Chapter 328: Missed
Ao Wu: "..."
He asked weakly, "An’an, you’re not going to tell my Beast Father about this, are you?"
Yu An smiled. "Of course..."
’I will.’
Tian Rong led the way, and they hurried to the dungeon he had mentioned.
As they drew closer, Yu An sensed many auras inside. Just as Tian Rong had said, the place was heavily guarded.
Tian Rong sighed under his breath. "The family is messing with that poison again. Ruining the family once wasn’t enough; they want to do it a second time."
He remembered what he had seen in his youth: the clansmen who had absorbed Blood Crystals and become idiotic and crazed. He wanted to stop them from making the same mistake, but... he was powerless.
He was just an ordinary member of the Tian Family, unable to stop the decisions made by the higher-ups.
However...
His gaze fell upon Yu An. He felt that perhaps she could stop them.
The majority of the Tian Family members just wanted to live in peace. If those restless higher-ups were all gone, perhaps there would be no more needless sacrifices.
Yu An put Tian Shu and his father into her space. The guards at the entrance were lured away by Lu Lu, and she and Ao Wu slipped inside.
Many people were locked up in the dungeon. They huddled in the corners, their eyes filled with numbness.
"An’an," Ao Wu whispered, "the auras here are too jumbled. I can’t find Zaizai’s."
Yu An looked away from the prisoners. "Then we’ll check every cell, one by one."
Ao Wu nodded. "Okay."
Patrols of guards came one after another. Yu An and Ao Wu changed into their beast forms, sticking to the corners as they searched cell by cell.
There were people in every cell. Yu An even saw a few Beastmen who were injured, revealing some of their beast-like features.
One of them was a Merfolk whose tail was exposed, covered in bloody holes. Clearly, someone had torn out his scales.
Yu An’s eyes turned cold. She memorized the location of the cell and continued deeper into the dungeon with Ao Wu.
But even after searching all the way to the last cell, they still hadn’t found any sign of Fuzai.
"A Wu, look over here."
Yu An pointed to the innermost cell. "This is the only one with guards posted outside, but it seems to be empty."
"Let’s go in and see," Ao Wu said, craning his neck to peek inside. "It really does look empty."
’There must be someone or something important inside.’
Using the same trick, they lured away the guards and squeezed through a gap in the cell door. After a look around, they only found two piles of straw in a corner, tied into human shapes.
Yu An took a few steps back. "If you don’t look closely, you’d really mistake them for two people. Did the prisoners who were kept here escape?"
Ao Wu’s attention was on the shattered chains on the floor. He picked up a fragment and sniffed it. "An’an, this has the scent of my scales on it."
"I gave Fuzai one of my Reverse Scales to make a necklace. These chains must have been broken by it."
In other words, Fuzai had been here.
But what about after? Where did she go?
What Yu An didn’t know was that the Zaizai she was so worried about had already run out of the Tian Family estate with her grandmother and grandfather. Fuzai led the two adults, expertly finding a crack in the city wall and leaving Tianhuan City.
The three of them changed back to their human forms. Fuzai, holding some freshly bought rouge, applied makeup to Shen Zi and Mo Feng.
She thought her Female Mother’s makeup skills were amazing, almost like becoming a different person. She had watched from the side every time Yu An put on makeup.
Later, at Overlord Mountain, she had over five thousand people to practice on. Despite her young age, Fuzai had already become quite skilled at it.
Mo Feng awkwardly tugged at the purple dress he was wearing. "A Zhi, I don’t want to wear this..."
"Be good," Shen Zi said, snapping open her folding fan with a SHWIP and fanning herself leisurely. "It’s all for our safety, to avoid the Tian Family’s eyes and ears. Hmm, you know, you actually look quite good like this."
Finally, Fuzai pasted a floral forehead ornament on Grandpa Mo. She looked from left to right, then gave him a thumbs-up with her chubby little hand. "Grandpa is pretty-pretty!"
Mo Feng: "..."
’Oh, well. If it makes my Female Master and Zaizai smile, I’ll wear it!’
Shen Zi picked Fuzai up with one arm. Fuzai leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Grandma, my Female Mother has a camera. It can capture Grandpa’s current look, just like a portrait!"
"Then Grandma will have to take several pictures," Shen Zi said with a grin, "to save and appreciate later."
Mo Feng: "..."
’I’m not deaf! I can hear you!’
"There’s no one here. You must have misheard."
The man guarding the cell had seen a figure. Worried about a prison break, he had called over the patrolling guards.
The guards searched the area but found nothing.
The man guarding the cell muttered to himself, ’I really did see it, clear as day. Did my eyes play tricks on me?’
"You were definitely seeing things," the guard captain said with a laugh. "You’ve been on watch all night, you must be tired enough to hallucinate. Someone will be here to relieve you soon. Go back and get some proper rest."
"Hey, but who on earth is locked up in this cell? We have our brothers patrolling, yet Young Master Tian Fu still insists on having a dedicated guard posted here."
The guard captain shook his head. "Who knows? But for them to have escaped, they must be formidable. You’d better guard this place well. Don’t let anyone in."
"Report any abnormalities to me. Don’t overlook a single clue."
The man guarding the cell remembered Tian Pingyue’s visit last night, and his heart skipped a beat. But he quickly reassured himself that even for someone like Tian Pingyue, the Second Master, taking people out would require a handwritten order from the Family Head.
’He was probably just curious. It’s nothing serious, no need to report it.’
He nodded in acknowledgment, and the guard captain left with his men.
Yu An, who had heard the entire exchange, sorted through her thoughts.
’The people imprisoned here were the ones who escaped. Tongtong also heard Fuzai say she was coming in to rescue her grandmother and grandfather. If those two were Shen Zi and Mo Feng, then Fuzai should be with them now.’
The worry that had been weighing on Yu An’s heart eased slightly. As long as Fuzai was with adults, it would be fine. That child had a fiery temper, even more impulsive than her Beast Father, Ao Wu. Yu An was genuinely afraid she would do something reckless and get caught by Tian Fu.
"A Wu, let’s leave this place first. By the way, I want to get these people out of here."
"What should I do, then?" Ao Wu didn’t hesitate for a second. "An’an, as soon as the people from one cell disappear, the patrolling guards will notice immediately. Should I hold them off?"
"No," Yu An said after a moment’s thought. "I want you to go outside and create a disturbance."
"Create a disturbance?"
"Yes. Here’s what you’ll say..."
She gave him a few instructions, then continued, "If Zaizai is still in the Tian Family estate, bring her away immediately the moment she appears."
"If she doesn’t show up, it means she’s either in Tian Fu’s hands or has already escaped. In that case, we won’t have to hold back anymore."
Yu An said, "You’ll draw their attention out in the open, and I’ll get these people out of here."
"Okay," Ao Wu nodded, a little excited. "An’an, can I cause a little destruction?"
"On our way here, we passed the Tian Family’s ancestral hall. It gave me a bad feeling. I’ve been wanting to destroy it..."
Yu An gave a helpless smile. "Take it easy. Just destruction, no hurting people. Got it?"
Ao Wu rubbed his fists together. "Got it!"
’Just destruction, no hurting people. But Tian Fu isn’t a person, so he’s fair game.’