Chapter 713: Poachers Attack! (3k)
Several people boarded the train and entered separate private compartments. Su Jiu scanned the surroundings but couldn’t find the Beast Pet that Liu Qian mentioned as injured. However, she did notice that the male attendant accompanying the Mayor’s Daughter was missing.
The entire compartment was quiet, with only the humming sound of the train, which felt rather comfortable.
Sitting by the window, Su Jiu leaned against it, listening to the “whoosh” of the train starting and looking at the wisps of steam rising ahead. Her blood-gold eyes held a thoughtful expression.
She felt that something was amiss with this operation. Two contradictory points kept swirling in her mind.
First, if they knew beforehand that some poachers might be of a high level, why were they only sending teams with a maximum rank of High-Rank Battle King?
Second, as the person involved, Liu Qian, who holds an official position, specifically took leave to come to Lanhai City, what was her objective?
Everything felt shrouded in a fog of mystery.
“Our operation this time is on Flower Street in Lanhai City, where a food festival is being held. According to tradition, poachers will choose streets they’ve never visited before and target passersby who haven’t secured their Beast Pets properly.”
As Su Jiu was contemplating, Li Xiao’s voice rang out. After speaking, he looked towards the Long-haired Youth, Wang Qiubai, and softly said, “Qiubai, please show everyone the distribution areas of poaching incidents.”
“Everyone, look here.”
Upon hearing this, Wang Qiubai took out an alchemy item resembling a tablet, placed it on the table, and gently pressed the activation button. A “crackle!” sound suddenly erupted, and a virtual projection appeared before everyone.
“This is a map of Lanhai City. Everyone should be able to see several different areas. The areas dotted with stars are those where people have confirmedly been poached.”
The projection displayed a sparse map with scattered star points. Upon closer inspection, there was a pattern where the number of points decreased sequentially from left to right, and in the riverside area to the right, there were no light spots on a street called “Flower Street.”
After surveying everyone, Wang Qiubai continued, “Next, we will borrow some uncontracted Monster Beasts from local officials, form a normal contract, and then deliberately lure the poachers to take the bait on the street.”
Including Su Jiu, everyone nodded slightly. This had been announced in the group chat earlier and was the core of this mission.
Seeing everyone nod, Wang Qiubai’s gaze fell on Su Jiu. After a moment of hesitation, he glanced at Li Xiao, then reluctantly spoke:
“We have all had some dealings with those poachers, and if we go again, it might alert them. I’d like to ask Miss Su Jiu to act as bait for the attempt…”
As if fearing Su Jiu wouldn’t agree, Li Xiao, who was standing nearby, explained: “Poachers won’t attack humans. Just wear the alchemy camera and take pictures of those people.”
“That’s fine.”
Upon hearing this, Su Jiu blinked her eyes, not refusing. It sounded quite interesting, just going for a stroll and taking pictures…
For the next period, everyone chatted amongst themselves. The Mayor’s Daughter seemed impressed and praised everyone’s efficiency, while Su Jiu played with her phone, checking for recent information about “poachers.”
“This smell…”
The E Huo beside her seemed restless, sniffing with its little nose. A hint of confusion showed on its chubby infant-like face. Just as it was about to go out, Su Jiu grabbed the nape of its collar.
“Are you going to the restroom? I’ll take you.” Su Jiu looked at the sneaking little Hungry Dragon in front of her. As if in understanding, she got up and, smiling, carried the latter towards the door.
“Mommy…”
“I know, I know.”
The E Huo wanted to say something, but Su Jiu brushed it off. They playfully left the compartment, and Zi Yi quietly followed with her notebook.
When they reached the corner of the outer corridor, a short distance away from the room inside, Su Jiu stopped, leaned by the window, took a sip, shivered, glanced at Zi Yi, and then softly asked:
“Did you discover something?”
“Mhm, there’s a very strong smell of blood over there.”
Nodding, the E Huo pointed to a compartment not far across and cocked its head, thinking for a moment before adding, “It’s not human blood, it’s Monster blood.”
“Monster blood?”
Su Jiu froze and suddenly turned to look at the door she had just exited. She recalled the Mayor’s Daughter mentioning that her Beast Pet was severely injured. Could it be her Beast Pet?
Her doubts about the Mayor’s Daughter made her mutter to herself, “Is that right? I remember her saying she bought medicine, but hasn’t started treatment yet?”
Zi Yi softly said, “How about we go ask?”
“Knock knock!!”
Driven by curiosity, Su Jiu nodded and walked towards the designated door. She knocked twice on the door pointed out by the E Huo. The door opened with a “click!” A strong smell of blood assaulted Su Jiu’s half-Vampire nose.
“Where did he go?”
A somewhat tired female voice suddenly came from the other side of the door, speaking Dragon Country language with a slight foreign accent.
“Who… who are you?”
Su Jiu looked along the voice and saw a short, silver-haired girl peeking through the door crack, her brows furrowed as if enduring something.
“She doesn’t allow anyone else inside, you should leave quickly.”
Seemingly sensing that they wanted to see the person she was protecting, the silver-haired girl suddenly became nervous, pushed hard, and hastily tried to close the door…
An Elf?
Su Jiu’s gaze swept over her slightly pointed ears and emerald green eyes. She was taken aback for a moment, then propped open the door that was about to close with one hand, trying to maintain a gentle expression:
“Excuse me, are you injured? I’m a Priest…”
“You are…”
Hearing Su Jiu’s question, the silver-haired girl was slightly stunned. The strength in her hands gradually decreased, and she finally let go, opening the door wider and asking softly, “Is he the doctor he called?”
“Yes, we are the doctors he called.”
Su Jiu didn’t say more, directly putting on the white coat and wearing a smile. Except for her hair not being tied up, she gave off a quite healing aura.
“Then please come in.”
The silver-haired girl gently opened the door wide, and the strong smell of blood gushed out. She was wearing clothes resembling a hospital gown, and around her neck, near her collarbone, was a wide cut. The cut was so deep it almost severed the bone.
The bloody smell, with a hint of decay, permeated from this area, but upon closer inspection, it had been wiped clean with iodine and alcohol.
“How did you get this wound?”
After scanning the other person with her spiritual sense, Su Jiu noticed that she not only had this cut here but also many dense needle marks on her arm. If not for her strength reaching High-Rank Battle General, she would have likely died long ago.
Leaning against a random spot, the silver-haired girl looked at Su Jiu and shook her head, saying softly, “Knowing too much is not good for you. Just treat my wounds.”
“Humans desire eternal youth but are unwilling to assimilate like the Blood Clan. They’ve devised another method: consuming blood products from Longevity Species. This practice was very popular in medieval Western Europe. The monsters that are farmed and bled are called…”
Hearing this, Su Jiu felt like she was punching cotton. Zi Yi beside her suddenly spoke and stepped forward, standing in front of the silver-haired girl.
Su Jiu was taken aback, looking at Zi Yi’s back. She was surprised that Zi Yi was quite knowledgeable. As for herself, she only knew how to do things but didn’t understand history that required time and study.
“The angel’s potion.”
Her light grey eyes held a hint of contemplation, her gaze fixed on the needle marks on the silver-haired girl’s arm. She quickly grabbed the thin arm and turned to Su Jiu, stating her opinion:
“She’s likely not the Mayor’s Daughter’s Beast Pet. The Mayor’s Daughter seems afraid to even step on a cockroach. She’s probably an angel kept by some noble in the Shanghai circles. If we try to rescue her rashly, we might anger her master.”
Upon hearing this, Su Jiu remained silent. The Mayor’s Daughter felt very strange. In reality, unlike anime, her exaggerated behavior wasn’t typical of someone holding an official position.
However, this silver-haired girl wouldn’t say anything, and information was almost zero.
Seeing Su Jiu’s silence, Zi Yi’s eyes suddenly narrowed, and she whispered, “Could you suspect…”
Su Jiu shook her head, signaling her to stop.
“Since you are the doctors he called, it’s fine to treat me. That woman doesn’t want me to die.”
With her wrist held, the silver-haired girl’s face showed a pained expression, and a little cold sweat beaded on her forehead. But she gritted her teeth, letting out faint groans, and managed to say to Su Jiu:
“Don’t worry, I won’t say you saw me.”
“Okay.”
Nodding, Su Jiu was just about to reach out to treat her when the sound of turning a doorknob came from outside the door. A gentle female voice suddenly sounded from behind the door:
“Miss attendant, my daughter is locked inside and has a fever. Can you help open the door?”
“Of course, no problem. Please present your booking slip. If you don’t have a booking, we cannot disturb the passengers inside.” A rather neutral female voice responded, her tone calm but seemingly deliberately blocking the gentle female voice.
The gentle voice paused for a moment before saying, “Well, we were invited in by the Train Conductor, who said the officials had already purchased our tickets in advance…”
“Is that voice… the Young Lady?!”
Su Jiu and Zi Yi exchanged glances, seeing surprise in each other’s eyes. What followed was some frustration about how to get out – revealing the matter of someone keeping Blood Slaves would likely not end well.
If they exposed it, it would be a loss of face. The other party’s status, her father’s status and strength were all significant. Most importantly, outsiders had no right to interfere with contracted Beast Pets.
Of course, even if they didn’t say anything, the other party wasn’t foolish…
Suddenly, the neutral voice spoke, “I’m sorry, madam without a ticket cannot see the angel.”
A “bang!” sounded outside the door, followed by many flapping wing sounds. A strong gust of air came through the door crack. The gentle female voice, her voice lowered, angrily shouted:
“Poachers! It turns out everyone inside is with you.”
The next moment, there was a “click” sound from the doorknob, and the door slowly opened from the outside…
