Chapter 119 The Hunchbacked Shadow (6)
—Someone like her?
At first glance, Shu Ningmiao was almost stunned by this sentence, but then she remembered the question she had asked and quickly realized what the person meant.
All of these victims were patients with Manla disease.
...There should be enough time.
She put away her terminal, packed her things, and left the room.
Entering the elevator and pressing the button for the lounge floor, the Union Building was still as bright as day at night, and the people moving around inside were like worker ants, constantly busy.
Zhao was nowhere to be seen in the lounge, but the lights were still on. She was right; Xiao Jiang was still in the training room.
The indicator light at the entrance of the training room flashed once, changing from red to green.
The woman stood in the very center of the sword-fighting arena, holding a knife in her left hand, her figure moving swiftly, sweat dripping down her face.
The virtual moving target was shattered into several pieces and disappeared instantly.
Xiao Jiang stopped what she was doing, looked up and looked towards the door, where the girl's shadow appeared before her eyes.
The girl stopped at the doorway and did not come in.
Unlike her more formal attire when we met before, she wore a dark coat and trousers, one hand in her pocket, her thick black hair flowing freely. When you look closely into her beautifully shaped eyes, you feel that they are clearer than yours, slightly arrogant and aloof.
Having only met twice and never spoken a word, Xiao Jiang racked his brains for words, so he simply slung the knife behind his back, walked over, and greeted her curtly, "Aren't you asleep yet? It's getting late."
In that case, it seems strange that she stayed here in the middle of the night.
After venting her frustrations at the training ground, Xiao Jiang simply walked out. Sensing that the girl had turned around and followed her, Xiao Jiang opened the freezer, took out a bottle of beer, and then found a can of mint tea, which she tossed back to her.
With two soft clicks, she opened the beer in her hand and took a big gulp: "Don't look at me, do you want a straw?"
Shu Ningmiao stared at her with her dark red pupils, making her feel like she was sitting on pins and needles for a good ten seconds, before she heard the person speak slowly and deliberately: "You've waited until now, are you planning to sneak off to Xindi?"
Xiao Jiang coughed, almost spitting out the wine in her mouth, her slightly dark skin turning red: "Don't talk nonsense."
Shu Ningmiao nodded calmly: "Understood."
"Good to know." She raised her arm to wipe her face and waved her hand dismissively, like she was dealing with a child: "Go to sleep."
“Temporary passes are usually only valid for 24 hours.” Shu Ningmiao took a sip of her mint tea. “If you took a temporary pass from a member of the support team when you came back today, and you missed tonight, it will be too late tomorrow.”
"I didn't...no? How did you know?" Xiao Jiang looked as if she had seen a ghost.
“Because you look very anxious, your body is still tense.” Shu Ningmiao leaned against the table and pointed to her arm. Xiao Jiang took a step back, her muscles twitching slightly. “The more anxious you are, the more likely you are to make a mistake.”
Shu Ningmiao lowered her eyes and looked at her probingly: "This is no longer your task, is there any reason why you absolutely have to go?"
Xiao Jiang stared at her for two seconds, then turned her head away, her breathing becoming slightly heavier.
"If I don't go... people will keep dying." She muttered, "What else could happen?"
Shu Ning pondered, "It's truly rare to find someone among the operatives who thinks like this."
Xiao Jiang was silent for a moment, her eyebrows twitched, and suddenly reached out to strike, intending to knock her unconscious. At the same time, Shu Ningmiao suddenly squatted down, dodging the blade under her arm, and leaped to her side.
Xiao Jiang turned around and said helplessly, "I was very gentle. I just wanted you to take a nap, okay?"
Shu Ningmiao steadied herself and gently touched the floor, creating distance between herself and the other woman, then stood there motionless.
The girl stopped in place, did not dodge, and raised her arm to directly block the palm strike.
Xiao Jiang exclaimed "Eh!" and gradually opened her eyes wider.
Although somewhat restrained, this is still a force capable of shattering a target weighing thousands of pounds.
Taking advantage of her daze, Shu Ningmiao shook off her hand and kicked her left leg lightly. Xiao Jiang staggered two steps before barely regaining her balance.
At this moment, Xiao Jiang noticed that she was carrying a long, thin black tennis bag on her left shoulder, its straight shape vaguely visible. She knew all too well what was inside.
“I can help you.” Shu Ningmiao pressed the strap of her shoulder bag, opened the sensor door, and zipped up her coat. “Anyway, you just wanted someone to help you translate, right? My Pinhian is definitely better than theirs.”
Xiao Jiang frowned slightly, then simply followed behind her: "That's not the point. You're still a student..."
The two walked down the stairs in tacit agreement, avoiding the range of the cameras, while Xiao Jiang was still trying to persuade her to go back.
“I also speak Mengdan language,” Shu Ningmiao said to her as she turned around.
"That's amazing." Xiao Jiang's attention was indeed diverted by her: "There are still people learning our local dialect."
Shu Ningmiao answered realistically: "Learning less commonly taught languages earns more credits."
“But…” Xiao Jiang swallowed back her words of persuasion without stopping, and paused again. This sword was of a special length and was very easy to identify. Phine rarely had such a long sword made entirely of Xi Jin. It was extremely light and not just anyone could use it: “Isn’t that the Xi Jin sword that Shu Changyan used before on your back? You secretly took your brother’s weapon and ran away with me. If he finds out, won’t he punish you?”
...She had never seen the word "clean up" in Shu Changyan's dictionary. Even if Shu Changyan gave her the sword, she wouldn't object to using it as a sword.
Shu Ningmiao gave a very faint laugh.
Xiao Jiang raised an eyebrow, stretched out her arms, and put on the jacket she hadn't had time to put on earlier.
The two walked into the surface parking lot. Xiao Jiang took out the key from his pocket and tossed it up. He caught it and opened the car door. The cars parked here were mostly low-key, specially made vehicles. The paint was inconspicuous, but the whole body was made of high-strength new alloys, which had been reinforced for bulletproof and stab resistance.
Shu Ningmiao opened the back door and asked carefully, "Did you turn off location services?"
"It's off." Xiao Jiang rolled up his sleeves to his elbows, turned on all the switches one by one, and started the car in one smooth motion: "It's fine if it's not off, because this is Zhao's car."
"..."
The car body emitted a low humming sound. During the ten or so seconds of waiting for the self-check, the door was opened again, and a person wrapped in a gray cardigan sweater, wearing sunglasses and a felt hat to cover himself up completely climbed into the passenger seat without saying a word.
The newcomer took off his sunglasses, revealing Zhao's flamboyant face.
The man stepped into the back seat and sat down calmly beside her. His long, strong fingers, wrapped in bandages to soothe his muscles, were visible beneath his half-finger glove. He pulled down his mask, revealing gleaming blue eyes.
Shu Changyan took a piece of chocolate out of his pocket and placed it in her hand.
"Let's go." Zhao held a thin booklet in one hand, elegantly opened it, and said matter-of-factly, "Let's go."
"Wait."
Xiao Jiang raised her voice: "Who let you come up here! Didn't you say you weren't going?"
“Go if you know the way, and follow my directions.” Zhao yawned. “I need to keep an eye on my car, just in case it ends up in the junkyard tomorrow.”
Xiao Jiang glanced behind her and saw that Shu Changyan was staring intently at Shu Ningmiao, who had already closed her eyes, his purpose clear.
"Then why are you dressed so flashy?" Xiao Jiang slammed on the starter, and the car sped off in a certain direction, shouting, "Throw away all your eye-catching sunglasses and jewelry. Are you going to a concert?"
Zhao hummed twice and suddenly turned up the music volume. Bright and sharp rock music echoed in the car. He tilted his head against the car window, rolled it down halfway, and reached out to feel the shape of the wind.
The scenery outside the car window rushed past, the wind whistled through Xiao's long, dark brown hair, casting dappled shadows.
On one side was the sound of exploding wind, and on the other side was deafening music. Superpowered individuals are naturally more perceptive, and Shu Ningmiao could no longer bear it: "Are you planning to blow up Xindi?"
Let alone the new land, if they all got together, they might even blow up Pine.
"What a lousy place," Zhao shouted back, "So what if it's blown up?"
Xiao Jiang shouted even louder, trying to drown out his voice: "Get out!"
Shu Changyan glanced at it: "Turn off the music."
The smart assistant popped up on the screen and replied, "Okay, it's off."
With only the rustling of the wind remaining in his ears, Xiao Jiang spoke again: "The bodies I found these past few days by following the scent of blood were definitely the work of the same person! The method, the force, and the wounds were all almost identical."
Shu Ningmiao mustered a little more energy and asked, "...Are there any common patterns?"
“I don’t know how to say it.” Xiao Jiang frowned: “Among those killed… there were elderly people and children, I can’t see any pattern.”
"Even the demons of hell don't eat children," Xiao Jiang muttered a slang saying.
Zhao shrugged awkwardly.
When Xiao Jiang said this, Shu Ningmiao could roughly tell that she really hadn't studied Pandora and Manra disease much, and probably could barely even recognize Pinhian script, so it wasn't surprising that she hadn't learned anything.
The two of them didn't seem to care about the details. Zhao hummed a song with his hands behind his head, while Shu Changyan sat quietly behind him with an indifferent expression, showing that he hadn't cared about anything from beginning to end.
As they spoke, Shu Ningmiao felt the car speed increasing, exceeding the normal speed range and heading towards the speed of a roller coaster. The surrounding scenery was becoming increasingly indistinct.
Xiao Jiang continued to accelerate, turning her head to look at Zhao: "Add another status to me, the pass is about to expire, who knows when those lazy bastards in the Public Security Bureau applied for it!"
“That’s fast enough.” Zhao snapped his fingers. “What else do you need to add? Just give my car a ‘Durability’ upgrade; I just bought it recently.”
A pale light enveloped the car's surface like a car cover, cutting through the air and weaving through the wind.
Shu Ningmiao peeked out from behind: "Is this your special ability?"
"Yes." Xiao Jiang looked up at the road ahead and readily admitted, "My special ability is 'North Wind'."
She sneezed, her nostrils flaring, and said with a hint of disgust, "I can still smell the scents in the air, but it's not as sensitive in a confined space. Without opening the windows, the whole car smells of rust."
In the distance, red and green laser lines flashed and crossed. The short passage was marked with warning signs everywhere, and a scan was repeated every second. People without special passes would probably be riddled with bullets before they even stepped into the infrared zone.
With such tight defenses in the Yingjian area alone, not even a fly could get through to the Xindi area.
Zhao adjusted the angle of his sunglasses in the rearview mirror with both hands: "If the media takes a picture of my face and posts it in the Stardora Daily, Minister Kovina will kill me."
Shu Changshen put Shu Ningmiao's hat on her head, tightened the drawstring and tied it into a bow. Shu Ningmiao was observing intently as she formally passed through the passage between the two areas for the first time, and had no interest in him.
"What's the point of all this disguise?" Xiao Jiang's lips twitched, and she slapped the pass against the car window. "Be natural."
She was already tense and ready to go. She rolled down the car window without making a sound. When her face turned cold, all the smiles in her eyes and brows froze, and the horizontal scar looked particularly fierce.
The most important pass was something she took from someone in the rescue team, but its exact validity period is unclear.
If a problem does occur, it won't be too troublesome.
However, it's best not to make too much of a fuss.
Within seconds of recognition, the surroundings fell silent. Shu Ningmiao lowered her gaze, pondering for a moment which opening she should jump out of if the car were hit.
How many people are patrolling?
Shu Ningmiao's gaze swept over these people; half of them were people with superpowers.
After absorbing the Crimson Palace Stone, her supernatural abilities were unleashed. Once she mastered a certain level of control, she could vaguely sense the Pandora within others and use it to determine whether they were supernatural beings.
She could easily deal with the few patrolling people; the others were not within her consideration. After all, even if the car was blown to smithereens, none of the people in the vehicle would need anyone to rescue them.
With a "beep", the pass was successfully granted.
The department patrolling at the entrance belonged to the National Security Bureau, which is separate from the Public Security Bureau and the military. I wasn't familiar with the personnel, so I just glanced at them, scanned their passes, and didn't say anything.
The barriers were gradually lifted, and the car drove through the passage. In the dim light, countless red lights swept through the car, illuminating the contours of her face.
Shu Ningmiao looked up and stared directly at the scanner, the flashing laser probes resembling countless eyes.
From this perspective, it is possible to openly cover the vehicle with white cloth and travel between the two places to the Yangsong Church.
It seems that this is the true privilege of concealing one's true intentions.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Inside the car
Xiao: (Why don't we just use our powers to fly up there? The sky is quite spacious.)
Zhao: (Planning to use his connections to smooth things over and go home if things fail in a while)
Miao: (Where will you run from later?)
Brother: (What are you looking at? So cute)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
