It wasn't exactly a 'person.'
Chen Xiao returned to the villa at Haitianyipin and kicked the stone lion by the front door.
"Old Stone, get out here now!"
Seeing this, Gongsun Yi, who was following behind, was filled with questions.
"What's going on? Has Boss Chen gone crazy?"
Just as he hesitated whether to advise Chen Xiao, a wisp of green smoke actually emerged from the stone lion's forehead.
Immediately after, a stone lion spirit, over half a meter tall, appeared before him.
Gongsun Yi was stunned. He looked at the stone lion, then at Chen Xiao.
He thought to himself, "Boss Chen's world is truly beyond the understanding of normal people!"
Chen Xiao cut to the chase, "Old Stone, do you know what happened at home?"
The stone spirit's eyes widened, and it said sternly, "Of course I do! Chen Xiao, while you were away, a very powerful old Taoist came to our door and took all your family members. I was so scared!"
Chen Xiao, enraged, slapped the stone spirit. Although the blow passed through it, it still made the stone spirit tremble.
"Damn it, you knew someone was here to capture my family, and all you did was get scared? Couldn't you have stopped them?"
The stone spirit said timidly, "Chen Xiao, you didn't see how powerful that old Taoist was. He had already formed a Golden Core within himself. Even at my peak, I might not have been his match, let alone now."
"You're such a damn good-for-nothing!"
Chen Xiao, furious, kicked it again. This time, however, he kicked the stone lion itself, not the spirit, causing the stone spirit's form to sway.
"Stop hitting, stop hitting! I know I was wrong, alright?"
The stone spirit pleaded for mercy and then defended itself, "You can't blame me entirely. If you hadn't beaten me to less than a tenth of my peak strength, I wouldn't be so timid and cowardly. Don't you agree?"
"Besides, it's fortunate I hid well. If that old Taoist had found me, wouldn't you have no clues at all right now?"
Chen Xiao looked at the stone spirit coldly. What it said actually made sense, leaving him speechless.
Gongsun Yi, upon hearing this, was even more impressed with Chen Xiao, bowing down in admiration.
Even this strange, ghost-like creature was completely subdued by Chen Xiao. Was there anything in this world that he couldn't handle?
Gongsun Yi certainly couldn't think of anything.
"Fine, then you'd better give me some useful clues, or else..."
A fierce glint appeared in Chen Xiao's eyes, making the stone spirit tremble violently.
"I guarantee it'll be useful, I guarantee it! Your family was taken, and you must be eager to know where they were taken, right?"
Chen Xiao's spirits immediately lifted, and he asked, "Do you know where they were taken?"
The stone spirit shook its head, "I don't know."
Chen Xiao: "Are you fucking playing with me..."
"Don't hit, don't hit! Let me finish speaking!"
The stone spirit hugged its head and quickly said, "I don't know where that old Taoist took your family, because he never came out after entering your house!"
Gongsun Yi thought to himself, why is this stone spirit so verbose? If he went in and didn't come out, wouldn't it be enough to just say they were still inside?
At this moment, he heard the stone spirit continue, "However, I can confirm they are not inside the house, because I can't sense their aura at all anymore..."
Chen Xiao frowned. The situation seemed to be getting more complicated.
"Come with me! Let's go inside and take a look!"
Chen Xiao waved his hand, but no one followed.
He looked back. The stone spirit and Gongsun Yi pointed at each other and asked in unison, "Are you talking about him or me?"
Chen Xiao said expressionlessly, "I'm talking about both of you!"
The few of them entered the villa and, as the stone lion had said, it was empty.
Moreover, Chen Xiao discovered that there were no signs of a struggle inside the house, which meant that Xuanmingzi had subdued everyone without expending much effort.
It was one thing for his mother and Gu Yutong, but even Gu Zhendong was powerless to resist. It seemed Xuanmingzi indeed had some skill, worthy of being a Golden Core stage powerhouse.
But what was the use of a Golden Core stage powerhouse? He couldn't have vanished into thin air, nor could he have evaporated.
Therefore, they must still be in this villa.
Chen Xiao made a decisive move, "Let's go to the basement!"
This villa had two basement levels. The first basement level was a parking lot, and the second basement level was a shelter.
It was equipped with all sorts of facilities, including a bathroom, two bedrooms, and enough fresh water and food for over three months.
In addition, there was a media room and an arcade, all prepared for the shelter.
Of course, this wasn't prepared by Chen Xiao himself, but was part of the villa's original design.
Chen Xiao had never been here since he moved in. He only knew that there was such a space on the second basement level, and that was all.
He had asked Lin Jie about it before. Lin Jie had only said that the designer had designed it that way, and she didn't know the specific considerations behind the decision.
Chen Xiao, along with Gongsun Yi and the stone spirit, swept through the shelter on this level but still found no clues.
Chen Xiao sat on the ground, closed his eyes, and frowned.
Gongsun Yi advised, "Boss Chen, you don't need to be so upset. Perhaps there will be a turn of events..."
"Be quiet!"
Chen Xiao interrupted Gongsun Yi. Gongsun Yi then realized that Chen Xiao didn't seem to be upset, but rather sensing something.
Gongsun Yi followed suit and began to sense.
A moment later, Chen Xiao asked, "Did you feel anything?"
Gongsun Yi shook his head, "I didn't feel anything."
"I wasn't asking you!"
Chen Xiao frowned, then turned his gaze to the stone spirit.
The stone spirit swayed its large head, "The spiritual energy here is so dense! If I could cultivate here, I could return to my peak in less than half a year!"
Chen Xiao asked, "Don't you find anything unusual? The spiritual energy here is so dense, yet we can't feel it at all on the surface. Don't you think that's very strange?"
The stone spirit was slightly taken aback. That's right, it hadn't thought of that.
Logically speaking, this place was only about ten meters away from the surface. Even if the spiritual energy felt on the surface wasn't as dense as here, it shouldn't be too different.
It immediately realized that something must be wrong here.
"Let's split up and search!"
Chen Xiao gave the order and walked towards the corridor on the left.
The stone spirit turned to the right.
Only Gongsun Yi stood there, looking bewildered.
"Search for what? Can you two tell me what we're looking for?"
He was a top thirty expert on the Heavenly Ranking outside, but by Chen Xiao's side, he felt like a complete idiot, not understanding anything!