After Xue Kai's affairs were settled, he was leaving Donghai for the capital the next day. He first went to the pharmaceutical factory to check on the production of the new drug and told Director Huang to keep it strictly confidential before it was launched.
After arranging matters at the factory, he went to Xinglin Caotang in the afternoon. On the way, Long Xiao called Zhang Eryong and asked him to meet him at Xinglin Caotang.
He waited for Zhang Eryong at Xinglin Caotang and introduced him to Mi Tianfu and the others, explaining that Zhang Eryong had a background in underground boxing and was skilled in martial arts, and would be responsible for security there from then on.
He helped Mi Tianfu and Mingyue treat patients for the afternoon and familiarized Zhang Eryong with Xinglin Caotang.
As Long Xiao was about to leave, Luo Tianshui, who lived in the backyard, found him and told him that after careful consideration, he wanted to follow Long Xiao from then on.
Long Xiao was in need of help, and Luo Tianshui was powerful, so he readily agreed.
Long Xiao told Luo Tianshui that he would be going to the capital with Luan Jiping the next day to handle some business and asked him to wait at Xinglin Caotang for his return.
Luo Tianshui said, "Brother Long, I'll go with you. I'll be by your side from now on to protect you."
Having a subordinate who could follow him at any time was naturally a good thing. So, before it got dark, Long Xiao took Luo Tianshui to a mall to buy a few sets of clothes, a mobile phone, and some other necessities for their trip.
Long Xiao notified Luan Jiping in the evening that Luo Tianshui would be accompanying them and asked her to book plane tickets as soon as possible.
Early the next morning, Mi Tianfu drove Long Xiao and Luo Tianshui to the airport, where Luan Jiping was already waiting at the entrance.
Seeing them, Luan Jiping handed them their tickets and said, "The plane takes off in an hour, let's go in."
As the three entered the airport, Long Xiao felt as if someone was watching them.
Luo Tianshui whispered, "Brother Long, two young people are staring at us."
Long Xiao was surprised. He had only sensed someone watching him by intuition and didn't even know who it was. To his astonishment, Luo Tianshui knew it was two young people.
Following the direction Luo Tianshui indicated, he saw two young men paying attention to the three of them. These two young men were dressed ordinarily but had a strong presence, clearly indicating they were martial artists.
Long Xiao had offended many people recently, and he couldn't immediately determine who had sent these two.
"Let them follow. Let's see what they want to do," Long Xiao said in a low voice.
Boarding the plane went smoothly. The three of them had adjacent seats. Once seated, Long Xiao closed his eyes to rest and ponder the knowledge from the "Dragon Treasury."
The plane took off smoothly. Long Xiao kept his eyes closed and didn't pay attention to his surroundings, completely trusting Luo Tianshui.
As the plane flew steadily through the air, Long Xiao suddenly felt a change in the surrounding energies.
When Long Xiao opened his eyes, he saw a handsome man in a suit walking towards their seats. In the aisle, the man brushed past a flight attendant, who seemed not to see him.
"Tianshui, a strange man is coming over. Did you notice?" Long Xiao asked in a low voice.
Luo Tianshui saw the man in the aisle and his expression suddenly changed. He said, "Brother Long, there's a master of mystic arts on the plane. This person isn't real."
Long Xiao looked closely and realized Luo Tianshui was right. The approaching figure was indeed not real, but a paper effigy.
Behind the paper effigy, a red energy flowed directly to a seat by the door. The person sitting in that seat was one of the two young men who had been watching them at the airport.
The principle behind this mystic art was simple, but its execution required strong mental control and control over energy, making it very difficult.
Long Xiao pretended not to notice the paper effigy and closed his eyes again.
This time, he began to focus on the flow of external energy. He could clearly see the energy brought by the paper effigy's movement and the energy extending from behind it.
The paper effigy stopped in front of Luan Jiping and looked around. Most of the surrounding passengers had their eyes closed, resting. Even those who were awake were preoccupied, paying no attention to the paper effigy.
The paper effigy suddenly took out a dagger and lunged towards Luan Jiping's chest.
Long Xiao's seat was next to Luan Jiping. He reached out and blocked the dagger with his hand.
The dagger struck Long Xiao's right hand, and a stream of energy entered his body. If this paper dagger had hit Luan Jiping, this energy would have pierced her heart directly.
The energy rushed towards Long Xiao's heart. A stream of energy naturally rose from Long Xiao's dantian, blocking and enveloping the energy that had entered his body.
With a thought, Long Xiao directed the two streams of energy to flow out along his arm.
Long Xiao stood up and tore the paper effigy to shreds. He controlled the red energy of the paper effigy to retreat rapidly, and the two streams of energy from his body immediately followed.
With a soft thud, the young man sitting by the door was hit by the energy Long Xiao had unleashed and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Noticing the situation, the flight attendant rushed over and asked, "Sir, are you feeling unwell? Do you need a doctor?"
The young man covered his mouth, shook his head, and waved the flight attendant away with his other hand, signaling her to leave immediately.
After the flight attendant left, the young man took out a tissue, spat blood into it, wiped his mouth clean, and carefully put the tissue away.
The young man looked at Long Xiao with a venomous gaze. Long Xiao held up the shredded paper effigy and made a warning gesture.
Luan Jiping, who had been sleeping with her eyes closed, was startled awake by Long Xiao. She saw a wad of paper in his hand and asked, "What's wrong, little brother?"
Long Xiao smiled, shook his head, and said, "It's nothing. Sleep a bit more if you want. I'll wake you when we arrive."
Luo Tianshui watched the entire process of Long Xiao tearing apart the paper effigy and counterattacking. What surprised him was that Long Xiao had effortlessly resolved such a difficult paper effigy technique with just one hand.
Luo Tianshui dared not intervene. He had been evading pursuers from the Luo family. If he had revealed Luo family mystic arts by intervening, he would have to flee again if discovered.
"Tianshui, do you understand mystic arts?" Long Xiao asked.
Luo Tianshui nodded and said, "I learned some before."
"Who are these two people? Can you identify them based on their mystic arts?"
Luo Tianshui thought for a moment and said, "There are nine schools of mystic arts in China. Five of them have long since declined. The ones commonly encountered are from the Luo, Wu, Han, and Zhang families."
Having said that, Luo Tianshui glanced at the two young men sitting by the door. They both had their eyes closed, meditating, and made no further moves.
"Their techniques are not from the Luo family. Looking at them, they are not from the northeast, and definitely not from the Zhang family."
"So, they are either from the Wu family or the Han family?" Long Xiao asked.
Luo Tianshui nodded and said, "Yes, they are very likely from one of these two families. Judging by their techniques, they strongly resemble those of the Han family."
Long Xiao glanced at Luan Jiping. Seeing that she seemed to be asleep, he didn't disturb her.