The daughter of a noble family is reborn, and she is doted on by her godmother.

Chapter 41 Choosing Friends

"Cult? What's going on?"

Xiao Zhang began by telling Yun Yuke about his experiences with his masters, starting from when his friend joined the sect many years ago.

The two close friends, Gu Chengfeng and Wen Jiangyue, joined the Yuhua Sect about thirty years ago. It was a relatively famous sect in this era. It was said that someone from this sect had attained immortality several years ago, so the sect was very popular, and many people who wanted to learn martial arts or cultivate themselves went there.

For reasons unknown, the two friends joined the Yuhua Sect and became its protectors. In recent years, they have also taken on disciples, thus becoming a force within the Yuhua Sect.

Over the past thirty years, Yun Yuke has not been in frequent contact with her friends, only occasionally exchanging letters via carrier pigeon or other means.

The couple originally planned to take several disciples on a travels to various places to gain experience. One of their destinations was to visit their current friends in Xin'an City. Ordering this batch of hidden weapons and hairpins in advance was also for this purpose.

However, when the group arrived at the small town at the foot of Mount Yulong, they discovered that the locals had a strong belief in evil gods.

"Boss Yun, you don't know, every household in the area worships the kind of god that looks particularly disgusting and ugly. My fellow disciples were so scared that they didn't dare to say anything."

As Xiao Zhang spoke, his face scrunched up in disgust.

Originally, Master Gu Chengfeng didn't want to interfere too much, since it was a matter of personal choice and outsiders didn't need to say too much. However, just as they were about to leave, their youngest junior sister was almost kidnapped by the locals, which alerted Gu Wen and his wife.

So the group left the place first, disguised themselves as a caravan, and went back to the village to investigate.

The preliminary investigation revealed that young girls frequently go missing in the village. The key issue is that while the parents of the missing girls are initially anxious, they become complacent and even smug after a few days.

There is reason to believe that this is a typical example of female sacrifice. Girls were sacrifices that could be discarded without prior notice.

"Unfortunately, those people are too wary, and we won't get much out of them in the short term. My master and mistress decided to do some business in the area and build relationships with the locals before we could find out anything. Anyway, before I left, I found out that the so-called evil god in the area had already amassed a lot of wealth, and I think I found the body of a missing woman when I left."

After saying this, Xiao Zhang looked worried. "There are fifteen of us in total, which is a lot of people and a big target. Although Master and Mistress have seven fellow disciples and five junior sisters with them, it's hard to say what kind of danger might arise. Moreover, when I left the village to deliver a message to you, I discovered that someone was following us. In order not to expose that we know martial arts, we had to take several detours to shake them off. This back and forth took a lot of time."

"That's actually the case."

"Anyway, Boss Yun, now that I've taken the things, I'd better get going. My master, mistress, and fellow disciples need me, so I need to hurry back to help them. My master and mistress have been kind to me, and the other fellow disciples are all my family. I need to get back quickly."

Knowing that the matter was of great importance, Yun Yuke stopped trying to stop him, but went back to her room and took out some more cash to give to Xiao Zhang.

"Take this first. Money makes the world go round. Take some money back with you."

After seeing the person off through the side door, Yun Yuke finally had some free time to catch her breath and rest.

Things have happened suddenly these past few days, and many things are complicated and confusing, so we need to sort them out in a timely manner.

Yun Yuke found a bluestone slab in the backyard and sat down cross-legged to calm herself down.

First, there's the murder case at hand. There aren't any convenient testing methods right now, but logically speaking, Manager Lin couldn't have died like that. The account books are all sorted out, the accounting office in the city is gone, and the murder in the warehouse outside the city seems like an attempt to stage an accident—how could it be such a coincidence?

Secondly, there was the sudden letter from a close friend. This was actually a good thing; any news was better than no news at all. The couple didn't need to worry too much. They were skilled in martial arts, and their magical artifacts were fine. Since they could send someone to deliver a message, it meant they definitely had something to say. If their original method of communication still worked, they wouldn't have needed this young Zhang to come in person.

I had originally planned to ask them to help analyze the special liquid, but I'll have to seal it up and deal with it later. Anyway, my brother has already determined that it's harmless for now, and it's made of local materials, so I'll leave it for now.

Thirdly, there was the disaster that Huanghua Village suffered during this period. In this era, there were very few means to prevent natural disasters. Even with river embankments to prevent floods, there was nothing that could be done about such continuous torrential rain.

Yun Yuke closed her eyes and thought for a moment. When she opened them again, she took out a small bag from her personal sachet. It was the same bag that Xiao Zhang had just held.

He rummaged around inside and found something that looked like a book. He opened it, looked around inside, and then put it back after feeling relieved.

"Once we have land, we can experiment with this method."

Although there seems to be some opportunism in Huanghua Village, if they can take advantage of the post-disaster reconstruction to resume production, wouldn't that pave the way for them to open a grain shop later?

I originally wanted to see if I could buy land and build a farm, but now I'm finding it hard to ask directly. After all, the land is someone's lifeline, and I can't bring myself to think that I can buy their life just because I have money.

"Mother, what are you doing here?" A clear female voice came from behind Yun Yuke. It was Yun Qingjin.

"Was that person just now looking for Mother? Have you finished talking?" Yun Qingjin had also seen this Taoist priest who came to the jewelry shop earlier, and she was a little curious.

"Yes, it's okay to tell Qingqing. That person is a disciple of a couple who are good friends of yours. When the couple comes to Xin'an City in the future, I will introduce you to them."

“Okay.” Yun Qingjin nodded. “Mother, while you were back in the backyard, it seemed like my brother, dressed as a constable, came looking for you outside. He said he wanted you to go to the county government office, and it seemed like he wanted to take me with him.”

Yun Yuke nodded, but then seemed to remember something else, "Hey, Qingqing, did you greet this constable brother yourself?"

Yun Qingjin shook her head. "No, it was Sister Huibing who hosted them. I was just listening. Sister Huibing was supposed to come, but the shop was quite busy, so I volunteered to stand in for her. Anyway, Qingqing heard it all and knows what happened."

"Alright, shall we go now? Let's not keep the magistrate and the others waiting too long."

The mother and daughter acted immediately, telling their family members before leaving.

Meanwhile, at the county government office in Xin'an City, the magistrate was receiving a young woman and a boy.

"Are you two the Lady and the Heir Apparent of the Marquis of Changxing? I'm so sorry, some things have happened in the county recently, so I'm late. Please forgive me. May I ask what brings you here?"

The young woman and the young man didn't seem to mind, and they weren't pretentious at all. The young woman then spoke.

"Your Excellency, please do not panic. There is nothing serious that brings me here. There are two things I need your help with."