0102 102 We brushed past each other again amidst the clear snow and rain.
Jingyang experienced its heaviest snowfall of the year, covering all the buildings with a white blanket. The snowflakes were so pure that they could cover all the dirt in the world and reflect the brightest light.
In the same country, thousands of kilometers away in Xiayang, a torrential rain was also falling. The still green leaves were blown to the ground, and the scenery within half a foot was blurred. The raindrops hitting the glass seemed like a thousand horses galloping towards her.
Qi Shuyao stood by the window, hung up the phone, and turned to look at Song Yusheng, who was sitting behind her drinking tea.
In less than three months, her demeanor had completely changed. She sat sideways in a chair drinking tea, her nightgown barely covering her hips, revealing a long, dazzlingly white leg that even Qi Shuyao had only seen a few times.
But the biggest difference is the natural state she exudes in her every move. She used to communicate with others by using the name "Song Yusheng," but now she sits with others by using the fact that she is a woman.
Noticing her friend's gaze, Song Yusheng put down her teacup, smiled at her, pulled out the chair next to her, and patted the cushion to invite her to sit down.
Qi Shuyao sat down next to her, stared at her face, and reached out to touch her chest, which was covered with strange scars.
Song Yusheng didn't care at all, and didn't even bother to adjust his clothes. Instead, he showed concern for her.
“What happened that you suddenly came here, and you look so worried? Tell me about it.”
After saying that, he leaned over again and teased her like he used to.
"It's a little secret, can you tell me?"
At that moment, Qi Shuyao almost burst into tears. It was as if they were only teenagers, and all they had to worry about was whether the next meal would be delicious or whether they could buy the limited edition figurines that would be released the next day.
"Do you know the specific contact person for your family's previous international trade line?"
"Airline routes? I've never even been in contact with that kind of thing before."
She drank her tea like she was drinking beer, downing glass after glass, and chatting with Qi Shuyao in between words.
“My dad never told me any of this. Maybe he thought that even if we lived a normal life, these things wouldn’t be mine in the future. After he died, no one would know.”
"Huh? He's dead?"
"Yes, sudden death, but the cause cannot be found, but I don't believe it's normal."
The rain outside the window stopped, and the sweltering air squeezed in through the window cracks. Song Yusheng reached out and turned on the air conditioner, but Qi Shuyao could only hear the sound of raindrops falling from the eaves.
"If, and I mean if, you find out who's behind all this in the future, what will you do?"
"What else can I do? Even if I wanted to, what could I do? Take revenge? With their power so great, I'll be the next one to die soon."
"Don't think like that. No matter who it is, they will eventually get their comeuppance."
"I don't want anything. I'll just live each day to the fullest. The rain has stopped. Let's go. Weren't you going to see someone? I'm fine. I'll go with you."
Xiayang is incredibly beautiful after the rainstorm, its beauty evident in every street and alley. Although Xiayang isn't exactly on the coast, it retains the characteristics of a seaside city from the last century. The whole city is ancient and slow-paced, like an old man, leisurely walking down its own path.
The bodyguard drove along the old and narrow streets one by one. The address was given to her by Qi Yu. There was only a black and white photo of the old man when he was young, and the rest was all guesswork.
The street was mostly filled with elderly people, walking slowly with their hands behind their backs. But when a huge vehicle drove in, no one complained, and no one went over to watch.
"This place seems like a good place to retire; nobody cares about anyone else."
Qi Shuyao casually remarked something, but no one in the car responded. She didn't care and simply had her bodyguard stop the car.
"Get off the bus, it's just across the street, let's walk there."
This street is lined with old, low-rise buildings, and each household has a different profession. They hang decorations outside their courtyard gates to represent themselves.
She passed through countless professions along the way, and just before she was about to give up, she finally saw the Yin-Yang diagram belonging to the Lower Heaven Sect.
The archbishop who once led the Church of Heaven for over fifty years now lives in an old, low-rise building by the roadside. The open-air corridor, the gray walls, and the freshly washed clothes hanging there flutter in the wind, wet and sticky, it's hard to tell whether they were just rained on or freshly washed.
The house is right by the roadside. Old oxcarts, electric bikes, and buses that are huge compared to the passersby all noisily pass by the door.
Qi Shuyao looked up at the building from the doorway and saw an old man standing on the second-floor balcony. He was tall and thin, wearing a clean white jacket, with a white beard, and a straight back.
The old man and the young girl looked at each other for a while. Then, the door in front of Qi Shuyao moved by itself and opened a little. The old man seemed to sigh and let her in.
The bodyguard was waiting outside the door. Song Yusheng went with her. The old man's house was no different from an ordinary family's, except that there was very little furniture and the rooms were very clean.
The person from the Lower Heaven Sect who gave them the address said that once they arrived, there was no need for formalities; they could simply ask what they wanted to know. The person couldn't say anything more.
Qi Shuyao took a photo of a man out of her bag and handed it over with both hands.
"Do you know this person? Is he the current head of the Heavenly Sect in Jingyang?"
The old man picked up the photo, glanced at it only once, then put it down and shook his head.
"Do you know who he is?"
"A person who tries to use religion to cover up other things will not be tolerated anywhere, and he can only wander between black and white, living a chaotic life."
Qi Shuyao put the photo away. Song Yusheng thought she was leaving and walked towards the door, but she hesitated for a moment and then asked the question.
"Senior, could you please enlighten me on the Longgang Mountain dragon incident?"
The old man turned around and pulled out a picture from the bookshelf. The image was not very clear, but the colors were very realistic.
Those were four dragons, colossal dragons whose full form couldn't be captured even by aerial photography. They coiled on Changgang Mountain, lying prone in the middle of the mountain. They were ugly and rough, yet they possessed an overwhelming sense of realism, as if they were truly imbued with life, ready to take flight at any moment. Each dragon's head was circled in red, converging with the western line, directly facing the direction of Jingyang. The size of the dragon's head was extremely disproportionate to its body, a huge head with a body as thick as a venomous snake. The old man on the map had already marked the lines extending from the dragon's body, which were the calculated dragon veins.
“Dragon statues cannot be too realistic, otherwise they will offend real dragons. Mortals can't see real dragons; they are all just their own imaginations. But the symbolism of dragons will not change, and those who try to exploit them will never change their hearts.”
Who built this?
"Once we arrive at Changgang, what else needs to be said?"
After leaving the old man's house, Qi Shuyao bowed three times to the door as the man had instructed before getting up to leave. Song Yusheng's expression changed the moment she took out the man's photo. She pulled Qi Shuyao to a secluded spot, looking very serious.
"Who is that person in the photo, and what is the meaning of this religion?"
After the rain stopped, the sun came out again. Qi Shuyao raised her hand to shield her eyes from the sunlight shining directly on her, and waved to the other side of the street.
"Let's find a cool place, and I'll tell you from the beginning."
Rewind to a week ago, it was still Jingyang, it was still Xuansha Guild Hall.
The man from out of town finally came again after two months, still trying his best to persuade Tu Mi.
Just as she was about to refuse outright, the manager stood opposite her, shook his head, and glanced towards the employee passageway across the street.
Tu Mi understood immediately, so she changed the subject, suppressing her words and pretending to go to the side to deal with something.
She followed the manager to the employee area, where Qi Shuyao stood at the very end of the corridor. She briefly instructed Tu Mi to agree to his request and obtain his contact information.
After dealing with the man, Tu Mi and Qi Shuyao brought Xiao Lan along, pretending to be another partner of the club who had returned from a trip, thus creating room for their previous words. In this way, Tu Mi became the guide for this man named Pan Yiqing in Jingyang.
Qi Shuyao borrowed Xiang Zhiyu's driver and took Pan Yiqing to visit some famous scenic spots in Jingyang. He seemed to be a real tourist, taking many pictures of the scenery with his camera and even carrying a diary to record many local sights and experiences.
After a week of this, the man finally revealed his true colors. He invited Tu Mi to become his personal assistant while he was in Jingyang, instead of his guide there.
Tu Mi made an excuse that she needed to go back and discuss something with another partner. As soon as she left, she called her sister. They met in the basement of the clubhouse. Qi Shuyao was dragging a suitcase.
"No, we don't know anything about him or how much he knows about you. He came straight here after arriving in Jingyang and specifically asked you to come with him. He must have a purpose."
"That's why I agreed to see what he really wanted to do. But it's strange, it's been a week, and he seems to really be here to have fun. He's already bought two bags full of souvenirs."
"Then how will you protect yourself?"
"Don't worry, when I was in Shucheng, he must have been stimulated by something, so he specially found five teachers to teach me self-defense."
"That won't do either. He's very likely a member of the Pei family, and his appearance here is purely for revenge."
"But I have no connection with the Pei family... No, I do have a connection with Pei Youwen, but shouldn't he think that I'm on the same side as the Pei family?"
Qi Shuyao seemed somewhat persuaded. She leaned against the wall, hesitant, when Tu Mi walked over and urged her on.
"Sister, don't worry. I'm just saying this: I'm only alive because of myself. I have experience in undercover work. Tell me what you want to get out of him, and I'll start preparing tomorrow."
Qi Shuyao pulled out a bunch of photos from her suitcase and identified each one to Tu Mi.
"These people are the ones my classmate Xiang Zhiyu photographed. They were present at the Lower Heaven Sect gathering. Most of them are well-known entrepreneurs, but they have no apparent connection. This person is Pan Yiqing. We can't be sure if this is his real identity, so you need to be extra careful. The main thing is to find out why he gathers these people in the name of religion and holds these repeated assemblies. If he takes you to such a place, don't listen to him. That's pure brainwashing. Don't talk to these entrepreneurs either. You won't get anything out of them, and you'll be suspected. Let Xiang Zhiyu handle this. If you encounter any trouble, you can go to him and say that I sent you. Unless there are any unforeseen circumstances, the two of you should not contact each other."
Qi Shuyao became more and more uneasy as she talked. She was always afraid that she had forgotten to tell her something, and she also wanted to finish it now so that she could be a small business owner who could make money while lying down.
But Tu Mi didn't care about any of that. She pressed down on Qi Shuyao's hand, turned to her, and asked,
"How long will it take you to go to Xiayang?"
"Not necessarily, everything over there is still unknown."
"So now do you know what Pan Yiqing does?"
The locals love drinking tea, and the teahouses are packed even on this sweltering, rainy day. Qi Shuyao and Song Yusheng squeezed into the corner at the very edge, speaking in hushed tones.
Upon hearing Song Yusheng's question, Qi Shuyao raised her hand and pointed to the workers unloading goods outside the teahouse.
Their skin was tanned dark, and they wore faded short-sleeved shirts soaked with sweat, loose black trousers, and were covered in dust from head to toe. The only striking feature was the newly opened white gloves on their hands.
You said he was a white glove.
"Wandering in the chaos between right and wrong, with my eyes set on businessmen engaging in political maneuvering, I can't think of anything else right now."
"There's something else I haven't told you yet."
Qi Shuyao's gaze shifted from the workers back to Song Yusheng.
"What's up?"
"I've seen this man before."
Where?
“Right here, in Xiayang, when I was little, my dad brought me here to play. I was left at an uncle’s house. He said he had to go out to meet someone. At the time, the uncle was asleep, so I ran out by myself and left the little house. They were actually standing by the sea. The man my dad met was this Pan Yiqing.”
"Does your family also have any illicit money to launder?"
"How could there not be? My dad has been traveling all over the country and abroad for so many years, bringing back so many treasures..."
She suddenly stood up, grabbed Qi Shuyao, and ran outside.
"I remember now, that uncle was in charge of the international routes."
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