We all turned to him and saw a cute couple of soldiers walking arm in arm. It was Xiao Hou and He Yu, dressed in uniform, clearly having just returned from the exam. It was clear from their faces that everything had gone well for them.
"Hello guys, why so glum?" Xiao Hou asked, approaching. "We passed, now we can be considered students of Xi'an Military University."
"Ah, who is this girl?" He Yu asked with doubt in her voice, pointing at Jiaxing Er.
"It's Jiaxing Yun's sister," Mu Bai, who was sitting closest to them, replied indifferently.
"What?" the lovebirds asked in unison, surprised. "How can he have a sister?" They are truly made for each other, as if complementing each other. Seeing their bewildered look, I had to repeat Jiaxing Er's entire story again. It would have been much better for me if they had all been together from the start.
"I see, an amazing story," Xiao Hou remarked honestly, scratching the back of his head.
"Guys, I think I'll leave you again and we'll meet before entering Minchzhu," I said unexpectedly after another hour of conversation. "I need to be alone, and also to arrange things for Jiaxing Er. You understand, you can't abandon a loved one."
"Alright, but can't we help you with something?" Xu Zhao Ting asked me.
"I'm afraid not this time. I'd like to personally oversee Jiaxing Er's development and show her all the joys of a hunter's life," I said, smiling innocently.
"Is she a mage?" Zhou Min asked in surprise, everyone supporting her with a silent glance towards Jiaxing Er.
"Yes, I'm a first-tier, beginner-level poison mage," Jiaxing Er replied, slightly embarrassed.
"It's unusual to awaken dark magic at the beginner level. Your sister is amazing," Mo Fan said thoughtfully.
"In fact, she's as amazing as the one who awakened healing. Am I right, Xu Zhao Ting?" I asked sarcastically.
"In some ways, definitely," he said. "You both have quite extraordinary sisters."
"Alright, we'll go and meet before enrollment," I said, getting up from the table. "Good luck, guys."
"See you soon," Jiaxing Er bowed slightly and followed me. But we hadn't walked half a street when Zhou Min caught up with us.
"Jiaxing Yun, wait, I wanted to ask you something!" she shouted after us. "You can't just leave like that."
"What did you want?" I asked her politely, turning around. "Let's go, I don't mind talking to you either."
"Alright," she said quietly and meekly, following me. "I wanted to ask you when you'll be back to continue my training?"
"I think after enrolling in Minchzhu, I have big plans for the summer. But for now, I need to get you body tempering techniques, as well as figure out sword crafting," I said calmly, with a hint of arrogance in my voice, acting like a teacher.
"Isn't it awkward that I asked in front of your sister?" she clarified, glancing at Jiaxing Er. "I'm sorry, of course, that I didn't pay attention to her."
"It's okay, you can do it in front of her," I said, turning onto another street and taking out several bottles of a healing potion from my spatial bracelet. Although it's weak, it can definitely help with cultivation. "Here, drink it once a week before cultivating, it will speed up your development."
"Thank you. Then, I guess I'll go?" she asked, slightly embarrassed by my unexpected gift.
"Yes, and don't forget about experiments with stars, and also keep records. I'll check them when I arrive," I said, waving goodbye.
"Brother, is she also your student?" Jiaxing Er asked when Zhou Min had gone a safe distance away.
"The first one, but that doesn't mean she's the main one," I replied calmly, turning and walking on.
"Brother doesn't tell his friends about his dark side?" Jiaxing Er asked in a cheerful voice, as if she were indeed my younger sister.
"Friends don't necessarily need to know everything about each other," I said, shrugging. "Otherwise, the sense of trust, which is necessary in friendship, is lost. The less you know, the sounder you sleep, as they say." I said, and then switched to Russian. "We'll leave the city on a night flight to Hong Kong. You'll need to buy tickets, and also new clothes and whatever else you want with the allocated money."
"Oh, really, brother knows his native language? I didn't think someone who has lived in a foreign country since childhood would know the language so well," Jiaxing Er said, genuinely surprised and playing coy. "I understand, brother, but what will he be doing at that time?"
"And that's not necessary knowledge for a younger sister," I said, handing her one of my credit cards, with about a hundred thousand yuan on it for small expenses. "Here, this is for your pocket money."
After that, I went to scout. There was one more important thing to do before leaving, namely to frame the Khabarovsk Keepers. To do this, I needed to study their base, the location of which I learned from secret records. They really watched each other's every move, so they only made my task easier.
The base of these Keepers was more civilized, as it was located in a perfectly habitable house. It would be more accurate to say that they simply rented the entire house. Of course, it was risky to show up there; with a probability of over a hundred percent, they know me by sight, so they would easily recognize me on sight. But even so, external observation was very necessary to make sure that everything written in the information was true.
Taking up a position on the roof of a neighboring house, I began to observe. I did this all day, and although I was starting to feel sleepy, I decided to sleep on the plane. By evening, I had confirmed the truthfulness of all the information I needed. I had already contacted Jiaxing Er and found out when the plane was, so I still had a whole hour to finish everything. Changing clothes and putting on the Asura mask, I headed to this house. Now, most of its residents were outside, and only a few beginner-level mages remained inside.
I infiltrated the house through the roof, then quickly and silently found the leader's room. In it, I left some of the documents I had obtained in that abandoned building. Naturally, copies had already been made. Then I went through the rooms of the co-existing members, carefully hiding all other important things, including the badges of the Vladivostok Keepers. It wasn't much, but if they found them, they could serve as proof of their guilt. I left the house half an hour later, completely unnoticed. It was a complete success.
"Not bad, kid," Asura chuckled when I left the house. "Now all that's left is to destroy the Khabarovsk Keepers' base, and they'll definitely tear each other apart."
"Exactly. After that, they'll clearly have no time for me," I chuckled, taking out Elena's phone and checking the correspondence. I had started it in the afternoon, but they were slow to respond, with many code words for all occasions.
However, thanks to the compliancy of the phone's owner, they weren't a problem for me. Of course, initially she wanted to feed me false information, but I was too persistent and didn't fall for her tricks. She even gave me random words a couple of times, what kind of fool is she? Who was I corresponding with and why? I was communicating with the head of the Guangzhou branch of the Vladivostok Keepers to find out all possible information about their Khabarovsk colleagues.
After another half hour, I was at the airport, preparing for departure, sitting next to Jiaxing Er. She actually didn't buy many things, but she didn't forget the large backpack, although it turned out to be unnecessary. Instead, she bought a lot of books with all the money I gave her. She's truly a terrifying bookworm. I thought about scolding her at first, but then, seeing what kind of books they were, I changed my anger to mercy. Since most of them were about magical theory, artifact crafting, and poisons.
"Brother, why are we heading to Hong Kong?" Jiaxing Er asked me, sitting next to me.
"We have many goals there," I said, pondering the attack on the Khabarovsk Keepers in Guangzhou. "Your training will begin there. Believe me, I will turn your life into hell, from which you will emerge completely renewed and incredibly strong."
"I see, and what about your other student-friend?" she asked with interest, clearly emboldened by my good mood.
"Ah, again, a little sister doesn't need to know," I said sternly. "Better think and decide how you want to fight in the future."
"I want to fight like brother, using daggers for combat!" she said confidently. And why does everyone want to use them? There are so many weapons in the world, but they want daggers!
"Are you sure? Using daggers requires great speed. Without wind magic, it will be very difficult," I replied, wanting to dissuade her, but thinking about it, daggers are not a bad option for her.
"No, this suits me best. Using daggers, I can infuse them with my poison and attack the enemy. One hit - one death," she said confidently, with burning eyes. "If they don't know about the poison, they won't be able to defend against it."
"If it's strong enough, of course," I remarked dryly. "But if so, why not use throwing weapons? Darts would be a good choice."
"If brother allows, I'd like to master both darts and daggers," she said confidently, making a very cute face, behaving like a capricious younger sister. I even thought she liked it. "I don't think I can always use a dart."
"Of course, that's also an option. Every mage should choose their own style. But I'll give you some advice: try to focus on stealth kills, it will help you unlock your full potential," I said, unable to resist such a huge dose of cuteness.
Soon we were flying on the plane. Exhausted from the past two days, I immediately fell asleep as soon as we took off. I woke up just before landing. Jiaxing Er also decided to sleep on the plane and was still asleep. I was drawn to how she slept, lying on my shoulder and hugging me slightly. This made my chest feel both warm and painful at the same time, as it reminded me of how we sometimes fell asleep on park benches with Lin Yun Er.
After landing, having collected our things, we stopped at the airport exit. Jiaxing Er stubbornly pretended that nothing like that had happened on the plane, although she was quite embarrassed when she woke up. However, I didn't care about that. What worried me most now were the Keepers. The lesson with Lin Yun Er showed me that I must carefully set my priorities. And now, my priority was to finish all business with the Keepers.
"Jiaxing Er, brother will have to leave you again. Use the remaining money to rent a hotel. When I'm done, I'll call you," I said. I had given her one of my clean phones during the day.
"Brother, be careful. I know how strong you are, but don't forget that you're just a mid-tier first-level mage," she said with great concern in her voice. Although I hadn't said what I was going to do, it wasn't hard to guess.
"Thank you, I'm going," I said calmly, turning and heading towards Guangzhou.
"Didn't you choose a rather distant place to arrive? Now we'll have to run who knows how far!" Asura grumbled indignantly.
"The further I am from the target, the fewer suspicions will be directed at me," I said calmly. "Besides, after I deal with the Keepers, we'll still need to visit Hong Kong and meet the old man to get the body tempering method for Zhou Min, as well as get another one for Jiaxing Er."