I trust you
Lin Chaoying followed Madam Tang into the innermost room facing south in Qingfeng Courtyard, where she saw Madam Tang take out a bell the size of a thumb from her pocket and hang it on the door.
She asked warily, "What are you going to do?"
Madam Tang smiled and said softly, "It's alright. The wind chime that suppresses your supernatural abilities is in my room. It's a chime that can hide blood energy and supernatural magnetic fields."
It turns out her special ability is controlling the sound of a bell.
"Since you wanted to harm us before, why are you helping me now?" Lin Chaoying pressed on relentlessly.
Madam Tang sighed, "I told you, I'm not from Ghost Gate or Twelfth Street. I helped Wu Liang before because he's my husband, and I'm helping you now because I just happened to run into you."
Seeing that she stopped speaking, Lin Chaoying followed her into the inner hall. The room was clean and simple, unlike the luxurious Begonia Courtyard.
Madam Tang continued, "Stay here for two days to recover before going out. There's nothing else I can do to help you. If they ask, just say the bell at the door was left behind when you were playing with Tingchun last time."
Lin Chao-ying: "Do you know where my friends are?"
Mrs. Tang's brows were full of worry. "Stop looking, or you won't be able to get out either."
Seeing her hesitant yet soft-hearted expression, Lin Chaoying recalled the persistent persuasion Chu Tang had used on her in Taoyuan Village, and suddenly understood why the other party had persisted in trying to convince her with disdain.
Lin Chaoying instantly abandoned her composure, revealing her most exhausted and vulnerable side. "Mrs. Tang, can you help me?"
Mrs. Tang exclaimed in surprise, "Do you know who you're asking? I could hand you over at any time."
Lin Chaoying: "I know that I wouldn't be begging you if I hadn't been completely desperate. I don't know why you're willing to stay in this dark and gloomy house, but right now, we're the same, aren't we?"
Mrs. Tang: "What?"
Lin Chaoying: "We've all fallen into the same desperate situation."
Madam Tang's eyes flickered slightly, and she said with an unreadable expression, "What are you thinking? Do you think I can join your side based on just a few words?"
"Of course not!" Lin Chaoying said, "But aren't you really worried that Tingchun will turn into the likes of Wu Yang in the underworld? Bloodthirsty and inhuman? Superhumans aren't just tools?"
Madam Tang's chest heaved noticeably. Standing at the door, she looked up at the sky and said, "It's different. Wu Liang promised me that Tingchun wouldn't enter the training camp, and he wouldn't force Tingchun to work for the Ghost Gate."
Lin Chaoying sneered: "Wu Yang is his own son, listed in the family tree. Wu Yang's mother is from Twelfth Street, and she couldn't stop her son's future. What can you decide?"
She knew nothing about the feud between the people involved and was just spouting nonsense.
Mrs. Tang suddenly turned around and stared at her coldly, "Shut up!"
Lin Chaoying saw it! She noticed the unusual, resentful, and unwilling look in her eyes. She had just mentioned Wu Yang, Twelfth Street, and Madam Tang; nothing seemed amiss. Only one name was new—that of Wu Yang's biological mother.
What was her name on the family tree again? She calmed down; it had only been one night, but it felt like half a lifetime to her.
The night, the light focused on the phone, the scrolling screen, the name at the bottom...
Plum Blossom Frost!
She remembered that her name was Mei Shuang, and Kong Yue had mentioned that Mei Shuang was originally a doctor on Twelfth Street.
Lin Chaoying, with a mischievous idea in mind, deliberately said, "That's true. Wu Liang must love you. After all, there are only Mei Shuang and Wu Yang's names on the family tree. He doesn't want you to get involved in the Ghost Gate affair."
"What did you say?!" Mrs. Tang's tone was somewhat anxious, but she still managed to control her expression.
Lin Chaoying: "Did you not hear me clearly, or are you unwilling to hear me clearly?"
Madam Tang realized she had overstepped her bounds and stood up. "You've crossed the line." She then prepared to leave, but hesitated outside the door before turning back to look inside. "Butler Zhang's injury will likely attract a lot of people looking for you. We can only protect you here for a few hours at most. You'd better think it over."
Seeing her firm attitude, Lin Chaoying made one last request, "Can I borrow your phone?"
Mrs. Tang neither spoke nor refused.
Lin Chaoying confessed: "I'm out of energy, I'm not running anymore, but I want to say one last thing to my friends outside."
Madam Tang glanced at the courtyard, lowered her head, sighed softly, and said, "Alright."
Lin Chaoying wiped the bloodstains from her hands and took the phone, asking, "Do you have Weibo or Xiaohongshu? You should have WeChat too, right?"
"Weibo?" Mrs. Tang was stunned: "Are you going to die and still use Weibo and Xiaohongshu? Are you a fangirl?"
Lin Chaoying gave a bitter smile: "There's nothing I can do. I can't remember my friend's phone number. He's a celebrity, so I have to buy his identity information. Otherwise, you wouldn't know where my phone is, would you?"
Mrs. Tang asked, "Is it very expensive? I only have tens of thousands of yuan in liquid funds on my phone."
“That’s enough, it won’t even cost a few hundred yuan.” Lin Chaoying said as she skillfully purchased Jiang Xu’s information online, then handed her her phone and said, “Please pay this, I will pay you back if I’m alive.”
Mrs. Tang covered the phone and said, "I'm willing to give you the phone and help you make payments, but please respect my decision. If you call someone with superpowers, none of your friends will survive."
So she knew where they were. Lin Chaoying realized that her help would only be within reasonable limits; once that limit was exceeded, this woman wouldn't show much kindness.
Lin Chaoying found her attempt to turn Wu Liang against her absurd and could only silently expose her wounds, suppressing the helplessness in her heart. Then she said seriously, "I want to use myself to negotiate with Wu Liang in exchange for one of the non-superpowered people to have a chance to live. In my eyes, he is the same as your daughter in your heart. He doesn't belong in the struggle between superpowered people. If someone with superpowers has to be involved in this disaster, then he is an innocent victim. He is just an ordinary person, and he still has a bright future ahead of him."
Based on her behavior just now, Mrs. Tang guessed, "Was it that celebrity?"
Lin Chaoying nodded.
After Mrs. Tang paid with her facial recognition, she handed her the phone and said, "He still has a chance to survive."
"What did you say!" Lin Chaoying asked, "You know their current situation, right? What about the brother and sister behind the rockery? And the little girl who was with me? She was badly injured when I left!"
Mrs. Tang didn't say much, only calmly saying, "Use every method you can think of to save that celebrity. Among this group, he currently has the best chance of survival. I'll pretend I was never here today. The payment password is 0000, and the screen isn't locked. After you're done using your phone, put it on the table on the second floor. It'll be safe here for at most five hours. Figure out the rest yourself." After saying that, she turned and left, closing the gate to the courtyard.
Lin Chaoying understood that this was the biggest concession the other party could make.
She entered the phone number and dialed, but the other end kept hanging up, eventually blocking her. Desperate, she started buying the phone numbers of several other teammates, wondering who was most likely to trust strangers in the past.
Jiang Xingxing! She's a chatterbox and a coward, afraid of everything! The key is that she's currently a complete flop in the entertainment industry, so while she might be less likely to be harassed by paparazzi, she's more likely to answer calls from unknown numbers!
Lin Chaoying sought out an intermediary to purchase Jiang Xingxing's identity information. The kind of people she once despised most had unexpectedly become her own illegitimate child, and this method even became her only lifeline.
The call connected, and a lazy voice came from the other end, sounding like someone who hadn't woken up yet, "Who is it?"
Lin Chaoying: "Jiang Xingxing! Jiangchuan Valley is in danger! Help me contact Jiang Xu!"
"Ah!" Jiang Xingxing stared at the unfamiliar number, lost in thought. "Who the hell are you?! Get lost!"
"Don't hang it up!" Lin Chaoying shouted, "After Li Chao passed away, you sent Jiang Chuangu letters and gifts to make up for the bullying you did to him when he was eighteen! I'm afraid only Jiang Xu and a few of you know about this!"
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end, followed by the sounds of someone falling, a phone dropping, and then a series of crashes. Jiang Xingxing's voice became much more serious after that.
He asked, "Where is Jiangchuan Valley?"
Lin Chaoying: "You don't need to worry about that. Just help me contact Jiang Xu, and be quick!"
Jiang Xingxing: "So you want Jiang Xu to call this number?"
Lin Chaoying: "Yes! Please! Hurry up!"
The other end of the phone hung up, and the room fell silent instantly, leaving only the sound of her heartbeat, "thump thump thump—" each beat heavy as if it were about to leave her body. She leaned against the wall and climbed the stairs, sitting at the table by the window. She noticed in the mirror that she was so tired that her eyelids were drooping, her lips were purple, and her pale, muddy face was stained with specks of blood. Her clothes below the neck were soaked red, and she looked like a ghost that had crawled out of hell.
The phone rang, and a familiar voice came from the other end, "Lin Chaoying, is that you?"
Lin Chaoying licked her dry, chapped lips, and for a moment she felt like crying. She said in a trembling voice, "Jiang Xu... only you can save Jiang Chuangu."
Jiang Xu: "Where is he?"
Lin Chaoying: "I want you to buy the earliest flight and immediately bring bodyguards to Wu Family Manor in Yanmen Village, Fengcheng. We need Jiang Chuan Gu! Just say that Jiang Chuan Gu is here for an inspection. No matter what the connection is, you must take Jiang Chuan Gu away. Whether you say that Jiang Chuan Gu has insurance or that he has a contractual cooperation with HQ, whatever the reason, you must see Jiang Chuan Gu alive, and all his luggage. All of this belongs to the HQ Group. If you don't hand over the person and the things, the police and people from the group will get involved!"
Jiang Xu had a head full of questions, but didn't know where to start. "Wait... what have you guys been doing these past few days? Weren't you on vacation? A few days ago there were rumors online that Jiangchuan Valley was in some Peach Blossom Village. How come you've changed villages again?"
Lin Chaoying assured him, "I won't harm him!"
Jiang Xu: "Okay, please continue."
Lin Chaoying briefly explained that they had come to Wu Family Manor with false identities, omitting the part about the superhumans. She concluded that the matter they were facing should not involve Jiang Chuangu, so Jiang Xu needed to step in and put pressure on Wu Liang to force him to hand over the people.
Jiang Xu: "I've booked my plane ticket and I'm heading to the airport now. I'll land in three hours, and it'll take another hour to get to the village."
"Okay." Lin Chaoying was relieved and instructed, "When you see Jiang Chuangu, he may be covered in injuries. Find an empty room. There is a potion marked Brad in our suitcase. Give it to him."
He could hear the wind and footsteps coming through the phone. Jiang Xu's heart pounded, and he asked, "Lin Chaoying, can I really trust you?"
Lin Chaoying: "Given the current situation, you can only trust me, and I can only trust you."
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