After seeing off Tian Jue'er, whose body was depleted, Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong both breathed a sigh of relief.
They had not expected the Black Bat Village Chief to have a contingency plan. If Tian Jue'er had not discovered it, the souls of the two children might have been poisoned.
"That was too close."
Lin Zitong tidied her messy hair and said, "The Lotus Pond doesn't seem so safe anymore."
"We can't send the children to Longhu Mountain like Wang Zhirai, can we?" Yan Shouyi sighed. "Longhu Mountain is safe, but I don't want the children to be away from us. Others' care is certainly not as good as our own."
As he spoke, Yan Shouyi seemed to remember something and quickly took out two items from his satchel.
These were two bronze mythical beast statues, carved lifelike. The aura emanating from them seemed to tell people that they were no ordinary objects.
They were tomb guardians!
"Tomb guardians?" Lin Zitong asked, surprised.
Yan Shouyi nodded and explained, "Tomb guardians can protect the Lotus Pond."
Although the tomb guardians were not as powerful as Lu Jing, they did provide an additional layer of security.
He placed the tomb guardians in the two corners of the Lotus Pond, letting them sink to the bottom, thus concealing their true forms.
If any outsider were to enter the Lotus Pond again, their first encounter would be with the two tomb guardians. And together, the two tomb guardians would not be easy to deal with.
As he placed the tomb guardians, Yan Shouyi also felt some self-reproach. If he had placed the tomb guardians earlier, he might have bought more time, and perhaps the Sect Master Lu Jing would not have died.
But regretting it now was meaningless. No one could have predicted that the Twin Lotuses would become the target of Li Genmiao's attack.
After placing the tomb guardians and confirming that there were no other problems with the Twin Lotuses, Yan Shouyi stood up and said to Lin Zitong,
"It's time. I'll accompany you to return Sect Master Lu Jing's body to the Lushan Sect. On the way..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but Lin Zitong fully understood his meaning—if they encountered anyone from Wu Tianfeng on the way, it would solidify the connection between Wu Tianfeng and the Black Bat Village Chief!
...
Half an hour later, a black van drove away from the Folk Research Association.
The van carried a coffin, within which lay Lu Jing's body. Yan Shouyi drove himself, with Lin Zitong sitting in the passenger seat, occasionally glancing back at the coffin.
In the sky, San Yuan followed the hearse closely at high altitude, surveying the surroundings.
If anyone approached, it would alert Yan Shouyi immediately.
"I just received news that the Crimson Flower Association in Yuzhou has become a public enemy. Wu Tianfeng's father, Wu Jianchou, has been arrested, and his fate is likely not good. Wu Tianfeng, at this critical juncture, has chosen not to return to Yuzhou immediately but to stay in Rongcheng. There must be something fishy about this."
"If Wu Tianfeng is connected to the Black Bat Village Chief, he must know about the Lotus Pond incident, so he will be lingering around the Folk Research Association, wanting to see if we have been retaliated against."
"San Yuan is in the sky. As soon as we get solid evidence, we will deal with Wu Tianfeng directly."
Yan Shouyi's tone was slightly fierce.
For so many years, the Crimson Flower Association had harmed countless people. Wu Jianchou and his son deserved to die.
Whether it was Wu Tianfeng threatening his children or the death of Lu Jing, it had created an irreconcilable rift between them.
"If you find Wu Tianfeng," Lin Zitong said in a low voice, "I want to act myself."
Yan Shouyi couldn't help but glance at Lin Zitong, then silently nodded.
Lu Jing was the former Sect Master of the Lushan Sect, and this revenge should be taken by Lin Zitong.
Not long after the hearse drove out of West Lake, several cars followed far behind.
In those cars sat Wu Tianfeng!
"Young Master, our informants have confirmed that Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong are in that car! And, their expressions are said to be very grim."
The Left Guardian reported to Wu Tianfeng, while also wondering: Why were Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong awake in the middle of the night, driving a van to go somewhere?
Unexpectedly, Wu Tianfeng burst into laughter upon hearing the news: "It seems the Black Bat Village Chief's operation has been successful!"
What else could make Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong abandon the Folk Research Association and drive out in the middle of the night?
From Wu Tianfeng's perspective, it must be that the Black Bat Village Chief's plan had succeeded, and Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong were now taking their children and rushing out to seek help!
That's right, Wu Tianfeng and the Black Bat Village Chief did have a cooperation. Their cooperation had nothing to do with Li Genmiao.
After the Black Bat Village Chief decided to retaliate against Yan Shouyi, he conducted a thorough investigation and learned that Yan Shouyi was scheduled to fight Wu Tianfeng soon, so he found Wu Tianfeng.
Wu Tianfeng had many informants and had been observing the movements of the Folk Research Association, thus discovering the mysterious place called the Lotus Pond.
The Black Bat Village Chief then went ahead to scout the area. From the daily conversations between Lu Jing and Wen Yuxian, he learned about the souls of the children within the Twin Lotuses.
Thus, all the subsequent plans were made.
Wu Tianfeng would attract everyone's attention during the arena battle, while the Black Bat Village Chief would take advantage of the situation, break into the Lotus Pond, and kill Yan Shouyi's children!
Earlier, the Crimson Flower Association had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Folk Research Association, and the truth of their years of complicity had been exposed by Yan Shouyi, causing Wu Tianfeng to lose all face and become a pariah.
Furthermore, when the Crimson Flower Association's secrets were revealed, Clan Leader Teng betrayed them, and Wu Jianchou was arrested, his life or death unknown.
At this point, Wu Tianfeng's hatred for Yan Shouyi had reached an extreme, even becoming twisted and perverted.
"Hahahahahaha... Hahahahaha!"
Wu Tianfeng laughed uncontrollably: "Yan Shouyi, you deserve it! No matter how strong you are, no matter how you defeated my Crimson Flower Association! I killed your children, and in the future, I will kill anyone else you care about. Your future days will only be spent in fear and pain!"
Suddenly, Wu Tianfeng's peripheral vision noticed something, and his laughter instantly ceased.
On the side of the speeding car he was in, outside the car window, a golden swan goose with its wings spread was moving at a relatively static speed, keeping pace with the car.
The swan goose tilted its head, as if staring at Wu Tianfeng.
It was the golden swan goose that was beside Yan Shouyi!
Wu Tianfeng couldn't help but shudder, his back hairs stood on end, and his eyes were filled with fear!
At the same time, through the walkie-talkie in the Left Guardian's hand, came the voice of an informant from the front:
"Left Guardian! There's a situation! Yan Shouyi's car has suddenly stopped... Yan Shouyi is still in the car, but Lin Zitong has gotten out! ... Lin Zitong is walking back... No! She's running!!!"
Although he didn't know what had happened, the Left Guardian instinctively sensed danger.
He looked up and saw Lin Zitong's figure appearing in front of the car!
This woman, with her unparalleled beauty, now wore a cold expression, looking at them as if they were dead men.