The square fell silent.
Everyone turned toward the source of the flash.
Standing there was a young woman dressed in Western clothing and wearing a fashionable hat.
In her hands was a strange object…
Still smoking.
Hidden in an unnoticed corner…
Lucian couldn’t help twitching at the sight.
…This foolish woman.
Completely unaware of the danger she was in…
Aunt Thirteen smiled brightly at the stunned crowd.
“Thank you, everyone!”
she said cheerfully.
She thought they had all kindly paused so she could take her photograph.
Her smile lasted only a few seconds.
Then…
It froze.
“She’s a demon!”
“She can shoot lightning!”
“Run!”
The surrounding townsfolk scattered in panic.
The White Lotus leader pointed directly at her.
“She’s an evil spirit!”
“Capture her!”
“Burn her to death!”
Instantly…
The White Lotus followers charged forward.
Leung Foon hurriedly stepped in front of Aunt Thirteen.
“You’ve misunderstood!”
“She’s Chinese!”
“How could she possibly be a demon?”
The White Lotus leader snorted.
“She’s dressed like a foreigner.”
“She commands lightning.”
“If that’s not witchcraft, what is?”
“Seize her!”
“We’ll burn her alive at the sacred altar!”
As he reached toward Aunt Thirteen—
Bang!
Leung Foon’s kick slammed squarely into the man’s chest.
With a scream, the White Lotus leader flew backward, crashing into two of his followers.
Seeing their leader knocked aside…
The rest of the White Lotus members rushed forward all at once.
“Aunt Thirteen!”
“Run!”
Leung Foon planted his feet firmly.
His fists rose and fell in powerful arcs.
One attacker after another was knocked to the ground.
Unfortunately…
His martial arts were nowhere near Huang Feihong’s level.
And there were simply too many enemies.
Before long…
He began to struggle.
Fortunately…
Huang Feihong arrived just in time.
Leaping into the air…
He unleashed three rapid kicks.
Three White Lotus members were instantly sent sprawling across the ground.
“Ah Kwan!”
“Where’s Aunt Thirteen?”
Huang Feihong quickly searched the area.
She was nowhere to be seen.
Leung Foon kicked another attacker away before instinctively pointing behind himself.
“She was right—”
His words stopped abruptly.
The space behind him…
Was empty.
Aunt Thirteen had disappeared.
“You idiot!”
Huang Feihong shouted angrily.
His attacks became even fiercer.
Meanwhile…
Aunt Thirteen felt the world blur before her eyes.
When her vision cleared…
She found herself standing inside a narrow alley.
Beside her stood a man wearing white robes beneath a hood, with a white-and-red cloak draped across his shoulders.
Behind him stood a young Black man in white sorcerer’s robes.
“It’s you!”
Aunt Thirteen cried out in surprise.
Lucian smiled.
“Heh…”
“We meet again.”
“Did you miss me?”
“Pfft!”
“Who would miss you?”
Aunt Thirteen’s cheeks instantly turned red as she shot back.
Then she suddenly realized something.
“Wait…”
“How did I get here?”
“Where is this?”
Lucian smiled faintly.
“If I hadn’t intervened…”
“You’d probably be tied to a stake by now.”
“And the White Lotus would already be preparing to burn you alive.”
Aunt Thirteen immediately protested.
“I still had Feihong!”
“He would definitely have saved me!”
Lucian nodded seriously.
“True enough.”
“Those White Lotus fanatics weren’t nearly strong enough to trouble Huang Feihong.”
Aunt Thirteen fell speechless.
“…”
After a moment, she looked at him again.
“Who exactly are you?”
“And what kind of power do you possess?”
Lucian thought for a moment.
“Hmm…”
“If you need a name…”
“You can call me…”
“The Guardian.”
“The Guardian?”
Aunt Thirteen blinked.
“So…”
“You’re the guardian of this land?”
Lucian shrugged.
“Something like that.”
“Well…”
“If there’s nothing else…”
“I still have business to attend to.”
“I’ll be going.”
He turned and walked away.
Mordo immediately followed behind him.
Aunt Thirteen instinctively wanted to chase after them.
But then—
“Aunt Thirteen!”
Huang Feihong’s anxious voice echoed from nearby.
She immediately turned and ran toward the sound.
Soon…
She spotted Huang Feihong and Leung Foon searching frantically through the streets.
“Feihong!”
“Ah Kwan!”
“I’m over here!”
She waved both hands enthusiastically.
The moment they saw her…
Both men finally breathed a sigh of relief.
If anything had happened to her…
Neither of them knew how they could have forgiven themselves.
“Aunt Thirteen!”
“Where did you go?”
Leung Foon asked anxiously.
“I only looked away for a second…”
“And you disappeared.”
Aunt Thirteen blinked innocently.
“Oh…”
“There were too many people.”
“So I ran somewhere safer.”
Neither Huang Feihong nor Leung Foon questioned her explanation.
Together…
The three headed toward the inn they had booked.
Once they arrived…
Aunt Thirteen immediately shut herself inside her room and locked the door.
Meanwhile…
Huang Feihong and Leung Foon returned to their own room to continue preparing.
Tomorrow…
The International Medical Conference would begin.
The day that traditional Chinese medicine would reclaim its honor…
Had finally arrived.
Elsewhere…
Lucian and Mordo strolled leisurely through Guangzhou’s streets.
The surrounding townsfolk glared openly at them.
One was a Black foreigner.
The other wore strange hooded robes that concealed his face.
Even if they couldn’t tell whether Lucian was a foreigner…
Anyone travelling alongside one certainly couldn’t be trusted.
Walking a few steps behind…
Mordo couldn’t help wondering what Lucian’s real objective was.
After all…
They had already been in Guangzhou since the previous day.
And during that entire time…
All they had done was wander aimlessly through the city.
At this point…
Mordo was beginning to suspect that Lucian had simply been lonely while travelling…
And had brought along someone who could open portals whenever convenient.