"Cough, don't be angry, Ziye is just a bit impetuous..." Seeing the stiff atmosphere, Michael quickly stepped forward to smooth things over, patting Mo Ziye's shoulder and signaling him to speak less.
"If you can't control your emotions, go back," Bai Cha said indifferently as she turned away. "I can't stop a person's curiosity, which is why I brought you here this once."
Bai Cha's voice, originally cool, felt even more piercing in the night. It was as if, the moment they stepped out of the time capsule, all human emotions had completely faded.
Meng Qinghuan, who usually had a smiling and easy-going demeanor, also fell silent, following Bai Cha with a faint smile.
"Let's go," Bai Cha uttered a single word, yet Meng Qinghuan understood her meaning. They had long since developed a tacit understanding.
Meng Qinghuan stepped forward and placed a hand on Mo Ziye's shoulder, while Lucifer followed obediently.
Meng Qinghuan appeared delicate, with slender, almost feminine hands, yet possessed astonishing strength. A gentle press was enough to render Mo Ziye immobile.
With no other choice, Mo Ziye could only watch as the two tall figures gradually disappeared into the faint black mist.
"Don't be sad, little Mo. Everyone is like this when doing missions," Meng Qinghuan explained with a smile to the somewhat wronged Mo Ziye after Bai Cha had left. "The primary goal of a mission is its success rate. With your impulsive nature, there have been too many instances of teammates sacrificing themselves or missions failing. Therefore, our principle is absolute obedience."
"So, Little Bai doesn't have any prejudice against you; the mission comes first for her," Meng Qinghuan added. "It's also for your own protection."
Mo Ziye didn't quite understand, "But what if Bai Cha's judgment and orders are wrong?"
"That won't happen," Meng Qinghuan replied without hesitation, giving a definitive answer. "Before undertaking a mission, Little Bai anticipates all possible developments. Nothing will catch her off guard. We're not fools; we don't trust her blindly. Secondly, teamwork is like merging different people into one entity. And one entity only needs one brain and one mouth."
"Oh, one more reminder," Meng Qinghuan tilted his head with a smile. "It's best not to act on misplaced kindness. Our principle is to eliminate the overly compassionate first."
Mo Ziye was bewildered, "Huh?"
"Yes, even if you feel someone is pitiful, don't act impulsively. If you insist on doing so, we will abandon you," Meng Qinghuan nodded earnestly. "In such cases, we'll let you all perish together; we won't interfere."
Mo Ziye: "..."
The night was hazy, with moonlight and stars hidden behind clouds and fog, revealing nothing unusual.
Bai Cha quickly found the address on the report. It wasn't hard to locate. Among numerous houses, only this one was the most dilapidated and the brightest. On a night when all other lights were extinguished, only this small house was illuminated.
Bai Cha signaled Lucifer to retreat and stepped forward to knock on the door.
"Knock, knock, knock."
"Creak—"
An old, slightly rusty iron door opened a crack. With a groan, the door revealed a patch of night illuminated by a flood of dim yellow light pouring out from inside.
"Looking for your daughter," Bai Cha said, pressing on the doorframe and revealing half her face with a professional expression.
"My daughter is fine, and our family doesn't take visitors." An eye with a cloudy pupil, filled with vigilance and strong aversion, squeezed through the gap. The voice was sharp, yet strangely youthful for the wrinkled face.
"Don't play dumb, Madam Yun," Bai Cha's voice remained steady, even carrying a hint of familiarity. She tightened her grip on the doorframe. "We've met before; you know who I am. It would be best for everyone if you cooperate."
Meeting Bai Cha's sharp, eagle-like gaze, Yun Xia's eyes darted away. Upon seeing the doorframe cracking under Bai Cha's grip, her pupils widened, and her breath hitched.
She suddenly sobered up, as if doused with a bucket of cold water. Yun Xia realized that the girl she had once refused help from had reappeared before her. If before her heart was filled with fear, envy, and a trace of longing, now only fear remained.
She had married into a prominent family, and her former status made her acutely aware of what Bai Cha's presence signified. Yun Xia hadn't expected her troubles to escalate to the point of alarming the Bai family's eldest daughter.
After a moment of silence, Yun Xia looked at Bai Cha, who was holding the doorframe with her right hand, preventing her from closing it. She understood that it was impossible to refuse Bai Cha entry today. Everyone knew how unyielding Bai Cha was; confrontation would only lead to a bad outcome, especially for her in her current vulnerable state.
Yun Xia appeared aged, with a significant portion of her hair turned white. Lucifer noticed that despite her frail appearance, her gestures and habits were those of a younger woman. He glanced at Bai Cha, who seemed unfazed.
The interior of the house was dilapidated and messy. Bai Cha sat on a worn leather sofa, showing no signs of displeasure. Despite the house's ruin, incense was burning, emitting a strange aroma. Before Lucifer could react, Yun Xia suddenly knelt down.
"Miss Bai, please spare us." Yun Xia knelt on the ground, trembling and curled into a ball, causing Lucifer to frown slightly.
"Where is your daughter?" Bai Cha's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at Yun Xia kneeling on the ground. She stood up and said, "Remove the incense."
"Miss Bai, we have our reasons..." Yun Xia's lips were pale. If it were someone else, Yun Xia might have made excuses, but having witnessed Bai Cha's methods firsthand, she dared not harbor any hope of evasion. She had seen Bai Cha deal with an informant in the gladiatorial arena after her husband brought her there, an event that had terrified her to this day.
Bai Cha said no more. She stood up and walked to the still-smoking incense burner, directly throwing the entire box of incense out the window.
The doors and windows were all opened, and the strange aroma in the house dissipated considerably, yet the peculiar scent grew stronger. It was the smell of blood and decay.
Bai Cha's gaze darkened as she walked towards the end of the narrow, short corridor, towards the only small room. Pushing the door open, Bai Cha's brow furrowed deeply. This dilapidated small room was plastered with photos of a little girl. The rundown room contained only a salvaged bed and a small writing desk. The walls were densely covered with photographs of a girl, from childhood to the present, as if this were the only way to hold onto a little girl's time.
Baimon's white hair and red eyes were indeed due to her inherent flaws, her inability to fully control her power and bloodline. During that great battle, Baimon sacrificed half her soul to protect Meng Qinghuan, leaving her unable to control or suppress her power at will. The redness of her pupils was a dark crimson, like blood.
However, the photos before them showed a similar phenomenon occurring in both humans and dragons. Human genes were weak but extremely resilient. Therefore, even when resonating with dragons, human appearance wouldn't change; only internal power would be altered. The little girl on the wall, before the age of ten, had normal black hair and black eyes. Afterward, her pupils turned a strange crimson, and the data indicated that her powers had mutated, appearing to be corrupted by dragon blood.
Under normal circumstances, forcibly injecting dragon blood would also cause such a mutation, but individuals in such a state would die within a year. Yet, this little girl had survived healthily, no wonder the 'Light Faction' was so eager to have her for experimentation.
Lucifer stood in the outer living room, diligently guarding the woman kneeling on the ground, praying for something.
With a loud "bang," before Lucifer could react, Yun Xia's face changed dramatically. She scrambled up and rushed into the room.
As they both burst into the room, Bai Cha was nowhere to be seen. A large hole had been smashed in the wooden floor, revealing a narrow passage. Yun Xia's face turned pale. She had taken great care to make the floor's color and seams appear extremely natural, yet it had been discovered in mere seconds.
"My apologies," Lucifer frowned, his tone devoid of any actual remorse. He grabbed Yun Xia and jumped into the hole. As Bai Cha's personal attendant, he was supposed to stay by her side.
Cold, damp, dirty... even disgusting. This was Lucifer's assessment of the basement. What shocked him most wasn't the basement itself, but the ground covered in bones still bearing flesh and blood, and the girl chained in the corner.
"No! Don't go closer!" A slightly shrill female voice emanated from Yun Xia. Lucifer quickly pressed down on Yun Xia's back, only to be astonished to hear Yun Xia's voice suddenly take on a hoarse draconic growl.
Lucifer looked down abruptly, thinking he had misheard. Upon closer inspection, he saw that fine scales had appeared on the neck of the woman beneath his hands, ugly and deformed.
"Meddling bastard! Don't touch my daughter!!" Yun Xia suddenly went berserk. Her mind seemed to become chaotic. Her left eye gradually turned a blood-red, and two streams of bloody tears gushed from her sockets, blurring her vision.
The girl lay vulnerable on the ground amidst a pool of blood. She lowered her eyes, letting the screams wash over her, seemingly numb. A pair of shoes stepped onto the scattered bones and stopped before her. As the girl looked up, she saw a woman as dark as the night standing before her, like an emissary from hell.
At that moment, Yun Xia seemed to hear the voice she had heard before.
"Do you need help."
When she was taken away by Chiyano, Bai Cha had stood before her in the same way, asking that question indifferently. However, what had she replied then? She had been too frightened, lowering her head timidly. What had she said?
She said.
"No, I don't."
"Thump, thump."
Yun Xia suddenly quieted down. Her heart pounded violently, almost deafeningly. A jumble of emotions suddenly swept through her mind—fear, anger, and yearning.
Fear. She seemed to see her husband approaching her with a club and a cleaver again, and that glimmer of light, after being rejected by her, had gone elsewhere.
Anger. How desperately she had wished Bai Cha would take her away regardless of the consequences. She was so afraid, too scared to ask, but Bai Cha should have sensed her fear. Why couldn't Bai Cha have taken her away no matter what! She wanted help!
Yearning. She truly wanted to escape this hell, truly wished someone would save her!
The girl on the ground slowly opened her eyes. At this moment, Bai Cha's indifferent face appeared before her, and she suddenly felt at peace. A voice deep within her told her this was her last chance to escape hell.
"Save me..."
After speaking only two words, the girl felt dizzy and her vision blurred. The remnants of meat in her mouth, exuding a bloody stench, made her almost faint, yet she lacked the strength to vomit. Her stomach spasmed, but she finally managed to grasp this straw of hope with all her might.
"Roar—Roar!!"
A ferocious roar, carrying a strong, fishy smell, assailed them. Bai Cha frowned, about to retreat, when a hand gently rested on her shoulder. Pure black power coiled around them, isolating the turbid aura completely.
"Don't worry, my mistress, I am still by your side."