109 Puppet Jade Part 2
After the person left, Zhuang Yao said, “It’s getting late. Tang Yanqiu and Deng Xiao, prepare yourselves. In about three hours, when the information has spread enough, we will execute the third step of our plan and stir up Zhao Fen and Yao Huang.”
It was already 9 PM, and the sky was completely dark.
Tang Yanqiu and Liu Fengyu quietly left the beauty salon and made their way to Zhao Fen’s stronghold.
According to Yan Huiyang’s intelligence, the leader of Zhao Fen, a female mutant with peony-like variations, had a connection with the leader of Yao Huang. Due to her extraordinary beauty, she had captivated the leader of Yao Huang, clouding his judgment. Targeting men was the most suitable approach, and they would exaggerate and mislead their judgment.
After Tang Yanqiu and Liu Fengyu left, Zhuang Yao began to pay attention to the time.
Cong Xia patted Deng Xiao’s shoulder with a somewhat resigned attitude. “If Fenglan Society’s people come looking for us while Liu-ge and Xiao Tang are out, we can only rely on you to hold them off.”
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Pldt Dkys pxkzle. “Usdt-tl, esd’v osaau. R’x iwkvl qsaxkeyczl. R’hl clld vs ps xydu rzynlp, yde ds sdl byp clld yczl vs clyv xl.”
Hbwydt Zys obkprlale, “Mbyv’p clnywpl usw byhld’v ldnswdvlale ydusdl qsaxkeyczl. Mblu pbswze cl cynj okvbkd yd bswa. Ls xyvvla obyv byrrldp, ol xwpv bsze sd qsa vbkp bswa.”
Pldt Dkys qkaxzu ryvvle Usdt Dky’p pbswzela. “Psd’v osaau, Usdt-tl. Gde zkvvzl Hbwydt Zys, esd’v osaau lkvbla. R’x blal.”
Mkxl rypple pkzldvzu, yde Usdt Dky bye dlhla qlzv vbyv oykvkdt nswze cl ps ytsdkgkdt. Eykvkdt qsa Mydt Zydikw yde Nkw Wldtuw vs alvwad yp pssd yp rsppkczl, oykvkdt qsa Mkydck vs calyj vbaswtb vs vbl plnsde pvytl.
Rv pllxle vbyv bkp xldvyz pvaldtvb oyp dsv pvasdt ldswtb yde dsv alpkzkldv ldswtb. Ebld vbspl rsolaqwz nsxrydksdp olal dsv cu bkp pkel, bl zynjle nsdqkeldnl kd bkxplzq, obs rspplpple sdzu ywmkzkyau yckzkvklp. Mbkp nswzed’v ts sd. Tl dllele vs lhszhl y plzq-elqldpl pjkzz yv vbl hlau zlypv.
Rd qynv, Usdt Dky eke byhl psxl sqqldpkhl nyryckzkvklp clnywpl bl nswze ldbydnl bkp cseu yv okzz. Tl nswze pkxwzyvl vbl yckzkvklp sq pvaldtvb-cyple Ohszhlap yde psxl pldpsau-cyple Ohszhlap. Tl oswze byhl ds rasczlx elyzkdt okvb y qlo saekdyau rlsrzl sa xwvydv ydkxyzp, cwv obld kv nyxl vs bwxyd lhszhlap, bl zynjle y pktdkqknydv yehydvytl.
Gqvla vbkp kdnkeldv, bl hsole vs alplyanb ldlatu-cyple fyel puxcszp, sa yv zlypv ynbklhl vbl yckzkvu vs dsv cl y cwaeld sd vbl cyvvzlqklze.
Gcswv byzq yd bswa zyvla, Usdt Dky oyp vbl qkapv vs pldpl vos rsolaqwz ldlatu qzwnvwyvksdp ycswv y bwdeale xlvlap yoyu. Wyxkzkya okvb Mydt Zydikw’p osse ldlatu yde Nkw Wldtuw’p qkal ldlatu, bl kxxlekyvlzu jdlo vbyv kv oypd’v vblx alvwadkdt cwv ayvbla vbl yaakhyz sq vbl ldlxu. Tl pyke kd y ellr hsknl, “Mblu’al blal.”
Just as he finished speaking, Abu let out a sharp roar from outside the door.
Zhuang Yao said to Cong Xia, “You will be in charge of dealing with them. They’ve come from Beijing and have seen a lot. If I say too much, they might see through that I’m a cerebral Evolver.”
“Okay.” Cong Xia opened the door, and the three of them walked over to Abu, looking at the two figures slowly approaching in the distance.
As the two individuals got closer, they could see clearly that they were two men of average build—one in his twenties and the other in his forties. Both had strong energy fluctuations. They swaggered into the courtyard, insolently scanning the three people.
Cong Xia said coldly, “We’ve been waiting for you.”
“Oh? You knew we were coming?”
“In the organization of mutant bounty hunters, we’re on the list too, so it was only a matter of time before you showed up.” Cong Xia was actually quite nervous inside, but he had to maintain a calm appearance. He imitated Zhuang Yao’s demeanor during negotiations and forced himself to stay composed.
The young man seemed arrogant. He turned his neck around and said, “What’s this? Weren’t there six of you? Why do I feel like two are missing?”
Cong Xia sneered, “Your energy perception is really limited.”
The man’s face changed. “Watch your tone.”
The middle-aged man placed a hand on his shoulder and said in a deep voice, “Shouldn’t we let all our friends meet each other?”
“No need. Whether it’s a fight or a negotiation, we are sufficient,” Deng Xiao replied loudly.
The young man scoffed, “Such arrogance. Just based on you? What are you?”
“What are you?”
The middle-aged man shouted, “Enough, Awu. We’re here to talk business.”
The young man glared fiercely at Deng Xiao, his eyes filled with murderous intent. Deng Xiao returned his gaze without flinching.
The middle-aged man said, “Let’s speak plainly. Did you have anything to do with the discovery of the Puppet Jade at our base?”
Cong Xia replied, “You’re giving us too much credit. If we had the Puppet Jade, would we have traveled all the way to Luoyang?”
“But you were the ones who informed Wei Zi about it.”
“Our instruments detected the presence of the Puppet Jade at your base, so we informed Wei Zi. He didn’t believe us and conducted his own investigation.”
The middle-aged man’s cheeks bulged, his expression turning unpleasant. He must be feeling extremely frustrated because they didn’t actually possess the Puppet Jade. The entire city of Luoyang believed they had it, and the news would eventually reach Beijing. They had no idea how to explain the situation to their superiors. They could say that they had caused a huge problem. If their superiors suspected them of embezzling the Puppet Jade, they wouldn’t be able to survive.
The young man interjected, “How did you get your hands on those instruments? They are exclusive to the National Academy of Sciences. Even Wei Zi stole them from a group of mutants who had come from Beijing.”
Cong Xia imitated Zhuang Yao’s cold snort and said, “We don’t need to report to you about our possessions, do we?”
A twitch appeared at the corner of Zhuang Yao’s mouth, but he didn’t show any other reaction. He simply hugged Abu’s leg and looked at them quietly, pretending to be an innocent and pure-minded eleven-year-old boy.
“Each instrument has a serial number. What’s the number on your instrument?”
Deng Xiao sneered, “Idiot. Why should we tell you?”
The young man, filled with anger and humiliation, saw his energy fluctuation skyrocket. Hair began to grow on his arms, but the middle-aged man shouted, “Awu! That’s enough!”
The young man forcefully suppressed his anger.
The middle-aged man said, “Even if you do have the instruments, the improved version has a testing range of no more than 200 meters. So how did you come up with the idea to test near our base?”
Cong Xia replied, “Are you saying I accidentally passed by your place with the machine?”
Veins stood out on the middle-aged man’s forehead, indicating his rising anger.
Cong Xia’s mind was struggling to keep up. Although he was usually quite clever, he lacked a bit of courage. Facing powerful individuals face-to-face, he felt nervous. If it were Zhuang Yao, he would surely have a better explanation.
The middle-aged man said coldly, “Are you playing games with us? The only reason I came here today was to find out how you knew we had the Puppet Jade because we don’t have it at all!”
Cong Xia pretended to be slightly surprised. “Big brother, both we and Wei Zi detected that you had the Puppet Jade. And now you’re telling us that you don’t? Do you think we would believe that?”
“Whether you believe it or not, we don’t have the Puppet Jade. I know that before Wei Zi’s people came to us today, they went to you first. You had two meetings, and I’m sure you discussed a lot. I don’t know what schemes you’re hatching, but we don’t have the Puppet Jade, and we won’t cooperate with Wei Zi. If you’re planning to take the Puppet Jade from us, I advise you to abandon that idea because we simply don’t have it.”
Cong Xia smiled. “Did you tell Wei Zi the same thing? Did he believe you?”
The middle-aged man’s expression twisted, and there was no need for further explanation. Wei Zi certainly wouldn’t believe them.
The young man said harshly, “Zhao Ge, let’s not waste any more words. Let’s just capture one of them now and extract the information we need.”
Deng Xiao stood in front of Cong Xia and Zhuang Yao, cracking his knuckles loudly. Abu’s fur bristled, and it hunched its back, assuming an attacking posture. Its massive size alone could intimidate others.
Zhao Ge calmed down. “Awu, don’t act impulsively. It’s not the right time yet.” He looked at Cong Xia. “We will meet again sooner or later, but I advise you not to do anything foolish. We truly don’t have the Puppet Jade. If you join forces with Wei Zi, it will only lead to a falling out. After all, your goal is the Puppet Jade, so don’t end up doing someone else’s dirty work.”
Cong Xia asked, “If you claim you don’t have the Puppet Jade, how do you explain the detection of Puppet Jade energy fluctuations at your base?”
Zhao Ge spoke in a deep voice, “We don’t know either. When our instruments were activated, they also detected the Puppet Jade energy fluctuations. However, despite a thorough search, we couldn’t determine the source of those energy fluctuations. We didn’t find anything resembling the Puppet Jade at the scene.”
Cong Xia intentionally asked, “Oh, what exactly is the Puppet Jade?”
Awu sneered, “You’re not qualified to know because you’ll never have the opportunity to encounter the Puppet Jade in your entire life.”
Cong Xia remained silent, just giving them a cold stare.
Zhao Ge said, “That’s all we have to say. If you don’t believe us, you will regret it sooner or later. Awu, let’s go.”
Awu glared at them fiercely before turning around and following Zhao Ge.
After they had walked a long way, Cong Xia finally let out a sigh of relief. “Phew, they really scared me. Those two are definitely powerful.”
Zhuang Yao rolled his eyes. “You even came up with the excuse of coincidentally passing by with a machine. Are you out of your mind?”
Cong Xia smiled wryly. “I guess I was a bit… too nervous. I was really afraid they would start a fight with us. It’s too dangerous with only Little Deng and Abu.”
Deng Xiao snorted, “That arrogant idiot, I’ll break his nose sooner or later.”
“Little Deng, try not to be impulsive.”
Deng Xiao laughed, “Don’t worry, Cong Ge, I’ll listen to you.”
The three of them entered the house, and Zhuang Yao checked his watch. “Luckily, it went better than we expected. There was no fight.”
Cong Xia, who was near the window, suddenly caught sight of something from the corner of his eye. He lifted the curtain and looked towards the north of the city. There was a blaze, standing out in the pitch-black night sky. He said, “It looks like Lao Liu and Xiao Tang succeeded.”
Zhuang Yao also looked out the window. “Very good. Have we packed up everything important?”
“Yeah, the important items are all tied to Abu’s tail. The Road Tyrant is in the backyard. I’ve already informed Yan Huiyang. If possible, he will help us secure the vehicle.”
“Once the fighting starts and Zhao Fen and Yao Huang attack Wei Zi, I wonder if the Fenglan Society will just stand by. They won’t give us a chance to stab them in the back, so they’ll probably send a group of people to contain us. But it won’t be their main force. Once Cheng Tianbi breaks through to the Second Stage, we’ll immediately leave this place. Let them fight it out. When they’ve fought enough, we’ll come back to clean up the mess.”
Over ten minutes later, someone from Yan Huiyang’s group arrived. They came to deliver a message and a special down jacket for Deng Xiao. Zhuang Yao asked straight away, “Have we obtained information about the six members of the Fenglan Society?”
The person shook their head. “Perhaps due to the cold weather, the efficiency of communication with avian mutants has decreased significantly.”
Zhuang Yao frowned. “Time is running out. It seems we’ll have to tough it out. What’s the situation with Zhao Fen and Yao Huang?”
“Zhao Fen’s stronghold is on fire. Everyone is retreating to Yao Huang’s location. They are currently in the process of evacuation.”
“What about casualties?”
“The casualties are not significant.”
“Good…”
Deng Xiao picked up his enormous special down jacket and showed off from left to right. “Cong Ge, Xiao Zhuang Yao, look at this, isn’t it cool?”
Cong Xia said, “Try it on. The design of the jacket is well thought out. You can even wear it in your human form, although it’s a bit long.”
“You can roll it up and secure it with this button.” The delivery person demonstrated, “There’s a zipper at the back, unzip it when you transform, and your tail can come out.”
Deng Xiao proudly said, “This is not a split-crotch pants.” He couldn’t wait to change into the jacket. Although it did look a bit big on him and he rolled up the pant legs, it didn’t appear clumsy. He could move freely even in his human form. Most importantly, the jacket was very warm. He laughed, “With this set of clothes, I won’t be afraid of the cold.”
As soon as the delivery person left, Tang Yanqiu and Liu Fengyu returned, looking dusty and exhausted.
Cong Xia hurriedly welcomed them into the house. “How was it? Did you encounter any danger?”
“No, it was very dark, and they couldn’t see us.” Tang Yanqiu hesitated a bit. “Zhuang Yao, will this make Zhao Fen think it was done by Wei Zi’s people?”
“Whether Zhao Fen suspects Wei Zi, us, or even Fenglan Society and Lü Yun, it doesn’t matter. Since yesterday, when Wei Zi discovered that Fenglan Society had the Puppet Jade, and all the events that have happened since then, the entire city is in a state of extreme chaos. Burning down their stronghold just adds fuel to the fire. They are now very anxious and worried, afraid that Fenglan Society will really cooperate with Wei Zi, and afraid of becoming targets, isolated and without support. Whatever they discussed with Fenglan Society, at this point, they definitely can’t hold back. A desperate dog will jump over a wall. They will launch their attack on Wei Zi ahead of time and will definitely use various advanced weapons provided by Fenglan Society to force Fenglan Society to stand with them. So, all we need to do is wait here, wait for Cheng Tianbi to break through to the Second Stage, and then immediately go to the back mountain to meet with Lü Yun’s people.”
Cong Xia glanced at his watch. “Tianbi has been inside for eleven hours already, only four hours left… If Zhao Fen and Yao Huang want to attack, they should choose around 3 a.m. when people are in their deepest sleep. By that time, Tianbi should be out.”
“It’s hard to say, we can only wait.” Zhuang Yao stared at the distant blaze that lit up half the sky, his gaze deep.
Cong Xia’s gaze turned to their room as he silently prayed, “Tianbi, you must safely break through to the Second Stage.”
***************
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