Xia Huanao, though he had Mei use her Primarina's High-Speed Stars to slow down, was still a beat too slow. The sled crashed into the edge of the stone slab and braked abruptly, sending Xia Huanao flying out like a torpedo, his target: Ninja Mei.
Xia Huanao's move was much like a torpedo high jump, landing directly on Mei's stomach. Mei stumbled back a few steps and plopped onto the ground. Xia Huanao, after lying on the ground for a while, pushed himself up, groaning, "Mei, are you okay?"
Mei rubbed her stomach. "Mm, I'm fine. Are you?"
Xia Huanao got to his feet. "Yeah, I'm fine too."
As they spoke, Xia Huanao heard a sound from under his feet, like he'd stepped on a trap. Xia Huanao glanced down. "I think I stepped on a trap. I just don't know what it triggers."
The three-colored stone slab array they had just passed flashed with light. Xia Huanao had a guess. He gently extended his foot and stomped hard on a red stone brick, then immediately pulled his foot back.
A noise echoed from the cave, but no fire traps appeared. Xia Huanao looked at Mei. "Who was it that said this place had no traps?"
Mei lowered her head in embarrassment. Xia Huanao didn't dwell on it, pointing to a stone door. "Let's open this door quickly. Who knows how many more doors there are behind it."
Pushing open the stone door, they were finally greeted not by stone slabs, but by a mine. Inside the mine were various kinds of sparkling stones, making the entire scene look dreamlike. Although the scenery here was different from the previous tunnels, neither Xia Huanao nor Mei dared to move much. Who knew what other absurd traps lay hidden here.
"Boldly walk forward. There are no traps in here."
Hearing the voice, Xia Huanao and Mei simultaneously turned their heads. The light in the space behind them twisted strangely, and then Mu Zhishui and Feng emerged from their invisibility.
Mei, seeing Feng, was very surprised. "Brother, what are you doing here? Didn't you have something important to deal with?"
Xia Huanao nodded. "Yeah, why are you out? Is it all settled?"
Mei glanced at Xia Huanao. "What's going on?"
Xia Huanao explained it roughly, placing all the blame on Feng. "So, his important business was to assess new ninjas for your ninja dojo. Not only that, but he also made me help him set this up."
Hearing Xia Huanao's account, Mei glared angrily at Feng. Feng, however, walked to the center of the cave, picked up a scroll, and said, "Mei, catch."
Mei caught the scroll Feng threw. "Should I open it?"
"Yes, open it. This is the most precious treasure of our ninja dojo."
Mei unrolled the scroll and read: "To my dear junior ninja, congratulations on passing our assessment..."
Mei finished reading the scroll, rolled it up, and threw it back. "That's too much! I really thought there was some treasure."
Feng chuckled. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. You weren't supposed to get this scroll. Our ninja trials have several dimensions, including your network of contacts, skills, analytical abilities, Pokémon training, and so on. Frankly, I think you'd only pass based on your contacts. You're still far from passing the other aspects. If it weren't for Mr. Hu being so strong, you wouldn't have made it here."
Hearing Feng say that, Mei ran to Xia Huanao. "But I've already become a formal ninja, so what if Hu helped me!"
While Mei and Feng were arguing about whether Mei could become a formal ninja, they suddenly heard footsteps. Xia Huanao was startled. "Feng, would anyone else come here?"
Feng shook his head. "Generally, no one comes here. Even among us ninjas, this place is only used during formal assessments."
"Apologies for disturbing you, but hand over the ninja treasure quickly, or we won't be polite!"
Xia Huanao looked at Feng in disbelief. "So, there really is some treasure here?"
Feng shook his head. "You're thinking too much. This has always been the place where we assess ninjas. Where would any treasure be?"
"Impossible! Mr. Yamamoto, don't believe him. I heard him say last night that he had Mei come here to retrieve an important item that could turn the tide of events. Even if there's no important item, these gems alone are worth a fortune."
The four of them looked at the person speaking. A man in samurai attire stood respectfully behind Mr. Yamamoto. Xia Huanao squinted carefully, feeling as if he had seen this person somewhere before.
"Lei, you actually betrayed our dojo?"
Mei immediately recognized the man standing behind Yamamoto as a newcomer to their ninja dojo, but she never expected him to have defected to the samurai.
"Look at what you're saying. How is this a betrayal? I've always been Mr. Yamamoto's man!"
Lei seemed quite pleased with his current identity and status, but others didn't necessarily feel the same. Xia Huanao quietly leaned over to Mu Zhishui. "I never imagined that there would be people like this everywhere. But why do I always run into them?"
Mu Zhishui rolled her eyes at him. "Maybe you're corrupting them all."
While Xia Huanao was whispering to Mu Zhishui, Yamamoto, apparently a man with little patience, immediately ordered his men to attack Feng.
Xia Huanao looked at the swarm of Pokémon charging towards them. "Feng, do you need our help?"
Feng shook his head. "No, this is between us and these warriors. I won't trouble you."
Although Feng didn't want to involve Xia Huanao and the other person, Lei seemed to have set his sights on them. "Lord Yamamoto, do you see those two? They are from the Minglong Kingdom and have a lot of money on them. If we capture them, we can get a lot of funds."
Hearing Lei say that, Yamamoto looked at Xia Huanao and Mu Zhishui. However, Yamamoto seemed uninterested in Xia Huanao, and was instead more concerned with Mu Zhishui. "Hmm, she's a very beautiful woman. Take her with us too."
Xia Huanao looked at Feng helplessly. "There's no choice then. I'm caught in the crossfire and have to fight even if I don't want to. Go, Gurgle, Shedinja!"
"I'm counting on you, Gardevoir."
The battle was imminent. Although the ninjas had the home advantage, sometimes a numerical advantage could decide everything. Soon, Mei's Primarina and Xia Huanao's Shedinja were defeated. Xia Huanao recalled his Shedinja. "This is so troublesome. I didn't want to use this move, right Zhishui?"
Mu Zhishui nodded. Their two Pokémon were too recognizable and could easily expose their identities. However, at this point, there was nothing to hide.
"Go, Diancie!"
"Go, Magearna!"
The addition of two fresh forces instantly leveled the playing field and even gave them the upper hand.
Xia Huanao and Mu Zhishui exchanged glances and had their Pokémon mega-evolve simultaneously. Seeing the two mega-evolved Pokémon, both the ninjas and the samurai were astonished.
"Diancie, Dazzling Gleam!"
"Gardevoir, Shadow Ball!"
The combat power of the two mega Pokémon was completely different from that of ordinary Pokémon. Dazzling Gleam and Shadow Ball hit Yamamoto's Pokémon, instantly rendering them unable to battle. Without their leading Pokémon, the samurai's Pokémon immediately became disorganized. What had been a somewhat decent fighting force turned into a complete rout. 138 Reading Network
Soon, Xia Huanao and Mu Zhishui, along with Feng and Mei, had dealt with the group of samurai who had come to cause trouble. Gurgle and Greninja performed particularly well, defeating most of the Pokémon.
Tying up the troublemaking samurai with ropes, Xia Huanao asked Feng, "Feng, what should we do with these people? Kill them or what?"
Hearing Xia Huanao calmly suggest killing them, the samurai's faces turned ashen with fear. Mei and Mu Zhishui also looked awkward. Neither of them had expected Xia Huanao to say such a thing.
Feng glanced at Xia Huanao. "You don't seem to be afraid of killing people."
Xia Huanao nodded. "Of course not. It's not like I'll be the one doing the killing. You ninjas are more suited for this kind of thing. As a merchant and trainer, I'm not really cut out for it."
Everyone: ...
Xia Huanao casually mentioned it, then wandered around the cave. "What a nice cave. Such beautiful scenery, almost ruined. But speaking of which, these crystals are quite sturdy."
Xia Huanao walked up to a large crystal and stroked the translucent gem. Diancie took a look at the large crystal and shook its head at Xia Huanao.
Xia Huanao was confused. "Diancie, what do you mean?"
Rotom floated over. "Diancie means that although these are also gems, they are completely worthless because the processing difficulty is too high."
Hearing that the gems in the cave were not valuable, the group of samurai felt even more dejected. They had indeed worked hard for an illusory dream, and now they were captured by ninjas with whom they had constant friction.
Xia Huanao patted a massive blue crystal, at least a cubic meter in size. "This large crystal is quite nice. Feng, can I have this as a souvenir?"
Feng turned and looked. "Sure. It's not anything valuable. If you like it, take one. If you want more in the future, you can contact Mei, and she can mail some to you."
Xia Huanao picked up the large crystal. "Really? Then I won't be polite. I'll take this blue one. Zhishui, do you want to choose one too?"
Mu Zhishui shook her head. "Never mind. I can't carry something this big, and how would I display something so difficult to process?"
Xia Huanao, carrying the large crystal, said, "Alright. By the way, Feng, the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Should we also take the oriole's cage?"
Feng glanced at Xia Huanao, and the two of them exchanged mischievous smiles. Feng called out to Mei, "Mei, go get someone. There's an important mission to do."