Chapter 327: Ao Jin’s Blood Crystal Wind Chime
"No, no," Da Hu tugged on Tian Shu’s sleeve. "The one outside is my Female Mother."
’What’s wrong with Uncle Tian? Why is he suddenly calling my Female Mother ’Mom’?’
"No, no..."
Tian Shu was so frantic his words came out all jumbled. "My mom... It’s my mom... and my dad..."
Fortunately, Yu An noticed the people below. She glanced into her space and immediately told Ao Wu to land.
Ao Wu was confused. "An’an, what’s wrong?"
Yu An pointed ahead. "The two people tied up over there are probably Tian Shu’s parents."
Ao Wu looked over. ’Why does that middle-aged man look a little familiar?’
Yu An let Tian Shu out. He immediately exclaimed, "Yes, those are my parents! Ma’am, I have to go save them!"
"I’m not saying we won’t," Yu An said, grabbing him as he was about to rush out. "But if you charge in like that, you’ll tip them off. What if they use your parents as hostages?"
Tian Shu clenched his fists. "Then..."
Yu An gestured for him to be patient. "Watch me."
’This would be easy to solve. It just required a little... soporific powder.’
Vines carried the soporific powder into the bonfire, and the people warming themselves around it slowly grew drowsy.
Before long, they began to collapse one after another. The ones who fell last realized something was wrong, but it was already too late.
Tian Rong and his wife were far enough away that they only felt a little dizzy. When their son, Tian Shu, whom they had missed so dearly, appeared before them, they felt even more dazed.
"My dear," Tian Rong turned to look at Guo Min, "are my eyes playing tricks on me? Why do I see Tian Shu?"
Guo Min’s voice trembled. "No... your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you. It’s really Tian Shu!"
"Mom," Tian Shu rushed over to untie Guo Min, "and Dad, how are you? Are you hurt?"
Yu An took out an antidote for them to take, and the effects of the soporific drug quickly wore off.
They hugged each other, weeping with joy.
Fortunately, Tian Shu remembered they couldn’t waste too much time. After exchanging a few words, he said, "Dad, Mom, I’ll explain later. First, you need to come with me somewhere."
He originally wanted to take his parents far from Tianhuan City, but when he thought about how vengeful Tian Fu was, and the incredible resources at his disposal, he worried they would be caught no matter where they fled.
So, he requested that Yu An let his family take refuge in her space to lay low.
The couple had no objections. As long as their family was together, they would go anywhere.
When Tian Rong heard from Tian Shu that they were planning to enter the city, he clapped his hands. "Benefactors, Tianhuan City’s weak point is over by the west gate. You’ll find it easily if you go take a look."
’And here I was, worrying about how to find a weak point in such a massive city.’
"Thank you so much!"
After that, Ao Wu brought her to the west gate, where they successfully found the weak point and slipped inside.
The people of Tianhuan City were all asleep. Since neither of them was familiar with the streets, they called Tian Shu out.
Tian Shu led them to the Tian Family estate, but having been gone for so long, he wasn’t sure what major changes might have occurred inside.
So, he shook his father, Tian Rong, who had just fallen asleep, awake.
Tian Rong hadn’t rested properly while they were on the run. Now that they were finally safe, he and Guo Min had fallen asleep almost the instant their heads hit their pillows.
When his son woke him, Tian Rong was completely groggy.
Yu An paused, then took out a cup of coffee made with Divine Spring Water and had Tian Shu make his father down it.
Chugging that much coffee so quickly carried a risk of sudden death, but the added Divine Spring Water completely negated it.
Tian Rong was instantly re-energized. All his drowsiness and fatigue vanished in a flash.
"Benefactors, this way."
They avoided the guards and, following Tian Rong’s directions, began searching the various dungeons for Fuzai.
The Tian Family estate had many prison cells, large and small. Tian Rong knew the general location of each, so they began searching them one by one, based on proximity.
They searched until sunrise. The sky was already growing light, but there was still no sign of Fuzai.
Yu An clenched her fists. "Ao Wu, Tongtong said Fuzai came to the Tian Family estate to save his grandparents. Who on earth is he trying to save?"
’All of our family’s elders are in the space, so who could Fuzai possibly have seen?’
Ao Wu pondered for a moment. "An’an, I remember you said Mo Yan’s parents were missing. You saw their names in the Divine Mountain’s storeroom with question marks next to them."
"Could it be them? Fuzai has never met them, but Mo Yan and his Beast Father probably look a lot alike, don’t you think?"
"Could be," Yu An pursed her lips. "Besides, Fuzai knows their names."
Tian Rong, listening from the side, suddenly thought of something. "Benefactors, was it a question mark written in blue ink beside the name?"
"Yes," Yu An’s eyes lit up. "You know about it?"
"That was the symbol the Tian Family used to mark important people who had escaped. If the people you’re looking for were marked with that symbol and were recaptured, they might be imprisoned there."
It’s a place that looks unremarkable, and the guards aren’t especially strict.
But inside, patrols are on rotation around the clock, so it’s never unmanned. Everyone imprisoned in there is connected to the Blood Crystals.
However, after Blood Crystals were banned, that dungeon fell into disuse. Tian Rong didn’t know if anyone was still imprisoned there.
"We have to go and see," Tian Shu said urgently. "Dad, you don’t know this, but Tian Fu’s mission in the Beastman World was related to Blood Crystals. Now that he’s back, everything related to them has surely been reactivated."
The mention of Blood Crystals jogged Ao Wu’s memory.
He suddenly asked, "Tian Shu’s father, have you ever been to Overlord Mountain?"
Tian Rong froze for a moment. His attention had been on his son, and a moment ago, he was focused on rushing to find the dungeon, so he hadn’t paid much attention to the man standing next to Yu An.
Now, looking closely, he nearly jumped out of his skin!
"Ch-Ch-Ch... Chieftain!"
"That’s me," Ao Wu rubbed his chin. "So it was you. Were you and your wife being hunted by the Tian Family because of those few carts of Blood Crystals?"
Tian Rong gave a bitter smile. "Yes, but that’s not the whole story. On the surface, those items were just common goods and not very valuable, so the Family Head didn’t blame me."
"But when Tian Fu returned, he flew into a rage. The Family Head had no other choice but to tell us to leave immediately. We never thought we’d still be caught."
Yu An and Tian Shu were completely lost. On the way to the dungeon Tian Rong had mentioned, Ao Wu explained to her about the cartloads of Blood Crystals he had hijacked on Overlord Mountain.
"An’an, the Tian Family was dealing in those vile Blood Crystals before, and to think they’ve started up again. This time, they even carved some patterns onto them."
He clicked his tongue in amazement. "One of the Blood Crystals had a Dragon Scale carved on it, and it was incredibly lifelike. Come to think of it, it looked a bit like my Beast Father’s scales."
"The thing was so sparkly, I was tempted to keep it as a decoration. It would look nice strung up as a wind chime in my room."
Every dragon’s scales have a unique pattern. Ao Wu had been curious as a child and had observed them quite closely.
Yu An fell silent for a moment, then asked, "And then what?"
"I was just rambling," Ao Wu chuckled. "That stuff is bad luck."
Yu An breathed a sigh of relief. "Ao Wu, is it possible... that it *was* one of your Beast Father’s Dragon Scales?"
’After all, Ao Jin’s skeleton was right there in her space.’