Chapter 718: Not Yet the Time
That was the time the bloody-robed man had gone off into the deep-end and devour the blood octopus to try to breakthrough!
Such a powerful shockwave from his attempt could be felt from all the way where Gui Wei and the other person were.
Gui Wei looked infuriated at the results. "Damn!! What is that Gui Nu trying to do?!"
The middle-aged man next to him had a strange look in his eyes. "This is....'Bloodsoul Devouring' and....'Bloodsoul Shadow'?"
A look of understanding dawned upon the man's face as he peered over to where the explosion came from. A smile appeared on his face as if to 'praise' someone, he turned to Gui Wei. "Head on over there, Gui Nu seems to have gotten into some trouble. If something were to go wrong with him, then someone as capable as him in the Bloodsoul Dark Arts won't be seen for another several hundred years...."
His words were surprising to Gui Wei, but the person didn't hesitate to follow his orders. With hardly even a bow towards the man, Gui Wei stepped into a spatial warp and teleported another kilometer away towards the source of the explosion.
As he was leaving, the voice of the middle-aged man spoke out to him, "Take Gui Nu and leave. Forget about the young man there."
He didn't even need to be told that though. Gui Wei had no intentions of doing anything with Bai Yunfei. He just wanted to get in, take Gui Nu, and get out. If he didn't find a place to help Gui Nu settle down the new powers he had, then Gui Nu would be dead, if not crippled by the instability of his abrupt power up....
......
The middle-aged man watched as Gui Wei disappeared off into a distance with a faint smile on his face. "So this is the rumored student of master. My 'junior' then....haha, what a brave young hero he is. So strong, and yet so young....but he is still a ways away from Mo Ni."
He stayed quiet after that to look off into the distance. After a while, he turned his eyes back towards Huangfu Rui.
A tall and short figure stood in the center of the valley without moving. After a while, there was a sigh loud enough to be heard echoing through the valley before the middle-aged man turned around. A transparent door appeared in front of him before he took a step through it and disappeared.
The only thing left in the valley to prove he was there was but a single sigh....
"Now is not the time, not just yet...."
......
He disappeared, leaving behind Huangfu Rui as the only person left in the valley. She stood there, her robes drifting with the wind for several seconds before she snapped out from her dreamlike state with a start.
"What'd you say, uncle Dongfang?"
She spoke, giving a delayed question to the man who wasn't even there anymore.
"Eh?" She blinked once. Looking around for the man, Huangfu Rui couldn't see him at all. "Uncle Dongfang?"
When she realized no one was there in the valley, Huangfu Rui scratched her head in confusion.
"Where'd he go?
"Eh? My soulforce is back!" A second revelation hit her a moment afterwards, this one a lot happier than the one before. It was true! Her soulforce was now back to normal levels!
"Whew....all is good. Little Rui managed to protect herself...." She patted herself on the chest with a relieved sigh.
"Little Rui! Little Rui!!"
A voice from farther away called out to her while she was mumbling to herself. Surprised, she turned her head to look at the several bolts of light coming for her through the sky.
"Xiao Rourou!" She cried out in excitement. "Bro Strawhat! Sis Yun! Sis Ting!!"
These people coming for her was Bai Yunfei and the others!
......
Bai Yunfei and the others went back to Formagua City after they were all settled down to look for Huangfu Rui. They came across the red magiboar at some point in their search underneath the passageways, who said that he had a trace on Huangfu Rui now. Excited, everyone immediately took off away from the city towards where she was said to be.
The several beams of light dropped down from the skies with the red magiboar leading the front. An audible sigh of relief escaped from the red magiboar when he saw that Huangfu Rui was safe. Still a bit concerned for her wellbeing, the boar asked, "Are you alright, little Rui?"
Bai Yunfei, Zheng Kai, Tang Xinyun, and Kou Tingting dropped down next to get to Huangfu Rui. In Zheng Kai's arms was the little girl Bai Yunfei saved a while ago.
It was with some grievance that Huangfu Rui dug herself into the arms of Tang Xinyun. "You're finally here, sis Yun....how could you leave me all alone here....I...I didn't know what to do...."
Pained, Tang Xinyun stroked and patted the little girl on her back. "Don't be afraid, little Rui. You're fine now, safe and sound...."
Bai Yunfei was noticeably calmer now that he could see for himself that Huangfu Rui was safe. He stood off to the side when Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting hugged Huangfu Rui to their chests to scan the area vigilantly.
The first thing he saw was the 'aftermath' of the battle between Huangfu Rui and the Hornets, one of the most noticeable things being the crater left behind by the bamboo bird she used earlier. Also more noticeable was the puddle of blood a little ways away from Huangfu Rui. This puddle of blood was surprising to Bai Yunfei, and he could see that the blood was still quite fresh.
"How'd you get all the way here, Doraemon?" He couldn't help but ask. "And were you fighting here?"
Everyone else looked around to see what Bai Yunfei was looking at. Like him, they all looked surprised at their surroundings and turned to Huangfu Rui for answers.
Still hiding in Tang Xinyun's chest, Huangfu Rui took a moment before she answered Bai Yunfei's question. It took another second for her to formulate a response.
"I....I don't know. I was already here when I woke up. Then....I um....saw some bad guys that wanted to bully me...."
Everyone looked surprise. They couldn't help but feel surprised even though they knew Huangfu Rui was completely fine. "Was it the 'Hornets'?" Bai Yunfei asked. "The people we came across back in Vacancy Inn."
"It was them." She nodded.
A grim light entered Bai Yunfei's eyes. "And then what?"
A head tilt.
"I fought with them and was winning when my soulforce stopped working. I was nearly hit by them when...."
She looked a little reluctant to mention that part. Patting her chest for reassurance, she continued, "Uncle Dongfang came in to save the day. I don't know what he did, but those people were scared off...."
"Uncle Dongfang??"
Again, everyone looked confused. "Who is this 'uncle Dongfang?" Bai Yunfei asked.
"I don't really know...." Huangfu Rui admitted, "but he's a really good uncle. He knows mom."
"Where is he now then?"
"I don't know, he disappeared all of a sudden...."
"......"
Each question Bai Yunfei asked only served to make him even more confused. All the questions he asked weren't getting him any answers, meaning they still didn't know why Huangfu Rui was all the way here in such a faraway place. They also didn't know why they would come across the Hornets here of all places. And last but not least, this 'uncle Dongfang' was a point of interest for Bai Yunfei now. Why was he gone? It was very suspicious.
And with all the blood and gore nearby, it was very obvious to Bai Yunfei to say the Hornets weren't simply 'scared off' like Huangfu Rui said uncle Dongfang did.
They were simply killed.
"Ngh...."
A small sound broke the train of thought Bai Yunfei was having. Whirling around, he realized the voice was coming from the unconscious girl in Zheng Kai's arms!
Like Bai Yunfei, Zheng Kai tilted his head down to look at the girl. "Yunfei!" He barked, "Something's....something's wrong with the girl!!"