Kidnapped

Only a single night had passed by the time they returned to Earth from Crescent Bay. Yu Xian and Little Nora parted directly with Niman, though before separating, both had added her as a contact on Qixin so they could easily stay in touch if anything came up. Stepping into the house, Yu Xian saw Little Huangquan curled up asleep on the sofa. Several plates sat on the coffee table, laden with salt-and-pepper prawns, black-pepper steak, and other dishes. "Proprietor." Nangong Wanwan, who was seated beside Little Huangquan gently fanning her, rose to her feet. "Yeah. Go get some rest." Yu Xian nodded to Nangong Wanwan and told her to head to her room to sleep. Through Super Smell, he understood what had happened here the instant he walked in. Little Huangquan had learned a few new recipes and was so thrilled that she had specially prepared the meal and stayed up waiting for him and Little Nora to return. In the end, that wait had lasted the entire night. Nangong Wanwan had tried persuading her to go sleep in her bedroom, but Little Huangquan had stubbornly insisted on waiting, leaving Nangong Wanwan with no choice but to stay by her side and look after her. "Smells so good! Did Little Sister Huangquan make this?" Little Nora hurried over to the coffee table, staring at the dishes with shining eyes, the cowlick on her head wagging like a puppy's tail. Yu Xian nodded. "Yeah, Little Huangquan made every single dish. But if you want to eat, you'd better heat them up first—they'll taste much better." He then stepped forward and gently scooped Little Huangquan into his arms. Looking at her sleeping face, he couldn't help but feel that his daughter was simply too adorable. He carried Little Huangquan back to her room, tucked her under the quilt, and couldn't resist planting a kiss on her cheek before stepping back out. On the coffee table, the plates were already empty. Yu Xian was greeted by the sight of Little Nora lounging on the sofa with a deeply satisfied expression. Spotting Yu Xian, she chimed cheerfully, "Big Brother, the food Little Sister Huangquan made is so delicious!" Yu Xian was left utterly speechless. He had explicitly told her to heat it up, and had intended to help her warm the food as soon as he came out. Yet every scrap of it had vanished in the blink of an eye. At this moment, he truly realized how important Niman's advice was: he genuinely needed to find a companion who knew how to take care of children for Little Nora and Little Huangquan. Finding a suitable companion was no easy task, however. Among his three current companions, Nora was his lover, while Little Nora and Little Huangquan were both children. He could trust them completely, but outsiders were another story. Take Niman, for instance—Yu Xian still harbored vigilance and reservations toward her. The main issue was that he had no idea what her motive was. Moreover, Niman was clearly the type of person with sharply defined objectives. The moment his goals clashed with hers, they would almost certainly turn on each other. He was not obtuse; he could sense that ever since Niman met him, she had been actively trying to win his favor, every expression on her face projecting goodwill. Yet the more she acted like that, the warier he became of her. If Niman hadn't saved Little Nora, he would have wanted nothing more than to stay as far away from her as possible, ideally cutting off contact altogether. Right then, Shui Yuetian's avatar flashed on Qixin. Yu Xian tapped on her avatar, and a message immediately popped up: *(´･･`) "Fish God, is Little Nora all right?"* "She's fine, doing great right now," Yu Xian replied after glancing over at Little Nora. Having eaten her fill, Little Nora was currently lying upside down on the sofa, rolling around with her head hovering barely an inch above the floor. Judging from her relaxed, carefree demeanor, the incident had clearly left no psychological trauma whatsoever. This was only natural. At first, Little Nora had been immersed in that peculiar trance, and once she awoke, she had already completed her atavism. Besides, dragons were simply food to her; the dragon corpses scattered around could only whet her appetite, not frighten her in the slightest. It was just like humans seeing a whole roast pig or roast lamb—surely no one found that terrifying; not drooling over it was already an exercise in restraint. Shui Shui: *"That's good. By the way, Fish God, do you have any thoughts about that mysterious person?"* After learning that Yu Xian and the others had been attacked, she had gone out of her way to look into the whole affair. The moment she heard the details, she suspected there was a traitor within her clan. However, that was only her personal conjecture, so she wanted to hear Yu Xian's perspective first. To her, Yu Xian was practically a child of fortune—not only blessed with versatile abilities, but ridiculously lucky as well. Perhaps he saw things differently. Compared to trusting herself, she was far more inclined to trust Yu Xian. Flashing Big Salted Fish: *"That robed figure—I suspect he's from Earth like me, aiming to drive me out of Crescent Bay. But Patriarch Hai didn't seem to agree with my guess... (・・`*)"* Shui Shui: *"(*´`) That guess of yours is a bit wild. Still... it actually gives me an idea. Fish God, do you think that robed figure could be an Earthling hiding inside our Sea Clan?"* *An Earthling hiding inside the Sea Clan?* In other words, the robed figure was both a traitor within the Sea Clan and an Earthling? Yu Xian froze, but the more he considered the notion, the more sense it made. Very few people knew of his arrival in Crescent Bay, yet the Sea Clan happened to be one of them. Hai Liwei saying he had 'long admired his name from afar' was proof enough that the patriarch was fully aware of his existence. And if Hai Liwei knew, there were bound to be others within the Sea Clan who were in the loop as well. That Earthling lurking inside the Sea Clan must have learned of his arrival through clan channels. Driven by the mentality that one mountain could not hold two tigers, they had begun plotting painstakingly to drive him out of Crescent Bay. It just so happened that Little Nora caught the dragon clan's attention this time. So the schemer hatched a plan, deliberately showing up and using Sea Clan techniques to slaughter members of the dragon clan, aiming to use pressure from both sides to force him away... Yu Xian stroked his chin, the image of that robed figure growing clearer and clearer in his mind. *Not a member of the Sea Clan, yet embedded within it, with status high enough to access the upper echelons...* Suddenly, the figures of Tangyi and Zhi'er surfaced in Yu Xian's mind. Going by their surnames, neither belonged to the Sea Clan. They had earned the clan's trust purely because they were powerful and had served faithfully for centuries, which was why they were assigned as Shui Yuetian's personal bodyguards. Yu Xian immediately typed out: *"Shui Shui, when did Tangyi and Zhi'er start serving the Sea Clan?"* Within a moment, his brow furrowed. The message failed to send. No, it wasn't that—Shui Shui had failed to receive it; the light screen showed she was offline. Frowning, Yu Xian tried messaging Niman. Once he verified that the network itself was functioning properly, an ominous premonition seized him. *It couldn't be that much of a coincidence, could it?* *** Having sent her message, Shui Yuetian had been waiting for Yu Xian's reply. At that moment, she suddenly felt that her surroundings were far too quiet. She looked toward the shop entrance; every single passerby had vanished. She realized instantly that she was under attack—and by a method she had never encountered before. Mobilizing the power within her, she immediately enveloped her body in a protective curtain of water. "I truly despise variables." A torrent of deep azure water slowly seeped in through the shop doorway, accompanied by a familiar voice from outside. Shui Yuetian's eyes went wide as she stared out the door in disbelief. "Zhi'er, the traitor was actually you?!" "Zhi'er? No, young lady. My true name is Thales, the noble First Primordial Water. In terms of pedigree, you stupid fish can't hold a candle to me. "If not for Helick's great treasure, what right would a mere Sea Clan have to make me lower myself to serve for centuries?" Zhi'er strolled in from outside, clutching Tangyi's severed head by the hair. Tangyi's eyes were wide with unavenged fury, blood steadily dripping from the ragged neck, yet the water beneath Thales's feet remained a pristine azure, entirely unstained by the blood. Seeing Tangyi's severed head, Shui Yuetian's face filled with grief and shock. "What do you want?" At this point, she knew full well that Thales, posing as Zhi'er, had hidden his true strength. For a Star-rank powerhouse to stoop to being her bodyguard, his ambition was bound to be staggering. "Me? What I want, of course, is... you. Only your blood is the sole key to unlocking Helick's treasure!" Thales smiled faintly at her. The deep azure water surged, instantly engulfing Shui Yuetian. Before a Star-rank powerhouse, none of Shui Yuetian's techniques stood a chance; her protective water curtain was assimilated into the surrounding azure current in the blink of an eye. Evidently, when it came to manipulating water, Thales was the true master; the Sea Clan was far outmatched. Having abducted Shui Yuetian, Thales's expression turned stern. Controlling the water currents to sweep her along, he vanished from the shop and made a decisive break toward the harbor.