Void Cultivation

Chapter 377: Chapter 376- A Cause for alarm

By the time night had fully fallen, Grey had completely exhausted himself from refining poison. The shadow that had been silently absorbing all the unwanted residue produced throughout the process now hung limply by his leg.

Although it remained completely motionless, Grey could still sense faint signs of life emanating from it. With a single glance, he could tell that the shadow had not become dormant.

Instead of becoming weak or drained after absorbing such an enormous amount of poisonous residue, it actually appeared to be growing stronger with every passing moment.

This discovery caused Grey to narrow his eyes slightly.

It seemed that his shadow was capable of absorbing far more than merely corrosive substances. If his assumption was correct, then its abilities extended well beyond what he had initially believed.

Unfortunately, this was neither the time nor the place to test that theory. There were far more pressing matters that demanded his attention.

Late into the night, Grey suddenly received an urgent report concerning a sharp increase in the number of kidnappings taking place throughout the streets of Sky Mist City.

At first, only ordinary mortals and people without any cultivation had gone missing. The disappearances were strange, but they had not attracted enough attention to cause widespread panic.

However, as the days passed, the kidnappers became increasingly bold.

Before long, even cultivators had begun disappearing without a trace.

The frequency of the kidnappings continued to rise with each passing night. Among the recent victims was a cultivator who had only just advanced into the Foundation Establishment Realm. Despite breaking through only a short time before, he had still been abducted without anyone knowing how or when it had happened.

These successive disappearances immediately caused Sky Mist City to classify the incidents as a high-priority case.

Since the matter required immediate investigation, it was handed over to the Detective Agency Department.

As Grey carefully read through the report, he noticed that the same jade slip had also been sent to Violet.

As the Captain and Vice-Captain of the Detective Agency, it was only natural that both of them would receive the assignment simultaneously.

Moreover, this was not a mission Grey could simply refuse.

The fact that even Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators had fallen victim to the kidnappers proved that the perpetrators possessed strength far beyond ordinary criminals.

Sending the regular members of the Detective Agency to investigate would be no different from delivering fresh victims directly into the kidnappers’ hands.

After silently reading the contents from beginning to end, Grey slowly lowered the jade slip, his expression remaining as calm and unreadable as ever.

The recent wave of kidnappings had begun barely a week after the Sect Alliance arrived in Sky Mist City.

Ordinarily, such a major incident would have spread throughout the city almost immediately.

However, the arrival of the Sect Alliance had placed enormous pressure upon Sky Mist City’s upper echelon. Fearing unnecessary chaos and the embarrassment of appearing incapable before such powerful guests, they had deliberately suppressed news of the kidnappings for as long as they could.

Only now, after the situation had grown beyond their control, had the information finally reached the Detective Agency.

Grey remained silent for a few moments as he carefully pieced together the sequence of events inside his mind.

A moment later, he stood up.

Although it was already deep into the night, he had no intention of postponing the investigation until morning.

Every moment wasted was another opportunity for someone else to disappear.

Besides, delaying the investigation would only eat into the time he had reserved for cultivation and poison refinement over the coming days.

Just then, another message arrived through his communication jade slip.

It was from Violet.

She had already begun moving toward the designated investigation area and requested that he join her immediately.

Grey put away the jade slip without another word.

After briefly confirming that the shadow at his feet was still alive and responsive, he quietly left the Detective Agency building.

His figure merged seamlessly with the darkness.

With a light step, he burst forward, his body becoming nothing more than a fleeting blur as he raced through the silent streets toward the location the Captain had instructed him to investigate.

Barely a few minutes later, Grey arrived at a market district deep within Port 68.

The entire district was shrouded in darkness.

During the day, the area would normally be overflowing with merchants, wandering cultivators, customers, and laborers moving from one shop to another. Countless voices would overlap with one another, creating an atmosphere that was lively and bustling.

Now, however, that prosperity had almost completely vanished.

Only a handful of people still wandered through the empty streets, while most shops had already shut their doors for the night.

Apart from a few inns, taverns, and businesses that remained open to late-night customers, the once-crowded market district had become eerily deserted.

Grey silently heightened his vigilance before calmly walking toward the building where Violet had instructed him to meet her.

As he walked through several empty streets and passed a few abandoned construction sites, the building eventually came into view.

It was an exceptionally tall structure that was still under construction.

Although the exterior walls had already been erected and the roof completed, much of the interior remained unfinished. Wooden scaffolding still clung to several sections of the walls, while piles of construction materials lay scattered across the ground.

Without slowing down, Grey stepped inside.

The instant he entered, a thick metallic smell assaulted his senses.

His gaze slowly swept across the dimly lit interior before finally stopping.

A woman was hanging from the ceiling.

Her neck bent backwards at an unnatural angle, almost as though it had been forcibly snapped.

The sight alone was enough to make an ordinary person vomit.

Her chest and abdomen had been brutally torn open, exposing her internal organs.

Blood had long since ceased flowing, leaving her intestines dangling lifelessly toward the floor while dried crimson stains covered the ground beneath her.

The entire scene resembled a grotesque sacrifice more than an ordinary murder.

Grey calmly approached the corpse.

From the smell of the blood, the amount of coagulation, and the state of the dried bodily fluids on the floor, he estimated that she had died less than twenty-four hours ago.

The metallic scent of blood mixed with the nauseating odor of exposed flesh filled the air.

For a brief moment, the overwhelming smell invaded Grey’s senses.

However, after years of refining poisons and dissecting poisonous beasts, such sights had long ceased affecting him.

Suppressing the unpleasant odor, his attention shifted beyond the corpse.

Behind the woman, the unfinished wall had been painted with fresh crimson letters.

Several strange symbols surrounded the writing, forming what appeared to be an unknown ritualistic pattern.

Although the building was engulfed in darkness, Grey’s eyesight allowed him to clearly distinguish every stroke.

Hour of Joy.

Those three words were written prominently across the wall behind the corpse.

Grey narrowed his eyes.

At first glance, it appeared that the woman had died after her chest and abdomen had been violently ripped open.

However, after carefully observing her body, he noticed something else.

Her neck had been twisted with extraordinary force.

Judging from the angle alone, the attack would have instantly damaged her spine.

If she had somehow survived the initial injury, she would have become completely paralyzed before suffering the rest of the torture inflicted upon her.

Yet something felt wrong.

Grey could not determine which injury had actually caused her death.

Had she died after her neck was snapped?

Or had she remained alive long enough to witness her own body being dissected?

Neither possibility could be ruled out.

Just as Grey continued examining the corpse, a faint disturbance quietly appeared behind him.

A small shadow detached itself from the surrounding darkness.

It moved silently across the floor without producing the slightest sound, slowly creeping closer with every passing second.

Its movements were incredibly cautious, almost like a predator stalking prey.

However...

The moment it crossed within twenty meters of him, Grey’s eyes suddenly narrowed.

Without turning around, his hand flashed beneath his robes.

A short dagger instantly left his fingers.

Whoosh!

The blade sliced through the air at astonishing speed.

In less than the blink of an eye, it had already appeared directly before the shadow’s face.

Had the attack landed, the dagger would have pierced straight through its skull.

Yet, at the very last moment, the creature’s body shifted slightly to one side.

The movement was incredibly small.

Barely the width of a finger.

Even so, it was enough.

The dagger missed its head by less than an inch before embedding itself deeply into the unfinished wall behind it.

The shadow gave an inhuman leap.

Its entire body lunged toward Grey with frightening speed.

However, Grey had already anticipated the attack.

The instant the creature entered his striking range, his fist shot forward like lightning.

Bang!

The sound of shattering bones echoed throughout the unfinished building.

The creature was blasted backward before crashing violently into a newly erected wall.

The impact completely shattered the structure, sending chunks of stone and clouds of dust flying in every direction.

Yet Grey showed no intention of allowing it even a single moment to recover.

His fists continued punching toward empty space.

Each punch compressed the surrounding air before releasing it in the form of a violent invisible shockwave.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

One air cannon after another slammed into the creature before it could regain its footing.

Every impact violently hurled it through another unfinished wall.

Stone exploded.

Wooden beams that had just been erected snapped apart into wood fragments. Dust filled the air until visibility dropped dramatically.

Only after the barrage finally came to an end did the dust slowly begin to settle.

The shadow’s figure was revealed once more.

Its body had become a mangled, pulpy mess.

Its bones had been crushed beyond recognition, while large portions of its flesh had burst apart under the relentless impacts.

Even so...

Grey’s expression remained unchanged.

He had yet to lower his guard as he stared coldly at the ceiling where he felt several pairs of eyes watching him.

A second later, a figure fell from the ceiling and arrived before Grey.