Qin Xun stared in surprise. "A sword?"
"That's right, a sword! It's a palm wide and 1.2 meters long. As long as we find it, we'll have a chance to drive back the Demon Clan!" Old Crab shielded the flame as Xu Chao lit his cigarette, putting its tip to the fire and taking a deep drag.
"What kind of sword is that powerful?"
"Sixty years ago, the nations of the world joined forces to forge a sword. With the help of a Psionic Power user's special Psionic Power, eighteen ninth-realm Psionic Power users sacrificed their bodies to the sword. Finally, a tenth-realm Psionic Power user from our Great Xia took the sword into battle against the twelve Demon Kings! That battle reduced everything within a hundred li to scorched earth. He killed tens of thousands of enemies and gravely wounded eleven of the twelve Demon Kings! He was so close, just that close, to killing all twelve with the sword! Before he died, the tenth-realm Psionic Power user shattered the sword to keep it out of the Demon Clan's hands, then used all his Spirit to scatter the ten fragments across Great Xia!"
"So if we find that sword, we can defeat the Demon Clan?"
"Not necessarily." Xu Chao shook his head. "Last time, even a tenth-realm Psionic Power user wielding the sword couldn't defeat the Demon Clan. Even if we find all the fragments and reforge it, we still might not be able to drive them back! But there's hope, at least. Besides, the Demon Clan is looking for the sword too. If all the fragments fall into their hands, the consequences will be unthinkable! Every country in the world might fall completely!"
"In other words, even if we can't get the sword, we absolutely can't let it fall into the Demon Clan's hands?"
"Right!"
"How many pieces have you found so far?"
Xu Chao answered bluntly, "Not one!"
Qin Xun blinked. "How many years have you been looking?"
Old Crab said, "Actually, even we don't know whether any fragments have been found. That's a secret among secrets. Only the few key leaders in the guild know."
Xu Chao continued, "Even if we can't find all the fragments, it's fine. That sword absorbed the Spirit of eighteen ninth-realm Psionic Power users. Even if we only find half the fragments and use them to forge a new sword, it'll still be quite powerful! Of course, finding them all would be better. We don't know whether the Demon Clan has found any fragments either, but I reckon that after all these years, they've most likely found one or two."
Old Crab went on, "Besides looking for fragments, our guild does a few other things from time to time, like killing nobles."
"Then after my sister and I meet Brother Shui, will we have joined you too?" Qin Xun wasn't afraid himself, but if possible, he wanted Qin Ling to grow up safe.
Xu Chao shook his head. "I'm not sure about that. I heard Brother Shui mention before that he seemed to be planning to send you and your sister to the safe zone."
"The safe zone?" Qin Xun was momentarily dazed. "Don't you have to cross the Kunlun Front to reach Great Xia's safe zone? I heard there's an army of over a hundred thousand from the Demon Clan gathered there. Not even a bird can fly across!"
"Brother Shui probably won't do that," Glasses said. "It's not that he doesn't care about you and your sister, but the families of many of his subordinates are also in the Fallen Zone. Most likely, after you meet him, he'll arrange for you and your sister to stay at the camp with the others' families."
"The camp?"
"Right. Our camp isn't in any of the zones. It's in the mountains, and because of a certain special Psionic Power, neither the Demon Clan nor the Dark Pavilion can find it. There are no nobles there, and everyone is equal," Glasses said.
Qin Xun nodded slightly. So once they got there, Qin Ling would have a safe place to call home?
"I'd heard before that a group of people had been resisting the Demon Clan in Great Xia's Fallen Zone. So Brother Shui is one of them!"
Xu Chao said, "The situation in the Fallen Zone is far more complicated than you think. Although members of the Demon Clan rarely appear in Great Xia's Fallen Zone, there are more organizations than you can count!"
"Besides those nobles, our main enemies include some cults. They may not work for the Demon Clan, but they're no good either!"
"Of course, our greatest enemy is the Dark Pavilion!"
"That organization is spread all over the world, with a presence in every country. It doesn't answer to the Fallen Zone Management Association; it takes orders directly from the Demon Clan!"
"The Demon Clan devotes its energy to conquering the safe zones in each country, while the Dark Pavilion does its work in the fallen zones. Its main task is to wipe out people like us who stubbornly resist in the fallen zones of every country!"
"The Dark Pavilion is also looking for the fragments of the Holy Sword on the Demon Clan's behalf!"
After Xu Chao finished, Old Crab opened his mouth to continue, but a rhythmic knock suddenly sounded at the door.
Glasses got up and opened the door.
A man in a raincoat walked in with a cigarette dangling from his lips.
The man was in his early thirties, with a face full of stubble and features as sharp as if carved by a blade. Beneath his raincoat, he wore a brown leather jacket.
Xu Chao introduced him to Qin Xun. "That's Smoker, the strongest fighter among us!"
His expression grave, the man glanced at Qin Xun as he entered and said in a low voice, "There are two things. First, the special medicine won't be available until tomorrow morning!"
"There's no need. I already gave some to Xiao Ling," Qin Xun said.
The man looked at Qin Xun and nodded, then said, "Second, Brother Shui has been captured!"
"What?!" The sudden news startled Xu Chao and Old Crab into springing to their feet from the bed.
The man tossed away the cigarette butt in his mouth and lit another, living up to his nickname, Smoker.
"The Dark Pavilion captured Brother Shui. Our camp was destroyed, and more than 120 of our family members were killed on the spot!"
Xu Chao's cheeks trembled. "Our camp was hidden by Sister Hua's Psionic Power. There's no way the Dark Pavilion could have found it! Who told you those two things?!"
"I got a call from Three Eyes." Smoker took a deep drag and exhaled.
Qin Xun asked, "You have a phone that can communicate with other zones?"
"Yes. Brother Shui gave us one when we left and said we could only use it to contact him in an emergency. I've already destroyed it."
"That's impossible!" Xu Chao's eyes were full of disbelief, as though he couldn't believe it was true.
Old Pang also spoke urgently. "A Shui is so strong. How could he have been captured?"
"Three Eyes said Brother Shui willingly let himself be captured to protect the people in the camp. Old Crab, you need to run, quickly. If your information gets leaked, people will soon come to capture you and your family!"
"That's impossible... That's impossible... How could this happen?!" Xu Chao's mind raced. "There's only one possibility. There's a traitor among our people!"
Smoker took a deep drag. "That's what I thought too, and Three Eyes said the same thing. There has to be a traitor among our people!"
"Will Brother Shui die?" Qin Xun asked.
Smoker shook his head. "Probably not for now. Brother Shui has a lot of information the Dark Pavilion wants. It probably won't kill him until it's squeezed all that information out of him!"