Chapter 55: Elemental River – The Culprit Worth Hating

Half a quarter-hour later, all the elders returned to the front hall, joined by several stewards.

The image within the magic stone was activated once more.

After watching it, the gathered crowd wore varied expressions on their faces.

The White-Haired Elder spoke in a trembling voice. “Back then, the beastmen mobilized en masse. The human race had no defenses prepared and nearly suffered a city-wide massacre…”

It was the God Clan who had intervened, preventing even greater catastrophe.

Reports claimed that the very God Clan member shown in the image had single-handedly routed the beastmen’s army.

He appeared to hold an extraordinary position within the God Clan. After the beastmen retreated, the surviving humans in the city had been tearfully grateful toward him, hailing him as a war god.

But that God Clan member had not been particularly receptive to their praise. He had merely been passing by at the time, and his intervention stemmed only from the beastmen’s roars being too loud and disruptive.

The arrogance and capriciousness of the God Clan had long been known among the races, but that incident had given everyone a fresh perspective.

The White-Haired Elder had once taken a keen interest in the God Clan. He had pored over countless records and tales of their deeds, and this particular image had left a deep impression on him.

Once he finished speaking, a brief silence fell over the hall.

“Could it be a coincidence? Just a similar appearance? The God Clan has long since vanished… How could this be possible?”

“This man has appeared multiple times at sites where miasma fog first emerged. Another coincidence?”

“But the God Clan disappeared ages ago…”

“If it’s really him, then the God Clan’s power must be unfathomable…”

Moreover, Xuzhi’s true purpose at the academy remained unclear. Without this incident, he would have passed as an ordinary student—talented enough, but hardly remarkable, having enrolled already as an adult.

By now, he had shown up at all four locations where miasma fog had recently spawned: once at Netherworld Mountain, once in Lobe Academy’s Beast-Taming Forest, and the remaining two just today.

Even stranger, investigations at all four sites had revealed that the miasma fog had mysteriously vanished afterward.

It was no secret that the God Clan had once been the source of the miasma fog, though the precise details remained unknown.

What should have been a man-made calamity had instead claimed the entire God Clan, stripping away the hated culprit they could blame. With so many years passed since, it had simply become known as a heavenly disaster.

Now, with signs of the God Clan’s return, people’s minds naturally turned first to the miasma fog.

If the fog had surged wherever Xuzhi went, it would have been easy to pin the blame on him. Yet at every location he had visited, the miasma fog had disappeared instead.

Some suggested dispatching the Miasma-Clearing Team to the academy for a subtle probe and to gather information.

Others wore grim expressions, visibly rejecting the very notion of a “God Clan” identity.

“The disappearance of the miasma fog is just a facade—no one can truly explain it,” one elder declared. “With all the recent unrest, I say it’s the work of God Clan remnants!”

“Elder Qiu,” someone beside him soothed, “it’s only a resemblance for now. Nothing’s confirmed.”

The alchemy array recorded in the magic stone was ancient, and the image too blurry to confirm with absolute certainty that it was the same person.

At that moment, another carefully compared the image to Xuzhi’s features and mused, “It seems… the one at the academy looks a bit younger.”

God Clan members enjoyed extraordinarily long lifespans, so the man’s true age in the recording was unknown—he merely appeared to be around twenty-five.

Xuzhi, by contrast, had only recently come of age, creating a noticeable gap between them.

“Could they be father and son? Or some other blood relation?”

The group debated at length before finally agreeing with the White-Haired Elder’s proposal: dispatch a team to Lobe Academy, accompanied by two elders.

“Once there, make no rash moves,” the White-Haired Elder instructed. “Focus on inquiries. Resolving the heavenly disaster comes first.”

As for the two patches of miasma fog in the suburbs, they had been detected promptly, and the sites were far enough apart that it might be possible to lure the possessed magical beasts to even more remote areas. That would minimize any impact on the city.

The White-Haired Elder was advanced in years and could no longer hold out. After giving his orders, attendants helped him back to rest.

Once he had departed, someone in the hall spoke up. “We should still play it safe—rally beast tamers from every team. Better prepared than sorry.”

This was a call for overwhelming force. Even if the God Clan was powerful, only Xuzhi had surfaced so far. Capturing him would be ideal if possible.

With beast taming contracts in play, human mages who had become beast tamers boasted enhanced overall strength.

The God Clan had once been unparalleled in battle, but after a century, things were surely different.

The rest exchanged a few more brief words before dispersing to attend to their duties.

One elder stepped out of the front hall and rounded a corridor, glancing down at the communication device in his hand.

He was the very contact Herl had reached out to recently—an old acquaintance with a solid rapport, though they kept any overt connections to a minimum.

The elder relayed everything that had transpired to Herl, both to prepare the academy and to inquire about the truth.

Upon receiving the message, Herl did not reply right away. Instead, he sought out Xiang Lun.

“I knew Xuzhi’s identity couldn’t stay hidden forever,” Xiang Lun sighed. “But I didn’t expect it to come out this quickly.”

Xuzhi had been cautious at the academy, concealing his talents well. The trouble stemmed from sending him out this time to clear the miasma fog.

Even if he had disguised his face, his mount Tomato was far too distinctive.

Yet leaving the miasma fog unresolved would only bring more problems. Ming Shuang wielded ice magic and had no desire to see casualties mount nearby.

Herl asked, “What do we do now?”

“Let them come if they want,” Xiang Lun replied, his expression darkening. “Anyone who wants to lay a hand on Xuzhi will have to get past me first.”

~~~

Night had fallen by the time Ming Shuang settled into Xuzhi’s room to sleep.

Xiang Lun must have figured Xuzhi deserved the rest after his efforts, and with Ming Shuang reverted to his juvenile form, sharing a bed was no issue. He turned a blind eye to it.

After washing up, however, the little dragon hatchling rolled half a circle on the pillow and pawed out two magic stones to munch on.

Xuzhi had no time to stop him before Ming Shuang shapeshifted and pounced straight into his arms.

“Why shapeshift now?” he asked helplessly. “Don’t you have class tomorrow morning?”

“I’ll just skip it,” Ming Shuang mumbled, his face buried. “There have been so many incidents lately… Grandpa says it’s safer if I stay in the room.”

He could still speak with Xuzhi in his dreams, but the light magic treatments over these past days had changed everything.

As his magic veins steadily repaired, Ming Shuang’s true form had grown considerably larger than at the start. His neck now sported a thick collar of long, fluffy fur, and his horns had sharpened noticeably.

Once he grew a bit more, that fur would shed.

Xuzhi murmured an acknowledgment. “Then I’ll skip too.”

He rarely missed classes, so Ming Shuang lifted his head to gaze at him. After a moment’s hesitation, he whispered, “Brother… are you worried?”

“Worried about what?”

“The miasma fog,” Ming Shuang said after a pause. “And the fact that those people saw you today…”

“I’m not worried,” Xuzhi replied in a soft, reassuring tone. “You don’t need to fear them.”

His calm demeanor suggested he could handle anything, and it gradually eased Ming Shuang’s mind.

Ming Shuang wondered to himself whether Wu Shao would bring back the rest of their kin soon—and if more troubles arose, surely they would lend a hand?

Clansmen on Dragon Island had never laid eyes on him, though. They might not even know he existed, leaving their stance uncertain.

He had kept the matter of the Dragon Clan’s return to himself. Yan Si had specifically warned him not to tell anyone outside the clan until every dragon egg had hatched.

Yan Si had explained that the eggs’ failure to hatch signaled the Dragon Clan’s path to extinction.

Unlike the God Clan, the entire Dragon Clan would fade away slowly. Their warriors would weaken step by step, with no way to reverse it.

The Dragon Clan’s strength still stood at its peak for now, but the future was anyone’s guess.

If word got out to outsiders, it would invite covetous eyes. Countless people dreamed of capturing and taming a dragon, forging a beast taming contract with one.

Or worse—live-capturing adult dragons and forcing them to serve as vessels for purifying miasma fog.

Only from Yan Si’s lips had Ming Shuang finally learned the truth: dragons were not immune to miasma fog. Rather, their mighty bodies could metabolize any that possessed them.

The dense magic elements within a giant dragon’s frame even drew in any fully erupted miasma fog. Even if metabolism failed, the fog could not break free of the dragon’s body to erupt anew.

The Dragon Clan had discovered this long ago. With the eggs no longer hatching, they had swiftly hidden themselves away on Dragon Island.

Ming Shuang had been stunned for quite some time upon hearing it.

He had come to fully grasp his own importance. His mother had departed early that year—if there had been a second Silver Frost Dragon, things might never have come to this.

Noticing Ming Shuang’s distant stare, Xuzhi stroked his back. “What are you thinking about?”

Ming Shuang snapped back to the present and stammered, “I… I’ll tell you in a bit.”

Xuzhi knew Wu Shao had left alone and could guess that Ming Shuang’s worries tied back to the Dragon Clan.

“Alright,” he said, leaning in to press a gentle kiss to the corner of Ming Shuang’s lips. “Not sleepy yet?”

The gesture yanked Ming Shuang’s scattered thoughts back into focus.

He gazed at Xuzhi and promptly zoned out again in a daze.

Lately, Xuzhi’s memories had been resurfacing bit by bit—who knew how much he had recalled by now?

The changes were most pronounced when they were alone together, making him seem ever more like his old self. That tone of voice just now, for instance…

But the Xuzhi of before certainly would never have kissed him.

The current Xuzhi felt like a blend of past and present, something novel and intriguing to Ming Shuang.

He reached up to cup Xuzhi’s face, leaning in for a close look before nuzzling affectionately against his neck. “Brother… Master…”

Xuzhi held him steady, apparently unaffected. “Time to sleep.”

That tone sounded even more like the old days.

For some reason, Ming Shuang felt a twinge of displeasure. He lifted his head and stared at Xuzhi for a moment before suddenly nipping at his lips.

Xuzhi’s throat bobbed as he asked in a low voice, “Want to kiss?”

The daytime annoyances seemed to have been temporarily forgotten. Ming Shuang felt utterly relaxed and nodded vaguely. “Mm.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Xuzhi leaned in and kissed him.

With Xuzhi’s guidance, the kiss was more practiced than before. It wasn’t too deep, and they stopped at just the right moment.

At some point, the lights in the room had been turned off, leaving only a small nightlight by the bedside—one that Taro Ball had brought in earlier that evening.

In the dim glow, Ming Shuang couldn’t make out Xuzhi’s expression clearly, but he could feel the heat radiating from the man’s palm.

Kissed into a daze, Ming Shuang instinctively slipped an Ice Ball into Xuzhi’s hand.

Xuzhi took the Ice Ball and pressed a kiss to Ming Shuang’s forehead. “Sleep now, Little Dragon baby.”

Ming Shuang obediently curled up in his arms, closed his eyes, and let out a yawn.

~~~

Under the cover of night, the entire Courtyard was shrouded in silent darkness.

The Owl wasn’t asleep. It was full of energy at night and flew a wide loop around the Academy, searching for any spot where it might sneak inside.

When it reached the southern side, near the Beast-Taming Forest, it suddenly caught a whiff of something unusual in the air.

The Owl came to a cautious halt. Seeing no one around, it followed the scent, drawing closer bit by bit.

Before long, far beyond the Academy’s boundaries, it spotted a peculiar wisp of smoke seeping up from underground.

Drawing nearer, the Owl’s eyes widened in shock.

An Element River… How could there be an Element River here?