Muto Masao, called by Ye Ling, snapped back from his shock and quickly nodded at Ye Ling, "I, I'll lead the way, Emperor, follow me!"
Having witnessed what happened at the Dragon Division's base, Muto Masao's worldview was completely shattered. His reverence and awe for Ye Ling reached an unprecedented peak, and he dared not question Ye Ling's words in the slightest.
After asking Muto Masao to lead, Ye Ling also instructed Qi Zhuyue, "You stay in the base and help Wang Liren. Contact me if anything comes up."
Qi Zhuyue nodded obediently, "Mhm..."
Having resolved her inner conflict, Qi Zhuyue trusted Ye Ling even more, treating Ye Ling as her only family in this world and deciding to follow him wholeheartedly.
Ye Ling hadn't expected to change the attitudes of two people towards him so easily. He didn't think much of it and, after arranging their tasks, followed Muto Masao to find Ghost Hand Jack's safe house.
However, Ye Ling remained cautious, planting his mark on both Qi Zhuyue and Wang Liren to prevent any unforeseen incidents.
After all, according to Muto Masao, the members of Gao Tian Yuan arranged to attack the Dragon Division this time included two other members who had not shown themselves, besides Muto Masao and Ghost Hand Jack.
Given Ghost Hand Jack's modus operandi, it was possible that the other two members might make a move when the Dragon Division retreated.
If the other two dared to attack, with the marks on Qi Zhuyue and Wang Liren, Ye Ling would be able to react immediately and apprehend those two.
With all preparations made, Ye Ling focused his attention entirely on searching for Ghost Hand Jack.
Muto Masao led Ye Ling to a skyscraper and respectfully said, "Emperor, Ghost Hand Jack has an apartment in this building. That apartment is one of his safe houses in Dongdu..."
As he spoke, Muto Masao was about to lead Ye Ling into the building, but Ye Ling scanned the building with his divine sense and quickly said, "Let's go somewhere else. There isn't a single extraordinary person in this building. He's not here."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Muto Masao froze and opened his mouth.
He didn't understand how Ye Ling knew Ghost Hand Jack wasn't there without even entering, but since it was Ye Ling who said it, Muto Masao dared not question it and could only nod, "I know a few more of Ghost Hand Jack's safe houses. I'll take you there now."
Muto Masao led Ye Ling through the skyscrapers of Dongdu, but after visiting several safe houses, Ye Ling had Muto Masao leave before even entering.
Upon reaching the building where the last safe house was located, Muto Masao was somewhat helpless. He looked at Ye Ling and said with a wry smile, "Emperor, this is the last safe house of Ghost Hand Jack that I know of. If he's not here, I really can't do anything else..."
"Perhaps... we should go in and take a look?"
Ye Ling scanned the building in front of him with his divine sense and was about to shake his head in refusal, but then he paused.
As if discovering something interesting, Ye Ling smiled and said, "Alright, take me in."
Seeing that Ye Ling had finally not refused, Muto Masao secretly breathed a sigh of relief and immediately perked up, "I'll take you in now!"
Ghost Hand Jack's last safe house was located in a circular old building from the 1990s. Each floor had multiple residences, and there was a circular flower bed in the center of the building.
As Ye Ling walked into the building, a smell of decaying wood wafted towards him.
Ye Ling scanned his surroundings, a slight smile on his lips, "This place is interesting..."
After scanning the building with his divine sense earlier, Ye Ling hadn't found any trace of Ghost Hand Jack, but he had discovered something else interesting in this building.
The secret hidden here had piqued Ye Ling's interest.
Ye Ling discovered that in one of the apartments in this building, there was a barrier carved with blood. Four candles were placed around the room, seemingly for a ritual.
As Ye Ling and Muto Masao entered the building, an iron gate dropped behind them, sealing the entire building. The two of them were locked inside.
"What is this?"
Muto Masao's expression changed slightly as he saw the building being sealed. He was about to strike and break through the falling iron gate, but Ye Ling said, "Don't worry about that, take me to the safe house."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Muto Masao froze. Although he didn't understand, he still retracted his hand, turned around, and walked into the building.
Ye Ling glanced at the closed door behind them, then at the surveillance cameras in the building, and muttered to himself, "If what's happening here has nothing to do with Ghost Hand Jack, then things will get interesting."
Muto Masao's mind was filled with questions, but he didn't dare to ask Ye Ling, so he could only lower his head and lead the way.
After entering the building, Muto Masao felt an inexplicable sense of oppression. He even felt that the flow of spiritual energy within him had become sluggish.
In this place, his eighth-rank cultivation could only exert the strength of a sixth-rank at most!
In such a bizarre environment, Muto Masao constantly wished to escape. If Ye Ling wasn't behind him, he would have already fled desperately!
This building felt wrong in every way.
With a heart full of apprehension, Muto Masao led Ye Ling to a stop outside an apartment door and said to Ye Ling, "Emperor, this is it."
Ye Ling looked at the tightly shut iron door in front of him, his brow furrowed, and he murmured, "That's not right... Is it really unrelated to him?"
Muto Masao was startled, "Wh-where is it not right?"
Ye Ling merely shook his head at Muto Masao's question, not offering any explanation, and directly opened the door.
Upon entering the apartment, Ye Ling saw walls covered with weapons, both cold weapons and firearms. On the other side were stored large quantities of food and medicine. The room even had scrolls for a barrier that shielded one's aura to prevent tracking.
Although this place clearly looked like a safe house for extraordinary individuals in the circle, it was not the strange room Ye Ling had scanned with his divine sense earlier.
In other words, something happening in this building might not have been caused by Ghost Hand Jack.
They were now intruding into someone else's territory.
Muto Masao was unaware of Ye Ling's thoughts. He entered the room and searched around. After finding no trace of Ghost Hand Jack, he apologized to Ye Ling, "I'm very sorry, Emperor... I wasn't useful at all and wasted your time."
"Although we didn't find Ghost Hand Jack this time, he will definitely participate in the ritual held by Izanagi. When the time comes, Emperor, you'll be able to catch him!"
"Emperor, let's leave here."
Ye Ling, however, said, "Since we're already here, why not join the fun when something interesting happens?"
Muto Masao was stunned again, "Join the fun?"
Ye Ling walked out of this safe house, looked at an apartment in the corridor opposite the building, and smiled, "Something quite interesting is happening in this building."
"And the two of us... have become someone else's prey."
Muto Masao's eyes changed slightly, and he exclaimed, "We are... prey?"
Upon hearing Ye Ling's words, Muto Masao's first reaction was not fear, but amusement.
After everything he had experienced, he couldn't imagine who would be so audacious as to dare hunt the Emperor?
Wasn't that courting death?