At the same time, Yang Qingxi had already moved inside the tomb. Her spiritual sense flowed, sweeping through all the passages. Compared to Su Mo, her approach was more focused on the tomb’s details.

After a few seconds, her voice reached Su Mo’s mind directly, using spiritual energy to form a link.

[Su Mo, come inside the tomb.]

Her tone was serious.

Su Mo immediately responded.

[Did you find him?]

There was a hint of urgency in his voice.

But the reply he received was different from what he expected.

[No. But I found something.]

Su Mo paused for a fraction of a second, then nodded to himself.

"I’m coming."

Without hesitation, he stepped forward and rose into the air, heading straight toward the tomb entrance.

The path inside was already familiar to him.

He didn’t slow down.

He passed through all the corridors, traps, and turns without stopping, his figure moving like a shadow through the structure. In just a short time, he reached the chamber with the five sarcophagi.

Yang Qingxi stood there, waiting for him.

"What did you find?" Su Mo asked directly.

Yang Qingxi didn’t speak immediately. Instead, she pointed toward the ground.

Su Mo followed her gesture.

Zombie corpses.

The same ones that never had the chance to show themselves during their tomb exploration. With strength beyond the Body Tempering Stage, almost a half-step into cultivation.

But now they were destroyed beyond recognition.

Their skulls were smashed inwards, destroying half of their heads.

Su Mo stepped closer and crouched slightly, examining the damage.

It wasn’t the result of some weapon. But a fist-shaped impact that crushed them.

He remained silent for a moment.

Then, his expression changed slightly.

He sensed something.

A faint trace of spiritual energy.

Mixed with the lingering Yin energy in the room, which controlled the corpses to act as the tomb’s guards.

"...This isn’t normal," he murmured.

Yang Qingxi nodded. "Do you think someone at Ye Chen’s level could do that?" she asked.

Su Mo shook his head without hesitation. "Not at all."

His answer was firm.

"I didn’t leave behind anything that could help him learn cultivation."

He knew exactly what he had left behind. It was just a callisthenics workout plan written in an ancient language.

Practising it can’t help him cultivate at all.

At most, keep his body healthy.

This kind of force used to deal with the corpses doesn’t belong to Ye Chen.

Su Mo stood up slowly. "...A cultivator."

Yang Qingxi gave a small nod.

"That’s what I think too."

She glanced at him briefly.

"If that’s the case, then he wasn’t alone. Do you think he was accompanied by a cultivator?"

Yang Qingxi’s expression turned thoughtful. She folded her arms lightly. "Or maybe they were after him?"

Su Mo frowned.

"Seriously," he said. "What did he run into while we weren’t watching him?"

For Ye Chen to encounter a cultivator. Something must have happened outside their understanding.

Yang Qingxi thought for a moment.

Then she spoke.

"Do you think it’s related to the Gu family?"

Su Mo’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"...Zhu Shan."

The name came naturally.

The old cultivator from the White Moon Sect, Gu Liming, had called.

Yang Qingxi nodded. "That’s the most likely cultivator to be after Ye Chen at this moment."

She looked at the damage again.

"If so, this level of strength matches my guess."

Su Mo also didn’t deny it.

If Zhu Shan had arrived here, then everything would have made sense.

He straightened slightly.

"So either Ye Chen was killed..."

He paused.

"...or taken away."

Yang Qingxi shook her head.

"I think it’s the latter."

Su Mo looked at her.

"My system didn’t react at all," she explained. "If he died, I would know."

Su Mo nodded slowly.

"That means he’s still alive."

But instead of relief, his expression grew more complicated.

"If they caught him, why keep him alive?" he said.

Yang Qingxi thought for a moment before replying.

"They might want to take him back to the Gu family," she said. "To kill him in front of them. Or..."

She paused slightly.

"...torture him first before killing."

Su Mo didn’t respond immediately.

Then he exhaled lightly.

"That sounds like something Gu Xuan would want to do. After all, he hates Ye Chen to death."

Yang Qingxi gave a faint, amused look.

"Especially now," she added. "Considering Ye Chen’s current state... I wonder what kind of situation he’ll end up in under Gu Xuan’s hands."

Her tone carried a hint of curiosity.

Su Mo’s expression turned colder.

"I don’t want him to die too easily," he said.

His voice was calm but firm.

"I still have things to settle."

Little Mimi and her mother.

Those debts can’t be forgotten.

Yang Qingxi glanced at him, then smiled slightly.

"We’ll find him," she said. "For now, let’s go back."

She turned toward the exit. Her tone carried a subtle reminder.

"You still have those criminals you brought back. If you want to vent, they’re a good appetiser." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Su Mo let out a short breath.

"Those pests," he said. "Indeed..."

Then he turned.

"Let’s go."

The two of them left the chamber together.

The tomb returned to silence once again.

---

When they returned to Jiangnan City.

The villa was quiet, but the atmosphere inside felt heavy.

Zhang Xulin was waiting in the living room. The moment she saw them enter, her expression showed a trace of relief, but it was quickly replaced by something more serious.

"Mayor Gao has woken up," she said.

Su Mo paused for a moment, then asked, "How is he?"

Zhang Xulin hesitated slightly before answering.

"Not good."

Her tone was calm, but the meaning behind it was clear.

"After he learned about his wife and child... he couldn’t accept it."

Su Mo’s expression didn’t change much, but his gaze lowered slightly.

Zhang Xulin continued, "He tried to harm himself several times. Leng Shuang had no choice but to restrain him."

Su Mo let out a quiet breath.

"Did you tell him everything?" he asked.