Iron Soul was gone.
The moment Prince Yue saw the Heavenly Fox's corpse, he used three of his tails to destroy Iron Soul.
Fortunately, Liu Sishan had left with Liu Tiefeng a step earlier on Situ Shibai's orders, so neither of them was hurt.
Zhang Ping followed the canal to the south of the city. He took out the Wraith Lantern again before climbing out of the water. After a glance back at the tails whipping through the air, he took a deep breath, turned, and left Mingzhu City.
Next time he came back, he would kill Prince Yue!
He knew it would be hard.
He might have blocked Prince Yue's attack just now, but Prince Yue probably hadn't used even ten percent of his strength. Those had only been five of his tails.
Now Prince Yue's tails were everywhere in Mingzhu City. Judging by their size, if they all attacked Zhang Ping at once, his Nether Mist might not survive a single volley.
And even if he could withstand them, Prince Yue had more than tails.
"Sisi, where are you?"
Zhang Ping pulled himself out of his thoughts, took out his badge, and asked as he walked.
A moment later, Liu Sishan replied, and he hurried toward their previous camp.
The Cleanup Team had more than one base in the wilderness. It also had many safe houses, some built into boulders, others underground or in trees.
After bringing Liu Tiefeng out, Liu Sishan had taken his injuries into account and hidden with him in a safe house not far from Mingzhu City.
Before long, Zhang Ping arrived.
They confirmed each other's identities through their badges, then Zhang Ping went inside.
The safe house was a hollowed-out boulder with just one room, stocked with plenty of compressed food and distilled water. Liu Sishan had taken the compressed energy bar she'd given him last time from this very safe house.
"Grandpa Liu, I'm sorry." Zhang Ping went straight to Liu Tiefeng. His eyes reddened slightly as he looked at the wound.
Liu Tiefeng meant to rap Zhang Ping on the head, but the slightest movement tugged at his wound. He sucked in a sharp breath and said gruffly, "What's the big deal? I've lived a long life. What's one less arm? But kid, how did you get mixed up with a brute like that?"
As far as he knew, the intruder had been a man—a hulking, vicious-looking man.
"Sisi, can I tell him?" Zhang Ping thought for a moment, then looked at Liu Sishan.
She knew what he was asking. "You're not on my team," she said evenly. "How could I tell you what you can or can't say?"
Right!
He wasn't a member of the Cleanup Team and hadn't signed a confidentiality agreement with them. They couldn't stop him from saying what he wanted.
"Grandpa Liu, that wasn't a person. It was a Mutated Beast..." He turned to Liu Tiefeng and told him everything he knew.
Liu Tiefeng's brow furrowed as he listened. He glanced at Liu Sishan, then asked Zhang Ping, "So Mingzhu City belongs to those stinking foxes now?"
"Yes. They don't dare act rashly either, but the city really isn't safe," Zhang Ping said with a nod.
Liu Tiefeng immediately thought of his son, Liu Dashan. He closed his eyes and took a long while to absorb it all. Then, bearing the pain, he patted Zhang Ping's shoulder with his remaining hand. "Then you've got even less reason to feel guilty. You did nothing wrong. Well done!"
"Grandpa Liu, don't move. I'll find a way to heal your hand. I'll even get your arm to grow back!" Zhang Ping quickly helped him lie down and kept him from moving.
Liu Tiefeng forced a smile. "Don't underestimate your Grandpa Liu. I used to be on the Investigation Team. See that wound on my waist? It was much worse than this arm."
That wound had made it difficult for him to have children. Liu Dashan was his only son; otherwise, he would have had eight or ten.
"But..." Zhang Ping was still deeply worried.
Liu Tiefeng's face hardened as he shooed him away. "Enough. I'm not about to die. Let me have some peace. That young lady's waiting for you, so go take care of what matters. If you can get rid of all those stinking foxes in Mingzhu City, I wouldn't mind losing an arm—or every limb I've got."
"All right. Get some rest, Grandpa Liu. Wait, I'll pour you some water. You've lost too much blood, so you need to drink plenty. And you need something to replenish your blood. Let me think..." Zhang Ping nodded, but more things Liu Tiefeng might need kept coming to mind, and he took them out of the Golden Treasury one by one.
"Go on, get out of here and stop fussing over me," Liu Tiefeng said impatiently. "This is plenty. I'm really fine."
He was old and frail, but his will was remarkably strong. The injury had been hard to bear at first, but he had recovered from the shock. As long as he didn't suffer another serious blow, he could slowly pull through.
Zhang Ping had no choice but to stand. He looked at Liu Sishan, who motioned for him to talk outside.
Once they left the safe house, Zhang Ping immediately took out the Wraith Lantern.
"Sisi, thank you."
He looked at Liu Sishan and bowed deeply.
If she hadn't arrived in time to save Liu Tiefeng, he would have regretted it for the rest of his life.
"I happened to be there. Besides, your identity has been exposed," Liu Sishan said calmly.
Zhang Ping nodded. After some thought, he said, "It probably happened during that fight. I had no way to conceal my information then. If the enemy quietly used Appraisal on me while I was fighting, they could easily identify me."
It was a possibility he hadn't considered.
He hadn't expected the enemy to react so quickly. His decision to rescue Chen Juntaing had been made on the spur of the moment; it couldn't have been part of anyone's plan. The fight itself hadn't lasted long, either.
It was hard to imagine that the enemy had managed to arrange an appraiser so quickly.
"You probably can't return to Mingzhu City. Wait for the captain's instructions. Here, take this." Liu Sishan handed him a test tube.
Zhang Ping took it and saw golden blood inside. He looked at her, puzzled.
"I thought carefully about your ability, then went back and examined the metals you'd eaten. They were completely undamaged. In other words, you hadn't digested or absorbed them at all, so you couldn't have gained the corresponding physiques.
"The information you gave us was extremely useful. This is your reward from the Cleanup Team: Golden Blood!" Liu Sishan explained.
Zhang Ping stared at her. "You don't mean that Golden Blood?"
"Yes. It's Jin Bo's Golden Blood. He has to have blood drawn for storage from time to time. We usually use it to heal teammates or extend the lives of elderly people who've rendered service. Try drinking it and see if you can gain the ability," Liu Sishan said.
Zhang Ping had intended to give it to Liu Tiefeng, but her words made him realize something. If he gained the ability to produce Golden Blood, couldn't he make an endless supply?
He wouldn't even become anemic. After giving blood, he could turn straight into his Pure Water Body, absorb enough water, then change back into a body of flesh and blood...
For a moment, he could almost see an inexhaustible supply of Golden Blood.
"One more thing. Golden Blood is a hereditary ability, so there's a chance your children could inherit it. It might also skip a generation. You should be prepared for that," Liu Sishan added when she saw Zhang Ping open the tube.
Hereditary abilities weren't bad. They just lacked the thrill of opening a mystery box.
Most Awakened had no idea what abilities their children would awaken. It was like drawing a card: they might get an N card, or they might get an SSR. Hereditary Awakened were different. They knew their children would likely inherit their abilities. If their own hereditary ability was Practical Tier, their child's would be Practical Tier too.
Zhang Ping drank the blood in one gulp and forced it down despite the unpleasantness. Grimacing, he said, "And that's supposed to be a bad thing?"
It was only a chance of inheritance, not a certainty.
Besides, he didn't even know if he'd ever have a wife. Why think that far ahead?
"Well? Did you get the ability?" Liu Sishan remembered how quickly Zhang Ping had acquired his Pure Water Body. The moment he finished drinking the Golden Blood, she asked expectantly.
Zhang Ping shook his head. A little while later, his body began to feel strange. He held out an arm, and in the blink of an eye, it turned to blood.
He froze, then immediately used the Appraisal Technique on himself.
None of his other abilities had changed. Only one new entry had appeared after Pure Water Body: Pure Blood Body.
[Pure Blood Body: The body can transform into Pure-Blood Form and merge with a target's body to rapidly heal their injuries. Note: Love whom I love, hate whom I hate, and leave no regrets!]
Delight spread across Zhang Ping's face. He immediately realized he could use this ability to heal Liu Tiefeng.
"What happened to your hand?" Liu Sishan asked, seeing his expression.
His experience with the Pure Water Body helped him turn his entire body into a mass of blood in an instant. He found that the Pure Water Body and Pure Blood Body were profoundly different, though he could only make out the difference between the abilities after transforming completely.
His Pure Water Body could absorb water molecules from the air to restore itself. His Pure Blood Body couldn't. He couldn't even sense the moisture in the air or changes in the temperature around him.
But the Pure Blood Body had an advantage: it let him perceive a target's condition with precision.
Liu Sishan, for instance, was still wearing her mask, yet through the Pure Blood Body's perception, he could see the terrible scars on her face.
In that instant, he understood why she always wore a mask.
"Sisi, in this state, I can sense the life force of every living being. I can also merge with someone's body and heal any injury they have—even remove scars," Zhang Ping said, controlling his body so he could speak.
Liu Sishan watched him in silence. After a long while, she said, "Then treat Grandpa Liu first."
"Okay. We can have a proper talk afterward. To be honest, Sisi, I've known you for so long, but I still don't know what your life has been like all these years." Zhang Ping nodded without hesitation.
Liu Sishan paused, then gave a slight nod. A trace of sorrow slipped into her eyes.