The crazed Cloud Knight had regained some of his senses, though his mind was still muddled.
Hearing Huohuo's words, he weakly replied, "I feel... like all my strength has been drained..."
Hearing the Cloud Knight speak, Huohuo asked, "Big brother Cloud Knight, are you alright? Can you answer a few questions? Do you remember what exactly happened to you?"
Hearing Huohuo's question, the Cloud Knight slowly nodded before speaking.
"I vaguely remember some things... let me think...
"...Today, we received a report saying that some abominations had appeared around the Alchemy Commission. The captain sent me to eliminate them.
"But after that... it was like a dream, really strange.
"My weapon... suddenly started talking to me... It guided my martial arts and said this move only looked good, that move wasted strength. It told me to relax and let it... help me wield the blade and kill enemies."
Hearing the Cloud Knight's words, Sushang froze for a moment, then blurted out instinctively, "That sounds just like my mother... no, I mean, this really is related to a heliobus!"
Nero turned and looked at Black Cutter. When he wasn't using sword flight, the sword would either float beside him or go wandering around on its own.
"Sounds like one of your relatives. If I remember correctly, the weapons you brought to life also have the ability to control their users, right?"
Black Cutter let out a series of sword cries.
"Of course they do. And controlling the user doesn't even require them to relax their minds. It's something they can do casually.
"But Nero, this has nothing to do with me. Not to mention I'm following you now and wouldn't dare cause trouble, the methods this guy used are way too lousy. I'd be embarrassed if anyone thought we were related."
"Thinking about it makes me angry. That red-haired street bum couldn't even be controlled. The strong-willed ones couldn't be broken into."
"And the moment he started shouting the name of Beauty, he couldn't even control the body anymore... Even his spear got so anxious it started cursing..."
Nero blinked. He believed what Black Cutter said.
The others couldn't understand what Black Cutter was saying. They only saw that this extraordinary sword responded to its master with sword cries and found it quite amazing.
Sushang, standing nearby, frowned when she saw this.
Nero's dark sword looked ancient and imposing. It must have been around for many years. She wondered where he had found it.
Her family's ancestral treasure had also been passed down for many years. Could it perhaps be like Black Cutter?
The Cloud Knight lying on the ground continued, "Following its instructions and letting it direct me, I actually felt my martial arts had improved greatly.
"But then it said I was too dull, just rotten wood. It wanted to take another disciple and pass on its skills."
"Oh, sounds like it's a heliobus that likes geniuses," March said.
"In that case, we just need to use one of the Luofu's geniuses as bait. So the most talented person on the entire Luofu is..."
Guinaifen picked up where March left off, then suddenly stopped.
Everyone turned their heads toward Nero at the same time.
"Hm? Oh... no wonder this kid is so strong. Looks like the most talented guy in all of the Luofu has been right beside us..." Cirrus looked at everyone's reactions and seemed to understand why Huiyan had lost so miserably.
Seeing everyone's reactions, the muddle-headed Cloud Knight hurriedly said, "You... listen to the rest first.
"Only after that thing finished speaking did I notice that somehow a child carrying a sword had appeared beside me and was staring at me."
Sushang blinked.
"There are plenty of children walking around freely on the Luofu, but children carrying swords... there are only Nero and Yanqing.
"And Nero has been with us the whole time, and he mostly flies with his sword anyway, so he doesn't really count as carrying one... which means..."
"If our guess is right..." Guinaifen looked at Sushang.
But before the two could say their conclusion, the Cloud Knight gave the answer.
"That's when I realized the child was General Jing Yuan's student, little brother Yanqing."
"As expected... sigh... I'd rather have guessed wrong." Sushang sighed. "But there doesn't seem to be any other answer."
"When I heard my sword say that, I was filled with dissatisfaction. Somehow, I actually... actually attacked little brother Yanqing." The Cloud Knight rambled on with guilt and shame.
Nero looked down at him and said bluntly without sparing his feelings, "I'm guessing you didn't even see Yanqing move before you hit the ground."
The Cloud Knight froze, then laughed awkwardly.
"Nero is right. I'm no match for little brother Yanqing."
"After that, I saw something extremely strange. It was as if little brother Yanqing was talking to the sword in his hand. Without even turning back, he left."
"It was just like Nero talking to Black Cutter earlier, except that sword didn't seem to answer with sword cries."
"As for me... after that, the weapon in my hand never spoke again."
"This is bad!" Sushang cried out when she heard that.
Nero, however, didn't think much of it.
"It's alright, not that bad. Knowing Yanqing's personality, I think he'll challenge the heliobus and fight it.
"Besides, Black Cutter just said that heliobus copied him, which made him very unhappy, so he wants to teach that guy a lesson. Let's go."
Nero really wasn't worried. Yanqing's personality could be very stubborn at times, so he was confident that Yanqing would challenge the heliobus instead.
Besides, Yanqing had trained under him. Even though he ended every day exhausted like a corpse, Nero had never seen him slack off.
With such strong willpower, Nero found it hard to believe that a heliobus could casually take control of him.
In short, after getting the information, everyone bid farewell to the two Cloud Knights and went after Yanqing.
After walking for a while, the ghost-hunting squad suddenly spotted a frost-blue flying sword. It hummed through the air like a swallow that had lost its direction.
After seeing the ghost-hunting squad, the sword seemed to understand why they had come. It quickly flew over and circled around them.
"What kind of new mechanical bird is this?" Stelle asked.
Sushang explained from the side, "I heard that little brother Yanqing's weapons are famous creations forged by the Artisanship Commission, and they can sense each other.
"When the master advances, retreats, or dodges, the treasured sword moves as though it has a spirit of its own and never leaves his side."
Nero jumped up and grabbed the flying sword. He casually spun it in his hand and found it light as a feather.
"From a mystical point of view, the owner has encountered danger, and the sword spirit, or its self-awareness, has come to seek help."
"From a more scientific perspective, Yanqing has been affected by the heliobus. His consciousness has been obstructed, and his brainwaves are somewhat chaotic."
"The airborne mechanism inside detected the malfunction and activated the emergency assistance system, so it came to us for help."
"Airborne mechanism... I think I heard Yanqing mention it before," March said.
"Back when we first came to the Xianzhou, that kid said his was scientific sword flight, while Nero's was the ancient method."