The Black Banner, Old Mo Appears!

The moment Jiao Yu smiled, Wei Xuanfeng and the other two immediately tensed up.

"B-Boss..." Wei Xuanfeng said with an awkward laugh. "Y-you... why are you here...?"

"Why am I here?" Jiao Yu braced herself on her saber and stood up. Raising a hand, she wiped the muddy water from her face, then looked at the three with a smile that wasn't quite a smile. "I ran with that jade box for half an hour. When I looked back—well, what a sight. Not a single wolf had followed me. At first, I thought my lightness skill was so incredible that I'd shaken those beasts clean off."

"And then?" Fox Murong asked, blinking.

"And then?" Jiao Yu shot her a glare. "The more I thought about it, the more wrong it felt. If that jade box really carried the aura of the Earth Immortal Spring Lotus, those wolf demons couldn't possibly have left it alone. I opened the box and—would you look at that? There was nothing inside!!"

As she said this, her gaze scraped across Wei Xuanfeng's face like a blade.

Wei Xuanfeng rubbed his nose and looked up at the sky.

"O-originally... it was just a piece of dried mushroom..."

"Very nice, Wei Xuanfeng." Jiao Yu walked up to him step by step. Half a head taller than him, she stared down at him from above, her tone sounding as though she were grinding her teeth. "So you even dared to deceive your boss now, huh?"

"Boss, I was—"

"You did it so I could leave first, didn't you?"

Wei Xuanfeng froze.

Without waiting for his answer, Jiao Yu punched him on the shoulder.

She turned around and swept her eyes over Fox Murong and Wen Shihan one by one, her tone suddenly softening.

"You three little brats who don't know the height of heaven or the depth of earth—who told you to hold the line for me?"

"Boss, weren't we just..." Fox Murong grinned.

"Just what?" Jiao Yu cut her off, her voice catching slightly. "If you died, how the hell would I live the rest of my life in carefree style?"

Seeing Jiao Yu's reddened eyes, Fox Murong hurried over and wrapped an arm around hers.

"Boss, aren't we alive and kicking? Besides, Old Wei's dried-mushroom trick really worked. Those wolf demons chased us all the way, and in the end, Shihan's hammer knocked every last one of them flat. Right, Shihan?"

Wen Shihan fell silent for a moment, then nodded.

"Besides, if it hadn't happened this way, we wouldn't have found Sister Embroidery or gotten the real Earth Immortal Spring Lotus, would we?" Fox Murong added.

At the mention of Embroidery, the smile on Jiao Yu's face faded a little.

She said nothing, merely tilting her head to glance at the jade box in Wei Xuanfeng's arms. She was silent for a breath.

Wei Xuanfeng knew he could not hide it any longer. His smile vanished, and his expression turned solemn.

"Boss, Embroidery is dead."

Jiao Yu's shoulders twitched faintly, but she did not speak.

"The villagers of Chen Family Village and the saber guards are all dead," Wei Xuanfeng continued. "Seven Killings' whereabouts are unknown. His body wasn't among the corpses."

Jiao Yu took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her gaze had regained its clarity.

"Let's go. We'll return to the Northern Pacification Bureau and call for reinforcements first. This is too big for the four of us to shoulder."

Just as the four turned to leave, a voice suddenly sounded behind them.

"Wait."

A figure stepped out of the shadows.

The man wore the flying-fish uniform of a Hundred-Household Officer. Neither tall nor short, he walked with an unhurried gait.

As he stepped into the morning light, he revealed a face of about thirty-five or thirty-six, with well-proportioned features and an old saber scar across his cheekbone...

It did not make him look fierce. Instead, it gave him a little more of the warmth of ordinary life.

"Duan Hai?" Jiao Yu was taken aback at first, then revealed a delighted expression. "Why are you here?"

Wei Xuanfeng recognized him as well.

Duan Hai had spent more than ten years in the Northern Pacification Bureau. He was one of Wu Santong's seasoned old hands, at the peak of the Martial Master realm, and his swift saber was nothing short of miraculous.

Wei Xuanfeng had shared drinks with him a few times. The man had a loud voice and an even louder laugh, the sunny-uncle type who could set the whole table buzzing the instant he sat down at a drinking feast.

Especially his wife and daughter—they were truly stunning.

Duan Hai strode over, his gaze sweeping over the four. Only after confirming that none of them was seriously injured did he speak.

"Boss Wu was worried, so he sent me to provide support. We must bring the Earth Immortal Spring Lotus back."

Jiao Yu nodded, without the slightest suspicion.

Duan Hai was one of the fastest lightness-skill practitioners in the Northern Pacification Bureau. It was perfectly reasonable for Wu Santong to send him as support.

Jiao Yu quickly gave him a brief account of Embroidery falling off the cliff, the villagers and saber guards being wiped out, and Seven Killings' disappearance.

After hearing it, Duan Hai's brows knotted together. He remained silent for a long time before speaking.

"Beauty Jiao, it's not that I doubt you, but I truly can't believe Embroidery would make a decision that sent you to your death."

"I have no reason to lie." Jiao Yu's tone hardened somewhat. "After we return, I'll report everything truthfully to Boss Wu."

At the mention of Wu Santong's name, Jiao Yu's lips unconsciously tightened, and an exceedingly faint trace of resentment flashed through her eyes.

In her view, the decision to send the four of them to their deaths had been made jointly by Wu Santong and Embroidery.

Now that Embroidery was dead, a dead person's debts were wiped clean—but Jiao Yu had no intention of settling Wu Santong's account just yet.

Duan Hai sensed her mood and let out a soft sigh.

"Beauty Jiao, you've suffered an injustice. I... I don't really know what to say. I only hope you won't blame Boss Wu."

"Forget it." Jiao Yu waved a hand. "We'll talk when we get back."

Before she had even finished speaking, a burst of urgent wolf howls came from the forest behind them, drawing nearer from afar. Clearly, the wolf pack they had shaken off had caught up again.

"Move!" Jiao Yu called, and all five of them set off at once.

After passing through a stretch of dense woods, Duan Hai was noticeably faster than the others.

Running at the very front, he glanced back and frowned.

"This won't do. You're too slow. Give me the Earth Immortal Spring Lotus. I'll take it back first, and you can make your way back slowly."

Jiao Yu did not hesitate.

She knew Duan Hai's lightness skill. Back then, when the two of them had chased a demon-wolf at the Demon General level outside the city, she had been gasping for breath after thirty li, while Duan Hai could have run another thirty.

"Xuanfeng, give Old Duan the jade box." She turned and tipped her chin at Wei Xuanfeng.

The corner of Wei Xuanfeng's mouth lifted slightly, the movement so subtle it seemed to say, "Just as expected."

He reached into his robes and took out the jade box, spun it once on his fingertips, then tossed it into the air.

"Lord Duan, thank you for your trouble," he said.

The jade box traced an arc through the air and landed steadily in Duan Hai's arms.

The instant Duan Hai caught it, a fleeting gleam flashed through his eyes...

That gleam vanished in an instant, like a ripple skimming across water, but Wei Xuanfeng caught it.

Duan Hai suddenly stopped.

"Old Duan, move?" Jiao Yu stopped as well and turned back with a frown.

Duan Hai did not move.

He stood there, weighing the jade box in his hand. The expression on his face abruptly shifted from that of a sunny uncle to something difficult to describe...

He was still smiling, but that smile had changed from "seeing a friend" to "spotting prey."

"Beauty Jiao," Duan Hai said, his voice neither loud nor soft, "I really have to thank you. Without the four of you, I truly wouldn't have completed the mission to seize the Earth Immortal Spring Lotus so smoothly."

Jiao Yu's smile froze on her face. "Old Duan, what do you mean?"

"What he means is..." a voice drifted unhurriedly from the shadows at their side, "the Earth Immortal Spring Lotus has finally fallen into the hands of our Black Banner."

A figure strolled out from the shadows of the trees.

The moment Wei Xuanfeng saw that face clearly, his pupils contracted sharply.

"Wei Zhaoting!" Wei Xuanfeng blurted out.

The man tilted his head slightly, his gaze falling on Wei Xuanfeng with an almost kindly warmth.

"Young friend, you called me wrong. This body was indeed called Wei Zhaoting in life, but I prefer that you call me... Black Banner Elder Mo."

"Black Banner dogs!"

At those words, Jiao Yu flew into a rage. She drew her Embroidered Spring saber, turning into a black shadow as she lunged at him.

Her blade flashed with chilling light, carrying the full force of a peak Martial Master strike straight at Elder Mo's face.

Clang!

Duan Hai's blade blocked it. Sparks flew half a foot high as the two blades collided, and Jiao Yu was knocked back two steps, her wrist going numb.

She stared at Duan Hai, the shock in her eyes turning into utter disbelief.

"Duan Hai!" Her voice trembled. "You're a fucking Black Banner dog? So many of our brothers died at Black Banner hands, and you actually became their dog!"

Duan Hai sheathed his blade. The smile on his face faded somewhat, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Beauty Jiao, some things, you..."

"A summer insect cannot be told of ice." Elder Mo raised a hand and cut him off, his tone placid. "Duan Hai, there is no need to waste your breath. The things they cannot understand will remain beyond them, no matter how much you explain."

Elder Mo took two steps forward and stood with his hands behind his back. His gaze swept across the four of them one by one before finally stopping on Wei Xuanfeng for an extra breath. Then he smiled.

"All of you are truly fortunate to witness the birth of a miracle together," he said. "But before you witness it, it would be better if the stage were a little quieter."

As his words fell, dense wolf howls rose from every direction. From the shadows of the forest emerged over a hundred pairs of emerald-green eyes, slowly closing in on the five of them and surrounding them in the center.

"Boss," Wei Xuanfeng said in a low voice, "that Elder Mo can communicate with demon wolves. Back at White Lotus Mountain, it was him..."

Elder Mo looked at them with a smile, then slowly raised his right hand.

"Young friend, rest assured. Compared to you, I would much rather have these beasts..." His hand suddenly dropped. "Buried here!"

A buzzing roar erupted from the depths of the forest.

A vast black mass surged out from the treetops like a tide, gathering in the morning light into a moving curtain...

Blackwater mosquitoes!!

Tens of thousands of Blackwater Mosquitoes swept over the wolf pack, blotting out the sky and sun, wrapping those green-eyed wolf demons inside like dumplings.

Wei Xuanfeng's pupils abruptly widened.

He watched the fur of the foremost wolf demon cave in at a speed visible to the naked eye...

Its skin shriveled and wrinkled, its eye sockets sank deep, and its limbs twitched twice before it collapsed limply to the ground like an emptied sack of rice.

The wolf demon's claws feebly grasped twice at the air, like the final strokes of a drowning man.

Then came the second, the third, the fourth...

The howls of over a hundred wolf demons turned from fury to fear, from fear to faint whimpers, until at last there was no sound at all.

In fewer than twenty breaths, more than a hundred wolf demons had all shriveled on the ground.

They did not even have the ability to flee!

Old Mo stood in the morning light with his hands behind his back. Looking at the dried corpses strewn across the ground, he let out a soft sigh.

"Alright, all the nuisances have been dealt with... Now..." He took the jade box Duan Hai handed him, and his expression suddenly turned manic. "Everyone, witness a miracle!"