Chapter 58 : Final Update
“Qu Yan is likely to display his collection this time,” An Heyu said one last time before entering, looking at the brightly lit villa ahead and analyzing carefully. “No matter what, you made him lose face this morning.
Given Qu Yan’s mindset, he’ll try to restore his dignity by showcasing his masterpieces.”
He was worried that Qu Yan might display the heads of the Prophet or other high-ranking members of the Former Ability Guild, which would surely provoke Heige.
Li Li, however, walked past him.
An Heyu watched her back for a moment, then gave up and followed. “If you’re going to act, tell me first so I can prepare, alright?”
Her response was a vague, possibly perfunctory, “Mm-hmm.”
Some time had passed since noon, and the sun was sinking toward the west.
In the cool sunlight, Li Li’s crimson pupils seemed to look ahead, but in truth, they pierced through space, gazing into the interior of the building before her.
Three familiar young boys and girls opened the window at the corner of the second floor.
On a tree branch outside, a black crow tilted its head, quietly watching them.
The Yue clan’s residence, used for the banquet, was a garden-style villa.
The trees, flowers, and plants outside were regularly maintained, with artificial hills, flowing water, and a small pond.
The villa itself was European in style, featuring a main hall for entertaining guests and three side halls situated at different corners of the courtyard.
Upon entering through the main gate, servants would guide or escort guests to the main hall.
This was why An Huyu and the others first entered the main hall, then reached the far corner of the second floor, pushed open a window, and jumped down onto the gravel path in the backyard.
“I’ve been to Yue Qing’s place a few times,” An Huyu said, his face pale as Yiming carried him down from the second floor.
He shakily pointed north. “They have a special storage room for collections, right over there.”
Yiming set An Huyu down and turned to catch Tang as she jumped.
The three of them avoided the patrolling servants, and the greenery along the path provided perfect cover.
A damp, cool breeze blew, accompanied by the chirping of birds in the shrubbery.
An Huyu, long accustomed to dodging the bodyguards his brother assigned, had some experience in hiding and didn’t falter too much.
They soon reached the side hall An Huyu had indicated.
Compared to the lively main hall, the side hall was much quieter, though still guarded.
The three hid behind an artificial hill, observing the entrance.
A woman with moon-white long hair, dressed in a uniform, stood at the side hall’s door, arms crossed, impatiently tapping her foot, turning her head to listen to a servant.
It was Rao Yue.
She seemed very reluctant to be waiting there, her entire demeanor radiating restlessness.
When Yiming saw Rao Yue at the door, he immediately sensed her strength.
An air of lingering gunpowder clung to her, as if she herself were an explosive ready to ignite.
An Huyu didn’t speak, but his gesture to hold back signaled he thought they should wait.
And indeed, Rao Yue moved.
Her gaze swept outward, her deep blue pupils seeming to lock onto their hiding spot.
Had they been spotted?
In that instant, Yiming pulled Tang back, pressing against the artificial hill, listening intently.
“I’m heading to the front. Guard this door well,” a low, heavy female voice said, followed by the sound of departing footsteps.
The three behind the hill cautiously observed for a moment, finally confirming the troublesome guard had left.
The remaining servant was only low-rank, easily ambushed by Yiming, and the three entered the side hall.
“The first and second floors here are just regular collection rooms. I’ve seen them,” An Huyu whispered.
The three hid behind a stone bench in the corridor, peeking out. “But my brother said Yue Qing likes conducting human experiments. There’s probably a basement here, and he told me not to wander around.”
“Your brother knows a lot,” Yiming said softly.
In just the few days of knowing An Huyu, he’d heard “my brother this, my brother that” countless times.
“He’s really smart,” An Huyu said, then turned his face away. “He just likes controlling me.”
Yiming couldn’t quite relate to his complaints.
As an orphan, his foster father had mostly left him to his own devices.
Tang, who had been under Qing Tong’s supervision for a long time, could empathize a bit, but only slightly. “I don’t like being controlled either. But if it’s Big Brother, I’m okay with it.”
They continued their hushed conversation as they moved.
“Your ‘Big Brother’ is Baige?” An Huyu recalled what Tang had said earlier. “So the person you’re looking for is Baige too?”
When Tang had refuted that Yiming wasn’t Heige, she’d mentioned Yiming was searching for someone like family.
Yiming definitely wasn’t Heige—An Huyu was certain of that.
But that left another question.
An Huyu, thinking of what he knew, pressed further. “But the person we passed by didn’t look like Baige at all.”
Yiming didn’t know either, but he trusted his instincts. “I’m not sure, but Li must have his reasons for doing this.”
But the person you were chasing—
An Huyu was about to say more when Tang interrupted, “Come here quick.”
She’d spotted a golden strand of hair in front of a door.
“Is it Yu Xiao?” Tang pointed at the golden hair.
“Judging by the length, yes,” Yiming nodded, almost in disbelief. “He actually remembered to leave a mark?”
An Huyu, sidetracked, added, “It’s probably a mark for you guys. Let’s check inside.”
There was no one inside the room.
Most of the Yue residence’s servants were in the main hall attending to guests, and the side hall was practically empty, with only a single guard at the entrance.
The room was an animal specimen collection chamber.
They searched and found another golden hair under a display case.
“He’s probably in there,” Yiming said, looking up at the case.
His hand brushed the inside, activating his ability.
The metal display case shifted to either side under his control, revealing a hidden passage leading underground.
A cold, eerie breeze blew upward from the darkness, as if the passage were a trap waiting for prey.
“So… we go in?” An Huyu pointed.
“We go in,” Yiming nodded.
Tang hesitated but didn’t object.
Yiming led the way, Tang in the middle, and An Huyu brought up the rear as they entered the passage.
The pitch-black corridor soon ended, with faint light emerging at the bottom.
They stepped into the first basement level, where porcelain-white tiles covered the floor, and overhead incandescent lamps quietly illuminated the hallway.
A chill crept up their legs from the ground.
“This is probably it,” An Huyu said, shivering. “Let’s find him and get out—”
“Bang!”
A gunshot rang out.
Yiming’s hand morphed into metal, catching a bullet aimed at Tang behind him, simultaneously pulling her to the front.
But the expected outcome of catching the bullet didn’t happen.
The bullet pierced through the metal arm without stopping, shooting straight out from his waist.
A drop of blood splattered onto Tang’s cheek.
“Yiming!” Tang hurriedly activated her ability.
The sudden turn of events made all three of them look back.
Behind them, on the previously empty staircase, stood a person.
Moon-white long hair, white uniform, wearing white high-heeled boots, holding a gun aimed directly at Tang.
An A-rank spell-type ability user, wielding a gun crafted by her ability, with an additional attribute of complete penetration.
Only an ability user stronger than her could possibly block her bullets.
“The young master of the An clan, who are you looking for here?” she said, her expression impatient. “No matter who you’re after, I’ll kill the two little thieves beside you within a minute and take you to the clan leader to explain.”
Rao Yue hadn’t left at all—she was waiting to catch them in the act!
And this hot-tempered A-rank ability user had no interest in hearing their explanations!
“Wait!” An Huyu said instinctively. “We’re just playing a game of hide-and-seek—”
Three rifles materialized behind her, and she casually drew one, aiming at the two behind An Huyu.
“Starting the countdown,” she said.
The three guns fired simultaneously.
…
On the other side, in the main hall, An Heyu had arrived at the banquet hall with Li Li.
Ornate chandeliers glowed overhead, casting golden light that made the gemstones on the walls sparkle dazzlingly.
The red-haired youth stood tall, engaging in social pleasantries with others.
At that moment, the host of the banquet, Yue Qing, approached.
The noble speaking with An Heyu tactfully excused himself, and Yue Qing mocked, “Is your brother still being rebellious?”
An Heyu instinctively wanted to glance at Li Li, who had remained silent behind him, but he restrained himself and said, “Didn’t you say before? Kids have their own ideas.”
“My subordinate caught him sneaking around my place,” Yue Qing said, referring to Rao Yue.
“He was running around in my residence with two commoners, not acting like a noble at all!”
Sneaking around in Yue Qing’s residence? For what?
An Heyu wanted to turn back even more.
He had no knowledge of this, but he was certain Heige knew.
It might even be Heige’s arrangement! He thought it entirely possible!
At that moment, Yue Fu, who had followed Yue Qing, lounged with his arms crossed and said carelessly, “Clan leader, I’ll go check. What if Rao Yue’s bad temper hurts that little weakling?”
He even blatantly called An Heyu’s brother a weakling right to his face.
An Heyu’s golden eyes turned to Yue Fu, carrying a trace of anger.
Just then.
“No, you go.”
Qu Yan joined the conversation, pointing at Yue Qing.
In that instant, Yue Qing showed a flash of resistance but quickly hid it. “Mr. Qu, I should stay here to entertain—”
“You go,” Qu Yan’s words left no room for argument.
A fallen noble was still a noble.
The An clan had once stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Qu clan in Floating City, and for that alone, Qu Yan wouldn’t tolerate a commoner he disdained bullying a noble in his presence.
Even if Yue Qing was now a noble, in their eyes, he would always be a filthy upstart.
The purple-reddish haired noble arrogantly by passed Yue Qing, turning to An Heyu, who had been tense and wearing a standard social smile since his arrival.
Yue Qing ultimately backed down.
After Yue Qing left with Yue Fu, Qu Yan continued staring at An Heyu.
As An Heyu’s fingers twitched involuntarily, Qu Yan spoke.
“Scavenger, you’re an old-blood noble,” he said, adopting the tone of an elder.
“Your parents were people even I admired, and you? Coming to a backwater like this—truly a generation worse than the last,” he said arrogantly, withdrawing his gaze. “Necromantic Prelude is wasted in your hands.”
Wow, a direct insult.
Li Li, standing behind, watched this noble dispute up close.
How would An Heyu respond? she wondered.
Swallow it? Or retort? After all, the Qu clan was one of the culprits behind his family’s ruin.
If it were Li Li, she’d fire back, but An Heyu had a younger brother to consider.
Would he ignore it like last time?
An Heyu, with his slightly haughty expression, gave a soft chuckle.
Then, enunciating each word politely, he said, “For someone who let an A-rank cut off their head in public, you don’t seem very useful either.”
An Heyu, throwing shade?
This was the first time Li Li had seen An Heyu throw shade, and he hit the mark.
Qu Yan’s expression flickered unnaturally for a moment.
But then he laughed, his voice loud. “Hahaha—”
It took him a while to stop, and then he said, “Not bad.”
It was unclear what he meant.
After leaving that ambiguous remark, he walked away, heading toward the staircase by the hall, seemingly bound for the second-floor platform.
Once he was gone, An Heyu turned back.
“Can you help me this time, please?” he said to Li Li.
He had reverted to the worried mother hen concerned for his brother.
Li Li didn’t need to think to know what he meant, but she had already planned to act.
Instead of directly agreeing, she stepped forward.
Then, leaning close, she whispered, “I hope this is the last time you ask me for this reason.”
Without waiting for An Heyu’s reaction, she left the hall, asking a servant where the washroom was, as if she were merely excusing herself normally.
But she didn’t go there.
She walked down the corridor and, in a blind spot out of everyone’s sight, her figure vanished in an instant.
When she reappeared, she stood on that gravel path, a smile curling on her cold, impassive face.
Heige’s wicked smile.
“This is bound to be the last time,” she sighed softly.
She genuinely hoped that afterward, she could still enjoy a delicious milk tea.
…
In the first basement level of the side hall, the sound of gunfire continued.
“Are you trying to kill me too?!” An Huyu’s wail echoed.
“Bang!”
A metal wall shifted under Yiming’s ability, blocking Rao Yue’s line of sight.
As the wall moved, the entire basement trembled, dust and debris falling from the ceiling, accompanied by the sound of bullets piercing through the wall.
Rao Yue’s firepower blasted a massive hole through the newly formed barrier, but the three behind it dove to either side, narrowly avoiding injury.
“Are you insane?!” An Huyu, pressed against the left wall of the corridor, shouted as a bullet grazed past, scorching his clothes. “Do you really want me dead?!”
Rao Yue didn’t respond.
Behind her, the gun’s muzzle shifted to aim at Tang beside An Huyu, with no effort to avoid An Huyu himself.
“Don’t do this! I’ll really die!” An Huyu burst into tears with a sob.
The response was the roar of a bullet leaving the barrel.
“Bang!”
On the other side, Yiming’s eyes nearly split with rage.
He turned, raising his hand to block the bullet, but it was too late!
In an instant, the bullet was almost upon the two defenseless figures.
“You’ve gone too far.”
Ice suddenly rose from the ground in front of them, and the orange-yellow bullet was trapped within the ice, unable to move an inch.
The suppression of rank nullified Rao Yue’s ability’s additional attribute.
“Clan leader!” Rao Yue turned and saluted.
The figure appearing at the top of the staircase, silhouetted against the outside light, was none other than Yue Qing.
“I told you,” Yue Fu poked his head out from behind him. “Rao Yue’s hot temper was bound to mess this up. If that little weakling dies, we’ll have to break with An Heyu…” He paused, then added, “Killing An Heyu would be a bit troublesome. We’d lose some people too.”
Rao Yue didn’t retort, maintaining her penitent posture.
Yue Qing waved a hand, silencing Yue Fu.
“Yue Fu, grab An Huyu and bring him up. Rao Yue can kill the rest as she pleases,” he ordered his two subordinates.
Yet he remained at the entrance to the passage, showing no intention of descending.
As if… he feared something.