Five to ten minutes before Elder Yang met with Tang Li Xue's perfect copy...
Just right after Instructor Mei Lan grabbed the real Tang Li Xue's hand in anger and dragging her away from the place where her perfect copy was currently fighting against the elite guards of the Little Xian with the a.s.sist of Ye Zhen.
Instructor Mei Lan kept dragging Tang Li Xue away until they entered the dark alley while Bing Yi and Hei Yinghao silently followed them from behind.
After walking a while, that dark alley actually brought all of them to the other main street of Tang Feng City.
Instructor Mei Lan finally released Tang Li Xue's hand after they went quite far from the scene of the battle.
Instructor Mei Lan glared angrily at Tang Li Xue without saying anything, but it only made Tang Li Xue felt more scared to Instructor Mei Lan.
Tang Li Xue lowered her head in guilt and stuttered apologetically to Instructor Mei Lan: "Instructor Lan… I… I am really sorry… I understand that I am wrong, but… that pregnant woman and her little child are really pitiful... I just… I just cannot bear to see them..."
Without waiting for Tang Li Xue to finish her words, Instructor Mei Lan swiftly stretched her hand and easily grabbed Tang Li Xue's left fox ear under her black hood, then Instructor Mei Lan forcefully pulled it upward in aggravation!
"AAAHHHH~!!! Pain! Pain! Instructor Lan, I know that I am wrong! Please forgive me!" Tang Li Xue shouted in pain while kept apologizing to Instructor Mei Lan.
But Instructor Mei Lan still did not release Tang Li Xue's left fox ear and even scold her harshly: "Do you really understand what are you doing?! Just from her extremely luxurious dress anyone with a proper brain could tell that she must be from the royal family! Do not mention to offend someone from the highest echelon like her, we must not even catch the attention of anyone from the low or mid echelon like the guard's captain, rich merchant, and so on!"
"Little Xue! What you are doing just now, not only can potentially make us fail this mission, but we can also become the wanted criminal by the entire Feng Empire!"
"You already know that Feng Empire is the biggest empire in Lightwind Continent, right?! If we became their wanted criminal, they would surely put a high bounty on our head, then we would get chased around by many human cultivators!"
"If that happens, we will certainly face a lot of difficulties and dangers to complete any mission in Lightwind Continent in the future!"
"In the worst case, your deed will force our team to move away from Lightwind Continent to the other continent for a few hundred years until the case got forgotten by the time."
Instructor Mei Lan kept mentioning the dire consequence of Tang Li Xue's deed one by one without any mercy.
In a situation like this where Tang Li Xue got scolded too harshly by Instructor Mei Lan, Hei Yinghao would usually force himself to say something to lighten Tang Li Xue's punishment.
"But… Instructor Lan, the situation is not that bad, right? Little Xue is not an idiot, and I bet she knows the consequence of her action really well. That is why she only used her clone to do it rather than jumping out herself to save that pregnant woman." Hei Yinghao said to back Tang Li Xue up.
"That is right… There are so many people wearing a black cloak with a hood like us in this Tang Feng City. I am really sure that no one will think that we have any connection with Little Xue's clone at all. We are not even there to see what she is doing right now." Bing Yi also said some words to help Tang Li Xue.
Instructor Mei Lan shook her head in disappointment while loosened her grip on Tang Li Xue's left fox ear to let her go and said: "All of you still do not understand it. Sometimes, even a very tiny mistake is more than enough to bring disaster to all the foxes in the team. At that time, it would be too late for all of you to blame anyone or feel any regret."
Tang Li Xue, Hei Yinghao, and Bing Yi fell silent, and they did not dare to say anything anymore to refute Instructor Mei Lan's words.
"Remember…" Just when Instructor Mei Lan wanted to say her piece of advice to all her students…
Tang Li Xue suddenly let out a sound of surprise: "Eh? AH~!"
Instructor Mei Lan frowned deeply and asked Tang Li Xue with a dire skeptical tone: "What? Why do you look so surprised? Don't tell me your clone is doing something even more severe like accidentally killing that princess of Feng Empire?!"
Tang Li Xue widened her eyes and said with rea.s.sured words: "Of course not! Do not worry, Instructor Lan. I will never dare to do anything suicidal like that! It is just that… my perfect copy accidentally meets with Elder Yang from Immortal Sword Sect."
"Elder Yang from Immortal Sword Sect? It seems he was sent here by Immortal Sword Sect to investigate the serial murder too just like us. Someone important like him will never appear alone in Tang Feng City to find the murderer. Some expert cultivators at Core Formation Stage or even Nascent Soul Stage might protect him from behind. It looks like our mission is harder than I have predicted before…" Instructor Mei Lan frowned and murmured her guess.
"This bast*rd… how dare he call me ugly?!" Tang Li Xue's expression turned dark as she gnashed her teeth and whispered softly to herself in annoyance.
"Eh? What did you say? Who called you ugly?" Instructor Mei Lan heard it perfectly even though Tang Li Xue only whispered it softly, but she did not quite understand the situation so she asked Tang Li Xue to ascertain it.
"Ah? Uhhh… No, I mean… d.a.m.n it! This bast*rd! He even brought up how I previously use his jade insignia and claim to be his envoy right now?! If I did not stop him in time, he even wants to bring up about the destruction of Lin Family in front of my face!" Tang Li Xue said as she gritted her teeth in anger.
Instructor Mei Lan pondered carefully for a while and said to Tang Li Xue: "Try to ask what he wants from you."
"Uh… Alright, wait a minute...….. Okay, he already said it…" Tang Li Xue instantly replied with a weird expression.
"Oh? What he said to you?" Instructor Mei Lan raised her eyebrow and asked again.
Even Bing Yi and Hei Yinghao stared at Tang Li Xue with eyes filled with curiosity.
"Err… He wants me to accompany him to drink tea and sight-seeing around Tang Feng City for a few days. He also said I can entertain him in these few days to make him forget his boredom. What should I do, Instructor Lan? Should I really accept his offer or not?" Tang Li Xue replied with a reluctant tone.
Instructor Mei Lan: "….."
Bing Yi: "….."
Hei Yinghao: "….."
All of them fell speechless for a few moments, and their expressions also turned weird.
"Accept it then! Why not?! We can even probably get some crucial information about the serial murder from their side if your clone stays with them. Besides, you will not face any danger even if something untoward happens since it is only your clone." Instructor Mei Lan gave her consent to Tang Li Xue.
"Okay!" Tang Li Xue nodded and let her perfect copy agreed on Elder Yang's request.
"How is it?" Instructor Mei Lan asked again with a curious tone and serious expression.
"No problem… He seems quite happy with it." Tang Li Xue replied.
Instructor Mei Lan, Bing Yi, and Hei Yinghao sighed in relief after they heard Tang Li Xue's reply.
"Good job! Not bad, Little Xue. Although you are not quite bright, but your luck is really strong as always. However, you should always remember to never act so rashly like before! When you are carrying out the mission outside of Myriad Foxes Academy, you responsible for not only your own life but also for the lives of your entire team." Instructor Mei Lan praised Tang Li Xue a bit, but she also did not forget to remind Tang Li Xue once more.
Tang Li Xue nodded with a solemn expression to Instructor Mei Lan, signified that she understood it clearly.
"All right! Then your next task is to use your clone to secretly find some clues or information about serial murder from their side. Be really careful and do not let anyone there know what you are doing! I, Bingbing, and Silly Fox will look around Tang Feng City to find any information from the local people here." Instructor Mei Lan started handing out the task to all of them.
Tang Li Xue, Bing Yi, and Hei Yinghao listened carefully to Instructor Mei Lan's instruction.
This was their first Grade mission after all, so the three of them were actually quite nervous right now.
Only the foxes with the white jade badges like Instructor Mei Lan could take the Grade mission from Mission Hall, while the three of them only have silver badges right now.
Honestly, this emergency Grade mission was outcla.s.sed three of them by three levels, so they felt a bit inferior and afraid of making a mistake that will ruin this mission.
Instructor Mei Lan looked at the tense expression of her students and immediately knew that the three of them were quite nervous right now.
Usually, the tense people… or rather… the tense foxes like them tended to make a fatal mistake in the crucial situation later if they continued being like this.
Instructor Mei Lan smiled at her students to calm their nerves and said: "But first, let's find the luxurious inn for us to stay for a few days. We just completed a B-Grade mission, so all of you must be really tired right now. We will take a bath and eat the local delicacies in this Tang Feng City as our dinner, then sleep tight for tonight. We will talk about what we are going to do tomorrow."
Tang Li Xue, Bing Yi, and Hei Yinghao felt relief after they heard Instructor Mei Lan's words this time. The three of them started to chat happily with each other while followed Instructor Mei Lan from behind.
"Uh… Instructor Lan, Elder Yang's group will come from the opposite direction from us in a few moments. Should we avoid or hide from them?" Tang Li Xue told Instructor Mei Lan and asked.
Instructor Mei Lan could already see Elder Yang's group from afar, and she replied to Tang Li Xue: "It will make us looks more suspicious if we run or hide from them right now. Let's just follow the others and bow our back towards them!"