Chapter 1201: 18.39 First Grey Star - Together once again.
Leica rushed down from the mountain ranges, ignoring everything in their path; only kind protagonists like Lu Ming and Su Jin helped inform people along the way. They arrived in Somatic Town without incident, though Leica was a little exhausted and covered in sweat.
They do not know why they managed to stay afloat while bound with this red string, other than the strong breeze blowing in their faces, so they felt very at ease in their position.
Leica heaved a breath and said, "Help me inform Senior Mu about the situation. I need to go back to the mountains to support A"Shang and the lords that were left behind."
"Brother Leica, we can also help," Lu Ming stated.
Leica frowned and said, "If you were alone, I wouldn"t have brought you with me, but you have Xiao Jin with you. Are you going to leave him in this town unprotected? There is a Beast Stampede about to come over. We will try our best to at least prevent the G.o.d and legend-grade creatures from descending." This is to lessen the future death count among the normals.
Lu Ming stopped talking and looked at Su Jin; he heard what Leica had said to his sweetheart and grinned, despite the fact that he might be viewed as a burden by others.
Su Jin said, "I"m alright. Xiao Jun is with me."
It is obvious that Lu Ming did not think these two café proprietors could handle creatures; n.o.body else could have stopped the all-out attack during the stampede.
Frowning, Lu Ming sighed. "Forget it. I"ll just stay with you two. Let"s head to the villa and inform Heavenly Guardian Mu."
"Then, I"ll go and bring over Xiao Jun. It won"t take too much time," Su Jin said.
Mo Yuhan and Lu Ming nod as they dash to the villa; Su Jin, on the other hand, comes back to the cafe to find it in ruins. Ji Yoonjun, in addition to Doctor Sen, was ordering a couple of carpenters to help him tidy up the cafe before he renovated it; and for the money, the Heavenly Guardians paid him handsomely.
Su Jin ran towards him and hugged his friend. "Xiao Jun! Are you alright? Are you hurt somewhere? What happened to the cafe!?" He was looking around at Ji Yoonjun, checking if he was injured in any way.
It was unexpected for Ji Yoonjun and Doctor Sen to see Su Jin back; after all, he had only been gone for three days with Ye Jieye"s group, and Lu Ming was rarely seen without him; they were like never really apart.
"You"re back! How"s hunting, Xiao Jin?" Doctor Sen asked with his usual friendly smile.
Su Jin scratched his cheeks a bit shyly and said, "It was alright. The feeling of being unprotected by the big boss and two Joker-cla.s.s hunters is a great feeling. Ah! I"m not supposed to be wasting time like this. Xiao Jun and also Grandpa Sen, you should go with me to the villa. It"s safe there!"
"Hm? What are you talking about?" Ji Yoonjun asked, looking a bit bewildered. "What do you mean it"s safe in the villa?"
"Actually, the real reason we descend early is because of a premonition of Beast Stampede!" Su Jin exclaimed.
Not only was Su Jin taken aback this time, but also his buddy Ji Yoonjun and Doctor Sen, who just so happened to be present. Ji Yoonjun acted as though he had heard something absurd.
Ji Yoonjun said, "A Beast Stampede? Don"t joke with this. Such a bad joke. What are you talking about?"
"Xiao Jin, who told you about this?" Doctor Sen asked. There is a serious expression on his old face as he asks this question.
Su Jin, a bit timid after seeing the two"s stern gaze, says, "It"s Lord Mo Xuejing who told us. A"Ming and Mo Yuhan run back to the villa to inform Heavenly Guardian Mu."
"Mo Xuejing said it. It must be true then. How about Lord Ye?" Ji Yoonjun asked.
Su Jin replied, "I don"t know about Lord Ye. Only Lord Mo Xuejing descends after the two of them go alone in the twelfth mountain to capture Behemoth Carabao. Then all of a sudden the whole Eleventh Mountain shook, but Brother Leica said it was the whole mountain range shaking. Big Brother Lu Shang, Lord Mo Xuejing, and Lord Ye Jieye stayed in the mountain range.
Brother Leica also ascended once more after sending us down to Somatic Town."
After hearing the accounts of Su Jin, Ji Yoonjun, and Doctor Sen, they began to realize that the situation was more dire than they had previously believed. They had no idea that a stampede of beasts would occur out of the blue, and they were unaware that Ye Jieye, who had recently been consuming void power, was the one responsible for the incident.
Ji Yoonjun said, "If those four stayed in the mountain range, they could only block the legendary-grade creatures at least, but this also means countless ordinary, elite, and rare-grade creatures would run down the mountain."
"Xiao Jin, Xiao Jun, tell this to Mu Zang. As for informing the townspeople, leave it to me. Go head to the villa." Doctor Sen suddenly disappeared on the spot. Clearly, he left in a hurry to inform the real Guardian of the Tornado Mountain Ranges.
After grabbing the bewildered Su Jin, Ji Yoonjun made his way to the villa. Heavenly Guardian Mu Zang had already been informed of what had happened to Lu Ming and Mo Yuhan, but he did not respond until Ji Yoonjun and Su Jin showed up. He turned to Ji Yoonjun and inquired.
Heavenly Guardian Mu Zang asked, "Where is that old quack that lives in front of your cafe?"
"Senior Sen left to inform Heavenly Guardian Xian," said Ji Yoonjun.
Su Jin was perplexed as to why his friend was able to speak with Heavenly Guardian Mu when even Lu Ming and Mo Yuhan were shy around this grumpy senior. Lu Ming and Mo Yuhan recognized the name Heavenly Guardian Xian. He was the owner of Somatic Town and the one who guarded the Tornado Mountain Ranges. His full name is Xuan Wu.
Heavenly Guardian Mu said, "When I leave later, take care of my great-grandchildren."
"As you wish, Heavenly Guardian Mu." Ji Yoonjun saluted respectfully, leaving the other three confused and speechless, especially Su Jin, who didn"t know about such a thing. Even in his previous life, such a scene never happened.
Su Jin"s thoughts: "Since when did Xiao Jun know Heavenly Guardian Mu? Even I didn"t know this senior was a Heavenly Guardian until I saw A"Ming respectful towards him."
Ji Yoonjun disregarded the three men standing next to him, glancing at each other, knowing that Ji Yoonjun had the strength to protect the descendants of a Heavenly Guardian, even if they were young masters of large clans like the Mo and Lu clans. Mo Yuhan and Lu Ming realized that they had greatly underestimated Ji Yoonjun when they saw Ji Yoonjun react like this.
Heavenly Guardian Mu said, "If you are going to cause chaos, do it outside the house."
"Yes." Mo Yuhan, Lu Ming, and Ji Yoonjun saluted and went out of the villa as they were told.
The only member of the group left behind Su Jin was confused by what was happening to him and could not understand why Heavenly Guardian Mu said what he did. After his lover and friends abruptly left, Su Jin did not know what to do, but as he was about to leave too, Heavenly Guardian Mu spoke.
Mu Zang said, "Boy, there must be some snacks in the fridge in the kitchen. Go prepare some afternoon tea and snacks. You may use anything in the kitchen. Make something a baby can eat."
"Ah? Yes, please give me some time," said Su Jin as he ran towards the kitchen and forgot about the problem between his lover and friends.
---
Meanwhile, at the pace above the thirteenth mountain in the Tornado Mountain Ranges...
Encircled by darkness, Ye Jieye is attempting to regain control over the black-purple aura of devour. It was beyond his control, and he could hardly contain it; if he allowed it to become uncontrollable, he would devour this universe.
"Why? Is this aura to devour more powerful than before? I haven"t devoured anything new yet!" Ye Jieye complained, but unfortunately, he was alone in that black s.p.a.ce, surrounded by twinkling stars in the far distance. "Just where did this upgrade come from?"
Ye Jieye was trying to hold back his devouring power when the scene of the man wearing his face flashed through his mind. That part of the void he had taken earlier—presumably from a mistake—was an aura of devouring, similar to the darkness, rather than a hidden void. The thought of that scene made him scream with rage.
"It"s that man! He must have caused this to happen. But to suppress this ability, I must feed it with something." Ye Jieye started looking around and found a small imperial lake garden floating in s.p.a.ce.
He realized that this garden in s.p.a.ce was something he had read of previously and that the aura of holiness that that small garden held would probably subdue this power for a while.
Ye Jieye mumbles, "The Star-Fall Garden."
He pondered for a long time over whether or not to consume this valuable area; even if he did, it would still belong to him and become a part of his dominion, the Void. The only puzzle was how to account for the danger zone"s abrupt disappearance.
Argh!
"This power even devours its host! It"s so annoying. Fine!" Ye Jieye reached out his right hand in the direction of the Star Fall Garden. "Devour everything in that garden!"
Ye Jieye"s body emits a dark, purplish aura that grows into the shape of a ma.s.sive dragon that opens its enormous mouth to consume the entire Star Fall Garden and all in its vicinity.
"It"s still not enough! Then eat a portion of the void. My domain is endless anyway," Ye Jieye said as he opened one part of his domain that was completely devoid of life. None of his minions live in this place.
But his domain is connected to him directly; even though he didn"t lose much to this ability to devour, he felt tired as if he had lost a lot of blood. When this ability had calmed down, Ye Jieye"s current vessel almost collapsed. He looks so pale as if he didn"t have any blood at all.
When his feet landed at the peak of the thirteenth mountain, he covered his mouth, preventing himself from coughing blood.
"The feeling of eating a part of yourself doesn"t taste that good. Cough!" Ye Jieye mumbled as he almost stumbled from dizziness.
Ye Jieye felt like someone was holding his clothes tightly behind him, and when his eyes stopped swirling, he noticed Mo Xuejing staring at him with concern. Just as he was about to fall, someone suddenly appeared in front of him and hugged his waist, taking almost all of his weight with them and refusing to let go.
"Baby, it"s you," Ye Jieye said as he smiled. It was as if they never quarreled in the first place.
Feeling guilt in his heart, Mo Xuejing asked worriedly, "What happened to you? Why did you suddenly look pale? Did you cough some blood?!"
Ye Jieye was overjoyed that his wife had returned. He caresses his face tenderly, as though he can express his longing in this way. He only gave his wife a tight embrace because he was afraid when he left him just now, knowing that even though his wife was angry with him, she would still worry for him.
"Next time you"re angry, please don"t leave me alone. I"m so afraid I will lose you again."
Ye Jieye would get uneasy anytime they were apart, perhaps due to his fear of what had happened to him in their previous lifetimes. He even noticed that his voice and body were shaking as he was softly pleading with Mo Xuejing.
Mo Xuejing was shocked to see him like this. He had never seen him so weak and loving. He regrets leaving him without giving him the benefit of the doubt, and all he can do is give him a hug in return.