Chapter 197 – The Gathering Chaos

In the end, Su Ming still accepted the dagger.

He hadn’t received many gifts from girls before, so although this was a dagger and the meaning was somewhat ambiguous, Su Ming decided to accept it anyway.

After all, his backpack had unlimited space. A small dagger was nothing – even if it were a whole warehouse full of them, he could store them all.

Later, Su Ming even heard from Bai Ruxiang that the Bai Family had various types of ceremonial daggers. There were gratitude daggers like this one to express thanks, respect daggers to show admiration, friendship daggers exclusively for close friends, and true love daggers specifically for significant others – all sorts of daggers existed…

Su Ming really wanted to complain.

“Typical feminine tradition.”

After all, this was a female-dominated Family. With emotional women in charge, it was natural they would create many things they considered romantic and ceremonial.

As for why daggers could be associated with romance and ceremony…

Well, that wasn’t even a question.

In girls’ eyes, even a nail could be romantic and ceremonial, let alone a dagger.

Later, Su Ming learned from Bai Ruxiang that the girl from earlier was named Bai Xiaoyan.

The reason she mustered the courage to personally present the token to Su Ming was because the Bai Family female Hunter he had initially saved was her.

Of course, Su Ming didn’t know this at the time.

He hadn’t paid attention to who he had saved first, only understanding that Bai Xiaoyan’s gratitude was for him saving everyone.

As for why only Bai Xiaoyan presented a token while others didn’t, Su Ming didn’t even consider this question.

Hadn’t the Bai Family female Hunters mentioned during their discussion earlier? They weren’t unwilling to give gifts, but facing an Upper-Rank Professional whose status far exceeded theirs, they feared such actions might offend Su Ming.

The gratitude of an insignificant Bai Family member probably wasn’t something worth remembering for an Upper-Rank Professional, right?

That was likely what they thought.

Otherwise, why would Bai Ruxiang have been watching from the side?

Wasn’t she afraid Su Ming might not appreciate Bai Xiaoyan’s gesture?

In any case, Su Ming had accepted the dagger.

Afterward, Su Ming discussed their next steps with Bai Ruxiang for quite some time until everyone was ready.

The Bai Family female Hunters had not only healed their injuries but also changed into fresh clothes, looking much neater and more charming. Gathered together, they indeed created a scene of vibrant femininity that Su Ming found quite pleasing to the eye.

Even Xu Yanyan seemed to have borrowed a set of clothes from the Bai Family, no longer appearing as disheveled as before.

Once everyone was prepared, they naturally set out immediately.

As Su Ming watched the gathering of vibrant women preparing to depart and was about to lead the way, he suddenly sensed something unusual.

“What’s wrong?”

Both Bai Ruxiang and Xu Yanyan were watching Su Ming, waiting for his command, so they naturally noticed his subtle reaction.

“Nothing, it’s nothing.” Su Ming shook his head and said, “Alright, let’s move out.””Yes.” Seeing this, Bai Ruxiang could only nod.

Xu Yanyan immediately took out the life paper and began moving again according to the direction it indicated.

The women of the Bai Family also heightened their vigilance, forming a defensive formation as they followed Xu Yanyan forward.

Su Ming fell to the rear, silently following.

No one noticed that Su Ming was clenching his right hand.

On his right hand, an eerie blue glow flickered intermittently, making the cracks on his arm appear like shifting patterns of sapphire light, constantly shimmering.

……

At the same time, in another part of the ruins, a grimy young girl was desperately fleeing.

Clutching her Sword, she gasped heavily while quickly ducking into shadows, doing her best to conceal herself.

“Over there!”

“Don’t let her escape!”

“Grab her!”

The shouts of the Underground Professionals of Sin periodically reached the girl’s ears, making her bite her lip tightly.

Her breathing grew increasingly ragged.

Her limbs became more and more feeble.

Her body felt heavier and heavier.

Her spirit grew wearier and wearier.

The relentless escape was truly beginning to exhaust her.

For a moment, the girl even entertained thoughts of giving up.

But remembering her clansmen who had been slaughtered, and her father who might have sacrificed himself to protect her, the girl forced her increasingly tired and heavy body forward, squeezing out the last remnants of her strength to continue fleeing.

As she ran, the girl suddenly realized she was lost.

Originally heading toward what she thought was the ruins’ exit, she found herself instead encountering increasingly unfamiliar paths and environments, forcing her to admit she might have run in the wrong direction.

“No way?”

The girl felt like crying but had no tears.

Taking a wrong turn at this moment was truly a fatal problem.

Of course, she couldn’t blame anyone else.

There were reasons why the girl had gone astray.

After all, with the ruins having collapsed once, and having to evade so many pursuers while hiding constantly without a fixed direction, finding the way out was undoubtedly extremely difficult.

Especially since the girl wasn’t very familiar with the ruins’ layout to begin with.

Although her father had brought her here a few times, those few visits weren’t enough for her to memorize the terrain clearly.

“Huff… huff…”

The girl could only try hard to regulate her breathing. Just as she was wondering what to do, something strange occurred.

“Clang…”

A faint glow suddenly shimmered, emanating from within her embrace.

“This is…?”

The girl was first stunned, then bewildered.

She saw it.

The source of the light was the Sword she held in her arms.

“What… what’s happening?”

The girl was suddenly at a loss.

Especially as the Sword in her embrace grew brighter and more radiant, an indescribable power fluctuation began to emanate from it.

Though the power wasn’t very strong yet, it felt ancient and profound, faintly causing the air to vibrate.

No, that wasn’t right.

It wasn’t the air that was vibrating, but space itself.

The fluctuation of power made the girl’s heart palpitate with fear.

“What in the world is going on?”

The girl became completely flustered.At this moment, the sword in the girl’s embrace not only emitted light but also began to vibrate.

As it trembled, the sword seemed intent on breaking free from the girl, subtly pulled by some unseen force that drew it forward.

Before the girl could react, she was abruptly yanked away by a sudden surge of power.

“Ah!”

With a cry of distress, the girl was carried off by the sword in her arms, swiftly darting into a passageway and heading in a specific direction.

The scene fell silent once more.

But this silence did not last long.

Approximately a few minutes later, Crow, clad in black, descended from mid-air and landed at the spot where the girl had been not long ago.

“It should be around here.”

Sensing the girl’s lingering aura, Crow first confirmed this, then furrowed his brow.

“Why does it feel like, aside from that woman’s aura, there’s an additional pulse of ancient power?”

That ancient power fluctuation initially puzzled Crow, then caused his expression to shift slightly.

“Could it be that the power of the ‘Sword’ has awakened?”

A terrifying thought flashed through his mind, but Crow immediately shook his head in denial.

“No, it shouldn’t be the awakening of the ‘Sword’s’ power.”

“Even the Young Miss couldn’t gain the ‘Sword’s’ recognition and awaken its power, so how could it possibly revive here?”

“Yet this power fluctuation truly seems like something only an entity like the ‘Sword’ could emit.”

Crow’s brow furrowed deeper, and a trace of unease finally began to surface in his heart.

He hadn’t panicked when the ritual was disrupted.

He hadn’t panicked when intruders arrived.

But now, Crow was starting to feel somewhat anxious.

If the power of the ‘Sword’ had truly awakened here, he knew all too well what that would mean.

“This won’t do. I must retrieve the ‘Sword’ as quickly as possible.”

Crow, who had always taken his time with tasks, finally felt a sense of urgency.

“Whoosh!”

The next second, Crow’s figure transformed into a blur, vanishing from the spot.

……

Ruins, a corner underground.

Here, several figures were engaged in conversation.

“Is the hunt proceeding smoothly?”

“According to reports, quite a few survivors have been harvested.”

“Only those Upper-Rank Professionals have been giving us consistent trouble in the hunt.”

“That’s to be expected. After all, they are Upper-Rank Professionals. Even with the advantage of terrain, it’s impossible for a group of lower-rank Professionals to successfully hunt them.”

The conversing individuals were clearly high-ranking members of ‘Sin’ stationed in the ruins, their Auras and presence distinctly different from others.

“So, have the intruders’ identities been confirmed?”

“Yes, confirmed. They’re from the Six Great Families.”

“Oh? It’s actually them?”

“Even though the Vice Captain has taken a team to eliminate them, they still managed to organize an invasion. It seems our actions here in the ruins have likely been discovered by the higher-ups in Longyao City.”

Despite saying this, none of them showed obvious concern.

“No matter. Even if they knew in advance, with the Vice Captain’s capabilities, he should still be able to handle it.”

“Indeed, with the Vice Captain there, at least a safe retreat is assured.”

“The real issue lies on our end.”

“But soon, that problem will cease to exist as well.”As they conversed, their words revealed nothing but ruthlessness and disdain toward their enemies, without a trace of concern.

“We need to speed up our progress.”

“Let’s quickly eliminate the intruders and resume the ritual.”

“I can hardly wait.”

“Let’s go. We’ll split up.”

After a brief and simple discussion, the group dispersed.

The direction they headed was precisely where the Upper-Rank Professionals of the Six Great Families were located.

The real danger was now closing in.

A chaotic battle had become inevitable.

(End of Chapter)