Chapter 1115: Chapter 1114: Flaming Firebird
Just as the Wild Lu lunged at her, the timely arrival of the Flaming Firebird drove it away.
To protect its master, the Flaming Firebird engaged in battle with the Tingzeng, utilizing its skills to defeat the Wild Lu and incinerate it with its flames.
Jiang Cheng began searching for Yanran and Ba Lv as soon as he realized they were missing.
However, the raging snowstorm rendered his efforts ineffective.
After some trouble, he finally found Yanran being protected by the Flaming Firebird, but Ba Lv was not with her.
This made Jiang Cheng uneasy.
Compared to Yanran, he felt even more worried about Ba Lv.
However, now wasn’t the right time for questions. Jiang Cheng noticed that even as Yanran lay in the Flaming Firebird’s embrace, her face looked very pale. He then glanced at a mound of gray ash, not far from them, which resembled a wisp of smoke.
Jiang Cheng knew it wasn’t something Yanran could have created; the faint burnt smell emanating from the ashes indicated that it was left by some creature.
Although the Flaming Firebird continuously shook itself to remove the accumulated snow, a thick layer still covered its body.
Jiang Cheng approached Yanran’s side and asked, "How are you? Are you hurt?" As he spoke, he carefully observed Yanran’s complexion, noting that he had never seen her face so pale, which worried him.
Weakly, Yanran answered him, "Cold." Suddenly, she raised her voice, "Teacher, Ba Lv is missing. I’m not sure when... then she was gone."
With those words, tears flowed from her eyes again.
Jiang Cheng sighed, helping Yanran up. He decided to discuss everything once they returned to the spaceship.
The inside of the spaceship was warm, a stark contrast to the icy world outside.
Despite her frailty, Yanran quickly recovered in the warmth after drinking a cup of hot tea.
"Teacher, Ba Lvluo is missing!" she brought up the topic again. "Let’s hurry to find her."
Her voice choked up again, "In this weather, she, she..." but she couldn’t finish her sentence.
Calm down, let’s talk about what happened." Jiang Cheng saw that Yanran had mostly recovered and quickly tried to comfort her.
"I went out with her to relax, and then we started to play. She ran ahead, and I chased after her, but she hid. When I tried to find her again, she was already gone." As Yanran recounted, her eyes reddened again.
"Teacher, she’s been missing for a long time, something must have happened."
"It’s alright, it’s alright," Jiang Cheng could only console Yanran, "Think about it, Ba Lvluo isn’t someone to be trifled with. Even if someone or some creature attacked her, it couldn’t have taken her down without any commotion."
"Could she have gotten lost in the blizzard and run into some danger?"
Though Jiang Cheng’s words made sense, Yanran was still deeply worried over Ba Lv’s safety.
Ba Lv and Yanran were not only students of the same teacher, but they were also best friends who shared everything with each other.
Though their personalities differed, they shared similar interests, and their backgrounds were nearly identical.
Both were orphans, unloved and uncared for, having endured unspeakably difficult times.
Ba Lv had been lost in the Dark World for some time, whereas Yanran had lived through an equally grueling and perilous period on the Nameless Planet.
Now, finally, they could accompany their teacher from Earth, learning from him and traveling alongside him.
Although their teacher seldom smiled or joked, he truly cared about them.
Through a series of past events, Yanran and Ba Lv realized that while their teacher seemed indifferent to them, he cared deeply for them. Besides academic discussions, he rarely spoke with them voluntarily.
But as soon as anyone provoked them, their teacher would certainly make those individuals regret it.
The experts from Delmar on Erma Planet and the Dalken brothers from Ulda Planet, all of them learned the hard way when they bullied the two girls and provoked their teacher, experiencing his harsh retaliation.
Having a teacher who cared about their safety, especially one as powerful as him, was genuinely lucky for them.
But unexpectedly, just as they thought about the icy, snow-covered planet, Ba Lv suddenly disappeared.
Yanran blamed herself deeply; she regretted having teased her.
Jiang Cheng’s words interrupted her thoughts.
"What did you say, Ba Lv might have gotten lost? Haha, that’s almost impossible." Hearing her say that, Jiang Cheng laughed.
"Ba Lvluo is an assassin, and as she claims, a very skilled one. If such an assassin could get lost so easily, wouldn’t that be laughable?"
Jiang Cheng said to Yanran, "Being able to understand and utilize one’s environment is essential knowledge for an assassin.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t be a qualified assassin, let alone a top-tier one as Ba Lv claims to be," Jiang Cheng asked Yanran, "Isn’t that how she boasts about herself?"
"Oh, teacher, how can you speak of her like that? She’s not boasting; she’s indeed a very skilled assassin, alright?"
Hearing Jiang Cheng’s analysis, Yanran’s mind eased, and she couldn’t help but protest to her teacher upon hearing him speak of Ba Lv that way.
"What should we do now? Just sit in the spaceship and wait for her to return by herself?" Yanran asked.
"For now, we can only wait for the blizzard to pass. From my experience, such storms come fiercely and depart quickly.
Rest well; I’ll keep watch. Once the blizzard stops, we’ll set out immediately."
Watching Yanran lie down, Jiang Cheng turned away, and his smile faded. His brows furrowed.
Though he had just comforted Yanran, the ongoing blizzard and the creature burned to ash by the Flaming Firebird—along with Yanran’s exhausted state—made it clear that while the weather played a part, the creature likely also caused her some disturbance to some extent.
He wondered whether, in such circumstances, Ba Lv could truly remain as safe as he claimed.
Jiang Cheng let out a sigh, sitting by the spaceship’s window, waiting for the Bao Fengxue to stop.
In such harsh weather conditions, even he could do nothing but wait.
Jiang Cheng and the Flaming Firebird had rescued Yanran, but Ba Lv was still missing.
Though Jiang Cheng reassured Yanran that Ba Lv would be unaffected by the weather,
even if there were beasts around, it would be impossible for them to harm Ba Lv.
She was an assassin, and a very skilled one at that.
But alone, Jiang Cheng could not help but worry deeply.
The words he had spoken were only meant to comfort Yanran. In truth, Ba Lvluo could indeed face danger.
Ba Lv, where are you?
While Jiang Cheng and Yanran worried about Ba Lv, she was still inside the cave, searching for a way out.
