Chapter 245: Patching Up The Formation
When he heard those words, Jiang Shuxuan was taken aback. The corner of his lips turned downwards, though it was gone as soon as it appeared.
In regards to Gu Xiqiao’s whereabouts, he only pinpointed that she was in N City, but he didn’t know what she was up to. However, he didn’t have any intention of telling that to Yi Tong. Seeing that Yi Tong didn’t have anything else to report, he raised his hand to hang up the call, looking unusually calm.
“Hey, Boss! Wait a minute!” Yi Tong realized that Jiang Shuxuan was going to hang up for real, and he immediately collected himself. “Miss Cecily and Mr. Ying are gone.”
“Gone?” Jiang Shuxuan’s fingers halted, and his brows furrowed.
Yi Tong was slightly concerned as he continued, “We made an appointment to meet here, but I haven’t seen a hair of them until now.”
Jiang Shuxuan nodded, indicating that he understood, and hung up the video call.
Yi Bing hurried stepped forward to show him a message that he just received. “Boss, Miss Cecily has just sent a message asking for help. The signal isn’t strong, but we can probably pinpoint a location.”
Jiang Shuxuan gave a glance at it, and said lightly, “Send it to Yi Tong.”
“We’re not going to save her?” Yi Bing asked, his eyes wide.
“No.” Jiang Shuxun lowered his eyes, looking away and heading towards the top of the mountain.
Yi Bing almost choked on his saliva over the shock, and he mulled over Jiang Shuxuan’s words for a while, trying to decipher whether there was any hidden meaning behind it. Finally, he sent the coordinates to Yi Tong, and added: Yi Tong, don’t say that I didn’t remind you. If you get into trouble, go and find Miss Gu!
After receiving the coordinates from Yi Bing, he waved his hand in a wide arc, signaling to the big group that he was leading to head deeper into the mountain.
“Yi Tong, we’re not going to greet Miss Gu?” Jiu Tong said as he turned to look at the thin, slender figure.
Yi Tong didn’t reply, nor did he turn back. He fiddled a little with the compass in hand after about ten steps, before he replied, “No need, she knows we’re here.”
“She does?” Jiu Tong couldn’t help but turn his head again. “She seems to be concentrated on painting, and doesn’t seem like she noticed her surroundings, or us.”
“Are you nuts?” Yi Tong glanced at Jiu Tong, looking at him like he was the dumbest idiot in the world. “Miss Gu has such powerful mental strength, everything within ten miles of her wouldn’t escape her, and you still think she uses only her eyes to see us? Do you think she’s weak like a chicken, like you?”
Jiu Tong was silent after that, recalling how the cave had disappeared into thin air the other day. He shook his head, wiping the expression off his face, no longer feeling any doubt at Yi Tong’s words.
Three minutes later, he finally realized what the other had said about him. “… Are you trying to pick a fight with me, Yi Tong!”
Yi Tong: … This complete idiot!
***
“Sister Gu, those people are weird. They keep turning to look at you.” Shi Tou sat beside Jiji, staring hard at it while he spoke.
Gu Xiqiao raised her head, looking at him. “Those people?”
Shi Tou pointed to Yi Tong and the others who were leaving. “Those.”
“How can you see them?” Gu Xiqiao was surprised, Yi Tong and the others were at least two kilometers away from where they were seated, how could Shi Tou see them? Was his eyesight so great?
Shi Tou said slowly, “Jiji showed me.”
Gu Xiqiao lowered her head, seeing Jiji raise its mechanical hand, a display on its palm. This had been specially installed by Gu Xiqiao, and you could see the group of people leaving on the screen, being led by Yi Tong, as well as Jiu Tong, who kept turning to look back at Gu Xiqiao who was drawing.
Hearing Shi Tou’s words, Jiji glared with its mechanical eyes. “Don’t call me Jiji, call me Master System.”
Shi Tou: “Understood, Jiji.”
At this time, a middle-aged man holding a basket of vegetables saw them, and greeted, “Good morning, Miss Gu, Shi Tou, Master Jiji. Miss Gu, Manager Liu is looking everywhere for you.”
Jiji: “… !” I said don’t call me Jiji!
Jiji, who had been happily playing with Shi Tou suddenly stopped, turning to Gu Xiqiao and said, “Beauty Qiao, someone has touched your formation.”
Gu Xiqiao packed away her drawing things, and got up to head into the village. “Don’t bother, let’s go find Manager Liu.”
***
At the same time, Yi Tong had already reached the coordinates that he had received from Yi Bing. However, all he could see were trees in the deep mountain, and no sight of a single person.
“It should be here, according to this. Why is there no fluctuation of chi or anything?” He fiddled with the compass again, walking a circle, but there weren’t any clues to be found.
“Could it be that there’s an array?” Jiu Tong said. “San Tong, you’ve researched this matter, go and see if there’s anything that’s unusual around here!”
San Tong stared at the vast mountain forest ahead of them. After a long while, he reached out to pick up a stone from the ground, and threw it in a direction. The stone disappeared out of thin air, and his expression was surprised. “There’s an array here, for sure. But there’s no trace of it at all, and I’ve never seen this happen before!”
In regards to formations masters in the ancient martial arts world, the Baili family would definitely take the top spot. However, no matter how formidable they were, their formations still had traces that could be spotted, which can be seen through fluctuations of energies. He had never seen this kind of formation, where no fluctuation could be felt nor seen, as though it had been completely hidden!
If it was any other time, he would be enthusiastic and spend a lot of time studying it, however he had to resist the urge due to the situation on hand.
“I’ll ask Young Master Baili about it.” San Tong said, picking up his communicator to contact said person.
Baili Bin was a recognized formation genius in the ancient martial arts world, and San Tong admired him greatly.
Yi Tong saw San Tong’s solemn state, and knew that things weren’t that simple. Their small team had been established for so many years, and this was the first time he had seen such a look on San Tong’s face.
Baili Bin’s voice came through soon enough, and San Tong briefed him on the happenings.
“This formation composes of nine different formations linked together in a chain, each of them connected to the next one.” Baili Bin’s voice was grave. “I’ve read about it before in an ancient text, regarding how to hide all traces of a formation. This method is recorded in the ancient texts, and I’m guessing it’s a formation left behind by an ancient warrior. Don’t do anything rash, San Tong. Wait for me to come!”
Yi Tong looked at the disappearing trees in front of them, and he muttered under his breath, “… too late.”
They had already fallen into the trap.
The golden-haired Cecily was sitting on the ground, meditating. Her clothes and hair were in a mess, and when she saw Yi Tong, she got up immediately. Even though she had fallen into such a place, there was no fear on her face at all. “Was what Baili Bin said true?”
At the same time, Ying Xu and the others who were sitting a little way off also stood. He stared at Yi Tong for a long while, before opening his mouth, “Mr. Yi Tong, so you all have also fallen into the trap.”
Among the people in the formation group, apart from Ying Xu, their clothes and state had seen better days.
“Not out of your expectations, Young Master Ying.” Yi Tong nodded his head, then looked down at the communicator that had lost its signal.
“Mr. Yi Tong, the other communicators are useless in this place.” Cecily stored over, her red skirt swaying in motion with her hips. She took out her own communicator, handing it to him. “Only mine is able to contact the outside world, try and see if you’re able to get hold of Young Master Jiang.”
“As expected, the technology of America is good.” A flat-headed man beside Ying Xu remarked, looking at his own completely useless phone. “Any sort of communication device is useless in this place.”
Yi Tong glanced at the communicator in Cecily’s hands, and he asked, “Miss Cecily, this communicator was given to you by the elder, right?”
Cecily nodded. “Yes, it’s good.”
“Jiu Tong, get your communicator out,” Yi Tong said with a matter of fact expression.
Jiu Tong took out his treasured communicator and passed it to Yi Tong.
After taking it in his hands, he immediately gave a call to Yi Bing. The call went through immediately, and not only that, it was a video call that wasn’t affected in the slightest by the signal problem. “Oh Yi Bing, we’re all stuck in this d*mned place now!”
“Boss said find your own way out.” Yi Bing said sympathetically, before hanging up the call.
Cecily looked at the communicator in Yi Tong’s hands. “Your communicator is clearly better.”
“Of course, this is a product of Nine Heavens. Miss Cecily, the one in your hand is also one.” Yi Tong paused for a while, then continued, “But the R&D department of Nine Heavens produced only twenty units before feeling that it wasn’t worth their time, and went to continue their research on the virtual world instead. They stopped producing it after that.” He had never seen such a company before.
Cecily: “…”
Ying Xu looked up in a direction suddenly, and said, “It’s coming.”
“What’s coming?”
“A killing formation. This time it’s even stronger,” Ying Xu said, a serious expression on his face. “If we follow what Baili said, this is the ninth array since we came in, which is also the last. We might not make it through this.”
As soon as he said it, the faces of his subordinates and Cecily changed. They had been in this d*mned place for the entire night. The first formation had not affected them much, but there was a wave every two hours, and each one was more terrifying than the previous ones. If it wasn’t for Ying Xu’s guidance, they would have already been killed by the waves.
“Everyone, follow behind me!” Ying Xu suddenly shouted, retreating back quickly.
Yi Tong and the others quickly followed his instruction, following behind him tightly. A sea of fire suddenly appeared in the center of the area with heat surging in the air.
“Don’t get close to the fire! It’s a beast fire!” Yi Tong had seen Xixi breathe fire before, and whatever it hit, whether it was mountains or rocks, instantly became soot. The fire he was seeing now was similar to Xixi’s.
A sea of fire, turbulent winds, and even spatial cracks followed one after another.
Ying Xu looked at the space above the sea of fire that had the spatial crack, and it was still expanding. The aura it exuded felt as though it was swallowing them, and if anyone touched it, they would be shattered immediately!
“What do we do now, Mr. Ying?” Cecily and Yi Tong stood at his side, doing their best to hold back the heatwave.
The protection treasures that everyone else carried were taken out and used, their life depending on it. If now wasn’t the time to use it, then when would it be?
“Using heaven and earth as the medium, we can only… give up our life as sacrifice to the heavens,” Ying Xu said as he slowly approached the ever-expanding spatial crack.
***
“Miss Gu, the profit statements are all here. Do you want to have a look at it?” Manager Liu said respectfully, handing the report to Gu Xiqiao.
Gu Xiqiao took it, and just as she was halfway through it, she suddenly raised her head.
“What’s wrong, Miss Gu?” Manager Liu thought that something was wrong with the accounts, and he asked in a hurry.
“It’s nothing. I need to go out for a while, I’ll be back later at night.” Gu Xiqiao walked to the bathroom after saying that. The moment the door closed, her entire person vanished.
The next second, she appeared beside the spatial crack.
“Watch out!” Ying Xu was holding a dagger, blood flowing down his arm. When he saw the person appear, his eyes widened with surprise.
Yi Tong’s eyes widened when he saw who it was. “Miss Gu, hurry and dodge!” He was dead, he had cursed himself when he mentioned Miss Gu just now, and if something really did happen to her, Boss Jiang would definitely skin him and cut him to pieces! He’d even raise him from the dead to do it if he didn’t survive this!
But in the next moment, he took a breath of relief.
The person in the air stood calmly, her black hair flowing down her back like a waterfall, and a cold glint in her eyes. She raised her hand, the white slender contrasting against the dark, black cracks.
The scorching heat came wave after wave, but it didn’t seem to affect her at all.
Yi Tong and his team felt like they would never forget this scene. That slender hand grabbed the crack in the space, and closed it up with her bare hands. The crack that seemed to shatter everything it touched had no effect on her.
The method she used was simple and rough.
“Oh Yi Tong, I think I’m still not awake,” Jiu Tong said, his voice low.
Yi Tong took another deep breath. “That was more powerful.”
“Don’t be stunned there, hurry and go.” Gu Xiqiao pointed in the direction of the door, her voice indifferent.
San Tong tried, he really did try to hold it in, but in the end, he couldn’t. “Miss Gu, was this formation your work? If it is, it’s extremely terrifying!”
“It’s not.” Gu Xiqiao shook her head.
Hearing those words, San Tong breathed a sigh of relief. Before he could finish breathing though, Gu Xiqiao continued, “This was an incomplete formation left behind by an ancient warrior. I patched it up, and was using it to hold people in. I didn’t expect you guys to enter this place by mistake. Entering was one thing, but you didn’t even manage to get out either.”
There was a disappointed look on Gu Xiqiao’s face as she said this.
San Tong suddenly halted in his steps, his hands trembling to the point that he couldn’t get any words out of his mouth. What the flying f*ck, patching up an incomplete formation was even more terrifying, okay?!
Chapter 246: She Blocked Me
No one here knew more about formations than San Tong, and it was why he was also the most aware of how terrifying Gu Xiqiao was.
A formation left behind by an ancient warrior, and she was able to ‘patch it up’? Was that even possible?! San Tong looked back to find that the formation had once again disappeared into thin air, and he shook his head, wiping the expression of his face. He sent a message to Yi Bing—[Yi Bing, I don’t want to live anymore!]
Cecily also wiped the expression of her face, and she walked to Gu Xiqiao’s side, her blue eyes full of wonder. “This miss, are you from the Baili family? I’ve long heard of how their skills in formations are top notch and incomparable, and it looks like it’s true.”
“I’m not.” Gu Xiqiao shook her head. “But I’m acquainted with Big Brother Baili.”
“No wonder.” Cecily smiled brightly, and she stretched her hand out to Gu Xiqiao. “Nice to meet you, my name is Cecily. I’m from America’s supernatural world.”
“Gu Xiqiao.” Gu Xiqiao stretched out her left hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Which floor have you reached in the Trial Tower, Miss Gu?” Cecily asked suddenly. “I heard that that little demon girl, Jiang Tong, has already reached the 62nd floor. You shouldn’t be that far off from her, right?”
Gu Xiqiao smiled faintly. “I’m not from the ancient martial arts world. I only did some research on formations.”
Cecily’s eyes widened comically. “Not from the ancient martial arts world?” The scene of Gu Xiqiao using her bare hands to close the spatial crack flashed through her mind again as she said this.
Excuse me?
Gu Xiqiao was calm as she continued, “I was the one who patched up the formation just now, Miss Cecily. That’s the reason I was able to easily control it.”
Hearing the explanation, Cecily nodded her head in stunned shock. “Ah, I see.”
San Tong watched as Gu Xiqiao lied through her teeth with a straight face, and the corners of his mouth twitched. He sympathized with Cecily. Gu Xiqiao was never one to pull punches when it came to cheating. She had a pure and serious appearance, one that made it hard for people to doubt her words.
“Thank you again, Mr. Ying.” Cecily turned to him. “I didn’t expect a regular person like yourself to be able to see through the formation. As expected, China sure is full of talented people.”
Ying Xu glanced at Gu Xiqiao, who was still standing behind, and he smiled. “I also know Baili.”
Cecily: “…”
“Where do you live, Miss Gu?” Yi Tong was tinkering with his compass again. “We’re going to be here a while, is there a bigger place to live in?”
“How long will you be staying?” Gu Xiqiao asked.
Yi Tong thought about it for a few seconds, and replied, “Not more than a week.”
Gu Xiqiao blinked, and thought a while. “It’s about there then. Jiji, bring Mr. Yi Tong to meet Manager Liu.”
It’s about there? What’s about there? Yi Tong was confused, and then he was startled out of it by the sound of a mechanical voice.
“Alright, Beauty Gu.” A robot appeared in front of them suddenly. “Please come this way.”
“A robot?” The flat headed youth beside Ying Xu jumped in surprised.
There was a complicated look on Yi Tong’s face as he followed behind the robot, why did Miss Gu have so many weird things at her side?
Cecily just looked at Gu Xiqiao’s figure thoughtfully, she could feel the respect that Yi Tong and the rest gave Gu Xiqiao. It seemed that they… really listened to her every word?
It could be her overthinking it, right? Yi Tong and the rest only listened to Jiang Shuxuan’s orders after all.
Cecily’s brows furrowed slightly, but she was quickly pulled out of her thoughts by the scenery around her.
Jiji was taking the lead, and it suddenly seemed like it remembered something. It opened the steel lid on its chest, taking out a small white bottle and throwing it to Ying Xu. “Beauty Gu asked me to give this to you as the wound on your hand is deep. If you treat it now, it will affect the mobility of your hand.”
“Thank you.” Ying Xu took a while to react as he glanced at his wrist that had been hastily bandaged.
He never imagined that Gu Xiqiao would pay much concern to his hand.
Hearing Jiji’s words, Yi Tong also looked at Ying Xu’s hand. “Young Master Ying, are you alright?”
“I’m fine.” Ying Xu grasped the bottle in his hand, lowering his head.
“With Miss Gu around, everything will be fine!” One of Ying Xu’s subordinates said. They had all seen Gu Xiqiao’s superb medical skills before.
Yi Tong: … you guys really believe that scam?
Everyone followed Jiji to the village, and they were surprised as they walked. The roads in the village were well developed, with cars coming and going. Every house in the village were three-story bungalows, and the nearby mountains had been designed to be tourist spots.
How could this be a remote village, it was clearly even fancier than those cities!
***
In Manager Liu’s office, Jiji knocked on the door before going in. “Manager Liu, these people need a place to stay.”
“Hello, please come in.” Manager Liu put down the papers in hand, and then took a stack of documents, handing them to Jiji. “Master Jiji, these are the company’s previous quarter earnings. Miss Gu didn’t manage to finish reading them.”
“Alright, I understand.” Jiji took the documents, and turned around to leave, but Manager Liu called it.
Manager Liu adjusted his glasses. “Master Jiji, Mr. Yu Ning called just now. He asked for Miss Gu to remove him from her blacklist, he has important things to tell her.”
Jiji: “… I’ll try.”
Hearing the conversation between man and robot, the corner of the mouth of the people present couldn’t help but twitch slightly. Yi Tong took the initiative to strike up the conversation again, “Manager Liu, what is your relationship with Miss Gu?”
“Boss-subordinate.” Manager Liu said, smiling brightly.
As expected! Yi Tong face palmed internally, he knew it!
Cecily was also shocked. “I didn’t expect such a young person like Miss Gu to have such a big company.” But she was only shocked for a while. It was just a business in the regular world after all, she wasn’t interested in it at all.
Yi Tong glanced at her, silently thinking in his heart, ‘This doesn’t even count as anything. If you knew that the entire Nine Heavens belong to her, you’d go nuts!’
It wasn’t peak season for tourists, but there were still a lot of people who came here for their vacations. There were also a lot of foreigners who came here especially for the place.
Ying Xu stood in front of the entrance, looking at the bold, striking characters above it “Shan Sui Xiao Zhu”.
The strokes were sharp, and the words were slightly slanted. It reminded him of a dragon flying into the sky, coming from nothingness and returning to the void. Under the noon sun, it was brilliantly radiant.
“This was written by Miss Gu the day before yesterday,” Manager Liu explained when he saw Ying Xu looking up. “She said that the company name doesn’t match our temperament here, and so she wrote these words. I immediately got someone to make it into a plate and hang it up yesterday.”
Ying Xu stared at it for a long time, before finally saying, “Good words.”
“That it is, and the calligraphy is well written.” Cecily didn’t understand the Chinese characters, but she could feel the confidence and willfulness radiating from the words.
The group of people followed Manager Liu all the way inside. Ying Xu looked at the wound on his wrist that had begun to scab over. He didn’t remove the bandage, but followed after the others after looking at it for a while.
***
At this time, Gu Xiqiao was sitting with Shi Tou at the side of the river, fishing.
Baixing Village has turned completely into a large scale tourist fishing village. There were a lot of people fishing by the riverside, and Gu Xiqiao was even earnestly wearing a fishing hat on her head.
Shi Tou held the game console that Gu Xiqiao had gotten for him out to her. “Sister Little Gu, I can’t pass this stage.”
Gu Xiqiao was leaning back on the chair, and she didn’t raise her head at his words. “Ask Jiji to teach you.”
“But Jiji isn’t here.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Jiji suddenly popped out of nowhere.
“Beauty Qiao, Yu Ning is looking for you.” Jiji took the game console from Shi Tou’s hands, and passed the level with the speed of a robot. Shi Tou’s eyes lit up with worship and admiration at that. “Zhu Yuan is also looking for you. Professor Jiang even gave Master Jiang a call.”
Gu Xiqiao: “…” Why did he call Brother Jiang? And then she realized that in the column of the form for ‘parents’, she had filled in Jiang Shuxuan’s name. 囧
Jiji glanced at her. “Give Zhu Yuan a call if you’re free, he’s going crazy.”
“I hold long grudges.” Gu Xiqiao said, straightening up.
Jiji: “…” Zhu Yuan, I tried! Can’t help you anymore!
Gu Xiqiao relaxed in Baixing Village, completely ignoring the happenings of the outside world, which was blowing up.
***
The international medical exchange that was held once every five years had begun, and people from the international medical organizations would take out their best research to participate in this meeting. This is an opportunity to learn and experience, and it was also an opportunity for the countries to showcase their medical skills. It was also a time where people took the chance to try to be famous and well known.
For example, Zhu Yuan. He became well known when he was in his junior year five years ago.
The recent medical breakthrough by China was too big, especially since they had also a new lab done for this, which made people of the International Medical Research Association jealous. They had all thought that China would definitely send someone with talent to attend.
They didn’t expect that not a single from China was present.
“I’m sure they’re afraid after seeing how good our research and brains are,” The president of the International Medical Organization said, a relaxed smile on his face. The young girl that recently appeared had backed them all into a tight corner, and they were only able to breathe easy at this moment, “We’ve got research done by dozens of the top international doctors, how can one person be compared to all of this?”
“What you said it true, president”
“After today, those that went to China’s medical labs will regret it, the technology that we have is way more advanced than theirs.” The other nodded in agreement to these words.
These people were chatting easily with each other, and not a while later, they all received a message.
The City Court of N City had just released an announcement, a video, as usual, together with a commentary.
The explanations in the commentary were full of jargons, and it was all in Chinese. Even Chinese people had a hard time understanding it.
However, the cases mentioned in the video were all understood by the people in the international medical organization. It was regarding the research on humans in vegetative state, and every viewpoint was new and novel. The research on it was unprecedented in the entire medical history.
The idea was bold and forward, the explanation in writing was detailed without the slightest hint of omission of the research, as though they weren’t afraid that someone could steal the fruits of this research.
At the end of the news announcement, they said, “Miss Gu is right, medicine exists to save those who are on the verge of suffering. There are so many people in the world, and what we can do, is to research from every possible angle to help release people from the sea of suffering.”
The president of the International Medical Organization looked at the research. He had initially thought that the research of him and the dozen of top international doctors that they had done with countless sleepless nights were already shocking enough, he didn’t expect that China would so easily throw out another research that would make all their own research topic look like nothing.
“This… how long has it been?” A doctor from England was also in a state of shock.
“This time, China…”
“Why don’t these people belong to America?”
After the cell fusion matter, they had thought that no matter how much of a genius Gu Xiqiao was, she wouldn’t be able to create another shocking wave. Unexpectedly, the wave came one after another.
The doctors all looked at the translation of the results of the research, all of them in various different states of shock. If it was just the cell fusion research, just one, they could have accepted it. But this had only been a few months since then, right? Also, the research that the China Medical Laboratory kept pulling out was more and more impossible to comprehend. This is already beyond the entire world’s medical level, right?!
Many of the doctors were silent in the exchange meeting, the main reason being that this matter had far surpassed their imagination, and was borderline horrifying in their minds. Gu Xiqiao’s performance was just too terrifying, was it even possible for a person’s intelligence to reach this stage?
Oh my god!
“President, I’ll take my leave.”
“President, I will abstain from the exchange this time…”
The president waved his hand, letting all of them leave. He then looked at the assistant beside him, and took a deep breath before saying, “This Gu Xiqiao… the wave that Zhu Yuan had made the last time wasn’t this shocking either, was it?” He was already at a loss for words. “Go and buy me a flight ticket to China, the earlier the better.”
This was more terrifying than that d*mned Zhu Yuan.
The news announced by China spread like wildfire to every person in the medical field, and at the same time, countless top, well-renowned doctors were making their way to the Imperial Capital in a rush.
***
At A University, Zhu Yuan looked up blankly. “She blocked me.”
“What did you do to her this time?” Professor Jiang stomped his feet anxiously. “She even sent me a text the other day, saying that she wants to change her major!”
Zhu Yuan: “…” Motherf*cker this Gu Xiqiao, throwing him into an early grave like this?!
Chapter 247: Hacked
Zhu Yuan knew that Gu Xiqiao had Nine Heavens to manage, and how important Nine Heavens’ position in the financial world was at the moment. She could throw the Chinese Medical Research Laboratory to one side, but she couldn’t not bother about the Nine Heavens, right?
So when he was able to locate Nine Heaven’s headquarters, he was stunned by what he found. The employees in the company were all active and enthusiastic at their work, the complete opposite of that lazy attitude of hers, and they were extremely passionate about their work.
When he understood the reason for Zhu Yuan’s presence, Luo Wenlang laughed. “Miss Gu probably found something new to play with, you’re better off just leaving her alone and waiting for her to find you instead.”
“She doesn’t manage Nine Heavens personally… She doesn’t care?” Zhu Yuan asked, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s not that she doesn’t care, she delegates,” Luo Wenlang explained, going silent for a while after he said that. He continued earnestly, “I know about the Chinese Medical Research Lab, but Mr. Zhu, a lab isn’t made and supported by just a single person. I think Miss Gu’s actions are a way to show that she hopes that even without her in the lab, it will be able to function on its own, just the same as Nine Heavens.”
Zhu Yuan was taken aback for a moment, and came to realize that he had indeed been relying on Gu Xiqiao a lot in the recent days. Because no matter what problems they encountered, she would always be able to solve it easily and perfectly. It came to a point that he, Professor Jiang and the others had the habit of relying on her to solve their problems.
“I understand.” Zhu Yuan stood up. “Thank you, Mr. Luo.”
“Miss Gu isn’t an irresponsible person, but she’s just afraid of troublesome things.” Luo Wenlang said, gesturing to the news that was on screen. “There are countless people in the medical world, as well as reporters looking for her, can you blame her for wanting to hide?”
The secretary knocked on the door, bringing in a large stack of documents, which Luo Wenlang passed to Zhu Yuan. “These are the things that Miss Gu passed me this afternoon. I actually didn’t understand why she would, until you turned up.”
Zhu Yuan took it, and read through the first one on top. It was a plan written by Gu Xiqiao regarding the next development of the laboratory. He opened his mouth, asking blankly, “Why… why didn’t she just send it directly to me?” Also, how did she know that he would come looking for Luo Wenlang?
“Have you angered her recently?” Luo Wenlang glanced at him, an understanding smile on his lips.
Zhu Yuan: “…”
***
Yi Tong walked around the resort, and asked, “Manager Liu, have there been any strange people appearing recently?”
“Strange people?” Manager Liu’s face was still his usual, only his eyes flickered with an unknown emotion, and he said, “Yes, there were. However, all of them have been rounded up by Miss Gu.” He tried to calm his heart which was beating fast in his chest.
“What does that mean?” Yi Tong asked, looking up in surprise. However, Manager Liu refused to say anything more on the subject.
“Mr. Yi Tong, the rooms you’ll be staying in are in this building” Manager Liu smiled, pointing to the building in front of him. “There are a lot of fun things to do on the rooftop, I wish you a pleasant stay.”
After an entire day of trying to pull some information out, Yi Tong’s mind was in a mess. Why were all the people here so sly and cunning!
“Yi Tong,” Cecily fiddled with her seaweed-like hair as she slowly walked towards him, a glint of interest in her eyes. “I found an interesting place.”
The interesting place that Cecily was talking about was a flat mountain by the creek. The ground was flat, and a group of young men were training. There were also a few girls among them.
“This is…” Yi Tong was stunned.
“That’s right, when they’re training, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth are also moving.” Cecily sighed in slight admiration. “This must be an extremely powerful technique. I don’t know where they learned1 it from, but your ancient martial arts world has really opened my eyes.”
Yi Tong was speechless, his eyes still on those people who were training, unblinking.
“Yi Tong, captain!” Jiu Tong called out from somewhere not too far off from the mountain. “I found that group of people!”
“Where?” Yi Tong snapped back immediately. He had thought that Gu Xiqiao would have done away with them already, but he didn’t expect Jiu Tong to be able to locate those thugs.
Cecily’s expression also changed. “There are too many civilians nearby, let’s evacuate them to avoid any casualties.”
“It’s just behind the hill.” Jiu Tong pointed at the hill behind them. “Look.”
Cecily and Yi Tong rushed over, and at a glance, they were able to see the people that Jiu Tong had mentioned. Ten fierce and malicious men were there, but the difference between the ones that they had previously seen were the obviously evil spirits that radiated heavily from them, sending a stab of fear into anyone who looked at them.
“They’re trapped in a formation.” San Tong said, coming from the side. He walked around the group of people.
No wonder the compass didn’t react even though something had happened here, it turned out that they had been trapped here.
How could Yi Tong and the others not know the handiwork of Gu Xiqiao when they saw it? “What is she planning to do?”
“Look at that.” Jiu Tong didn’t answer, pointing in another direction.
The group of people who had been training were lining up, and walking towards the area. When they saw Yi Tong and the others, they didn’t look surprised, but instead headed towards the formation.
Cecily’s face was grave as she stopped the woman leading them. “Don’t go over there, it’s dangerous!”
The woman laughed lightly at Cecily, and said, “We have a chance at it.”
“You have a chance?!” Cecily grabbed the woman’s shoulder, saying slowly to emphasize on her words, “What kind of chances do you have? Those people are irrational cannibals, you will lose your life at this rate!”
“Miss Cecily.” Yi Tong finally reacted, pulling Cecily away as he shook his head.
This attitude of his made Cecily feel even more astonished, and she hurriedly said, “Yi Tong, you’ve encountered these people before, how can you…”
Yi Tong looked at the figure that was walking slowly towards them. “Miss Gu is here.”
Cecily obviously had also seen the mentioned person, and she was walking towards the large open space with a relaxed expression on her face. The group of malicious people were standing opposite her.
The group of people who had been training were standing behind her, and shouted in unison, “Miss Gu.”
Gu Xiqiao looked at them, nodding her head. “This is the first actual combat experience. Because of geographical problems, I can only find you these people to train with. You will be the second Peace Squad team, I hope that you can grow stronger, strong enough to protect people a hundred miles away.”
Although her tone was indifferent, it constrained a heart-pounding fighting spirit. The words spread to everyone’s ears, and their spirits were high as they became even more eager to try out a real fight.
Gu Xiqiao didn’t bother talking any more than necessary, and she raised her hand, breaking the formation. The ten dangerous men burst out immediately.
Gu Xiqiao narrowed her eyes, kicking one of them to the people behind her. At the same time, the other nine were firmly held in the same place they were standing.
She was a picture of a terrifying demon, a palm on the evil man closest to her, while her other had purple lightning crackling, throwing the other thug who had approached the Peace Squad down heavily to the ground.
She looked like she was having a leisurely walk in the park, wandering among the nine men. The mobs that even Yi Tong had problems handling were like playthings in her hands.
As she played around with the nine men, she watched the team of people, seeing that they had adapted to their previous inability to subdue the man from beginning to now. It looked like her two day training had worked, these people were already working seamlessly as a team.
When they looked comfortable dealing with the man, Gu Xiqiao let loose another bolt of lightning at the right time.
Yi Tong and his people watched as this group of people scrambled for what to do in the beginning when dealing with one thug, to work seamlessly at dealing five of the thugs at the same time. The difference between this only took about half an hour.
“Yi Tong, I finally know why the Peace Squad is crazy.” Jiu Tong was staring at the scene, a blank look on his face. “Really, I suddenly feel an unexplainable jealousy towards them!”
Miss Gu had taught them wholeheartedly, putting all her effort in it, and coupled together with some top level exercises and techniques, even an ordinary person could become a master.
Yi Tong had recovered from his shock, nodding slowly at Jiu Tong’s words. He obviously agreed with the other’s statement.
Being able to provoke the many elders from the ancient martial arts world, this Peace Squad really was abnormal!
“This is Miss Gu?” Cecily was also in stunned shock, unconsciously holding her breath as she watched anxiously. She finally remembered to breathe, letting out a long breath. “Why didn’t we see any sign of her in the ranking battles three years ago?”
Cecily was asking herself. She could beat these ten men by herself, but she could never do it as easy as Gu Xiqiao made it seem, which was just like playing.
She had thought the only obstacle she would have was Jiang Tong, but she never imagined that she would meet this mysterious girl, and she couldn’t even gauge the extent of power of the girl in front of her.
One hour later, the group of people had already faced down all ten of the men, and had even beaten them down to the ground.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The sounds just kept ringing out.
Yi Tong’s teeth were hurting from all the sound they were hearing. F*ck, that’s also a little too much, right?!
Once she felt it was enough, Gu Xiqiao raised her hand. “Alright, that’s the end of today’s training. Go back and rest.”
The team kicked the thugs one last time before bidding Gu Xiqiao farewell, turning to walk towards the resort as they chatted among each other.
At their backs, Yi Tong and the others were staring at them with admiration, envy, as well as hatred in their eyes. Their gaze was so intense that it looked like they were trying to burn a hole in their backs. Jiu Tong gritted their teeth as they muttered, ‘Those lucky b*stards…”
Jiu Tong’s voice was soft, but the last person in the squad had heard it. When they did, the person turned around, flashing Jiu Tong a sh*t eating grin.
With such a proud look on his face, Jiu Tong was about to go nuts with anger and envy.
“Don’t be rash, you won’t be able to beat them.” Yi Tong moved forward to stop him immediately.
Jiu Tong: “…” Although what you say is a fact, can you not be so straightforward and honest?
San Tong suddenly asked, “Why did we even come here again?”
They had obviously come here to save the regular people who were suffering, but they had done nothing, and the matter was already resolved?
Yi Tong took a compass out from his compass and fiddled with it. “Looking for something.” He turned and stared in another direction. “In that direction, there’s a malicious aura coming from there. Manager Liu said that’s the direction of Miss Gu’s house. We’ll check it out tomorrow.”
Jiu Tong nodded his head. “Then we should hurry, I’m afraid that if we wait till tomorrow, the aura will be gone.”
The impression that Gu Xiqiao had left on them was too great.
When they heard Jiu Tong’s words, Yi Tong had wanted to laugh at it, but it was stuck in his throat. With Miss Gu’s attitude, it wasn’t impossible for that to happen.
Gu Xiqiao waved to Yi Tong and his team, and then she walked away at a relaxed pace. Her long hair shimmered like most, and she had an indifferent expression on her face. Her eyes were lowered, as though she didn’t feel that she had done anything extraordinary that was shocking to people.
Yi Tong and Jiu Tong were already well aware of her skills earlier on, and they were already used to the shocks that she gave them everytime. They watched Gu Xiqiao leave the area, and were silent for a while before they turned to return to the resort too. He was going to have a cry at Yi Bing and the rest of them.
Cecily stood rooted to the ground, thinking. After a while, she pulled out her phone and made an international call.
The pair of blue eyes narrowed. “Help me investigate someone.”
Only Jiang Tong had been able to stand on par with her in the ancient martial arts world, but now it seemed that she had another opponent to worry about. “Gu Xiqiao, I’m really looking forward to it. I wonder between her and Jiang Tong, who is stronger?”
Cecily’s eyes were full of anticipation and eagerness.
“Miss, there isn’t anything on her.” The person on the other side said solemnly. “This person’s information is completely encrypted, I think that the other party is an IT expert.”
“Aren’t you the top intelligence agency in the world?” Cecily frowned. “You can’t find anything at all?”
“That’s right.” The person the other side paused, and then their panicked voice came through, “Miss, our database has been hacked!”
Chapter 248: This Was Extremely Okay!
The intelligence bureau of the United States was top of the world. As long as you had the money, there was nothing they couldn’t find for you. However, their defenses had suddenly been breached, and countless information was leaked out.
Even those technicians in the bureau were unable to fix the holes that had appeared in their system, and news of this got out.
In just a moment, the entire supernatural world was thrown into a panic.
***
“I’ve hacked into America’s Intelligence Bureau, Beauty Qiao.” Jiji sat on the stone bench, both its hands on the laptop. As an artificial intelligence, Jiji could break through the firewalls with just a single thought. However, it chose to do it like a human, both hands typing away on the keyboard, its fingers dancing on the keyboard without stopping.
Numerous data and numbers continued to flash on the screen, and Shi Tou didn’t understand any of it. But he knew that this was some high level stuff, and he was surprised. “Jiji, you’re awesome!”
If Jiji’s face could show expressions, there would be a proud look on its face right now. “It’s just a small thing.”
Having said that, it turned to Gu Xiqiao and made a serious suggestion. “Beauty, next time give me a face that can express what I’m feeling. This mechanical face doesn’t match my temperament at all!”
“Most people don’t have this thing called temperament.” Gu Xiqiao flipped through the documents leisurely.
Jiji was not letting go of this just like that. “Am I most people?”
Gu Xiqiao turned another page, calmly replying, “Are you human?”
Jiji: “…”
Shi Tou looked at Jiji in sympathy. “Don’t be sad about it.” Then thinking of something, he continued, “Papa loves you.”
Jiji. “…” Thanks, papa.
***
The next day, Gu Xiqiao didn’t show up, and Yi Tong paced in front of the courtyard for a long time, not daring to enter.
Jiu Tong and Cecily had gone up the mountain to check out the scenery, and when they came back, it was to Yi Tong still pacing outside. “Yi Tong, you really missed out on it. Let me tell you, this place is really fun! Really, I don’t know how the designers came up with such a great money-making method!”
Yi Tong raised his head, and found that Ying Xu was also with them. “Young Master Ying, you also went with them?”
“Yeah.” Ying Xu nodded, a smile appearing on his rough face. “It really isn’t bad, this place.”
“Not bad at all. Why don’t I see a lot of people there?” Yi Tong asked, looking at the minimal crowd, feeling slightly confused.
“That’s the best part!” Jiu Tong said, shifting his attention away from his phone in hand. “The tickets are limited every day, and the manager told me that they’re fully reserved all the way into next month.”
Yi Tong was shocked. “It’s that popular?”
“And I heard that everything here was designed and planned by Miss Gu, I really don’t know how her mind works!” When Jiu Tong thought about her, he couldn’t help the whistle from his mouth. “Hey, let’s not talk about that. The guide just now told me that the best part of tonight is the Blazing Light Feast. We have to hurry and take a look!”
Blazing Light Feast?
What the heck was that?
They just hadn’t seen each other for a day, and Yi Tong already felt like there was a generation gap between Jiu Tong and the others.
Cecily looked at Jiu Tong, her blue eyes sparkling with mirth. She shook her head as she laughed. “Jiu Tong, you believe that?”
Cecily felt like everyone here was talking and singing praises about Gu Xiqiao to the point that she was a myth, anyone who mentioned her were sure to get excited. Although she hadn’t learnt anything about this, she was aware that designing a tourist spot was not that simple. Especially such a big tourist base like this, it at least needed an entire workshop, right?
However, thinking of the technique that Gu Xiqiao had displayed in the evening, she had the urge to spar with the girl.
“Miss Cecily, I don’t think there is anyone else other than her who would be able to think of such a silly but perfect thing,” Jiu Tong said, a wide grin on his face.
His tone clearly indicated the amount of trust he had in the girl.
This simply didn’t fit the proud and arrogant attitude of Jiang Shuxuan’s subordinates, and Cecily looked thoughtful as Jiu Tong left the area.
She turned around to ask Yi Tong. “Do you know Miss Gu from before this?”
Yi Tong paused, and answered, “Miss Gu is acquainted with Young Master Baili.”
Once she heard the name, she didn’t bother asking anymore.
“Mr. Ying, are you going?” She asked Ying Xu, who was standing beside her.
Ying Xu had a tall and imposing figure, his facial features were defined and sharp. Even though he was fully clothed, you could practically feel the muscles through it. He was like a male model in a magazine, and it was also the type that Cecily appreciated. His family should also be a powerful one in China, it was a pity that he wasn’t from the ancient martial arts world, which made him too weak for her.
A hint of regret flashed across his face.
“No, my wrist is injured.” Ying Xu frowned, then he turned around to leave.
Cecily wasn’t bothered about his coldness and indifference, and she flipped her hair back. She continued to talk to Yi Tong after the other man had left. “What have you found today, Yi Tong?”
“Nothing. I don’t dare to go in.” Looking at the yard silently, Yi Tong shook his head. He didn’t dare to take a single step into the place.
“I’ll help you open the door then!” Cecily was a short tempered person, but she tried her best to control it while she was in China, for fear that she would be driven away by Jiang Shuxuan. However, the said man was nowhere near this god forsaken place, and she couldn’t hold it back anymore, moving as though she wanted to break the entrance door.
“Hey, be more careful about it, MIss Cecily!” Yi Tong said in shock. If it were any other place he wouldn’t care, but this was Miss Gu’s residence!
Even if Gu Xiqiao didn’t turn him into a meatloaf, Jiang Shuxuan definitely would do it once he heard about it. Yi Tong shivered when he thought about it, and put in more effort to stop Cecily.
As a capable officer under Jiang Shuxuan, as well as the head of the Tong group, his strength was greater than he looked. He easily caught Cecily’s hand and held it in place.
“Yi Tong, your strength has increased a lot.” Cecily glanced at the door, then waved her hand uninterestedly. “Forget it, but I hope that you hurry up and settle this matter. I want to go back.”
Yi Tong nodded his head. “I’ll try my best, Miss Cecily.”
Watching as Cecily finally walked off, Yi Tong wiped the sweat off his brow. He then turned to search for Gu Xiqiao, intending to talk to her himself.
As soon as he made two turns, he saw the person he had been looking for, as well as Ying Xu who was standing beside her. Their backs twere to him, and he couldn’t see their expressions, but the gossipy busybody inside him was flaring up, and he took his phone out to sneakily snap a picture. Grinning, he sent it out.
Just as he sent it out, he raised his head to look for Gu Xiqiao, only to find that she had gone. Only Ying Xu… oh, and that robot beside him.
***
Ying Xu watched as Gu Xiqiao left the area, and he said to Jiji in a solemn voice, “Jiji, thank you for the medicine.” He rubbed his wrist lightly.
“It’s strange that you’re actually talking to a robot.” Jiji glanced at Ying Xu. “Are you sick or something?”
The indifferent expression on Ying Xu’s face looked like it was about to break for the first time.
Jiji reached out to pat Ying Xu on the shoulder with its mechanical hand, but it was too short. Don’t say his shoulder, Jiji couldn’t even reach his thighs. In the end, it settled on patting his calf. “When you were all caught in the nine layered formation that day, you wanted to slit your wrist and sacrifice yourself to the heavens. You’re a good person, and you’ve only got yourself to thank for your life.”
Jiji concluded the matter like this.
If Ying Xu had insisted on sacrificing someone else that time, Gu Xiqiao would never have saved him.
“No.” Ying Xu shook his head after hearing these words, smiling faintly. “I’m a soldier.”
Being a soldier meant sacrifice was something they would naturally do. From the moment he put on his uniform, the sense of responsibility as a soldier was like a shadow to him, and he always remembered that he was a soldier, no matter where he was.
“Yeah, you’re all good people.” Jiji nodded its head seriously, then it lowered its head to open the lid on its chest. It pulled out a tattered book and handed it to Ying Xu. “I think you have a unique foundation, and there is talent to be harvested within you. Third Master Ying, I’ll be waiting for you in the ancient martial arts world!”
It once again thought about patting him on the shoulder, but it looked Ying Xu’s height and… well, forget it.
When Jiji went back, it definitely needed Gu Xiqiao to build it a new body again. This shape was so short, it was really annoying!
Ying Xu lowered his gaze to the tattered book in his hand, his eyes wide with surprise.
“Young Master Yin, you can give it to me if you don’t want it.” Yi Tong suddenly appeared in front of him, looking at the book in his hands with an envious gaze.
Ying Xu kept the book away immediately, and left.
Yi Tong: “…” Brave warrior, don’t leave! Let me at least have a small peek at it!
***
“Beauty Qiao, I want to change my body.” When Jiji went back, Gu XIqiao was half-lying on the chair, flipping through documents. Its face was depressed as it continued, “I want to be tall and mighty.”
Gu Xiqiao continued to flip through the papers in her hand, not bothered to raise her head as she said, “Hush, it’s better not to have such unrealistic ideas.”
“You weren’t like this before, you obviously loved me very much last time!” Jiji protested.
“You sure about that?” Gu Xiqiao raised her head, her gaze piercing.
Jiji: “…” No, I am not.
***
The main purpose Yi Tong came here was to investigate the origin of the malicious spirit. Now that he found the place, he certainly spared no effort to continue his investigation. When Gu Xiqiao heard that he wanted to enter her yard, she didn’t have a single word of refusal. “Don’t enter the house, other than that, feel free to do whatever.”
Having gotten her permission, Yi Tong was overjoyed, He immediately brought Jiu Tong and the others to conduct their investigation. For the next few days, they didn’t return to the comfortable resort, choosing to erect a tent in the yard of Gu Xiqiao’s house instead.
Gu Xiqiao guessed that they had probably found something, and so she took Jiji with her to have a look-see.
Just as she left the house, she received a call from Manager Liu. “Miss Gu, someone said that a foreigner had just asked about the location of your mother’s grave.”
“A foreigner?” Gu Xiqiao narrowed her eyes. “Alright.”
“It’s him?” The system had already found the face of the foreign man the moment Manager Liu had mentioned it. “Look, Beauty Qiao. It’s the person from the hospital last time.”
Gu Xiqiao squinted her eyes to look, and saw Emery’s face.
Jiji was cautious as it asked, “Do you want to have a look?” It was like this everything an issue regarding Yu Man cropped up.
“No need.” Gu Xiqiao shook her head. “He won’t be able to find her grave.” Even if he knew the road, he still wouldn’t be able to find it.
Jiji didn’t ask any further, changing the topic immediately. “Let’s go and play with Yi Tong and the others, Beauty Qiao!”
Gu XIqiao walked towards the yard without another word.
Yi Tong was holding a compass in hand, and there were also some special monitors in the yard as the group of people moved about. When Gu Xiqiao arrived, they were still combing through the things. There was a computer on the stone table, and a circle of light was displayed on the screen.
“The ancient martial arts world also uses technology?” Jiji was surprised as it saw all the equipment around them.
Yi Tong took some time out of his studying to reply, “Of course. As time progresses, the science and technology of the ancient martial arts world will naturally also improve.”
“What have you found?” Gu Xiqiao looked around as she asked. She hadn’t been here since the last time she left.
Yi Tong obviously wouldn’t hide anything from Gu Xiqiao, and explained everything that they had found in detail.
All of this made Cecily, who was busy analyzing data, look at Gu Xiqiao. She didn’t understand, what was it about her that made Yi Tong and his team completely defenseless against her?
“But the equipment we have here now is insufficient, and we can’t analyze the data underground.” Yi Tong sighed. “If we can analyze it, then it would be perfect.”
Analyze the data underground?
Gu Xiqiao looked up. “Do you have any discarded parts?”
There weren’t any, but those machines and equipment that they couldn’t use anymore, Yi Tong gave everything to her.
Gu Xiqiao took the equipment without a word, and immediately disassembled and reassembled a completely new item. She also took some parts from Jiji, and she completed two new machines by the time she was done.
An hour later, Yi Tong gaped as he looked at the machines in Gu Xiqiao’s hands. His expression looked like a cross of crying and admiration, as well as looking on the verge of collapsing.
“It should almost be done.” Gu Xiqiao connected the two machines to the computer. “The improved version should reflect all the conditions underground. I can simulate the state underground, do you think it’ll be okay for what you need?”
Both her hands were on the keyboard, and as soon as she finished speaking, the screen was already displaying the simulation of the underground, a chaotic black mist.
Yi Tong nodded his head rapidly, trying to contain the excitement that threatened to burst from inside him. This was not only okay, this was extremely okay!