"Stop. Yelling!"
"Don't. You. Know. We're. Hiding!"
Ling Yu hit Xuan Tian's arm as she spoke.
Xuan Tian grabbed her hands again.
"Stop hitting me. You're only going to hurt yourself." This time he said it more sternly.
Ling Yu did stop, but her glare didn't.
Xuan Tian sighed. "Okay, I apologize. I didn't realize I raised my voice." Which I'm sure I didn't! But he didn't say it out loud. He still valued his life.
"How did you find me?" Ling Yu asked, still whispering, still crouching.
"I was walking around and sensed the explosion. I came to the market, found the crater, and people in chaos. I wanted to help catch the culprit, and I found you crouching here."
Xuan Tian told Ling Yu the simpler version of it. He wasn't just walking around—he had been following Ling Yu because he was worried about her and Li Ran, but more her than Li Ran. It felt wrong for him to stay at the safe house recuperating while others were out doing a mission.
He was having difficulties adapting to the new role-swapping, so he decided to "help" Ling Yu and Li Ran in their city patrol. "It gives me something to do," was his argument to Jing Xue and Lin Qian, who tried to stop him.
He arrived at the city much later than Ling Yu and Li Ran, only to find out that Li Ran was on moving duty while Ling Yu's patrol shift had ended. He then tried to locate Ling Yu with his scanning skill, only to realize he didn't have the cultivation level to do it.
He could only scan a much smaller area rather than the city-wide scan he was planning. Then the explosion happened. He sped up the scan, picked up Ling Yu's aura, but arrived too late at the scene. He only found a crater, with no Ling Yu in sight.
After ensuring the number of casualties, he left again in haste, scanning, and found her… hiding and crouching behind stacked wooden crates in a narrow alley with a handsome-looking young man.
Xuan Tian didn't like to lie. He would always opt to tell the truth no matter how harsh, but he was smart enough to know that if he admitted to tailing Ling Yu, she would throw a fit. His survival instinct told him to omit certain facts.
Ling Yu stared at him for a little while, as if trying to determine whether he was telling the truth or not.
Xuan Tian couldn't help but sweat a little under her stare, but he forced himself—under no circumstances would he fold.
Ling Yu seemed satisfied. She exhaled and nodded.
Xuan Tian felt he had just escaped capital punishment, and he exhaled too.
Then he took a deep breath and whispered, "We can't stay here like this. I have a plan. I'll help you escape."
As he finished saying that, Xuan Tian started to get up, only to be pulled back down by Ling Yu.
"Wait! How can you just leave like that! Tell me what your plan is!"
Xuan Tian looked Ling Yu straight in the eyes. "Don't you trust me? Just go when it's safe."
With that, he got up quickly, left the safety of the wooden crates, stepped onto the street, and vanished. Before he left the crates, he glanced at Xu Ming and made eye contact. Xu Ming nodded slightly.
Their exchange was clear… to them. Protect her. And Xu Ming had agreed.
This all happened in a few breaths, and Ling Yu had barely had the time to think before Xuan Tian was already gone.
"But… wait…" She was getting up and about to chase after him when Xu Ming stopped her.
"He'll be fine."
"You don't understand. He is only Low Immortal 4. He's weaker than most of them out there."
Xu Ming's grasp on Ling Yu didn't weaken. "That's why he left."
"What?" Ling Yu was confused.
"That's why he left. He can't protect you here. His cultivation is lower than yours. But I can. That's why he left."
Ling Yu looked at him, puzzled. "How can you possibly know that? You just met him."
Xu Ming couldn't explain it either. He would never do what that man did—abandon the object of his interest. But he could understand that man's thought process. It was baffling to him.
Today is full of surprises. I need time to digest them later.
"But he's gonna be in trouble!" Ling Yu was worried about Xuan Tian.
"He won't," Xu Ming said confidently.
"How—?"
"He's not the one they're looking for."
"And even if he does go against them, he'll still win."
"But his cultivation—" Ling Yu replied.
Xu Ming cut her off again. "Being low in cultivation doesn't make him weak. He is very strong."
------------------------------
Gu Tianzhu was perched on top of a tall building, observing the city below. Every time Ling Yu and Li Ran went to do their duties, he would sent Chen Zhaoyun and Lu Jianhong to patrol the city, collecting information and patrolling in advance, so that Ling Yu and Li Ran would have a smoother patrol shifts.
Today was no different. So, when the explosion happened, he knew about it immediately. Both of his disciples had sent him the news. He immediately left to observe the city, in case any of them needed his assistance.
He didn't go straight inserting himself into the chaos in fear alerting Jian Wushuan. Gu Tianzhu never met Jian Wushuan, but he was from Ziyu and Jian Wushuan was from Lingxu. The two sects were always at odd, especially the last few years.
Even his disciples didn't wear Ziyu's uniform when they went into the cities. Avoiding confrontation was their top priority.
And he also knew that Xuan Tian was already in the city, trying to find Ling Yu.
I need to make myself available the moment Shengzun needs me.
From his position, he could see the Alliance agents swarming the streets and the air. They were in some frenzy, running here, flying there.
Gu Tianzhu scoffed. All bark and no action. You think just by running here and there you'd find the criminals? I hope Li Ran and Ling Yu are not involved in this mess.
Then he noticed more Imperial Soldiers at the city gates.
I guess it's only logical that they'd closed off the city. But seeing the swiftness of it, Lingxu's claws in the Palace, are deeper and stronger than I thought. They managed to influence His Majesty to deploy more Imperial Soldiers. Lingxu already had His Majesty under control. This is not a good sign.
Gu Tianzhu continued to observe.
Hm? Notices? Wanted notices? I hope Zhaoyun and Jianhong can have their hands on few of them so we know who to look for.
Gu Tianzhu kept his focus on the city below him. He didn't want to lose any details. After a while, a different group of people started to mixed into the chaos.
What? Luo Heng? Yan Zhen? And other Enforcers? What are they doing?
Gu Tianzhu was right to be confused. Below them, Luo Heng and Yan Zhen, leading several Enforcers, were running to the notice boards and tampering with the wanted notices the Alliance had pasted only moments earlier.
It was quite a sight. The Enforcers moved with efficiency and accuracy that the Alliance completely lacked. In no time, all wanted posters pasted by the Alliance had been altered by ICEB Enforcers.
They are… changing the criminals' faces? What's going on?
Then it hit him. Gu Tianzhu facepalmed inwardly. Of course. What else can I expect? I bet it's one of my disciples. I bet it's Ling Yu. My youngest disciple has a great talent for creating trouble. What is it this time? And how did ICEB get wind of it this fast?