Generation Z Mainland

Chapter 8: Secret Castle (2)

Outside the castle, Zuo Qihan and Ling Zhaoxue pushed open the door and saw several men sitting in a small pavilion not far away, arguing with each other. They seemed to be fighting during the argument.

Ling Zhaoxue pulled Zuo Qihan and trotted to a nearby large rock, squatted down, and whispered, "It's my brother and them."

Zuo Qihan whispered back, "What are your brother and the others arguing about?"

Ling Zhaoxue made a silencing gesture and whispered, "Just listen and you'll know."

Yu Yuhan propped his hands on the stone table, looking down at Zhang Zeyu who was sitting opposite him. "Now that they've come to this castle, this is the perfect time to catch them! We can also test their relationship. Zhang Zeyu! What are you waiting for?"

Zhang Zeyu smiled and said, "No rush, let's observe for a while."

Zuo Qihan was stunned and looked at Ling Zhaoxue: "Test? What are your brother and the others testing?"

Ling Zhaoxue spread out her hands: "How would I know? They often do mysterious things and don't want me to get involved at all."

Yao Yuchen turned to look at him: "Observe what? Observe Zhang Hanrui? To see if he meets the criteria of your brother-in-law?"

Zhang Zeyu coughed dryly twice. "How is that possible? Don't forget, Xue'er is one of the five elements. Zuo Qihan should have sensed it. I was thinking, since Zhang Hanrui and Zuo Qihan have conflicting powers, why not tie them together? That way, all of Zuo Qihan's powers will go to Zhang Hanrui, and Xue'er won't have to leave."

"Too much!" Zuo Qihan was so angry that he almost made a sound behind the big rock. Ling Zhaoxue quickly pulled Zuo Qihan's arm and shook his head.

Yu Yuhan sneered at Zhang Zeyu and said, "Is it really necessary to go through so much trouble? In my opinion, we should just arrest them all, and then directly..." Before Yu Yuhan finished speaking, Chen Tianrun interrupted, "Hey, don't forget that the little saint's sweetheart is still in there. What if she doesn't help after all of them are arrested?"

Yu Yuhan frowned: "Do we still need her help?"

Zuo Qihan was puzzled: "Little Saint? Siyin?"

Ling Zhaoxue looked at him: "Siyin? Are you talking about that Miao person?"

Zuo Qihan thought for a moment and asked, "Is Siyin related to them as well?"

Ling Zhaoxue patted Zuo Qihan's shoulder and said, "Oh, by the way, what are we doing here? I don't think it's to listen to them quarreling, right?"

Zuo Qihan suddenly remembered something: "Oh, yes, we were talking about the Ice Crystal Tree. We ran out when we heard the loud noise."

Ling Zhaoxue nodded: "Well, let's go, they are about to come out."

The two of them bent down and carefully slipped towards the castle while the people in the pavilion were not paying attention. At this moment, the four people in the pavilion quarreled and left unhappily, and walked out of the pavilion.

Zhang Zeyu turned around and saw Ling Zhaoxue and Zuo Qihan sneaking towards the castle. He frowned, "Why is Xue'er with Zuo Qihan? Could it be that Zuo Qihan discovered Xue'er's identity as one of the five elements? No way!" Thinking of this, he suddenly launched a move at Zuo Qihan. With a "bang", a force hit Zuo Qihan, and he fell directly to the ground. Ling Zhaoxue was terrified and hurried over to help him: "Zuo Qihan! Are you okay?"

After Ling Zhaoxue helped Zuo Qihan up, she saw that he was not seriously injured and looked around: "Who! Come out!"

"Xue'er!" Zhang Zeyu appeared in front of Ling Zhaoxue and Zuo Qihan. "Where are you two going?"

Ling Zhaoxue glanced at Zhang Zeyu without answering. He just frowned and asked, "Brother, was it you who beat Zuo Qihan?"

Zhang Zeyu turned his head and sneered: "So what?"

Ling Zhaoxue suddenly yelled, "Brother! How could you do this? You know, the Holy Fire in his body has just awakened, and his body can't be controlled well yet. You actually hit him like this! He will get hurt!"

Zhang Zeyu looked seriously at Ling Zhaoxue holding Zuo Qihan's hand: "Xue'er, I'm doing this for your own good."

"Yes, it's for my own good, but that's not an excuse for you to attack him! You've always taken care of me since I was little, and I'm very grateful. But, I'm grown up now, and I have to do what I have to do."

Ling Zhaoxue gently released the hand that was supporting Zuo Qihan, and she looked at Zhang Zeyu with a firm look.

Zhang Zeyu was slightly stunned: "Xue'er, what did you say? What are you going to do?"

Ling Zhaoxue curled the corners of his lips slightly and said with a smile: "Brother, you should know that I actually have my mission. That is what I must do. No matter how you try to stop me, I will do it!"

Zuo Qihan slowly stood up and asked doubtfully, "Ling Zhaoxue, what did you say? What mission?"

Ling Zhaoxue glanced back at him and said, "Just like you have to accomplish things as the Holy Spirit Flame, I also have things I must do."

Zuo Qihan looked at Ling Zhaoxue in disbelief, only to hear her say righteously, "Because of me, I am one of the five elements that maintain peace and stability in this other world!"

Zhang Zeyu panicked: "Xue'er, don't say that! The ice magic you learned from me since you were a child, how could it be related to the five elements!"

Ling Zhaoxue raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Brother, you think you could hide it from me when I was little, and you can also hide it from me now? I actually knew it a long time ago. I am one of the five elements, the water element, but you always made me practice ice-type abilities. I asked someone and found out that you sealed the water energy in my body. If I hadn't met Zuo Qihan and the others today, my water energy would have no way of being unsealed!"

"Shut up! Stop talking nonsense!" Zhang Zeyu was furious and cast a spell to attack Ling Zhaoxue again. Seeing this, Zuo Qihan quickly pulled her aside, but the force still knocked them both to the ground.

At this moment, the gate of the castle opened and a group of young men rushed out. Fu Ziming rushed to the front and helped Zuo Qihan, who had fallen to the ground, up: "Zuo Qihan! Are you okay?"

Si Yin, who had just returned from the nearby jungle, ran over and helped Ling Zhaoxue up, yelling at Zhang Zeyu, "Zhang Zeyu! You're going too far! She's your sister!"

Zhang Zeyu sneered: "Too much? My sister is disobedient, I'm just teaching her a lesson."

Zuo Qihan slowly lowered his hand from covering his heart, a little blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. Zhang Hanrui frantically wanted to come over to check on him, but he took two steps in the direction of Zhang Zeyu, walked in front of Ling Zhaoxue and Siyin, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and said with the same cold disdain: "Huh? Lessons? Is it really just a lesson? If Zhaoxue is really one of the five elements, then our mission to maintain world peace and stability cannot be stopped by anyone or anything, senior!"

Zhang Hanrui looked at Zuo Qihan's figure and couldn't help but frowned.

Zhang Zeyu stared at Zuo Qihan and said, "This is a matter between me and my sister, you don't need to meddle in it!" As he said that, he cast a spell to attack Zuo Qihan again. Zuo Qihan took two steps back and knelt on the ground, with blood spurting out from the corner of his mouth again.

"stop!"

Suddenly, Zhang Guiyuan roared in the crowd and put his hands on both sides, which caused a violent lightning and thunder. Wei Zichen was so scared that he leaned towards Yang Hanbo. Yang Hanbo hugged him to comfort him. Zhi Enhan was so scared that she hugged Zhang Hanrui.

Zhang Hanrui hugged Zhi Enhan with one hand and said in shock: "Oh my God! Zhang Guiyuan!"

Yu Junxi ran over and helped Zuo Qihan to stand up slowly. Looking at the light emanating from Zhang Guiyuan's body, Zuo Qihan said calmly: "He... has also awakened..."

Everyone looked at Zhang Guiyuan in disbelief.

Zhang Guiyuan raised his left hand, and a ball of lightning appeared. He said indifferently, "Stop! Don't go too far!"

Zhang Zeyu raised his eyebrows, folded his hands and looked at him: "Yo~"

"Zuo Qihan was already seriously injured by you! What else do you want?" Zhang Guiyuan almost shouted angrily.

Ling Zhaoxue slowly stood up in Siyin's arms, pushed Siyin away, trotted over to Zhang Zeyu and said, "Brother! This is not like the brother I know! My brother would never do this!"

Zhang Zeyu curled his lips slightly, glanced at Ling Zhaoxue, and pushed her away: "Xue'er, get out of the way! I'm telling you, I don't want anything to happen. This is because he hasn't learned to control his superpowers, which is causing the backlash. If we don't take action, the consequences will only be more serious!"

Ling Zhaoxue stepped forward again and grabbed Zhang Zeyu's arm: "Impossible, brother, if that's the case, then I've made up my mind. I'm going to go with Zuo Qihan and the others. You can't keep me by your side forever. You said I'm also one of the five elements, and I have things I must do. I want to go with Zuo Qihan and find other elements! If you continue to stop me, then I'll pretend that you don't exist as my brother!"

"Xue'er! You..." Zhang Zeyu was about to say something, but stopped himself when he heard Yu Yuhan, Chen Tianrun, and Yao Yuchen clapping their hands and walking out from the other side: "Oh~ What a wonderful show!"

Zhang Zeyu watched Ling Zhaoxue run towards Zuo Qihan. She said to him gently, "Zuo Qihan, let me tell you, the Ice Crystal Tree is on the southernmost cliff. Go quickly. We'll be waiting for you here. Don't worry, my brother won't do anything to us while I'm here!"

Zuo Qihan looked at the girl's determined gaze, then looked at Zhang Guiyuan: "But, Guiyuan..."

The electric ball in Zhang Guiyuan's hand was absorbing the energy of the surrounding lightning, getting bigger and bigger, and was about to be released. Zuo Qihan widened his eyes and wanted to rush forward to stop it, but suddenly he felt his arms being tightly hugged by someone. It was Ling Zhaoxue and Zhang Hanrui.

The young man screamed heartbreakingly: "Zuo Qihan, you were just injured! Don't go!"

The girl held Zuo Qihan with one hand, and used the other hand to exert a burst of energy, shouting: "Ice condense!" At the same time, the electric ball in Zhang Guiyuan's hand stopped absorbing lightning, condensed into an ice ball, and was hit far away by Ling Zhaoxue. But the next second, Zhang Guiyuan was hit by a lightning bolt on the arm, and fell to his knees with a bang, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth. He covered his chest and gasped heavily.

Zuo Qihan broke free from Ling Zhaoxue and Zhang Hanrui, stumbling all the way to Zhang Guiyuan: "Guiyuan! Are you okay?"

Zhang Guiyuan looked at his scarred face and coughed, "Ahem, I'm fine."

Then he smiled and said, "I feel like I understand what it felt like when you were bitten by the fire dragon in the dark forest."

Zuo Qihan frowned and said seriously, "Don't joke around at this time!"

Zhang Guiyuan chuckled and then fainted.

Ling Zhaoxue walked over and said to Zuo Qihan, "Zuo Qihan, you should hurry up and find the Ice Crystal Tree. It not only eliminates power repulsion but also has healing properties. It's not far from here. Here's the map. Just follow this path and you'll be there. Go quickly! I'm here for Zhang Guiyuan and everyone else."

Haohao also flew over and said, "You go quickly, I'll come and see how Brother Zhang Guiyuan is doing." As he said that, he called Yu Junxi to come over and help help Zhang Guiyuan into the castle. Yu Junxi, Wang Junxi and Wang Hao walked over and took Zhang Guiyuan and followed Haohao into the castle.

Zuo Qihan watched Zhang Guiyuan being brought into the room, and everyone followed him into the hall to calm his complicated emotions.

Ling Zhaoxue looked at Zuo Qihan and asked, "What are you thinking about? Did you hear what I just said to you? Why don't you go quickly?" As she spoke, she looked at Zhi Enhan who was treating Zuo Qihan's injuries, and Zhang Hanrui who looked worried.

After a long while, Ling Zhaoxue saw Zhi Enhan had stabilized Zuo Qihan's injuries, so he said, "Go quickly, go find the Ice Crystal Tree."

Zhang Hanrui asked doubtfully, "Ice Crystal Tree?"

Ling Zhaoxue explained: "Zuo Qihan needs this thing."

When Zhang Hanrui heard that this was what Zuo Qihan needed, he immediately said, "Then I'll go with you!"

"No!" Zuo Qihan said seriously, "It's too dangerous! I can go by myself!"

Ling Zhaoxue spoke cautiously: "Then let me lead the way for you?"

"No need, you already gave me the map! Thank you very much! I can handle my own affairs!" Zuo Qihan turned around and said with a smile.

"But..." Before he could finish his words, Zuo Qihan had already taken the map, put on a cloak and prepared to set off.

At this moment, Zhang Zeyu suddenly summoned a group of elves: "Come here! Go and capture him for me!"

Ling Zhaoxue quickly opened her arms to protect Zuo Qihan, who was about to leave, as well as Zhang Hanrui and Zhi Enhan: "Let's see who dares to touch them! Don't you listen to me?"

The elves were in a dilemma. Chen Tianrun slipped over to Ling Zhaoxue and whispered, "Why don't you go and help him? He's in such a half-dead state that he probably won't be able to reach the Ice Crystal Tree."

Ling Zhaoxue looked at him suspiciously: "What are you going to do!"

Chen Tianrun said calmly: "If you go, I can help you talk to your brother and spare their lives. After all, you know that if Zhang Zeyu uses a big move, the consequences for this group of people, including you..."

Ling Zhaoxue rolled her eyes at him: "Are you so kind?"

Chen Tianrun shrugged: "You don't believe it? Then let's see if he can come back alive to collect the body for these people!"

Ling Zhaoxue was a little shaken: "Okay, I'll trust you this time, but you have to make sure nothing happens to any of them!"

Chen Tianrun said, "I'll try my best." Ling Zhaoxue glanced at Zhang Hanrui and trotted to catch up with Zuo Qihan.

Zhang Hanrui looked at the two people going away, frowned worriedly, and whispered to Zhi Enhan: "Xiao Zhi, you stay here, I will go with them, I am really worried."

Zhi Enhan looked at him worriedly: "But, brother."

Zhang Hanrui patted Zhi Enhan's head and said, "It's okay, don't worry." He shook the flute in his hand and said, "This flute is our treasure. Besides, didn't Siyin teach me witchcraft? It's okay, I will protect myself."

Zhi Enhan pulled his arm and said, "Let me go with you. The others still need to be treated. I'm really worried about you being alone."

In the end, Zhang Hanrui couldn't persuade Zhi Enhan anymore. If he continued to argue, he would not be able to keep up with the two people, so they quickly jogged to catch up with them.

A little elf flew to Zhang Zeyu and asked, "Master, do you want to chase me?"

Zhang Zeyu frowned: "Chase!"

Suddenly, Chen Tianrun blocked the path of a group of elves: "Alright, that's enough. Zuo Hang and Huang Shuo have a new plan, and they want us to go back together."

Zhang Zeyu impatiently took back the elves: "That's it, I'll let you go this time!" Then he looked at Siyin who was still in a daze at the entrance of the castle: "Little girl, tell the others that they are lucky this time, we will see you next time!"

Siyin didn't know whether she heard it or not. Zhang Zeyu didn't care whether she heard it or not and left with Chen Tianrun. Yu Yuhan looked at Siyin and chuckled: "Girl, aren't you going to take care of your sweetheart?"

Siyin said nothing and turned back to the castle.

Yu Yuhan was ignored and bit his lip in anger. He clenched his fist and just as he raised it, Yao Yuchen slapped it down: "Let's go! Brother!"

The two followed Zhang Zeyu and Chen Tianrun out of the castle.

Inside the castle, Siyin pushed open the door and walked in. Guan Junchen stepped forward and asked, "Where are Hanrui and the others?"

Siyin leaned back on the sofa and said slowly, "They went looking for something with Ling Zhaoxue. What tree was it? I didn't quite understand it. They said it had healing powers."

"Ice Crystal Tree."

After carefully examining and treating Zhang Guiyuan's injuries, he came over and explained.

"Oh yes, the Ice Crystal Tree, what other mutually exclusive superpowers can it solve?" Si Yin asked.

He nodded, took out the information about the ice crystal tree and explained it to Siyin. Siyin nodded as if she understood.

Guan Junchen sighed: "Hey, why did you run away without telling us?"

Si Yin raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. Originally, Zuo Qihan was the only one who went there. After Ling Zhaoxue went, Zhang Hanrui and Xiaozhi also followed."

Zhang Yiran heard their discussion and came over. He looked at Siyin and said, "You actually wanted to go with them, right? But you were afraid that you, without superpowers, would cause trouble for them, so you wanted to stay and take care of the others, right?"

Siyin looked at Zhang Yiran in disbelief: "How did you know?"

Zhang Yiran smiled and continued, "You actually care about Zhang Hanrui a lot, right?"

Siyin nodded: "Yes, but that girl seems to like him too." As she said that, she lowered her eyes in disappointment.

Zhang Yiran patted her shoulder and said, "Don't worry, that girl, Ling Zhaoxue, doesn't really have a crush on Zhang Hanrui."

Siyin looked at him puzzledly: "Huh? Why?"

Before Zhang Yiran could answer Siyin's question, he suddenly felt dizzy, and Guan Junchen beside him quickly supported him.

"Zhang Yiran! Are you okay?!"

[To be continued]

(End of this chapter)