Chapter 26

"

"It's a ruin..." Fields murmured.

After the locusts blotting out the sky came to an end, Axon Town returned to its former peace. Every household was cleaning up the surroundings, and the Yi Family also sent people to help the townsfolk. Only after Yi Tianxing heard Elder Yi Xi's report, his already dignified face turned even graver.

"Yi Xi, you said the land near the Pise River has been contaminated by toxins? What exactly is going on?" Yi Tianxing was sitting with his wife in the manor's pavilion. After hearing Yi Xi's report, he asked with a stern expression.

Yi Xi rubbed his fingers together. Although Yi Tianxing was his cousin, as the head of the Yi Family, he had always been unsmiling and strict. Even his two precious sons, Yi Jun'en and Yi Junze, did not dare breathe too loudly in front of him, let alone other people with even more distant ties.

"Tianxing, look at you. Why are you being so serious when talking to your cousin? It's not as if he poisoned the Pise River." The wife beside Yi Tianxing spoke gently.

"Oh, Yi Xi, don't take it to heart. I wasn't targeting you. It's just that this problem is too serious, and I want to know the details clearly." Hearing his wife's advice, Yi Tianxing readily accepted it and explained to Yi Xi.

"Yes, Clan Head." Yi Xi wiped the sweat from his forehead. Although the weather was clear now and a cool breeze was blowing, Yi Xi still felt nervous beside Yi Tianxing.

Yi Xi said, "I was originally directing the cleanup in town. Seeing that there were people helping everywhere in town, I walked out to the bridge leading outside. From the bridge, I saw that the Pise River's water had turned black and was giving off waves of foul stench, so I called out Tapulake and Yarachi."

Yi Tianxing and his wife exchanged a glance. For Yi Xi to summon both his Earth Elemental Spirit and his contracted creature in one breath, the situation was clearly more serious than they had imagined.

Yi Tianxing then asked, "And then?"

"I had Yarachi dive underground to confirm whether the soil had been contaminated." Yi Xi spoke to the clan head. Seeing that he had been standing the whole time, Yi Tianxing signaled for Yi Xi to sit as well. Yi Xi did as told and sat opposite the clan head.

"Elder, you've worked hard too. Have a cup of Blue Fruit Wine first." Madam filled a cup with chilled fruit wine and handed it to Yi Xi.

"Yi Xi, this Blue Fruit Wine was brewed by Cuitisi herself. I usually don't get many chances to drink it either. Have a taste," Yi Tianxing said with a smile.

"All right." Yi Xi raised the wine cup and took a small sip. He felt that the wine itself was not strong, but what was rare was that after it entered his throat, multiple fruity aromas repeatedly danced on the tip of his tongue, leaving an endless aftertaste.

"Delicious. Sister-in-law's skill is truly extraordinary." Yi Xi gently set down the wine cup and smacked his lips. Although fruit wine did not quite suit a man's nature, occasionally trying a different flavor felt rather refreshing.

"Right, Yi Xi, you said after Yarachi dove underground, what did it discover?" Yi Tianxing was still concerned about the toxic contamination and quickly pulled the topic back again.

"Yarachi circled around beneath the ground around the Pise River. He discovered that the toxins had already spread to a depth of ten feet underground," Yi Xi said.

"What about the Earth Spirit Tapulake?" Cuitisi asked.

"I had Tapulake dig out the locust and Poison Frog corpses from the riverbed. He dug for a long time but only saw locusts, not a single Poison Frog, and..." At this point, Yi Xi paused.

"Mm, no Poison Frogs?" Yi Tianxing's brows furrowed, and the wine cup he had been holding was slowly set down on the table.

"Yes. There was absolutely no sign of the Poison Frogs. And later on, even Tapulake couldn't withstand the corrosion of the toxins and turned into clumps of earth," Yi Xi reported truthfully.

"...To think the Poison Frogs' toxicity is actually so fierce that even the most stable earth elemental energy couldn't withstand it, and it spread ten feet underground along with the rainwater." Yi Tianxing pondered. After a moment, he said again, "Since there are toxins underground as well, Axon Town's own water sources are all in danger. Yi Xi, pass down the order. Residents are not to use water from the Pise River or groundwater. We must request aid from the neighboring noble territory."

"Yes, yes, how did I not think of that? Since the underground has already been contaminated, then the groundwater definitely can't be drunk. I'll go convey the order right away." Yi Xi stood up and drained the remaining wine in his cup in one gulp.

Watching Yi Xi hurriedly leave again, the Yi Family's mistress, Cuitisi Lisiqi, said to her husband, "Tianxing, I never expected that after all this time, there would still be someone who knew the old ancestor's summoning art."

Yi Tianxing sighed and said, "Cui, you saw it too. Although the Trajectory Summoning Art is very powerful, it often brings serious consequences. That is also why our ancestors did not pass down the guardian deity. In my view, that summoner does not know what he will bring—"

"What kind of disaster will Axon Town bring? The most urgent thing right now is for us to find him quickly, then think of a countermeasure." Yi Tianxing looked toward the mountaintop of Saguli Academy, worry on his face.

Is that summoner someone from our Yang Family? Yi Tianxing thought involuntarily.

After more than a month of study, the school finally let out for vacation on the very night the accident happened. Lin Hanxuan, Hal, and their new companion Shafu sat together on Thunder Eagle Dahei's back, following Grandpa Fields back to Dead City. At first, Dahei would rather die than let Hal sit on him, only indicating that he could carry Hal in his beak and fly the whole way. Lin Hanxuan pleaded every which way, and in the end it was Fields who bought Hal an economy-class ticket with five jin of chicken—sitting at the spot closest to the thunder eagle's tail—and only then did the four people and one bird finally...