Chapter 9 Blood Orchid of the Breath of Earth (Part 7) - The stepmother just happened to be there, and the boss overheard. ...

Those men were dressed in a mix of streetwear-style clothing, their lower bodies clad in durable military-grade tactical trousers, and their feet in high-top combat boots. The sharpness and alertness they exuded in their movements resembled a group of well-trained…veterans?

They roughly dug at the long-abandoned graves with entrenching tools, cursing the weather, the mission, and this damned place.

The other two men, clearly guards, were holding old-fashioned hunting rifles, the muzzles pointed directly at a boy who had collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

The person was still wearing a blue and white striped hospital gown; who else could it be but Chen Zigui?!

"Zi Gui?!" Wu Yang couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Lan Shuyin was horrified, but it was too late to cover his mouth.

Several cold, sharp gazes were instantly cast toward the low slope where they were hiding.

"Who's there?! Show yourself!"

"Let's go!" Lan Shuyin made a quick decision and suddenly pulled Wu Yang along.

However, the other party was clearly extremely familiar with this complex terrain.

In the blink of an eye, two burly men wielding assault knives and moving as swiftly as cheetahs had already taken a shortcut to surround them, cutting off their retreat.

Resistance was futile. The two men were roughly twisted behind their backs and dragged back to the center of that gruesome mass grave, where they were forced to kneel on the cold, muddy ground.

"Behave yourselves! Or I'll shoot you all!"

A burly man with a full beard raised his hunting rifle, the dark muzzle exuding a menacing aura.

"No, no, we're just two defenseless college students, please don't kill us." Wu Yang raised his hands in fear, a single tear sliding down his cheek, looking pitiful and heartbreaking.

His fear amused the burly, bearded man, who laughed twice and ignored them.

Lan Shuyin, who was originally on edge, was also amused and exasperated when she saw Wu Yang's pathetic state. She sighed inwardly.

"Yes, I'm sorry, Sister Yin." Noticing the strange expression on her face, Wu Yang sniffled and shed tears while apologizing in a choked voice.

"Alright, shut up," Lan Shuyin said in a low voice, no longer looking at him.

She looked up and calmly assessed the group of people in front of her.

The opposing team has a total of ten people.

The two gunmen were positioned in a tricky spot, but they looked relaxed, clearly not taking her and Wu Yang, these two defenseless "college students," seriously.

Just then, one of his men came running over, cursing and complaining to the bearded man, "Brother Long, we've searched this whole area, and there's not a single hair!"

"Nothing?" The bearded man, known as Brother Long, frowned, roughly stroking his chin, looking extremely irritated. "...He clearly said it was around here...Go, wake that kid up! Make him talk to himself!"

"Alright." A fierce glint flashed across the subordinate's face as he turned and kicked the unconscious Chen Zigui hard.

Chen Zigui's body was kicked and rolled half a circle, letting out a muffled groan, but he was still not awake.

"Zi Gui!" Upon seeing this, Wu Yang immediately rushed over to protect his friend.

"Hmm?" A fierce glint flashed in Brother Long's eyes, and the dark muzzle of his gun immediately turned. "You two know each other?!"

Wu Yang shuddered at the cold gun barrel, his voice trembling, but he still stubbornly stood in front of Chen Zigui, his neck stiff as he said, "He...he's my classmate! You can't treat him like this!"

“Classmate? Very well!” Brother Long sneered, then suddenly grabbed Wu Yang by the hair and roughly dragged him to a newly dug grave, then kicked him down without any mercy!

"Since you're so loyal, then you speak for him! Where exactly is the 'Blood Orchid of the Breath of Earth'?! If you can't tell me, I'll bury you right here in this pit!"

Blood Orchid of the Breath of Earth?

Upon catching this unusual keyword, Lan Shuyin paused involuntarily.

These people, who spend their lives roaming through dangerous places and encountering strange tales, are mostly familiar with various legends and anecdotes. For example, the Blood Orchid of the Breath of Earth—

Legend has it that it only grows on the summits of extremely steep mountains where few people venture, and is a magical creature containing wondrous power.

It is said to be able to "cure all poisons and restore flesh and bones." No matter what kind of strange poison one is afflicted with, as long as one is still clinging to life, taking it can forcibly purify the toxins and restore one to a perfect state. It even has incredible effects on certain chronic illnesses accumulated from practicing evil poison techniques, or on the life essence damaged by evil spirits.

Simply put, it's a miracle drug.

However, there are far too many similar legends.

Lan Shuyin always felt that such legends were best left unsaid.

Even if such a divine object truly exists in the world, how could it appear in a desolate village like Qigu Village?

It is by no means something that ordinary people like them can easily touch or get their hands on.

Just then, Wu Yang let out a scream.

Someone had already picked up an entrenching tool, scooped up the wet, cold mud mixed with broken bricks and stones, and threw it at him.

Lan Shuyin immediately said, "Stop!"

"Hmm?" Brother Long turned around at the sound of his voice, a hint of amusement and sarcasm in his eyes. "What, little sister, you want to show off your skills too?"

He looked Lan Shuyin up and down and said in a roguish voice, "I advise you to stay put. We rough men don't know anything about being gentle with women when we're doing things."

"What you want is the thing, not human lives." Lan Shuyin secretly pinched her thigh, staring fearlessly into his fierce eyes. "If someone really dies and things get out of hand, it won't do you any good, will it? What you want is the intact 'Blood Orchid of Breath', not corpses and trouble, right?"

Seeing that she was not afraid at all, but instead tried to figure out their motives, Brother Long's face instantly darkened.

He took a sudden step forward. "Who do you think you are?" he practically spat out the words through gritted teeth, his breath reeking of smoke. "You dare talk to me like that?!"

The cold muzzle of the gun pressed heavily against her forehead, sending a sharp, stinging pain through her.

Lan Shuyin chuckled softly. The laughter sounded particularly abrupt in the tense, deathly silence.

She even tilted her head slightly, as if merely brushing aside a stray strand of hair, her eyes showing no fear whatsoever, but rather an indescribable arrogance.

She said calmly, "I dare to speak like this because I have enough confidence."

"Oh?" Brother Long narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing this seemingly ordinary yet audacious woman, and pressed the gun forward again. "What gives you the confidence? Tell me."

"You've been on the streets for years and are well-informed, you must have heard of the name 'Night of the Rainbows', right?"

The surrounding cacophony of curses and shovels fell silent for a moment.

A Night of Neon Clothes?

These three words are well-known in Beijing and even in more secretive circles.

Several of his subordinates, who had been engrossed in their work, stopped at the same time, and even the man who was pointing a gun at Wu Yang turned his head slightly.

Brother Long's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly, and the fat on his face tightened. "...What do you mean?"

His voice still carried a fierce edge, but it was now mixed with a hint of barely perceptible surprise and caution.

Meeting his surprised and uncertain gaze, Lan Shuyin slowly said, "I am Boss Wei's stepmother."

These words were like a thunderbolt from the blue.

Everyone stared in disbelief at the woman who had uttered such a shocking statement, as if an invisible hand had gripped their throats.

Brother Long was stunned for a moment, then burst into deafening laughter as if he had heard the most absurd joke in the world. He laughed so hard that he almost couldn't breathe.

"Hahahaha... Step-mother?! Boss Wei's... stepmother?! Why don't you just say she's his ancestor... hahaha..."

However, after laughing for a while, he found that the woman in front of him remained calm and composed, even looking at him with an increasingly pitying gaze, as if she were looking at a clown.

There was no panic in his eyes, only composure.

His laughter stopped abruptly, as if cut off by a knife; the muscles in his face twitched a few times before finally settling into an eerie silence.

He stared intently at Lan Shuyin, as if trying to see right through her.

After a full ten seconds, in the dead silence, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he uttered a question that even he found ridiculous:

"...Are you serious?"

This skepticism is instinctive. This disbelief is deeply ingrained.

But in a flash, a thought popped into her mind: In this place, who would dare to fabricate such a close and outrageous relationship with Ni Changye out of thin air? Do they have a death wish? Besides, most women of this age would use someone else's name to make a big deal out of it, like a girlfriend or fiancée, but who would openly call themselves "stepmother"?

This absurd identity, ironically, exudes a sinister charm that makes it impossible to deny easily.

In the dead silence, a sound of a dry branch being broken suddenly came from the hillside to the side.

"Who goes there?!" Brother Long and his men were like startled birds, instantly on high alert, all their eyes turning to the source of the sound!

A figure slid down the slope in a slightly hurried manner, his movements clumsy yet exceptionally pleasing to the eye.

After settling into place, he patted his clothes, which were covered in dust and grass clippings, as if he had simply stumbled upon an insignificant party.

"Sorry to bother everyone."

The man was dressed in an obsidian-colored windbreaker and pants. The fabric gleamed subtly in the dim light of the day, perfectly outlining his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and tall, slender figure.

Then he raised his face, revealing a face that seemed to be favored by the Creator. His skin was a cool-toned white, and a few strands of jet-black, glossy hair fell in front of his beautifully shaped widow's peak, not appearing messy, but rather adding a touch of casual laziness.

He seemed completely oblivious to the tense atmosphere, offering a nonchalant smile as he asked, "I came here on foot and got lost. Could you tell me how to get to the ancestral hall?"

His sudden appearance and calm demeanor caused the atmosphere to freeze in an even more eerie way.

Immediately afterward, Brother Long snapped out of his shock and realized he had been tricked. Enraged, he turned his shotgun around.

The dark muzzle of a gun was pointed at the uninvited guest, and he roared, "Kid, are you playing dumb with me? Asking for directions? I'll send you to your death!"