Chapter 287: Putting Oneself in Danger

　　As a saying goes, “God’s plans supersede our own.” Things that one expects may not happen while unexpected things will happen instead.

　　For the following days, Lu Mingshu and Xie Zhanghui went back and forth around this water region. Others were fearful of the water dragon tornado while they feared they wouldn’t meet one.

　　“Miss Lu, are you sure about this?” Xie Zhanghui asked after the long wait.

　　“I hope I’m wrong too.” Lu Mingshu didn’t even look up, she just continued to stare at the book of sword skills.

　　Xie Zhanghui sighed in response. If his young master was just lost, then with his ability, he would surely be safe. They would only need to search for him. But if what Lu Mingshu said was right, then the trouble was huge.

　　Whoever dared to kidnap Xie Lianzhen would be at least in the Spirit Realm, and not an ordinary one.

　　Suddenly, the boat jolted up. Xie Zhanghui looked down to check. “That’s weird, there’s no water beast here!”

　　Hearing him, Lu Mingshu immediately kept her book and stood up abruptly.

　　Her actions shocked Xie Zhanghui. “What are you doing, Miss Lu?”

　　“Is it going to rain soon?” Lu Mingshu pointed to the sky.

　　Xie Zhanghui looked up. The sky was already covered with surging black clouds, and he could see lightning between the clouds.

　　“Beiming’s weather is really unpredictable,” he mumbled. The sun was still shining brightly just a second ago!

　　Lu Mingshu didn’t respond. Her eyes were fixed to the clouds as if she was waiting for something.

　　She looked so serious that Xie Zhanghui felt chills running down his spine. “Is there something wrong, Miss?”

　　Not long later, they could see a whirlpool starting to form from the clouds, and it slowly landed down to the water.

　　“Water dragon tornado!” Xie Zhanghui shouted.

　　The whirlpool became faster and faster. Along with the black clouds, it sucked up the Ming River’s water in no time.

　　“Hurry, there!” Xie Zhanghui shouted to Lu Mingshu, frantically stirring the boat toward the vortex.

　　“There’s no need to go over,” Lu Mingshu whispered. “It will come to us.”

　　It will come to us? Huh? Xie Zhanghui stared at the tornado, dumbfounded.

　　Very soon, what Xie Zhanghui saw answered his question; the tornado raced toward their direction, stirring up torrential waves along with it. The rowboat jolted up and down due to the torrential waves, making Lu Mingshu and Xie Zhanghui feel nauseated.

　　The dangers that obviously awaited Lu Mingshu and Xie Zhanghui now seemed to be a minor matter to them. All they cared about now was the vortex known as a water dragon tornado.

　　Because of the whirlpool, the water in the Ming River was all swept up into the sky, forming a marvel of water soaring everywhere.

　　It was right there, getting closer.

　　In the blink of an eye, the tornado hanging from the sky was right in front of them.

　　Whoosh! The waves surged to the sky.

　　Creak! Piak! The rowboat under them started breaking into pieces.

　　The gusty wind swept them off their feet. Their clothes and hair danced in the wind, hitting their faces at times and causing them to wince in pain.

　　So Young Master disappeared because of this? Then if I follow up, I will find Young Master?

　　Xie Zhanghui bit his lips and got ready to embrace the tornado. But suddenly, a huge force blocked his way.

　　He looked over in shock to see Lu Mingshu gripping her sword, with light emanating from the sword that nearly blinded his eyes and stopping the tornado that was engulfing him. A sharp sword-light shot forward with mild golden rays of light and struck him.

　　Under the strong wind, Xie Zhanghui didn’t have any time to defend himself. He stood there, dumbfounded. He watched the light strike him, then activated the talisman sewn into his shirt, which protected him from the attack. However, even though he wasn’t hurt, the extremely strong force swept him off his feet and sent him flying.

　　He opened his eyes after he landed in the water and saw Lu Mingshu standing among the wind calmly. The powerful wind caused her hair and clothes to flap violently and water droplets were hitting her face, but Lu Mingshu just stood there as if nothing was happening. She didn’t even try to resist the force sucking her into the vortex.

　　“Report this to Xiahou Shan.”

　　Before he could even register what happened, the vortex had already swallowed Lu Mingshu up.

　　Like a beast that was satisfied with its meal, the vortex moved faster and soon shrunk back to the clouds.

　　The water that was sucked up to the sky fell back down with a loud thump, some of it hitting Xie Lianzhen. The black clouds started to disperse, and in no time, the thunderstorms and torrential waves were all gone, and peace was returned.

　　Xie Zhanghui just floated in the water, blankly staring at where the water dragon tornado was just at a moment ago.

　　After some time, a small boat sped over. The military officer who was in charge of the search was on board.

　　“Guardian Xie! Guardian Xie!” the officer yelled, seeing him in the water. Seeing him staring blankly into space, the officer immediately got the soldiers to fish him up. “Hurry, go get Guardian Xie out.”

　　“Got it.” As the soldier was about to row the boat closer so that he could get him, Xie Lianzhen suddenly jumped out of the water into the boat as if he just woke up from a dream.

　　The military officer heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that Xie Zhanghui was still in good condition. “I’m so glad you’re fine. We hurried over when we saw the water dragon tornado. Eh, where’s Miss Lu?” The officer started to panic again when he realized that Lu Mingshu was nowhere to be seen. “Hurry up and search for Miss Lu!”

　　“No need.” Xie Zhanghui stopped the soldier. “It’s all done here. Send me to Emissary Xiahou.”

　　“Erm….”

　　“Go!”

　　The officer jumped out of his skin and immediately turned to his subordinates. “Back to Green Hills Bank!”

　　They hurried on the journey throughout the night, and the next afternoon, they finally reached Green Hills Bank.

　　Xiahou Shan was temporarily staying here. Since Xie Lianzhen disappeared nearby, she was staying here to search for him.

　　She received Xie Zhanghui’s message, so as soon as Xie Zhanghui arrived, he was brought to her immediately.

　　“What happened? Miss Lu is missing again now?” Xiahou Shan looked at him in annoyance. She could put the matter of Jasper Sun Mountain aside since it was a test from the Grandmaster. However, she was already found, safe and sound, but now she was missing again. Does she think that we are that bored?

　　Xie Zhanghui knew that Xiahou Shan wasn’t pleased about this incident. She held a high position in Zhongzhou, and after Ding Qingqing was demoted, all the power was in her hands since there was no one else. However, Lu Mingshu suddenly went missing, and she had to leave Tianyun City to search for her. The queen said that if she did well, she would be rewarded heavily. However, Xiahou Shan, who had lived there for such a long time, knew very well that it was easy to leave the city but hard to get everything back. The longer this trip took, the harder it would be for her to get her authority back. It might’ve been the queen’s will, but since Lu Mingshu was the cause of it, she couldn’t help but feel anger boil up.

　　On the other hand, Xie Zhanghui wasn’t that annoyed like she thought he would be. “Miss Lu has found the reason for Young Master’s disappearance,” he said.

　　“Oh?” This sentence made Xiahou Shan feel a thousand times better. She pondered for a while and understood the main issue. “You mean that Young Master disappeared the same way she did?”

　　Xie Zhanghui didn’t answer. Instead, he took out a crumpled piece of paper from his sleeves. “These are the notes that she made recently.”

　　Xiahou Shan took it and started examining it carefully. Her eyes lit up when she finished reading.

　　Xie Zhanghui was a little absent-minded at this time. He could remember how Lu Mingshu pushed him away while she herself was sucked into the vortex. Did she already plan to do that, which is why she gave me the paper? The power of nature is unpredictable, who knows where this paper would end up if she took it with her? But she seems to be here only because it’s related to her, not because she cares… or did I misunderstand her? She really does care, that’s why she gambled her life on this…?

　　Xiahou Shan’s voice rang into his head, cutting off his train of thought; “Hurry, prepare the boats!”