Su Qingyu and Bai Xia were stopped at the first-floor entrance.
There were three people here, two of whom were strong and muscular, gripping pitch-black pistols in their hands.
Su Qingyu’s eyelid twitched.
Goodness, how arrogant—they’re even holding their guns out in the open.
In addition, they wore soundproof headphones, blocking every bit of space around their ears.
The remaining person didn’t wear headphones, but was unarmed and rather thin.
The two with combat ability stood as armed guards, leaving only the weakest one to communicate.
In this way, even if she used the Magic Flute, it would be almost useless.
Su Qingyu understood immediately.
“You can only go in alone.”
The thin man in charge of communication glanced warily at Bai Xia, even though she was just a JK.
He was a bit nervous.
As part of a tactical sacrifice, if conflict broke out, he’d likely die on the spot.
Either killed by mysterious forces or, after being controlled, shot to death by his own companions.
“Alright.”
Hearing this, he let out a long sigh of relief.
Su Qingyu opened the box and nodded at Bai Xia, who then placed the jade-like long flute into the box.
Her gaze was cold and expressionless, not saying a word, but this only made Su Qingyu feel more at ease.
The less Bai Xia spoke, the calmer she was.
Su Qingyu hugged the box and walked inside, her small feet almost flying, moving even faster than the guide and quickly bursting into the hall.
Calling it a hall was a bit much—it was really just an empty, spacious room, with nothing inside except for the barren concrete floor and six armed people, the same configuration as the guards outside.
A blonde loli burst in alone with the box, stunning everyone present for a moment before the leading guard hurried over.
“Captain, we brought her in. She… ran a bit fast.”
Squad voice communication played in the headphones, and in the audio channel, music blared continuously, interfering with any flute sounds Su Qingyu might use.
Just as expected, their countermeasures were thorough.
Su Qingyu placed the box on the floor and pushed it forward.
“The item you want is here. Where’s my girlfriend?”
The communicator finally arrived, his physical fitness no match for the other two guards—let alone Su Qingyu, who’d just gained the Wind Maiden Set’s attributes.
But it didn’t matter, as this move was clear enough for everyone else.
Sen Kui signaled his vice-captain to open the box.
“It seems to be the Magic Flute, Captain,” the vice-captain said, opening the box.
“Tell someone to pick it up and check.”
A subordinate obeyed the order, taking the item from the box and examining it.
“I don’t feel anything unusual.”
Hearing this, the vice-captain personally took the flute and carefully inspected it.
“Captain, I don’t feel anything either.”
No sensation at all?
As someone who’d handled mysterious items before, Sen Kui knew that even if an object didn’t belong to you, touching it should create some peculiar feeling.
“Is it fake?”
His expression darkened.
“Of course. Would I really come in defenseless alone just to hand over the real thing to you for free?”
Su Qingyu said calmly.
“If you want the real Magic Flute, return her to me first.”
She appeared calm, but her heart was pounding.
Bai Xia had said the flute only needed to be touched by someone within a minute—one or two people were enough, the more the better.
Unfortunately, these people were too cautious; only two had touched it.
The communicator picked up a Special Microphone, switched the channel, and repeated Su Qingyu’s words into the voice line.
Only Sen Kui could hear this channel.
He thought for a moment and gestured to the others.
“Miss Su, please come.”
At this moment, outside the apartment, Bai Xia quietly climbed onto the second-floor balcony.
The construction here was incomplete—leaky walls and half-built, suspended stairs were everywhere.
She took out the pocket watch.
On the dial, a person’s current state of mind was displayed.
Half showed loyalty to the superior—ready to follow orders instantly.
A quarter was confidence—they had prepared thoroughly, planned for a long time, and had so many people, they were sure of victory.
The last quarter was tension.
After all, the opponent possessed mysterious items.
Even if they fought and won, someone might be injured or even die… what if that someone was themself?
Bai Xia gripped the Minute Hand Engraving Knife and swiftly erased “confidence.”
***
Su Qingyu was brought to a locked room and handed a key.
Inside, Bai Xiaoya, who’d been imprisoned, heard the door open, and nervously looked up—only to see one of the two people she’d just been thinking about.
“Xiao Su, you really came, they…”
The words of worry hadn’t even finished before Su Qingyu rushed forward and hugged her tightly.
“It’s alright, A-ya, I’m here, we’re here, it’s okay.”
She comforted her softly.
“Mmm, actually… I’m just a bit hungry, otherwise I’m fine,” Bai Xiaoya said, embarrassed.
Su Qingyu smiled helplessly, then suppressed her smile and looked at the person at the door.
“Let her go first. I’ll take you to the Magic Flute.”
“Miss Su, let me introduce myself. My name, or rather, my codename is Sen Kui.”
Sen Kui didn’t agree or refuse, but instead stood still and introduced himself.
Su Qingyu frowned slightly.
“I’ve heard that name before—in the Family’s civil strife.”
The one who stole “Ren Sheng Qi Lu,” a person whose fate was unknown in the Family records.
“That’s right, it’s me. As you can see,”
Sen Kui spread his hands.
“The Family has many unreasonable rules and hides all sorts of filth. In its long history, countless blood and corpses have been buried. As for us—we, who are dissatisfied with the Family, tried to find a new path.”
“For example, the Association?”
“Yes, the Association. We are different from the Family. We allow everyone to use mysterious items freely, not seeing ourselves as mere managers like the Family does.”
Su Qingyu smiled.
“If that’s so, why steal my Magic Flute? Can’t I use it freely?”
“Of course you can,” Sen Kui smiled too, “as long as Miss Su joins the Association.”
Su Qingyu fell silent.
So that was why they hadn’t acted against her.
She didn’t say a word, but the tense expression on her face said it all.
Sen Kui shook his head in disappointment.
“What a pity.”
At that moment, the vice-captain’s painful voice suddenly came through the audio.
“Captain, captain, I… I’m scared.”
What?
He turned to look.
The vice-captain and another person both looked abnormal—they were the ones who’d touched the flute earlier.
The flute that had seemed just a harmless fake…
During this time, Bai Xiaoya had barely understood what was happening, too scared to speak.
But then she felt something cool and itchy on her face.
Huh?
Am I crying?
Her wine-red eyes reflected a shadow of foreboding—she saw Sen Kui raise his pistol toward Su Qingyu.
“Watch out!”
Su Qingyu saw it too, but there was nothing she could do—she could only watch as Sen Kui pulled the trigger.
Bang—!!!
***
[Have you ever heard the sound of the wind?]
The bullet whistled past Su Qingyu’s head, slicing through several strands of golden hair.
Wind Maiden Effect activated—Extreme Evasion!
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