court and wait patiently.

Time flew, and soon it was early December.

The temperature had already dropped below freezing, and the students at the school had long since switched to their heavy winter clothes.

The Martial Artists of the Martial Arts Academy were no exception.

Although Martial Artists were said to be unafraid of the severe cold, that only applied when they circulated their Inner Power to protect their bodies.

Who had the time to spare to constantly circulate qi from their Dantian throughout their body just to ward off the cold?

You’d think everyone knew the Nine Yang Divine Skill, a Divine Skill that automatically protected the body.

A Martial Artist’s constitution was indeed far superior to an ordinary person’s. Prolonged exposure to temperatures of eight or ten degrees below zero wouldn’t do them much harm.

But the sensation of cold was a personal feeling; there was really no need to tough it out just to save face.

So, they wore warm clothes when they needed to.

Of course, women were the exception.

The senior and junior sisters on the Martial Arts Team still wore light clothing, usually autumn wear or thin windbreakers.

But there were also fashion-conscious girls who would wear summer or summer-like outfits, such as short skirts with sheer stockings, dresses, and the like.

All just a single thin layer.

Their fashion sense was a world apart from ordinary girls who, for the sake of beauty, would endure the cold until their noses were running. The Martial Artists could truly wear whatever they pleased.

This was also something many girls from the Outer Courtyard envied.

By this time, nineteen days had passed since Zhang Kui’s disappearance.

The Government Office’s search party had long since been recalled, and there was still no word from Zhang Kui.

Meanwhile, the Dongqi Martial Arts Team’s day to go to Taishan for their practical training had arrived.

A Martial Artist must not only train themselves internally but also train with nature externally. The Dao of nature and the Dao of the human body are causally linked, yet each follows its own cycle.

In this world filled with profound Inner Qi, this became all the more important.

The academy wouldn’t stop students from going out to experience nature and comprehend the Martial Dao.

But where Zhang Kui went wrong was that he had gone on his own initiative, without reporting it, and to a forbidden place no less.

That was what made the matter so tricky.

“Let me emphasize this again. On this trip, every team leader is responsible for their own people. No one is to leave the group. You must report everything first…”

Before they departed, Wang Zhanshan stood by the front seats of the bus, seriously stressing the rules to the team members inside.

The trip to Taishan was originally going to be canceled, but considering some other factors, it ultimately went ahead.

“Did you all understand?”

“Understood!”

Everyone answered in unison.

Zhao Rui was sitting in the middle section, with Cao Guannan beside him.

Across the aisle sat Li Xinran and Qin Rui.

The group of five was now only four, and the seating was just right.

“Old Cao, switch seats with me!”

About halfway through the drive, Li Xinran suddenly tapped Cao Guannan and spoke.

Cao Guannan glanced at her, then reluctantly stood up and switched places.

After Li Xinran sat down next to Zhao Rui, she leaned back against the seat and sighed softly, “The year-end test is almost here.”

Zhao Rui grunted in acknowledgment, glanced at her androgynous face, and said, “You should be close to Level 8. If you focus on your Inner Power Cultivation during this time, you should be fine!”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.”

Hearing this, Zhao Rui also fell silent.

’Right. The year-end test is almost here, but Zhang Kui still isn’t back. We don’t even know if he’s alive or dead.’

“Alright, don’t overthink it. We have to look forward,” Zhao Rui said comfortingly.

Li Xinran nodded, took out her phone, typed a few words, and then passed it to Zhao Rui.

The screen read: “I want to go check out the place Zhang Kui went. We won’t get close. Will you go?”

Zhao Rui froze, instinctively looking at Li Xinran. He saw that her eyes were filled with sorrow, a world of difference from her usual carefree, tomboyish demeanor.

“Even the Government Office couldn’t find him. It’ll be even more useless if we go!”

Zhao Rui didn’t have much confidence in his own abilities. If even Wang Zhanshan, leading people from the Government Office, could only return empty-handed, what could a few rookies like them possibly do?

Li Xinran knew she was asking a lot, so she just nodded and didn’t press the issue.

After an hour of bumpy travel, the bus gradually entered the Taishan region.

As they drove on, the majestic mountain range became clearer, its continuous peaks forming a giant dragon lying across the Qi and Lu Land.

The dragon’s head was the towering main peak of Taishan.

“This is your local news. Due to a cold front moving south, the Central China and Southern Shandong regions will see light rain turning to light snow today, with temperatures ranging from 1 degree to minus 5 degrees Celsius…”

The local news report was playing on the screen at the front of the bus.

Outside the window, dark clouds gradually thickened. Accompanied by a biting wind, they veiled the entire sky, slowly dimming all light.

“It’s getting dark so fast. It’s not going to snow, is it?”

“I really don’t want to climb Taishan in the snow!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep