As soon as the call connected, Han Feng heard Dongfang Wantang's rapid breathing: "Star Master? The energy fluctuations on your end are abnormal. My star chart just—"
"We've found Wang Hao. He's in a cave, and the situation inside is a bit complicated." Han Feng interrupted her, his gaze fixed on the cave entrance. "Wang Hao is awake, but he bears traces of the Nether Crystal Clan. Come here immediately and bring your astronomical divination equipment."
Less than three seconds after hanging up the phone, Chen Feng rushed out of the cave: "Captain Han! Your friend is awake, but the situation is a bit... strange."
Han Feng rushed into the cave. The runes on the rock walls were now as bright as neon lights, illuminating the entire cave in an eerie blue light. Wang Hao was sitting on a stone platform, blankly touching the wound on his neck, when he heard footsteps and suddenly looked up.
"Brother Feng?" Wang Hao's voice was incredibly hoarse. "What's wrong with me...?"
"Don't speak yet." Han Feng handed over the water bottle and winked at Chen Feng. The latter understood and led the other team members out of the cave to keep watch.
Wang Hao gulped down half a bottle of water, the blue scar on his Adam's apple undulating with each swallow, almost as if it were alive. Han Feng, suppressing his discomfort, pulled out his phone: "Call your parents. They're frantic looking for you."
"How long have I been missing?"
"It's been a week." Han Feng dialed the number for him. "Just tell him you went to the mountains to collect folk songs, and the signal is bad."
The moment the call connected, Wang's mother's crying and cursing were clearly audible even without speakerphone. Wang Hao winked at Han Feng and immediately launched into a smooth-talking lie: "Mom! I'm fine! I came to Yunwu Mountain with the photography association for a photo shoot, but we got lost and fell into a cave... Signal? Where would we get a signal in this godforsaken place? I climbed three hills to get one..."
Han Feng turned his back to hide his smile. This excuse was exactly the same as the one they used when they skipped class to go to internet cafes in junior high school, even the tone and pauses were exactly the same.
After dealing with his parents, Wang Hao let out a long sigh of relief and slumped onto the stone platform. Suddenly, the blue mark on his neck lit up, causing him to grimace in pain: "Damn! What the hell is this thing...?"
"Did Mu Xiaoxiao do this?" Han Feng gathered a wisp of starlight power at his fingertips and gently touched the wound.
Just as Wang Hao nodded, he saw a sharp pain strike him the moment the two energies came into contact, and he was thrown up, his back slamming against the rock wall.
"Holy crap! What did you do to me?!" Wang Hao stared wide-eyed at his hands, which had suddenly begun to glow silver. "Why am I glowing?!"
Even more astonishingly, the runes on the rock wall seemed to be summoned, detaching from the stone surface and floating in the air, forming a three-dimensional star map surrounding the two of them. The three star mirrors within Han Feng's body trembled violently, and fragments of ancient and vast memories flashed through his mind—
In the endless sea of stars, two figures stood side by side, their backs to each other. The one on the left raised his hand, and the galaxy reversed—the power of a Star Soul Lord was unmistakable; the one on the right held a star chart, countless threads of fate flowing between his fingers...
"This is the power of stars!?..." Han Feng blurted out.
Wang Hao's expression shifted from shock to confusion, finally settling on a strange sense of understanding: "You saw it too? Those memory fragments?" He looked down at his still-glowing hands. "While I was unconscious, I kept having dreams. In one dream, an old man with a white beard said I was the nth generation priest successor... and showed me a bunch of jumbled images."
Han Feng's heart raced: "What else did you see?"
"I saw someone who looks exactly like you!" Wang Hao suddenly grabbed Han Feng's shoulder. "In the last memory, you and—no, the person who looks like you—were standing in the starry sky with the old priest, and in front of you was a huge blue crystal shattering..."
Before she could finish speaking, hurried footsteps sounded outside the cave. Dongfang Wantang rushed in, clutching the star chart, and nearly fell over upon seeing the floating runes throughout the cave: "Star Lord! These are..." Her gaze shifted to Wang Hao, and she suddenly froze: "Is this... the High Priest?!"
Wang Hao, startled, hid behind Han Feng: "What's going on now?"
Han Feng led Dongfang Wantang to Wang Hao's side and briefly explained the current situation. Upon hearing "the wounds of the Youjing Clan," Dongfang Wantang immediately took out her star chart to begin divination, but the star needle snapped with a "crack" as soon as it was turned.
"No!" Her face turned deathly pale. "The High Priest's destiny has been obscured by some force, and..." She looked at Wang Hao's neck in horror, "That wound carries the aura of the Nether Crystal Clan Emperor!"
As if to prove her words, the blue mark on Wang Hao suddenly wriggled and expanded, instantly covering half of his neck. He curled up in pain, the silver and blue light clashing fiercely beneath his skin. Han Feng acted decisively, pressing a palm against his back, continuously channeling stellar power into him.
"Hold on!" Han Feng could feel two energies battling within Wang Hao's body. "Wan Tang, is there any way to neutralize the Nether Crystal Clan's energy?"
Dongfang Wantang quickly flipped through the coded text engraved on the back of the star chart: "The records say... the power of the Star Soul Priest can restrain the Nether Crystal Clan, but it requires..." She suddenly blushed, "...the blood of the Star Soul Lord as a catalyst."
Without a word, Han Feng bit his fingertip and dripped the blood onto Wang Hao's blue mark. The moment the blood touched the skin, a burst of silver light erupted, forcing the blue light back below the collarbone, forming a strange rune pattern that remained still.
"It's temporarily under control." Dongfang Wantang wiped away cold sweat. "But to completely eliminate him, he needs to catch up with the Star Soul Lord's pace."
Wang Hao leaned weakly against the rock wall, utterly exhausted, and asked, "So now, can anyone tell me... what exactly does a Star Soul Priest do?"
Han Feng and Dongfang Wantang exchanged a glance and spoke at the same time:
"A fortune teller."
"Guides of destiny."
Wang Hao rolled his eyes and weakly gave the middle finger: "Are you two doing a comedy routine here?" The action aggravated his wound, making him wince in pain.
Han Feng crouched down to examine the runes on Wang Hao's collarbone. The blue mark was surrounded by silver light, like a trapped poisonous spider, twitching occasionally. He gently touched the edge of the rune and immediately felt a chilling resistance.
"Don't move." Han Feng slapped away Wang Hao's hand, which was trying to scratch his wound. "This thing has feelings."
Dongfang Wantang took out a brocade pouch from her sleeve and poured out a few fragrant pills: "Take these first; they will slow down the erosion of the Nether Crystal's power."
Wang Hao took the pills, but looked at Han Feng suspiciously: "Are you sure this girl isn't a shaman? She seems to have all sorts of strange and unusual things..."
"Take your medicine." Han Feng shoved the pills into his mouth. "Wan Tang is the most powerful astrologer in the Dongfang family; in ancient times, she would be considered a national advisor."
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