It wasn’t until she sat down back in the pet hospital that Long Xiruo finally felt grounded again… once more, she was closely connected to the earth.
Her legs still felt a little weak…
Long Xiruo leaned her head against the chair, and the tilted backrest shifted her line of sight to the slightly yellowed ceiling above.
— Because… I wanted you, Lady Long, to beco more beautiful…
— I don’t want to do anything. There are things I value in this world. How could I bear to destroy it now?
Suddenly.
True Lord Long slapped both sides of her cheeks hard and stood up. “What the hell—what’s going on? Am I possessed?!”
If even the True Dragon of Divine Land could be possessed, then there’d be no need for the Daoist and Demon realms.
“Sister Dragon! Sister Dragon!!”
Just then, Luo Pianxian pushed the door open and ca in. The little butterfly demon was wearing an apron and holding a feather duster. Seeing that Sister Dragon’s face was a little red, she tilted her head and asked, “What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”
“What is it?” Long Xiruo coughed lightly.
“Oh!” Luo Pianxian said, “Sister Dragon, did you find out the cause of the sudden blackout? That was really scary.”
“More or less.” Long Xiruo sat back down and rubbed her temples. If she opened the chat app on her phone now, it would probably explode. Just thinking about logging in to explain made her feel completely drained.
If Divine Land’s supernatural world had an official spokesperson… then her words were basically the “official” explanation.
“What caused it?”
“You’re still too young to understand.” Long Xiruo tried to send the silly butterfly away, casually brushing it off. “It’s fine now. Go back to cleaning. Especially make sure the exam room is clean. I’m thinking we might reopen in a few days.”
“Oh… right, one more thing.” Luo Pianxian added, “Xiaofei just called, asking if you were here. He wanted to know if he could co over.”
“Xiaofei?” Long Xiruo frowned. She and Luo Pianxian had returned earlier… judging by the ti, Mo Xiaofei should be back by now too.
…
But what Long Xiruo didn’t expect was that Mo Xiaofei had returned not just with Windchaser, but also brought along the Greedy Wolf Clan’s young mistress, Zi Xing, and several of her attendants.
From Mo Xiaofei’s mouth, Long Xiruo had already learned that the Greedy Wolf Clan had discovered Windchaser’s true identity.
Left with no choice, Long Xiruo t with Zi Xing alone in a room.
“No need for formalities, I don’t like that kind of thing,” Long Xiruo said directly. “Say what you ca to say.”
“Lord Long, just before we arrived, we sensed a terrifying presence. The strength was indescribable. May I ask if you know the cause?”
So it was because of that… Long Xiruo muttered in her heart, then made sothing up: “It’s not that mysterious. You’re aware of the Mount Tai incident, right?”
Zi Xing nodded.
Long Xiruo continued bullshitting, “I already explained during the eting afterward—the Dragon Fiend was a result of countless years of resentnt accumulated beneath the Divine Land.”
Zi Xing frowned. “But wasn’t the Dragon Fiend destroyed? How is it related?”
Long Xiruo waved her hand, lying to the end: “Even a broken bone takes a hundred days to heal. After surgery, you still have to rest. The Dragon Fiend may be gone, but resentnt lingers underground. You know the earth has weakened after the spiritual energy burst, so the ley lines perford a self-purification and expelled the remaining resentnt. That’s what caused the anomaly.”
“I see.” Zi Xing nodded, but clearly didn’t fully believe it.
Long Xiruo didn’t expect everyone to buy the weak excuse. She changed the subject. “You didn’t co all this way just for this, did you? Speak frankly.”
Zi Xing got straight to the point, “May I ask, Lord Long… when I first arrived, had the Wolf Lord already awakened?”
Long Xiruo calmly replied, “Yes. I discovered the current Greedy Wolf star just before you arrived. But at the ti, his awakening had just started and was unstable. I didn’t think Windchaser could control that power yet, so I chose not to tell him. I wanted him to first learn to master it himself before dealing with your clan. Got a problem with that?”
“Lord Long.” Zi Xing’s face was expressionless. “Though you’re the True Dragon, in terms of training the Greedy Wolf star’s powers, I believe our clan is more suitable.”
Long Xiruo propped her chin up. “Leaving aside your clan’s legacy, you and Windchaser have t. He’s easy to read, and you should know what kind of person he is. I won’t get into fate, but answer —are you really okay with it? Do you think he’ll accept the Greedy Wolf destiny?”
“Rules cannot be broken.” Zi Xing shook her head, then added, “Then, Lord Long, are you willing to accept your own fate?”
Long Xiruo stared blankly at her.
After a long pause, Zi Xing gave a slight bow. “I’ve said what I ca to say. For now, we’ll stay a few days, per the Wolf Lord’s will. If you need anything, just send word to the ‘Four Seasons’ Hotel… I’ll take my leave.”
The door closed with a thud.
Only then did Long Xiruo sigh and mutter, “Rules can’t be broken… how ironic. The wolves who value freedom most, bound by rules. But… I don’t have the right to judge either.”
As she was sighing, Mo Xiaofei arrived right after Zi Xing.
After so brief greetings, he also asked about the blackout. Long Xiruo fed him another batch of weak excuses—unlike Zi Xing, Mo Xiaofei actually believed them.
Once she confird Mo Xiaofei bought it, Divine Land’s True Dragon forced herself to send a ssage to the chat group… only to find that everyone had stopped spamming, acted like they suddenly understood everything, and went offline to do their own thing…
“Anything else?” Long Xiruo looked at Mo Xiaofei, sensing he had more on his mind.
“Master… is Windchaser really going to the plateau, to the Greedy Wolf Clan’s land?” Mo Xiaofei asked seriously.
Long Xiruo thought for a mont. “The Greedy Wolf Clan has its own legacy—a destiny they can’t avoid. Even if Windchaser doesn’t want to go now, he will eventually. Every Greedy Wolf does. You rember what I told you about him, don’t you?”
“Then…” Mo Xiaofei nodded solemnly, “In that case, I want to go with Windchaser… at least I can still be there for him.”
Long Xiruo looked him up and down and suddenly said, “Use your strongest psychic power… and attack .”
“Master?”
“Just do what you're told. Why so many questions.”
“Forgive .”
Mo Xiaofei nodded, then took a deep breath and focused his full attention… His strongest psychic power was gravity manipulation, an ability he had comprehended in the Voidless Moon World.
In that instant, everything in the room was crushed by an intense gravitational force. But at the sa ti, another powerful force rose to counterbalance it.
Mo Xiaofei kept pressing down, while Long Xiruo kept holding it up. The two forces stayed in balance the entire ti, so the room wasn't damaged at all… but Mo Xiaofei's face gradually flushed red, while Long Xiruo remained completely composed.
This power duel lasted more than ten minutes before Mo Xiaofei suddenly gasped for air, and the gravity vanished. Long Xiruo also withdrew her True Dragon power with a wave of her hand.
She looked at Mo Xiaofei, frowning. “On this trip to Mount Tai, who did you et, or what did you encounter?”
“Master, I…” Mo Xiaofei was caught off guard and looked slightly uneasy.
“Your strength has grown at least five tis compared to when I last saw you… That’s too fast. I’m worried your body won’t be able to adapt. Also, I can vaguely sense another familiar power in you.”
“Master, actually I…” Mo Xiaofei bit his lip, just about to speak.
“Alright, let’s leave it at that.” Unexpectedly, Long Xiruo waved her hand. “You’re my disciple, after all. If you didn’t have a few lucky encounters, how would that reflect on ? Besides, your power has increased. That’s a good thing overall. I can sense your heart is still in the right place, so I trust you’ll use it well… As for Windchaser, you decide what to do. Go or don’t go—your call. No need to ask about everything.”
“Then… I’ll head ho first.” Mo Xiaofei nodded.
“Go. You’ve been away a long ti; your parents must be worried.” Long Xiruo waved him off.
…
After Mo Xiaofei left, Long Xiruo lowered the blinds and watched his figure disappear down the street. “I already felt sothing was off the last ti… This ti… why is the Emperor’s Sword on him?”
Long Xiruo suddenly gave a bitter smile. “The Emperor’s Sword eting the current Greedy Wolf star… Isn’t things chaotic enough already? Don’t tell it’s another one of that damn shady rchant’s sches?”
Divine Land’s True Dragon scratched her head irritably and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one up skillfully. “What’s wrong with smoking?!”
But after just one puff, she inexplicably stubbed it out.
She suddenly stord out.
“Pianxian! Stop cleaning! I’m hungry, make food! I want to watch TV! I want a vacation!!! I’m not going out these next few days!! Don’t let anyone in!! No one!!”
“Eh?!”
…
…
Bustling as always, police cruisers were constantly pulling in and out of the city’s Criminal Police Division, a sign of how busy things were.
To Ma Houde, this wasn’t good—it ant there were too many cris happening.
Every cop secretly wishes for nothing to do… that ans peace.
After parking, Sir Ma—who’d just had his second child and put on so weight—slowly climbed out of the car with difficulty, holding soy milk in one hand and a newspaper in the other.
But the added weight made it extrely hard. He finally got out… only for the soy milk to spill on the ground—and his pants.
“Are you kidding ?!”
Sir Ma cursed his bad luck and started wiping himself clumsily. Just then, another car pulled in and parked beside him.
The window rolled down, and a refined-looking man in his forties poked his head out, smiling. “Sir Ma, long ti no see… You alright?”
“Oh… It’s you, Gao Wen.” Ma Houde blinked, then quickly said, “Bad luck, bad luck… sigh, looks like I really need to start watching what I eat.”
The man got out with a briefcase. “Those stains are hard to wash. I know a good dry cleaner. I’ll write the address for you later?”
“That’d be great!” Sir Ma bead. “My wife gave these pants. If they’re ruined, she’ll kill .”
Gao Wen smiled. “By the way, I heard your wife’s expecting… Not bad, Sir Ma, still going strong! Congratulations!”
“Heh heh…”
That’s pretty much what everyone had been telling Ma Houde lately. Even so old friends had called to congratulate him. These days, he couldn’t stop grinning like a fool.
Ma Houde asked, “So, what brings you here?”
“Oh, nothing major. Just assisting the departnt.” Gao Wen said casually, “Team Two has a suspect they want profiled, so their captain called over.”
“I see… Well, go ahead then.” Ma Sir nodded. “No need for to walk you in—you know the place. I gotta go find a change of pants. Gotta maintain appearances.”
“Alright, I won’t hold you up. I’ve got a lecture this afternoon anyway.” Gao Wen smiled, patted Ma Houde’s shoulder, then left with his briefcase. He stood for a mont, scanning the area before walking off.
“Sir Ma, who was that guy? Looks kinda familiar,” Lin Feng appeared with a bag of buns, curious.
Startled, Ma Houde glared and said, “That’s Gao Wen, a criminal psychology lecturer at the University of Political Science and Law.”
“Now?” Lin Feng blinked. “What about before?”
“Back in the day, he was Team Two’s captain here at the station,” Ma Houde said. “He had a great track record. We used to work with them a lot, so we got close. Then, out of nowhere, he left and started teaching at the university. But…”
“But what?”
Ma Sir stared at Gao Wen’s back. “There’s always been this… disconnect. We just never really clicked. Only Captain Luo used to talk to him much. His father-in-law is a big shot in the provincial departnt. Son-in-law of a big shot, you know? It always feels like we’re talking across different servers.”
“Not bad, Sir Ma! You even know gar lingo now?”
“Scram!” Ma Houde rolled his eyes.
Just then, a squad mber ca running out in a hurry and spotted the two chatting.
“Sir Ma! Sir Lin! Good thing you’re both here! I’ve been looking for you!”
“What happened?” Ma Houde frowned.
The officer said solemnly, “We just received a report… a body’s been found!”
(End of Chapter)
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