"Hey, Meng, where are you?" Xia Bu asked calmly, his expression unchanged.
"Bu, I was just about to come find you. I didn't expect you to beat me to it." Jia Meng's voice rang out, then he hurried over.
"Find me? What's going on?"
Xia Bu looked puzzled. He rose slowly, sensing that something was wrong.
Nearby, Wu Simu was already as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. He waved his arms and stamped his feet, making all sorts of frantic gestures as he chattered nonstop.
He seemed to be saying that something had happened to Jia Ruo, and that they needed to hurry over there. Jia Meng was with her.
Xia Bu's expression turned grave. He exchanged a glance with Wu Simu, his eyes fixed and piercing, as if to show that he understood.
"Ah? I thought you were looking for me about the same thing."
"The same thing?" Xia Bu's voice rose with surprise.
"Jia Ruo seems to be in trouble."
Jia Meng's words struck like a bolt of lightning. Xia Bu and Wu Simu stiffened at the same time, their eyes widening in disbelief. They both stared at him, voices rising in unison.
"What?!"
"Ruo is in trouble too?"
Jia Meng glanced down at Wu Simu, who was much shorter than him.
"He's not important right now. Tell me what happened to Jia Ruo first."
Xia Bu's expression grew even more serious, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning slightly white with the force.
"I don't know exactly what happened either," Jia Meng said.
He had been in the research base beneath their hideout, completely absorbed in studying the Soul Force barriers.
Suddenly, a message made of Soul Force had returned to his mind.
To his surprise,