Traps and Traces

The alarm pierced Xiang Yi's fragile, mentally exhausted mind like invisible needles. His temples throbbed violently, and bloody webs instantly spread across the edges of his vision, bringing tearing pain and intense dizziness. His vision went black, and his body swayed uncontrollably. He clutched the edge of the desk tightly to keep from collapsing.

Just then, an icy, bone-deep pulse of malice violently pierced his mental barrier and stabbed into his consciousness!

"Master!" Guiguzi's voice exploded through the mental link with unprecedented gravity. "The trap has activated! This is an Echo Positioning array! Its energy ripples are unique, like a beacon in the night, marking the source in reverse! The hounds and the tiger may already have been alerted!"

A trap! The Ten Rings Syndicate's contingency! Xiang Yi understood in an instant. The Zhang family's silencing and the traces of spatial teleportation had merely been a facade. The true killing move was the energy trap triggered by Xuan Weizi, now frantically sending out a unique positioning signal! S.H.I.E.L.D., the hounds, and the Ten Rings Syndicate, the tiger, could both be drawn here by that signal!

Time had become the most extravagant thing of all.

"Block it! Block every signal source immediately!" Xiang Yi roared in his mind. Enduring the headache that felt ready to explode, he desperately drove the system with mental power flickering like a candle in the wind. "Exchange for the highest-grade isolation container! Deduct however many energy points you need!"

[Warning: Energy point reserves are below the safety threshold! Forced exchange will temporarily reduce the effectiveness of the basic life-support system! Confirm?]

"Execute!" Xiang Yi's will was absolute.

[Command confirmed! Energy Points ×200 consumed! "Lead-Mercury Alloy Energy Isolation Box (Small)" exchanged!] The cold notification sounded alongside a flash from his inventory. A palm-sized metal box appeared in Xiang Yi's hand out of thin air. It was pitch-black, its surface flowing with a mercury-like sheen and etched with intricate energy runes. It was heavy and cold in his hand, radiating energy fluctuations that isolated everything.

Without the slightest hesitation, Xiang Yi yanked open the desk drawer and roughly shoved aside the lead plates and books piled atop it, revealing the crystal branded with the Ten Rings symbol at its base. It was trembling faintly and emitting an unstable dark-red glow. Inside the crystal, countless tiny crimson-gold lightning snakes darted madly about, trying to break free and send fatal coordinates into the outside world!

He grabbed the crystal as though it were a scorching hot potato and instantly stuffed it into the isolation box! The lid snapped shut with a click.

Buzz! The energy runes on the isolation box instantly lit up with a ghostly blue glow. Like living chains, they quickly covered the entire box. The frenzied dark-red glow within crashed violently against the walls several times like a Beast with its throat seized, making the runes flicker rapidly. At last, unwillingly and completely, it dimmed and was sealed within the cage formed by lead-mercury alloy and energy runes.

[High-energy beacon source isolated! Passive positioning signal has disappeared!] The system notification sounded at once.

Xiang Yi let out a long breath, but his taut nerves did not relax in the slightest. The isolation box could only deal with the crystal, the external beacon. He suddenly looked up at Lanling King.

Lanling King was in even worse condition. He knelt on one knee, hunched over, his left hand gripping tightly above the wound on his right shoulder. His knuckles had gone white from exertion, and veins bulged across the back of his hand. Beads of cold sweat dripped continuously down his resolute jaw, pooling on the floor. He clenched his teeth, producing an utterly suppressed grinding sound. Every breath came with a heavy gasp, like air being dragged through a broken bellows. Most alarming of all, the dark-gold gleam deep inside his shoulder wound was spreading outward in faint, visible ripples like still water disturbed by a stone. Every ripple made Lanling King convulse uncontrollably, and his face grew a shade paler.

"Shadow Guard!" Xiang Yi's heart sank.

"Master... I'm fine..." Lanling King struggled to raise his head. Sweat-soaked bangs clung to his pale skin. He tried to force a smile, but it twisted under the agony. "That... that energy... is eroding... my power... but... I can still suppress it..." His voice was hoarse and broken. Xiang Yi could see it clearly: the restrained yet razor-sharp shadow aura around Lanling King had become chaotic and dim, slowly being devoured and assimilated by the dark-gold ripples spreading from the wound! This was not merely a tracker. It was a vicious corrosion, gradually undermining the foundation of his strength! A chill unlike anything he had ever felt, the terror of having the roots of his strength hollowed out, overwhelmed even the tearing pain in his shoulder and filled the depths of his heart with cold fear.

"Mr. Guiguzi! Suppress the activity of that thing in his wound! Cover it with Xuan Weizi particles at maximum output!" Xiang Yi ordered urgently.

"This old man understands!" Guiguzi's illusory figure instantly solidified beside Lanling King. His wide sleeves billowed as countless condensed, tangible Xuan Weizi particles surged forth like a silver tide, instantly wrapping Lanling King's entire right shoulder and wound! The particles spun and vibrated at high speed, forming a dense silver cocoon of light as they tried to forcibly suppress and isolate the ever-spreading dark-gold ripples.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle... When the silver cocoon came into contact with the dark-gold ripples, fine crackling sounds erupted, like electric current scorching the air. The dark-gold spread visibly slowed, but it did not stop! Every impact from the ripples dimmed the enveloping Xuan Weizi particles slightly, and Guiguzi's brow tightened another fraction. It was a battle of attrition!

"Master..." Guiguzi's voice carried a trace of weariness. "This method can only delay the corrosion. It is not a long-term solution. And... this old man must devote his full strength to maintaining it. I fear I cannot spare attention for anything else."

Xiang Yi's heart sank to the bottom. Guiguzi was completely tied down! It was equivalent to losing his strongest intelligence asset! And though the triggered trap signal had been shielded, the Echo ripple released at the instant of activation had probably already alerted certain parties! S.H.I.E.L.D.'s scans... the Ten Rings Syndicate's pursuit... could arrive at any moment!

At that suffocating moment, Guiguzi continued maintaining the suppression, yet his voice sounded in Xiang Yi's mind again, carrying the faint tremor of dust settling. "However... Master, fortune and misfortune go hand in hand. When that trap activated, its core also experienced a fleeting flash of return. This old man risked damage to the Xuan Weizi particles and caught the final trace of its energy flow... a faint directional leak!"

Through the mental link, Guiguzi shared extremely blurred, fragmented image fragments:

The Zhang family's wrecked secret chamber. The ashes of the burned totem had been disturbed by energy ripples, exposing an inconspicuous, crushed... cheap plastic lighter beneath one corner of the floor? A blurry bar logo seemed to be printed on it.

The faint residual ripple trail of spatial teleportation, caught at the very limit of Xuan Weizi detection, pointed like a dying candle in the wind toward somewhere in the north of the city.

Finally, and most crucially—one thousandth of a second before the trap core's energy erupted and Echo Positioning activated, an extremely concealed command data stream carrying the meaning of "confirmed" flashed by like a ghost! Its encryption level was extremely high. Guiguzi could not decipher its contents, but he precisely captured its final destination... the coordinates of an energy node! It was located near an abandoned factory district on the edge of the city, like the coordinates of a signal relay station!

"Coordinates locked!" Guiguzi's voice was weak from exhaustion, yet exceptionally clear. "The recipient... codename Old K. This man... is a broker specializing in stolen goods, laundering, and the dirty work of silencing. Those in the underworld call him the Cleaner. His loyalty... belongs only to money, never people. The Zhang father and son's trail... its final tail may have fallen into this man's hands!"

Old K! A middleman! A crucial node who might know where the Zhang family had gone, perhaps even be connected to their killers!

Hope! A faint gleam shone through the abyss of despair! But Xiang Yi felt no excitement, only heavier pressure. Guiguzi was firmly restrained, Lanling King was gravely wounded and in danger, and the power of the Ten Rings was like a ticking bomb. Xiang Yi himself was mentally exhausted, his head splitting, his body weak as though he were walking on cotton.

Who would go? How would they get there?

Xiang Yi's gaze swept over Lanling King, who trembled faintly on the floor from agony, then over Guiguzi, whose figure had become slightly translucent as he suppressed the corrosion with all his strength, before finally falling onto his own trembling hand—the hand of a twelve-year-old boy.

There was no choice.

He took a deep breath. Cold air flooded his lungs and brought a stabbing ache, forcing down the dizziness in his head. He walked to the wardrobe and opened an inconspicuous old box on the lowest shelf. Inside were several faded old garments stained with holes and grease, a battered baseball cap, and a filthy blanket—disguise props prepared earlier for the Ghost Ward operation.

"Master?! You must not!" Lanling King abruptly raised his head. The moment he saw Xiang Yi's movements, he understood his intention. His voice tore from urgency and pain. "You... going yourself... is too dangerous! Let me go... I... I can endure it!" He struggled to stand, but the pain erupting from his shoulder and Guiguzi's intensified suppression pinned him in place. His eyes held deep despair and pleading. He would rather be ground to dust than become a burden to his master.

"In your current state, you'd be a living target the moment you step outside!" Xiang Yi's voice was firm and beyond dispute. He quickly removed his pajamas and changed into the musty, sweat-sour old clothes. The oversized garments hung over his thin twelve-year-old body, making him look even smaller and more pitiful. He grabbed dust scattered on the floor along with a little of the half-dried blood that had dripped earlier from Lanling King's wound, smearing it carelessly over his face and wrists. The foul stench of dust mixed with rust-like blood rushed into his nostrils, and his stomach churned, but he forcibly held it down. Finally, he wrapped himself in the filthy blanket, put on the battered cap, and lowered the brim.

In the mirror, the calm-eyed boy with a maturity beyond his years disappeared. The young master of the Xiang family... was now merely a bug struggling in the mud. Good. Bugs... were the easiest to overlook, he thought coldly. All that remained in the mirror was a homeless child cowering in a filthy blanket, his eyes numb and fearful, as though he had just crawled out of a garbage heap.

"Mr. Guiguzi, send me live surveillance footage within five hundred meters of Old K's coordinates. Share it directly with my consciousness." Xiang Yi's voice came through the mental link, terrifyingly calm. "Also, once I leave the villa grounds, create a... small-scale accident that can briefly draw attention from several nearby streets. Divert any possible surveillance. Don't make too much noise. Make it look natural."

"This old man... understands!" Guiguzi painfully split off a thread of consciousness. Countless Xuan Weizi particles passed through the walls like invisible feelers and rapidly extended toward the abandoned factory district in the north.

Xiang Yi gave one final look at Lanling King, tormented by the dark-gold corrosion, and Guiguzi, suppressing it with all his strength. Determination flashed through his eyes. He turned toward the side door connecting the bedroom to the balcony. Hunched over, he walked with a shuffling limp, each step carrying the numbness of someone crushed by life. He melted into the shadows of the villa's rear yard, silently climbed over the low fence, and vanished into the dangerous streets of the western district.

Almost at the same moment Xiang Yi's figure disappeared into the darkness around the corner—

Several streets away, a drunken homeless man was "coincidentally" tripped by several invisible rolling stones beneath his feet, staggering into an open-air barbecue stall and knocking over its grill! Burning charcoal and scorching skewers flew toward the roadside as though guided by invisible hands! The vendor's curses, the drunkard's incoherent babbling, and the diners' startled screams erupted at once! The attention of several nearby patrol cars was immediately drawn over, their police lights flashing as they sped away.

In the shadows of another dark alley not far from Xiang Yi's villa, a figure in a hoodie with a tiny earpiece was reporting quietly into a wristwatch terminal. "...A sudden disturbance has appeared in the target area, toward the south of the city. Energy scan... no abnormal feedback. Scans have been redirected south according to plan... Wait, there was approximately 0.5 seconds of static interference on surveillance footage outside the villa's western wall? Could have been a bird or signal fluctuation..." He quickly pulled up backup surveillance feeds, his fingers tapping rapidly over the terminal as he activated the Deep Scan Protocol. "...Initiating Deep Scan Protocol confirmation..."

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s surveillance web silently tightened in the night, only to be briefly pried open by this perfectly timed "accident" and Guiguzi's simultaneous, extremely subtle interference with perception and signals.

Xiang Yi pulled the sour-smelling blanket tightly around himself and buried half his dirty little face deep within it, leaving only a pair of hawk-sharp eyes beneath the shadow of his cap brim. His steps were weak and unsteady, like those of a truly hungry and exhausted homeless child wandering the deserted streets without purpose, yet his direction remained unwaveringly fixed toward the north of the city.

Within the mental link, the live footage shared by Guiguzi flooded into his throbbing mind in fragmented pieces:

At the edge of the abandoned factory district was a back alley piled with trash and streaked with overflowing sewage.

Deep in the alley stood the rear entrance of a run-down little bar with a faded neon sign. Several strokes were missing from the words "Rosemary" on the sign.

Beside the back door sat a huge rusted dumpster. Within its shadow, a crimson cigarette ember flickered in the darkness.

A gaunt man in a wrinkled leather jacket and baseball cap leaned against the dumpster, his brim pulled low. An unremarkable black duffel bag lay at his feet. He looked restless, checking his watch from time to time and warily scanning the alley entrance.

[Target locked: Energy node coordinates match! Behavior pattern matches "handoff" characteristics! High probability of being Old K!] Guiguzi confirmed.

Xiang Yi stopped in the shadows at the street corner opposite the alley entrance. The man beside the dumpster came clearly into view. He could see the edge of a savage tattoo exposed above the man's jacket collar. He could see the thick calluses on the man's fingers when he crushed out his cigarette—marks of someone who had held guns for years. Mixed into the stench drifting from the alley seemed to be a faint trace of... the cold scent of gun oil and blood? The dangerous aura seeped through his thin disguise like tangible ice water.

But he did not retreat. The dark-gold ripples spreading across Lanling King's shoulder, Guiguzi's exhausted suppression, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s scans that could arrive at any moment, and the Ten Rings Syndicate lurking in the shadows... all forced him to seize this one dangerous lead before him!

He tightened the ragged blanket around himself and drew a deep breath, making his eyes even emptier and more frightened. Then, like a genuine homeless child seeking shelter or food, he cowered and shuffled forward step by step, bearing the instinctive terror of darkness and cold. Timidly and unsteadily, he headed toward the foul-smelling back alley, toward the dangerous figure beside the dumpster.

In the alley, the man known as Old K instantly noticed the movement and abruptly raised his head!

Beneath the cap brim, eyes sharp as blades instantly locked onto the filthy little homeless child who had suddenly appeared! The instant that gaze swept over him, every hair on Xiang Yi's neck stood on end, as though an icy blade had been pressed to his throat! Old K's fingers paused for a moment as he crushed out his cigarette. His other hand, tucked into his jacket pocket, seemed to silently tighten around something, while the muscles in his shoulders drew taut like bowstrings in the shadows.