"It's fine. I'll go clear these things out first to avoid unnecessary trouble," Xu An said, then left.
"I'll help too!" Ju Fufu quickly followed.
"I'm coming too!" Belle said. "Master, you should stay here. You're our main fighting force, so you need to conserve your strength."
That was what she said, but she was still worried Yixuan might feel unwell.
"Mm-hmm." Yixuan nodded.
"Then I'll stay here and keep persuading them. With Master here, I should be more convincing. But everyone must be careful while clearing things out. There are bound to be people from the Order nearby."
Meanwhile, after easily killing several Ethereals that tried to ambush him, Xu An rescued some workers.
"Are you okay?" Xu An raised an eyebrow at the white-haired person before him.
"Thank goodness, you're a master from Mount Yunkui! My friends and I came to attend the gathering, but people from the Order appeared all around us and surrounded us... They even took us to a nearby basement.
We really never expected... that there would be people from the Order here! They also said the bishop was nearby preparing a ritual."
"Do you know where?" Xu An asked.
"I-I don't know... I pretended to faint at the time and didn't even dare open my eyes. Only after they left the basement did I slip out while they weren't looking.
Right, my friends are still in the basement... Please, go to the nearby basement and rescue my friends too." The man clung to Xu An's leg, looking as though he wouldn't let go unless Xu An rescued them.
"Let go first. Men should keep their hands to themselves around other men." Xu An frowned.
"Come on, I'll take you somewhere safe first."
"Wise? How are things on your end? I rescued someone here. He said the Order is holding people in a basement."
"Nothing much is happening here. The Order hasn't made any moves yet. I keep feeling something's wrong. Could they be hiding to prepare for the ritual?" Wise asked in confusion.
"Yeah, we'll keep clearing the corruption. Take this man out first, and stay safe on your end too." After saying that, Xu An brought the man over to Wise, then left to continue clearing the nearby Ethereals and corruption.
"That guy just said there was someone dangerous around here. I'd like to see for myself!" Ju Fufu looked utterly unconcerned.
As they were clearing the area, a man wearing a brass mask suddenly appeared before them and blocked their path. He held a brass-colored staff, and with a wave of his hand, a group of Ethereals formed from corruption appeared in the clearing and charged at them, roaring.
A Praise Chanter?
"This is the dangerous guy?" Ju Fufu couldn't help remarking as she looked at the scrawny man.
"Hey, hey, hey! The Ethereals are coming, Senior Sister! This really is a bit troublesome!" Pan Yinhu said as he dodged.
As they fought, they realized something was wrong. Why did it feel as though there were more and more Ethereals the longer they fought? Only then did they notice that the man kept waving his staff. Each wave produced another Ethereal or two.
Seeing this, Xu An darted aside to evade the Ethereal attacking him and charged straight at the man's face.
The man's pupils abruptly contracted, and then Xu An seized him by the throat.
With his throat gripped, he felt he had no air left. Hey, buddy, a fight's a fight, but let me have some air, would you? He struggled while striking Xu An's arm with his staff.
Xu An, however, felt as though he was being tickled. He tightened his grip, snapped the man's neck, and tossed him aside.
The instant he snapped the man's neck, the surrounding Ethereals that had still been attacking immediately dissipated too.
The others froze mid-dodge.
"Hehe, Junior Brother Xu is really amazing," Ju Fufu praised.
"Heh-heh, of course!" Xu An said, rubbing the tip of his nose.
"I wonder what those people from the Order are trying to do.
It looks like they're preparing some kind of ritual," Belle said.
"Yeah, probably some large-scale sacrificial ritual, but I don't know what exactly it does. Those people they tricked into coming must be the materials," Xu An said.
"Belle, use the Disintegration method to clear away these corruption condensates." Xu An gestured for Belle to act.
"Mm-hmm, leave it to me. I keep feeling like the corruption nearby is hiding something."
After Belle opened up a path, Xu An stepped forward and smashed some approaching Ethereals.
"That's another control console over there, right?" Xu An looked at a lever enclosed in a blue shield not far away.
"Yep! Just leave it to me." Belle stepped forward and used the Manifestation Method to undo the protective shield.
Then she pulled the lever down.
Xu An felt a rumbling somewhere, as though something had opened.
"Belle, the corruption around here seems to have decreased a little. Are things going smoothly over there?" Wise's voice came through the communicator.
"We've cleared the surrounding corruption condensates. But we haven't gathered enough clues yet. We need to find more evidence," Belle said, frowning in thought.
[Master, I have detected an anomalous area nearby. There are large quantities of anomalous energy signals in that area,] Fairy said.
Xu An thought, Tsk, my system doesn't seem as intelligent as this thing. Ah, forget it. As long as it works, I won't be picky.
"What do you mean, energy signals (ㆀ˘･з･˘)?" Xu An didn't understand.
"Maybe the Order set something up over there. Let's go take a look," Belle said.
"Let's go, let's go." Xu An stretched. "I'm already done warming up."
"Okay, make sure you all stay safe," Wise said with concern.
They followed Wise's directions.
"Careful, everyone. There are quite a few corruption condensates here!" Belle warned as she looked at the ground ahead.
(❁´ω`❁) "They look filthy. I don't want to touch them." Ju Fufu looked thoroughly disgusted.
"Let's rescue the remaining people first. According to Fanqi, the basement should be nearby," Belle said.
"There don't seem to be any people from the Order here. Where did those guys go?" Ju Fufu felt something was strange.
Looking at the puddle of corruption condensate before him, Xu An couldn't resist scraping it with the sole of his shoe.
Then came a bang.
The purple-black substance exploded, splattering all over Xu An.
He startled and hurriedly activated a technique to clean himself up.
"Phew, good thing my clothes didn't tear, or I'd get scolded again."
At that moment, Yixuan, who was following behind him, seemed to have a # anger symbol rising above her head.
No, I really can't take this anymore.
Yixuan rushed forward and thumped Xu An on the head. Xu An felt as though his head had died a little. The spot where his master had struck him felt completely numb.
"Master, why did you hit me?! Hiss, ah!" Xu An demanded as he rubbed his head.
Yixuan looked utterly exasperated, her face plainly saying, What do you think?!
Seeing that his master wasn't speaking, Xu An stopped clowning around too. (.ŏ_ŏ) "Oh."
The others up ahead didn't notice what was happening behind them and continued chatting.