Versatile Mage

…

It all happened so quickly. Zhao Manyan, Zhang Xiaohou, Lingling and Xinxia did not expect it.

They were basically put under house arrest by Zhao Yulin in the Zhao Family’s villa in the south. Simply speaking, none of them was allowed to leave before they were sure that the Fiery Sorceress had given up on getting her revenge.

The party was left with no choice. They could only wait patiently.

It turned out that the Fire Calamity Fruit needed a few more days to fully ripen. Zhao Yulin and Jiang Feng were basically the monsters that had stolen Tang Sanzang, and were afraid that Sun Wukong would come to get his revenge. Unfortunately, they could only eat the monk after his flesh was cooked, and would only feel relieved once the meat was in their stomach!
{TL Note: It’s a reference to ‘Journey to the West’.}

——

Two days later, the group finally received some news about Mo Fan. It turned out that Mo Fan had also returned to Dunhuang City, after learning the group was safe from his Swift Star Wolf…

As he arrived at Dunhuang, he learned that his friends were forced to return to Shanghai with Zhao Yulin, thus he quickly boarded a military supply plane that happened to be departing for Shanghai.

Together with Mo Fan as he returned to Shanghai was the female Commander Nanyu. She was unwilling to give up investigating the person responsible for stealing the Fire Calamity Fruit, thus she followed Mo Fan to Shanghai, too.

The journey from the Fire Pillar Hill to Dunhuang had been a tough one. Luckily, Nanyu had some special capabilities, allowing them to cross the Drifting Sand River safely. Otherwise, they would still be trapped in the North Burning Valley.

————-

The plane ride back to Shanghai did not take long. As they arrived at Hongqiao Airport, Mo Fan went straight to the suburb in the southwest. To his surprise, Zhao Yulin’s mansion was very close to the temporary refugee placements he used to stay at in the past. It was a place called Lehuo Town!

An industrial district lay between Lehuo Town and Shanghai City. Both sides of the road between the two places were filled with all kinds of factories, warehouses, and companies. As such, one could see lots of irregularly shaped buildings, workshops, and houses when glancing into the distance.

Factory workers were the main residents in Lehuo Town, resulting in a deserted town during working hours.

Even though the place was considered a part of Shanghai, the main difference to other towns was that the town lacked the typical peaceful atmosphere, as the residents all lived a repetitive life, like machines…

The entire area was owned by Zhao Yulin. His mansion was on top of a hill, modified into a European style abode, with an asphalt road leading to the mansion in winding curves. It had luxuriantly green pine trees, maple trees, a giant fountain, and gardens under the consistent care of gardeners.

Mo Fan had been assigned to live in Lehuo Town before. That house seemed to belong to one of Zhao Yulin’s companies, too. He only learned there was such a luxurious mansion here today; it looked slightly more majestic than the Mu Family’s villa in Bo City. If the town was like a small country, Zhao Yulin was basically the king!

——

Mo Fan went up the hill, and was stopped immediately by some Magicians on patrol when he was heading into the villa.

Mo Fan revealed his identity. After almost an hour of waiting, their superior finally gave them permission to let him pass.

Mo Fan pulled a long face. – What the heck is wrong with these people, trying to return to old ways? Why can’t you just use your phone? They had to spend an hour doing something that could be done in just minutes! Even the sky is getting dark!-

Cars from outside were not allowed to drive into the villa. Mo Fan and Nanyu had to take the cable car, like one normally seen at tourist attractions. The ride lasted for almost half an hour before they arrived at the entrance.

The foothill was under the patrol of Magicians, and the top of the hill had barriers as tall as castle walls. The defense of the private villa was almost comparable to that of a military headquarters. They were in the southwest region of Shanghai, did they really have to go so far?

“I’m so sleepy. Is Master Zhao out of his mind, asking us to guard this place twenty-four hours a day? What hive did he poke this time?” yawned one of the guards.

“Who knows, but I heard from the captain that they have also invited the people of Mu Clan over. He mentioned something about the place being safer with the people of the renowned Ice Elemental clan,” said another shifty-eyed guard.

“Maybe they stepped on the Dongfang Clan’s tail. The Mu Clan and Dongfang Clan have been hostile toward one another for years!”

The conversation between the two guards soon fell into Mo Fan’s ears, allowing him to realize something.

It seemed like Zhao Yulin and his wife were extremely scared of the Fiery Sorceress, going so far as to arm the entire villa. They even invited the people of the Ice Elemental Mu Clan over. It was clear that they were still worried, despite fleeing thousands of li away.

“I’ll bring you to your friends, but Master Zhao has made it clear that you’ll have to stay here for some days too… you’re free to do whatever you want in the villa. We’ve got entertainment facilities, meditation rooms, training grounds and practice courses, too. Fourth Young Master will guide you around!” said Haiyan, the captain of the guards.

“How many Magicians are there in the villa?” asked Mo Fang.

“One hundred and twenty-three. Everyone is allocated here by the clan. We also hired some of the experts from other renowned families that we’re close with. If anything happens, please don’t make a fuss about it. We are under a media blackout. Once everything returns to normal, Master Zhao will reward you greatly,” said Haiyan sternly.

“Don’t worry about the reward.”

——

Hongqiao Airport, a cab was driving at a high speed on the busy highway. Many curses were uttered along the way.

As the cab drove to somewhere remote, the passenger in the back seat demanded to get off the ride, leaving the kind cab driver confused.

“Don’t you have a high fever of 41 Celsius? I’m sending you to the hospital now…” The driver raised his cap.

To his surprise, the passenger forced the door open and jumped into the bushes at the side of the road.

Before the driver could react, the passenger was suddenly engulfed in flames. The fire spread from her feet to her waist, before rising to her head, leaving the driver dumbfounded…

He had never heard of anyone being set aflame from a fever!

The fire on the passenger was like a terrifying demon, which slowly separated from the passenger while it was still burning on her.

The fire slowly took the shape of a glamorous humanoid figure, and the person who had been possessed fell to the ground in a weakened state, totally losing consciousness…

The fiery figure slowly floated into the sky. She did not cast any Magic, yet as her aura spread toward the surroundings, it felt like the highway struck by an energy pulse, stalling all the vehicles and caused their tail lights to blink rapidly…

A few seconds later, the engines of the vehicles burst into flames. The fire immediately spread to the rest of the cars!

Under the night sky, the entire highway was left in a standstill. Thousands of vehicles within a few kilometers suffered spontaneous ignition, resulting in the breathtaking sight of a shocking fire dragon on the highway!

Luckily, the vehicles were not moving at high speed, and the drivers were able to escape in time. Otherwise, many innocent lives would have died in accidents!