Chapter 158

Chapter 26: The Rotten Wood Cultivators

　　Fang Hui also sensed something was off and whispered, “What’s going on?”

　　”Minor issue, don’t panic.”

　　The Blonde-haired Maiden said this with her mouth, but her little hand was already reaching for her mobile phone, hesitating whether to send a message to the nearest Garrison Unit.

　　At this distance, it wouldn’t take long for them to arrive, but the direction is a bit off. Plus, they have no idea about the opponent’s strength. Calling them over recklessly might result in unnecessary casualties.

　　Just as Yuan Xiaoling was hesitating, she suddenly heard a girl’s voice,

　　”Miss Yuan, what are you doing here?”

　　Looking down from the car, at the edge of the bushes, there stood Xin Lan.

　　This morning, upon noticing the Blonde-Haired Maiden and the White-haired Maiden driving away from their base toward an unknown place, they quickly followed.

　　Xin Lan convinced them to let her tag along, claiming she could distract attention and gather intelligence. She thought to herself, Yuan Xiaoling looks like a big-boobed airhead; surely, she won’t suspect a thing.

　　”I went out for a stroll early this morning and somehow ended up here,” she flashed what she believed to be an innocent smile. “I didn’t expect to bump into you. What brings you here?”

　　A few muffled sounds came from the houses nearby, indicating something had happened, but the people here were too preoccupied to care.

　　Yuan Xiaoling glanced at the girl across from her, pondering for a while before hesitantly asking, “Did you drop out of school?”

　　Xin Lan blinked in confusion, “What do you mean?”

　　”Nothing much, I just think that you kinda resemble someone who hasn’t graduated. You approach situations with an overly confident mindset,” Yuan Xiaoling rubbed her hands together. “But you don’t seem entirely… naive, so I figured you probably didn’t receive a complete education.”

　　Dropping out means not graduating normally, leaving school prematurely.

　　Xin Lan stood frozen in place for a moment before her face darkened, “Are you insulting me?!”

　　She finally got it—being called immature mentally and looking old on the outside.

　　Yuan Xiaoling wasn’t pleased hearing this. How was it an insult? She had been rather gentle about it.

　　”I said your mentality resembles that of a student, which isn’t necessarily immature,” the Blonde-haired Maiden explained seriously. “And looking twenty-something doesn’t make you old; you just don’t look like a student.”

　　Xin Lan trembled with anger. More than being mad, she felt baffled and wronged:

　　”Why are you insulting me when I was greeting you nicely? What gives you the right?”

　　”I already told you, you’re making assumptions. You come up with random excuses expecting me to believe them,” Yuan Xiaoling paused briefly and added, “Also, there’s something I didn’t get to tell you last time.”

　　Xin Lan blinked again, “What is it?”

　　”Your buddy Yi Jie, when she was defeated by us and was about to be killed, begged for mercy and spilled the beans on you. We’ve known since the beginning that you joined the Yun Family months ago.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling shrugged nonchalantly, “I feel sorry for you having such a friend willing to sell you out for her life.”

　　She had known all along!

　　Xin Lan recalled the information everyone seemed to know during the banquet back then, realizing she’d been played. Dizzy and overwhelmed with rage, she spat out,

　　”Ms. Yuan, you’re in deep trouble today!”

　　As she was about to rally her group to attack, a massive roar echoed overhead. A colossal water-made creature hung above them, its gargantuan mouth diving straight down.

　　”Haha! Didn’t see that coming, did ya?” came the haughty laughter of the Blonde-Haired Maiden with ample assets. “I attacked first before you even had the chance!”

　　She’d restrained herself for so long, and now this felt so much better.

　　…………

　　Time rewinds to earlier when Bai Ling ventured alone into the alley, weaving through a labyrinth of abandoned buildings until she barely found a place that looked livable.

　　According to records, this person’s family member was his mother, an elderly woman. If she lived around here, this building would be the most likely candidate.

　　But just as she took a few steps up, a creaking sound erupted, and the staircase along with the entire hallway collapsed beneath her feet.

　　Crash-crash-crash—

　　Amidst the swirling dust, an old grandma emerged from the adjacent storage room, wielding a nail hammer.

　　When the smoke cleared, the White-haired Maiden stood unscathed on the first-floor rubble, protected by her Fifth-tier mental power.

　　The grandma scrutinized her carefully before silently setting down the hammer.

　　”How come it’s you, young lady?”

　　It turned out that for the past year, Grandma had been living cautiously per her son’s instructions. After hearing unsettling news about the Four Squares Academy recently, she grew even more cautious, fearing her son’s enemies might show up. So she set traps beforehand.

　　Fortunately, she had been keeping up with related news online and recognized Yuan Xiaoling and Bai Ling upon sight.

　　Not to mention, everyone knew Yuan Xiaoling was now the top dog in Tianhai City, and Bai Ling was her darling wife… or so the internet claimed.

　　After some explanation, Bai Ling grasped the current situation.

　　”I’m indeed here because of your son. Though it’s the city’s fault, we’ve taken full responsibility for the matter now, including distributing compensation.”

　　Bai Ling recited her prepared lines, “In return, I hope to inquire about some things.”

　　The grandma remained silent for a long time before sighing.

　　”He’s always been like that, acting rashly even in his forties as if he never grew up. I warned him against certain things, but he never listened, thinking he knows best, and then…”

　　Though the old woman’s rambling made little sense to Bai Ling, she couldn’t interrupt and allowed her to vent.

　　Grandma stopped mid-sentence, intending to find a chair amidst the debris. Seeing a broken chair leg sticking out, she tugged hard only to realize the whole thing had fallen apart.

　　Crash-crash-crash, Bai Ling used her mental power to conjure up a chair for her, assembling it like Lego pieces with broken steel rods and wooden planks.

　　”Thank you,” the grandma sat down and caught her breath. “Where were we?”

　　Just then, a dragon’s roar reverberated outside. Bai Ling’s expression shifted slightly as she moved aside the rubble blocking her path and stepped onto an open space to look afar.

　　Roar—!!

　　After several enhancements, the Water Dragon had grown so large it could cover half a street with one gulp.

　　Yuan Xiaoling crossed her arms, watching a streak of emerald-green spiritual power narrowly escape from under the dragon’s mouth.

　　”Tsk, elemental properties.”

　　Wind attribute sure moves fast.

　　The emerald-green spiritual power fled aimlessly, stumbling around after escaping, eventually tripping on a step and falling flat on the ground.

　　”Yuan Xiaoling, you cowardly sneak-attacker!” Xin Lan shouted nervously toward the surroundings. “Come out! Take her down!”

　　Mysterious tree clusters slowly pulled themselves out of the ground, like carrots being yanked up. Attached to their roots were one shadowy, gaunt figure after another.

　　”So, scared yet… hiss.”

　　Xin Lan was gloating when a long root swept past her nose by mere centimeters, carving a crack into the ground. Only then did she realize her “buddies” didn’t care about her life or death. To avoid dying from an indiscriminate Area-of-Effect attack, she hastily retreated dozens of meters.

　　Yuan Xiaoling’s gaze turned serious.

　　When the Water Dragon bit into the ground earlier, it crushed and broke part of the strange trees, but now they were pulling themselves out alongside others, merely missing some branches.

　　Hadn’t they damaged the main body? Are the people beneath the roots the main body? Or do they possess some other form of immortality?

　　”Yuan Xiaoling! Now let’s see,” came Xin Lan’s voice from afar, “whether your tricks can beat our ‘Rotten Wood Cultivators’!”