Chapter 109: The Vanished Brother

As soon as Song Yan stepped into the kitchen to help Madam Xu add firewood, Zhang Zixuan turned to Song Ye and said, “Brother Song, Song Yan is not getting any younger. Don’t you plan to send her to a private academy for her studies?”

Song Ye sighed helplessly. “You know, Song Yan can’t speak. I’m afraid if she goes to a private academy, she’ll be bullied.”

In truth, over the past two years, Song Ye had been teaching Song Yan to recognize and write characters. Since she couldn’t speak, mastering reading and writing was especially crucial for her. Fortunately, Song Yan was exceptionally intelligent and eager to learn, picking up lessons very quickly. Perhaps because she was aware of her own innate limitations, she willingly put in more effort than other children her age.

Now, she could communicate simply with others through writing without much difficulty.

Of course, Song Ye had considered sending her to a private academy. In the current world, an eight-year-old would typically be in their third year of elementary school. However, neither Yong’an Ward nor Xuanyang Ward had private academies. Other wards did, but Song Ye himself could not go there, nor could he escort Song Yan to and from school. If she were bullied, he would have no way of knowing. Since she couldn’t speak, any grievances she faced outside would likely be swallowed in silence.

Moreover, ordinary private academies would not accept a mute student.

Taking all these factors into account, Song Ye refrained from sending Song Yan to school and taught her personally whenever he had time. In a few years, when Song Yan turned thirteen and Zhang Zixuan had passed the Immortal Master Trial, he would feel confident entrusting Song Yan to her care.

After a while, Zhao Zhigao returned, carrying two roast ducks from Chen’s Roast Duck Shop. Seeing Zhang Zixuan in his courtyard, he smiled and said, “Zhang Zixuan, your nose is truly sharp—you smelled the roast duck and came running.”

Zhang Zixuan smiled back. “I won’t be eating the roast duck today. My master instructed me to fast for ten days after coming out of seclusion. After the ten days, I’ll come over to your place for a meal.”

“Sure, you’re welcome anytime,” Zhao Zhigao laughed.

“Well then, I’ll head back to Xuanqing Palace first.”

Zhang Zixuan’s visit today was simply to check on Song Yan and to show some concern for Song Ye. She believed that Song Ye must have suffered greatly when his fiancée suddenly vanished without a trace on their wedding day and had been missing for three years. At such a time, he needed friends to care for him.

…

In the northern region, Dan City,

The sun was setting.

From the city tower of Dan City, looking northward, one could see the camp of the Yan Kingdom’s army. Since Li Xiuling had personally come to guard Dan City, the Yan Kingdom’s cavalry no longer dared to raid the city’s inhabitants recklessly.

At this moment, Li Xiuling sat alone on the city tower, cross-legged, feeling the spiritual energy of heaven and earth as she meditated and cultivated.

For the past three years, she felt as if she had prematurely hit a bottleneck in her cultivation. She had been stuck at the ninth level of the Void-breaking Realm for a long time without breaking through.

Originally, breaking through this final sublevel would elevate her cultivation to the Undying Realm, granting her the qualification to participate in the Immortal Lord Trial on Mount Shang Xuanji.

She had tried many elixirs and different meditation techniques, but her cultivation remained stagnant.

Could it be that this so-called greatest immortal cultivation prodigy of the age was destined to be stuck at the ninth level of the Void-breaking Realm forever?

Just as Li Xiuling was troubled by her cultivation, a general hurried up the city tower.

“Princess, a secret letter has arrived from the Luocheng Imperial Palace. Please open it yourself,” the general said, handing over the letter.

Li Xiuling opened the letter, and her expression immediately turned grave. The letter then crumbled into dust in her hands.

“Yang Feng,” Li Xiuling said to the general, “I have urgent matters and must return to Luocheng at once. I entrust Dan City to you!”

Having said that, she rose with the wind and flew southward.

The letter was personally written by her emperor brother, Li Qianshi. It stated that Consort Wei had colluded with the Wei clan to rebel and seize the palace, and now they had placed the emperor under house arrest.

This letter had barely been smuggled out of the palace.

Though Li Xiuling’s three-year border duty had ended, she was not allowed to enter the capital without imperial decree. But upon learning of her brother’s plight, she could not hesitate and had to rush back to Luocheng to support the throne and purge the treacherous faction.

…

In the present world, Hailan Star,

“My brother has been missing for at least five days. Can you send someone to look for him? At least file a missing person’s report,” Song Yao pleaded to an officer from the Law Enforcement Bureau.

The officer stopped and finally turned back to ask, “How old is your brother?”

“Twenty-two,” Song Yao replied.

“What does he do for a living?”

“He’s unemployed. He just graduated from college.”

“In that case, your brother is probably holed up in some internet cafe. Unable to find a job, feeling ashamed, he’s deliberately avoiding you. You should check the internet cafes or ask his friends.”

“Could you at least file a missing person’s report for my brother?” Song Yao said helplessly.

“We can. You’ll need to fill out the forms first.”

After leaving the bureau, Song Yao’s heart still felt empty.

She and her brother had depended on each other for many years. If he wasn’t found or something happened to him, she would be utterly alone in this world.

When Song Ye obtained the login qualification for the game "Xuan Ying Continent," he hadn’t told Song Yao, planning to surprise her upon his return from the game.

Therefore, Song Yao did not connect her brother’s disappearance with the game.

Besides, how could she imagine that all the players had logged out of Xuan Ying Continent except her brother, who remained trapped inside?

Still, Song Yao followed the game closely, browsing its official website from time to time.

Last time, unfortunately, she didn’t qualify to become one of the first players to log into the Xuan Ying world.

Fortunately, when the first batch of players logged in, a malfunction forced everyone offline immediately.

So as long as she obtained the second batch of login qualifications, there would be no combat power gap between her and those original players.

Back at home, Song Yao opened the official website of Xuan Ying Continent as usual.

At that moment, she saw a thrilling new announcement:

“In twelve days, a small-scale login test will open, with limited spots. Players must requalify to participate.”

“The system will select thirty-two players from all applicants for this test.”

“During this test, the thirty-two players can stay in Xuan Ying Continent for a maximum of three months. If a player dies once inside, they will be forcibly logged out early. After three months, all participants will be logged out.”

Perhaps because the first login attempt involved over three million players, causing severe rejection by the Xuan Ying world, all players except Song Ye were ultimately forced offline.

Thus, this time, the system planned to conduct a small-scale login test to gauge the world’s reaction first.