Storm on the Horizon

Spirit Pagoda East Sea Branch, Tower Master's Office.

Night seeped in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, draping the entire city in a veil of dark blue. In the distance, soul-guided streetlights formed ribbons of light that crisscrossed like a glowing net spread over the urban district. Ye Guojie stood before the window, fingers wrapped around a cup of tea that had long since gone cold, fine droplets of condensation beading on the glass.

There came three knocks on the door, quick and urgent.

"Come in."

A man in black pushed the door open and dropped to one knee on the floor, his voice trembling. "Reporting to the Tower Master, everyone we sent out has lost contact. Not a single one returned. I suspect..."

The teacup in Ye Guojie's hand struck the windowsill with a sharp clink.

"Suspect what?" He turned around, his gaze bearing down on the man. "What kind of powerhouse could possibly stop you in a place like East Sea? Two mech designers with no cultivation, plus a little girl only a few years old, and among the people you sent was even a Soul Douluo—" His voice rose higher and higher until the final words were nearly a roar. "A Soul Douluo! Eight rings! And you still couldn't bring back two ordinary people?"

The man in black lowered his head further, his forehead nearly touching the floor. "Tower Master, there may have been a powerhouse backing them. As for their exact origins... all our people lost contact before they could send back any information."

"Get out." Ye Guojie kicked him in the shoulder. The man in black rolled half a turn from the blow, then hurriedly crawled back into a kneeling position. "Go tell the Holy Spirit Cult that their people failed. That eight-ring Soul Douluo was sent by them. Let them weigh the consequences themselves."

"Yes... yes, I'll go at once."

The man in black scrambled out. Once the door shut, the office fell silent again. Ye Guojie stood by the window, watching the dense spread of soul-guided lights outside stretch from beneath his feet to the distant horizon, like countless eyes staring at him.

His fingers tightened around the teacup. If anyone discovered that a search party dispatched under the Spirit Pagoda's name had targeted civilians, headquarters would be the first to make him pay.

"Tower Master Ye, you certainly have quite a temper."

A glaring streak of red appeared in the corner of the office without warning.

The red seeped out of the air, slowly spreading like blood dropped into clear water, thick with a nauseating stench. Its outline went from blurred to distinct, finally taking the form of a petite figure—a young female evil soul master wrapped in a blood-colored robe. The hem dragged across the floor, its edges still dripping viscous red liquid. In her hand, she toyed with a skull the size of her palm, her fingers rubbing back and forth across its crown with faint cracking sounds.

She tilted her head, her smile especially glaring in the dim light. "Tower Master Ye, if word of this gets out, it'll be very bad for you."

Ye Guojie clenched his fists beneath the desk. Of course he knew what she meant. A branch master of the Spirit Pagoda secretly colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult to attack ordinary civilians without cause—once headquarters found out, they would absolutely pin all the blame on him alone to quell public outrage.

"Then how does Your Excellency believe this should be handled?" He suppressed the rising nausea and kept his voice as steady as possible.

The girl giggled, spinning the skull in her palm. "Tower Master Ye, has no one ever told you? The way you look right now, you're just like a dog. Hahahaha—"

Ye Guojie slammed his palm onto the desk. A crack split the solid wood, and the documents atop it scattered across the floor from the impact. He stepped forward, the aura of a Titled Douluo erupting from within him. The office's soul-guided lights flickered twice, dimmed, then brightened again. "Bastard! Do you really think I'm a pushover? If you don't give me a reasonable solution today, I'll take your life."

The girl stopped laughing. She tilted her head and watched Ye Guojie for several seconds, then pressed her thumb into one of the skull's eye sockets.

"Fine, I'm done teasing you." She tossed the skull into the air and caught it again. "Since there's a powerhouse protecting that couple and we can't snatch them away, then—" She paused, and the curve of her lips rose again, more sinister than before. "What about their son? He's a first-year student at Eastsea Academy, isn't he? It shouldn't be difficult for the Tower Master to look up a child's information."

Ye Guojie's breathing paused for a beat. He stared at her face and lowered his voice. "Who will make the move? This time, it must be kept hidden."

The girl tucked the skull into her blood-red robe and clapped her hands. "I will."

The office fell silent for three full breaths. A thin layer of sweat formed on Ye Guojie's back. She was going personally—a level ninety-five evil soul master would act herself. Just what kind of background did that family of three have?

"Oh, I forgot to tell you." The girl walked to the window and looked over the dark silhouette of the city outside. "Dark Hummingbird's death was connected to Wu Changkong from Eastsea Academy. You've heard that name, right? A Titled Douluo at such a young age. His wife, Long Bing, was Dark Hummingbird's biological daughter."

Ye Guojie's pupils abruptly contracted. "What did you say?"

"That's right." The girl turned around, the hem of her blood-red robe dragging a dark crimson trail across the floor. "Shrek has been keeping this matter suppressed, but we made the first move this time—we lost our people. Dark Hummingbird died at their hands, which means they must have some means. The Holy Spirit Cult had not yet settled that score with them. But the longer we delay, the worse it is for us. Before Wu Changkong formally gets close to that boy, we should strike first."

"And Wu Changkong... how do we deal with him?" Ye Guojie asked.

"You, me, and another level ninety-seven Titled Douluo. The three of us will strike at the same time and leave them no time to react." Her voice was light, yet carried the taste of rust. "If we get delayed and Yun Ming from Shrek arrives, none of us will be able to leave."

Ye Guojie sucked in a sharp breath. Three Titled Douluo, two of them above level ninety-five, all for the sake of a first-year student and a young homeroom teacher.

"Tomorrow morning." The girl hopped down from the windowsill, her bare feet landing on the floor, dark crimson liquid still seeping from the hem of her robe. "Eastsea Academy's freshman assembly. We strike directly then. Leave no one alive."

After saying that, her body turned back into a cloud of blood mist, seeping out through the window and vanishing into the night. Only the faint scent of blood remained in the office, lingering in the air for a long time.

Ye Guojie stood by the window, looking down at the cracked surface of his desk. He remained silent for a long while, but his gaze eventually became even more ruthless.

"Kid, if you want to blame someone, blame your own birth."

He dialed a soul-guided number, his voice cold. "Get me Tang Wulin of Eastsea Academy's identity information. I want to take a good look at his face."