PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

286 Chapter 286 Suspicions Confirmed

“Bastard” Letting out a guttural roar Mei Fei Long smashed the tree beside her in an attempt to quell the anger she felt right now seeing how her target had managed to escape right under her nose even after the three of them work together to fight him.

Noticing Mei’s unstable emotional state caused by her new dragon force ability, Xiauyue rushed to her to try to calm her down as Desmond focused on the gagged girl lying in his arms trembling with her cute teary eyes filled with renewed longing for life.

Trying to calm his own frustration Desmond adjusted his mood by force before using the warmest possible voice to comfort the girl as he removed her bonds.

As soon as she felt her bond release, poor Xiao Li immediately jumped into Desmond’s open arms and burst into tears like a helpless child as she continued to babble about how scared she had been and how grateful she was for saving her.

With her somewhat adorable looking face now covered in tears, drool and snot, seeing Xiao Li in that state was not a pleasant sight at all but seeing how scared she had been and how genuinely happy she looked right now managed to bring something back of comfort to Desmond and the girls who were frustrated that they had let the hooded man escape.

It took almost five minutes until Xiao Li managed to calm down and began to communicate properly with the trio, thus telling them her name along with some information Desmond requested.

Hearing what little Xiao Li was able to speak, Desmond had already managed to confirm that she was also part of the service staff in the treasure and medicine pavilion and she worked as an assistant to the medical staff; her status being slightly higher than that of an average maid as she had some medical knowledge.

Trying to be discreet about it, Desmond tried to investigate a little more in Xiao Li’s personal life trying to find an event that links her to his suspect, although slightly confused by the interrogation; Xiao Li didn′t hesitate at all to respond to these kind masked people who came to help her at her time of greatest need.

Desmond tried to appear calm about it but his fists were still slightly clenched at the mention of the name Feng Sho who had a very slight uninteresting encounter with Xiao Li who wouldn′t remember the man if he wasn′t wearing very elegant clothing at that time.

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Pretending that he didn′t get what he wanted to hear from her, Desmond patiently spoke with Xiao Li explaining that it was dangerous to remain within the sect for the time being so his group will privately organize her shipment to her hometown with some funds for her to hide until they found the man who tried to hurt her.

Although scared at the idea that her assailant was still free, Xiao Li still found comfort from the group’s kind treatment and the help they continued to provide her without asking for anything in exchange for her.

Soon the group discreetly escorted Xiao Li back to the sect camp outside the Thousand Beast Forest before Xiauyue tasked some of her henchmen with the task of escorting Xiao Li back to her hometown after giving her a bag full of essence stones which could be considered a small fortune for a girl like her.

Of course, by doing so, they also revealed that at least they had some connection to the Miao family but for Xiauyue this was not at all an inconvenience as this was a good way to win the favor of someone who could serve as an informant in the future about the internal affairs of the medical department within the pavilion of the treasury and medicine; thus demonstrating the enormous foresight of this so-called favorite daughter of the Miao family.

Having dealt with that matter, the group’s attention was immediately attracted by a small riot that formed in the area where the medical personnel was established.

Soon the group watched with barely contained anger as Feng Sho appeared in the medical area claiming to have been attacked by a group from another sect in an assassination attempt as he took a walk through the forest.

Desmond didn’t even have to look at Feng Sho’s injured left arm where he had stabbed the bastard with an arrow to know that it was him they had run into in the forest moments ago trying to torture and murder Xiao Li.

But no matter how upset their group was, none of them did anything about it, it wasn’t that they didn’t want to, it was rather that they couldn’t, at the end of the day Feng Sho was an incredibly valuable member of the roaming cloud sect and not even Xiauyue with her status as the daughter of the sect master would come to light if it came to light that she ambushed Feng Sho.

In fact, given Xiauyue’s current delicate situation within the Miao family and the sect, it was possible that her enemies would use the incident against her with the consequences being difficult to calculate.

But as inconspicuous as they tried to be, the trio still caught the attention of Ai Zuling who still had quite a few questions for Desmond given her earlier exchange where he warned her about Feng Sho watching her closely.

Now watching the trio return on stage after the alleged attack on Feng Sho carried out by what he described as a trio of assassins, Ai Zuling was more than capable of adding one plus one but perhaps due to his current relationship with Desmond or because of the status of the people next to him; Ai Zuling decided to keep quiet and just give Desmond a meaningful look.

Noticing the look Ai Zuling gave him, Desmond had to give a deep tired sigh when he felt another set of people look at him suspiciously but being too lazy to turn around to see Xiauyue and Mei; Desmond only continued to observe Feng Sho from a distance before retiring to rest knowing that at the moment it wasn′t possible to do anything about the man.

Tired and slightly dejected, Desmond and the girls tried to let the matter slide and focus on resting instead of continuing to watch the bastard Feng Sho obtain medical attention while still complaining about the lack of security provided by the sect.

Feeling the enormous fatigue generated by unleashing their best moves against Feng Sho using every last ounce of energy within them, Desmond and the girls didn’t even bother with appearances before simply ordering a couple of tents before going to bed.

Having to sleep apart for the first time in a long time due to the current lack of privacy, the trio spent a night not as comfortable as they would have liked but with everything currently on the line; They all tried to ignore their own feelings when they met the next morning to discuss their next course of action.

Of course, the conversation was not so enjoyable at least not for Desmond when he revealed his plans to solve the Feng Sho matter on his own.

“You’re crazy, if you try to go alone against Feng Sho it won’t be different from suicide.” Unable to hide her frustration, Mei Fei Long was the first to lash out at Desmond at his suggestion with Miao Xiauyue supporting her behind.

But Desmond was inflexible about it, arguing that he didn′t plan to do something as stupid as fighting a fair fight against Feng Sho, although he didn′t give a very elaborate explanation about it either.

After realizing how stubborn Desmond was being about it, Xiauyue and Mei could only agree with him.

But as soon as the issue was resolved, a guest not entirely welcomed by Xiauyue and Mei made an appearance before the group with a flirtatious smile directed towards Desmond while ignoring the girls next to him.

Of course, it was Ai Zuling who came to the place with an air of sensuality around her as she looked in intrigued at the people in front of her and wasted no time as she asked directly, “So can anyone give me a reason why I shouldn′t mention my suspicions about your involvement in the attack on a renowned sect member like Feng Sho? ”

Seeing how Xiauyue and Mei could barely contain their jealousy towards Ai Zuling, Desmond took a step forward and responded by giving only one name: “Ai Zulei”

Neither Mei nor Xiauyue reacted to the mention of such a name but it was a completely different case for Ai Zuling whose pupils dilated in recognition as she struggled to find the breath to mention such a nostalgic name for her.

Ai Zulei was none other than a cousin of Ai Zuling whom she was very fond, because Ai Zulei didn′t have many talents in martial arts she only managed to enter the sect as a servant thanks to the help of her older cousin Ai Zuling who being a novice but highly talented alchemist enjoyed some influence within the sect.

Ai Zulei, knowing that she owed her cousin a lot, took the initiative to work as her assistant in her laboratory where her dear older cousin will always try to teach her alchemy so that she will also enjoy some status and under the teaching of a genius alchemist even the little talented Ai Zulei showed some degree of improvement in the art of alchemy but the good times were short-lived when Ai Zulei disappeared almost a year and a half ago.

As smart as Ai Zuling was, she had long ago understood that her beloved cousin had probably encountered a regrettable fate that broke her heart but hearing Desmond mention her name raised many memories that she had deeply buried.