# 601
**Chapter 602: The Intruder’s Identity**
Hongyan’s sudden appearance made both combatants freeze mid-brawl.
When Amemiya Haruki saw her swing a fist straight at the White-Robed Oracle Envoy’s face, he wisely took half a step back. The envoy’s expression darkened; he raised his own fist and met hers head-on.
**Boom—!!**
The two shockwaves exploded in mid-air. In raw power, Hongyan was clearly outmatched—the envoy’s body was far beyond ordinary human limits.
She staggered back several paces, her face grim. Shaking her fair wrist, she glared with vertical amber pupils blazing with draconic might, like golden flames dancing in her eyes.
The White-Robed Oracle Envoy retreated only half a step. The ring in his left eye locked onto the red-haired woman in the green orderly uniform, and an electronic voice sounded in his mind.
“Unknown target detected. Analyzing…”
“Analysis failed. Species not found in biological database.”
His brows knitted tight.
Where did this thing pop out from?
He had no time to think; Amemiya Haruki’s blade was already flashing toward him again.
Standing to the side, Lin Qiye spoke to Hongyan through thought:
“Hongyan, try activating your Forbidden Ruins.”
She blinked, nodded, traded another punch with the envoy, then turned to Amemiya Haruki.
“You—get lost.”
Amemiya Haruki froze, eyes narrowing in confusion.
He didn’t understand Chinese.
Hongyan ignored him. Planting herself in a shallow puddle, she opened her mouth; threads of scorching flame gathered before her.
Suddenly her breath choked and the flames scattered.
Lin Qiye felt the unseen gaze that had been sweeping past him shift and settle on Hongyan.
As expected, “mystery” Forbidden Ruins couldn’t be used here. Any living being’s Ruins would draw that entity’s attention?
He pondered.
Seeing Hongyan freeze, Amemiya Haruki frowned. Invisible blades whistled past him, shredding the buildings behind into rubble.
Under this endless storm of edges, nothing seemed uncuttable.
Grip tightening on his hilt, eyes flickering, he finally raised **Rainfall Collapse** and drove it into the ground at his feet.
The blade sank into the puddle like melting ice, all the way to the hilt. Blue light burst beneath his shoes!
**Boom—!!**
Every suspended raindrop reversed skyward, forming a colossal, savage water dragon that coiled behind the black-kimono youth and silently roared at the White-Robed Oracle Envoy.
“**Water Dragon Sky Curtain.**”
He spoke low; the dragon shot forward, glowing sapphire, crashing toward the envoy.
The envoy’s eyes sharpened. Hands rising, countless invisible blades whirled around him, weaving a murderous sword domain. His white robe snapped in the dragon’s roar.
He clapped his palms together—**crack!**
The blades stormed out to meet the dragon—then a blue flash lit the sky. The water dragon auto-detonated into a deluge, disintegrating into needle-fine rain.
A flawless curtain of droplets engulfed the envoy. Though the invisible blades shredded it, plenty of water still hammered his body.
His pupils shrank.
The flood swallowed him; faint dragon cries echoed as spray scoured the street, mist cloaking everything.
A heartbeat later a hurricane erupted, flinging the remaining rain aside.
The envoy stepped from the haze, robe tattered but skin merely scuffed. Fury twisted his face as he scanned the street.
Empty.
Amemiya Haruki, the red-haired girl, the intruder—gone without trace. Only mist and solitude remained.
“Escaped…” he muttered, fists clenched.
---
Yokohama outskirts.
A titanic silhouette burst from the earth, eclipsing a hill, then rapidly shrank and vanished.
At the dark foot of the hill three figures stood.
Hongyan, in orderly uniform, stood deferentially behind Lin Qiye, fiery hair brushing her waist like a silent maid.
Lin Qiye studied the black-kimono youth.
“Why save me?” he asked in Japanese.
Amemiya Haruki glanced at him. “On the way.”
Lin Qiye: …
“You’re strong. Even if you can’t beat an Oracle Envoy, escaping would be easy—only, here you can’t use your power.” He spoke evenly. “All intruders are like that.”
“You’ve met others?” Lin Qiye’s eyes lit up.
“One, two years ago. Right after I became master of the Nine Magatsu Blades. Traveled with him awhile. Tremendous power inside, yet unable to release it here.”
“Two years ago…” Lin Qiye frowned. “What did he look like?”
Amemiya Haruki thought. “Straight Blade at his hip—shape I’d never seen. Black flames when he fought, terrifying killing aura… and a thing for mature, voluptuous women…”
**Cao Yuan!!**
Lin Qiye pinned the name the instant he heard the last line.
“His name?”
“Cao… Yuan?” Amemiya Haruki struggled with the syllables.
Lin Qiye’s brows knitted tight.
Straight Blade, black flames, murderous aura, lecherous tastes, similar name—had to be Cao Yuan.
But the timeline was wrong.
Two years ago they should still have been in Great Xia—how could Cao Yuan have come here and become an “intruder”?