Chapter 7 His Disappearance

Felix didn't believe he could find his way out of these mountains. Zara had said that the Sky Mountain Range spanned nearly a thousand miles, and he was practically in the center of it. No matter which direction he chose, he'd have to trek at least four or five hundred miles through the mountains. And that was just in a straight line! With the Sky Mountain Range stretching on endlessly, it would probably take him a month or so to get out. Time wasn't the only issue; the mountains were also home to many wild beasts and spirit monsters. Since the Cloud Peak was the headquarters of the Void Sect, it was free of spirit monsters, only featuring some tigers and monkeys. Once he stepped outside the bounds of Cloud Peak, he'd run into plenty of spirit monsters. Felix hadn't even reached the level of flying, so there was no way he could escape. The night before last, besides asking about the world's layout, he had also questioned Zara about many specific details, especially regarding his master, Dragon, and the medicinal garden he was currently working in. As for his master... well, that was a whole other story. As the junior brother of Master Lion, the current leader of the Void Sect, Elder Dragon should have been a respected figure, but somehow he turned himself into a perverted old creep that everyone hated. Dragon had gone down the mountain to visit brothels for no good reason, and ended up going missing after getting involved in some shady business. It had been over three years with no word from him. So, counting on this irresponsible master was out of the question. As for the medicinal garden where he worked... To the south and east of Cloud Peak, there were many medicinal gardens and beast enclosures owned by the Void Sect, mainly growing precious herbs and spirit medicines, as well as raising some livestock and poultry to supply the elders and inner disciples of the sect. The place where Felix worked was in a valley about seventy or eighty miles south of Cloud Peak. His daily tasks involved watering, fertilizing, and weeding the exotic flowers and herbs in the garden. Felix sorted out the information he got from Zara. He figured out that the place he worked was seventy miles south of Cloud Peak, while the spot he had crawled out from was a mass grave in the shady area of Moon Peak, to the west of Cloud Peak. These two locations were nearly two hundred miles apart. If the killer of the original owner had been one of the other garden workers, it would've been impossible for them to move the body that far. A normal person would bury it nearby or just toss it into the medicinal garden to fertilize the plants. After all, this was the headquarters of the Void Sect, which had around fifty thousand disciples. If the killer tried to carry a body while flying, it might attract attention from the sect's disciples, and there was no need for the murderer to take such a big risk by disposing of the body at a distance. So, Felix guessed that his death was probably not related to the other workers in the medicinal garden. The current situation was that the Void Sect was a well-known major sect, with very strict rules. Disciples who fought privately would face punishment, let alone the grave crime of killing a fellow disciple. If he went back to the Void Sect, even if he had amnesia and didn't remember who had killed him, the murderer would likely still want to take his life just to be safe. "I can't get out of here, and I can't go back either. Am I really meant to live like a wild man in these mountains for the rest of my life? The worst part is not having the original owner's memories, which makes it impossible for me to practice cultivation. Otherwise, I could hide in the back mountains of Cloud Peak and train until I reached the level of flying. Then I could leave this place." After being torn about for a day, Felix still hadn't made a decision about whether to leave or stay. But there was some good news. He didn't know if it was from being well-fed or if his true essence was circulating and absorbing the natural spirit energy, but the true essence he'd used up last night had unexpectedly restored itself quite a bit. Felix could sit cross-legged again to meditate and cultivate, which would speed up the healing of his fractures. He stayed near the waterfall for another day, and by now, his injuries had mostly healed. He knew he couldn't stay there any longer; he had to leave. He had made up his mind. First, he needed to head back to the medicinal garden. Cloud Peak was enormous, and his current location was in the northwest corner of it, while the medicinal garden was seventy miles to the south. To avoid encountering large wild beasts and spirit monsters, Felix had to navigate around the base of Cloud Peak. Setting out in the morning, it was already dusk by the time he made it to the southern side of Cloud Peak. There were already signs of human activity on the southern side of Cloud Peak. In the dense jungle, there were a few little trails where people had been coming and going for a long time. Felix tried to avoid those paths. His injuries hadn't fully healed, and he didn't want to take any chances by running into anyone. If he encountered the killer, it wouldn't be a joke; this remote mountain area was the perfect spot for someone to commit murder and bury a body. That night, Felix rested in the woods, ate some wild fruit, and then began to circulate his energy to heal. Felix had been in this world for seven days. The medicinal garden, usually quite quiet, was especially lively that day. About half a month earlier, during an inventory check at the medicinal garden Felix managed, known as Garden No. 9, it was discovered that several hundred rare herbs and four priceless thousand-year-old spirit mushrooms were missing. While the garden's manager, Daniel, was investigating the theft, Felix suddenly went missing, and today marked the eighth day. This caused quite a stir in the garden. On the third day after Felix's disappearance, Daniel reported the incident to Cloud Peak. Today, Booth, the direct disciple of the sect leader Master Sun, along with Alan, a disciple of the elder Tiger from the Discipline Hall, came to investigate Felix's disappearance and the missing spirit herbs. Booth was quite a prominent figure among the younger disciples of the Void Sect. In his early thirties, he had only been practicing for about twenty years but had already reached the sixth layer of the Void Technique--Return to Origin. During his time in the mortal realm, Booth had gained fame for using a Flying-Rainbow Sword to defeat four disciples of the Demon Path, earning himself the title of "Flying-Rainbow Swordsman." The Elder's Council sent Booth because Felix's situation was unique. Felix's master, Dragon, while not well-liked in the Void Sect, was a junior brother of the sect leader Master Sun. Over two hundred years ago, during a critical power struggle in the sect, it was Master Dragon who fought to protect Master Sun, allowing him to take the position of sect leader. So, as long as Master Dragon didn't commit any heinous crimes like murder, arson, or betraying the sect, Master Sun had mostly turned a blind eye to his actions. Three years ago, Master Dragon had gone down the mountain to solicit prostitution and had gone missing since. Although many people speculated that the nearly four-hundred-year-old Dragon had overdone it with seven women and ended up dead, no one had ever seen his body. Felix was Master Dragon's only disciple. If Master Dragon hadn't actually died and come back one day, they would need to explain what had happened to Felix. That's why Booth had come personally. Garden No. 9 had twelve sections, with one to three workers managing each area. There was also a head supervisor named Daniel. Daniel was in his forties, at the fifth layer of the Nascent Soul, and he seemed like a refined scholar. He and Felix had similar backgrounds. Over twenty years ago, his master was killed by a practitioner from the Demon Cult, and his status plummeted, eventually becoming a worker in the medicinal garden. After spending over a decade in the garden, he had risen from being a lowly worker to becoming the head of one of the twelve medicinal gardens. At that moment, Daniel was reporting Felix's disappearance to Booth and Alan. A lot of valuable spirit herbs had recently gone missing from Garden No. 9, and as the supervisor, he was going to be held responsible for it. To dodge that responsibility, Daniel naturally shifted all the blame onto Felix. Daniel said, "Junior Brother Booth, after my investigation these past few days, I can almost confirm that Felix was stealing from the garden. Once the truth came to light, he fled in fear of punishment. As the manager of Garden A, I have an undeniable responsibility in this matter. I'll go to the Elder's Council to accept my punishment." Booth shook his head gently and replied, "Senior Brother Daniel, you've been managing the garden for over a decade without any issues; that's well-known. This isn't your fault. Since we've figured out that Felix was the one stealing, I'll report back honestly. He hasn't reached the flight level yet, so he can't run far. We'll catch him eventually." As soon as he finished speaking, one of the workers shouted, "Felix… Senior Brother Daniel, Felix is back!"