"Who is their leader?" Yaoyao asked.
"The leader of the Chiyou, calling himself 'Miao Wang'. His specific name is unknown. It is said he is a direct descendant of Chiyou, possessing unparalleled martial arts, but no one has ever seen him."
"Perhaps this person doesn't exist at all?" I chuckled.
Shen Xingyue shook her head, "No, he definitely exists. Many demons of the Zi Qi level in Jiangnan cannot be handled by ordinary demon hunters. This 'Miao Wang' personally intervenes. The reason no one has seen him is because everyone who has seen him is dead."
Zi Qi again.
Just as I was about to ask what Zi Qi was, Shen Xingyue received a call. Yaoyao was resting with her eyes closed, so I didn't ask further. I lit a cigarette for Yaoyao, but she only took two puffs before handing it back, coughing twice. I then went to the base of the wall and squatted down to smoke.
The rest of the time was a long wait.
At nine o'clock, Sha Wuji returned. Full of food, he was sleeping soundly on the grass in the courtyard.
It wasn't until ten o'clock that I heard movement from inside the house. I went in and saw the woman walking out of the bedroom holding the egg. The egg had grown larger, about the size of a basketball.
"Great Immortal, what is your command?" I asked.
"Nothing. She is about to hatch, and I need to take her back to the basement. It is more suitable for her incubation," the woman replied calmly.
"Alright, Great Immortal, please follow me." I led the way, escorting the woman and the egg to the basement. I then asked, "Should I cover it?"
"Cover it," the woman answered from the darkness.
I effortfully moved the manhole cover back into place. The manhole cover was coated with cement, and the seams were well-treated. Without careful inspection, one wouldn't notice these twelve manhole covers. If one didn't know the mechanism, they couldn't open them. There were no handles, and one could only pry them open with a knife, but the gap seemed too narrow for an ordinary knife to fit.
"They're here," Yaoyao suddenly said.
Almost simultaneously, Shen Xingyue received a call from her subordinate, reporting that many people in black were gathering near the tunnel and asking if Shen Xingyue wanted to engage them proactively.
Shen Xingyue sought my opinion with a glance. I shook my head, "Don't fire the first shot. Our mission is to protect and defend. We just need to hold our ground."
Shen Xingyue relayed the instruction to her subordinate, telling them not to act rashly.
At ten-oh-five, the subordinate called again, reporting that the men in black had left.
I breathed a sigh of relief, "Finally gone!"
"Not quite," Yaoyao said in a deep voice, pointing towards the back of the mountain, "Over there, five kilometers away, someone is approaching."
"You can see that far?" Shen Xingyue expressed doubt.
"It's not that I can see far," Yaoyao opened her eyes, her expression stern. "Their Qi is too strong, three Zi Qi!"
"Ah!" Shen Xingyue paled in shock. "Th-then what do we do?"
The big tiger also woke up upon hearing their conversation. The fur on its neck bristled slightly, likely out of fear.
"What exactly is Zi Qi?" I finally couldn't help but ask.
"Alas..." Yaoyao sighed, perhaps in despair?
"I am at the initial stage of Zi Qi," Yaoyao surprisingly relaxed and explained to me. "I can take on one of the three of them, but Xingyue and Sha Wuji are both Lan Qi. Sha Wuji is at the middle stage of Lan Qi, and Xingyue is at the initial stage of Lan Qi. They are absolutely no match for the other two Zi Qi."
"And me," I chimed in, "didn't you say I was Hong Qi? That's almost as good as Zi Qi!"
*Pfft!* Shen Xingyue burst out laughing, "What a joke! The seven levels of Xiang Qi technique, from lowest to highest, are Hong, Cheng, Huang, Lu, Qing, Lan, Zi. Zi Qi is the seventh level, the highest. You are Hong Qi, the first level, the lowest."
So that's how it worked. Sigh, I was happy for nothing.
"Hong, Cheng, Huang, Lu, Qing, Lan, Zi..." I recited the sequence, which was the order of colors in a rainbow. "Hey, then you two with Lan Qi are next to Zi Qi, shouldn't you be quite good too?"
"Not at all, not at all," Sha Wuji had somehow transformed back into a human and put on clothes. He walked over, "From Lan Qi to Zi Qi is a qualitative leap. Even the weakest initial stage Zi Qi can easily defeat three or five of the strongest Lan Qi masters. They are simply not on the same level..."