"Creak."
There was a squeaking sound as a door was suddenly opened and two figures came in.
One was walking casually with his hand behind his back while the other was carrying a large thing on their back.
When they walked in, the person that had been sitting inside turned to look in their direction and immediately knitted their brows.
This person looked at the one who was walking casually and asked, "Feng Yu Ze, what is the meaning of this?" While saying this, he also released his aura to press down on Feng Yu Ze.
But Feng Yu Ze still had a calm look as he said, "President, an accident happened, it's not like I could do anything about it."
Yes, the two who had just walked in were Feng Yu Ze and his Foundation Realm guard who was carrying the corpse of the beast from the mountain.
The one that was sitting in the room was the Mercenary Guild president.
The Mercenary Guild president narrowed his eyes and asked, "Explain, what do you mean by this?"
Feng Yu Ze explained what happened at the mountain which caused the Mercenary Guild president to knit his brows more and more.
Finally, when he was done, he added, "I say, Ming Ze, there's quite a lot that you didn't tell me. If I wasn't smart enough to bring my shadow along, I would have been the one to die."
The Mercenary Guild president glared at him and said, "Even then you still couldn't save this chimera?"
Feng Yu Ze gave a soft snort and said, "Ming Ze, do you really think that I'm scared of you? I was sent by the Feng Family to work with you, not for you. I hope that you remember that."
The Mercenary Guild president narrowed his eyes again before saying, "Get out." Then after thinking for a bit, he added, "Bring that corpse to the research facility."
Feng Yu Ze narrowed his eyes to look at the Mercenary Guild president before saying, "Ming Ze, why are you so engrossed in this? This isn't like you."
The Mercenary Guild president just looked at him and said, "Are you trying to push my bottom line right now? If you are, don't blame me for not showing any courtesy." This time, he released his full aura at Feng Yu Ze and the Foundation Realm guard.
Not to mention Feng Yu Ze, even the Foundation Realm guard wasn't able to take the full force of this aura.
It had to be known that the Foundation Realm guard was only in the Low Foundation Realm, so he was weak among Foundation Realm Cultivators. This Ming Ze in front of them was actually in the Mid Foundation Realm.
Seeing that he had touched his taboo, Feng Yu Ze said, "Fine, we're going." Before he left, he didn't forget to add, "I hope you understand that the Feng Family is very disappointed in your lack of honesty and your conduct."
Even though he spoke in a threatening voice, Feng Yu Ze also quickly left this room.
The Mercenary Guild president didn't say anything. It wasn't because he was afraid of Feng Yu Ze's threat, but the Feng Family behind him was indeed quite troublesome.
This Feng Family was a family that was a part of a sect that was made up of four families, so they had power within this sect. If they were to use the power of this sect against him, it would indeed be troublesome…
So he wanted to remain on their good side if possible.
Once they were gone, the Mercenary Guild president couldn't help opening a drawer in his desk and looking down into it. After a long period of silence, he said, "It's almost ready. As long as this works, you'll be cured."
He closed his eyes and just stayed there for a long time. When he finally opened his eyes, they were filled with determination and a ruthless glow.
He tapped something on his table and a few seconds later, there was someone that came out from the wall behind him.
This person was completely dressed in black and didn't say a thing as they fell to one knee behind the Mercenary Guild president.
The Mercenary Guild president didn't say anything at first as he just stared at the piece of paper in front of him. After a long period of silence, he took this piece of paper and handed it to the black clothed person.
He then said in a deep voice, "Take this to the research lab and have them analyze this."
The person in black just took the piece of paper without a word and disappeared the same way that he had come in from.
On that piece of paper was an account of the supernatural healing that the chimera had undergone. He had also been surprised when he heard Feng Yu Ze describe this because this was not something that he had heard about before.
This should be a new mutation in the chimera that they never noticed before.
However, this was also the kind of mutation that Ming Ze wanted to see because it would bring him closer to achieving his goal.
As long as he could achieve his goal, everything would be worth it.
…
When Lin Fan arrived back in Brilliant Light City, it was already evening.
The guards were surprised to see Lin Fan.
Their device would be able to detect high grade cultivators, but it wouldn't work anymore once that person reached the Foundation Realm. The fact that it no longer worked against Lin Fan meant…
He had actually broken through!
They couldn't help being surprised because they could see how young he was.
After confirming that he was in the Foundation Realm, the guards quickly filled out a new report and sent it off to the City Lord Manor.
The City Lord that received this report was surprised to hear that a Foundation Realm Cultivator had appeared in his city, but he just left it at that since it was normal for Foundation Realm Cultivators to appear.
That was only because he didn't recognize Lin Fan's name at all and he was still focused on the project that he had going on with the Mercenary Guild.
He had received information about a new mutation with the chimeras and he was too caught up in that to worry about some random Foundation Realm Cultivator entering his city. As long as this Foundation Realm Cultivator didn't do anything to bother his plan, he didn't care about him.
It was just too bad that Lin Fan did plan on interfering with his plan.
He didn't know that he had just shot himself in the foot.
After Lin Fan passed through the gate, the first thing that he did was head to the store.
Since it was still evening, the staff members were still in the store and that included Ouyang Qian.
When Ouyang Qian saw Lin Fan there, she dropped the clipboard in her hand and she ran up to him, wrapping her arms around him as she said with tears, "Young master, you're alright! I was worried that something had happened to you!"
Lin Fan revealed an awkward look, but there was a warm feeling that filled his heart. He patted her on the back and said, "I'm alright, don't worry."
Ouyang Qian had been observing the situation in Clear Water Village the entire time. When she heard that the Mercenary Guild had drawn out and that the village had been completely massacred by the mysterious spirit beast, she knew that the Mercenary Guild had clearly finished with whatever plan they had in the area. However, the fact that Lin Fan wasn't back must have meant that something had happened to him.
She had been worried the entire time and had sent her people to look for him, but they hadn't been able to bring back any information at all.
She couldn't help feeling guilty since she was the one that had asked him to go in the first place, so she really didn't know how to feel if something had happened to him.
When she saw him coming through the door, the stone in her heart finally fell and she let out all her emotions as she ran to him.
Lin Fan comforted her for a few minutes before telling her what happened at Clear Water Mountain.
Ouyang Qian immediately knitted her brows when she finished listening and after a long period of silence, she asked, "Young master, what's your plan now?"
Lin Fan also thought for a bit before saying, "I think that it's best for me to lay low for a bit since they have no idea that I'm still alive. Not to mention, they'll be hiding their tails after what happened, so we should use this time to regroup and gather more information."
Ouyang Qian nodded in agreement to this before saying, "Then you should go back home. Lu'er and Lan'er are besides themselves with worry."
Lin Fan nodded before standing up to leave, but he was surprised to find that Ouyang Qian was coming with him. He couldn't help looking at her with a strange look.
Ouyang Qian naturally saw this and she said, "I'm also done with my work for the day."
It was a simple response and there were no explanations at all, but this was the response that she gave Lin Fan.
Seeing this, Lin Fan shook his head with a bitter smile before leading the way back to the residence.
When he came in, both Lan'er and Lu'er jumped at him just like how Ouyang Qian had done at the store. It took him another several minutes before he was finally able to calm the two of them down.
But all of this once again filled his heart with warmth.
He had only come to this city for a mission, but without knowing it, he had somehow created a home here filled with people that were worried about him.
As this thought passed through his mind, he couldn't help going over the way that he had treated Lu'er, Lan'er, and Ouyang Qian…
Perhaps he should stop being so stubborn…
After settling the two girls down, the two of them led him to the dining room where there was a meal that was prepared for him. When he took a peek in the kitchen, he saw that there were other dishes that were also there, but it was clear that they had already turned cold while they were waiting. After all, most of the dishes were the same as the dishes that were currently at the table.
These two girls had silently waited and had been cooking the entire time waiting for his return.
Once again, his heart filled with warmth.