447. Cannot Be Found

After two months of careful flight, the couple finally arrived on Earth. By then, the planet had already fallen into ruin, nearly destroyed.

“Do you still remember which one this is?” Long Xiaotian asked as he looked at Long Yunfeng.

“I stopped keeping count long ago. The only thing I remember is that, when I was little, I saw a planet destroyed completely for the first time. I heard the people screaming, and I even wanted to save them. But Father held me back. I didn’t understand then, but after everything I’ve seen, I think I’ve gone numb,” Long Yunfeng said quietly, her voice stripped of joy and sorrow alike.

“Yes. After all these years, I’ve long since lost track of how many worlds they’ve ruined. What I find strange is why they came to such a distant planet. There shouldn’t be anything here they want. And Long Xuan isn’t here either,” Long Xiaotian said with some confusion.

“Who knows? But there are so many Hidden Dragons here, and that lunatic Fire Hidden Dragon is here too. The two of us would be in too much danger if we went. Let’s just go back,” Long Yunfeng said, tugging at Long Xiaotian’s sleeve.

“I keep feeling there’s something wrong with this. Let’s disguise ourselves and take a look. There must be something on Earth they’re after. We can stir up a bit of trouble while we’re at it. It’s not like there’s anything to do back home anyway. Better to be busy than bored,” Long Xiaotian said with a smile.

“If you say so, then all right,” Long Yunfeng said helplessly.

So the two of them took on the appearance of ordinary humans and quietly slipped into the atmosphere.

...

Three months passed, and Ye Feng still showed no sign of recovery. No heartbeat. No breathing. Only the faintest brainwave activity appeared on the medical monitor.

With the help of Modern, the cavern had already been renovated by a third over those three months. The first group of people had left the ocean fortress and moved into the cavern. The surroundings were fairly decent. Though the environment was not as good as on the surface and there was neither food nor entertainment, it had the virtue of safety and stability.

That day, it was Ye Shihan’s turn again to watch over Ye Feng. Looking at his calm face, she began speaking with Guaiwai.

“Guaiwai, how is the cavern coming along?” Ye Shihan asked.

“Because our preparations were fairly thorough, things are going quite well. The energy circulation system has already been completed. As long as the Hidden Dragons and Angus don’t come causing trouble, the people of Great Xia can live here for tens of thousands of years,” Guaiwai said to Ye Shihan.

“What about outside? Have the Hidden Dragons and Angus made any moves?” Ye Shihan asked next.

“The Hidden Dragon Clan was never known for a good temper. From what I can see, they seem to have taken a liking to Earth’s pleasures. As for that bastard Angus, he’s practically ruined Earth’s plains. And now winter has come, so the humans on land are starving and freezing, while the Hidden Dragons keep on killing people,” Guaiwai said with a sigh.

“Has Angus been looking for us all this time?”

“Yes. The Hidden Dragons have given him a dead-serious order: turn the place upside down if necessary, but find us. From what it looks like, though, he hasn’t made any progress. This cavern is truly too well hidden,” Guaiwai said proudly.

“That won’t do forever. As long as the Hidden Dragons remain, we won’t have peace for a single day. I just hope Ye Feng wakes soon,” Ye Shihan said with a sigh.

Guaiwai fell silent. He had always felt a pang of guilt over Ye Feng’s coma.

“Guaiwai, has Ye Feng’s condition improved at all?”

“It’s basically unchanged from three months ago. Still the same. The only difference is that the ice-and-fire energy inside him has decreased a little. It looks as if Ye Feng has absorbed it, but after scanning him, I still can’t determine where that energy went,” Guaiwai said. Scanning Ye Feng’s body had become his daily routine, so he knew very clearly how strange Ye Feng’s condition was.

“Ah, haven’t you simulated an approximate time yet?” Ye Shihan asked, as she always did whenever she came. Even she no longer knew how many times she had asked.

“I’d like to give you a definite answer too, but unfortunately I can’t. The rate at which this ice-and-fire energy disappears is completely irregular. Sometimes only a little is consumed over two or three days; sometimes a great deal is gone in a single day. So I can’t tell how long it will be before he wakes. But one thing is certain: Ye Feng will be all right.”

“I hope so,” Ye Shihan said with a sigh.

...

Angus was furious. Furious at the incompetence of his subordinates. There was no longer any ocean on Earth, or rather, no naturally formed sea remained. Yet Ye Feng and the people of Great Xia had vanished into thin air. If not for the fact that Fire Hidden Dragon was certain no living thing besides them had left Earth, Angus might have begun to suspect that Ye Feng had quietly escaped the planet.

“Are you all worthless? Ye Feng took away at least 1.5 billion people. With a number that enormous, how could they just disappear? It’s been three months! What have you found? Don’t even talk about finding people—there isn’t a single trace! Not even the faintest clue!” Angus roared in fury. During this time he had suffered terribly. Fire Hidden Dragon’s shouting, fists, and kicks had reminded him of his days under his former master. Of course, his old master had actually been fairly good to him, though he was sometimes stern. But Angus believed his master looked down on him. So now he could only vent his rage on his subordinates.

“Your Majesty, it’s not that we haven’t tried. We’ve used thermal detectors to scan most of the caves, but there are no signs of life anywhere. We truly cannot find them.” Even after so many massacres, Fox was still alive and stubbornly so. Of course, his life was a miserable one. He had once been considered a middle-to-upper-ranking figure, but now he ranked only slightly above the common people, and the Hidden Dragons could kill him whenever they pleased.

“Most of them? Why not all of them!” Angus snapped.

“Your Majesty, the caverns beneath the ocean are far more numerous than we imagined. Day and night, our searches have only covered seventy percent of them. The rest are already very small, and according to the experts, the remaining areas are not large either,” Fox said cautiously.

“Then tell me where they could have gone!” Angus shouted.

“Your Majesty, please forgive this servant’s incompetence. I guarantee we will intensify the search and definitely find Ye Feng and the others,” Fox said, kneeling on the ground and trembling with his head bowed. In truth, despair had already begun to gnaw at him. He no longer thought there was any hope. Three months had passed; if they could have been found, they would have been found already. Now he only hoped to survive a few more days.

“Get out!” Angus roared.

Fox was as though granted amnesty. He scrambled and stumbled his way out in a panic. He did not want to stay another second. It was far too easy to lose his life here.

After Fox fled, the room was filled with the sounds of objects being smashed. Angus had never felt so stifled in his life, and once again it was all because of Ye Feng.

While Angus raged, Long Xiaotian and his wife had already quietly arrived on Earth and begun to assess the situation.

The End of Chapter