Chapter 400: Chapter 197: A Small Move (2)

They were still respectful.

After the maid left, Zhao Rui glanced at the three women and said, "Since you’ve all learned most of what you need to, you’ll be splitting up starting tomorrow..."

Zhao Rui went on to give them their assignments. He assigned Cao Yingcai to his younger brother’s school.

As a true Martial Arts Grandmaster from Gui Xu, Cao Yingcai’s strength was more than sufficient to protect his brother.

As for Zhou Moshu, he sent her to Lin City to protect his parents.

Su Wanyun, meanwhile, would stay by his side and help him recruit suitable talent.

An era of chaos was approaching. While personal martial might could suppress the pandemonium, he would still need trusted subordinates to handle the miscellaneous affairs.

He had no desire for conquest, but he couldn’t afford to be unprepared for trouble.

"I will now impart to you a top-tier martial art. You must cultivate it diligently. There will be both rewards and punishments. Serve me well, and I will naturally reward you."

After he finished speaking, Zhao Rui taught them the "Controller" technique he had learned from the Witch Venerable, Mo Ling’Er.

Although this Witchcraft Technique had the flaw of leaving its practitioner vulnerable to being controlled by another, it was, on the whole, an exceptionally powerful Cultivation Technique.

The three women hastily sat cross-legged and began their Cultivation in earnest. Despite knowing it would place them under someone else’s control, they still practiced with extreme care.

They were afraid that Zhao Rui had mixed in some personal, hidden trap within this martial art.

However, after practicing for a while, they discovered it was truly a top-tier martial art.

They all let out a collective sigh of relief.

With Qin Rui and Su Wanyun both cultivating, Zhao Rui wasn’t in a hurry. He let them continue their Cultivation and slipped out of the hotel.

He began to wander through the market stalls outside the Dongqi school gates.

He was reliving a taste of his old campus life.

「Three days later」 Zhao Rui left the hotel with Zhou Moshu and Cao Yingcai.

They first went to Zhao Ke’s school to get Cao Yingcai settled in, and Zhao Rui instructed his younger brother to practice diligently and not to slack off.

Only then did he take Zhou Moshu and return to Lin City.

Lin City was located on a peninsula, adjacent to East Japan and only one or two hundred kilometers from Ri City.

While the people of Lin City had not directly faced the devastating impact of the rampaging Exotic Beasts, the close proximity, the streams of refugees, and the chaotic news had left everyone in the city feeling insecure.

If the army of Dongqi Province hadn’t been stationed at the front to stabilize the situation, Lin City would have likely descended into utter chaos.

By the time Zhao Rui arrived, the city’s busiest streets were dotted with security checkpoints.

Patrolling soldiers and patrol officers were a common sight.

Zhao Rui had been mentally prepared, but he hadn’t expected the situation to be this grim.

’Looks like the scope of the Exotic Beast attacks is widening,’ he thought.

After returning from Gui Xu, Zhao Rui had gotten a new SIM card and a new phone, and he had contacted his parents. They had told him they were still going to work as usual and that their daily lives hadn’t been affected, so he hadn’t been too worried. ’But now,’ he thought, ’the situation seems much more dire than before.’

’The officials most likely know something is about to happen, but the general public is being kept in the dark for now to avoid causing a panic.’

Zhao Rui quickly drove toward his home.

When he arrived, he found his parents weren’t home, so he quickly gave them a call.

"Ruirui, you’re back? Your father and I are out shopping..."

"I don’t know what’s going on, but ever since yesterday, there have been so many people on patrol. It’s strange," Xue Wenhui mumbled.

"Where are you? I’ll come pick you up!"

"We’re at Wanda Plaza..."

Zhao Rui immediately turned the car around and headed for Wanda Plaza.

Although there were many patrols on the road, everything was orderly, and the lives of ordinary people continued as usual, seemingly unaffected.

In just ten minutes or so, he reached Wanda Plaza and hurried inside with Zhou Moshu.

It was Zhou Moshu’s first time seeing one of Blue Star’s mega-malls, and everything seemed magical to her. Unfortunately, this was no time for sightseeing. She could only quickly commit her surroundings to memory, planning to ask about them in detail later when things were less hectic.

A few minutes later, the two found Zhao Jincheng and his wife on the mall’s ground floor.

They were loaded down with shopping bags of all sizes.

Ever since Zhao Rui had come into money, his parents had never been short on cash and were naturally much more generous with their spending.

"Son, where have you been? You didn’t contact us for so long," Xue Wenhui complained the moment she saw him.

"I was practicing my Martial Arts. Sometimes I have to go into seclusion, which can take a month or two at a time," Zhao Rui said evasively.

His third uncle had heard rumors about his disappearance, but to be cautious, he hadn’t mentioned anything to Zhao Jincheng.

As for Zhao Jincheng and his wife, they weren’t part of that world, so they had no way of knowing.

"Son, and who is this young lady?" Xue Wenhui asked, pleasantly surprised. She had been so focused on her son that she was only now noticing the beautiful young woman beside him.

"A bodyguard."

?

Zhao Jincheng and his wife, who had been looking excited just a moment ago, were momentarily stunned.

"Yes, she’s a bodyguard I hired for you both. She grew up in a Sect and doesn’t know much about the outside world. Mom, Dad, when you have some free time, maybe you can teach her a few things," Zhao Rui said casually. He glanced at Zhou Moshu as he finished.

Zhou Moshu immediately performed a slight curtsy. "My name is Zhou Moshu. It is a pleasure to meet you, sir and ma’am."

"Oh my, dear girl! There’s no need for that."

Startled, Xue Wenhui quickly reached out to help Zhou Moshu straighten up.

"From now on, you can just call us Auntie and Uncle," Zhao Rui said, noticing the stares from the people around them.

"Yes. Moshu has met Uncle and Auntie."

"Oh, my," Xue Wenhui said, "so beautiful and well-mannered."

Xue Wenhui felt an indescribable fondness for the girl.

"Let’s talk more when we get home."

Zhao Rui took the shopping bags from his parents, ready to lead them home.

They had only taken a few steps toward the underground parking garage entrance when an alarm suddenly blared from outside.

’Is that an air-raid siren?’

Zhao Rui’s eyes narrowed. He quickly stopped his parents from heading toward the garage. "Something’s happening outside. The garage isn’t safe. We’re leaving through the main exit."

With his Profound Skill, Zhao Rui was better off in a wide-open space where he could fully unleash his power.

His ears could already pick up a strange noise, growing steadily closer.

The entire mall erupted into chaos. Though no one knew what was happening, the blaring alarm sent everyone instinctively stampeding for the exits.

By the time Zhao Rui and his group made it outside, patrol officers were directing the evacuating crowd.

"What’s going on?" a patrol officer on the street hurried over, clearly having been slacking off just a moment before.

"Orders from above. An Exotic Beast was driven from Rishi. Instead of returning to the ocean, it’s flying this way. It’s an aerial type."

"This... Damn it, this isn’t a movie, is it?"

"Bullshit. My relative is in Rishi. I heard the whole place is under martial law. Damn it all, this is the work of those Eastern Japanese bastards."

The patrol officers cursed amongst themselves.

Zhao Rui’s group was close enough to overhear everything.

Xue Wenhui asked worriedly, "What is this Exotic Beast? Is it powerful? Can’t the army handle it?"

"Of course they can handle it. We shouldn’t worry ourselves with it," Zhao Jincheng said reassuringly.

"Take good care of my parents. I’ll be right back."

Suddenly, Zhao Rui’s brow furrowed. He gave Zhou Moshu a quick instruction, and with a flicker of his body, he stepped onto the air and shot up into the sky.

...

"My son... he can fly!"

Xue Wenhui had never seen Zhao Rui walk on air before. Her jaw hung open in utter shock.

She wasn’t the only one; the surrounding tourists and patrol officers were also frozen in astonishment.

Immediately, someone in the crowd shouted, "This is great! It’s a Dharma Grandmaster! We don’t have to worry anymore!"

"So he’s a Dharma expert! And so young and handsome, too."

Many of the tourists and patrol officers had seen Zhao Rui take off from beside Zhao Jincheng’s group.

They immediately turned to look at the three of them with unconcealed envy.

"Ma’am, who was that just now?" a patrol officer asked curiously.

"My... my son," Xue Wenhui said, her voice filled with apprehension.

"You’re truly blessed to have a son who’s such a great master at such a young age," the patrol officer said, fawning over them.

Hearing this, the other onlookers also gazed at Zhao Jincheng’s family with envy.

Just then, a deafening BOOM echoed from the sky. In the distance, a massive bird let out a piercing shriek as it plummeted toward the ground.

It kicked up a dust storm that blotted out the sky.

Before the crowd could even cry out in alarm, the young man who had just left came strolling back through the air as if nothing had happened.

"You can go handle the cleanup. The alert is canceled," Zhao Rui announced as he landed, addressing the still-dazed patrol officer beside him.

"Ah? Oh. Oh!"

The officer snapped out of his daze, hastily grabbing his walkie-talkie to contact his superior.

"Wow, that was amazing!"

After a moment of stunned silence, the crowd outside the plaza erupted into thunderous cheers and applause.