"Hehehe..." At this moment, the middle-aged man was tied to a chair, continuously giggling at Chu Feng.

Chu Feng squatted down to have a careful look and noticed that the middle-aged man’s gaze was dull, without any sparkle.

His expression was also severely silly.

Chu Feng tried to release a strand of Divine Sense, invading the middle-aged man’s body to investigate. No abnormalities were found.

Moreover, he carefully examined the middle-aged man’s whole body, not overlooking any minute detail, and saw no wounds. Only on the joints of the hands and feet were there some bruises.

It seemed he got those from falling and hitting himself in a panicked escape after being frightened.

"This is strange indeed! Demons are extremely ferocious, they shouldn’t have spared his life. But they didn’t hurt him; did they simply scare him into insanity?" Chu Feng felt perplexed, thinking that if it really were just madness, with the capabilities of Alchemy Venerate Academy.

They certainly could cure this middle-aged man.

There must be some secret unknown to Chu Feng within this matter.

"Does he go mad every night?" Chu Feng asked further.

Now, the middle-aged man looked somewhat foolish, but he wasn’t going crazy in any violent or murderous manner.

"It always happens at night, but it’s not every night. So far, it has happened twice, with three days in between," the family member remembered clearly.

"In that case, I am a Pill Master from Longevity Hall. If he goes mad again tonight, you come to Longevity Hall to notify me. Then I will come over to check on him again. For now, it’s not wise to rashly administer medication. Otherwise, it might easily backfire and worsen his condition."

Medicine can be a poison in a small dose.

Only by prescribing the right remedy can one cure the illness.

Otherwise, not only would it fail to save the patient, but it could also cause a certain degree of poisoning to them.

If the patient has a weak constitution or a pre-existing focal disease, the situation is even more perilous. They may even lose their life.

Longevity Hall was not far from here, and Lin Wushuang gave the family a detailed explanation of its location before he left.

Walking on the streets, Lin Wushuang noticed that within just a few days, the civilians of Baihu City had already been engulfed in huge fear and were in a state of panic.

Many commoners were traveling in groups.

Even in broad daylight, they would vigilantly survey their surroundings and passersby from time to time, fearing that a terrible demon might suddenly emerge to cause harm.

"I wonder if Dan State has been affected? Senior brother and sister-in-law don’t have high cultivation levels, they simply can’t handle ferocious demons!" Chu Feng was very worried about the safety of his senior brother and sister-in-law.

They were also one of the only three relatives Chu Feng had in this world.

He truly didn’t wish to see them in harm’s way.

When he returned to the shop, Chu Feng found Li Shishi getting ready to leave.

"Master, I need to handle some urgent matters and may return later!" Li Shishi appeared anxious, probably because something had happened to a member of her intelligence network.

"Do you need me to go with you?" Chu Feng was genuinely concerned for her safety.

Mainly because her cultivation was just too weak.

"There’s no need. Master, you are a very busy person with many affairs to manage, inside and out. I dare not take you to act as my bodyguard," Li Shishi jokingly said to Chu Feng with a playful tone.

Chu Feng didn’t insist any further and let her go by herself.

Business inside the shop was still slow, and Chu Feng directly went back to the private quarter. He took out an Elixir and swallowed it, then grasped a Spirit Stone in one hand, and started cultivating with his eyes closed.

The Demon Plague had already begun to erupt in full force, and to survive in such a dangerous environment, one must possess great strength.

Chu Feng’s cultivation level was still very low, merely a One-star Sword God, which might be considered a peerless existence for ordinary masters. However, it was nothing in front of those Supreme Sword Gods.

When cultivating, one would completely lose track of time.

After fully absorbing the two Spirit Stones in his hands, Chu Feng slowly opened his eyes. The Sword Essence within his body had increased considerably.

With the combined effects of the Elixir and Spirit Stones, his cultivation speed was at least ten times faster than that of an ordinary Sword God.

Besides, the Nine Yang Sword Veins and Abnormal Fire bonuses also increased his cultivation speed several times over.

Others might need to cultivate arduously for ten years, or even longer, to advance from a One-star to a Two-star Sword God. But for Chu Feng, just one year was sufficient.

Even now, he was already showing signs of an impending breakthrough.

"Unknowingly, night has fallen outside! I need to take some time to refine two more furnaces of Elixirs to increase my cultivation." Chu Feng stood up, preparing to inspect the shop.

However, when he arrived at the shop, it had already closed for the day.

Only the Beixie National Master was sitting inside, sorting through the accounts and taking inventory.

Having such a respected figure in the Northern Beixie Empire as the State Preceptor to do these tasks was truly a waste of his talents. But it was a necessary measure.

Chu Feng had learned from the lessons of his past life and no longer easily trusted anyone.

His recruitment standards were incredibly stringent.

Only after passing through Chu Feng’s numerous tests would one gradually earn his trust.

It was precisely because of Chu Feng’s extremely high requirements for recruiting subordinates that he faced a shortage of manpower.

Now, in the initial stages of setting up the Longevity Hall’s Baihu branch, it was necessary for a person of the Beixie National Master’s caliber to take charge. Chu didn’t trust anyone else for the job.

"My lord, you haven’t rested yet!" The Beixie National Master looked up, greeting Chu Feng with a smile.

"I’ll rest in a bit. Recently, there have been frequent demon attacks harming people, I am concerned, so I came over to check. By the way, is it just you here? Hasn’t Shishi returned yet?" Chu Feng remembered that on normal days, Li Shishi would help out.

She would normally be able to finish verifying the accounts and checking the inventory early.

Today, the Beixie National Master was alone tallying the accounts, which was why he was still busy so late.

"She hasn’t come back since she went out. It’s already dark, and she’s just a frail woman... Nothing could have happened to her, right?"

The Beixie National Master frowned and voiced his concern with worry.

They had only recently arrived in Baihu City, a place unfamilair to them.

Li Shishi normally never had the habit of going out at night. If she went out during the day to handle affairs, she would always rush back to the shop before dark. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Today was indeed out of the ordinary.

Instantly, a foreboding premonition began to rise in Chu Feng’s heart. He regretted that during the day, he had forgotten to ask Li Shishi where she was going to handle business. Baihu City was so vast, where could he go looking for her now?

"Did she tell you where she went?" Chu Feng asked the Beixie National Master.

"No! Oh right, she seemed to mention Tanhua Street; she might have gone there," recalled the Beixie National Master carefully before replying.

Tanhua Street, by the name alone, one could tell it was likely a place for pleasure quarters.

Li Shishi, focusing on developing intelligence agents, also mainly recruited women from brothels. Such a place, where people from all walks of life gather, has all sorts of characters.

It is also one of the best places to gather intelligence.

Many dignitaries and nobles would visit such places to seek amusement. A few drinks plus the coaxing of the women serving them would lead them to reveal everything they knew.