Shen Feng was somewhat surprised upon hearing this answer, as he could hardly believe his ears at the news that Yue Hengyi might still be alive.
"What? Yue Hengyi might still be alive?" Shen Feng asked, full of doubt.
Shayaka nodded seriously and said, "That's right. I've inquired. Years ago, their father and son captured a giant owl, and this owl is very likely the culprit that took Yue Hengyi."
Shen Feng had heard of this. Shayaka had often searched for Yue Hengyi in the Taihang Mountains back then. He hadn't expected that after six years, Shayaka was still looking. However, Shayaka's current attitude was not one of asking others, so Shen Feng quickly said, "Regardless, hurry up and let the person down. If you have something to ask, just speak properly."
Shayaka reluctantly let Xue Li down while explaining, "It's not that I don't ask properly, but as soon as I appear, these two try to escape. I had no choice but to grab one person and hang them up. Since Lord Shen Fuyao has spoken, I can only comply."
Afterward, Xue Li was placed on the ground. Xue Wenming also rushed over and said, "Dad, Lord Fengshen is here now. He will definitely help us get justice."
Shen Feng quickly explained, "This uncle, I can guarantee she is not the demoness Qin Kewei. They just look alike. If you know anything about Yue Hengyi, please tell us. I promise you will be fine. I still have some wine and meat here. If you don't mind, you can accept it."
Shen Feng's approach now was much more appropriate. First, he clarified the misunderstanding, then offered wine and meat. Even though the other party had a relatively high status, he was willing to lower himself to speak. At this point, others couldn't say much.
Xue Li waved his hand and said, "It's nothing. I was just hung up, it's not a big deal. It's just that this young lady should be calmer in the future and not tie people up so casually. Feel free to ask whatever you want. As long as it's something my son and I know, we will definitely tell you."
Shayaka quickly asked, "I've been inquiring about Yue Hengyi's whereabouts for the past few years, the most important piece of information being the trace of the owl that captured Yue Hengyi back then. Coincidentally, I heard that you father and son sold a giant owl in the market six years ago, and you also said that you encountered an owl that captured someone. Where did this incident happen?"
Six years had passed, but even now, Shayaka could not forget what had happened. When she had taken the weak Yue Hengyi out of Yanjing, she thought she could be with him forever. However, she had only gone to kill a scumbag, and when she turned back, Yue Hengyi had disappeared. A night owl had carried away the extremely weak Yue Hengyi. She desperately tried to chase after it, but her skills were insufficient, and she couldn't catch up.
Only now had Shayaka finally found Yue Hengyi's trace, and of course, she couldn't let it go easily. She had to find Yue Hengyi.
Xue Li had to honestly say, "If we talk about six years ago, our father and son did indeed hunt a large bird, which seemed to be an owl. Here's what happened: my son and I have always depended on each other and made a living by hunting. Six years ago, there was a large outbreak of mutated birds. We live in the Taihang Mountains, so we went out hunting at that time. Just then, a black shadow flew over our heads. I raised my hand and fired a shot, and I felt I had hit it, but the owl was still flying. We had to chase after it. Capturing this prey would be enough for us to live for several months."
"And after you chased it? What did you find later?" Shayaka quickly asked.
Xue Wenming replied, "Later, as we were chasing it, we encountered a bad woman. This woman must be very bad because she was destroying evidence, holding bloody clothes in her hands. We had to choose to take a detour. Later, we found out that this woman was actually the madam of Guanyin Mountain Village. It is said that she is a ruthless killer. Fortunately, we were smart and went around, otherwise, we might have been eaten by now."
"We want to know what happened after you found the owl. We don't want to know if you encountered danger," Li Shanyun, who was beside them, couldn't help but say.
Xue Li quickly continued, "We chased for three days and finally found the one that escaped. Then we killed this owl, but we didn't find anyone. We can swear to heaven that if we are lying about this matter, may our tongues rot."
Shen Feng looked at Shayaka and asked, "Do you have anything else you want to ask now?"
Shayaka was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "I still want to go to the place where they found the owl. I won't give up until I see Lord Yue Hengyi's corpse with my own eyes."
Shen Feng thought to himself, "So much time has passed. Even if there were a corpse, it would have been mostly eaten by birds and beasts. It wouldn't be easy to find a corpse."
However, Shen Feng did not stop her and chose to follow her. His subordinates were drunk and unable to fly for a while. It was important to see what had happened back then. Coincidentally, Yue Hengyi's parents were still in Yuzhou, and it was right to tell them the truth.
Afterward, the group set off towards the Taihang Mountains. It took them two days to finally reach the place where the owl had been killed. Then, everyone began to search for clues. This was a barren area, full of碎石 (suì shí - gravel/rubble), and it was not easy to get here, requiring passage through many dangerous places.
"This is where the owl was found before. At that time, I shot through its wing with one shot. I didn't expect it to fly over more than ten mountains. We chased for a long time before we came here. By the way, if you go east, you will encounter Guanyin Mountain Village. In short, the people there are quite fierce, so it's fine if you don't go there," Xue Li said seriously at this time.
Upon hearing this, Shen Feng became interested in Guanyin Mountain Village, wondering what kind of people would establish themselves as kings in the mountains.
The group then began searching on this barren land for Yue Hengyi's remains. They thought it would be difficult to find, but perhaps because there were no trees and it was difficult for ordinary people to reach, this barren land had become a feeding ground for many birds. As the group casually searched, they found many white bones.
"There are too many bones. If this continues, we'll have to find the bones of rabbits and wild dogs too," someone immediately voiced their opinion about the current search.
Shen Feng also shook his head helplessly and said, "Shayaka, we can't waste time here now. We should return to Yuzhou. Wasting time here has yielded no results."
Shayaka thought carefully and suddenly asked Shen Feng, "Lord Shen Fuyao, I heard that Lord Yue Hengyi's parents are in Yuzhou. If I find suitable human bones here, I want to have them identified to confirm whether Lord Yue Hengyi is truly dead."
"You'd better think this through, because there are countless bones in this barren land, and there are certainly many human bones. If you want to find them all, it will probably take a very long time," Shen Feng said seriously.
However, Shayaka did not want to listen to Shen Feng's advice at this time and stubbornly said, "No matter how long it takes, I will find all the human bones here and send them for identification. In short, I will not give up until the results are out."
Shen Feng was very helpless. Since the other party had made up her mind, he thought carefully and then said to his subordinates, "In that case, we can't stay any longer. Prepare to take off."
Shen Feng had already stated his approximate date of return home, so he couldn't stay outside any longer and had to return to Yuzhou quickly. As for finding all the human bones in this barren land, the workload was too great, and almost no one could persist.
Shen Feng actually hoped that Yue Hengyi was still alive, but such things could not be achieved by hope alone. So many years had passed. If he were still alive, he would have stepped forward and would not have let others search for him for so long. Therefore, Shen Feng believed that Yue Hengyi was dead.
Next, Shen Feng bid farewell to Shayaka and, with his subordinates, set off for Yuzhou amidst the strong winds.
Two days later, Shen Feng and his men finally returned to Yuzhou. When they landed on the square, the surrounding crowd was in an uproar. Many people had heard about Shen Feng's achievements outside. They knew that Shen Feng's battle on the Siberian Plateau had destroyed the foundation of the mutated birds, and from then on, the chaos caused by mutated birds would no longer continue.
"Fengshen..." the crowd on the square cheered Shen Feng's nickname, clearly very happy about his return.
A long time ago, when Shen Feng heard the cheers of the surrounding crowd, he was not yet accustomed to it. But now, Shen Feng was used to the cheers of others. He calmly waved to the crowd and then flew towards the direction of Fengshen Palace.
Shen Feng could go home at this time, but Wei Xinglong and Li Shanyun would be busy. They had left with over a thousand people, and now they returned with only over three hundred. The casualties were too heavy, and the Feiyu Army still needed to handle the aftermath. These fallen people needed to be comforted by their families.
Many elderly people found Wei Xinglong and Li Shanyun and asked them pleadingly, "Where is my son? Didn't he go out with you? Why didn't he come back?"
Wei Xinglong and Li Shanyun had to patiently explain, "The battlefield was too dangerous during the battle, and we couldn't guarantee that everyone would return alive. However, those who died were heroic sacrifices."
Unfortunately, such an answer was clearly unacceptable to many. Many elderly people fainted on the spot upon hearing that their sons had died on the battlefield. Some were overjoyed to see their husbands return, but more had died outside.
"Hurry up and take care of the fainted elderly people and send them to the hospital immediately," Wei Xinglong and Li Shanyun quickly instructed the surrounding crowd. It would be bad if the families of the martyrs also died from excessive grief.
At this point, Wei Xinglong and Li Shanyun finally understood why Shen Feng had left immediately. It turned out that he had already seen this and didn't want to be entangled by the crowd, so he left early. This left Wei Xinglong and Li Shanyun to bear the brunt of it.
"The success of one general is built on the bones of ten thousand soldiers. Shen Feng's behavior is excessive. He uses the lives of others to achieve his own fame," someone on the square began to comment. Countless people had died, but ultimately all the fame fell to Shen Feng. No one remembered the names of these fallen people.
"Shut up quickly. Are you tired of living? How dare you speak ill of the City Lord? If someone overhears you, you'll be dead!" someone nearby immediately began to warn.