Dusk.
A bamboo grove in a corner of Bamboo City.
Yu Xian appeared out of thin air, just in time to spot a giant panda accompanied by a plump, roly-poly cub.
He was actually very fond of pandas. Earlier, if he hadn't been pressed for time, he would have insisted on petting a panda's head and feeding it bamboo no matter what.
Now that he wasn't in a hurry, he had teleported here right after taking a shower at home, eager to hang out with the pandas.
"Auntie Panda, I truly love Xiaomei! Please let Xiaomei come with me!"
Yu Xian tiptoed toward the giant panda, slipping right into drama-queen mode as he addressed it with deadly seriousness before casting an affectionate gaze at the cub.
The giant panda simply sat on the ground, nonchalantly snapping a stalk of bamboo and chewing it at a leisurely pace. The cub clung behind its mother's backside, watching Yu Xian's theatrical performance with curiosity.
"Auntie Panda, since you don't object, I'll be taking Xiaomei with me!"
Yu Xian immediately pushed his luck, creeping toward the giant panda. But the moment he saw one of its paws let go of the bamboo and clench into a fist, he didn't say another word, immediately using spatial hop to bolt.
That giant panda possessed Eagle-rank strength; a single swipe from it was more than he could handle.
Transcendent creatures were actually highly intelligent, especially those that frequently coexisted with humans, who could basically understand human speech.
"Mommy, is my name Xiaomei?"
Seeing Yu Xian flee, the cub whined inquisitively to its mother.
The giant panda remained unfazed. Scooping up another piece of bamboo, it grunted back crossly, "Dummy, you're a male panda. At most, you can be named Two Dogs!"
"But I'm a panda, not a dog," the cub argued.
The giant panda calmly replied, "Then you're Two Cats."
"But I'm a panda, not a cat!" the cub protested indignantly.
With a casual swat, the giant panda sent the cub tumbling across the ground, growling, "Itching for a spanking, are you? Always whining about nonsense."
No doubt about it—she was definitely its biological mother, showing zero hesitation when it was time to discipline.
……
On the other side, Yu Xian had no idea the cub was getting beaten because of his improv acting.
He was seated by the window of a small noodle shop, slurping down big mouthfuls of old hen broth bamboo-fragrance noodles.
This dish was a specialty of Bamboo City. The noodles carried a rich aroma of bamboo and had a very distinct flavor. Those who liked it probably adored it, while those who didn't likely couldn't stomach a second bite.
Yu Xian found that he quite liked it. Enhanced by Super Taste, he could tell the noodles were made from top-grade bamboo-leaf juice blended with flour, simmered in a naturally sweet chicken broth base, and paired with exquisite side ingredients, making the flavor truly exceptional.
After devouring eight bowls in one breath, Yu Xian walked out of the noodle shop with a contented expression.
Speaking of which, vampires actually despised the smell of garlic; spending too long in an enclosed space filled with garlic could even make them pass out.
Yet after awakening Super Stomach and Super Taste, Yu Xian seemed to have become immune to this weakness. At the very least, he could munch on garlic with gusto now, completely unaffected by any discomfort.
Next, he tried striking up conversations with a few more panda cubs, only to be chased away every single time like an obnoxious street punk by their mothers.
After messing around for ten minutes or so, he teleported to Cuicheng and resumed his flight toward Ice City.
Midnight.
A city without walls appeared before Yu Xian's eyes.
It was so vast that even from high in the air, its borders were nowhere in sight. Even at midnight, the entire city remained brightly illuminated, the bustling traffic along its expressways resembling endless rivers of flowing light.
He had arrived in Yanjing.
As Yu Xian slowly descended, several waves of mental power swept over him in an instant.
He immediately looked toward a nearby skyscraper. With his vision enhanced by Silver Blood, he saw a young woman holding a cane standing at the very top of the building, gazing back at him.
She wore a black dress, her red hair fluttering in the wind. A patch covered her left eye, and when their gazes locked, her lone right eye gleamed with a sharp, piercing edge, giving Yu Xian an impression of fierce unruliness.
Tiger rank?
As expected of Yanjing, there were so many powerhouses here.
Yu Xian retracted his gaze and touched down on the ground. A moment later, a police car pulled up beside him.
A combat police officer clad in black battle armor stepped out of the vehicle, saluted, and said, "Hello. Please show your identification."
Yu Xian nodded, produced his Qilin credentials from his storage ring, and handed them over. His identity was verified in no time. The officer saluted, returned the ID, and informed him that flight was prohibited in Yanjing—anyone wishing to fly through the air had to register and apply for clearance in advance.
Clearly, his airborne approach had already tripped the alarms of the entire combat police network.
After that, no more combat police came to verify his credentials; even when patrol cars cruised past him, they did not stop.
Holding his phone, Yu Xian contacted Bat: "Bat, I'm in Yanjing. I can deliver Zhong Wuliang's corpse straight to you. Send me your location."
"Send me yours instead. I happen to be driving," Bat replied shortly after.
Vampires were natural night owls. Yu Xian didn't bother standing on ceremony and sent his location over directly. Bat replied that he would arrive in fifteen minutes.
Yanjing had been continuously expanding; its 35th Ring Road had already been completed several years ago.
Where Yu Xian currently stood was roughly along the yet-to-be-officially-designated 36th Ring Road.
Since each successive ring was larger than the last, the total circumference of the 36th Ring Road was utterly absurd. Yu Xian figured that Qilin Headquarters was likely located around the 34th or 33rd Ring; otherwise, Bat could never make it here so quickly.
He sat down on a public bench by the roadside and casually attached a swarm of microscopic spatial bubbles to the grooves along the back of the seat, feeling an odd sensation akin to secretly wiping a booger onto the back of a chair.
After fifteen minutes, an armored off-road vehicle pulled up in front of him. The window rolled down smoothly, and the young man in the driver's seat said, "Get in!"
"Are you Bat?" Yu Xian stood up, opened the passenger-side door, climbed in, shut the door, and then asked.
Bat's aura was very similar to his own, though Bat's complexion was far paler—a pallor tinged with a faint bluish hue, making him look more like a corpse. Yu Xian, on the other hand, had two beating hearts, giving him a skin tone quite close to an ordinary person's, merely on the porcelain, cool-toned side.
"Nice to meet you. My codename is Bat," the driver introduced himself while steering.
Yu Xian smiled. "Hello, I'm Salty Fish. Are we heading to headquarters now?"
"Mm," Bat grunted in acknowledgment and continued driving.
Realizing Bat wasn't a talker, Yu Xian lowered his head and went back to browsing his phone. He was reading a food guide for Yanjing, planning to come back for a massive feast once he finished planting a spatial bubble in Ice City.
Half an hour later, Bat pulled into the parking lot of an unremarkable building. After parking, he swiped an access card and led Yu Xian inside.
The moment Yu Xian stepped inside, he was completely stunned.
While the exterior looked utterly ordinary, the interior was packed with high-tech wonder. Furthermore, the space throughout the building had been spatially expanded; even an apparently tiny room inside was larger than a football field.
Yu Xian felt like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden, thoroughly dazzled as he followed along behind Bat.
The dragon clan girls were truly gorgeous; a mermaid swept past them, gracefully manipulating currents of water; and a masked figure with Leizhenzi lineage radiated an aura that sent a numb tingling sensation through his skull with just a single glance.
Passing certain chambers, he could peer through massive glass observation windows and see zombies, evil spirits, vengeful specters, and monsters restrained by chains, talismans, and dharma treasures, while researchers harvested specialized tissues from their bodies.
As expected of headquarters—they truly had every kind of bizarre entity imaginable. Yu Xian felt his eyes had truly been opened!
Chapter 90