Chapter 21: Wind He Ju Beasts

The semicircular hall had grown so quiet that every breath was clearly audible. Ye Jingqiu flipped her wrist to hide the glaring red alarm icon on her Will Ring, then tightly gripped the glass cup bobbing with a few ice cubes, using it to quell the inexplicable restlessness bubbling up inside her.

The Rampage Value spiking upward meant she had regained her command over the elements. This soothing sensation, like soaking in boiling water, was all too familiar. Ye Jingqiu licked her lips, dried out by the air conditioning, and suddenly felt a thrill of anticipation for the night ahead.

The host on stage—or rather, the exotic beast posing as one—hadn’t even started speaking when Ning Wan’s voice crackled through her earpiece: “Not enough intel to ID this guy yet. But any exotic beast that can pass for human is at least B-rank. You two, stay sharp in there.”

Her tone was far more serious than before.

Xie Pingzhi nodded and scanned their surroundings, whispering, “What about that pack of He Ju Beasts? Have they shown up?”

“They emerged from the north earlier—twenty-one of them, all C-rank.”

Ning Wan was holed up at the Base, thousands of miles from Beijing. She slouched in her swivel chair, her massive display screen sliced into countless smaller feeds: from Jingtang Building’s internal cameras to the micro-lens on Ye Jingqiu’s wrist. Crystal-clear frames unfolded across them all, thanks to Aether’s processing.

In the upper-right corner of the display, a shadowy veil hinted at a cluster of bizarre beasts. Thick, bluish fur cloaked their savage faces, leaving only their eyes gleaming with bloodthirsty red in the deep darkness of night.

“Good thing this spot’s in the suburbs—barely a soul around after dark…” Ning Wan tsked to herself, relieved that this round of “psychological counseling” wouldn’t weigh too heavily on her.

But what had drawn this pack of He Ju Beasts here? Were Candle Dragon’s minions really so brazen as to risk exposure?

Shoving her questions aside, Ning Wan turned her focus back to the Trade Fair.

The host launched into his odd introduction. Higher-grade exotic beasts wielded powers beyond human comprehension; with elemental assistance, they could reshape their bones at will, mimicking any creature on Earth—humans very much included.

This one’s transformation was amateurish at best, though. His smile was wooden and unnatural.

The hall’s invited guests paid no mind to such details. The legendary Dragon Scale—the one true token for beholding the miracle-granting Dragon God in person—was enticement enough for these already fanatical Dao Worshippers.

“Meeting all you esteemed guests tonight is truly an honor for me.”

Mr. He, as he introduced himself, offered a faint smile. His oversized, faux-antique black robe swallowed his frame whole.

His gaze, deceptively mild, swept slowly from east to west across the hall—like a predator patrolling its domain, intolerant of any trespassers.

The eerie, piercing tone reverberated through the space, reminiscent of a lone crow’s cry echoing off midnight vines. Ye Jingqiu leaned back into her chair without thinking and glanced at Xie Pingzhi. “He keeps looking over this way.”

Xie Pingzhi hesitated for a heartbeat before flashing her usual smile, murmuring back at the same volume: “Wouldn’t be shocked if he spots us… Silver lining: makes it easier for us to strike.”

A-Xie still seemed utterly nonchalant, and Ye Jingqiu—blissfully ignorant of a true B-rank exotic beast’s horrors—let her worries melt away.

She settled back into her seat and thus missed Xie Pingzhi’s body going rigid in silence.

Up on stage, Mr. He droned on with his speech. The hall remained shrouded in movie-theater gloom, pierced only by two spotlights casting thin beams forward, stirring veils of dust in the air.

“By my reckoning, it’s been over a month since we first crossed paths,” Mr. He intoned without stirring. “I come bearing Lord Dragon God’s decree. Gathering so many Dao Worshippers in this mortal realm is a stroke of rare fortune indeed.”

Impatience stirred below. One voice rose in a drawn-out shout: “So, Mr. He—which lucky souls get the honor tonight?”

“Mr. He, you can’t keep sending us home empty-handed!”

“Mr. He…”

The cries multiplied like ripples from a stone flung into water, anxious clamor sweeping the hall into disarray. Ye Jingqiu craned her neck toward the left, where an elderly man had hauled himself to his feet. The frantic waving at Mr. He had clearly drained most of his strength; all she heard amid the din was his hacking coughs shaking the air.

What compelled these people to wait so patiently here for a single Candle Dragon Scale?

Was it truly just blind faith?

She had no time for deeper musings. Mr. He tapped the microphone lightly twice, then raised a small, dark wooden box with a reddish hue.

Silence crashed down like a gale, the little box extinguishing every sound in an instant!

Ning Wan snapped to attention first, springing from her chair, eyes locked on that tiny…

Dragon Scale!

Diamond-shaped, with seamless curves of flawless perfection.

The deep crimson scale gleamed sharp as a blade—no one could mistake it for a fake. No technology could forge such a thing. It radiated an intrinsic majesty, the mark of a divine being blessed by the laws of the world.

Ye Jingqiu stood frozen. The spotlight’s white glare reflected off the scale’s mirror-polished surface, its profound crimson flooding her vision.

Memories surged like a tidal wave: the vaulted Golden Hall, the imposing white-jade Heavenly Seat, the bone-deep dread of confronting the S-rank titan Candle Dragon…

Her Will Ring triggered a silent alarm. The Rampage Value doubled, then rocketed higher. Ye Jingqiu’s head pounded as if splitting open, an exotic hunger churning in her chest—identical to her clash with the Copy Potion. The whisper returned:

Get it… Get it… Kill it with your own hands!

Kill what?

“Candle Dragon!”

Ning Wan’s frantic shouts yanked Ye Jingqiu back to reality. She mumbled blankly on reflex: “…Huh?”

“Candle Dragon! It’s the real deal—a genuine Candle Dragon scale!” Ning Wan bellowed. “Tilt your micro-cam—get a clear shot!”

She was this close to fainting from exasperation with her new teammate, who seemed deaf as a post. She’d been yelling forever without a peep back. If Xie Pingzhi weren’t still in play, Ning Wan would’ve sworn Ye Jingqiu was already in enemy hands.

Ye Jingqiu hurriedly adjusted the position of the Will Ring. Before she could apologize to Ning Wan, Captain Shi’s clear voice, cool as a mountain spring, rang in her earpiece:

“You’re too noisy. Keep it down.”

Ning Wan clutched at her chest.

Hadn’t she just said a few extra words? Was that enough to annoy Captain Shi’s newbie? Enough to make Captain Shi speak up herself? Enough to get her to shut Ning Wan down?

Everyone said Captain Shi played favorites, and they were right—she did.

So when was Shi Zui going to cut her some slack?

Otherwise, this bunch would drive her to an early grave on the front lines!

Ning Wan stopped bothering with the double-standard captain and shut her mouth, turning her attention to observing the pack of He Ju Beasts. The earpiece channel fell silent again in an instant.

Ye Jingqiu sat bolt upright in her chair, wondering whether the captain had said that because she liked things quiet, or if there had been a touch of speaking up on her behalf.

She smiled faintly, cleared her mind, and looked back up at the dragon scale.

Ye Jingqiu clenched her right fist. She had no clue what that memory fragment in her head had been about, but since her subconscious was screaming for her to claim that dragon scale, tonight she was getting it—no matter what.

Time raced on. Ning Wan gave them an update: “Twenty-one He Ju Beasts have assembled and are heading toward Jingtang Building at roughly 67 kilometers per hour. ETA eighteen minutes.”

The vicious beasts outside were closing in once more, and the situation inside wasn’t looking any better.

Mr. He stood rock-steady in the middle of the stage, holding that scale aloft for a solid five minutes, tireless as a statue.

A drunken fanaticism began to gleam in Chen Yuan’s eyes. Like all the other invitees, she found herself tilting her head back, staring at the dragon scale, her gaze stuck fast as if glued in place.

This was unnatural. Their behavior was all wrong. Xie Pingzhi had attended two trade fairs before, but none had carried this night’s bizarre vibe, laced with a deep, deathly stillness.

At this pivotal moment, Mr. He finally stirred. A mocking smile tugged at his lips, his words dripping like a hypnotic elixir:

“The Dragon God’s decree has descended anew. I shall grant the key of initiation to one favored by the Dragon God, and lead them to the Dragon’s Kingdom.”

Clutching the scale, he descended from the stage, and every eye in the room tracked his every step.

The lights remained dimmed, the spotlights casting rippling halos through the air.

Fine motes of dust swirled and drifted down. Ye Jingqiu gripped her armrest, her eyes fixed on Mr. He as he advanced toward her row in the far back, step by deliberate step.

A strange premonition flickered in Xie Pingzhi’s mind. She let out a low whistle. “This thing isn’t seriously heading our way, is it?”

Her words had barely landed when the footsteps halted.

In the midst of the crowd’s ravenous stares, Mr. He flashed a triumphant grin and thrust out his right hand, the one holding the dragon scale—

Pointing straight at Ye Jingqiu, three rows back!

“Congratulations, friend,” Mr. He said, his expression still wooden. He shot Ye Jingqiu a sardonic smile, then stepped aside with eager impatience, extending a fervent invitation. “Come. The Dragon God awaits you.”

His words landed like a programmed directive. Following the line of his outstretched left arm, the decorative painting on the distant stage split down the middle. The wooden wall exploded open with a boom, revealing a pitch-black maw!

Envious and jealous gazes turned their way from all around. Chen Yuan beamed with vicarious pride, her face alight with excitement, as if her own chance to touch the dragon scale was now within reach.

But Ye Jingqiu didn’t budge. She gazed at the passage ahead—straight to what was probably death—and a sudden idea struck her.

She pressed her earpiece, speaking softly. “Our real goal is that scale, right?”

Xie Pingzhi caught on immediately.

It had been ages since she’d gone toe-to-toe with an exotic beast. At Ye Jingqiu’s words, Xie Pingzhi let out a quiet chuckle.

She outlined the plan. “I’ll grab Chen Yuan. You handle the Copy Command?”

Ye Jingqiu nodded wordlessly. They locked eyes, each seeing the thrill of the hunt mirrored in the other.

People who spent their days with vicious beasts weren’t exactly the straitlaced type.

Ning Wan on the other end picked up on the shift in the air, her voice sharp with alarm. “Hold on—what are you two planning? The Administrative Department will have your heads!”

The two most in sync on Team One had no time for Ning Wan’s fretting. All that came through the channel was the captain’s brief caution: “Be careful.”

It might as well have been permission.

Dead silence gripped the hall. The chosen “lucky one” offered no cheers, no leaps of joy—just sat there, frozen.

Mr. He, expecting her to come running, frowned in bewilderment. That soul had marked this one specifically. Awakening drew near, and he was chafing at the bit.

Mr. He cleared his throat, ready to prod the lowly human once more—

An aura of mortal peril detonated!

Instinct: Shame Grace—incomplete form—activated.

Xie Pingzhi’s eyes flooded with an eerie, inorganic azure. A gale-force wind erupted in cascading blasts. The churning airflow went berserk, sending highball glasses and porcelain crashing in a symphony of shattering.

It happened in a heartbeat. Xie Pingzhi seized Chen Yuan with her right hand, kicked off with her toes, and streaked forward like a hummingbird. She made no other move, but the wind knew her intent.

Pale cyan wind blades surged ahead in a devastating sweep, shredding the heavy aluminum alloy door—purest grade—like tissue paper, leaving it a mangled wreck.

A thunderclap rumble shook the air. The next instant, a howling vortex ripped the door to shreds entirely, its shriek drowning out the entire venue!

Just then, Ye Jingqiu’s Copy Command locked in fully.

Control of the wind was now hers. A boundless sense of freedom and audacity coursed through her, wild as the gale itself.

She wasted no more time. A roaring wind lifted her skyward; then, like a striking panther, she launched forward. Her right hand—unburdened by balance—snaked to the strap on her right calf.

A terrified face loomed before her. Mr. He hadn’t seen this coming—they weren’t following the script—and the utterly exposed beast was still fumbling to summon its elements.

But time was up for this exotic beast friend. Ye Jingqiu snatched the dragon scale with her left hand, twisted her body, and drove her knee viciously into Mr. He’s midsection!

The single-edged hunting knife with its wide blood groove gleamed coldly in her right hand. Without a second’s hesitation, she plunged it downward—

A scream rent the air as scorching blood fountained up, spraying a two-meter geyser!

Screams of terror erupted in the hall, but Ye Jingqiu had no desire to prolong the fight. In the blink of an eye, she was already at the door.

Mr. He was an exotic beast, after all. He quickly regained his senses, his bones and muscles shifting and reorganizing inside him. The gash on his shoulder had already healed more than halfway.

An enraged howl tore from his throat, but Ye Jingqiu paid it no mind. Propping herself against the doorframe with her left hand, she offered a few parting words at Xie Pingzhi’s urging.

“You’d better not try threatening us with other humans,” she said, flashing a provocative smile as she dangled the deep crimson Candle Dragon scale from her fingers. “Otherwise, the safety of this one’s beast form can’t be guaranteed.”

Before the exotic beast could react, Ye Jingqiu’s figure vanished from sight.

Mr. He stared at the empty doorway of the hall, grinding his teeth in fury.

He suddenly threw his head back and unleashed a pure, piercing wolf howl toward the sky.

The 66th floor of Jingtang Building began to shudder violently. Chaotic, thunderous footsteps echoed from every direction. From the passageway gaping open in the wooden wall, dozens of He Ju Beasts roared as they surged outward.

Their target? None other than Ye Jingqiu, clutching the dragon scale in her hand.