“Xiao Yan?”
The person ahead didn’t respond. Chu He raised his voice again, “Yan Lanyu!”
Yan Lanyu’s first reaction wasn’t to turn around, but to lower his head and quickly walk away. A flicker of unease instantly crossed Chu He’s mind, but he didn’t dwell on it. He stepped forward and grabbed his shoulder: “Yan Lanyu!”
Yan Lanyu finally turned around, a faint smile appearing on his pale face: “Why are you here?”
Chu He scrutinized him, seeing only a black shirt and jeans. His shirt hem seemed a bit damp and faintly smelled of blood.
In that instant, Chu He’s heart subtly stirred. He took off his sunglasses and smiled, “That’s what I should be asking you. Where’s Deputy Yu? Where are you going?”
“Deputy Yu isn’t here. I have some private business to attend to out of town.”
“Are you sick? Your voice is so hoarse?”
Yan Lanyu coughed into his hand a couple of times, then said faintly, “Just a slight cold… It’s nothing. My flight’s about to depart. Let’s talk when I get back to Beijing.”
He turned and strode away, but the doubt in Chu He’s mind had reached its peak. “Wait! Yan Lanyu!”
Yan Lanyu turned around again, but the slightly impatient expression on his face and the tense lines of his body silently proclaimed the fact that he was ready to turn and leave at any moment.
Something’s wrong, Chu He thought.
Yan Lanyu, someone rescued from overseas, could he just wander around like this given his identity? And did he report his departure to Yu Jingzhong? If he did, would Yu Jingzhong let him just leave like this?
“What else is it?” Yan Lanyu asked impatiently.
At that moment, Chu He’s mind tied itself in a knot. He subconsciously asked, “…When are you going to pay me back the hundred yuan you owe me?”
At the restroom entrance, Zhou Hui walked out while answering his phone: “What, Yan Lanyu was abducted by a demon ghost?!”
“The demon ghost is using Yan Lanyu’s body as leverage, severely injuring Long Jiu before carjacking and escaping to the airport. It’s likely trying to take him back to Japan,” Yu Jingzhong’s voice came from the other end of the line. “The mirror shard he carries has always been a hidden danger. The Esoteric Sect won’t give up this treasure passed down for centuries. If we let him be captured and taken back, Yan Lanyu will surely face grave danger…”
“Damn it, they dare to touch my future daughter in the next life!” Zhou Hui immediately flew into a rage. “What now?”
In such an urgent situation, Yu Jingzhong almost twitched at the corner of his mouth because of him. “What is ‘future daughter in the next life’… Never mind. I’ve already notified Group One members to search various locations like train stations and airports. If you can get to the airport as quickly as possible, then immediately…”
“Coincidentally, I’m at the airport right now. When will my subordinates arrive?”
Yu Jingzhong asked suspiciously, “Weren’t you vacationing in Hell? Why are you at the airport?”
Zhou Hui: “…”
Zhou Hui exited the restroom and returned to the departure hall.
Not far away, under the boarding gate display board, Yan Lanyu looked at Chu He and retorted, “When did I ever owe you a hundred yuan?”
“…” Chu He was suddenly speechless. While reaching into his pocket for his phone to call Yu Jingzhong, he thought to himself, Why did I even think of that question? Am I crazy?
Yan Lanyu seemed to see through his delaying tactic and said, “If there’s nothing else, let’s talk when I get back. I need to board now. See you later.”
Chu He shouted, “Wait!”
Yan Lanyu turned and walked away, Chu He hesitated for half a second, then immediately chased after him.
There weren’t too many people at the airport at this time. Yan Lanyu noticed the footsteps catching up behind him and suddenly quickened his pace, squeezing through several passengers ahead. Just as Chu He was about to catch up, Zhou Hui suddenly rushed over from not far in the waiting hall, holding his phone, and roared, “Phoenix Four!”
A sudden shout exploded, instantly turning many heads. Yan Lanyu and Chu He simultaneously looked back.
Zhou Hui sharply commanded, “Stop Yan Lanyu! Quick!”
In an instant, as if a starting gun had fired, Yan Lanyu immediately sprinted, and Chu He, without hesitation, dashed after him!
“Hey!” “Hey, what’s going on!” Scattered pedestrians dragging luggage were immediately knocked over, and a tour group was sent sprawling. The tour guide, waving a small flag, angrily yelled at them, “Hey! Are you in a hurry to be reincarnated?!”
Yan Lanyu casually grabbed an old lady still wearing a tour group sun hat and pushed her backward without looking. The old lady stumbled in fright but was timely caught by Chu He, who then handed her to the utterly furious tour guide. Immediately after, Chu He took off, almost stepping on everyone’s shoulders and heads, charging forward without his feet touching the ground!
“Stop!” Chu He roared, grabbing Yan Lanyu’s shoulder from above.
Yan Lanyu turned around, an eerie smile on his face, and fiercely punched Chu He’s face, making his head snap sideways!
Yan Lanyu’s strength was actually ordinary. His physique and muscle density meant his attacks primarily relied on spells and Onmyodo arts. Yet, this punch made Chu He see stars, taste sweetness in his throat, and hear a ringing in his ears, almost making him let go.
Yan Lanyu struggled with force, but Phoenix Mingwang’s combat awareness honed over millennia hadn’t completely vanished even after Nirvana. In intense pain, Chu He returned a punch. Yan Lanyu didn’t expect such a fierce counterattack. The impact of the knuckles on his chest produced a faint cracking sound of bone, and the immense force sent him stumbling backward!
“Who are you!” Chu He rasped.
Yan Lanyu got up and ran without a word, only to be tackled to the ground by Chu He head-on.
The waiting hall immediately erupted into chaos, and Zhou Hui ran furiously from a distance.
But at this moment, Yan Lanyu and Chu He paid no attention to anything else. The brief struggle of a few seconds was incredibly intense. Yan Lanyu’s elbow struck Chu He’s temple hard, sending Chu He tumbling backward, but he stubbornly gripped Yan Lanyu’s throat, refusing to let go, squeezing so hard that his fingernails dug deep into the flesh.
“…” Yan Lanyu’s throat spasmed. He seemed to curse something, but couldn’t utter a complete word.
His side neck was scraped open, and blood instantly flowed down his neck to the ground, blood bubbles starting to appear at the corners of his mouth. At the same time, his hand kept clawing at his side. Suddenly, he seemed to grab something and abruptly lifted it, stabbing towards Chu He!
From this angle, Chu He could barely see the blue-glowing blade. However, Zhou Hui, arriving just in time, stepped on Yan Lanyu’s wrist in a swift motion, then pushed Chu He away.
The blade scraped against Zhou Hui’s black jeans leg with a tearing sound. Yan Lanyu’s strike landed, he stumbled to his feet, his eyes suddenly rolled back to show the whites, and two streams of bloody tears streamed down.
The surrounding crowd let out horrified cries. Chu He instantly exclaimed, “What is this?!”
Zhou Hui had no time to answer. He was about to kick Yan Lanyu in the chest to knock him down—but at that moment, Yan Lanyu hissed, “Try coming one step closer!”
Zhou Hui abruptly stopped—he saw the blade pointed directly at his own chest!
Zhou Hui said in a deep voice, “You’re a demon ghost, you must obey your master’s commands. Your master told you to bring Yan Lanyu back, but didn’t say you could just kill him, did he?”
Chu He doubted, “Demon ghost?”
“Yan Lanyu” smiled, the smile, coupled with his face streaming bloody tears, appearing particularly horrifying: “Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Besides, even if Yan Lanyu dies, I can still manipulate his corpse to return to Japan. It will be the same then, understand? Why don’t you let me go first? Perhaps you can even reclaim a complete corpse later…”
Chu He imperceptibly moved half a step forward, but was stopped by Zhou Hui’s raised hand.
“I can roughly guess who your master is,” Zhou Hui said faintly. “None of you will escape.”
The demon ghost showed a contemptuous smile.
Just then, commotion came from the opposite side. Over a dozen members of Group One, all dressed in black, rushed into the waiting hall first, followed by airport security and officials who rushed in as well.
The demon ghost glanced at them, and under everyone’s watchful eyes, suddenly shrank into the air, its body twisting into an unimaginable posture, instantly disappearing into thin air!
“Boss Zhou!”
Several team members rushed over, but Zhou Hui waved them off, his face slightly pale.
He plopped down onto the ground. Chu He knelt beside his leg, pulled up his pant leg and looked inside, only to see that the scraped skin, along with the flesh, had entirely turned black.
“Yan Lanyu’s body was possessed by a demon ghost?”
“Yes, Yu Jingzhong called just now and told us to do our best to intercept him at the airport.”
Chu He bit his ring finger and dripped a drop of blood onto Zhou Hui’s wound. Instantly, a wisp of white smoke rose from the charred skin, and then the wound slowly dried up and scabbed over at a visible rate.
“What are you thinking?” Zhou Hui asked with interest.
Chu He, however, was expressionless. He exerted force with his hand and helped him up.
Zhou Hui limped on his injured leg and leisurely said, “Demon ghosts are spirits refined from Sea of Blood monsters. Although very few humans can refine them, the strongest Esoteric Sect in Japanese Onmyodo might actually be able to do it. As for the rumor that a demon ghost’s personality and aura will resemble its master’s, that’s just a rumor, so if you, like me, think its scent is like our Da Mao, you don’t really need to worry too much…”
“Shut up!” Chu He finally couldn’t bear it anymore.
Zhou Hui laughed. “Oh, you’re annoyed now. I told you early on that Da Mao leaving the Sea of Blood without a word was definitely suspicious. You insisted that the brat was just taking a spontaneous trip…”
Chu He slapped Zhou Hui on the head.
The latter’s hair, styled with two kilograms of hairspray, immediately flattened.
The few team members finally managed to deal with the airport officials with their documents and then went their separate ways to arrange broadcasts and calm the crowd. Two more senior young men stepped forward, respectfully greeting Group Leader Four, then asked, “Boss, what do we do now? Deputy Yu said if we don’t find Xiao Yan, everyone’s bonus will be deducted. What’s the plan?”
“He went to Japan.” Zhou Hui irritably raked his hair, saying, “It’s just that he has no passport or visa, so I don’t know how he got on the plane… Also, there might be people from the Esoteric Sect waiting for him there, so everyone be careful.”
“We will immediately send people to monitor all airport entrances and exits, as well as apply for a warrant to notify the control tower to monitor all flights heading to Japan.” The team member paused, then asked concernedly, “Boss, how are you? Do you want to go back to the unit to rest first?”
Zhou Hui and Chu He exchanged glances.
“If he boards now, it’ll be too late. Tell Deputy Yu, we’ll go intercept him on the plane first!”
Although the commotion in the waiting hall was significant, it was quickly quelled forcefully and did not cause much uproar. The nearest flights were not delayed because of it, including a flight to Tokyo, Japan. The plane was already on the tarmac, preparing for takeoff. At this point, it was far too late to apply to higher authorities for a warrant to delay the plane.
Zhou Hui ran, encouraging, “Quick! We’ll sneak onto that flight, if we run faster, we can still make it!”
Chu He panted, “No… listen to me, the demon ghost knows it’s been exposed, it might not even get on this plane…”
“All other flights require transfers, this one is the fastest! It wouldn’t dare to delay at the airport!”
“We… we won’t make it…”
Zhou Hui turned around and scooped up Chu He. Behind them, a team of airport security trailed, their momentum like a thousand troops crossing the Yalu River. As they rushed down the control tower, passing staff members stopped in surprise.
Two young men from Group One held the chubby airport official, who, with his feet not touching the ground, was sweating profusely and shouting into a walkie-talkie, “Ground control center? Listen to me! Special situation!…”
Zhou Hui rushed down the stairs with a whoosh, pushing open the glass door. He saw a silver-gleaming passenger plane on the distant tarmac, slowly turning and moving towards the night sky.
“Damn it!” Zhou Hui immediately roared, “Tell Deputy Yu to send an urgent red-headed document to the airport control tower to closely monitor suspicious individuals on the plane!”
“It… it might not be on this plane,” Chu He said, still gasping and rubbing his ribs from being held too tightly. “And what if we provoke the demon ghost and cause a plane crash?…”
Zhou Hui muttered a curse, then was about to ask someone to check the next direct flight to Tokyo, Japan, when he suddenly paused.
He seemed to have thought of something, thoughtfully stroking his chin as he looked at Chu He: “Darling—”
Chu He: “…”
They exchanged glances, and for a long while, no one spoke. The group of team members behind them looked on in confusion.
“Just this once.” After a long silence, Chu He said expressionlessly, “I want compensation for mental distress afterward.”
Zhou Hui immediately made an effeminate gesture with his hand: “My lady! Isn’t my entire fortune yours already?!”
Five minutes later, an inconspicuous corner of the airport runway.
A golden-red aura rose into the night sky, like a gauze dance drifting with the wind, and also like a kaleidoscopic aurora, displaying a breathtakingly magnificent posture.
Within the aura, the human form of the youth transformed into countless points of light, then re-converged to form the shape of a phoenix, spreading its flame-like wings in all directions.
Zhou Hui grabbed the phoenix’s feather and flipped onto its back, firmly straddling it. He lowered his head and asked loudly, “Darling, are you okay—!”
The phoenix said coldly, “If not, shall I ride you instead?”
“Darling, you shouldn’t say that—! If my true form couldn’t fly, I’d be very happy for you to ride me—!” Zhou Hui swore to the heavens and earth, “You must have forgotten after Nirvana. Before, I often encouraged you to ride on top, but you were too shy and never wanted to move yourself—!”
The phoenix suddenly spread its wings and soared into the high sky.
Zhou Hui’s strong voice still echoed in the air for a long time: “If you don’t believe me, I’ll let you ride me back after we get to Japan—! Ride for as long as you want, in whatever position you want. That demon ghost, let it go to hell…”
The phoenix flicked its long tail feathers, scattering thousands of tiny points of light across the night sky, converging into a dazzling band of light.
Then the light pointed directly east, drawing a magnificent river of stars towards Japan.
Author’s Note:
The couple realized during their struggle that the demon ghost had an aura somewhat similar to Maha’s because demon ghosts are a specialty of the Sea of Blood and possess characteristics like absorbing their master’s aura. Thus, they deduced that the demon ghost was refined by Maha, and their unruly child had a hand in this matter.
