Chapter 195 – A Touch of Green Amidst the Flowers

With Su Ming, who possessed the strength of an Upper-Rank Professional, entering the fray, the outcome of the battle was no longer in doubt.

Even though there were quite a few Underground Professionals attacking the Bai Family, they were powerless against an Upper-Rank Professional.

The gap between Upper-Rank and Lower-Rank Professionals was once again made clear, causing the battle to tilt overwhelmingly in one direction.

If Su Ming hadn’t been a false Upper-Rank Hunter but a true Upper-Rank Sorcerer, with his physical prowess still within the Mortal range, the fight might have ended even faster.

Of course, if Su Ming were to use Spirit Art here, he could likely vaporize all the Attackers in an instant.

However, even disregarding Su Ming’s desire to keep his identity as a Dual Professional hidden, using Spirit Art in such an enclosed, dark environment was simply too dangerous.

In such conditions, high-powered Spirit Art was essentially a bomb that made no distinction between friend and foe, burying everyone alive.

Perhaps this was precisely why all the Attackers sent to harvest the survivors were Hunters, with not a single Sorcerer among them.

Even so, Su Ming swiftly dealt with all the Attackers.

By the time the last Attacker fell in a pool of blood, and Su Ming’s figure emerged from the darkness, no longer a blur, only about three minutes had passed.

The outcome was undoubtedly fortunate.

At the very least, although many in the Bai Family were injured and looked quite disheveled—some covered in dust, others battered and bruised—there were no casualties.

Under these circumstances, one person from the Bai Family stepped forward.

“Thank you for your rescue, Lord Ming Wang.”

A young woman bowed deeply to Su Ming, her attitude extremely respectful and devout.

Behind her, the female Hunters of the Bai Family followed suit, bowing to Su Ming one after another, not daring to show the slightest neglect.

This was not only because Su Ming had saved their lives but also because he was an Upper-Rank Professional, holding an exalted status in the hearts of Lower-Rank Professionals.

Otherwise, given the Bai Family’s female-dominant values, they might not have bowed so deeply to a man like Su Ming.

Su Ming, however, paid it no mind.

Instead, it was Xu Yanyan beside him who spoke up.

“Are you Bai Ruxiang?”

Xu Yanyan seemed to recognize her.

“It is I, Young Miss Yanyan.”

Bai Ruxiang appeared to have only just noticed Xu Yanyan, expressing surprise as she nodded.

Clearly, compared to Su Ming, who had just awed the entire scene, Xu Yanyan’s presence was somewhat less noticeable.

“You know each other?”

Su Ming raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Of course we do.” Xu Yanyan nodded and said, “Young Miss Ruxiang is Lady Xuefei’s elder sister. She holds a high position in the Bai Family and takes good care of the younger generation. The young ladies of my generation in the Bai Family all respect her greatly.”

This, Su Ming could see as well.

For instance, at that moment, as Bai Ruxiang spoke, the rest of the Bai Family obediently remained behind her, subtly acknowledging her as their leader.

Earlier, when Su Ming had joined the fight, Bai Ruxiang was the first to react and shout “Kill!”, prompting all the female Hunters of the Bai Family to spring into action immediately.However, compared to this, Bai Ruxiang’s other identity surprised Su Ming even more.

“You’re Bai Xuefei’s sister?”

Su Ming looked at Bai Ruxiang with considerable astonishment.

Although, judging by their apparent ages, Bai Ruxiang and Bai Xuefei did seem close in age, making it acceptable to consider them sisters, the fact that the younger sister, Bai Xuefei, was an Upper-Rank Professional while the elder sister, Bai Ruxiang, was not still gave Su Ming a moment of surprise.

In contrast, Bai Ruxiang remained completely unfazed.

“Lady Xuefei is indeed my younger sister. Her talent and Bloodline are both superior to mine, and her achievements fill me with pride.”

Bai Ruxiang showed no signs of jealousy toward her more accomplished sister; instead, she genuinely seemed to take pride in it.

This made Su Ming glance at her a few more times.

“Your mindset is quite admirable. I now believe you’re respected by many.”

At this point, Su Ming shot a sidelong glance at Xu Yanyan beside him.

“At the very least, you’re far better than someone who spends all day envying a more talented sister.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Yanyan’s expression visibly stiffened.

Noticing the tense atmosphere between Su Ming and Xu Yanyan, Bai Ruxiang quickly changed the subject.

“It seems both of you, like us, were fortunate enough to escape the clutches of 『Sin』. I wonder if you’ve encountered our Bai Family’s Lady Xuefei?”

Bai Ruxiang asked this, clearly concerned about her sister’s whereabouts.

“We haven’t run into Bai Xuefei, nor have we encountered anyone else besides your group who’s able to move. We’ve only come across many injured and casualties.”

Su Ming shook his head at Bai Ruxiang.

“Is that so?”

Bai Ruxiang looked disappointed, as did the other Bai Family members.

“By the way, how did you all manage to gather so closely and appear relatively unharmed?”

Su Ming voiced the question on his mind.

Previously, aside from Xu Yanyan, whom Gao Xu had rescued, everyone else they encountered was either severely injured and immobile or had already lost their lives. Seeing the Bai Family members collectively intact and gathered together—all from the same Family—was something Su Ming hadn’t encountered before.

Their remarkably good condition genuinely surprised him.

But at the mention of this, Bai Ruxiang once again showed a hint of shame.

“We were all saved by my younger sister… by Lady Xuefei.”

Bai Ruxiang explained the reason to Su Ming.

It turned out that, like Xu Yanyan, they had been rescued by their Family’s Upper-Rank Professional.

The difference was that Gao Xu only had time to save Xu Yanyan, and his actions were rushed, leaving her with significant injuries even after being rescued. Bai Xuefei, however, was different.

When they were surrounded by 『Sin』’s Sorcerer troops and subjected to a pit trap, aside from Su Ming, Bai Xuefei was the first to detect the anomaly and react swiftly.

Thus, while others were caught off guard, Bai Xuefei had the time and opportunity to act, shielding the Bai Family members from many enemy artillery attacks.

Thanks to this, the Bai Family’s situation was even better than Xu Yanyan’s, and they hadn’t been scattered.

As a result, they quickly found each other, banded together, and managed to muster some resistance and mobility in this dim Underground.”Sin” seemed to have noticed this situation and immediately gathered a group of people, intending to eliminate the Bai Family members together.

Unfortunately, they didn’t know that Su Ming, with his outstanding Spirit Sense, had detected everything from a distance and successfully rushed to the scene.

“So, you’ve also been separated from your family’s Upper-Rank Hunter?”

Su Ming now understood the situation.

“Yes.” Bai Ruxiang replied with apparent worry, “I don’t know if Lady Xuefei is alright, blocking so many artillery attacks alone.”

Even for an Upper-Rank Professional, under such concentrated firepower, the slightest negligence could lead to being hit by enemy Spell Formulas, making injuries unavoidable.

Moreover, if subjected to too many artillery strikes, dying on the spot wouldn’t be surprising.

If Su Ming didn’t have an incredibly powerful right hand, Spirit Sense at the level of an Upper-Rank Sorcerer, and his own understanding as a Sorcerer of how to deal with enemy Spirit Arts, he probably would have found it difficult to remain unscathed under such firepower as well.

In any case, they had indeed been outmaneuvered by the enemy this time – there was no helping it.

“Do you have a way to find your family’s Upper-Rank Hunter?”

Su Ming tentatively asked Bai Ruxiang this question.

“Yes.” Bai Ruxiang answered decisively, “My sister and I… Lady Xuefei have a private communication method.”

As she spoke, Bai Ruxiang pulled out her phone from her pocket.

“Uh…”

Su Ming was momentarily stunned.

“Can you actually contact someone with a phone?”

Even Xu Yanyan was astonished.

After entering the Ruins, not only was there no phone signal, but even satellite signals couldn’t be received, making communication within the Ruins completely impossible.

Whether it was because the Ruins themselves had no signal, or because “Sin” had deployed something here, both Su Ming and Xu Yanyan’s phones were rendered unusable.

Otherwise, they would have made contact long ago.

Regarding this, Bai Ruxiang explained:

“Mine and Lady Xuefei’s phones are specially modified unique items, essentially a type of alchemical tool. Although we can’t contact anyone else without signal or under isolation, we can send messages to each other and receive each other’s communications.”

Undoubtedly, this was the kind of connection only people with very close relationships would have.

Although Bai Ruxiang explained it quite reservedly, everyone could tell that this communication method existed precisely because of the sisters’ excellent relationship.

Su Ming glanced at Xu Yanyan again.

Xu Yanyan naturally noticed Su Ming’s gaze. Without looking back, her expression turned quite gloomy, and she felt utterly exasperated inside.

This damnable Ming Wang, he just never stops.

What does their good sisterly relationship have to do with me?

Does he think all sisters in the world have such good relationships?

How naive. If women’s relationships could be simply categorized as “good” or “bad,” there wouldn’t be so many battlefields and fake friendships in this world.

Besides, Xu Qianqian and I are only cousins, not biological sisters.

Even biological sisters can become enemies, let alone cousins?

This man doesn’t even understand something so basic – he must be a straight guy who can’t handle female relationships.

I curse you to stay single forever!

Xu Yanyan fumed silently in her heart.Unaware of Xu Yanyan’s silent curses directed at him, Su Ming withdrew his gaze with satisfaction after seeing the Young Miss’s face alternating between pale and flushed, turning his attention back to Bai Ruxiang.

“So how do you plan to reunite?”

Su Ming asked this question.

“I’ve left signals along the way that only Lady Xuefei and I can detect and understand,” Bai Ruxiang explained. “If Lady Xuefei sees them, she’ll be able to follow the signals to find us.”

Similarly, if Bai Xuefei had also left signals along her path, Bai Ruxiang could trace those to locate her.

This was their method of reuniting.

Unfortunately, Bai Ruxiang had yet to find any signals left by Bai Xuefei, nor had she received any replies to the messages she’d sent via phone.

This was why Bai Ruxiang felt somewhat worried, uncertain whether something might have happened to Bai Xuefei.

“Seems your reunion won’t be so straightforward after all,” Su Ming shrugged and said. “Don’t you have something like a life paper?”

This question wasn’t answered by Bai Ruxiang but by Xu Yanyan.

“Although life paper is an inferior version of the life lamp, it’s primarily for emergency use,” Xu Yanyan replied gloomily. “The Materials required for its creation are special and scarce. It’s hardly used in the continental heartland where life lamps are more common, and very few people in the Four Coastal Bases possess them.”

“The one I have was deliberately left to me by Mr. Gao—apparently something he obtained by chance.”

In other words, this life paper that seemed out of place was likely only possessed by Xu Yanyan in this situation.

“So we still only have one clear direction after all,” Su Ming shook his head and said to Bai Ruxiang. “What are your plans? Do you want to continue moving or find a place to settle down?”

If Bai Ruxiang and the others wanted to settle, Su Ming would tell them the Shelter’s location so they could go there.

But Bai Ruxiang had no intention of seeking refuge at all.

“Without knowing whether Lady Xuefei is in danger, we won’t passively remain here waiting for her to find us.”

Bai Ruxiang spoke these words with exceptional determination.

“Indeed.”

“How can we just sit and wait?”

“We must find Lady Xuefei.”

“Perhaps Lady Xuefei needs our help.”

The numerous female Hunters of the Bai Family all voiced their agreement.

Seeing this, Xu Yanyan immediately suggested, “Why don’t you come with us then?” She seized the opportunity to add, “Since you don’t have a clear direction anyway, following us would not only be safer but might also increase your chances of encountering Lady Xuefei.”

“Is that acceptable?” Bai Ruxiang looked toward Su Ming.

It seemed she intended to follow them, or more specifically, to follow Su Ming.

With an Upper-Rank Professional like Su Ming, their situation would no longer be so dangerous.

“Suit yourselves.”

Su Ming had no particular objection.

They had come together originally, and Su Ming didn’t want to be the sole target of Sin’s focus, left vulnerable to ambushes.

Wasn’t the reason he joined the main force of the Six Great Families precisely to have someone to help test the waters, draw attention, and even serve as potential shields when needed?Especially after the previous wave of entrapment and slaughter, Su Ming felt even more strongly that he shouldn’t act alone anymore. Otherwise, the enemy would certainly be interested in eliminating a lone Upper-Rank Professional.

“Thank you very much, Lord Ming Wang.”

Still unaware of Su Ming’s sinister intentions, Bai Ruxiang quickly bowed in gratitude.

The female Hunters of the Bai Family followed suit, expressing their joyful thanks one after another, filling the air with a chorus of charming voices.

Watching this scene and noticing Xu Yanyan’s somewhat relieved expression nearby, Su Ming suddenly realized something.

“Am I the only man left here?”

Realizing he had stumbled into a peach blossom grove, Su Ming fell silent.

(End of Chapter)