1513 Borrowing a Knife to Kill
The sallow-faced middle-aged man was none other than the secret crush of Dragon Dou, Hidden Water!
The Hidden Clan trained the best a.s.sa.s.sins in Ashen Moon, and they excelled in the arts of disguise, stealth, and a.s.sa.s.sination. When Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha were taking part in the operation where they had to infiltrate Murder Shrine, they had used the Hidden Clan’s weightless disguises, which had allowed them to seamlessly blend in without anyone discovering their true ident.i.ty. It was evidence of just how superb their disguises were.
While Hidden Water was having a quiet conversation with a close confidant yesterday, this planet had been inadvertently mentioned, and Dragon Dou had overheard them. He had come pestering Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha to bring him along. Hidden Water did not wish to run into Dragon Dou, so she had disguised herself. Who would have thought that she would still fail to escape from Xia Fan’s Scent special ability?
Seeing Dragon Dou, Hidden Water was at first stunned, while Dragon Du foolishly asked Xia Fan, “How could this man be the person I’m looking for?”
Xia Fan just nodded back. “I didn’t make a mistake.”
!!
Dragon Dou was skeptical as he made his way near Hidden Water. Though he had loved and admired Hidden Water for a very long time, he felt nauseated looking at this sallow-faced middle-aged man. He had plenty of words buried in his heart that he couldn’t bring himself to speak out loud.
Instead, it was Hidden Water who got angry first, glaring at Xia Fan spitefully as she asked, “Just how did you find me?”
Even her voice sounded like a man’s voice; she was no doubt someone from the Hidden Clan. If Xia Fan had not had his Scent special ability, he would surely have had a hard time believing that this middle-aged man was actually a young girl in disguise!
Xia Fan chuckled, “If I want to find someone, then I naturally will be able to do just that.”
“Impossible!” Hidden Water was incensed. “I was imparted my skills directly from my grandfather! Though I dare not claim it is flawless, it can at least be considered first rate in my clan! You must have secretly placed something on me, otherwise there’s no way you could find me so easily!”
Xia Fan shook his head in response. “My lady, please don’t misunderstand. I’ve never met you before today, so what could I have placed on you? Besides, if I’ve done anything to you, given how good the lady is, wouldn’t you have noticed?”
Hidden Water was stunned. She had carefully checked herself before making the trip out and had not noticed any signs of being tampered with. That made things strange. Could this smiling man have some extraordinary ability?
She naturally had no idea that while someone could disguise themselves into looking like somebody else, there was no way she could change the smell she gave off. No matter how remarkably she physically disguised herself, none of that would work against Xia Fan and his nose.
All of a sudden, the sound of trees being cut down could be heard from a distance. Hidden Water was promptly startled, before addressing Xia Fan and the others, “That thing is coming! Quick, lay down!”
That thing?
Xia Fan had no idea what Hidden Water was doing, so he heeded her advice and lowered himself down, sprawling behind a big rock as he looked out toward the distant mountains.
All of a sudden, a large white creature came stalking from the forest. Trees that were tens of meters tall were forcibly trampled wherever it went.
It drew closer, and Xia Fan could finally make it out as a pangolin.
Xia Fan had never seen such a peculiar pangolin in his life. In addition to the fact that it was completely white, the carapace on its back was actually covered with spikes, and it had fangs growing out of its mouth. Its claws were deadly sharp, able to cleave off a hilltop in one swipe!
As for the size of the pangolin, it was of course even more unimaginably ridiculous. It was actually over a kilometer long, and the very ground shook with every step it took!
“Oh my G.o.d, what the heck is that?!” Traveling Buddha could not help but mutter under his breath.
Hidden Water grimaced. “A Ferocibeast, the number one Ferocibeast on this planet! She just gave birth to a litter and has an extremely volatile temper. You people need to take care, and no matter what you do, don’t provoke her, or no one will be able to save you. She is simply too powerful, and is able to breathe white flames from her mouth. Even Koro alloy will melt when it is exposed to her white flames.”
Xia Fan was absolutely dumbfounded. He had seen Ferocibeasts before, but a Ferocibeast capable of spewing white flames so hot that they could melt Koro alloy metal? That was the first time he had heard of such a thing!.
Sure enough, Xia Fan could soon see three smaller pangolins following behind the huge mother pangolin.
Though smaller, her three offspring were already over fifty meters long. They would completely qualify to be called colossal if they were found anywhere else!
“Strange. Why are the three little pangolins different from their mother? Their mother is white, while they are grey,” Dragon Dou asked, confused.
Hidden Water seemed to dislike Dragon Dou a great deal. She rolled her eyes and then said in a mocking tone, “You’re a Dragon, too, so why is the difference between you and the ancestors of your clan so huge? There were plenty of renowned heroes that came from the Dragon Clan, yet you’re so inept!”
“Uhh…” Dragon Du was being scolded, yet he was not in the least bit angry. He even shamelessly explained, “Actually, I’m not inept. It’s just fighting; I am proficient in art and chess. Considering the day and age, fighting all the time is so boring. Isn’t it better to just properly enjoy life?”
To think Dragon Dou was quite the romantic, someone who preferred to dabble with fine arts and not be a student of martial arts.
Hidden Water was actually quite a mild-mannered person. It was just that she disliked Dragon Dou, so after she mocked Dragon Dou for a bit before she turned her attention to Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha and explained, “This white mother pangolin is too pure a lineage, so she couldn’t find a suitable partner. As such, her only option was to pair up with a black pangolin. After the pregnancy, the white pangolin killed her mate, most likely because she did not wish her children to know that their father was actually so weak.”
Traveling Buddha was startled. “What a ruthless mother!”
Hidden Water sighed, “The both of you don’t understand; the creatures living on these planets experience extremely fierce compet.i.tion for their own survival. This white pangolin became the sovereign of this planet by defeating plenty of enemies. Just look at the many scars and bruises on her. They are evidence of the countless fights she has faced.”
Xia Fan shrugged, “Either become stronger or die. That is the cruel rule of the jungle.”
Hidden Water nodded her head vigorously, agreeing with Xia Fan’s viewpoint.
She then watched the white pangolin carefully as she told them about the many fights she had seen on the planet. Xia Fan realized that she was an animal lover, often coming to the various planets to observe the animals living on them and recording their living habits.
There was something among all the words that Hidden Water shared that shocked Xia Fan deeply.
She had said that according to her observations, there would ultimately be a sovereign on every planet. The moment that sovereign was born, they would begin to make active preparations to kill all other species, desperately ingesting energy to help themselves grow crazily and swell in size.
Xia Fan was nonplussed, “They are already the sovereigns of their planet, so what are they still making active preparations for? Could these so-called sovereigns be preparing for a new war?”
Hidden Water shook her head. “That I’m not certain about. In any case, planets that have a sovereign become even more chaotic. Instead, it is the small creatures that are not too strong that can live freely.”
Xia Fan stroked his chin. What Hidden Water had said made him think of war preparations.
But the white pangolin was already the sovereign of her planet, and no one dared challenge her anymore. Just what could she be so desperately preparing for war against?
Xia Fan looked up to the sky. There were thousands of planets here, and each of them had a sovereign of their own. Could it be…
No. The planets were quite far apart from one another. It was unlikely the sovereigns would encounter each other, so it was impossible for them to fight one another.
Hidden Water took out her notebook and began writing down what she had observed. She made sure to record what the white pangolin ate, and the status of her offspring, and so on.
—
Slowly, Traveling Buddha and Dragon Dou got bored. They had originally thought that Hidden Water wanted to fight with the sovereign pangolin, only to learn that she was just interested in scientific research. It was very boring.
Traveling Buddha yawned and poked Xia Fan with a finger, indicating that they should hurry up and leave if there was nothing else here.
That was when something inexplicable happened. A beam of white light suddenly exploded forth from nowhere, headed to the mountaintop where Xia Fan and the others had hidden themselves!
“No good! That’s a laser weapon!” Xia Fan yelled, using his speed to pull Traveling Buddha and everyone else away.
*Kaboom!*
The laser cannon was aimed directly at the big rock Xia Fan had hidden himself behind moments ago, instantly disintegrating it into sand. The mountainside collapsed, giving Dragon Dou quite the fright. His face went pale.
“That was close! Who attacked us?!” Traveling Buddha was angrily stomping his feet on the ground. Looking in the direction the laser had fired from, it should be somewhere a hundred kilometers on their flank.
That was when a great rumble was felt from the ground underneath their feet, and everyone had trouble standing firm.
Xia Fan hastily turned to look down the mountain. The laser fire had caused their location to be exposed, and the white pangolin had become abnormally furious. She was currently charging over toward them in a cantankerous rage!
She opened her big mouth, and Xia Fan could see a white glow from inside, like she was preparing to breathe fire.
Instantly Xia Fan understood everything. The laser shot had been intentional!
There was someone out there borrowing the figurative knife that was the white pangolin to kill them!
“Quick, flee!”
There was no time for a proper explanation. Xia Fan bellowed and grabbed Traveling Buddha, Hidden Water, and Dragon Dou to beat a hasty retreat.
The bright glow from the white flames abruptly spewed forth behind him. It was extremely frightening. The blazing white-hot inferno was so great that it covered the skies, so fierce that it looked like it wanted to swallow the heavens!