A False Alarm, Inner Complaints

"Obviously, the thing was in my hands. Why did they still put on this whole act?" I still couldn't figure it out.

Duan Hongbin, sitting in the back seat, said, "Because of him."

I turned to glance at Old Shu, not understanding why Duan Hongbin would say that.

Duan Hongbin explained, "They were clearly wary of him, so they settled for the next best thing. Since they couldn't take the item from you directly, they tried to kidnap Xu Qiuyan and Gu Song and use them to force you into exchanging it."

"Old Shu, is that really it?"

"Perhaps." Though Old Shu didn't give a definite answer, I knew Duan Hongbin was probably right.

"Who exactly are you?"

"I'm guessing he's the head of Unit Nine!" Duan Hongbin's words shocked me.

Old Shu glanced at us through the rearview mirror. "Honestly, the people around you have truly surprised me. No wonder Xie Yi said you alone were worth a small team. Every one of them is formidable."

That was as good as admitting his identity.

"Let's get acquainted again. My name is Shu Yi, and I'm the person in charge of Unit Nine."

My eyes widened. This was truly beyond my expectations.

I had thought he was just some minor character, someone helping deliver the item to me. I figured he was about the same as Old Du, just there to fill out the numbers. I never expected him to be the head of Unit Nine.

"You're the director?" I couldn't help asking.

He smiled. "Everyone calls me Old Shu, and I prefer it when you do too."

I was a little speechless, but at that moment, I was more worried about Xu Qiuyan.

He said, "Don't worry too much. She should be fine."

"Why?" Even though I knew Xu Qiuyan had the Red Group and another mysterious person by her side, I still couldn't relax.

"Their target is the item in your hands. Before they get it, she won't be harmed. Besides, she has her own trump cards."

His words eased my mind slightly.

The car quickly arrived at my residence. The moment it stopped, I pulled open the door and rushed out.

I opened the door as fast as I could. There was no one inside.

I had clearly seen the car she drove back parked in the yard just now.

Old Shu followed me upstairs as well.

"They're all gone."

Xu Qiuyan, Gu Song, and Yin Wuyu.

Old Shu lit a cigarette. "Wait."

My scalp prickled. At a time like this, he still wanted to wait?

Even if he was the head of Unit Nine, I didn't give him a pleasant look. "You can wait if you want. I have to find her. Every extra minute means another minute of danger for her."

But Duan Hongbin stopped me. "He's right. Waiting is the best thing we can do right now."

I glared at Duan Hongbin.

He gave a bitter smile. "Where are you going to look? Do you know where they were taken?"

I froze. How could I know where they had been taken?

"Lin City is huge. Where can the few of us even begin looking? Even if we had more people, we might not be able to find them. If they dared do this, they must have already prepared their countermeasures. So all we can do is wait for them to contact us. Didn't he say it? Their target is the item in your hands."

I slowly calmed down. He was right, but I still felt terrible inside.

I had said I would protect Xu Qiuyan, that I wouldn't let her suffer any more harm.

I had broken my word.

I glared at Old Shu. "If you hadn't given this thing to me and spread word that it had disappeared, none of this would have happened."

Old Shu said nothing.

I sat down, lit a cigarette as well, and tried to steady my emotions.

Chu Ge had remained silent the whole time, but his gaze never left Old Shu.

Suddenly, he said to Old Shu, "Fight me!"

Old Shu looked at him, then pointed at me. "Aren't you afraid of damaging him?"

Chu Ge looked at me. "Are you afraid?"

I knew why he asked. He wasn't a real physical entity. If he wanted to fight, he had to use my body as a vessel.

"I'm not afraid," I said.

Chu Ge nodded. Then I stood up and said to Old Shu, "Fight me!" It wasn't just Chu Ge's idea. I wanted it too. But unlike Chu Ge, I didn't want to determine who was stronger. I just wanted to beat him up and vent the anger in my heart.

Though I knew they had done this to draw out whoever was behind the scenes, being used like this—and putting Xu Qiuyan in danger—made me deeply uncomfortable.

Old Shu smiled. "Then let's fight. It would just be a pity if we broke anything in the house."

I couldn't care less about that. I attacked Old Shu directly.

I knew Chu Ge was controlling my body now. I could feel that the power erupting from me at that moment didn't truly belong to me. My fist actually cut through the air with a whistle, carrying immense force, and it was unbelievably fast.

Old Shu reacted even faster. Just as my fist was about to hit him, he sidestepped. He actually brushed past my body and circled behind me. This is bad. Sure enough, he drove an elbow hard into the back of my head. The force wasn't too great, but it still made me stagger.

I braced myself against the back of the sofa, then leaped over it and put some distance between us again.

He stood there looking at me, a faint smile still on his face. "Fast, precise, ruthless. Not bad at all."

"I'm done fighting." I hadn't said that. Chu Ge had already relinquished my body and was standing off to the side.

I felt a little depressed and shot him a glare.

Chu Ge said calmly, "I can't beat him."

I was somewhat speechless, but Chu Ge asked Old Shu, "Was that Tai Chi?"

"More or less, but not entirely. I've learned a bit of everything, and I've never cared much about fixed forms. As long as it can be used in actual combat, that's enough."

Chu Ge nodded, then vanished completely.

Old Shu sat down again. Their exchange hadn't damaged any of the furnishings in the room. It could be said that both had held back.

My phone rang. I hurriedly picked it up and saw Xu Qiuyan's number on the screen.

They had indeed contacted me.

"Hello!"

But it was Xu Qiuyan's voice that came through the phone. "Xiaobai, are you all right over there?"

"I'm fine. What about you? I didn't see any of you when I got home."

"We're on our way back. Don't worry, it's nothing serious."

Only then did I let out a breath of relief.

"Where did you go?"

"It's hard to explain over the phone. We'll talk when we get back."

I responded and hung up.

"How was that? Didn't I say she'd be fine?"

I gave a soft snort. Old Shu walked over and patted my shoulder. "It seems you still don't know her well enough. Trust me, trust yourself, and trust her too."

After hearing that, I looked at him and asked, "Do you really trust me?"

"Otherwise, I wouldn't have handed the item over to you. As for driving you tonight, I was genuinely just passing by. My teacher lives in the neighboring complex, and whenever I come to Lin City, I stay with him."

With that, he headed toward the door, apparently preparing to leave.

"You're leaving already?"

He turned around and smiled. "What else? My task was to deliver the item to you. The rest is your own business. I can't stay with you forever, can I?"

So he really had just given me a ride on the way.

I didn't know whether they were too carefree or simply had too much faith in me.

"What if I really lose this thing?" That was what worried me most.

"If it gets lost, then it gets lost. What else can we do?" With that, he actually opened the door and left.

Hearing the door close, I said to Duan Hongbin, "I suspect they gave me a fake."

This was the Twin Fish Jade Pendant. If it got lost, it got lost? He really could say that.

If this thing were real, there was no way he would be so calm.

Eccentric Song emerged again. "I think it's real. It's just that things aren't as simple as we think. I believe they've stationed people in secret, but we simply don't know about them."

I nodded. Up to now, aside from Xie Yi and Old Du, I truly had no idea who else belonged to Unit Nine.

There was also Old Shu, of course, but someone of his rank was beyond my reach under normal circumstances.

It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't gotten Old Shu's contact information.

Of course, he hadn't taken the initiative to leave it with me either.

Just as my thoughts were running wild, an unfamiliar number called.

"Who is this?" I asked warily.

"Save this number. If anything comes up, you can call it to contact me." It was Old Shu's voice.

That call made me feel much more at ease.

"You weren't cursing me in your heart just now for not leaving you my contact information, were you?"

His words made me a little embarrassed instead. "No."

"All right, you think I don't know what's going through that little head of yours? That's it. I'm hanging up."

He hung up directly.

Eccentric Song laughed. "He did that on purpose."

I nodded.

"This person is very good at reading human heart. Impressive." Eccentric Song sighed as he spoke.