"Brother Kang, something terrible has happened." Yang Kai's face was grim as he spoke in a low, urgent voice.
"What happened?" Kang Siran's expression shifted. He could read something alarming from Yang Kai's face and immediately pressed for details.
"It's like this…" Yang Kai rapidly recounted the upheaval that had occurred at the mine, then added: "Brother Kang, please pack your things quickly and leave Maple Leaf City with me!"
"How can this be? How could there be pure demonic energy from an ancient Great Demon near Maple Leaf City?" Kang Siran was momentarily dazed, scarcely able to believe what he was hearing.
If anyone else had told him this, he would have laughed it off and given it no credence whatsoever. But this was Yang Kai bringing him the news, and that was reason enough for him to take it seriously.
"There's no time to deliberate." Yang Kai cast a worried glance toward the sky beyond the city walls. As if sensing something, his expression changed slightly and he said in a low voice: "Brother Kang, I'm heading to the City Lord's Manor. I'll be right back, and the moment I return, we leave immediately!"
With that, he had already activated the power of space and was flickering through the city.
Kang Siran jolted into action, wasting no more time thinking. He spun around and charged into the Spirit Pill Workshop.
In the next instant, the entire Spirit Pill Workshop erupted into chaos.
The City Lord's Manor was situated at the very center of Maple Leaf City. Yang Kai had entered it once before when Kang Siran had taken him to that auction event, so he knew the way well.
He wasn't going to the City Lord's Manor to warn anyone — he was going to find Mo Xiaoqi.
By his estimate, Mo Xiaoqi should have already explained the situation at the mine to the people at the City Lord's Manor by now, yet there was still no sign of her.
Yang Kai had no choice but to go there personally and bring Mo Xiaoqi back.
Halfway there, he took out the voice bead Mo Xiaoqi had given him earlier and channeled his divine sense into it, sending a message.
Unfortunately, Mo Xiaoqi did not respond at all.
Yang Kai frowned, put away the voice bead, and accelerated further.
Before long, he arrived at the City Lord's Manor, his powerful divine sense sweeping through it without any restraint. He located Mo Xiaoqi's presence almost instantly.
She was in a side hall within the City Lord's Manor, and it appeared that a Dao Source Realm first-stage warrior was with her — though the aura was unfamiliar, and he couldn't tell who it was.
Space rippled, and Yang Kai materialized directly inside that side hall.
Glancing around, he immediately saw Mo Xiaoqi standing before a gray-skinned elderly man, recounting something with an agitated expression. The old man stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his posture casual and easy, his face wearing a look of utter indifference.
The moment Yang Kai appeared, the old man sensed him. His head whipped around, and two sharp beams of light shot from his otherwise placid eyes, landing on Yang Kai. A flicker of surprise crossed the old man's face.
Because he had discovered that Yang Kai was a completely unfamiliar Dao Source Realm cultivator!
That was not a common sight in Maple Leaf City.
"Brother Yang!" Mo Xiaoqi, on the other hand, looked as though she had seen her savior. Her face lit up with joy, and she hurried over.
"Did you get it sorted?" Yang Kai asked quickly.
Mo Xiaoqi's expression turned to frustration upon hearing this. She pointed at the gray-faced old man and stamped her foot: "This Vice City Lord Zhuang doesn't believe a word I'm saying! I've been arguing with him!"
"He doesn't believe you?" Yang Kai's brow furrowed.
But hearing Mo Xiaoqi say that, Yang Kai now knew exactly who this gray-faced old man was.
Maple Leaf City's Vice City Lord — Zhuang Pan! Also a first-stage Dao Source Realm cultivator.
Maple Leaf City had one City Lord and two Vice City Lords. The City Lord was naturally Duan Yuanshan, a second-stage Dao Source Realm cultivator. Of the two Vice City Lords, one was the Drunken Elder who had presided over the auction — an erratic man with a peculiar temperament. The other was this Zhuang Pan standing before them.
Both he and the Drunken Elder were only first-stage Dao Source Realm cultivators, but having immersed themselves in this realm for many years, the possibility of another breakthrough at any time was very real.
Today, it must have been Zhuang Pan's turn to be on duty at the City Lord's Manor. That was why, when Mo Xiaoqi had arrived, she hadn't needed much effort to meet him. The pity was that this Zhuang Pan didn't seem to believe Mo Xiaoqi's words very much — no matter how gravely she described the situation, he maintained that same look of indifference. He even regarded Mo Xiaoqi with a suspicious gaze, as though wondering whether she harbored some ulterior motive.
This had driven Mo Xiaoqi to the brink of exasperation.
She had come to the City Lord's Manor of her own volition to report the demonic energy leak purely out of the goodness of her heart. She couldn't bear to see so many cultivators in Maple Leaf City suffer the corruption of demonic energy, and had no selfish agenda whatsoever. Yet Zhuang Pan's attitude gave her the unpleasant feeling of pressing a warm face against a cold backside, and she felt thoroughly wronged.