"I'm sorry, Old Lu, I can't introduce this friend to you yet." Cheng Xiaofan flatly refused Lu Shengming's question.
Cheng Xiaofan had his reasons for not wanting to introduce Ye Shisan to Lu Shengming.
Years ago, Ye Shisan was inexplicably captured by hidden dark figures, tortured in a cave, and then abandoned in a wild mountain gully. They must have had a purpose.
While clearing the toxins from Ye Shisan's body, Cheng Xiaofan accidentally discovered that when the parasite encountered an attack from wild animals, it would emit a mysterious aura that deterred them.
In other words, when the hidden dark figures abandoned Ye Shisan in the wild mountain gully, they didn't want him to be harmed by animals, so he could survive and leave.
This was also why Cheng Xiaofan suspected from the beginning that the hidden dark figures might have a clandestine plot hidden behind releasing Ye Shisan.
From this, Cheng Xiaofan deduced that those hidden dark figures might also be lurking in the shadows, constantly monitoring Ye Shisan's movements.
He worried that letting Lu Shengming know about Ye Shisan might alert the enemy.
"I'm going to rest, bye!"
Without further ado, he hung up the phone.
On the other end, Lu Shengming was so angry he felt dizzy.
"This kid is intentionally trying to make me angry!"
Hmph!
If I really leave you alone, I won't be able to find out about your friend?
Lu Shengming immediately called Dao Dahai.
"Director Dao, do you know if Cheng Xiaofan has made any new friends in the last two days?" In Lu Shengming's opinion, the friend Cheng Xiaofan mentioned must be someone he had recently met.
"This guy has eyes that aren't human."
"He must have discovered something from a new friend, which is why he found out the other person was tortured by hidden dark figures."
Given the importance of maintaining stability in China's martial world, Lu Shengming, as the head of a regional martial affairs bureau, had to be cautious.
Dao Dahai was slightly taken aback upon hearing this. "Reporting to Director Lu, I received a report today that Cheng Xiaofan has taken in the Water Fox trio and a person named Ye Shisan at Nanshan Lake!"
Lu Shengming said, "I saw some posts about the Water Fox trio on the martial world forum. They are three sisters, water element cultivators."
"This Ye Shisan..."
As he spoke, he was suddenly startled and asked, "Does he have two heads?"
Dao Dahai immediately replied, "Director Lu, you are correct. This Ye Shisan does have two heads. He is thin and somewhat ugly."
"I don't understand why Cheng Xiaofan would take in such a person."
Lu Shengming chuckled and said, "Cheng Xiaofan is a shrewd individual, handpicked from among shrewd individuals. If Ye Shisan didn't have crucial importance to him, would he take him in?"
Dao Dahai asked curiously, "Director Lu, is this Ye Shisan a very capable person?"
Lu Shengming chuckled, "I know a bit about Ye Shisan, but his full capabilities are not yet apparent."
"However, this shrewd Cheng Xiaofan might have a unique way of developing Ye Shisan's abilities for his own use!"
"What exactly are those abilities?" Dao Dahai asked, his curiosity piqued.
Lu Shengming said, "You don't need to inquire about that. Even if I told you, you might not understand."
"Alright, Director Dao, it's getting late. I've disturbed your rest. Goodbye!"
After hanging up, Lu Shengming fell into deep thought.
"I never expected Ye Shisan to appear by Cheng Xiaofan's side. Is this a coincidence or destiny?" He lit a cigarette and took a slow drag, murmuring to himself.
One night, several years ago, as the head of the Northern Martial Affairs Bureau, Lu Shengming received a special mission from above to go to a certain location to apprehend a group of hidden dark figures.
It was a bitter battle!
The fight raged until dawn, with many casualties on both sides.
In the end, Lu Shengming's side captured one hidden dark figure, while the rest were eliminated.
From that person's confession, Lu Shengming learned that this group of hidden dark figures was pursuing a soil element cultivator named Ye Shisan.
More than a year ago, they had been ordered to kidnap Ye Shisan into the deep mountains, torment him, and pour a toxin refined in Western countries onto his wounds.
It was a very peculiar toxin. Once it entered the human body, the hidden dark figures could locate the person anywhere, anytime.
Just as dawn was about to break, the hidden dark figures threw Ye Shisan into a mountain gully, allowing him to leave on his own.
Perhaps due to some technical error, a few days after Ye Shisan left the gully, the hidden dark figures suddenly found that he had completely disappeared from their sight.
It was precisely because this group of hidden dark figures was searching for Ye Shisan everywhere that they inadvertently exposed their identities, attracting the attention of higher authorities, and Lu Shengming received the order to apprehend them.
"Why did you kidnap Ye Shisan, torment his body, and then release him, only to search for him?"
Lu Shengming still remembered his questions to the hidden dark figure during the interrogation years ago.
The hidden dark figure said, "Only our sect leader knows about this. We junior members have no idea."
"Where is your sect leader?" Lu Shengming pressed.
The hidden dark figure replied, "He was killed by you in this fierce battle!"
"Also, I only heard that the toxin poured on Ye Shisan was done under the orders of the sect leader from some foreigner."
"Based on my personal speculation, it seems they wanted to conduct some experiment on Ye Shisan!"
As for what kind of experiment it was, the hidden dark figure knew nothing.
However, Lu Shengming could tell from the person's status that he was indeed unaware of deeper matters.
Since this hidden dark figure had the blood of many innocent people on his hands, he was secretly executed the next day.
Thinking of this, Lu Shengming wanted to call Cheng Xiaofan again immediately, but seeing the late hour, he knew the young man was likely already asleep.
Forget it.
He would send him a text message instead.
...
Just as Lu Shengming predicted, Cheng Xiaofan was already fast asleep at this moment.
In his dream, Cheng Xiaofan transformed into a golden dragon again. However, instead of flying into the starry sky to meet his beloved goddess, he lay quietly in the grass by a body of water.
He raised his head high, his eyes filled with deep longing, gazing at the vast starry sky.
It was as if his homeland lay somewhere deep behind the stars.
As his gaze lingered in yearning, tears welled up in his eyes.