Dragon Hermit

After summoning and withdrawing the skeleton soldier a few times, Xia Yan had learned to complete the entire process smoothly and easily. He sat on the office chair and once the excitement had passed, he fished out his Fruit phone from his pocket and dialed a number.

“Xia Yan?” Liu Xue’er’s surprised voice sounded out from the other end of the call once it connected.

“It’s me, Sister Xue’er. How are you doing?” Xia Yan inquired.

“I’m obviously doing badly because you haven’t called me at all!” Liu Xue’er complained angrily.

“Ehhh… aren’t I calling now?” Xia Yan said.

“I can’t feel the sincerity. Say it, what do you need?” Liu Xue’er asked.

“Well, nothing actually…” Xia Yan felt quite embarrassed as calling only when he needed something was indeed poor manners on his end.

“So, you called me because… you missed me?” Liu Xue’er asked with a giggle.

“Cough!” Xia Yan still hadn’t gotten used to the fact that so many girls liked him, “Actually, I need your help for a tiny matter!”

“Humph! So, you didn’t miss me, huh?” Liu Xue’er grumbled, and this left Xia Yan dumbstruck, making him wonder if his words implied such a thing.

“Forget it, I’ll spare you from it. Tell me, what do you need?” Liu Xue’er feared that she would make Xia Yan bolt and hang up the call, so she changed the topic immediately, and inquired regarding what he had spoken about before.

“Help me investigate a bald thug that operates in the vicinity of Sihe University’s southern gate and collects protection fee from the street with barbecue stalls and restaurants,” Xia Yan asked promptly after letting sighing in relief.

“Why do you want me to investigate this?” Liu Xue’er asked in doubt, “All right. I’ll request Dong Quan to inquire about it for you. His network is pretty widespread, so he would definitely know about it. Just wait for the call, it’ll only take five minutes at max.”

Xia Yan placed his palm on his head after ending the call, [How could I forget about Dong Quan? Liu Xue’er is always the first person I recall whenever I seek the Liu family’s help. Does this mean that I have subconsciously begun to treat her as a trusted person?]

The phone rang about two minutes later. Dong Quan spoke up from the end, “Master Xia, the region around Sihe University’s southern gate is Baozi’s domain. He’s the bald thug you were referring to. However, he got possessed and ended up breaking over a dozen bones in his body, so he’s resting in the hospital right now. Did he offend you by any chance?”

[Baozi?] Xia Yan recalled that this person was among the thugs who he had taught a lesson to in the underground parking lot of the computer plaza.

“It’s not Baozi, it’s some other bald thug,” Xia Yan answered.

“Some other bald thug? Did someone snatch Baozi’s domain so swiftly? Let me ask a friend at the police station in that area. Just give me two minutes!” Dong Quan ended the call, and called back before two minutes had even passed, “That bald thug is called Wang Gang, and they usually operate in the KTV bars and pubs on Xinglong Street.”

“Got it. Thanks!” Xia Yan then planned to end the call, but Dong Quan shot a question before he could do that, “Master Xia, did Wang Gang offend you? You don’t need to deal with such a man personally. Why don’t you let me teach him a lesson?”

Dong Quan wished to sincerely have a positive standing with Xia Yan. Ever since he had accompanied Xia Yan to rent the apartment last time, he had felt that he had become a step closer to Master Xia. Hence, he planned to strike while the iron was hot. After all, helping Master Xia was akin to helping himself, and would result in his grandfather and eldest uncle showering him with praise when he returned to inform them about it.

Xia Yan obviously knew what Dong Quan was thinking about. He had no plans to get too close to the Liu family from the very beginning. At least, he didn’t wish to owe them too huge a favor, and this minor investigation still hadn’t reached such a stage.

“There’s no need for that since it’s just a small matter. I was only asking about it casually. Thank you for the information!” Xia Yan rejected Dong Quan tactfully and ended the call before leaving the room with his backpack.

On the other side, Dong Quan was feeling a bit depressed, but he suddenly came to a realization after blanking out for a few seconds and called someone immediately, “Help me find out where that Xinglong Street’s Wang Gang… yeah, the new boss, where is he right now? Don’t’ inform anyone else about it and don’t meddle in anything. I’m not planning to mess with him!”

[This Wang Gang definitely offended Master Xia, so I cannot miss this exciting event!] Dong Quan felt excited as he really wished to witness Xia Yan’s magical abilities personally and a nice opportunity for that had arrived tonight.

“You’re leaving again?” Le Wenqing and Zhang Shufen were still watching the TV in the living room. Zhang Shufen immediately called out to Xia Yan when she saw him come out of his room.

“Yes, I still have military training tomorrow,” Xia Yan said with a nod.

“Did…” Zhang Shufen paused, and then asked, “Anything happen just now?”

“Nope!” Xia Yan shook his head in doubt, “What could even happen?”

“It’s all good if nothing happened, really good!” Zhang Shufen rushed to say this and waved at him, “You’re leaving, right? See you later!”

“See you later!” Although Xia Yan harbored some doubt, he waved back at the two girls and left the flat.

“How could nothing have happened? He wasn’t acting, right?” Zhang Shufen asked doubtfully.

“Maybe it was just a misconception on your end?” Le Wenqing suggested.

“That’s impossible. That thing showed a pretty strong activity just now, yet nothing happened to Xia Yan. He should have at least been scared!” Zhang Shufen felt puzzled about this.

She obviously wasn’t aware that Xia Yan was treating that mass of undead element inside the mirror as a watchdog, so there was no chance he would feel scared of it.

After getting down Hearthcreek Apartments, Xia Yan rode a pedicab and a few minutes later, he arrived at Xinglong Street that was two streets away from Sihe University’s southern gate. This street was full of restaurants, pubs, and KTV bars, so students visited this place frequently, and it was also the location where thugs roamed around usually.

It was 10:30 PM right now, so the night had just begun for the businesses on this street. The streetlights illuminated the entire street pretty well, and music blasted from all around. Occasionally, someone barfed up at the entrances of the pubs and dead drunk women were taken into men’s cars.

This was a strange scene for someone like Xia Yan who hailed from a small town as everything was too fleeting here. Whether it be the drinks or the disco lights, they only existed to befuddle the senses of humans, yet the leading role always belonged to humans in the end.

Xia Yan didn’t dither on the spot and walked along the sidewalk of the street. Although Dong Quan had mentioned that Wang Gang liked to operate in this street, he hadn’t given him the exact address. However, this didn’t matter much since Xia Yan had marked Wang Gang with the undead element during the fight in the afternoon. He could sense the mark’s existence as long as it was close to him.

He had slowly traversed past half the street, and although he hadn’t sensed that special mark he had left, he had actually sensed a lot of free undead element here that was several times denser compared to the other streets.

This wasn’t that strange as Xinglong Street was active during the night and desolate during the day. It was difficult for the undead element to scatter in the day, and even more so in the night, so it accumulated to a staggering amount over time.

The likelihood of supernatural occurrences in the street also increased because of the presence of this dense undead element.

“Did that Wang Gang decide not to come out to have fun tonight because he got beat up today?” Xia Yan felt worried that he had come out for nothing today. He really didn’t wish to waste too much on these thugs as he felt that using this time to meditate was a better thing to do.

While he worried about this, a vrooming sound echoed from behind him, following which a black minivan with loud music booming from inside it almost knocked into him as it zoomed by him.