Chen Xueli walked in silence.
At last, under the gazes of several disciples he had personally taught, he sighed. "Juntaing is missing. You should know who she is."
"Then we have even more reason to stay. We should find little sister Juntaing," a young disciple said urgently.
Chen Xueli kept walking. "Mingzhu City used to be called Zhu City. The Beast-Taming Zhu Family ruled it. Do you know where that family came from?"
"Please enlighten us, Teacher," said a middle-aged disciple, cupping his fists.
Chen Xueli continued, "Long, long ago, the Beast-Taming Zhu Family was a family of heroes. To fight the Great Winter Calamity, its patriarch, Zhu Chiyang, merged with the Mutated Beast known as the Sun Godbird. Day after day, he flew between cities, bringing them light and warmth.
"He kept it up for ten years before dying of exhaustion. That was why the Zhu Family was also called the Sun Clan."
"What does that have to do with us leaving Mingzhu City?" the middle-aged disciple asked, puzzled.
Chen Xueli looked ahead. "After Zhu Chiyang died, he was buried in the Sunset Mountains, several hundred kilometers from Mingzhu City. Survivors from many cities were grateful to him and sent members of their families to guard his tomb. Over the centuries, they married and had children, and their children had children. Gradually, a village took shape. It was called Holy Ancestor Village."
Holy Ancestor Village?
The middle-aged disciple was baffled. Where was this leading?
"Every generation of Holy Ancestor Village produces a saintess," Chen Xueli went on. "Her miraculous bloodline protects the village from attacks by Exotic Beasts. The current saintess is Juntaing's grandmother."
The disciples behind him widened their eyes. They immediately saw the problem.
"Could it be... could Haowen have..." the middle-aged disciple asked in shock.
Chen Xueli nodded. "You all know what Haowen was like. I tried to keep him at Vast Sea Academy to study when he was young, but he couldn't sit still for a moment. Let him roam outside, though, and he could go days and nights without coming home.
"After he became an adventurer, months away from home became routine. The last time... he came back covered in wounds, with Juntaing in his arms.
"Juntaing's mother was A Wan, the next saintess of Holy Ancestor Village."
"Teacher, are you saying people from Holy Ancestor Village took little sister Juntaing?" a young female disciple asked.
Chen Xueli shook his head. "Impossible. I never let Juntaing go out when she was little, and I concealed her aura every time we moved. Holy Ancestor Village couldn't have found her. It had to be the Zhu Family. They probably want to use her against Mingzhu City's true ruler."
"Then isn't little sister Juntaing in danger?" the young woman asked anxiously.
Chen Xueli tightened his grip on his sword and sighed. "Her life won't be in danger. At worst, the people of Holy Ancestor Village will come looking for her. What worries me more is that her bloodline may attract... something truly terrifying."
"Something terrifying?"
The disciples exchanged bewildered looks.
Chen Xueli explained, "The Saint Mother cannot leave Holy Ancestor Village. If she does, her aura draws all manner of indescribable beings. For decades, I've moved from place to place with Juntaing and used barriers to contain her aura, lest she draw something terrible here and bring about Mingzhu City's destruction."
"But now... ah."
"Whatever the Zhu Family intends to do with Juntaing, they'll be the ones to suffer for it."
"What we need to do is leave Mingzhu City as quickly as possible before the disaster reaches us."
Not far behind Chen Xueli, a female disciple's eyes flickered as she listened. Her expression darkened. She had learned this too late. Even if she sent word to her family now, they would struggle to wrest Chen Juntaing from the Heavenly Fox.
She had been the first to pass information about Chen Juntaing to her family. No matter what she did now, she would still face punishment when this was over.
Her gaze turned cold. She made up her mind: she simply would not tell them.
She could leave Mingzhu City with Vast Sea Academy. If the city went up in flames, she would be far away.
At the front of the group, Chen Xueli glanced back at the disciples out of the corner of his eye. His lips curled into a faint, cold smile...
"Long, long ago, the Beast-Taming Zhu Family was a family of heroes. To fight the Great Winter Calamity, its patriarch, Zhu Chiyang, merged with the Mutated Beast known as the Sun Godbird. Day after day, he flew between cities, bringing them light and warmth."
"Impossible. I never let Juntaing go out when she was little, and I concealed her aura every time we moved. Holy Ancestor Village couldn't have found her. It had to be the Zhu Family. They probably want to use her against Mingzhu City's true ruler."
Inside the safe house, Zhang Ping was watching over Liu Tiefeng when the Wind Whisperer suddenly brought him those two fragments, with no explanation.
So the Zhu Family had once done good?
But the good deeds of their ancestors could not erase the evil of their descendants.
Especially now that the Zhu Family had brought the Heavenly Fox into the city to kill and eat people. Whatever their reasons, that was unforgivable.
Zhang Ping looked at Liu Sishan. "Sisi, can the Cleanup Team rescue Chen Juntaing?"
"Probably not for now. But what exactly is going on with her? Why did the Zhu Family abduct her?" Liu Sishan asked, recalling their earlier discussion.
Zhang Ping told her everything he had learned, then passed on what he had just heard.
When he finished, Liu Sishan fell into thought.
Drinking Saint Mother's Blood would render a person's abilities unusable, but they could simply refuse to drink it.
If the Zhu Family hoped to use Chen Juntaing's blood against the Cleanup Team, they were dreaming. Their chance of success was practically zero.
Cleanup Team members never ate or drank anything of unknown origin. Liu Sishan had once intended to make a lasting impression on Zhang Ping with Pure Water, but he had unexpectedly gained the Pure Water Body instead.
Eating strange things was no longer much of a problem for Zhang Ping. A Cleanup Team member like Liu Sishan, however, would never touch unidentified food.
"I'll contact my teammates."
Liu Sishan sat down in a corner, took out her badge, and pressed the pearl at its center.
A moment later, she said quietly, "Senior Lu Han, check whether there's anything wrong with the water sources around Mingzhu City."
If the Zhu Family really meant to use Chen Juntaing's blood, they would surely have begun preparing the surrounding water sources. Even if Prince Yue's abduction of Chen Juntaing had made them abandon the plan, they would have left traces.
She then contacted Situ Shibai and reported what had happened that night, along with the latest information.
"Understood. Sisi, protect Zhang Ping and Liu Tiefeng tonight," Situ Shibai instructed after listening. "If necessary, take them to Safe House No. 5. Its One-Time One-Way Teleportation Array leads to a heavily fortified secret base."
"Okay, Captain. I understand," Liu Sishan said.
"As for our next move, let's wait until tomorrow. We'll see how things stand in Mingzhu City at daybreak. I'll contact you then," Situ Shibai added after a moment's thought.
After ending the call, Liu Sishan kept the badge out to wait for Lu Han's reply. She leaned against a wooden crate and watched Zhang Ping wipe the cold sweat from Liu Tiefeng's face. Her gaze gradually softened.
"Zhang Ping, I think your abilities may depend on what you're thinking," she said, trying to work it out. "When you drank Golden Blood, you felt guilty and regretful. You wanted to heal this old man, so you gained a healing ability."
Zhang Ping gave a wry smile. "I've considered that too."
The trouble was, when he drank the Golden Blood, healing had not been on his mind at all. He had been thinking of Jin Bo as a "Super Saiyan," assuming he would turn out the same way.
So he did not think his abilities were tied to his thoughts.
"If you're willing, we could try—"
Liu Sishan saw his skepticism and smiled, about to invite him to run another test. Before she could finish, her expression changed. When Zhang Ping moved to ask what was wrong, she immediately gestured for silence. She pressed her other hand to the floor and stared at the door.
Zhang Ping sensed it too. He bent slowly and placed his hand on the floor.
Tremors.
The ground was shaking hard. A great many creatures were running nearby.
After a moment's thought, he transformed into his Pure Water Body and flowed across the floor to the gap beneath the door. Pressing against the stone, he carefully sensed the temperatures outside.
Wolves!
A huge pack was charging from Salt Mountain Valley toward Mingzhu City.
He looked at Liu Sishan and raised a hand, shaping his Pure Water Body into a line of words.
She frowned when she read it, then gestured for him to take out the Wraith Lantern.
Outside the safe house earlier, she had experienced its effect firsthand. She knew it could keep outsiders from sensing anything within its light.
Zhang Ping understood. He took the Golden Treasury out of his body, then retrieved the Wraith Lantern.
Though the Pure Water Body had no fixed shape, he could form a hollow space inside it to hold the Golden Treasury Bracelet. He stored his clothes and other belongings in the Golden Treasury whenever he transformed, then took them out and dressed again when he changed back.
"Something major must have happened near Salt Mountain Valley. I'll notify the captain," Liu Sishan said as everything around them turned black and white.
Holding the lantern, Zhang Ping ventured, "Sisi, could the fruit of the Salt Frost Tree have caused this?"
"Hard to say."
Liu Sishan had no interest in guessing further. She used her badge to contact Situ Shibai again.
It was going to be a long night.
Zhang Ping glanced at Liu Tiefeng, then thought of Qiu Qiang.
He had planned to ask Liu Sishan to send word in the morning that he was safe. But the sudden arrival of the wolves might disrupt Mingzhu City, and Qiu Qiang would surely go to Iron Soul.
Any connection to Iron Soul right now could make Prince Yue see Qiu Qiang as an enemy.
No. I have to find a way to warn Uncle Qiang.
The more Zhang Ping thought about it, the more uneasy he grew. Given Qiu Qiang's speed, Zhang Ping would probably be too late even if he rushed back.
Wait.
There has to be a way.
His new ability suddenly came to mind.
He shifted from his Pure Water Body into his Flesh Body, then from his Flesh Body into his Pure Blood Body.
He willed his blood to divide into two portions, one large and one small.
I can control it!
Excitement surged through him as he moved the two masses of blood.
His blood had split before, inside Liu Tiefeng. If he had done it then, he could do it now.
He tried to turn the smaller mass into his Flesh Body, but failed.
He tried the larger one instead. In an instant, he became human again, though his height had shrunk from 1.8 meters to 1.6. He looked malnourished.
He focused on the smaller mass. Sure enough, he could still control it.
Good. I just need to get this blood into a wolf, let it carry my blood back to Mingzhu City, then find a way to warn Uncle Qiang!
It was a risky plan.
But there was no harm in trying, so he decided to go ahead.
Holding the lantern in one hand, he carefully cracked open the door with the other. Its light kept the wolves from noticing the safe house.
The blood streamed through the gap and sped toward the pack.
Zhang Ping closed the door and sat cross-legged on the floor. When he shut his eyes and concentrated, he could see what the blood perceived.
He did not really understand how blood could see without eyes. Then again, his Pure Water Body could see the outside world without eyes too.
If he stopped controlling the mass of blood, it would go still. He had to guide it the whole way.
He sent it slithering toward the wolves like a snake. They soon noticed it. Sand and stones flew up, and dense clouds of dust swirled around the pack.
That did not stop him. He steered the Blood Serpent toward a wolf cub, but the cub darted behind an adult, giving him no chance to get inside it.
He chose an adult wolf instead. Before he could penetrate it, the wolf buried him with a wave of earth. Then countless paws trampled over him...