"Do what?"

Hao Xuan stepped back with an innocent expression, watching as she got back on her feet.

"About tha-" she spoke again but feeling the tinge of pain running through her mouth she cringed. She spat out some blood and took out a green bottle from somewhere inside her dress and took a small sip, instantly healing the wound.

She met Hao Xuan's gaze, livid as she could be.

"Why did you tell them about the surface world! That was my job! I have been down here for MONTHS trying to bring them to our side and you! How could you just blurt it out like that?!"

She was so small that no matter how mad she got, in Hao Xuan's eyes she just looked like a teenager throwing a tantrum.

And it would be a lie if Hao Xuan said he didn't find her little antics quite adorable. He wanted to reach out and pinch her cheeks but even he knew that was not a good idea. So he held back, trying not to show his feelings.

"Because there is no more time. The people from the Temple and Academy are already down here and if they haven't already, they should be making contact with them very soon," with an expressionless face he told her the truth.

"W-What? How do you know?" she asked doubtfully.

"I know people from there, they told me."

"But..."

All her anger vanished in an instant, replaced by an edgy apprehensiveness.

'But I need more time. I need to be the one that brings them in otherwise I won't get the credits. I can't fail! He will find me soon and-'

Only after hearing her thoughts did Hao Xuan remember about the point system that was put in place to judge all the participants. They rewarded points for every action that would count towards them getting into their respective institutions.

But why was she was so concerned about them even now? Hao Xuan completely forgot about it because it had nothing to do with him. He wasn't here to be taken in as a student so it didn't matter to him at all.

"If...you're worried about who gets the credit, you can have it. I don't care," he said after a moment of contemplation.

And just as he expected, her eyes lit up the moment those words escaped his mouth. But then she stared at him through narrowed eyes, suspicious of his motives.

"Why would...you do that? Everyone wants the points, otherwise you won't get in."

Hao Xuan smirked ostentatiously, "I'm the second protector, kid! I don't need any points, my job is something else. Don't worry, you'll get all the credit," he reached forward to pat her head but she swatted his hand away, jumping back much like a kitten.

"I don't trust you yet but...if it's true...you can't take it back okay! Promise!"

"Yeah yeah, I promise."

Ma Jiang turned around to go back into the Yurt. But she stopped for a short moment at the entrance, "And I'm not a kid! I'm almost 17 years old!" before vanishing inside.

'17? But she still has so much baby fat around her cheeks...'

Absorbed in his own thoughts Hao Xuan was about to head out when he noticed something strange.

'Hm? What's this?'

There was a patch of long grass and flowers growing out of the ground. It was growing at such a fast speed that he could see the flowers budding and blooming one by one.

'The hell...'

He examined it a bit more closely and saw a bubbling red liquid gathered in the center of the patch. It was the blood Ma Jiang had spat out.

Hao Xuan extended his hand to touch it but the moment his skin came into contact with it an electric current ran throughout his body.

"Argh!"

Several inch-long canines suddenly erupted forth from his mouth followed by rows of razor-sharp teeth. His back hunched from the protruding muscles that snaked under his skin.

His eyes turned a shade of crimson red and his ears elongated much like a wolf's.

'Wha-'

*Grrrr*

Upon hearing the commotion one of the female guards stepped out to check.

"Where did he go?" looking left and right for the source of the noise, she couldn't find anyone so she went back.

Almost two hundred meters away was a beastly figure soaring through the air. It was obviously Hao Xuan but his current frame did not look very human.. With a light thump, he landed onto the ground before pushing lightly and shooting straight up into the air once again.

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