Chapter 269 – Is This What They Call Enemies on a Narrow Road?

Longyao City, Downtown Station.

Within this bustling station, at its highest level, lay an expansive open-air platform.

The platform appeared to be a helipad, with several armed helicopters faintly visible, ready for deployment at any moment.

After leaving the Xu Family with Xu Xiayan, Su Ming had followed her all the way here.

Su Ming surveyed his surroundings, then looked at Xu Xiayan with a puzzled expression.

“What are we doing here?”

Could it be that they were planning to leave by helicopter?

Su Ming subtly furrowed his brow.

He couldn’t help but feel this wasn’t a good plan if they intended to depart Longyao City by helicopter.

The reason was simple: in this world, traveling long distances by air outside of safe wilderness zones was not advisable.

Within Base Cities, it was manageable, but in dangerous wilderness areas, airborne Phantom Demons could appear at any moment.

If attacked by flying Phantom Demons while in the air, Professionals would find it nearly impossible to mount an effective defense, inevitably leading to the destruction of the aircraft and the death of all on board.

Because of this, there were no long-distance aircraft in this world, nor even waterborne vessels for sea travel.

It wasn’t that humanity couldn’t build them, but even if they did, these vehicles couldn’t operate safely in the skies or seas where Phantom Demons might appear at any moment.

This was why communication and travel between Base Cities were so challenging.

On land, Professionals could organize effective resistance, but in the air or at sea, those who couldn’t fly or fight freely in water saw their defensive capabilities minimized.

As a result, the airspace and waters outside Base Cities had essentially become no-go zones for humanity.

Now, Xu Xiayan had brought him here, seemingly to use an aerial vehicle, which made Su Ming frown slightly.

Noticing this, Xu Xiayan smiled faintly.

“Don’t worry, I won’t put you in harm’s way,” she said without further explanation. “You’ll understand soon. For now, let’s wait here for a few people.”

Hearing this, Su Ming’s attention was successfully diverted.

“Wait for people?” he asked curiously. “Is someone else coming with us to Tianfeng City?”

Xu Xiayan seemed surprised by his question.

“Didn’t my dear niece tell you why I came to Longyao City?” she asked with some astonishment.

This left Su Ming perplexed.

“She only mentioned that you returned because of a mission,” Su Ming replied. “I don’t know what that mission entails.”

“Really?” Xu Xiayan blinked. “It seems my dear niece is quite considerate of me, not even disclosing my mission details. I haven’t spoiled her for nothing.”

Saying this, she promptly explained.

“My mission in Longyao City is simply to escort someone back to Tianfeng City.”

Escort?

Who?

Who had such importance that a major faction in Tianfeng City would send someone specifically to escort them there?

Su Ming was initially puzzled, but then his expression suddenly changed.

He had figured it out.Currently, there is indeed a rather important figure in Longyao City who requires personnel from Tianfeng City to escort her.

Didn’t Xu Qianqian mention earlier that the higher-ups of Longyao City contacted her main family on her behalf, and they were preparing to send someone to bring her to Tianfeng City for protection?

Recalling this matter, Su Ming’s expression instantly turned extremely vivid.

“What’s wrong? You look like you’ve been hit by an unexpected foul smell?”

Seeing Su Ming’s extraordinarily animated expression, Xu Xiayan also grew puzzled.

Though her analogy was a bit peculiar, Su Ming indeed felt as if he had suffered an unforeseen attack at that moment.

Driven by this feeling, Su Ming, with unease and an ominous premonition, posed a question to Xu Xiayan.

“Xu A—”

As soon as Su Ming started to speak, Xu Xiayan immediately glared at him.

“Xu… Sister Xu…”

Su Ming’s survival instincts instantly surged, and he reflexively corrected himself.

“What is it, Brother Su Ming?”

Only then did Xu Xiayan break into a radiant smile.

Su Ming was too exhausted to retort and could only ask the question weighing on his mind.

“What exactly is the faction you belong to in Tianfeng City?”

Su Ming voiced this question he had never paid much attention to before.

He knew that Xu Xiayan currently had her own affiliated faction in Tianfeng City, backed by a major power there.

That faction had sent an emissary to recruit her even before Xu Xiayan became an Upper-Rank Professional, enabling her to go to Tianfeng City, receive resources provided by them, and thrive under their protection until today, when she had the chance to return to Longyao City due to a mission.

But until now, Su Ming had never really cared about which faction Xu Xiayan belonged to.

After all, it had nothing to do with him, right?

Naturally, Su Ming also had no interest in the mission Xu Qianqian mentioned regarding Xu Xiayan.

But now, Su Ming had no choice but to ask.

He already had a very bad feeling about this.

Sure enough…

“Your sister here is an externally hired Professional affiliated with the Wang Family in Tianfeng City, holding an advisory position within the Wang Family, on equal footing with the Wang Family’s elders.”

Xu Xiayan leaned close to Su Ming, her breath fragrant as she smiled.

“Brother Su Ming knows about the Wang Family, right? Have you developed an interest in them? If you want to join, we welcome you anytime.”

Though Xu Xiayan seemed to be teasing, there was a subtle undertone of recruitment in her words, but it didn’t catch Su Ming’s attention.

What caught Su Ming’s attention was something else.

“The Wang Family…”

Su Ming’s lips twitched slightly.

“This Wang Family… it wouldn’t happen to be the main family of our Longyao Wang Family, one of the human supreme powerhouses who participated in sealing the Terror Species, the family that ordered our Longyao Wang Family to guard this place for generations, allowing Longyao City to be established on this land… would it?”

In response to Su Ming’s question, Xu Xiayan nodded with a beaming smile.

“That’s right, it’s that Wang Family.”

Xu Xiayan’s words made Su Ming’s scalp tingle.

“Then the person you’ve come to Longyao City to pick up… it wouldn’t be…?”

Su Ming asked tremblingly.

“It seems you’ve guessed it.” Xu Xiayan stated frankly, “It’s the direct-line Young Miss of the Longyao Wang Family, the sole survivor of the Wang Family, Wang Yihan.”As these words fell from Xu Xiayan’s lips, a startled cry erupted from ahead.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!”

That clear, melodious shriek made Su Ming’s already tingling scalp explode.

In the next second, a figure came rushing over at lightning speed.

“It’s you! I’ve finally found you!”

The swiftly approaching girl threw herself onto Su Ming, grabbing hold of him.

Though he held a warm, fragrant, and soft jade-like figure in his arms, Su Ming felt no joy at all. He just stared blankly at the girl hanging on him like a koala, her beautiful eyes filled with anger as if she had caught some heinous villain, feeling how small this world truly was.

The girl was none other than Wang Yihan.

This Young Miss Wang now looked at Su Ming with a mix of pleasant surprise and indignation, her limbs tightly wrapped around him.

“Finally caught you! You bad guy!”

Wang Yihan puffed out her cheeks and declared this angrily.

“You know each other?”

Xu Xiayan, standing to the side, was utterly confused by the situation, blinking her large eyes with a bewildered expression.

“Of course I know him! I’d recognize him even if he turned to ashes!”

Wang Yihan nodded vigorously, as if afraid others would try to separate her from Su Ming.

This attitude easily led Xu Xiayan to misunderstand.

“He wouldn’t happen to be your little sweetheart too, would he?”

Xu Xiayan asked Wang Yihan this while casting a peculiar glance at Su Ming.

It was the kind of look one gives to a scumbag, a heartless man, a playboy.

“Of course not!”

Fortunately, Wang Yihan denied it.

But…

“He’s a thief!”

Wang Yihan actually said such a thing.

“A thief?”

Xu Xiayan froze on the spot.

“That’s right!” Wang Yihan accused without hesitation: “He stole my… mmmph…!”

Just as Wang Yihan was about to reveal some shocking truth, Su Ming finally reacted in time, swiftly reaching out to cover Wang Yihan’s mouth.

“Steal your big-headed ghost! Steal!”

Su Ming was nearly scared to death by this incredibly foolish girl.

Was this something that could be casually mentioned?

If this girl dared to mention the Demon Emperor Sword being in his possession, his identity would be exposed in minutes, and he would never be able to take off the Ming Wang disguise again.

This was no joking matter.

“Give us a moment, we have something to discuss.”

Immediately, Su Ming hoisted Wang Yihan up, covering her mouth, ignoring her fierce struggles, and dragged her aside.

“What in the world is going on?”

Xu Xiayan couldn’t even process what had happened, tilting her head with a completely confused expression.

Su Ming and Wang Yihan moved to the side, hiding behind a military helicopter.

Only then did Su Ming release Wang Yihan.

“You… were you trying to suffocate me?”

Wang Yihan immediately gasped for air, then complained to Su Ming.

“Not only do I want to suffocate you, I want to knock you out with a staff too.” A vein bulged on Su Ming’s forehead as he said with some exasperation: “You fool, how can you dare to say everything?”

“W-what do you mean!” Wang Yihan shrunk her neck but pretended to be tough: “You really are a thief! You stole my Sword and still haven’t returned it to me! You’re the worst!””If I were truly evil, you’d have been silenced long ago. Why would I keep you around until now?” Su Ming suppressed the urge to knock this girl on the head, saying, “And how many times do I have to say it? I’m not a thief. That sword came to me on its own, burrowed into my right hand, and now I can’t even pull it out. There’s no way to return it to you. How many times must I repeat this before you understand?”

“But…” Wang Yihan pouted, looking utterly unwilling to concede.

Clearly, this girl hadn’t given up on retrieving the Demon Emperor Sword from Su Ming.

After all, this was something her father had risked his life to obtain. To Wang Yihan, it was equivalent to a final keepsake entrusted to her by her dying father.

Expecting her to simply abandon her father’s legacy was obviously impossible.

Fortunately, the girl valued the Demon Emperor Sword solely for its sentimental significance as a memento, not because she coveted its power.

Otherwise, whether she could still mess around with Su Ming like this would be questionable.

Seeing how stubbornly unwilling she was, Su Ming felt a headache coming on but knew he had to warn her first.

“Listen carefully, Young Miss. Don’t go blabbing about this matter carelessly from now on, or it could get people killed.”

Su Ming issued this grave warning to Wang Yihan with utmost seriousness.

“Then… when will you give the sword back to me?”

Wang Yihan still refused to let go, both literally and figuratively, clinging to Su Ming.

“How should I know?” Su Ming retorted irritably. “You should ask it—ask when it’s willing to come out of my right hand—not me.”

Hearing this, Wang Yihan actually turned her gaze toward Su Ming’s right hand.

This silly girl… surely she wasn’t actually considering asking the Demon Emperor Sword in his right hand to come out, was she?

Su Ming seriously suspected she might.

Thankfully, Wang Yihan was merely naive, not stupid—she wouldn’t actually resort to such brain-dead tactics.

“So there’s really no way then?”

Wang Yihan just slumped her shoulders, looking utterly defeated.

“If there were a way, I wouldn’t have been so troubled recently.”

Su Ming rolled his eyes again.

If there were truly a method to extract the Demon Emperor Sword from his right hand, he wouldn’t have to worry about the negative effects this Divine Artifact brought him.

If he hadn’t retrieved the Blue Demon Ceasefire Ring from his Golden Finger package, he’d probably still be agonizing over this issue.

Wang Yihan didn’t know the full details, but that didn’t stop her from refusing to give up.

“I don’t care. The Demon Emperor Sword is mine, and you have to return it to me.”

Wang Yihan tightly gripped Su Ming’s arms, refusing to let go, as if afraid he would run away the moment she released him.

This Young Miss probably hadn’t even realized she’d been clinging to Su Ming for quite a while, allowing him to take quite a few liberties.

Although this girl was only sixteen, her development far surpassed her peers. Among the people Su Ming knew, aside from Yun Langyue and Xu Xiayan, almost no one could rival her.

Even Yao Beibei, that junior schoolmate with an “ominous bust,” could only match Young Miss Wang, allowing Su Ming to enjoy quite a few “tofu” moments.

Unfortunately, her lack of intelligence was a fatal flaw. Su Ming, thoroughly annoyed by this silly girl, had no improper thoughts whatsoever—in fact, he felt somewhat homicidal.

“Let go!”

“I won’t!”

“I said let go!”

“Just won’t!”

“If you don’t let go, I won’t be polite!”

“You… go ahead! I’m not afraid of you!””…You said it yourself!”

“Ah! You villain!”

Immediately, a series of playful scuffles, angry scoldings, and startled exclamations erupted from behind the armed helicopter, creating quite a lively commotion.

Xu Xiayan naturally heard the ruckus. Seeing that the situation seemed somewhat unusual, her curiosity was piqued as if being tickled by a kitten, making her unbearably curious.

“You two, stop fooling around and come over quickly. Everyone is here.”

Suppressing her curiosity, Xu Xiayan called out to them instead.

Only then did Su Ming and Wang Yihan reluctantly emerge from behind the armed helicopter, their clothes disheveled and breathing heavily. Anyone unaware might have thought they were up to no good.

“Huh?”

At the same time, Su Ming noticed several additional people standing beside Xu Xiayan.

Surprisingly, they were people Su Ming recognized.

(End of Chapter)