“So what does it...” Mo Fan was trying to say, what did he have anything to do with it?

  “Frankly speaking, we suspect that someone in our tribe is colluding with the enemies. Therefore, no matter how secretive we are being, there’s still a chance that the enemy will know about our pn. I’ve proposed to the Head of the Magic Court that we’ll be using some outsider that we could trust,” said Tangyue.

  “So I’m the outsider that you could trust?” Mo Fan pointed at his nose with a bnk face. Why did he even bother calling Tangyue in the first pce? If he didn’t he wouldn’t be in this mess right now.

  Tangyue let out a charming smile. Her gmorous eyes were staring right at Mo Fan.

  I was just having a headache trying to think about what to do when you’ve volunteered yourself. I’m more than happy to take you onboard!

  Mo Fan felt that Tangyue’s current look was like a seductive snake hissing at him, as if she would eat him alive anytime.

  “I trust you, hence why I’m willing to tell you the secret. Besides, you’re not one of us, neither are you bound to any organization. A decently clean background. In addition to that, you’re smart, you know how to react swiftly to the situation. I believe that you would surely be a great help to your teacher!” Tangyue was so happy that she felt like giving Mo Fan a kiss on his cheeks.

  She had been troubled by the matter for quite some time.

  The ecdysis every ten years was extremely important. Other people might think that the existence of the god would pose a great threat to mankind, but after succeeding the role of a guardian and getting along with the god for so many years, Tangyue had more confidence than anyone else that it was truly a guardian that cared about the city more than the humans living in it.

  Humans built the city, the city nurtured the god, and the god protected the humans, while the humans worshiped the god. If the humans could interact with the god like her, they would know how gentle and kind the god was.

  Tangyue was one of the rare ones in the tribe that could communicate with the god. Knowing that the god would be fairly hot-tempered during his ecdysis, and would be extremely hostile toward powerful humans or living things, that the Head of the Magic Court and Heiyu had decided to pce her in charge of the important task.

  The tribe had many experts, but none of them had the chance to interact with the god on a daily basis.

  Besides, since the god was rather hot-tempered during his ecdysis, it was better not to let the experts appear close to him. She was surely the best candidate for the job.

  It was a heavy task, and yet they had learned from reliable sources that there was a traitor in their tribe. It further increased the weight on Tangyue’s shoulders.

  Coincidentally, Mo Fan had somehow found her. To avoid leaking the information about where the god would be pced during his ecdysis, Mo Fan was the best person to be entrusted with the protection task.

  Therefore, Tangyue had told Mo Fan the secret straight away after receiving his call. In other words, she was trying to drag him onboard!

  In terms of the people she could trust, Mo Fan was definitely one of them.

  “Don’t forget, you still owe me a favor,” Tangyue said with squinted eyes.

  “I saved your life.”

  “Humph, you’ve already taken advantage of me!” said Tangyue with a blush.

  “Wasn’t the favor about a mere Stardust Magic Tool, I’ll give you two in return.” Mo Fan was now a rich guy, too.

  “That was before!” Tangyue blurted out. How unreliable could this man be, he even promised it himself!

  Meanwhile, Mo Fan was cursing in his heart, trying to find an expnation for how he ended up in such a great mess.

  “Allow me to consider,” said Mo Fan.

  “Alright.” Tangyue did not force him. After all, it was not just a small favor to ask. “If you’re not willing, please forget what I’ve told you. It’s better that fewer people know about the existence of the god.”

  The god was not accepted by the people. He would bring extreme fear to them. The government and Enforcement Union here in Hangzhou might be willing to protect the succession of the ancient totem beasts, but it did not imply that the greater authority governing the nation would allow it.

  The god’s recent appearance in the city had already attracted the attention of the people from the Oriental Pearl Tower and the Magic Pace. They were expecting lots of Magicians to come visit them and ask them questions. If they insisted on executing the god, he would not even stand a chance during the ecdysis.

  Tangyue bit her lips. Her eyes were fixated on the burning cauldrons on the surface of the water that had existed for a very long time.

  She only hoped the god could survive the incoming crisis.

  “You look like you really care a lot about it?” asked Mo Fan when he saw Tangyue praying for the Skyscraping Snake.

  “A long time ago, my father died in a war against the demon beasts. I was living here alone at a very young age. Once, I went to the Lingyin Mountain for a little adventure, and stumbled into a beast with sharp fangs that had deserted its tribe. There wasn’t anyone nearby, and the beast was starving. I thought I would die there, but after a very long time, when I opened my eyes, I realized that the beast was running away in fear. I turned around and gnced at the West Lake in the dark from the mountain. As the moonlight shone upon it, a gigantic snake shadow faintly appeared... It was my first time seeing it.” Tangyue’s lips curled slightly upward before she continued, “It was incredibly huge, but I wasn’t afraid. It was more like an elder living next door, watching me grow up. As long as I’m here at the West Lake, it will protect me.”

  Mo Fan did not interrupt as he saw Tangyue telling the tale with a stern look.

  The reason why humans needed a home was so they could just be themselves, without worrying about anything once they stepped into the door.

  Most of the kids had grown up peacefully under the protection of their parent and elders. For Tangyue, the Skyscraping Snake that had brought terror to the humans of the city had pyed that important role in her life. It was quite extraordinary.

  “I heard that the skin after the ecdysis is a great material for forging outstanding armor. If I help, you will give me a piece of that guy’s skin in return,” said Mo Fan.

  With the Skyscraping Snake’s size, its skin was more than enough to forge thousands of pieces of armor. However, the material had to be refined before it could be forged into a piece of equipment. Rather than the size, the extraordinary power that the bones, blood, skin or flesh of a demon beast contained mattered more. Therefore, even if it were only enough to forge a few dozen sets of armor, he was not demanding too much to take one of them.

  “So that’s what you are thinking of, humph!” Tangyue harrumphed.

  “Not entirely, since you’ve told me that he is like your elder, then he’s an elder to me, too, as we’re one family. There’s no way I would be a bystander,” replied Mo Fan in a stern tone.

  “Who told you that we’re one family, do you have any shame!” Tangyue blushed.

  Mo Fan burst into ughter when he saw his Miss Tangyue feeling embarrassed.

  Tangyue quickened her pace in a fit of pique. She had no intention to speak any further to her bad student. As a way to conceal her embarrassment, she took out her phone, pretending to be checking the news.

  However, the embarrassment on her face quickly dissipated. Her face was now flushing red with anger as her eyes stared right on her phone’s screen.

  “Ridiculous, this is ridiculous!” Tangyue yelled furiously.

  “What is it?”

  “They are setting up a plot to frame the big guy...” Tangyue handed her phone to Mo Fan, which was showing the test news.

  “We’ve found casualties from the incident with the giant snake. The two Hunters were thoroughly corroded by some poison, destroying their appearance beyond recognition. No one was able to tell they were human corpses, but their identities have just been verified. It was confirmed that they had died to the snake’s poison after it appeared,” Mo Fan read the news out loud.

  Mo Fan was confused, looking at the news. Didn’t they already release an official statement saying that no one had died in the incident? Why would they suddenly find two casualties, after such a long time?

  “It’s a frame-up, someone is trying to make false charges against the Skyscraping Snake!” Tangyue’s face turned furiously red.

  “Why would you assume that it’s a setup... Miss Tangyue, your phone is ringing,” said Mo Fan.

  Tangyue received the call with a frown. From her stern expression, the call was probably from her superior.

  “Come with me.” Tangyue hung up the phone and dragged Mo Fan to the boat.

  “Where are we going?”

  “The Enforcement Union’s meeting room.”

  ——

  Following Tangyue, Mo Fan arrived with her at Hangzhou’s Magic Association Building.

  They took the elevator straight up to the highest floor. It was a meeting room with a clear, spectacur view over the entire city.

  The entrance of the room was guarded by a group of men in uniforms. Each of them possessed rather outstanding cultivation. Mo Fan could not help but excim in his heart, as the guards defending the entrance were all Advanced Magicians!

  They waited for a short time outside of the room before a man with bck long hair came out. His eagle-like eyes gnced at Tangyue, then at Mo Fan.

  “My student, Mo Fan,” introduced Tangyue.

  The man nodded slightly before inviting the two into the room with a gesture.

  The room consisted of a standard, huge round table. Several appropriately-dressed men and women were seated across the table. There were seven or eight of them.

  The remaining twenty-some people stood at the side. They were all from the Magic Court, judging from their outfits.

  Those outside of the room were already Advanced Magicians, but the ones in the room were even more shocking. Was there anyone on the same level as him?

  These people were the authoritative figures among Magicians!

  Mo Fan could recall the man with the long bck hair. He was the one standing on the silver skyscraper while staring the Skyscraping Snake in the eyes. His strength significantly outmatched Zhan Kong’s, but even he was standing on the side instead of sitting down.

  “He’s my eldest Senior Brother, Heiyu. He’s also the Vice Head of the Magic Court, ” said Tangyue in a soft tone to Mo Fan, who was standing beside her.

  Mo Fan nodded. He was just trying to figure out what level the man’s cultivation was, when a middle-aged man with a thick beard smmed his hand hard on the table and snapped, “There are people dying, and yet you’re still protecting that poisonous snake! The Magic Pace didn’t send me here to negotiate. I’m here to eliminate the threat in the West Lake, returning peace to Hangzhou. You better hand over the Skyscraping Snake to us!”

  Tangyue gred at the man while cursing under her breath.

  Mo Fan whispered when he saw her teacher on the verge of losing her temper, “Who’s that?”

  “Zhu Meng, a senator of the Enforcement Union,” said Tangyue, while clenching her teeth.

  “It seems like he has been getting on your nerves?” said Mo Fan.

  Tangyue told Mo Fan the entire sequence of events without holding any information back.

  It turned out that the Enforcement Union was well aware of the existence of the Skyscraping Snake. The governing body in Hangzhou tacitly consented to the Totem Tribe inheriting their succession. However, a whole faction in the Magic Pace, under Zhu Meng’s lead, greatly opposed it.

  Zhu Meng’s faction in the Magic Association and the Enforcement Union was an untiring advocate of eliminating hidden threats. They proposed that everything that could possibly bring disasters to cities or mankind be eliminated at all cost.

  As a result, the totem beast living in West Lake was treated as the highest priority to be eliminated in Zhu Meng’s faction. They had always kept an eye on the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon, and tirelessly proposed to the highest authorities to eliminate the threat of the city. Frankly speaking, they would not allow the snake to stay inside the city, as no one knew when it would be enraged and bring a great disaster to Hangzhou City.

  Zhu Meng’s proposal had earned support from many senators, thus there was already an operation being pnned to eliminate the threat. However, some of the old members strongly advocated that the Totem Beast was considered a great magical heritage of their nation since ancient times. Furthermore, the Skyscraping Snake had yet to harm anyone’s life, thus as long as Hangzhou’s government did not request an order of expulsion, they had no right to chase the Skyscraping Snake away from West Lake.

  “In simple words, this Zhu Meng is your god’s greatest enemy,” Mo Fan whispered back, as he gnced at the man with the beard.

  “Mm, he has come straight here to make a punitive charge against us just when the casualties were found... as if he had been waiting long enough,” said Tangyue.

  “But, why are you so confident that the Skyscraping Snake is being framed?” Mo Fan was confused.

  As a matter of fact, Mo Fan did agree that it was too dangerous to let such a gigantic beast reside in the city. If Tangyue had not told him about the inheritance of their tribe, he would actually lean toward Zhu Meng’s proposal.

  “The big guy is poisonous, but he doesn’t spread it randomly, nor would he use it against humans. If he were releasing his poison, you won’t find a single thing alive in the vicinity of West Lake. A week ago, we sent someone to investigate. The pce where he appeared was a construction area where a skyscraper is being built. No one was there when it appeared. Its gigantic size didn’t even crush anyone there, let alone poisoning anyone!” Tangyue blurted out angrily.

  Tangyue was more familiar with the Skyscraping Snake than anyone else. He would never kill without a reason, especially humans that worshiped him.

  The Skyscraping Snake was definitely not responsible for the corpses that were found a week ter!

  “Most importantly, the Skyscraping Snake excretes a fluid that helps with his ecdysis during this period, thus it wouldn’t be poisonous throughout this period. Therefore, someone must have framed up the big guy with the two corpses that had appeared out of nowhere.” Tangyue was extremely confident.

  “I see,” Mo Fan nodded.

  The Skyscraping Snake was not poisonous during the ecdysis, but two people had been killed by poison. Mo Fan did not think that Tangyue would come up with a lie that could be validated very easily.

  It turned out that someone was indeed purposely framing up the Skyscraping Snake.

  Meanwhile, the incident that had lost the public’s attention was revived once again due to the casualties. Many people demanded the government to expin themselves. Some even accused the government of hiding the truth.

  “So, you think he’s behind it?” Mo Fan gnced at the senator called Zhu Meng and whispered.

  “It must be him!” said Tangyue confidently.

  The Skyscraping Snake was considered a huge thorn in Zhu Meng’s eyes, as its existence alone was a great sp to his face. He had earned his reputation solely from championing his threat-elimination strategy!