Chapter 734 - 684: Master and Servant! (5)
"Master!"
Blood streamed from the corners of his mouth as he hung his head.
Miao Yingjie lifted his terrified eyes to look at Qin Fan, speaking with great difficulty. Even now, facing Qin Fan, he didn’t dare harbor the slightest thought of resistance. It didn’t matter that his Cultivation was on a completely different level than it had been months ago; it didn’t matter that he had previously wondered if he should fight to win back his dignity upon meeting Qin Fan again.
When the moment of reunion finally arrived, he found he was completely trapped in a psychological shadow—a shadow that forced him to cower and tremble in submission before Qin Fan.
Kneeling, calling him master, and allowing himself to be kicked and humiliated—it was all a conditioned reflex, a desperate cry of reason. He dared not gamble or take any risks, because the price of losing was his life.
"From this day forward, if you take one more step into Medicine Valley without permission, I will uproot the Gu Clan, sparing neither man nor beast," Qin Fan said coldly, looking down at Miao Yingjie’s panic-stricken eyes.
"Yes, Master! I was wrong! I will never offend Medicine Valley in the slightest again!" Scared witless by Qin Fan’s threat to exterminate his clan, Miao Yingjie trembled violently and stammered his hasty reply.
"Take back your vile bugs, then take your shrimp soldiers and crab generals and get as far away as you can!" Qin Fan shook his head dismissively and huffed.
"Yes, yes, I’ll take them back immediately!" Not daring to stand up right away, Miao Yingjie turned and blew a whistle. As blood sprayed from his mouth, the Gu insects he had sent into the Medicine Valley members WHIZZED out of their bodies, rushing back to him like a swarm of bees. In the blink of an eye, they seemed to merge with him, leaving no trace.
"Master, I’ll leave right now, right now!" Shuffling forward on his knees, Miao Yingjie looked up at Qin Fan and stammered.
"Get lost!" With a dismissive flick of his hand, Qin Fan turned and strode into the council hall.
"Yes!" Not daring to hesitate for another second, Miao Yingjie scrambled to his feet the moment Qin Fan brushed past him. Without so much as a backward glance, he fled in a humiliating panic.
Watching Miao Yingjie flee like a beaten dog, the people of Medicine Valley stood dumbfounded, unable to recover their senses for a long time. They all knew Miao Yingjie had become the Clan Leader of the Gu Clan with Qin Fan’s backing, but they had never imagined their relationship was like this.
Master? A servant scared out of his wits? Is that the real relationship between Qin Fan and Miao Yingjie?
At this thought, everyone, including Yao Junxian, looked at Qin Fan with a new, terrifying reverence. If their previous reverence had been born of fear and intimidation, their reverence now was one of genuine submission, coming from the depths of their hearts.
What would have happened if Qin Fan hadn’t suddenly appeared today? With the Great Elder absent, who in Medicine Valley could have withstood Miao Yingjie’s Gu techniques? Which of our disciples could have fought against the elite War Generals he brought with him? If it had come to that, the consequences would have been unimaginable!
At that moment, the people of Medicine Valley felt a wave of relief. They were relieved that Qin Fan was here, relieved that they had lent him the Spiritual Medicine Garden. If not for that, not only would the Spiritual Medicine Garden have been doomed, but their entire Medicine Valley would have been plunged into chaos by the Gu Clan.
"Thank you for your help, Divine Envoy!" As his dazed thoughts settled, Yao Junxian immediately bowed deeply to Qin Fan. His words were from the heart, devoid of their previous insincere flattery.
"Thank you for your help, Divine Envoy!" Following Yao Junxian’s lead, all the Medicine Valley members in the council hall bowed in unison.
To them, Qin Fan had not only solved their immediate problem but had also eliminated a future threat in one fell swoop. His warning—that another step into Medicine Valley would mean the end of the Gu Clan, uprooted and with no one spared—was a threat to Miao Yingjie, but it was also an implicit promise to them.
"Since I owe your Medicine Valley a favor, I wouldn’t stand by and let you be wronged," Qin Fan said, shaking his head dismissively. "But I was just passing by, so this doesn’t count as me repaying you."
He continued, "I am about to leave. For the next three months, I don’t want anyone interfering with anything in the Spiritual Medicine Garden. Trespassers will be killed without mercy; those are my instructions for the ones I left there. I hope you can warn the disciples of Medicine Valley not to court disaster."
"Divine Envoy, you’re leaving already?" Yao Junxian asked, his eyes wide with shock, seemingly ignoring the second half of Qin Fan’s warning. After all, even if Qin Fan hadn’t said anything, they wouldn’t have allowed their disciples to trespass. Having already agreed to lend him the garden, Yao Junxian and the entire Medicine Valley had accepted their lot.
"Yes. That’s all. I just came to give you a warning," Qin Fan said with a faint nod. With that, he turned and walked out.
Watching his hurried departure, Yao Junxian and the others were momentarily dazed. Only when Qin Fan reached the doorway did they all snap back to reality. As his figure retreated from view, they called out in unison, "We respectfully see off the Divine Envoy!"
"We respectfully see off the Divine Envoy!"
"We respectfully see off the Divine Envoy!"
The three shouts resounded powerfully. In response, a faint, silent smile touched Qin Fan’s lips.
...
Qin Fan didn’t linger in Medicine Valley. The moment he stepped out of the council hall, he headed straight for the exit without delay.
The Werewolves and the Vampires... those two big-tailed wolves. It’s time to deal with them.
「Just as Qin Fan was leaving Medicine Valley, at the Guardian Institute’s Jinling Office」
Hua Xiaotian listened to his subordinates’ reports with a deeply furrowed brow. Five days had passed. Qin Fan seemed to have vanished into thin air. No one knew where he had gone or what he was doing. This wasn’t just abnormal; it was highly unusual.
"So you’re saying Qin Fan vanished right after taking Jiang Yinuo back to the university?" Hua Xiaotian asked his confidant, turning with a bent forefinger resting against his nostril.
"Yes, Teacher Hua. His movements were traceable up until five days ago. But right after he took Jiang Yinuo back to Jinling University, we lost all trace of him. We’ve checked all kinds of traffic surveillance, but we’ve found nothing. Teacher Hua, do you think we should activate the Heavenly Net to pinpoint his location?" the confidant asked gravely.
Activate the Heavenly Net? To find Qin Fan? Hearing this, Hua Xiaotian couldn’t help but shake his head with a wry, helpless smile. If Qin Fan doesn’t want to be found, how could we possibly track him? Both he and my master mock us at the Guardian Institute as a bunch of useless good-for-nothings. Use the Heavenly Net? It would be a complete waste of national resources!
"Forget it. Let’s just let things run their course," Hua Xiaotian sighed.
"Teacher Hua, do you think he might have left the country?" the confidant asked tentatively after a moment’s hesitation.
"Left the country?"
"Yes. It’s been over half a month since the Werewolves and Vampires issued their public crusade. With his personality, do you really think he’d be content to sit back and wait for them to attack, rather than taking the fight to them?" the confidant replied.
Hearing this, Hua Xiaotian’s expression tightened, his eyebrows twitching uncontrollably. The confidant stared, stunned by his superior’s sudden change in demeanor. But before he could speak again, Hua Xiaotian cut him off with a wave of his hand. "You may leave."
"Yes, Teacher Hua!" The completely baffled confidant complied, hurrying out of the room while trying to puzzle out Hua Xiaotian’s reaction.
Master Qin, did you really go?
After his confidant left, Hua Xiaotian picked up his phone and pulled up Qin Fan’s contact information. He murmured to himself, his finger hovering millimeters from the dial button, but in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to press it. Between the nation and his personal feelings, he had chosen the former.