"So how do you plan to get in there?" I asked when I saw Bu Fan immediately rush in the direction of the warehouse. "Do you seriously intend to barge in through the front door?"

"How else then?" he snapped at me. I tried not to sigh and roll my eyes.

"For starters, we could sneak around. Find an alternative entrance that those kidnappers aren't guarding, and stealthily infiltrate the warehouse, find your sister, grab her and get out before anyone notices."

"You think I'm just going to leave those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds be after they touched my sister?!" Bu Fan growled.

"Uh…shouldn't your sister's safety be the top priority?" I asked uncertainly. Bu Fan glared at me, on the verge of exploding.

"I don't care! The moment they lay a hand on my sister, they have sealed their own doom! I'm going to destroy their entire sect, kill every single member of their families and erase their existence from this world!"

The f.u.c.k? Why was he sounding like a xianxia protagonist? Only xianxia protagonists would go that far. I understood that there were many edgy readers who loved ruthless main characters because they enjoyed self-inserting themselves into positions of absolute power, but honestly I didn't understand why they reveled in violence and the b.l.o.o.d.y deaths of others. In the end, the protagonist just became the very same thing that he claimed to hate, but then again they would always hand-wave the logic away with "strong eat the weak" and "survival of the fittest." Essentially, as long as you had the power, you could do whatever the f.u.c.k you wanted.

That wasn't how reality worked, kids.

Struggling to keep a lid on my temper, I forced myself to speak calmly. "Focus on saving your sister and getting her out of here. After that, if you want to take revenge, I won't stop you. You can go back to the warehouse and kill all of them by yourself, if you really want to."

"Fine. I'll do that then."

There was no doubt that Bu Fan evidently thought of me as a spineless coward who, as one of the reviewers for this story wrote, "never retaliates" or "never gets revenge on people." Well, screw him. I was kind enough to help him save his sister, and if he continued that att.i.tude, I was going to leave him be. The only reason why I was still a.s.sisting him was because Xin Chun herself was innocent and didn't deserve to go through this ordeal.

Honestly, I wanted to call the police and let them deal with this, but Bu Fan stubbornly insisted that he didn't want to drag them into this. Mostly because he believed that the police were highly incompetent and would more likely f.u.c.k things up than resolve the crisis. Being the main character (or so he believed), he strongly believed that he couldn't afford to rely on anyone except himself. He would have gone at this solo if he had to, but he had been running around like a headless chicken with no clues whatsoever before I ran into him.

Even I couldn't help him directly – I had to approach Zhao Zi Jun and request him for a.s.sistance before we finally tracked down Xin Chun's location. No one man was an island. Strength wasn't everything. Everyone had different skills and talents, and each person had a role to play in society. It wasn't like all those bulls.h.i.+t xiannxia stories that spout the nonsensical "if you're not a martial artist, you're trash" or "if you don't have talent in martial arts, you're trash." Then what about the doctors, merchants, farmers, blacksmiths, and a whole range of support vocations that allowed the martial artists to benefit from their statuses? Treat them like trash, and they would have absolutely no reason to work for you, they might as well leave or find an employer who treats them better. Or resign themselves to death instead of living lives of slavery.

"So, did you find an avenue in?" Bu Fan demanded impatiently, breaking me out of my thoughts. A few seconds ago, I had summoned a flock of Corvus and sent them flying around to reconnoiter the perimeter. Obviously I had yet to see anything, given how less than thirty seconds had pa.s.sed since I had sent my Constellation spirits out.

"Dude, do you not know how summoning and reconnaissance work? Give me more time."

"We don't have time!" Bu Fan yelled. I really felt like kicking that spoilt brat.

"And what does you screaming and shouting like a child achieve other than distracting me from my job and wasting more time?"

That shut him up, thankfully. I spent the rest of the time peacefully looking through the many pairs of eyes that my flock of Corvus set upon the warehouse as they circled, or perched in different positions. Some sat atop an outcrop of a skysc.r.a.per, or balanced precariously upon the railing of a balcony. Others circled here and there, appearing to humans like normal birds soaring lazily in the air. The sentries, if the kidnappers were competent enough to post them, wouldn't be looking out for birds. They would be looking out for humans.

Actually…now that I thought about it…

"We don't even need to sneak in," I muttered. Bu Fan stared at me, astonished.

"What did you say?"

Ignoring him, I knelt down and summon a pack of Lepus, Canis Minor and Ursa Minor. The little Constellation spirits looked up at me, awaiting orders. Pus.h.i.+ng my gla.s.ses up, I smiled at them, relaying my thoughts rather than words. With a nod, the whole horde of them turned and scattered in unison before approaching the warehouse from different angles.

By the way, Lepus was a rabbit or hare-type Constellation spirit. I rarely had the opportunity to summon them because they weren't that strong in combat, but they were small, lightweight and easy to miss because of how harmless they looked. They would be perfect for infiltrating the warehouse. As long as people didn't get suspicious about how there was a random herd of rabbits wandering around the vicinity of a warehouse, anyway.

"Oi!" Bu Fan reached out for me irritably, evidently thinking that I was deliberately ignoring him. I raised a hand.

"Can you be quiet? I'm trying to rescue your sister."

"Huh? So when can we get in there?"

"We don't have to go in there." A smirk curled over my face. "The goal of this mission is infiltration and rescue. It doesn't matter who does it. In fact, wouldn't it be better if non-humans carry out the mission instead? Those kidnappers wouldn't be expecting animals to sneak in and rescue your sister."

"Ah…" Despite his impatience, Bu Fan was a sharp one. "So that's why you summoned those little creatures of yours."

"You can say that."

"Well, after you get Xin Chun out, I don't care what you say. I'm going in and exterminating every last one of them."

I shrugged nonchalantly. What Bu Fan did in his spare time was none of my business. "Be my guest."

Returning to the point of view of my Constellation spirits, I directed them through the vicinity of Wigan Warehouse. They first adopted the gait of stray animals, loitering around the compound and pretending to look for food. Just as I expected, a couple of sentries were standing at the entrance, and even though they appeared relaxed and unguarded, they weren't going to randomly let people in. in fact, one of them cast a spell and launched a fireball at one of my Canis Minor who got too close. Yelping, the hound-type Constellation spirit leaped away and wisely backed off.

There would be no going through that way, human or not.

And my Canis Minor didn't even get as far as crawling through the fence and into the parking lot. Those guys sure were twitchy and trigger-happy.

Fortunately, it appeared that their concentration was focused solely on the front. None of them noticed the small pack of Lepus, Canis Minor and Ursa Minor sneaking in through the broken fence at the back. Making use of their tiny sizes, they crawled through the little gaps, or making use of their teeth and claws, they tore apart the thin wiring and widened the holes to just wide enough for them to sneak through. Overheard, my Corvus circled around, keeping a keen eye on the premises, especially on the windows. Though they didn't see anyone other than the guards at the front, it was better to be safe than sorry.

There wasn't a stir or any sign of movement, even as my little Constellation spirits infiltrated the compound from the back. They looked for any alternative entrances that weren't doors, whether it was piping, ventilation, gratings, or even broken windows. They landed in the interior silently and fanned out, going from room to room.

"…where's everyone?"

"Huh? What happened? What do you mean?"

Bu Fan's tense voice broke me out of my concentration. Not that I needed to concentrate much to begin with. How do I put it, I was essentially a drone pilot looking out of my Constellation spirits' eyes, but my Soul Beasts were largely on autopilot, so I could just leave it to them. If necessary, I could step in and pilot them personally, sort of like hijacking them, but they were more of extensions of my own body rather than actual separate, living organisms with their own sentient, free will.

Hence my total lack of guilt in possessing one of them. For now, though, I was more than content to let them run on autopilot because there was nothing I could do better by personally piloting one of them. We needed to find Xin Chun first.

Speaking of which, where was Xin Chun? In fact, where was everybody? The rest of the kidnappers? Other than the two sentries, I didn't come across any other kidnappers at all.

"What is it?" Bu Fan demanded, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me until I glared at him and smacked his hands away.

"Don't do that," I snapped. Taking a deep breath to calm myself down, I closed my eyes and peered through the eyes of my infiltrating Constellation spirits. The smaller Lepus and Ursa Minor crawled in the vents, while the Canis Minor scooted around, peering through doors and keeping a low profile as possible. I eventually noticed a small section of the main hall of the warehouse being cordoned off, with five or six of the kidnappers having spread out sleeping mats to sleep on. A couple of my Canis Minor pranced over silently to investigate, but they were sound asleep.

"I finally found the kidnappers…or a few of them, but I don't see your sister anywhere. Where did they bring her?"

I received the answer shortly, when one of my Lepus, crawling through the ventilation vents, caught sight of the poor girl. Her wheelchair was missing – apparently they had s.n.a.t.c.hed her off her wheelchair and left it behind while bundling her into their car when they abducted her – and she was currently tied to a chair. Her head was down, her hair hanging limply down to s.h.i.+eld her face, but from what I could see, Bu Fan's sister looked completely unharmed. Of course, that wasn't apparent – with Xin Chun being a healing mage, they could have roughed her up and she ended up casting a healing spell on herself in reflex.

From her demoralized and disillusioned appearance, I could only pray the kidnappers didn't do anything to her. Fortunately, her clothing, though crumpled, was still fairly intact and showed no signs of tear or damage. In other words, they didn't try to rape her. That was a good sign, at least.

Along with Xin Chun, there were three kidnappers in the room, guarding her. They were bored as h.e.l.l, and ended up playing a card game on a nearby table to alleviate the tedium. Their weapons – which included a rifle, a large sword and a spear – lay next to their chairs.

Directing more of my Lepus and Ursa Minor toward the ventilation shaft that my current rabbit inhabited, I formulated a plan. My little Constellation spirits weren't exactly strong, and would have trouble taking out those three. I could overwhelm them with numbers, but they would call for reinforcements. Not only the two sentries – the six guys I saw sleeping upstairs would wake up and rush underground to see what the fuss was about.

So how do I take them out, while safely bringing Xin Chun to safety?

For now, I decided to inform Bu Fan of her whereabouts. Opening my eyes, I turned to him with a grave expression.

"I found your sister. She's in the bas.e.m.e.nt, being guarded by three guys."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go in and save her!"

"Wait, wait, wait." I pulled him back. "We can't just charge in there and beat the kidnappers up. What if they use your sister as a hostage and threaten you with her life? How are you going to rescue her then?"

"That's…" Bu Fan gritted his teeth in frustration, but he knew I had a valid point. He couldn't risk putting his sister's life in danger. Even so, he clenched his fists and punched the wall. "But we can't just do nothing…!"

"I'm not saying we do nothing. I'm merely suggesting that we plan properly, to minimize danger to your sister." I pondered for a moment, running through several options in my head. Then I smiled when a plan came to mind. Since I already had a bunch of little Constellation spirits cl.u.s.tered in the ventilation shaft above Xin Chun, ready to rescue her, all I needed to do was distract the majority of the kidnappers away, so that they didn't realize their hostage was being carried off.

Turning to Bu Fan, I recalled how eager he was to beat up the kidnappers.

Perfect. I could put that simmering rage to good use.

"To rescue your sister, we're going to need a diversion." I placed a hand on Bu Fan's shoulder and dropped my voice into a conspiratorial whisper. "And all this time, you've been itching for an opportunity to strike them for ever touching your sister, right? Seems like you'll be getting your wish, after all. So this is what we'll do…"