Versatile Mage

 The Moon Moth Phoenix was safe now, but she still showed no sign of waking up. Yu Shishi’s face was covered in tears. Almost all of the blue moths had died in the battle. The ones left alive were injured too. They were flying pitifully around Yu Shishi in circles.

 “Cheer up,” Mu Ningxue comforted her.

 Yu Shishi wiped her tears and forced a pitiful smile. “It’s worth it as long as the Moon Moth Phoenix is safe!”

 “You’re safe too. I believe they can reproduce pretty fast again under your delicate care,” Mu Ningxue said.

 “Mm, you’re right!” Yu Shishi nodded.

 Either way, she had fulfilled her role and protected the Moon Moth Phoenix. It would be worse if the Moon Moth Phoenix was taken away after she had sacrificed everything. If that happened, she would never be able to recover from the loss!

 “I’ll have to find a new hiding spot for her. I’m sorry I can’t tell you where she would be relocated to,” Yu Shishi said.

 “Hang on,” Mo Fan stopped Yu Shishi.

 Yu Shishi was obviously still holding a grudge against Mo Fan. She looked at Mo Fan alertly. She was afraid that these benefactors that helped to drive away the people that were harboring malicious intent toward the Moon Moth Phoenix were having other thoughts about the Moon Moth Phoenix, too.

 “No one is supposed to know where the Moon Moth Phoenix apart from you, yet how did they manage to find this place?” Mo Fan asked, his eyes narrowed.

 “I…I don’t know either,” Yu Shishi fell into deep thought. –Yeah, how did they know where the Moon Moth Phoenix is?-

 Meanwhile, Lingling walked up to the group of people that Nighthawk had subdued and stared at one of the men with his head lowered.

 “You are Lian Xishan, right?” Lingling asked.

 The man raised his head. He seemed to be in a panic.

 Lian Xishan never expected that Chairman Shao Zheng was paying attention to the Totem Beasts. Ke Lingxi was clearly colluding with outsiders to steal the Totem Beast, meaning that he would have to face grave consequences too!

 “I’m…I’m not,” Lian Xishan quickly denied.

 “You’re seriously a disgrace to Jiang Shaojun. The man risked his life to search for the Totem Beasts, but you sold the information to these people that tried to harm the Totem Beasts instead!” Lingling harrumphed coldly. She sounded a little angry.

 “Is he the colleague that Jiang Shaojun mentioned in his journal?” Mo Fan looked at Lian Xishan.

 “Mm, a piece of scum,” Lingling confirmed.

 Mo Fan went up to Lian Xishan and snapped, “I’ve asked around and learned that Jiang Shaojun went missing while he was looking for an ancient Totem Beast. Were you the one that killed him!?”

 Lian Xishan’s face paled after hearing the accusation!

 “Heavens, I never killed Jiang Shaojun!” Lian Xishan shook his head urgently and said, “I have nothing to do with it. I didn’t kill him. He insisted on going to look for the ancient Totem Beast. I thought it was too dangerous, and his speculation was just too ridiculous, so our team didn’t go with him!”

 “Oh? Do you know where he went then?” Mo Fan asked.

 “He went to a few places. Once, he visited Hangzhou, and he came to me looking very excited. He told me that he had discovered a great secret. He was hoping that I could help him find the Totem Beast. I assumed he had gone crazy, so I just ignored him. He was very disappointed with me, and then he went north,” Lian Xishan said.

 Lian Xishan quickly told Mo Fan everything he knew after he was accused of killing Jiang Shaojun.

 “He went to Hangzhou?” Mo Fan fell into deep thought.

 “I only knew he went somewhere in Gansu,” Lian Xishan said. His forehead was covered in sweat.

 “Well, do you recognize this feather?” Mo Fan took out a huge feather from the storage of his Space Element.

 Lian Xishan obviously recognized the feather. The expression on his face said it all.

 Lian Xishan collected his thoughts after some time. He stammered, “It took us a great amount of effort to find this feather. However, there was a huge disagreement in the team after that, so we didn’t continue with the search.”

 “Where did you find this feather?” Mo Fan asked

 “In Yantai! I can give you all the information I have if you’re interested!” Lian Xishan exclaimed.

 “It seems like you’re still of some use. I guess I’ll hand you to the Enforcement Union later,” Mo Fan smiled.

 Lian Xishan immediately looked grateful. If he really ended up in Chairman Shao Zheng’s hands, a little archaeologist like him was surely going to face great problems…

 “I’ll be going then,” Yu Shishi said.

 “If the Moon Moth Phoenix wakes up, can you please ask if she knows of the other Totem Beasts?” Mo Fan asked.

 “Sure!” Yu Shishi nodded. The favor Mo Fan asked was nothing compared to the help that he and Mu Ningxue had provided.

 —

 —

 The forest happened to be closer to Hangzhou, so Mo Fan, Mu Ningxue, Nighthawk, and Lingling decided to escort the people to Hangzhou instead.

 Tangyue was around when they arrived at the Lingyin Enforcement Union. She looked at Mo Fan, Nighthawk, Mu Ningxue, and Lingling with wide eyes.

 Tang Zhong was around, too. Mo Fan spoke before he could even speak, “Old Tang, can I borrow the prison of your Enforcement Union for some days? These people are very important to the Chairman.”

 “Can you at least tell me what’s going on first? Zeng Guanglie, Ke Lingxi… what the heck have you done this time?” Tang Zhong recognized the prisoners.

 The Donghai Magic Association occasionally had dealings with the Hangzhou Magic Association, and both Zeng Guanglie and Ke Lingxi held fairly high ranks in the Donghai Magic Association too. Why did they end up being escorted by Nighthawk like they were criminals?

 Tang Zhong learned the truth after a brief explanation from Nighthawk.

 “You are a fool!” Tang Zhong berated them sadly. He seemed to be quite close to Ke Lingxi.

 “Brother Tang Zhong, I didn’t think it would end up like this. I was blinded by my greed,” Ke Lingxi let out a heavy sigh.

 It was useless to say anything now. He had colluded with outsiders instead of telling anyone about his discovery of a Totem Beast. There was no way he could escape punishment.

 “Just tell the Chairman everything you know, and he might go easy on you for it,” Tang Zhong said.

 “I will,” Ke Lingxi sighed haggardly.

 “Tangyue, escort them to the prison,” Tang Zhong said.

 “A lot of things have been happening lately. Our cells are almost full,” Tangyue nodded, somewhat amused.

 —

 —

 It was already late at night. Mo Fan did not leave straightaway. He decided to spend the night at Hangzhou with Mu Ningxue.

 If he had to find the perfect place for a date, it would definitely be the island at the heart of West Lake with its stunning view. Mo Fan had never been to shadowy shrubs with a clear beautiful lake together with Mu Ningxue. He purposely brought Mu Ningxue to the island in the middle of West Lake. The place was surrounded by water with a spectacular pavilion on it. It kept placing Mo Fan in a reverie…

 “Are you serious about looking for the Totem Beasts?” Mu Ningxue asked him.

 “Yeah, you have been improving so much that I’m having a hard time catching up,” Mo Fan said.

 “What does it have anything to do with searching for the Totem Beasts?” Mu Ningxue was confused.

 “I don’t know, I just feel like I’m tied to the Totem Beasts in some ways. There’s this voice that keeps calling me. The voice grows stronger whenever I come into contact with a Totem Beast,” Mo Fan said seriously.

 Mu Ningxue rolled her eyes as she listened to Mo Fan’s explanation, “Bullshit! You can just go search for the Totem Beasts if you are interested in them. It’s not like you can just stay at a place and behave yourself.”

 “Xuexue, you know me well,” Mo Fan took the initiative to stick his face closer.

 Mu Ningxue was well aware of Mo Fan’s intentions. She picked up her pace and went inside the building nearby.

 “You mentioned the drawings here before,” Mu Ningxue observed the drawings on the walls to distract herself from Mo Fan’s pursuit.

 “Ah, these. I’ve been here a lot of times, but I can’t figure out what they mean… these bits here are similar to the patterns on the wooden clapper we saw in Japan. It looks like characters, or diagrams, or nothing at all. These bits are on the Black Totem Snake. Look here, it’s like the body of a snake protecting a village, which might be referring to the Black Totem Snake…and these bits…” Mo Fan suddenly fell silent. A sudden thought crossed his mind as he was explaining his discovery to Mu Ningxue.

 Mu Ningxue looked at Mo Fan after he suddenly became quiet. She was breathing as softly as she could.

 Mu Ningxue was familiar with Mo Fan. It was obvious that he had thought of something, so she did not make a sound to disturb him.

 As she thought, Mo Fan suddenly focused the drawings on the walls. He first looked at the Totem Beast that resembled the Black Totem Snake, before looking at the pattern that was related to the wooden clapper!

 “Xuexue, look here, isn’t this shape similar to the pattern we saw on the Moon Moth Phoenix’s cocoon!?” Mo Fan went up to the wall and pointed at a strange pattern.

 Mu Ningxue followed Mo Fan’s finger and recalled the pattern on the giant cocoon. She nodded and said, “You’re right, they are alike!”

 “Take a look at this!” Mo Fan took out the feather of a Totem Beast that he had shown to Lian Xishan before. He placed the feather above the pattern of the Moon Moth Phoenix.

 Mu Ningxue observed closely. After comparing the two, she was surprised to see that the pattern of the Moon Moth Phoenix was actually very similar to the pattern on the feather. They could even stack on top of one another. It was like two fingerprints that were ninety-percent identical!

 That being said, the patterns on the Totem Beasts were a few dozen times bigger than fingerprints!

 Was it just a coincidence? The pattern of the Moon Moth Phoenix was almost the same as the pattern on the mysterious feather!

 “Xuexue, have you heard the legend about the Black Tortoise?” Mo Fan asked.