Chapter 391: Mushroom

In the banquet hall, everyone was utterly shocked.

This explosion was on par with the one that had rocked the Dan Ta just a few days earlier.

In fact, it might have been even more intense.

At such a close range, the powerful tremors shook the ground, leaving everyone present dizzy and unsteady.

"The City Lord's Mansion has exploded?"

After everyone swayed in unison, they could see a massive mushroom cloud rising in the distance from above the open-air banquet hall.

The entire scene fell into a stunned silence.

Who could have imagined that the heavily guarded City Lord's Mansion would have someone causing destruction inside?

Or was it, like that previous incident, another attack aiming to cleave open the skies over Tian Sang City?

"Explosion?"

Unlike the others, Fu Xing stared at the fleeting flash of light on the horizon, his heart sinking into despair.

He had a unique, profound understanding of explosions, thanks to a certain person.

"Where is Xu Xiaoshou?"

"Where has Xu Xiaoshou gone?"

Fu Xing had been busy circulating among the guests, wine glass in hand, forced to mingle with various seniors, and had no time to worry about his missing companion, Xu Xiaoshou.

But this explosion made him realize he could no longer ignore it.

That guy had actually made it to the City Lord's Mansion and was causing nonstop trouble?

This explosion was so familiar that even with his toes, he could guess who was responsible.

Fu Yin Hong pushed through the crowd and hurried over, stopping right in front of Fu Xing.

As one of the direct witnesses to the Dan Ta explosion that day, she had also quickly deduced the culprit behind this one.

Still, she wasn't entirely sure.

"Quick! Go find Xu Xiaoshou! Restrain him!"

Fu Xing was absolutely certain. "We can't let him run wild!"

He was furious!

Earlier, he had thought that with the vast size of the City Lord's Mansion and its layers of protective barriers, even if that guy was refining pills, any explosion wouldn't cause much chaos.

But he never expected that before the refining even started, Xu Xiaoshou had already flipped everything upside down.

It's like drawing cards before the game even begins and pulling out a royal flush?

Although Fu Yin Hong was also on edge, she glanced back and still couldn't believe it.

"Judging by the explosion's distance and direction, it seems to have come from the back garden..."

"Who could get in there?"

"Maybe it's an attack?"

"It's not an attack!" Fu Xing cut her off sharply and decisively. "It's Xu Xiaoshou!"

Fu Yin Hong furrowed her brow in thought and said seriously, "Even Liu Hu Fa can't get into that place. I don't think it was Xu Xiaoshou."

"It was him!"

Fu Xing was anxious. "I don't care what you think!"

You haven't even had direct contact with him—how could you know how terrifying that guy is?

His strengths go far beyond just refining pills!

Fu Yin Hong tried to say more, but Fu Xing cut her off.

"Don't say another word. Right now, go find Liu Hu Fa immediately and lead people toward the back garden."

"If it's Xu Xiaoshou, subdue him, but make sure not to kill him."

"If it's an intruder, activate the grand array and take them down!"

"We can't afford any mistakes tonight!"

Fu Yin Hong nodded. She understood the importance of the evening banquet, but she had her own duties to attend to.

"What about the one in red..."

Fu Xing hesitated, then grimaced.

"You go ahead. If you can't make it back in time later..."

"I'll handle it!"

He raised his wine glass, forcing a pained expression that suggested he was facing something worse than death, as if the person he had to fetch wasn't even human.

Fu Yin Hong immediately brightened with a smile, chuckling lightly and patting Fu Xing on the shoulder.

"Then I'll leave it to you. Don't worry, I'll take care of things properly."

Fu Xing glared at her. "Get back here as soon as you can!"

"Impossible."

Watching his sister leave, Fu Xing sank into a dark mood.

He had just managed to send the old Wen fellow back to the Wen family and forbid him from returning to the City Lord's Mansion, which had already given him a headache.

After all, that wasn't the outcome he wanted.

But now, with Xu Xiaoshou inside and that other person to deal with outside...

This was too much.

Fu Xing grew anxious. He pressed a hand to his forehead and downed his wine in one gulp.

"Dad, when will you come out of seclusion and take over this mess?"

"Your son can't handle it anymore!"

In the flower sea, it could no longer be called a flower sea.

The vibrant blooms that had been swaying in the wind just moments ago were now a scorched wasteland.

The air was thick with the expensive scent of burned debris.

The intricate three-dimensional nested Ling Zhen that had taken so much effort to construct was now reduced to mere fragments.

The entire section near Xu Xiaoshou had been completely obliterated.

With a "thud," a chunk of earth was flung aside.

Xu Xiaoshou emerged from the ground, covered in dirt and ash.

Staring at the desolate scenery around him, he was completely baffled.

"What... what happened?"

Honestly, this explosion had truly caught Xu Xiaoshou off guard.

The "Textile Technique" was originally meant for constructing Ling Zhen, but in this impromptu use, it seemed he had inadvertently opened up a new path.

"Explosive-style Textile Technique?"

This was even more outrageous than blowing up a furnace!

Xu Xiaoshou was stunned. He stood up and noticed a middle-aged man kneeling on the ground nearby.

This man looked even more wretched than that disheveled uncle.

His clothes were charred black, his hair singed and frizzled, his garments in tatters, and he was kneeling on the ground, seemingly sobbing.

Xu Xiaoshou's mouth twitched.

Was this the person who had confronted him earlier?

He remembered that at the critical moment of the explosion, a figure had flown in from the distance, but it was too late to stop anything.

Recalling that figure now, it seemed so full of despair...

"Uncle?"

Xu Xiaoshou called out tentatively.

He wanted to turn and run, but thinking of his missing junior sister and the lingering sense of justice and duty within him, he chose to step forward.

"Hic... hic..."

Getting closer, the intermittent sobbing became clearer.

Xu Xiaoshou was speechless.

Was this guy really crying?

Even though the man looked utterly unremarkable, Xu Xiaoshou didn't underestimate him at all.

At the very least, he was clearly at the level of an ordinary Wang Zuo, and possibly even stronger.

Plus, considering that earlier nested Ling Zhen...

He couldn't dismiss that Ling Zhen just because he had broken it—it was only because he had a convenient, forceful method at hand!

A nearly ten-layer nested Ling Zhen...

Undoubtedly the work of a Grand Master!

And this person's skill might even surpass that of Qiao Zhang Lao!

"Hello?"

Xu Xiaoshou approached, bending slightly as he asked softly.

"Hic... hic..."

The man was barefoot, with nails as long as half a thumb, caked with black dirt—he was clearly someone who didn't care for his appearance.

He was thin, as if starving.

And he kept sobbing.

Xu Xiaoshou hesitated. Language barrier?

"Sawasdee ka?"

"Uh."

The sobbing paused briefly before continuing.

Xu Xiaoshou was confused.

What was going on? Had he been bombed to tears?

Such a fragile middle-aged man?

He decided not to speak and simply squatted down beside the man, using his "Perception" to search for his vanished junior sister.

"Hic... hic!"

The sobbing went on for a while, and at such close range, the crying man finally seemed to feel embarrassed.

He wiped his mud-streaked face and turned back, opening his mouth as if to speak.

Xu Xiaoshou tilted his head.

After struggling to swallow twice, the man finally managed to say,

"You... who are you?"

Since he was the one who had made the man cry, Xu Xiaoshou felt obligated to cheer him up.

So, he used a comforting tone, like one would with a child, and made two ear shapes with his hands.

"Mushroom."

"The kind that goes 'JOJO' when it explodes."

"Are you a mushroom too?"

The man: ???