397: Chapter 41 No such person found

"Ahem."

Hearing the cough, Zhang Lingyu, who was being clung to by Xia He, immediately shuddered. He hurriedly pried Xia He off himself and distanced himself from her before turning his head guiltily toward the source of the sound.

Upon seeing who it was, Zhang Lingyu instantly became flustered, unable to even speak clearly: "Ma—Master, Old Lu..."

Xia He also appeared somewhat uneasy.

Zhang Zhiwei sighed and leaped down to the ground. Amidst Zhang Lingyu's ashamed expression, he pointed at Xia He and said pointedly, "So it's this girl?"

Zhi Jinhua, who had previously learned about the gossip regarding Zhang Lingyu's Five Thunder, immediately understood. She blurted out in surprise, "So the one who took Immortal Master Lingyu's first blood and made it impossible for you to practice Yang Five Thunders was actually the scraping bone blade, Xia He? This is—too explosive!"

Lu Linglong was equally shocked.

Seeing this, Zhang Lingyu's face immediately turned the color of pig liver. Not knowing how to explain, he could only say, "Stop... stop talking..."

After saying that, he quickly stood opposite Xia He, adopting a stance of drawing a clear line between them. He said with righteous indignation, "Xia He, you demon! Do you see? My Master and Old Lu are both here. You still dare to run wild on the mountain? If you don't get lost now, I won't be polite!"

Meng Li glanced at Zhang Lingyu's position and said faintly, "Immortal Master Lingyu, with your positioning, why do I feel like you're trying to block the Old Celestial Master and Old Lu?"

Zhang Lingyu's expression changed, and he argued, "I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense!"

Zhang Zhiwei casually shoved Zhang Lingyu aside and said irritably, "Go stay cool over there. If you were really willing to hit her, that palm strike earlier would have landed."

Zhang Lingyu immediately slumped, saying to Zhang Zhiwei with a mix of embarrassment and grievance, "Master, you can't undermine your Disciple at a time like this!"

Just as he finished speaking, Xia He suddenly flickered and used her ability to strike Zhang Zhiwei's chest with a palm.

This move startled everyone.

"Xia He, what are you doing?!" Zhang Lingyu cried out in alarm. Then he noticed blood on Zhang Zhiwei's chest and was even more shocked: "Master, you're injured?!"

Lu Jin didn't say a word and began to draw a Talisman.

At that moment, Zhang Zhiwei spoke, "Old Lu, Lingyu, you guys go deal with the others first. Leave this to me."

Lu Jin's movement paused. His gaze shifted between Xia He and Zhang Lingyu, then fell on the bloodstain on Zhang Zhiwei's chest. Finally, he stopped, turned, and left.

Meng Li, Lu Linglong, and Zhi Jinhua did the same.

Zhang Lingyu, however, showed hesitation.

Seeing this, Zhang Zhiwei's face hardened: "Master knows what he's doing. Go, now!"

Zhang Lingyu had no choice but to comply. He glanced at Xia He and turned to leave.

...

By this point, the incident of the Whole Nature attacking the Celestial Masters Residence was drawing to a close.

Of the Whole Nature members who attacked the mountain, some were dead, the injured were captured, and others had fled.

After Lu Jin, Meng Li, and the others left, they split up to provide support. They didn't encounter much combat, mostly seeing Everywhere Connect employees and Celestial Masters Residence Disciples wrapping things up.

They were treating their own wounded and taking the Whole Nature members into custody.

Returning to the Celestial Masters Residence, Lu Linglong and Zhi Jinhua met up with their other companions who had split up earlier.

Bai Shixue, Cang Long, Xiao Xiao, Yun, Xi, and others.

Among them, Bai Shixue, Cang Long, and Yun were mostly fine, with only minor injuries.

Xiao Xiao and Xi, however, were seriously injured and unconscious. The former had lost a hand, while the latter had a long, deep wound on his body.

Lu Linglong and Zhi Jinhua were shocked and hurriedly asked for the reason.

Yun, wearing a mask, recounted the events with eyes full of regret.

Just like in the original plot, after Yuan Tao and the others split up to escape, Yun, Xi, and Xiao Xiao formed a small team to intercept the tall, thin man carrying a mourning staff.

Xi was momentarily careless and was hit by the "Filial Son's Banner," a Magical Artifact shaped like a mourning staff in the tall man's hand, and was infected with Corpse Poison. Later, during the battle, Yun was interfered with by the tall man's ability to wail and summon souls. Xiao Xiao felt the situation was grim and wanted to retreat first to detoxify Xi.

But Yun didn't want to be laughed at because the three of them couldn't take down one person, so he insisted on continuing the fight.

Xiao Xiao couldn't leave Yun alone, so he had to stay.

The two of them fought two-on-one. With proper coordination, they quickly gained the upper hand.

But unexpectedly, the tall man's ability was eerie; he secretly controlled Xi through the spirit on the Filial Son's Banner.

At the critical moment, Xi, controlled by the banner spirit, launched a sneak attack from behind, severing Xiao Xiao's arm and attacking Yun.

In desperation, Yun had no choice but to severely wound Xi.

The tall man took the opportunity to slip away.

After the story was told, Lu Linglong and the others fell silent.

Lu Jin sighed.

At that moment, Xu San walked over and went to the side with Lu Jin to check the situation.

Once the check was complete, Lu Jin seemed to remember something and said to Xu San, "San'er, I remember you guys have a doctor known as the 'Tenth National Player,' right?"

Xu San nodded: "That's right. Are you thinking...?"

Lu Jin pointed at Xiao Xiao and Xi: "These two little fellows were invited by Linglong to help. Now that they've ended up like this, I can't just stand by and do nothing. See if you can ask that doctor to come over and take a look."

Xu San said, "I'll call and ask in a bit. It shouldn't be a problem."

Then, as if remembering something, he changed the subject: "Old Lu, where is the White Sword Immortal?"

"The White kid?" Lu Jin stroked his beard and said truthfully, "He split off from us earlier to support others. You didn't see him?"

Xu San shook his head.

"Why are you looking for him?" Lu Jin asked again.

Xu San said, "To be honest, because of the Luotian Grand Ritual, I was very curious about the White Sword Immortal, so I had colleagues at the company look into him. The results just came in."

"Oh?" Lu Jin let out a light sound of surprise, becoming interested. "What did you find?"

Xu San said seriously, "We found nothing at all!"

"No such person found?"

Xu San nodded.

Lu Jin's brow furrowed. "It seems this kid isn't simple."

Xu San nodded and then asked, "Which direction did he go when he split off from you?"

Lu Jin thought for a moment and replied, "The Front Mountain."

...

In a certain dark, abandoned warehouse.

Xia Liuqing, Yuan Tao, Gao Ning, and other veteran members of Whole Nature who had participated in the attack on the Celestial Masters Residence were gathered together.

Because of the failed revenge and the heavy loss of personnel, Yuan Tao was in a very bad mood, radiating restlessness from head to toe.

Before long, he took out his phone to check the time and said with irritation, "How long has it been since the appointed time? Gong Qing and Lü Liang still haven't arrived. Did their mission fail and they died on Longhu Mountain?"

"Or has that kid Gong Qing been playing us from the beginning?"

Speaking of the last possibility, his tone was bone-chillingly cold.

Xia Liuqing, Gao Ning, and the others didn't speak, but they were also feeling a bit suspicious in their hearts.

At that moment, the warehouse door was pushed open, and Shen Chong walked in holding his phone: "Don't wait. The mission failed. Gong Qing and Lü Liang are both dead."