“Mingfei, is this your first time in Sichuan?” Liu Heguang asked with a smile from the passenger seat of the Mercedes-Benz.
“Yes, before, my impression of Sichuan was only spicy food and the Prime Minister,” Lu Mingfei said.
“You can come often in the future. Here’s my contact information. Tong Chen and I welcome you anytime,” Liu Heguang said.
“I’ll probably be here for half a month. Isn’t it too early to talk about the future?” Lu Mingfei glanced at Zero beside him. Zero sat obediently, tilting her head to look at the scenery outside the window, lost in thought.
“The Liu Clan of Guangwu has been stationed in Sichuan for many years. This time, it involves a Dragon King, so Tong Chen and I had the chance to come out from the Family Liu and travel here,” Liu Heguang’s face showed a hint of helplessness. “When you come to Sichuan to play in the future, just give me a call, and I’ll come out from Beijing.”
“Is your Family very strict?” Lu Mingfei slightly raised his head. This made Liu Heguang sound like an un adult child, so he quickly corrected himself, “Ah, I didn’t mean that. I meant, are there a lot of things in Beijing?”
“At least the Liu-Li contention is enough to give me a headache,” Liu Heguang shook his head. He had only escaped Beijing this time because the Liu-Li contention had finally come to an end. That competitor from the Li Clan really gave him a headache. If his Family hadn’t insisted on him being the spokesperson this time, he would have gladly thrown it onto the Li Clan and not even looked at it.
But with responsibility on his shoulders, he had no choice.
“The marriage proposal I heard about earlier, was it?” Lu Mingfei asked.
“It’s a means to restore the friendship between the Liu and Li families. If I win, I’ll have to choose a direct descendant from the Li Clan to marry, and vice versa.” Speaking of this, Liu Heguang’s expression became strange. In previous years, this was highly feasible, but this year, he wondered if that woman from the Li Family would seek a husband.
He glanced at Lu Mingfei. In terms of bloodline, perhaps only Lu Mingfei could catch her eye.
“How’s the situation on the Yangtze River? Any results?” Lu Mingfei stopped asking questions and got straight to the point.
Liu Tongchen knew it was his turn to speak and immediately reported, “Everything is normal except for the strange weather. There’s no abnormality at 30 meters underwater. After the underwater search at 9 AM today, no traces of hybrids or Dragon Descendants were found. There will be two more searches at 5 PM and 11 PM. Besides that, after routine underwater searches, no trace of the bronze palace has been found yet.”
“Have there been any Dragon Descendants found underwater before?” Lu Mingfei asked.
Liu Tongchen paused. Given his status, he could tell Lu Mingfei that they had appeared, but he wasn't clear on the exact numbers.
Liu Heguang replied with a smile, “In the past half-month, 56 hybrid Dragon Descendants have been dealt with. The Yangtze River is vast, and hybrid Dragon Descendants emerge every day. This time, due to the Dragon King’s influence, the search efforts have been intensified, so many hybrid Dragon Descendants that hadn’t emerged yet were found. The number is a bit higher, but it’s not a big problem.”
Lu Mingfei’s eyebrow twitched slightly. This statement clearly indicated the danger underwater in the Yangtze River. To search for the Dragon King’s palace underwater, one would likely need the strength to kill hybrid Dragon Descendants.
It was true that he had the ability to kill Three-Generations Breed on land, but underwater, it was uncertain. Underwater resistance would greatly affect everyone’s ability to exert force.
“It seems everyone in the Family is reliably strong,” Lu Mingfei exclaimed.
“We usually search for hybrid Dragon Descendants in teams of three to five people. Unlike your school’s policy, where two people can go underwater, we are still far behind,” Liu Heguang smiled.
“The Family values safety, while we focus more on efficiency. It’s just a difference in emphasis,” Lu Mingfei proactively ended the dangerous topic.
Liu Tongchen, in the driver’s seat, slowly released the accelerator at this moment. The Mercedes-Benz slowed down; they had reached their destination.
Through the car window and the rain, they could already vaguely see the Family’s banner fluttering in the wind.
“Want to go up and take a look?”
The four got out of the car with umbrellas. Liu Heguang squinted, gazing in the direction of the Moniyahe, then asked softly.
“Let’s just look from here. Zero and my training plan starts tomorrow, so two more days off would be nice,” Lu Mingfei said.
“Oh.” Liu Heguang smiled, “I haven’t asked about your relationship.”
“Classmates,” Lu Mingfei said without hesitation, “It’s an Execution Department iron rule: no romantic relationships are allowed between underwater partners.”
“But I heard that all underwater partners in the Execution Department are male-female teams. Since there’s this rule, why do they still mandate male-female teams?” Liu Heguang said. “It’s very anti-human, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know,” Lu Mingfei shook his head, “I just heard that this rule about romantic relationships was added ten years ago, written by a professor from the Execution Department himself.”
“Behind every rule is a bloody lesson. It sounds like something extraordinary happened ten years ago,” Liu Heguang stopped there, not mentioning that he and Fingel met ten years ago, nor did he tell Lu Mingfei to look for relevant information. He just sighed.
“Probably,” Lu Mingfei shook his head.
The two stood near the Yangtze River, while Zero and Liu Tongchen, understanding the mood, stood behind them.
Under the two black umbrellas were distinctly different faces. Lu Mingfei’s face mostly carried an unconscious sadness and confusion about the world, while Liu Heguang’s face was calm, with a gentle gaze towards the world.
“The situation at the Kui Gate Plan mission site is clear. We’ll go back…” Liu Heguang hadn’t finished speaking when a loud bang suddenly came from the surging river.
Both black umbrellas were torn simultaneously. Lu Mingfei and Liu Heguang instinctively took a step back, then looked towards the river.
A black shadow suddenly flew out of the river, descending from the sky and pouncing on the Mercedes-Benz.
The entire Mercedes-Benz shuddered violently up and down. The car window shattered, spraying towards the driver’s seat. It was hard to imagine what would have happened if Liu Tongchen had still been in that position.
Lu Mingfei and Liu Heguang both looked at the spot where the black shadow emerged from the water first, while Zero and Liu Tongchen retreated to the vicinity of the Mercedes-Benz to check the situation.
“Death Servant?” Liu Tongchen exclaimed the moment he clearly saw the black shadow.
“No, it’s a hybrid evolving into a Death Servant,” Zero said. The umbrella handle broke into two short daggers in her hand. As she spoke, she had already reached the Death Servant, plunging the broken daggers down fiercely.
Lu Mingfei’s gaze, however, lingered on the river.
“It seems the underwater patrol work had a slip-up,” he said to Liu Heguang. The ribbon wrapped around his right forearm extended, completely covering Lu Mingfei’s right hand.
Underwater, a hideous, water-ghost-like creature was coldly staring at Lu Mingfei with a pair of Golden Eyes.
Not just one.
Water ghosts leaped out of the river, unceremoniously pouncing on Lu Mingfei and Liu Heguang.
“A hybrid Dragon Descendants clan,” Liu Heguang said faintly, his eyes already glowing. “Were they pushed too hard by the underwater search team, so they picked an uninhabited spot to come ashore?”
Sharp screams echoed on the bank as grotesque hybrid Dragon Descendants leaped up one by one, their primary targets being either Lu Mingfei or Liu Heguang.
Like the beginning of a play, goblins sacrificing themselves rushed towards the heroes of the human camp. All the audience anticipated the heroes to wreak havoc.
“Can Mingfei handle it?” Liu Heguang asked.
His only response was the sudden appearance of a ribbon before his eyes. As the needle-like fine rain fell, a few wails suddenly joined the sharp screams, and Dragon Descendants blood accidentally splattered onto Liu Heguang’s face.
He reached up to wipe away the warmth on his face, revealing a thoughtful expression.
All the hybrid Dragon Descendants that had come ashore were now lying on the ground. The thick layer of green scales on their faces had not served as a protective mask. White flashed by, piercing through their skulls, and gurgling blood flowed from their foreheads, converging into a river that returned to the Yangtze River.
The white, blood-stained ribbon surrounded Liu Heguang.