"Senior Brother Pan? What are you doing here?" Belle quickly asked when she saw him.
"I ran into a Bangboo being surrounded by Ethereals on the way. After rescuing it and asking a few questions, I learned that Doctor Lor had sent it to help with our investigation, but it got ambushed by Ethereals on its way here."
"I noticed there was a fissure beacon nearby and figured you'd come here to rest, so I brought it along."
"En-na, en-na, en-en, na-na-na. (I'll guide you to the locations the doctor marked.)"
"Thank you, then." Belle picked up the Bangboo, Axin, and began talking to it.
"En-en-na-na. (The doctor said that place is very close to where the corruption incident happened. All the clues are over there.)"
Belle looked in the direction it pointed.
An abandoned production center lay over there.
With Axin guiding them, the group encountered almost no obstacles along the way. Master Yixuan even took the opportunity to teach Belle some more spells (Disintegration), while Fufu marveled beside them.
"Junior Sister, your talent is a little frightening!"
"Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration? Maybe I just happened to succeed." Belle felt a little embarrassed by the praise.
The group steamrolled their way toward their destination, only to find Xu An together with Lor.
Xu An hadn't chosen to alert the enemy. Instead, he had rescued Lor when Ethereals surrounded him.
"Doctor Lor? Junior Brother! What are you doing here?" Belle asked.
"Uh, haha... I was just trying to take a shortcut and quietly collect some samples here. But some Ethereals spotted me and chased me all the way here. Luckily, Brother Xu saved me.
"By the way, have you collected any evidence?"
Belle grinned. "Hehe, we ran into your Bangboo. Thanks to their help, we found quite a bit of evidence."
"That's wonderful! We should be able to gather enough evidence now! I've also collected quite a few corruptive Ether samples, which can serve as supporting evidence.
"Just ahead is the area where corruption sickness broke out in a cluster. I'd like to collect some more corruption samples to complete the chain of evidence."
Xu An met Yixuan's eyes and shook his head, indicating that he hadn't discovered anything.
Yixuan merely nodded in response, indicating that it was fine.
Lor continued, "But I think I heard an Ethereal calling over there... It seems to have been lingering nearby and could jump out at any moment..."
Fufu raised her fists at that. "Don't worry! We'll go over and take a look. If any Ethereals dare cause trouble, we'll take care of them while we're at it!"
Xu An nodded. "Relax. Those things are no big deal." Xu An patted Lor's shoulder. `(*∩_∩*)′
"Just leave it to us."
They headed together in the direction Lor had indicated.
Soon, several humanoid Ethereals and one enormous frog-shaped Ethereal suddenly appeared.
Thick Corruption permeated the surrounding air.
Xu An loathed this sort of situation.
"I hadn't even warmed up earlier. Master, just leave this to me." As Xu An spoke, he charged forward.
In an instant, he reached the largest frog-shaped Ethereal and threw a plain, unadorned punch.
The Corruption surrounding the Ethereal seemed to freeze, then abruptly dispersed.
As the Corruption dispersed, the Ethereal's body slowly broke apart and vanished as well.
Everyone behind him was astonished.
"⊙∀⊙! Junior Brother, you're amazing!" Fufu shouted!
A faint smile graced Yixuan's face.
"Go, Senior Brother!" Belle shouted.
"Is Junior Brother really that talented? How long has he even been cultivating?" Watching Xu An show off his martial skills nearby, Pan Yinhu couldn't help recalling his own days of cultivation. Comparing a bear to a human really could infuriate the bear to death.
Doctor Lor, however, watched Xu An's figure with what seemed to be a somewhat gloomy expression.
The battle ended quickly.
All the surrounding Ethereals were smashed apart. Xu An dispatched them with one punch apiece, wasting no time at all.
Doctor Lor carefully walked into the accident area and obtained corruption samples.
As he did, he said, "Phew... This investigation was far too dangerous. If you hadn't stepped in, I'm afraid I wouldn't have made it back.
"Thank you all so much for helping with the investigation." His voice was full of gratitude.
"Now we've collected enough evidence to establish the specifics of this corruption incident.
"Eric and the others reached the end of their shift and went outside the Hollow to rest. I'll leave the Hollow now and tell them about the latest progress in the investigation.
"Next, we'll gather everyone to discuss seeking compensation from Hui Crystal Meike.
"Thank you all from Mount Yunkui so much for your help!"
"It's nothing. We were investigating this accident anyway. Helping you was hardly any trouble." Ju Fufu scratched her head, a little embarrassed.
"Senior Sister Fufu, do you always scratch your ears when you're embarrassed?" Xu An asked in puzzlement.
Caught off guard by the question, Fufu's cheeks reddened slightly. She didn't understand why Xu An had suddenly asked that, making her feel a little awkward.
[Ding, Ju Fufu felt awkward. Attribute points +10]
Sure enough, (｀＾´)ノ, I can get attribute points this way too.
Xu An glanced around. There would be more and more sources of attribute points in the future.
"Ahaha, you young masters get along so well." Lor paused. "Thank you so much, truly. My plan is going even more smoothly now."
"Plan? What are you going to do?" Belle quickly asked.
Seeing everyone's curious expressions, Lor said, "Well... I previously worked with Eric and the members of the mutual aid association to draw up a plan of action to protest against Hui Crystal Meike.
"Now it's time to put everything into action."
They chatted for a little longer, then prepared to leave the Hollow.
"Ah... What a shame. I'd only just finished warming up. I wanted to fight some more," Xu An said, itching for more.
"Junior Brother, let's hurry back," Pan Yinhu urged.
"Senior Brother Yinhu is right. With this much evidence, we should be able to prove that the incident causing harm really did happen.
"We should leave sooner rather than later."
"All right, all right. Let's head back for now, then. Come on, let's go." Helpless, Xu An could only agree. With Belle leading them, they soon left the Hollow.
After returning, they each went off to attend to their own business.
"Belle, thank you for all your hard work on the investigation lately... Have you been adjusting well after entering the Hollow?" Yixuan asked with concern.
Belle quickly said, "I'm fine, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern, Master." As she spoke, she giggled.
"Master, why don't you show me some concern too!" Xu An even put on a pitiful look as he spoke.
The corner of Yixuan's eye twitched slightly.
What exactly is this fellow putting on an act for? Should I be pitying those Ethereals instead? They'd only just been about to attack when a fist came straight at them, and with a smack, they were gone.
(#-.-)
At that thought, she rolled her eyes at Xu An.
She ignored him.
Seeing that she still ignored him, Xu An nevertheless continued, "Huh? Master? Why won't you show me some concern!" He even reached a hand in front of Yixuan as he spoke.
"Oi, oi?" Xu An conveyed, Master, are you deaf or something?
Yixuan frowned at this, caught Xu An's hand, and pulled him right in front of her. She rubbed his head, the corners of her mouth lifting (✿^‿^), as if silently saying, Stop fooling around~
This left both Belle and Xu An frozen in surprise.
[Belle was shocked. Attribute points +30 Belle felt bewildered. Attribute points +35 ...]
The system notifications went wild in his mind.
Yixuan seemed to realize that this was a little strange too. She coughed twice and said,
"All right, my disciple. Let your master have a chat with Belle.
"Belle, you're progressing very quickly with your spells." At this, she couldn't help giving Xu An another look, though this fellow hardly counted by comparison.
"That shows that you really are quite talented. However, you mustn't rush cultivation. You should balance work and rest."