Master of Nine Stars

Outside Songbai Town, in the northwestern Snow Forest.

The Snow Forest, once rarely visited, was now a complete wreck. Shattered and fallen trees were everywhere, remnants of a chaotic battlefield.

The white flames had been extinguished, but the area remained brightly lit, with a Luminous Lantern Paper Cage floating above everyone’s head.

Rong Taotao looked at Gao Lingwei kneeling before him, then at the teachers in the distance negotiating with the soldiers. This was destined to be a sleepless night.

They had already alerted many people, from the Soul Police of Songbai Town to the Snow Burning Army stationed at the town’s edge, and even...

”Taotao.” Yang Chunxi held up her phone and waved Rong Taotao over.

”Yeah?” Rong Taotao answered, walking over and curiously taking the phone. ”Who is it?”

”Who is it? You punk, you can’t even recognize my voice?”

”Uh...” Rong Taotao stammered. The voice was indeed a little familiar. ”Captain Fu?” he ventured.

”So you *do* remember I’m your captain?” On the other end of the line, Chenlong, Fu Tiance, sounded aggressive and fierce. ”How come I wasn’t aware the Twelfth Squad had a mission outside Songbai Town tonight?”

Rong Taotao’s expression stiffened. He walked to the side with the phone. ”Heh heh, we were chasing a Lotus Petal and had to leave town. We ran into the Snow Burning Army guarding the border, and I figured we couldn’t afford to be stopped, you know? The mission was urgent...”

”Chasing a Lotus is a big deal, and it’s official business. Did you think I would have stopped you if you had told me beforehand?” Fu Tiance’s tone was clearly displeased. ”My superiors came down on me with a barrage of questions, and it put me in a very awkward position. I didn’t know a thing. What was I supposed to tell them?”

”I’m sorry, Captain Fu.” Rong Taotao admitted his mistake sincerely, feeling a pang of guilt. ”It’s true, I handled this badly and caused you trouble.”

At the time, he had been completely focused on the Lotus, and he was indeed a bit hasty, not thinking things through completely.

In truth, Rong Taotao had misjudged the situation. He had previously believed the Lotus Petal was inside the town, in the residential area northwest of Songbai Soul Martial High School. But as they followed it, they were suddenly led out of town...

”You’re still young and inexperienced, so you’ve got room to make mistakes.” Hearing Rong Taotao’s earnest self-criticism, most of Fu Tiance’s anger dissipated. He cursed with a laugh, ”If this had been your brother, Rong Yang, I’d have thrown his ass in solitary for a month, no question!”

Rong Taotao replied meekly, ”Oh.”

Fu Tiance changed the subject. ”Did you catch the Lotus Petal?”

Rong Taotao glanced at Gao Lingwei, who was kneeling in the snow not far away. She was holding a handful of snow, upon which rested a single Cyan Lotus Petal. Gao Lingwei’s eyes were shut tight, as if she were trying to carefully experience something.

Rong Taotao responded, ”We caught it.”

Fu Tiance’s voice suddenly jumped an octave. ”You caught it!?”

”Yeah.” Rong Taotao scratched his head. ”We caught it. Da Wei is absorbing the ownerless Lotus Petal right now.

After all, I brought Erji and Erli with me. Who could possibly escape?”

Fu Tiance swallowed. ”That Lotus Petal... who had it before?”

Rong Taotao said, ”A Free Person: the Red-clothed Merchant.”

Fu Tiance’s eyes lit up. ”And where is he?”

Rong Taotao: ”Beheaded.”

Fu Tiance laughed and cursed, ”Stop spitting out one word at a time! Give me a full report, all the details!”

Rong Taotao grinned. ”Uh... there was a team of Poachers lying in ambush outside Songbai Town. Obviously, they were waiting for a chance to slip into town and launch another assassination attempt on Da Wei during the New Year.

I discovered them and figured, since we were already at it, we might as well go all the way and assassinate them before they could assassinate Da Wei.

They’ve tried to kill us several times already. It’s only polite to return the favor...”

Fu Tiance: ”...”

Rong Taotao paused, then continued, ”The Poacher team had five members in total. Two scouts, probably Soul Captains. One was pulled into an Illusion World by Yang Chunxi and dealt with. The other was blown to bits by Li Lie in an instant.

The remaining three were all critically wounded by Coach Li’s opening bombardment.

Feng Zi and Mi Tu of the Eight Great Coins were killed by me and Gao Lingwei. The Free Person, the Red-clothed Merchant, was beheaded by Coach Si...”

The more Fu Tiance listened, the more dumbfounded he became, and also the more excited. He felt like the blood in his veins was about to ignite!

Feng Zi! Mi Tu! The Red-clothed Merchant!

These were all notorious criminals who had wreaked havoc for years, criminals they had been chasing for so long but could never catch. And yet, in a single night, they had been wiped out by Rong Taotao’s team?

And Feng Zi and Mi Tu were killed by Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei’s own hands?

Holy cow, this was incredible!

’I thought Taotao was just making me take the fall for him, and I was ready to do it, too. For the sake of certain people, I’d have accepted the blame. But it turns out there’s a damn bonus!?’

Brimming with excitement, Fu Tiance’s curiosity was completely piqued. He pressed on, ”Tell me the details. How did you do it? From what you said, it sounds like Li Lie made the first move?”

”Yes, Coach Li’s damage output is the most explosive, so I had him kick things off...”

Fu Tiance paused, stunned. ”You had him kick things off? What do you mean? You were the one in command?”

Rong Taotao, still on the phone, scuffed the ground with his toe. ”Eh, ’command’ is a strong word. I just made a few suggestions, and the teachers took care of business.”

Fu Tiance: ???

Rong Taotao proceeded to give Fu Tiance a detailed account of the battle, and Fu Tiance found himself nodding repeatedly as he listened.

’This command performance! Giving it a 90 out of 100 would be no exaggeration!’

’Probing layer by layer, pressing forward step by step, cutting off all the prey’s escape routes with every move. And at the very end, covert schemes and overt plans merged into one, forcing the prey to fight—and only after they were already severely wounded.’

’Impressive! Very impressive!’

’For a kid who hasn’t even graduated yet to have this level of prudence and skill... that’s truly rare!’