Taboo Term

"Natural Disaster?!" "It's her?!" At those words, Nianshi and Lishi cried out together and sucked in a sharp breath. They understood why the Red King had reacted so violently. They had never seen Natural Disaster, but they had heard the name. It was a taboo term in the Organization. The defection five years ago had left a psychological shadow on countless people. Merely bringing up that term triggered them. Though the name Natural Disaster had become taboo, the defection had been too great in its impact. Even if the Organization wanted to cover it up, it could not silence everyone. Peripheral personnel like Nianshi and Lishi—who had spent ten years in closed-door cultivation deciphering ancient texts and rarely had any contact with the outside world—had still heard rumors from headquarters, let alone the other superpowered people. She was the most powerful superpowered person in history. She had overturned every line of research. In both status and ability she stood above the Seven Kings, a being at the true apex. Since defecting five years ago, she seemed to have vanished. No further word of her had ever been heard, and no one had again reached Natural Disaster's height and surpassed the Seven Kings. The Red King knew more, so he was even more afraid than Nianshi and Lishi. A superpowered person like him had shown talent from the very beginning and gained the Professor's attention, yet he still had to complete missions, accumulate experience, and pass assessment after assessment before he could become one of the Seven Kings. Natural Disaster was different. Overruling every objection, the Professor had raised her status directly above the Seven Kings. No matter how much the Seven Kings respected the Professor, suddenly having one more person over their heads still stirred their discontent. The Red King was no exception. He had not taken Natural Disaster seriously at all. She was nothing but a child of ten or so who understood nothing. The principles of superpowers, the theory of superpower output balance, thermodynamics, wilderness survival, combat techniques... did she understand any of that? Later, the Red King learned that she did not need to. "Lord Red King, is it possible you were mistaken?" Nianshi asked, carefully. After all, five years had passed since Natural Disaster's defection. In other words, at most the Red King had seen her at eleven or twelve. Her looks would long since have changed. This was questioning the Red King's authority. On an ordinary day it would already have provoked thunderous rage. Yet the Red King did not grow angry as Nianshi had imagined. Lost in that defection, he could not keep from trembling. The defection five years ago was the first time the Red King had seen her use her ability, and the last. Only then did he finally understand why the Professor had given her the code name "Natural Disaster," and why her status stood above the Seven Kings. In that battle, every superpowered person at headquarters had gone out. Even the Seven Kings had set aside their pride and prejudice and, rarely, taken a hand themselves. Not one of them had been her match. She had stood high above, looking down upon all living beings, like a deity. The Red King gave a bitter smile. "How could I have mistaken her? Even if I couldn't remember her face, I would remember those untamed, defiant eyes." "My lord, what do we do now? Do we still want the Human Dao supreme treasure?" Nianshi and Lishi realized that their earlier infiltration of the school had practically put one foot through the gates of hell. Cold sweat broke out on them. Who could have imagined that the most dangerous one was not the Zhenyue Ghost King, but Zhou You's deskmate? It was clearly summer, and they were right beside the Red King, yet a chill of dread ran through them. Just thinking back left them afraid. "The Human Dao supreme treasure?" Reminded by Nianshi, the Red King suddenly remembered. The purpose of this trip was to deal with the Zhenyue Ghost King and obtain the Human Dao supreme treasure. The psychological shadow Natural Disaster had left on him was too great. He had nearly forgotten why he had come. "Natural Disaster, the Zhenyue Ghost King, the Human Dao supreme treasure..." The Red King repeated the words over and over, and gradually worked something out. "That's it. How could it be such a coincidence that Natural Disaster and the Zhenyue Ghost King appeared together? She came for the Human Dao supreme treasure too!" "You mean she knows the Human Dao supreme treasure is here?" Lishi was indignant and did not believe the Red King's inference. The two of them had worked day and night to decipher the ancient text before they learned where the Human Dao supreme treasure was. On what grounds would Natural Disaster know? The Red King's eyes narrowed slightly. Just now he had been wholly occupied with Natural Disaster and had not noticed the pair's attitude toward him. "You're questioning me?" Red Yang was unleashed. The space around them grew so hot it warped. Lishi's legs gave out, and he dropped to his knees with a thud. Great drops of sweat slid from his chin and fell. "I wouldn't dare." The Red King gave a cold snort and withdrew his ability. "What is Natural Disaster's name?" the Red King asked. "I think it was Chu something..." Nianshi racked his brains. These past days their attention had been entirely on Zhou You and the Zhenyue Ghost King. They had never paid Chu Xiaoyao any mind. She just got along fairly well with Zhou You, that was all. What did it matter? "You didn't even look into intelligence this important. What use are you!" The Red King's brows shot up, with the faint sign that he was about to use his ability again. "Yes. We'll go look up her file at once." Nianshi and Lishi fled in a panic to gather Chu Xiaoyao's personal information. Watching the two leave in disgrace, the Red King silently cursed them for two good-for-nothings. If he had known Natural Disaster was here, he would not have come even on the Professor's orders. "Wait." The Red King called the two back. "You are not to breathe a word that Natural Disaster is here. If I learn you've leaked so much as a whisper, watch that your lives aren't forfeit!" Lishi wanted to ask why. Nianshi hurriedly pressed Lishi's head down and answered yes. The Red King had his own considerations. Nianshi and Lishi were not at headquarters. They had only heard fragments, and did not truly understand Natural Disaster's impact there. Natural Disaster appearing again—even this brief piece of intelligence alone—was enough to shake people's hearts. If it were serious, it might even split headquarters. After all, once the previous generation of the Seven Kings had witnessed Natural Disaster's might and felt they could never reach that height in this lifetime, they lost heart. One after another they had resigned and left the Organization. Only he and one other King had stayed. But the Red King did not dare keep a matter this enormous to himself. "The matter of Natural Disaster need only be known to the Professor." It was nearly evening before Nianshi and Lishi brought the file over. The Red King took it with a frown. They had been so slow that he could not even be bothered to scold the two of them. "Chu Xiaoyao... adopted. Birth parents unknown... experiences before junior high unknown... After starting junior high, the person closest to her was Zhou You. The two have been close from the first year of junior high all the way to the third year of high school now..." "It seems that after she left the Organization, she was adopted by parents in Chang'an, started junior high here, and met Zhou You." The file matched the information the Red King knew. He closed it, tilted his head back, and let out a faint sigh. "It really is her." In truth, deep down he had held a thread of wishful hope. What if his eyes had played tricks on him and he had mistaken the person? Then everything would be fine. The file crushed that last hope. He dialed the Professor. The phone rang several times before the Professor's muffled, indistinct voice came through. "Red King, you've arrived in Chang'an?" Only then did the Red King remember that on the Professor's end it was still the small hours before dawn, and the Professor had been asleep. But with a major matter at hand, he could not worry about disturbing him. "Professor, Natural Disaster has appeared." From the other end of the line came a tremendous thud. He did not know what had happened. Then came a long silence, so long that the Red King thought the Professor had hung up. "Tell me in detail. What is the situation?" The Professor's voice was steady and calm, no longer the muddled sound of someone not fully awake. Yet beneath that calm voice, the Red King sensed a thread of panic. He truthfully reported what he had seen and heard at No. 2 High. Then came another long wait while the Professor thought. At last, the Professor spoke. "Natural Disaster appearing at that school means she came in search of the Human Dao supreme treasure. Otherwise there could not be such a coincidence. "But don't rush. She has not necessarily found the Human Dao supreme treasure. I've looked up some material here on the Zhenyue Ghost King, and it differs from the white-robed female ghost you described. That means the female ghost you saw is not the treasure guardian. "Stay there and keep watching. See whether you can find a lead on the supreme treasure. "But remember this: do not let Natural Disaster discover you."