"Zazie also vanished! Just what the h.e.l.l happened?! Did someone attack us when we're sleeping?!"

Panicked voices echoed throughout the entire campsite. Jamie exited his tent and inspected the situation for himself along with the Patriarch and a drove of Elders.

"What the h.e.l.l happened last night?" An Elder mumbled in confusion and astonishment.

A young disciple interjected, "A battle must've happened last night, Elder! We must've not noticed it because we're too drunk and sleeping!"

Patriarch Warren glared at the disciple, "Calm down, will you? If a battle really did happen last night, traces of struggle should remain. And in the first place, it is impossible that none of us detected such a large-scale fight!"

The disciple regained his composure, the Patriarch was right, if a battle happened last night, and in such a scale, they should've noticed it and reacted to the situation. However, they did not and only noticed their fellow disciples' disappearance by morning.

This realization terrified everyone out of their minds. Those at the brink of paranoia completely collapsed in terror and fear. Thinking about the atrocities that they committed back at the Empire, they thought that today was their retribution.

Jamie locked his eyebrows and searched every tent of the vanished disciples to no avail. He also ordered some disciples to search the surrounding area, but they all reported the same thing.

No traces of anything, not even footprints were present in the area.

It was as if those sixty or so disciples vanished into thin-air.

"It must be the work of demons! That's right, demons! We've done so many evil that they're coming after us for revenge!" A female disciple went hysterical and started shouting in desperation, one of the disciples that disappeared was her younger sister.

"Done so many evil?" Jamie coldly glanced at the female disciple and her fellow brothers and sisters stepped forwards and covered her mouth. Her m.u.f.fled cries dampened everyone's mood, further lowering their morale.

"I don't know what evil you're talking about but if you're gonna ask me, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d that did this is the evil one! Don't ever accuse us, your fellow disciples again, or else..." A sinister light crept out of Jamie's eyes and the female disciple s.h.i.+vered in fear while she was brought by her friends back into her tent.

"But, Senior Brother, what do you think happened to those that disappeared?" A close confidant of Jamie voiced out his concerns, Jamie shook his head and said, "Those that disappeared numbered at least fifty, and since they still haven't returned until now. All of them should've been killed by those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds..."

His close confidant showed a pained expression and said, "Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds? What do you mean, Senior?"

Jamie glanced at him and said, "It's impossible for a single person to kill that amount of disciples in such a short amount of time, there should be at least dozens of people that attacked and kidnapped our fellow disciples."

"Kidnap? If they didn't immediately kill them, they should be able to ask for help, yet why didn't that happen?" His close confidant muttered in confusion and Jamie turned towards him and sighed, "Yes, they didn't kill them outright, if they did, traces of blood and struggle should be present. But since there's nothing, they should've kidnapped them while they're in deep sleep and killed them after they escaped."

Patriarch Warren nodded his head and said, "That's indeed the case. Unfortunately, we don't have the time to investigate what happened. The most that we can do is light some incense for the deceased before we'll continue our journey towards the Desert Wilderness Bazaar."

"What do you mean, Patriarch? Are you saying that we're going to forget about those that died?!" A male disciple who heard his words forgot his decorum amidst his sorrow and shouted at the Patriarch. Jamie and the Elders raised their eyebrows and warned the male disciple with their gazes.

Patriarch Warren turned towards the male disciple and said, "I didn't say that we'll forget about them, trust me. Once we established ourselves at the Desert Wilderness Bazaar and regained some of our strength, I'll do my best in capturing those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds that did this. I swear on the name of the Luzon Clan."

His words were solemn as he vowed. The disciples who still had some grievances could only retreat for now as they silently cried back at their tents. Jamie clenched his fists and swore that he would definitely get to the bottom of this case.

Meanwhile, the culprits of the attack could be seen sitting on a tree branch while casually munching on some apples. Dan stared at the campsite and saw that the negative energies twirling around each individual had thickened.

"Still not enough for the picking." Dan shook his head, and handed over an apple to Natalie, "Want another?" Natalie nodded her head and accepted the apple.

"Dear, we should invite Sister Grace to come with us at the last phase of our plan, if we do that, she'll advance faster in her cultivation..." Natalie proposed an idea and hearing her words, Dan smiled and said, "That's a good idea, but we shouldn't let her fight with us since even those disciples are stupid, they're still quite strong..."

Even with Grace's n.o.ble Bloodline, gaps between cultivation realms couldn't easily be surpa.s.sed and it was possible that she could die if she fought beside them.

"I don't think that Sister Grace would accept what you're saying right now, Dear." Natalie knitted her eyebrows and said in a low voice.

Dan turned towards her and said with a smile, "You're right about that, as far as I know, Grace is an awkward, yet stubborn girl that will never give up for the sake of achieving her girls. That's the reason why she survived such a harsh childhood."

Natalie wryly smiled, "Since you already knew about it, what are you going to do? If we invite her, she would surely do the opposite of your orders and join us in the fight."

Dan shook his head and said, "Natalie, though Grace is now my wife, did you forget that I am her master? Using our connection as a master and slave, there's no way that she could refuse my commands."

"Are you sure about doing that? If you did that, Sister Grace will definitely hate you..."

Dan lightly laughed, "It's fine if she hates me after doing that, at the least i could ensure her safety while increasing her strength at the same time."

Natalie stared at Dan with a gentle expression. That's right, her man was someone like this. Despite the increased difficulty of bringing someone of lower cultivation with him, he would still undertake such risks just so he could secure the safety of his family, all the while obtaining the benefits that everyone required.

Natalie embraced Dan's arm and lovingly rubbed her cheeks on his shoulders. Dan was taken aback for a moment, Natalie normally didn't act so lovely and affectionate, did she ate something bad?

"What's wrong with you? Why are you staring at me like you've seen a ghost in broad daylight?" Natalie lightly chuckled.

Dan scratched his head in awkwardness, "Nothing, I just thought that it's quite rare of you to act like this. Normally, something like this only happens when you're drunk or craving for it..."

Natalie frowned, "Craving for what?"

Dan cheekily smiled, "You know, craving for that..."

A smack came down on his head, "Stop thinking of such things, and also, we're outside, you know..."

"A wise man once said that to prolong one's life, seeking adventures and pleasures should be the priority in life. So, what's wrong with doing it outside, it's not like it's going to happen everyday..." Dan shrugged and stretched his hands around Natalie's waist.

A queer cry came out of Natalie's mouth as she said in a helpless tone, "Not doing it everyday? Why do I feel like that's not going to happen judging by your lecherous att.i.tude..." She pushed him back and said, "No means no! What if someone pa.s.ses by and sees us?"

"Well if that happens, I'll just have to beat that memory out of his head..." Dan nonchalantly replied and Natalie sighed, though she adamantly refused, it was all for the sake of maintaining her proper image. The truth was she's also quite adventurous and was tempted to partake on such an activity.

Of course, Dan knew that Natalie was merely faking her refusal. Otherwise, he wouldn't be so overbearing in convincing her about it. With just a few strokes of his hand enhanced by his double-digits dexterity. Natalie's facade fell along with their clothes.