There Is Still One Celestial Eagle

"Luo Mian… it seems like there's quite a lot you've been hiding from me." Councillor Zhu Meng had sensed something was wrong. His eyes bored into Councillor Luo Mian — the one with the goatee — with unblinking intensity.

Councillor Luo Mian smiled without warmth. He looked wholly unperturbed, and simply said, "Everything will be looked into in time, but first things must come first. With the enemy at our walls, does anyone really have the luxury of infighting right now?"

Military Commandant Yun Feng nodded. "The White Demon Eagle Legion will reach our Western Fortress defense line in less than two hours. That line can hold three hours at most before it risks being broken through — and then they'll be inside Hangzhou. We have five hours, total. What we need to do right now is stop the White Demon Eagle Legion, or kill that Sovereign-class demon eagle."

"Yes, yes, absolutely!" Councillor Luo Mian nodded vigorously, clearly anxious for no one to bring up the matter of the Blood Serum.

At that moment, Leng Qing stepped forward. "Since the White Demon Eagle Legion is attacking Hangzhou because of the people infected with the plague, our most urgent priority should be finding a way to cure it as quickly as possible. If the plague is lifted, the Legion will have no reason to attack — driving them off will be far easier."

"Oh? You say that as if you've already found the cure," Councillor Luo Mian said with a smirking chuckle.

"Precisely — even Elder Lu was helpless against this plague. With only five hours left, how could we possibly resolve this White Demon Eagle crisis?"

"We already know what the cure is," Leng Qing said. "There's a rare herb that grows in Xi Ling — the Eagle Crimson Grass. If we can harvest it, the plague will clear up quickly."

Every gaze in the room snapped to Leng Qing. Councillor Zhu Meng's eyes went wide, and he pressed urgently, "This Eagle Crimson Grass can truly cure the plague?"

Leng Qing gave a firm nod. "Absolutely certain."

"Heh. Setting aside whether this Eagle Crimson Grass can actually rid us of the plague — Xi Ling is somewhere no living person can set foot right now. That is the White Demon Eagles' Nest. Don't tell me you think the fact that they've emptied their Nest to attack us makes it a prime opportunity to sneak in. Even sending an entire army there would be no guarantee of safe arrival. Does anyone seriously think we have troops to spare for something so laughably impractical?" Councillor Luo Mian kept on smirking.

Leng Qing and Chief Adjudicator Ah Li Tian both stared at Luo Mian with barely concealed fury, watching him gloat over their predicament. Leng Qing, in particular, had already made a quiet vow to herself: once this crisis was over, she would personally see to it that Councillor Luo Mian ended up behind bars in the Ministry of Justice.

The others frowned as well. They had finally discovered the cure for the plague — and lifting the plague was the key to resolving the entire White Demon Eagle crisis — yet the Eagle Crimson Grass happened to grow in the most dangerous place imaginable.

"Actually — the White Demon Eagles and the Celestial Eagles belong to the same species. By nature, White Demon Eagles shouldn't attack Celestial Eagles. What if we sent a Celestial Eagle to infiltrate Xi Ling, harvest the Eagle Crimson Grass, and bring it back? That would break the stalemate in the plague quarantine zone entirely." Military Commandant Yun Feng suddenly proposed.

At that, Military Commander Ming Kuo leaned over and murmured in Yun Feng's ear, "Sir, you seem to have forgotten — it was your order that had every Celestial Eagle in the Fortress put down."

Yun Feng's expression darkened. He turned and shot Ming Kuo a look that said, very plainly: *keep your mouth shut.*

There wasn't a single Celestial Eagle left in the entire Western Fortress. And even if one had survived, the Sovereign-class demon eagle's dominance would have driven it to defect. How could any Celestial Eagle possibly slip through the White Demon Eagles' ranks and into the depths of Xi Ling?

The conference room sank into silence. No one could find a better solution — and then, in that moment of stillness, the conference room doors burst open as a stocky teenager came barreling through them, head down and heedless of where he was going. He stumbled and nearly went down before catching himself at the edge of the round table. Two furious guards stormed in behind him, seized the kid by the collar, and were about to drag him out — when he bellowed at the top of his lungs, "I have a way to get the Eagle Crimson Grass! I have a way to get it!!"

Military Commandant Yun Feng glanced at him and snapped, "Where did this little brat come from? No manners whatsoever. Drag him out and have him flogged."

"This is a strategic war council — how dare a child barge in here and make a scene!" Councillor Luo Mian thundered.

"Wait." Leng Qing stepped in. "This young man is the one who helped us trace the plague back to its source. Let's hear what he has to say."

"Let him speak," Chief Adjudicator Ah Li Tian agreed.

Councillor Luo Mian erupted into contemptuous laughter. "I came all this way specifically to help discuss how to resolve this crisis — and instead I'm treated to one absurd suggestion after another. And now you want to let a child ramble at us? If you people are truly this incompetent, this much of a waste of time, then I, Luo Mian, am done here."

He rose from his seat and swept out of the room, his manner radiating lofty indifference — as though none of this had anything to do with him, thoroughly washing his hands of the matter while wearing the face of a man of principle.

The remaining attendees exchanged helpless looks, at a loss.

Leng Qing turned patiently to Wang Xiaojun. "You said you have a way to obtain the Eagle Crimson Grass. What is it?"

Mo Fan and Lingling, who had been waiting outside the conference room with Wang Xiaojun, had slipped in during the commotion. Mo Fan studied the earnest, bull-headed teenager with quiet curiosity. *What plan could this kid possibly have for retrieving Eagle Crimson Grass from the White Demon Eagle Nest?* As Luo Mian had pointed out, breaking into the Xi Ling Nest without a crack military unit was simply unthinkable.

Wang Xiaojun looked around the room at the powerful figures he'd never dreamed of meeting face to face. He was visibly nervous, but he squared himself and cleared his throat.

"There's still one Celestial Eagle. There's still one here in this Western Fortress. It listens to my commands. I can ride it into Xi Ling and harvest the Eagle Crimson Grass myself — and I know that herb better than anyone."

Military Commander Ming Kuo's eyes bulged beneath his long whiskers. "All the Celestial Eagles were executed — so why do you still have one?!"

"I disobeyed the order," Wang Xiaojun said quietly. "I let it go. I raised it from a hatchling. I couldn't do it."

Military Commandant Yun Feng's eyes lit up. That act of insubordination had just become the most fortunate thing imaginable.

But a moment later, Yun Feng was frowning again, shaking his head. "It won't work. It won't work. Every Celestial Eagle has lost its mind because of that Sovereign-class demon eagle. If yours hasn't already turned on us, we're already lucky — there's no way it's still taking orders from a Beast Tamer."

Wang Xiaojun, terrified of being thrown out before he could finish, pressed on urgently. "My Celestial Eagle has mixed bloodlines — its feathers are gray. There's some other bloodline in there, I don't know what. Just yesterday I tried communicating with it, and it responded to my flute. I'd assumed its mind had been taken over by the Sovereign like the rest, but it doesn't seem that way. I can call it back from the woods. If it actually flies back to me, that's proof it isn't under the demon eagle Sovereign's control."