Chapter 140 - 139: Surrounded
After a week of preparation, tonight was finally the night to implant the Moon Gu.
Unlike Ye Qingyao, whose source of wealth was unclear, Jin Wu owned a sizable company and was thus more cautious.
Most hospitals in Yanhua were filled with hidden experts. It wouldn’t be hard to bribe someone for an illicit surgery, but he was afraid someone might recognize the Moon Gu.
So, he found a trustworthy Black Doctor.
Jin Wu explained, "Don’t worry, it’s just a minor procedure. In a hospital, it wouldn’t even require an operating room."
"We’ll just make a pre-implant incision on her lower abdomen, then activate the Moon Gu with a medicinal catalyst I’ve exclusively prepared, and that’s it. With your daughter’s mid-stage Marrow Refining constitution, there won’t be any side effects at all!"
"By the way, you have told your daughter, right? Do we need to speak with her again before the procedure?"
Ye Qingyao: "No need. We can just start."
"Huh? She doesn’t know she’s having surgery today?"
Jin Wu had assumed the mother and daughter had already agreed on it!
Ye Qingyao said flatly, "Does she need to know? All her plans related to cultivation and studies, what medicine she takes, what Cultivation Technique she practices... it’s always been whatever I say goes."
In Ye Qingyao’s eyes, her daughter was just a doll she could manipulate at will. Opposition and resistance were not possibilities that existed.
Jin Wu wiped his face.
’Alright then...’
’The gambler herself isn’t scared, so why should I, the one running the game, be worried?’
He was at least 60% confident.
’That’s enough!’
While the two were talking, the Black Doctor and Black Nurse unloaded various tools from the car. They were rather silent.
They never pried for details. The more they knew, the more trouble it would be.
Ye Qingyao directed them to place the equipment in a room on the side of the first floor—a dedicated training room.
...
On the third floor, Yang Shen frowned at the activity below from his bedroom window.
The faint shadows of trees danced across his face, mottled and unsteady.
According to the feedback from the Alarm Array, although he couldn’t "hear" what they were saying, the arrival of so many people at once was clearly not normal!
A moment later, Yang Shen chose to gently shake Xu Bamboo, who was asleep on the bed.
"Zhuzi? Wake up... Something’s not right."
Xu Bamboo rubbed her eyes and mumbled drowsily, "What’s wrong...?"
"A lot of people have arrived... I have a feeling there’s going to be trouble tonight."
Before he could finish, Yang Shen suddenly froze!
’Someone else entered the Array?!’
’It doesn’t seem like they’re with Ye Qingyao’s group... This person, just like me, bypassed the cameras and climbed over the wall!’
’A thief?’
What surprised Yang Shen was that, according to the Array’s senses, the newcomer was walking straight toward a specific spot.
And picked something up from the lawn.
It was one of the Array Materials he had casually tossed aside while setting up the Array—a small black orb condensed using Curse Engraving.
——————
Dozens of meters away.
A figure approached silently in the darkness.
She wore an ordinary, unbranded tracksuit, along with a mask and a baseball cap.
Only a pair of emotionless, doll-like eyes were visible.
’Assassinate, retrieve, leave... It’s that simple.’
Walls couldn’t stop a Martial Artist, nor could cameras. In the Martial Arts Society... only personal strength was the true guarantee of safety.
Arriving alone, she had easily bypassed the cameras, which were only effective against ordinary people, with her organization’s help.
But soon, she unexpectedly detected another aura, one she had been pursuing for a long time.
She walked numbly to a corner of the courtyard and reached out, fumbling in the grass.
A moment later, she picked up a black orb...
She couldn’t identify the Array... but she could identify what this thing was...
Her previous mission had been to hunt down the user of this very thing.
Long Jiu tapped her ear, where a communication device was hidden. Her eyes remained vacant as she said softly:
"Anomaly. Moon Gu and Tattooed Guest... are together."
On the other end of the line, an old voice gasped.
"Good, good, good!! He’s the last Tattooed Guest left on all of Cyan Blue! He’s already assassinated seventeen of our people! The Dragon Jade is in his hands too!"
"Don’t do anything rash. I’ll mobilize our forces. We absolutely cannot let him escape again tonight!"
Long Jiu was very powerful, but her brain... was a bit single-threaded.
Every time she was deployed, someone had to accompany her to provide support, or things would easily go wrong.
This was also why her pursuit of the Tattooed Guest had repeatedly ended in failure. Her target had been specially sent to Cyan Blue for an infiltration mission and possessed extremely high alertness and learning ability.
The original plan was for Long Jiu to assassinate the target, grab the item, and leave, with a getaway car waiting outside. But now, both the Moon Gu and the Dragon Jade were in the same place.
Along with that strange Tattooed Guest who had already hunted down more than a dozen of their organization’s members.
The Dragon Jade was more important than the Moon Gu!
To retrieve the Dragon Jade and ambush the Tattooed Guest, they were willing to make a scene, no matter how big!
"I’ll have the people outside move in immediately and gather more manpower. The Dragon Jade! The Moon Gu! We’re getting them both back tonight!"
...
On the third floor, Yang Shen hid behind the window, trying to see who had picked up his Array Materials.
Unfortunately, the angle was wrong, and he couldn’t see the person’s identity. He could only confirm through the Alarm Array that it was a woman.
’Well, based on the vague outline from the Array’s feedback, the figure was definitely female.’
’Very nice!’
Those black substances, once separated from their user, would dissipate into nothingness after a while as long as no one tampered with them. After all, their essence wasn’t "matter" but a transmutation of the "source."
That’s why they were so convenient to use as Array Materials, with no major hidden dangers.
But for someone to just pick it up was another matter entirely.
Soon, another four or five people arrived!
Like the person from before, they didn’t enter but concealed themselves around the perimeter of residence number 14.
Combined with Ye Qingyao’s group on the first floor, who were up to who-knows-what, the entire villa had become extremely lively!
Yang Shen said to Xu Bamboo, "I’ve asked you several times already, are you sure your family doesn’t have any enemies? This looks an awful lot like we’re being surrounded."
Xu Bamboo’s face grew cold. "We really don’t... At least, none that I know of. This is bad... Mom is in danger!"
Even now, her first thought was to worry about her mother.
As she spoke, she threw on a tracksuit and took her longsword down from the wall.
Yang Shen sighed. In his opinion, the best way to handle this was probably to:
’ignore Ye Qingyao downstairs and just focus on keeping Zhuzi and myself safe. If Ye Qingyao croaks, everyone’s happy!’
’Of course, it would be even more wonderful if this happened after the college entrance exams.’
But he couldn’t say that out loud. Right now, Xu Bamboo would never... just stand by and watch Ye Qingyao die.
Yang Shen pulled out his phone. "Alright, I’ll call the police first."
As a model Yanhua high school student with a triple-kill record, he knew how to make full use of police support in special situations.
He wasn’t like those ancient Knights of Yanhua who would just charge in headfirst whenever they ran into trouble.
But as soon as Yang Shen lit up his screen, he watched the full signal bars visibly decrease until he had no signal at all.
’These guys are this professional? They’re definitely not your average petty thieves.’
’Looks like it’s time to get serious!’
Yang Shen raised his hand, and a black substance coalesced in his palm, forming a full-face black mask with menacing, curved horns and a streamlined design.
Mysterious and dangerous.
Yang Shen placed the helmet over his face.
This was Xu Bamboo’s home, and the intruders had come for them, so Xu Bamboo didn’t need to hide her identity.
Yang Shen was different. He wasn’t sure who these people outside were, but there was no need to show his face.
This wasn’t out of fear, but to create an information imbalance—"the enemy in the light, me in the dark."
It would be highly convenient for any post-incident investigations or cleanup.
Yang Shen took off his shirt, revealing a powerful upper body with sharply defined muscles. Combined with the bizarre black helmet, he looked like a vengeful demon from hell.
"You go find your mother first. I’ll watch your back and jump in when needed."
Xu Bamboo nodded. Yang Shen had just revealed abilities she had never seen before, but this was not the time to talk about it.
This was also a sign of Yang Shen’s trust in her.
But before leaving, something occurred to Xu Bamboo. She rummaged through her closet, found a winter scarf, and draped it around Yang Shen’s neck.
"I don’t know if I’m just seeing things, but even with the helmet on, you still look familiar. Put this on!"
The jet-black, streamlined helmet, paired with a long red scarf, could conceal his physical features even more.
It also made him look more mysterious and strange.
And in just those few seconds, within the Array, the six people surrounding building 14 began to move...
On the first floor, in the training room.
The Black Doctor and Black Nurse had already completed the initial preparations for the surgery.
A simple, foldable surgical chair was unfolded, and a cart was neatly arranged with various scalpels and sterilization tools.
Jin Wu said to Ye Qingyao, "President Ye, we’re about ready. You can go get your daughter now."
Ye Qingyao nodded. "I remember you said it would take effect a week after implantation, right?"
"Correct, but she’ll need to go through one menstrual cycle..."
Ye Qingyao: "That’s fine. Medicine can take care of minor things like that."
Just then, Jin Wu, who had a higher Martial Arts Realm, sensed something and immediately looked out the window with alarm.
"Who?! Who’s there!"
Jin Wu’s realm wasn’t actually low. In the Martial Arts Society, the entire education and talent selection system was designed to screen for outstanding Martial Arts Practitioners.
To get ahead, you didn’t have to be a great fighter. After all, many people would go their whole lives without ever being in a real battle, just like a liberal arts major might never actually need to write a book.
Jin Wu was born into a Medical Family and had graduated from a proper Martial Arts University. But in the decades since, he had only focused on health preservation, not Body Forging. He maintained a basic realm by relying on his wealth, but that was all.
There was a derogatory term in society for such Martial Artists: broiler chickens. Chen Beiwang was one such Martial Artist, and so was Jin Wu.
Just as Chen Beiwang had said, unless their job was directly related to it, the peak of most people’s Martial Arts ability was the eve of their graduation.
Jin Wu sensed a disturbance outside the window and looked over warily.
But what he saw were insects...
So many insects! A teeming swarm that quickly covered the entire window.
If he wasn’t mistaken, every single window was probably covered, blocking their view of the outside world.
He immediately understood. "Fuck! It’s Witchcraft!"
Without the slightest intention of putting up a fight, his first instinct was to pull out his phone to call the police, only to find he had no signal.
A chill ran down his spine...
Ye Qingyao was even more panicked than he was. Realizing what was happening, she shrieked, "You! You bastard! You led those people here!"
The Black Doctor and Black Nurse were completely stunned.
Ye Qingyao immediately tried to flee, screaming, "Xu Bamboo! Xu Bamboo! Come save me!"
The main door had been pried open at some point. Two people stood outside, both wearing tracksuits, masks, and baseball caps.
The alarm hadn’t gone off at all, though it would have been meaningless even if it had...
Ye Qingyao was scared out of her wits.
"Xu Bamboo! Xu Bamboo!!!"
"Mom, look out!"
Wielding her longsword, Xu Bamboo leaped down from the stairs, holding the blade horizontally in front of her to shield her mother.
But Ye Qingyao reacted quickly, turning around and running back upstairs, leaving her daughter behind.
She had a safe room in her bedroom—or rather, a large, heavy-duty safe with its own ventilation system. As long as she could hide inside, she would be safe for a while.
Although it had many disadvantages in practice—for example, there were a hundred ways to kill someone inside through the ventilation shaft, and it was no different from being paper-mâché in front of a true expert—it was still standard equipment for a small segment of the "rich but powerless."
Xu Bamboo was anxious, but she couldn’t turn her back on the enemies to chase after her mother. She could only watch the two people at the door warily.
Ye Qingyao ran upstairs and was about to rush into her bedroom when she began to back away, step by step.
Because at the end of the hallway stood an even stranger person.
He was bare-chested, his face obscured by a menacing black helmet, with a bright red scarf hanging down his back.
Ye Qingyao immediately turned and ran in the opposite direction, only to find her path blocked again.
A young woman with vacant eyes, wearing an unbranded tracksuit, had climbed in through the window.
Ye Qingyao’s legs gave out. Trapped from both front and back, she was utterly at a loss.
==Portal==
[Monthly Ticket]