Chapter 51 – Lingxi

“Could it be that under Bai Ze’s hairless areas, there are ants like these beneath its skin?” Qin Shu placed his hand on Bai Ze’s body, asking in disbelief.

Bai Ze had been in a deep slumber these days, barely interacting with him. Whenever it woke up, it was only to demand that Qin Shu dissolve their contract, which he refused.

Qin Shu never imagined that Bai Ze would endure such suffering right under his nose.

“I didn’t want to make such a guess either. At first, I thought Bai Ze might have been poisoned, causing its blood to become corrosive and erode its body from within. But the hole in this scale is different from the wound on the Golden-Winged Great Peng’s beak.” Yun Xiguang held the scale before everyone.

Azure Dragon compared the two differences and said, “The black blood flowing from Bai Ze’s wounds is indeed a kind of venom that erodes spiritual energy. This venom has no effect on ordinary objects without spiritual energy, but upon encountering spiritual energy, it reacts, producing a strong corrosiveness.”

Yun Xiguang nodded. “If it were corroded, the shape of the wound on the Golden-Winged Great Peng’s beak should have matched the shape on this scale, an irregular form similar to flowing liquid. But the wound on the Golden-Winged Great Peng is small and round, like…”

Yun Xiguang thought for a moment and took off a pendant from around his neck.

This pendant was a transparent crystal vial, containing the small tuft of fluff that Chi Qiong had bestowed upon Yun Xiguang during their first encounter.

Yun Xiguang had initially treated this as ordinary shedding and casually kept it in his pocket.

During the battle at the Yun family estate, Yun Xiguang lent the fluff to the Golden-Winged Great Peng, allowing it to borrow the power of the phoenix feather to enhance Li Zheng’s strength, stunning all within the main residence of the Yun family with a single move.

Afterward, the Golden-Winged Great Peng returned the fluff to Yun Xiguang.

Only then did Yun Xiguang realize the significance of this strand of fluff.

Without prompting from Chi Qiong, Yun Xiguang specially ordered a custom-made, unbreakable transparent vial from a jewelry store. He cherished the tiny tuft of fluff inside the vial, wearing it as a pendant around his neck.

Chi Qiong was delighted when he found out, rolling about on Yun Xiguang’s neck and shoulders with his little claws.

However, he disliked the understated silver chain Yun Xiguang chose, removing it several times.

Yun Xiguang, after consulting Azure Dragon, bought a thick gold chain to wear around his neck, which pleased Chi Qiong for a long time.

With his blond hair and thick gold chain, Yun Xiguang went from a student with grades good enough to attend a prestigious university to a poorly-dressed young thug.

Fortunately, at this moment, Qin Shu was too preoccupied to worry about students dyeing their hair and wearing accessories. He watched as Yun Xiguang took the small tuft of fluff out of the bottle and carefully inserted it into the Golden-Winged Great Peng’s mouth.

The Golden-Winged Great Peng had two holes in each side of its mouth, through which the tuft easily passed at once.

This was the phoenix feather of the Phoenix Venerable, and the Golden-Winged Great Peng was terrified that its breath would blow the tuft away. It dared not breathe, focusing its eyes on the tuft, which caused its eyes to cross.

“The two holes are not only perfectly round, but together they form a straight line completely parallel to the horizon,” Qin Shu exclaimed. “It’s just like threading a needle!”

Yun Xiguang nodded. “Therefore, the Golden-Winged Great Peng wasn’t corroded by venom, but rather was pierced by an ant with a head width of only 2mm, passing through it horizontally. The ant’s head is incredibly hard; it pierced the Golden-Winged Great Peng’s beak and created two holes in one breath, before crawling out again and hiding beneath Bai Ze’s skin.”

Everyone — the spirit beasts — drew a sharp breath. Who could have imagined that within Bai Ze’s body could potentially lurk countless weaver ants?

The beak of the Golden-Winged Great Peng could pierce through metal and stone, ranking among the most solid and sharpest weapons at the time. The weaver ants had actually managed to create two consecutive holes in the beak of the Golden-Winged Great Peng. The resilience of their bodies was unimaginable.

“…But if this is true, wouldn’t Bai Ze have noticed?” Qin Shu asked. “It regained consciousness two or three times along the way, but it only asked me to dissolve the contract, not mentioning anything else.”

“It’s quite possible that it doesn’t know,” Yun Xiguang pulled out his phone and searched for information on weaver ants, showing it to everyone. “The ants secrete formic acid, which has both corrosive and anesthetic effects. Anesthetized, Bai Ze may not have been able to sense what was happening within its body, only feeling itself growing weaker.”

Azure Dragon gave Qin Shu a profound look and said, “Your persistence is the reason why Bai Ze has been able to hold on until today.”

Yun Xiguang understood Azure Dragon’s meaning and also comforted Qin Shu. “President Qin, Bai Ze has been eroded by weaver ants for as long as two months. In theory, it should have already depleted its spiritual energy, becoming an empty shell. It’s because you disregarded life and death, persistently maintained your contract with Bai Ze, and used your soul energy to help Bai Ze resist the invasion of the weaver ants, that Bai Ze has been able to hold on until today.”

Azure Dragon added, “The luckiest thing is that between you and Bai Ze, it’s not a Spirit Contract, but a blood pact. If it were a Spirit Contract, with the strength of these ants, they could have drilled into your spirit root through the Spirit Contract, turning your body into their nest as well.

“But you and Bai Ze share a blood pact, and your contract isn’t sustained by spiritual energy. The ants couldn’t find the thread of spiritual energy, unable to invade you. Instead, you continuously nourished Bai Ze through the blood pact, giving it a glimmer of hope for survival.”

Qin Shu wasn’t happy because he played a role; he worriedly said, “Even knowing this, I still can’t save Bai Ze. To save it, I must force out all the ants, but the ants are inside it. How can I possibly save it?”

As he spoke, Qin Shu’s gaze fell onto the Golden-Winged Little Peng.

The Golden-Winged Little Peng’s feathers suddenly stood on end, angrily saying, “Don’t look at me, I don’t eat insects!”

“I thought…” Qin Shu withdrew his gaze in disappointment.

“Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t eat them all, there are so many!” the Golden-Winged Little Peng said.

Yun Xiguang looked at the Golden-Winged Little Peng, surprised that it had seriously considered eating insects.

“What are you looking at?” Noticing Yun Xiguang’s gaze, the Golden-Winged Little Peng continued to stand on end. “I’m just thinking about how to help Bai Ze. This is only one of many plans!”

Azure Dragon asked, “Then what are the other plans?”

“Still thinking!” the Golden-Winged Little Peng loudly declared.

So it had only thought about eating insects.

Qin Shu felt the Golden-Winged Little Peng’s kindness and a trace of relief appeared on his aged face. He said, “Thank you for caring so much about Bai Ze.”

“As fellow divine beasts of the ancient era, we do have some connection,” the Golden-Winged Little Peng said. “In the ancient era, our Golden-Winged Great Peng clan fed on dragons, occasionally eating other spirit beasts. If it were in the ancient era, encountering such a weak Bai Ze, I would have swallowed it whole. But now, I’d rather Bai Ze be eaten by me than die so pitifully.”

Its tone was harsh, but it concealed deep concern.

Azure Dragon sighed deeply and said, “When I was born, I was just a young dragon. My parents hid me under the sea, warning me not to surface before adulthood. Young dragons were easily preyed upon by Peng birds. But once grown, I could soar high in the sky, naturally without fear.

“How could I have ever imagined that one day, I would be discussing how to treat Bai Ze with a Golden-Winged Great Peng.

“This type of weaver ant isn’t a spirit beast of the ancient era. I don’t understand them. Xiguang, what do you think?”

Even Azure Dragon, who had seen much, didn’t know how to deal with the weaver ants, leaving it to Yun Xiguang’s knowledge.

Yun Xiguang first glanced at Chi Qiong, and after Chi Qiong nodded in a dignified manner, he held him with both hands and placed him on Bai Ze.

Chi Qiong stood on Bai Ze’s fur, tentatively extending his little paws and stepping on Bai Ze’s bare skin. Instantly, he showed a look of disgust.

Yun Xiguang hurriedly pulled out a tissue to wipe Chi Qiong’s little claws.

Chi Qiong shook his head, gesturing to Yun Xiguang.

Yun Xiguang frowned. “There’s no spiritual energy within Bai Ze.”

“How can you be sure?” Qin Shu watched as Yun Xiguang lifted the little yellow chick and placed it on top of his head as usual, and couldn’t help but ask in confusion.

Yun Xiguang scratched the little yellow chick’s plump body and said to Qin Shu, “Even if I told you, President, you wouldn’t hear it. Anyway, there’s no spiritual energy within Bai Ze.”

“But how did these weaver ants become so powerful?” Azure Dragon glanced at the healing hole on the Golden-Winged Great Peng’s beak. Spirit beasts had extremely strong restorative abilities, and such injuries would heal quickly on their own. The beak of the Golden-Winged Great Peng was quite hard, so healing would be slower, but if it were a flesh wound, it would have long since healed.

Yun Xiguang, combining his previous experience fighting the bookworms, analyzed, “All things change but not their essence. Even if the weaver ants have evolved into spirit beasts, their abilities won’t deviate from those of ants themselves.

“Creatures like ants and bees don’t act individually, but as a group. There’s a theory in the biological community that considers a single ant not a complete organism, but a group of ants with clearly defined roles to be one.

“A single ant can only be regarded as a tissue or cell of the ant colony organism, remotely communicating through some mysterious pheromones, with the queen in the ant nest acting as the brain, controlling all the ants.”

“You mean the spiritual energy is in the queen ant, who breeds these powerful ants, which then plot against Bai Ze,” Qin Shu said.

The Golden-Winged Little Peng scanned the room and found a 2mm-sized ant hole in the corner.

“This hole was dug from outside,” the Golden-Winged Little Peng said. “I followed the hole and could only see your courtyard, nothing further. There’s an invisible barrier blocking my view.”

Although the indoor surveillance was 360 degrees, it would turn, temporarily ignoring the situation at the ant hole. The ants must have used this gap to sneak into the room quietly.

Everything was so secretive.

If Yun Xiguang hadn’t come to visit Bai Ze on a whim today, Bai Ze would have died in such an inexplicable manner. Everyone would have assumed that Bai Ze’s fate was due to the backlash of prophecy, burying the truth forever within this ant hole.

Yun Xiguang said, “An ant colony is a system that communicates through pheromones, so it’s impossible for the distance to be too great. The queen ant must be within this recuperation zone. And where there are spirit beasts, there must be Spiritbond Masters. Investigate the people who came to recuperate in this zone over the past two months. The Spiritbond Master of the queen ant must be among these people.”

Qin Shu said, “Although this recuperation zone is within the boundaries of the Zhuzhao Academy, the personnel staying here need to be reviewed by the Lingxi Department before they can enter, to prevent someone from using recuperation as an excuse to stay indefinitely, occupying the spots needed by those truly injured.”

“Lingxi Department?” Yun Xiguang had never heard of this department.

Qin Shu said, “The Lingxi Department is a covert department, with its members hidden within the Special Affairs Bureau, the Spiritbond Master Association, various academies, and even various families. It’s normal that you’re unaware of their existence. It complements the Special Affairs Bureau, both forces of the state. The Special Affairs Bureau handles various affairs, while the Lingxi Department secretly monitors all Spiritbond Masters.”

In ancient legends, the rhino horn was sensitive and called “Lingxi,” with the meaning of infiltrating the world.

“Should we go to the Lingxi Department for that list?” Yun Xiguang asked. “Does President Qin know anyone from the Lingxi Department?”

Qin Shu shook his head. “The Lingxi Department is very secretive. Do you know what our method of communication with the Lingxi Department is? It’s the Spiritbond Master certificate.”

On the cover of a Spiritbond Master certificate, there was a mysterious formation. When a Spiritbond Master needed to utilize the Lingxi Department, they would place their palm on the cover of the certificate and state what they needed to do. Soon afterward, they would receive a call from the Lingxi Department.

Qin Shu said, “The investigation of personnel staying in the recuperation zone is handled through communication between the vice president and the Lingxi Department. I’ll try to contact the Lingxi Department now. Hopefully, they can act quickly; Bai Ze doesn’t have much time left.”

As he spoke, Qin Shu took out his Earth-grade Spiritbond Master certificate from his pocket.

At that moment, everyone saw through the glass on the ceiling that a helicopter had landed in the courtyard. Li Zheng and a middle-aged man who lacked any memorable features stepped down from the helicopter.

Everyone’s gaze fell on the Golden-Winged Little Peng.

“Li Zheng has come to take you away,” Yun Xiguang said.

The Golden-Winged Little Peng made a fierce expression. “I won’t go with him. I still need to assist Lord bleep bleep in finding the fourth bleep bleep.”

“We still need the help of Senior Golden-Winged Great Peng to find the queen ant. I’ll explain the situation to Director Li,” Qin Shu said.

At that moment, the Golden-Winged Little Peng let out a sound of surprise.

“What’s wrong?” Yun Xiguang asked.

The Golden-Winged Little Peng pointed at the Spiritbond Master certificate in Qin Shu’s hand. “I took a look at that certificate with my Divine Eye Power. A human-invisible thread extends from the formation on the certificate and connects to him!”

The Golden-Winged Little Peng pointed at the ordinary-looking middle-aged man beside Li Zheng.

Without a doubt, this man was from the Lingxi Department. Since he could walk alongside Li Zheng, his position was obviously not low.

They no longer needed to contact an unknown person through the certificate. Li Zheng had delivered the person they needed right to their doorstep.

Everything was so coincidental.