Chapter 87 – The Flower of the Underworld

“Buzz—buzz—”

The air vibrated like the wings of a dragonfly.

A sleek, silver-gray, dart-shaped craft descended silently from the night sky like a peregrine falcon.

The hatch of the futuristic, technologically advanced craft opened.

A small team quickly emerged.

Leading them was a young woman with short hair and a sharp face, her features delicate and her demeanor efficient.

She wore a form-fitting black combat suit that highlighted her nearly perfect body curves.

On her full left chest, a faintly glowing white bear emblem was printed.

“Clear the area, rescue the survivors.”

The Short-haired Woman issued the cold command, and the men behind her, also in black combat suits and armed with firearms, immediately dispersed.

They moved with the precision of a well-trained unit.

The Short-haired Woman stayed in place, her left eye projecting a blue light, scanning the area as she turned her head.

“I haven’t found the Powerful Divine Servant you mentioned.”

She spoke, seemingly in a remote conversation with someone.

“Of course not, you arrived too late. The person probably fled long ago.”

A slightly dejected voice came through the earpiece of the Short-haired Woman.

“Something’s not right.”

The Short-haired Woman suddenly locked her gaze on a spot and quickly walked over.

“I think I might have found something.”

“Team Leader.”

The Short-haired Woman approached a large pile of bloody remains. A Yellow Bear member, who had been waiting there, pointed to a nearby cold corpse and reported to her.

“We found Team Leader Zhou Ling’s remains.”

“Got it.”

The Short-haired Woman nodded but only glanced briefly before shifting her attention.

Instead, she crouched down, pushed aside some limbs and fragments in the pile of flesh, and murmured, “You said the Crow Deity sect’s Powerful Divine Servant is dead. The body is shattered, as if beaten to death.”

“What?!”

A voice of disbelief came through the earpiece, urgently asking, “Who killed them?”

“I wish I knew.”

The Short-haired Woman stood up, surveyed the surroundings, and her expression relaxed slightly.

“Most of them can still be saved. It looks like your luck isn’t too bad. This mission might actually be considered complete. The cost of reconstructing new bodies can be reimbursed from above, and there might even be a reward.”

The voice in the earpiece paused.

After a moment of silence, the voice resumed, now much calmer.

“Can you find anyone else at the scene?”

“Who are you referring to?”

The Short-haired Woman asked casually, “The novice from the Sky Water Stream Crane Style you mentioned earlier?”

“Yes, him.”

“No.”

The Short-haired Woman noticed a small, pale red stain on the ground not far away and walked over to it.

“Collect a sample from this area,” she instructed someone nearby.

“Understood.”

After giving the order, the Short-haired Woman continued her conversation through the earpiece.

“You don’t think that person could have killed the Powerful Divine Servant from the Crow Deity sect, who almost wiped out your Team 8, do you?”

“Definitely not.”

The voice in the earpiece hesitated before speaking again. “Although he’s quite skilled, roughly at the Skin Training level in martial arts, maybe even close to Muscle Training, it’s absolutely impossible for him to counterattack and kill a still capable Powerful Divine Servant.”

“I suspect it was someone from his Sky Water Stream Crane Style backing him. Although the Sky Water Stream Crane Style has declined for a long time, there are still a few masters left. If they ambushed a weakened Powerful Divine Servant, it would be a piece of cake.”

“That’s what I thought too.”

The Short-haired Woman nodded, then asked, “Did you find any video footage from the scene?”

The voice in the earpiece sounded somewhat resigned.

“This area still has residual force fields set up by the Crow Deity sect. The satellites in the Old City didn’t capture a complete video signal. There are only some intermittent clips, and they just happen to miss the part right after I died. It started working again after you arrived. It’s infuriating!”

The person on the other end seemed to angrily slam a desk.

“Never mind, as long as the issue is resolved.”

The Short-haired Woman appeared unconcerned.

“Oh, by the way, that kid did have contact with the Crow Deity sect, so we need to follow the necessary procedures. And you seem interested in recruiting him. Do you need me to reach out to him for you?”

The voice on the other end of the earpiece fell silent for a moment before responding, “No need, I’ll find him myself later. This isn’t urgent. You focus on your current task.”

“As you wish.”

The Short-haired Woman placed her hand on her right ear and asked, “Shall I hang up now?”

“Yes.”

Her slender fingers lightly tapped her ear, shifting her attention back to the scene.

A Yellow Bear member quickly approached her, reporting, “Team Leader, we found three survivors under the building. Preliminary scans indicate they are ordinary people with weak vital signs.”

“Rescue them and bring them back.”

“Understood.”

“Team Leader, what should we do with Team Leader Zhou Ling’s body?”

Another member asked.

The Short-haired Woman glanced at Zhou Ling’s corpse, thought for a moment, and said, “Cut off his legs and send the rest back, saying it was destroyed by the Crow Deity’s servant. This guy spent a lot on skeletal modifications, all good materials. Consider it our payment for this external support.”

“Understood.”

The member’s expression turned rather peculiar as they complied.

After giving all the necessary orders, the Short-haired Woman casually surveyed the area.

The target, the Powerful Divine Servant, was dead, and there was nothing interesting left in this wasteland of a scene.

Eventually, her gaze returned to the pile of bloody remains at her feet.

She didn’t seem to mind the stench and gore at all, instead showing a keen interest as she repeatedly scanned the blood and flesh with the blue light from her left eye.

Data and information continuously updated in her field of vision.

The woman murmured to herself, “What martial arts expert? What Sky Water Stream sect? These boxing techniques are so crude. The force is just barely passable.”

Lu Yuan slowly regained consciousness.

The exceptionally bright moonlight fell on his face, and he felt a red shadow flicker before his eyes.

He abruptly sat up.

The next second, he was utterly stunned by the sight before him.

Lu Yuan found himself surrounded by a sea of blood-red flowers, stretching as far as the eye could see.

A dark, silent river flowed calmly in front of him.

In the distance, a massive full moon loomed, with about a quarter of it submerged in the river.

It looked as if the river’s flow led directly to the moon.

Lu Yuan stood there, staring in awe at the vast, beautiful, and eerily silent scene.

His gaze slowly moved to the flowers around him, their shapes like lanterns and colors a vivid, seductive red. He murmured, “Manjusaka?”

Manjusaka, also known as the Red Spider Lily, the Flower of the Underworld, and the Flower of the Netherworld.

Though steeped in mystery, the flower itself was not rare.

Lu Yuan casually plucked one and crushed it in his hand, producing a smear of crimson.

The crushed flower felt sticky and wet in his palm, like the aftermath of squashing an oversized mosquito.

He wiped his hand clean on his clothes, then looked at the moon hanging low in the distance and murmured, “Such a realistic dream, just like activating [Imaginary Enemy].”