Birds of a feather
"Yo-" Wu Liang sat in the main seat, twirling a shiny walnut in his hand, and said teasingly, "Who's here? Have you been wandering around our house? Can't find the exit no matter what you do?"
Lin Chaoying stood inside the room, a knife in her hand, surrounded by Zhang Shang, Zhang Lu, and several unfamiliar faces. Her expression was calm, and her tone unusually indifferent as she asked, "Where are Feng Yang and Cen Ting? Where are my friends?"
Wu Liang's face slowly wrinkled, revealing deep lines that looked extremely ugly. He sneered, "What are you talking about? You're still thinking of negotiating with me?"
Lin Chaoying stood straight, unmoved by the other party's attitude, and said directly, "Release my friend."
"Hahaha—" Wu Liang laughed and shook his head, waving to the people next to him.
Two burly men, each over 1.8 meters tall, walked in through the door, dragging a thin person along and tossing him on the ground like trash. Lin Chaoying looked down; the man's face was scratched and his body was tattered, not like it had been cut with a knife, but covered in deep and shallow, messy wounds.
Wu Liang: "Let me introduce you, a civilian with supernatural abilities. This is Chi Jiang, from the Central Mobile Group of Yuzhou, Twelfth Street."
Chi Jiang! The third person in the team that Feng Yang told her about!
Wu Liang continued, "His special ability is the same as Liang Hua's, right? It seems to be flying?"
The people around him nodded.
Lin Chaoying crouched down and reached out to check Chi Jiang's breath. It was very light, almost imperceptible. Her gaze shifted downwards and she noticed something tied around his waist. She lifted his shirt and froze instantly. It was a very thick leather rope, bound around his waist, already embedded in his flesh...
Considering his superpower is flight, and the fact that the rope knot still had extra length, it's very likely that he was forced into the air by the Ghost Gate group and then pulled down with the rope! They controlled him like flying a kite.
Her mouth was slightly open, her eyes were red, and she said with surprise and resentment, "They are people! Not animals! Not inanimate objects!"
Even though Lin Chaoying is a superhuman and has experienced many things in the past two years, all the social education she received over the past 20 years—from the age of 3 to 23—was shattered in this mountain villa.
“This is what happens when he tries to negotiate with me!” Wu Liang sighed. “What’s the difference between superhumans and animals?” He pointed to those hateful and confused eyes, shook his head, and said regretfully, “If Lin Nian Nian hadn’t insisted on running away back then, you would be a member of Twelfth Street now, right? You would be following the rules of the superhuman world, and you wouldn’t be arguing with me about human rights now. It’s annoying to listen to.”
"What did you say?" Lin Chaoying heard a familiar name.
Lin Nian Nian was her maternal grandmother, who passed away when she was in high school.
Wu Liang: "Look! Back then, Lin Nian Nian was hiding and running around, saying it was to protect her family. Fool, as long as you have superpowers, what did your family run away from? You should prepare for battle early and take back the initiative."
Lin Chaoying thought her superpowers were inherited from her ancestors, but she never imagined her grandmother was a superpowered person? She vaguely realized why her parents wouldn't let her leave Fengcheng. But Wu Family Manor was the territory of the Ghost Gate; even if she didn't leave Fengcheng, the Ghost Gate people would still come looking for her?
"Alright, alright." Wu Liang took a sip of tea. "Stop thinking about it yourself. Are you curious about what happened to you? I can spare your life for Lin Nian Nian's sake, and I can even tell you who killed your brother. Today, I'll turn a blind eye to Tang Xiang Lan saving you. But I have a condition: you must come with us and you can't resist."
He knows everything.
Lin Chaoying countered, "Why?"
Wu Liang: "I really like your superpower. There's still a lot that can be developed, and I'd love to take on the challenge."
Lin Chaoying was actually glad that she had some use; otherwise, she really couldn't save anyone. So she asked frankly, "How many people can I exchange my life for?"
"Huh?" Wu Liang frowned, and after a few seconds of reaction, "Let me think about it. How many changes would you like to make?"
Lin Chaoying said with unusual firmness, "You're asking me? Then I want everyone, including the corpses!"
Wu Liang's eyes widened. "You really think you're something special?" Then he said impatiently, "One, Qin Ming or Jiang Chuangu, choose one."
"I want Feng Yang, Chi Jiang, and Kong Yue too!" Lin Chaoying rushed forward, but was stopped again and could only stand still. "They're all too badly injured! They won't live much longer anyway, so they're worthless. Give them all to me! Give me Cen Ting's body too! It's worthless to me now!"
"Smash—" Wu Liang smashed the water glass in his hand on the ground. Enraged, he hooked two fingers and grabbed Lin Chaoying's neck tightly. She was slowly suspended in the air. The feeling of suffocation caused her limbs to tremble uncontrollably in the air, but she could not grab anything. Her mind went blank.
Wu Liang: "I said that people with superpowers are not human, especially those with superpowers on Twelfth Street. In my eyes, they are just dogs on the street. The stronger their ability, the more likely they are to bite me. But you bunch of dogs who can't even fight back when beaten with sticks are only good for my son to use as fertilizer, understand?"
Lin Chaoying's forehead and neck veins bulged, and she gritted out two words through her teeth: "I don't understand!"
Wu Liang withdrew his hand, and Lin Chaoying fell to the ground. He said, "You and Lin Nian Nian are quite alike. Is your mother like this too? Is your whole family like this?"
Lin Chaoying took a deep breath, looked up at him, and scolded, "You're the stray dog my grandma fed by the roadside, aren't you? Why are you still so hung up on it?"
Wu Liang: "You still have the leisure and energy to be stubborn now because you don't know the truth yet?" He smiled meaningfully, "Do you know why you wanted to jump into the river? Do you know why your brother died? And... guess where Chu Tang is right now?"
Chu Tang? Wasn't she already taken back to Yuzhou by Twelfth Street?
Seeing the other person's stunned expression, he said with some delight, "It's just as you thought. Twelfth Street and Ghost Gate are in cahoots. Chu Tang has already returned to Ghost Gate's base."
"Impossible!" Lin Chaoying didn't believe Twelfth Street; she had no feelings for the organization whatsoever. She only trusted Qin Ming, Qian Fei, and Kong Yue. She internally advised herself to stay calm; this Wu Liang seemed very adept at manipulation.
He said, "In some ways, we should be on the same side, for example, in forcing your superpowers to erupt, we provide the manpower, and they provide the physical labor?"
No matter how much Lin Chaoying tried to convince herself, hearing this kind of information would still cause subtle fluctuations in her heart.
Wu Liang: "The Twelve Streets are managed by the patriarchs of four powerful families: Su, Qin, Lin, and Meng. Lin is your family. It was originally your maternal grandmother's position, but she gave it to a cousin's branch, taking the secret that the Twelve Streets wanted most with her. Do you think the Twelve Streets would let your family go? Even so, she refused to seek the protection of the Ghost Gate, thinking that hiding would solve everything. Little did she know, your family had already been targeted by the Twelve Streets. In fact, it's not just your family; many descendants of superhumans are also being watched by the Twelve Streets..."
It turns out that Qin Ming's identity is not simple either.
A secret? What secret?
Are many descendants of superhumans being targeted? Are the people of Twelfth Street also using extreme methods to force these descendants to unleash their superhuman abilities?
Wu Liang seemed tired, so he asked someone to pour him more water and continued, "You're a special case. The car accident arranged by Twelfth Street, Chu Tang's brainwashing, your brother's death—none of these events forced out your special ability. Nobody expected that your ability would resurface on its own after four years. Do you think Qin Ming, that second-generation scoundrel, could cover for you with all the things you've been involved in? Do you think Qin Ming's arrogance was the reason he didn't provide support when things went wrong?"
Lin Chaoying's mind raced through everything that had happened in the past two months. Every point that had puzzled her was now subtly answered, and she felt a chill run through her body.
So, every step she took was part of a trap orchestrated by these people?
What was the purpose? Was it just to keep Grandma's secret?
This is probably one of the reasons. The most likely reason is that Twelfth Street also sees superhumans as a kind of resource, and they want to seize and plunder them. Since Ghost Gate can't seize them, they can only try to create them.
A bodyguard walked in through the door and said, "Boss, a few celebrities have arrived at the door."
"A celebrity?" Wu Liang asked. "What celebrity?"
Seeing this, Lin Chaoying smiled wryly and said, "Wu Liang, do you lack fame? The people who come to the door can make you famous throughout the country. This is a gift from me, no need to thank me."
Wu Liang immediately realized and asked, "So you've already chosen between Qin Ming and Jiang Chuan Valley?"
He stood up to leave, but Lin Chaoying called out, "Wu Liang! You had no choice but to let Jiang Chuan Valley go! So you owe me Qin Ming! I want to exchange Qin Ming for a spot!"
Wu Liang: "You don't want to save Qin Ming? I won't let Kong Yue go."
Lin Chaoying had no choice. "Qian Fei! I want Qian Fei! You have to let at least one of the two girls go! Otherwise! When the door opens, I'll rush out even if it kills me. You can trap me, but you can't trap my soul."
If Qin Ming is indeed the child of one of the four major families he mentioned, and Twelve Streets and Ghost Gate have a partnership, then this identity could ensure Qin Ming's survival. Kong Yue's special abilities are too unique, and Ghost Gate will definitely not let her go, so at least Qian Fei should be spared.
Wu Liang was extremely annoyed. "Go, go, go, bring Qian Fei and Jiang Chuangu out."
"I want to see them take the people away with my own eyes!" Lin Chaoying dropped the knife in her hand and reached out, saying, "Do you have any inhibitors? As long as I can see them leave safely, I won't run away; I'll go with you."
Passing through the welcoming wall at the entrance, the gate slowly opened, and Lin Chaoying stood in the sunlight, numb, sad, and powerless, quietly gazing at the men at the entrance.
Even the people from ATW-7 have come.
Jiang Xu, Jiang Xingxing, Su Xi, Qi Zeren, Shen Hao, and Zhao Yuanfan. Time has brought them not only changes in appearance and temperament, but also some inexplicable emotional shifts.
She gave Jiang Xu a bitter smile, then turned around and looked at the two stretchers behind her, with Jiang Chuangu and Qian Fei unconscious. Although there was blood on them, their wounds had disappeared, probably due to Kong Yue's blood. Kong Yue must still be alive.
Six people rushed up and surrounded Jiang Chuangu, checking his injuries. Jiang Xu remembered the luggage, while Wu Liang stood behind the bodyguards and waved his hand. Several men in black threw out a large pile of boxes and bags.
"I'll fucking—" Zhao Yuanfan was so angry that he raised his fist and was about to rush forward, but Jiang Xu stopped him, "Don't cause trouble! Let's take our men and leave!"
Surrounded by three bodyguards, Lin Chaoying turned to Wu Liang and said, "I'd like to say goodbye one last time."
Wu Liang remained silent.
The lead bodyguard made way for her, and she knelt down beside Qian Fei. Seeing the flowing bloodstains all over her body and face, she understood that the blood was from her injuries. With a pained expression, she stroked Qian Fei's hair and whispered, "Qian Fei, rest well, it's alright now." Thinking of Cen Ting, a pang of pain shot through her heart. "I'm sorry, I couldn't save her."
Then Lin Chaoying walked to Jiang Chuan Gu's side, and Jiang Xu asked in a low voice, "Shall I take you away? Are you going to stay here? This place is too strange!"
She said, "I'd like to speak with him alone for a bit. Could you please put the luggage and money on the car first?"
Jiang Xu understood what she meant. Everyone was confused and puzzled, but they were obedient and quickly moved people and put things away.
Lin Chaoying sighed heavily, silently stroking Jiang Chuangu's brows, eyes, and nose... All her words were stuck in her throat, too many things she wanted to say, too much reluctance to let go. Finally, she slowly lowered her head, and the moment their foreheads touched, a tear fell onto Jiang Chuangu's face and slid down his neck.
She regretted it.
She said, "Jiangchuan Valley, let's die together, okay? If I'm destined never to leave this place, you'll come with me, right...?"
She said again, "Never mind, never mind..."
Lin Chaoying stared at Jiang Chuangu's sleeping face, afraid she would forget, looking at it again and again, "If I really die this time, and become a ghost again, you must be able to see me, I just want you to be able to see me..."
Finally, she stood up, watched as Su Xi and Jiang Xingxing carried Jiang Chuangu into the car, exchanged glances with Jiang Xu, took a few steps back, and walked back into the shadows of Wu Family Manor.
As the gate closed, the two cars drove out of the village.
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