"What? You've met Xiao Hanlan?" Black Xiu cried out in fury. "Where is he now? That bastard took my mother away! I'm going to settle the score with him!" His voice shook the entire tower, making it hum. Fortunately, Li Xiaoya and Zhang Hong clasped hands and raised a protective barrier in perfect coordination. A flash of red light also rose around Second Better, shielding his Red Crystal.
"What? He took your mother away?" all three exclaimed.
"Whew." Fortunately, Black Xiu instantly reined in his furious aura and let out a long breath. "Ah! I get angry every time someone mentions that fellow. Are you all right?"
"Um, Senior," Second Better said timidly. "Actually, I met Xiao Hanlan more than ten thousand years ago, shortly after your mother, the Ancient Demon Sacred Lord, captured the Southwestern Ancient City."
"Hm? What? You met him back then too?" Black Xiu paused, surprised. "How did you come to know him?"
"Actually, um, he saved me when my nascent soul was about to die back then. But my claim that he was a cultivator from the Upper Realm was only a guess," Second Better explained. "Still, the spiritual qi of the Human Realm was far too thin for him. I thought he must have broken through the boundary and descended from another realm. That's all I know."
"Hiss... Now that you mention it..." Black Xiu suddenly calmed down and murmured, "That really does seem possible. Back then, I sent that boy Daoling and Qingxia to look for Xiao Hanlan. Hundreds of years passed without any news. Daoling only contacted me a few years ago, and he still said they hadn't found him. The Heavenly Dao Sect is a renowned major sect in the Human Realm. Even they couldn't find him. I thought that boy