Will anyone tell him?
Ye Ming said this because during his earlier investigation, although Shangguan Xi'er was not found, Su Xin and others were.
These individuals themselves hailed from the Dark Clan.
They were undoubtedly the best candidates for inquiring about the Dark Clan's location.
"Uncle! Grandpa! Rest assured, I will definitely find Xi'er!" Ye Ming solemnly promised.
"Good! Go! We believe in you!"
Shangguan Cangyu patted Ye Ming's shoulder, feeling gratified.
Then, Ye Ming transformed into a beam of light and vanished from their sight.
"I never imagined Xi'er would encounter someone like this, what good fortune!"
Watching the direction Ye Ming departed, Shangguan Yuan sighed from the bottom of his heart.
"Hmm! I hope he finds Xi'er back soon!"
...
Inside a certain restaurant, Su Xin and the others were dining.
"Alas! We just came out, and we have to go back again, what a disappointment!" Qin Yuan complained.
He had originally planned to encounter a few more girls in this vibrant world, but he hadn't expected things to develop to this extent.
"Hurry up and eat! If you whine any more, believe it or not, I'll kick you out!" Su Xin glared at him, saying irritably.
She was already suppressing a surge of anger with nowhere to vent!
"Alright! This matter is no small affair, we must report back to the clan immediately! There's no room for joking!"
Xia Zhi Qiu was quite calm, understanding the gravity of the situation.
Judging by his words, it seemed they hadn't reported the events that transpired here yet.
It made sense.
Long Ming, who was traveling with them, had died. Such a significant event naturally required a personal report to the clan to explain the cause.
Otherwise, it was unknown how many inter-clan disputes it would stir up.
Ten minutes later, Su Xin and the others were preparing to leave.
But at that moment, they found themselves completely unable to move.
Then, with a flash before their eyes, their figures vanished from the spot.
They had been forcibly taken away.
"Holy cow! What just happened?"
"Where did those people go! How did they disappear out of thin air?"
"This... This! No way! I'm outta here!"
"Run! Run! Run!"
"..."
The surrounding diners, witnessing this scene, were so frightened that they turned and fled, looking as if they had seen a ghost.
In the end, only the restaurant owner and the servers remained, bewildered and at a loss.
...
In a clearing far from the hustle and bustle, several white lights flashed, and Su Xin and the others were unceremoniously dumped onto the ground.
At this moment, they were all bewildered.
They had been eating just a moment ago, and in the blink of an eye, they were brought to this godforsaken place.
It was too bizarre.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, they quickly stood up, backs to each other, forming a triangular formation and vigilantly scanning their surroundings.
All of them now felt a chilling killing intent.
The next second, a figure with icy eyes appeared before them.
The source of the killing intent emanated from this person.
Upon seeing the person's face, Su Xin and the others' eyes widened, and their hearts instantly sank to the bottom.
A primal fear made it incredibly difficult for them to even remain standing.
The person before them was Ye Ming!
"I ask! You answer!"
Ye Ming looked at them, his face devoid of any expression, only a bone-chilling indifference.
"Please, sir, ask away!"
Su Xin, suppressing the fear and unease in her heart, spoke through gritted teeth.
She understood that they had no choice whatsoever.
Nor did they dare to lie.
If discovered, the other party would undoubtedly kill them without hesitation.
As for resistance?
It hadn't even crossed Su Xin's mind.
"Did you see Shangguan Xi'er today?"
Ye Ming stared at their every movement, not missing even the slightest subtle change in expression.
It was impossible to lie to him.
Shangguan Xi'er?
Su Xin didn't know why he was asking this question, but she answered almost without hesitation, "No, I haven't seen her?"
She wasn't lying.
Su Xin knew Shangguan Xi'er, but she genuinely hadn't seen her today.
"Are there any other people from your Dark Clan in the capital?" Ye Ming continued to ask.
If there were still hidden members of the Dark Clan in the capital, the possibility of Shangguan Xi'er being captured by them would be greater.
However, Su Xin's answer negated this possibility.
"As far as I know! No," Su Xin kept her tone as steady as possible and added, "Members of the Dark Clan are also not allowed to enter the mortal world at will! Therefore, if we wish to act in the mortal world, we must obtain permission from the elders of our clan!"
Hearing this, Ye Ming fell into a brief contemplation.
Since the Dark Clan couldn't easily act in the mortal world, who could have abducted Shangguan Xi'er?
Moreover, that person could detect the secret within Shangguan Xi'er's body in a short period.
To be able to do this, it at least proved that the person must be an immortal cultivator.
Currently, the only connection to immortal cultivators was himself and the members of the Dark Clan.
Therefore, to find out where the immortal cultivator was?
He still had to make a trip to the Dark Clan!
"Last question, where is the Four Dark Clan located?"
Once he obtained the location of the Dark Clan from Su Xin and the others, it would be as easy as pie to acquire information about immortal cultivators.
However, upon hearing this question, Su Xin and the others' expressions drastically changed. It was evident they were flustered.
"What? Unwilling to say?"
Seeing this, Ye Ming's killing intent intensified.
Given Shangguan Xi'er's safety, he couldn't afford to maintain any semblance of "benevolence."
"Sir! It's not that!"
Su Xin, having composed herself, quickly said, "It's not that we're unwilling to say, but that we are simply unable to!"
Hmm?
Hearing this, Ye Ming seemed to realize something.
"Presumably, you have already learned of a certain restriction from Long Ming," Su Xin said with a hint of sorrow, "That restriction is called the 'Death Contract'!"
Following this, Su Xin explained the origin of the Death Contract to Ye Ming.
Clearly, the Dark Clan's location was also within the scope of the Death Contract. Once they intended to reveal it, or if outsiders forcefully attempted to probe it.
They would suffer a backlash, leading to their death.
This was why Su Xin had said those words.
However, from the Death Contract, Ye Ming also realized something.
That is, certain individuals seemed to be deliberately preventing any information related to immortal ways from leaking outwards.
And those individuals, if Ye Ming guessed correctly, were those immortal cultivators who had vanished from the world.
As for their purpose in doing so, Ye Ming could also roughly guess some from the historical records in the "Xian Fa Lu" (Record of Immortal Arts).
Therefore, Ye Ming was not too surprised by the actions of those immortal cultivators.
However, some things were destined to be broken.
The fate that was meant to descend would eventually return to its rightful course.
Merely evading was just prolonging their agony.
Since that was the case, why not go all out?
Ye Ming's existence was also born from this very reason.
This might be another turning point of destiny.
Before the darkness descends, will the dawn break through?
All of this was what Ye Ming needed to seize.
If he wanted to achieve this, tomorrow would then arrive.