Yue An could not believe his eyes. How could someone do such a thing to an innocent child of their own race?

If he had not reacted quickly enough, this little girl would have been dead by now.

Yue An carried the group of human brats out of the battlefield. These kids didn't notice anything wrong. They didn't panic even when they were far away from the street. They stood on the playground of the street next to the street and called out to Yue An with a smile on their faces.

Yue An gave them some candy and patted their heads. Finally, he looked at the little girl.

"You …" Yue An wanted to ask why these children were so unguarded, but now was not the time to educate them.

He then magically took out a bunch of snacks, including some that he had stocked up on himself, and generously gave them to the little girl.

Compared to the other kids who only knew how to watch him perform magic with sparkling eyes, this little girl seemed to be the only one who was sensible.

"Stay here. Don't go back."

Yue An looked around and thought for a moment. Then, he used his foot to draw a crooked circle on the ground that almost covered the entire sports field. Then, he covered it with a layer of spirit energy that ordinary people could not see. "Take care of them. Don't let them leave this sports field."

The little girl nodded obediently.

Yue An did not say anything else. He turned around and went back to the street. At the same time, he sent a message to Ji Xiuyun.

The street in the old district was always quiet. When the children were playing here, Yue An could still feel a trace of liveliness. Now that he had sent the children away, the entire street was so quiet that even the sound of the wind could be heard clearly.

It was so quiet that there was not a trace of liveliness.

This should not be happening.

Yue An stood at the entrance of the street and was vigilant.

Within the street, he could clearly hear about forty breathing sounds. They were mixed in with the wind, and he could hear them clearly.

Among them, about ten of them were breathing rapidly. There were also some sounds of struggling.

There were hostages inside.

Yue An realized this almost immediately.

He had followed Ji Xiuyun through the vast universe for so many days, and they had encountered many outlaws. These groups would always bring along some civilians on their ships. When they encountered the regular army, if they couldn't defeat them, they could use these hostages to threaten the army to let them go.

In the past, this tactic had been successful. Even when facing Ji Xiuyun's army, these pirate gangs were fearless.

However, it was a pity that Ji Xiuyun's army had always been united. Normally, these pirate gangs would have turned into cosmic dust before they could threaten him.

With the addition of the Yue An, Ji Xiuyun was like a tiger that had grown wings. Their efficiency in rescuing the hostages increased exponentially.

Now, whenever they caught an illegal ship, they would give it a good beating. There was nothing to be afraid of.

Yue An was not afraid now.

He stood at the entrance of the street, seemingly defenseless. In the next second, he suddenly disappeared from the line of sight of the group of people who were watching the entrance of the street.

The people lying in ambush in the houses on both sides of the street were holding weapons. When they saw this, their hearts tightened.

However, it seemed like they were prepared. They did not react violently to this incident. To Yue An's surprise, they seemed to be exceptionally calm.

Yue An had seen many people scan the area for commotion the moment he disappeared. Thus, Yue An was more surprised by this unknown number of people who did not panic at all.

However, even though he was surprised, Yue An still reacted quickly.

He did not know why these people were not shaken at all by his sudden disappearance.

He did not know why these people had brought weapons and his photo this morning to ambush him.

He also did not know what was going on inside the buildings on the street that he could not see.

However, Yue An would not let go of anyone who wanted to harm him.

If he let them go, he would be leaving himself a hidden danger. Yue An was not stupid.

To be honest, the last person who tried to steal his cat was already two meters tall.

The street was very quiet. Yue An was invisible and nimble. He silently walked through the buildings on both sides of the street.

This group of ambushers was very spread out. Furthermore, each of them had at least five hostages tied up beside them.

Furthermore, there were not many signs of fighting in the houses on both sides of the street. This meant that this group of ambushers had very professional physical skills.

It was obvious that they were here for Yue An. They did not cause much of a commotion. Even the streets on the other side of the street were operating normally. The street environment was also very quiet. There was no sense of disharmony from the other side of the street to the other side. It was obvious that they wanted to catch him off guard and lure him into the net.

Yue An detected a very strong scent of spirit stones on these people.

Since Ji Xiuyun had a few big boxes of spirit stones in his house, the scent of spirit stones on their bodies was completely concealed. If Yue An had not been held back by the little girl, he would not have noticed this small detail.

This was because everything was too normal. The normal quiet old town, the normal children playing around, and the very normal spiritual energy that was produced by a large number of spirit stones could be easily detected when one breathed.

They did not even leave a trace of blood on the hostages. There was not even the slightest trace of human blood in the spiritual energy.

The entire street was unharmed. It was as if Ji Xiuyun's house was the only place left.

Yue An was not sure if these people knew that Ji Xiuyun had a large number of spirit stones in his house. In order to conceal the scent of spirit stones on their bodies, they chose not to touch Ji Xiuyun's house.

Or was it because Ji Xiuyun's house had the most advanced security system? Was that why they did not rob Ji Xiuyun's house?

Logically speaking, the possibility of the latter was higher. However, Yue An felt that the former was more likely.

These people were definitely here for him. Yue An could not help but think too much.

Why would a normal person carry so many spirit stones with them?

They even knew how to use Ji Xiuyun's house's spirit stones to conceal their scent. They even had his photo and were lying in ambush here in advance.

Even Yue An himself had decided to come to Ji Xiuyun's house to retrieve the spirit stones at the last minute. How could they have been lying in ambush here in the morning?

Even if their whereabouts had been leaked, they could not have been so sure that he had come back alone, right?

These people did not understand his combat strength, but Ji Xiuyun's was very clear about it.

Squatting in front of Ji Xiuyun's house and guarding it was the same as washing his neck clean and delivering himself to Yue An.

The more Yue An thought about it, the more he felt that something was amiss. He desperately needed the help of Ji Xiuyun, who was quick-witted and creative.

When Marshal Ji received Yue An's message, he immediately understood that Yue An had not contacted him directly. He reckoned that Yue An was in a hurry and that the situation was not very convenient.

Marshal Ji did not reply. Instead, he chose two of his direct subordinates and left the garrison without consulting anyone.

By the time Ji Xiuyun and his two subordinates rushed to the street where his house was located, Yue An had already tied up the ambushers one by one.

There were nine people in total. Yue An caught them without being able to fight back. He tied their hands with a military-made rope and tied a few dead knots before stringing the nine people together.

Ji Xiuyun was very familiar with this method of tying people up because he was the one who had taught Yue An how to do it.

As for Yue An himself, he held the 50 energy crystals that he had plundered from these people. He was surrounded by a group of onlookers and rescued hostages. He lowered his eyes and looked at the nine people with a pensive expression on his face.

Ji Xiuyun's appearance silenced the crowd.

Yue An snapped out of his daze. He tilted his head and looked around. Only then did he realize that most of the children that he had thrown into the neighborhood next door had been found by their parents.

The eyes of the parents who had been used as hostages were all red. They were filled with resentment and rejoicing that they had survived a disaster.

"What's going on?" Ji Xiuyun asked.

"The Free Army."

Yue An pursed his lips at the group of prisoners. The insignia of the Free Army was tattooed on their wrists. "They seemed to know that I would come over. They even set up a small trap for me."

Ji Xiuyun turned to look at the captured hostages. The moment their eyes met, the leader of the hostages flashed him a slightly twisted and proud smile.

"The Prophet is omnipotent."

"The Prophet?" Ji Xiuyun repeated.

"It sounds like a cult," Yue An added.

Ji Xiuyun nodded. Then, as if he had thought of something, he signaled his two subordinates to bring the hostages back first. Yue An and Ji Xiuyun both knew what these hostages would go through after they were brought back and placed in the interrogation room.

The response speed of the troops stationed in the area was a little slow. It seemed that there was a problem with the surveillance and patrol arrangements in the neighborhood. As a result, they were unable to rush over as soon as the incident occurred.

— — After Ji Xiuyun's subordinates took the hostages away.

Knowing that they were in the wrong, they did not dare to ask Ji Xiuyun for the hostages. They rushed over as soon as they heard the news. All they could do was quietly deal with the aftermath.

Yue An and Ji Xiuyun stayed behind. They still had to return home to retrieve the large boxes of energy crystals.

"About the 'Prophet' … … Do you have any skills related to foresight among your skills?" Ji Xiuyun asked softly.

"Foresight?

Yes, we do. But if you want to be able to predict something in detail at a certain point in time, it's usually a racial talent. "Yue An pondered for a while." Do you think that the Prophet they're talking about is a cultivator? "

"No." Ji Xiuyun shook his head. If it was a cultivator, the Free Army would have destroyed his army long ago.

Specifically, they could refer to Yue An's endless and powerful spells.

"It could be an ancestral talent, or he accidentally obtained something magical."

What ancestral talent? That sounds so awful. We usually call it awakening.

Yue An grumbled in his heart.

"Then why are they targeting me?" Yue An tugged at his hair.

He felt that other than being cute, there was nothing else worth coveting.

"You're a nine-tailed cat." Ji Xiuyun reminded the cat who had no self-awareness.

Yue An looked up at him. His expression slowly changed from calm to horrified.

"They want to capture me to make a wish …?"

Ji Xiuyun nodded. "It's possible."

Yue An nervously grabbed Ji Xiuyun's clothes. He decided that he would eat a thousand spirit stones to keep himself safe.

Yue An was just about to pull Ji Xiuyun to retrieve the hostages and leave when he turned around and saw the little girl standing in the corner. She was peeking her head out to look at them.

All the other children had been taken away by their parents. She was the only one left.

"I didn't realize it at first. This little girl was the one who told me," Yue An whispered to Ji Xiuyun. "If it wasn't for her, I would have been screwed."

Yue An dragged Ji Xiuyun over and bent down to ask her, "Where's your family?

Why aren't they here to pick you up? "

"No one is here to pick me up. My mother died of an illness. My father went to war. He said that he would come back after the war."

The little girl wasn't afraid of strangers. Her voice was still sweet. She didn't look sad when she said this. Instead, she turned to look at Ji Xiuyun expectantly. "Marshal Ji, when will the war end?"

"I miss my father," she said softly.

Yue An was stunned. He straightened up and turned to look at Ji Xiuyun.

Ji Xiuyun wasn't a general who was close to the people. He had never received such a question before. Most of the comments on the Star Web were praises and curses for him.

No one had ever asked him this expectantly before: When will the war end?

Marshal Ji Xiuyun was silent for a moment. Then, he turned to look at Yue An.

Unlike Yue An, who was new to the battlefield and had only interacted with heinous pirate gangs, Ji Xiuyun was a Marshal Ji Xiuyun who had personally conquered an entire galaxy.

Ji Xiuyun had seen too many families fall into despair. He had even personally caused many of them. When faced with such a straightforward and simple question from the little girl, Ji Xiuyun felt helpless.

Marshal Ji Ji Xiuyun didn't receive any help from Yue An.

He finally turned his gaze back to the little girl in front of him. After a long time, when the light in the little girl's eyes gradually faded, Ji Xiuyun solemnly replied slowly and firmly, as if he was making an oath, "Very soon."

Yue An looked at Ji Xiuyun for a while. Then, he turned back to look at the little girl in front of him in a daze.

The little girl's eyes were filled with anticipation and joy. They were like sparkling diamonds.

Ji Xiuyun's firmness and generosity were like ice that wouldn't melt for ten thousand years. They didn't waver at all.

They were like believers and gods who responded to their faith.

Yue An had never felt this before. It was a trust and reciprocation that only existed between humans. It was as beautiful as the most dazzling light in life.

Yue An's gaze fell on Ji Xiuyun.

Ji Xiuyun tilted his head. His eyes, which were as quiet and dark as the deepest part of the universe, were now filled with specks of starlight. He was quietly watching Yue An.

At this moment, Yue An suddenly understood why his seniors had always told him not to get too close to humans. It was because monsters would never be able to resist the erosion of human emotions.

Because of their short lifespans, humans were always willing to burn themselves for certain emotions, beliefs, and dreams.

This kind of burning and boiling attitude, which was like a falling star, was always a fatal attraction in the eyes of long-lived species who were extremely calm in all aspects.