Chapter 316 - A Thousand-year Old Plot

“Jiji, you think you can find me the specific location of the laboratory?” Gu Xiqiao threw both of them into the basement of the Wei family manor before starting to question Jiji. At the same time, her consciousness continued to expand in every direction. In the blink of the eye, her mind had already covered the entire Mingzhou.

In spite of this, she still failed to find anything out of the ordinary.

Jiji was scouring through millions of databases on the internet and still found no trace of that laboratory she was talking about. Not a single trace of information could be detected.

“Beauty Qiao, something’s weird.” Jiji was stunned. “There should be bits of information about places like this on the internet, and yet I’m here empty-handed.”

Not finding anything was the weirdest thing it had ever come across.

Gu Xiqiao looked down at Leng Yuwei. A sinister smile broke across her face, which sent chills straight up Leng Yuwei’s spine.

“Chu Ziheng.” Gu Xiqiao called out.

Jiji’s eyes widened when it heard what Gu Xiqiao said. “Chu Ziheng? What’s up with him?”

“Remember that time when he worked with Uncle Mu on a joint-project?” Gu Xiqiao narrowed her eyes. “I’ve always found it odd as to why someone in the F&B industry would want to cooperate with Nine Heavens.”

“Nine Heavens?” Jiji made some calculations in its mind, which was so fast that not even China’s top-of-the-line supercomputer could match up with it. It didn’t take a long time for it to finally reach a conclusion. “Nine Heavens’ finance sector and network sector are running parallel to each other! Wait a sec—network technology!”

“That’s right, I recall him working together with Yang An previously,” said Gu Xiqiao, who reached out her hand and out came a tablet out of thin air. Her fingers started swiping away and soon, an image appeared on the screen. “It’s this one.”

The tablet floating in the air and the map on the screen was turned into a 3D projection.

***

Above the ground at Wei Manor.

“Young Master, there are intruders in the basement!” As the greatest wielder of power in Mingzhou, the basement of the Wei family manor was not just your average basement. Even the slightest movement in the basement could be detected by the control room.

“Basement?” Wei Chenxi sprung up from his seat. His facial expression changed immediately. Hastily, he rushed into the basement with a couple of armed guards.

All that was stored in the basement of their home were considered to be top secret in Mingzhou and by extension, China. For an intruder to suddenly appear in their basement made Wu Chenxi panic. Although Mingzhou was currently under threat, such secrets must never be leaked to the outside world!

The secrets involving their basement could not be filtered through the internet. Instead, they had to be encrypted using codes written down on paper before being sealed away indefinitely. Every single one of them exposed major weak points of their nation, which explained why Wei Chenxi was sweating bullets.

“How could that be?” At the entrance of the basement, one of his men noticed how everything was left undamaged and he let out a cry in surprise.

Wei Chenxi peered in the direction of the cry. “What’s the matter?”

“The basement. The door’s not broken?” The man started to doubt his own sanity.

“Wait a second!” Another man who was holding a tablet called out: “Everyone step back! There’s someone... on the other side of this door!”

The guards moved to both sides of the corridor and raised their gun barrels at the door as one of their comrades was nervously entering the password required to unlock the door. The red light above the door flashed three times before the heavy iron door heaved open.

In the middle of the doorway stood a single human figure.

The guard positioned closest to the door squeezed the trigger.

Before Wei Chenxi could react, the figure started closing in on the guard. With a pale left arm, the mysterious intruder grabbed the guard’s right arm and knocked the gun out of his grip. The way she moved was swift and she still had enough time to grab the gun before it hit the floor.

Crack—

It was the sound of someone’s wrist breaking.

Click—

Gu Xiqiao suddenly turned into the one behind the trigger. She turned around and peered over at the rest of the guards.

The guards gulped in fear when they saw a ghostly figure look over in their direction.

At the end of the passage, a dark figure hugging the wall was backing away in slow motion before a loud thud rang out.

The sudden noise struck fear into the guard’s hearts.

They all had to have 20/20 vision to be able to qualify for entering the military; they saw what had happened. The man who had collapsed onto the floor was a stranger with a clean hole in between his eyes. Thick, dark blood oozed slowly out from the hole.

In a state of disbelief, they shifted their gaze back onto Gu Xiqiao.

The speed at which she moved shocked them. To be able to grab their gun and plant a bullet in between that man’s brows, it all required so much calculation, skill, and the ability to stay calm under pressure.

She’d never be able to grab their gun if she wasn’t as calm as still water. She’d never be able to make such a clean, precise shot if she wasn’t insanely quick to make calculations. She’d definitely die under their gunfire if she wasn’t skillful enough to deal with the situation.

Throughout the entire process, not even once did she lose her cool. Perhaps it was due to this that no one was able to make out what was going on in her mind.

It was already terrifying enough to face-off with such an enemy, who appeared to be years younger than them.

To be able to pull off such stunts at such a tender age, God knows what she’ll be capable of in the future.

“Mi-Miss Gu?”

Wei Chenxi’s voice was hoarse.

Gu Xiqiao flung the gun back to the man who initially aimed it at her. She nodded at Wei Chenxi before pointing at the man she had just dispatched. “This man topped the ranking of assassins across the world. You’ll have to find out yourself as to why he was here.”

She waved them goodbye before sticking her hands into her pocket and walking away.

“Good god!” The man who had been disarmed yelled out in a trembling voice. “Such combat skills, what great shooting, that level of situational awareness, she really is born to be an operator!”

He turned towards Wei Chenxi and asked, “Young Master, do you know who she is?” If she wasn’t in the military, they shouldn’t be qualified to be soldiers either.

Wei Chenxi saw the glimmer in his eyes. “Go back and clean yourself up.”

“Right,” said Gu Xiqiao who had now reached the end of the passageway. She directed a smile at Wei Chenxi. “There are two people in there. Um, you don’t need to care about them for now. I’ll send them off to somewhere suitable when the time comes.”

That was what she said before she finally left for good.

Wei Chenxi’s men were shocked. “Let’s head in and see who they are!”

Wei Chenxi peered down at the dead assassin with a round hole in between his eyes, which were still wide open. He was deep in thought for a while before letting out a sigh. What a sad way to go. To die with one’s eyes wide open. Still, he had to investigate what was going on.

***

Gu Xiqiao went over to Zhuge Yan’s place.

“Sister Gu, Jiji’s dead.” Shao Ge started bawling his eyes out the moment he saw Gu Xiqiao. He pointed at the robot that sat motionless on the floor. “It’s been one hour and it still hasn’t moved yet!”

The corner of Gu Xiqiao’s mouth twitched. “... it’s alright, it’s still alive.”

Jiji: “Yeah, I was just taking a nap.”

Gu Xiqiao: “...” What a great excuse.

“I guess robots need their sleep too huh?” Shao Ge took off Jiji’s floral garment and felt its cold robotic hands underneath. “It’s still a robot.”

“Nonsense! Do you still think I’m your average Joe robot?!” Jiji was furious.

Shao Ge tugged on Gu Xiqiao’s shirt. “It does look more demonic compared to other robots.”

Jiji was speechless.

‘Snap out of it Shao Ge! You weren’t like this before! The cute, shy Shao Ge is the best Shao Ge!’

“Where’s Xixi?” asked Shao Ge. “Didn’t it go out with you?”

“I assigned a mission for it to complete.” Gu Xiqiao sat down on a chair in the courtyard and watched the blooming flowers. “These flowers are pretty.”

“That thing helps you complete missions?” Jiji was rather concerned about Gu Xiqiao’s actions. Wasn’t itself plenty useful already?

At the very least, being a street magician was a viable way of earning money!

“As a Vermillion Bird raised up in evil aura,” a gentle voice came from behind Gu Xiqiao. Shortly after, a man sat down in front of Gu Xiqiao. “Letting it carry out missions in Mingzhou is most suitable considering its abilities.”

“Mr. Zhuge.” Gu Xiqiao smiled.

Jiji went silent. It shot a glance at Zhuge Yan before plopping down on the ground. It tugged a leaf of grass which it started gnawing on while soaking in frustration.

Gu Xiqiao was now powerful enough that it no longer could sense her thoughts. It now seems like things were only getting worse for strangers.

Jiji let out a great sigh.

“Wei Chenxi...” Gu Xiqiao looked up at him. “Why did I have to protect him?”

“If my senses aren’t fooling me, your chi contains the potential for life?”

Quite a lot of people already knew about this and Gu Xiqiao had no reason to conceal this fact. As she poured herself some tea, she nodded in response to Zhuge Yan’s question.

“But do you know that there is someone else with the same upgrade capabilities as you?” Zhuge Yan looked Gu Xiqiao dead in the eye and slowly said, “The first generation of Greedy Wolf Star Lords.”

Gu Xiqiao looked up immediately. She stared dumbfoundedly at Zhuge Yan for a couple of seconds before placing her cup down.

Zhuge Yan stood up and strolled around the courtyard, enjoying the flowers. “The sky’s the pivot, the Earth is the jade, mankind is the pearl, sound provides the balance, the Sun is the law and the light is the star. There is a saying in the Taoist school of thought that the Greedy Wolf Starlord will descend from the heavens and save mankind from its demise.”

“You are a person of merit, but from what I see on your face, your death won’t be peaceful.” Zhuge Yan’s face was dead serious. “This isn’t your destiny. The only plausible explanation I can think of is that your fate was altered when you were born. Someone was wishing for your death back then. The same applies today, in Mingzhou. Someone out there is planning to trap you here and finish you off for good!”

“Crash!”

The cup Gu Xiqiao was sipping tea from fell from her hands and rolled into the flowerbed.

Even Jiji was stunned.

Someone had altered her fate on the day of her birth, for her to die—

That’s right, she did in fact, die once before this...

The Greedy Wolf Starlord coming down to save the masses. Gu Xiqiao remembered the missions issued by the System. Each one of them was meant for liberating men from their suffering.

But, how did she get reborn? She had to start the reading all over again...

Gu Xiqiao’s thoughts were getting more and more convoluted. She gripped the table tightly and stared into the flower in front of her. From the moment she was born, everything had already been pre-calculated!

Pre-calculated?!

A lightbulb lit up in her mind. She suddenly recalled Baili Wenxi, how she had been abandoned before being picked up by Yu Man.

The evil aura that had plagued Baixing Village.

Connecting the dots, she realized that her being born was probably something already predetermined. Baili Wenxi loses her memory, making her unable to return to the ancient martial arts world, followed by her being adopted by Yu Man, and Yu Man’s inexplicable death, until her eventual return to the Gu family, and her inevitable death...

Wait a minute! A bright white light flashed in Gu Xiqiao’s palm. A tattered book appeared. This was something Emery had given her back at Baixing village. She had already finished reading it back during the selection competition and it introduced the reader to the theory of spacetime.

“Mr. Zhuge. I have already died once.” Gu Xiqiao inhaled deeply as she dug her nails deeply into the flesh of her palm.

There were too many thoughts flashing through her mind but everything was crystal clear. Her mind was crystal clear.

Zhuge Yan’s expression changed. He reached out and counted with his right hand. The more he did so, the paler his complexion became. In the end, fresh red blood sputtered out from his mouth.

“Young Master!” Wei Xi quickly rushed forward to support him.

Gu Xiqiao too reached out and grabbed Zhuge Yan in order to imbue his body with an unprecedented amount of life force. “There’s nothing wrong with your Young Master, go look for Wei Chenxi’s medicine.”

She proceeded to repeat a series of drug names that would be needed.

Although she was anxious, she still managed to maintain control over the situation. It appeared that her calmness had rubbed off on Wei Xi, who was able to come to her senses. She repeated the drug names after Gu Xiqiao and still found it difficult to memorize them all.

Gu Xiqiao waved her hand. “Jiji, you tag along with her.”

Jiji left parts of its consciousness in the virtual space before leaving with Wei Xi.

Zhuge Yan’s complexion improved significantly upon receiving life force from Gu Xiqiao. He coughed twice as Gu Xiqiao helped him settle down in his seat.

Using a handkerchief, he wiped the blood off of the corner of his mouth. “You have died once, but someone used an ungodly method to force you back onto this realm.”

“I believe that you saw much more than that?” asked Gu Xiqiao with her lips pursed.

“To speak about this matter, I must start my explanation from the beginning.” Zhuge Yan nodded. “After the War of the Ancients, the first generation of Greedy Wolves fell out. However, the monsters have not completely disappeared from this world of ours. They were buried in different spots across the globe. Now that a millennium has passed, the calamity has awakened once more. If we follow the trajectory of your previous life, how events have been developing, then the end of the world is nigh.”

“Who is that person who forcibly changed my fate?” Gu Xiqiao pondered.

Zhuge Yan paused for a moment. “Snow. All I see is an endless field of white snow.”

“I understand now.” Gu Xiqiao nodded. She rose from her seat and marched straight out of the front door. In her mind, she called out to Jiji. “Jiji, contact the Great Elder. I want to see all the records of the ancient martial arts world that were passed down for generations.”

She recalled the eight false scriptures which Jiang Shuxuan had obtained from the Baili family’s inventory of heirlooms. That must’ve been tampered with by someone and yet, they were still in the virtual space.

Also, there was the Murong family! There were problems with Murong Feiye’s cultivation technique. Due to this, she gave him a book containing five solutions to his problem and since then, his improvement has been rapid.

All the anomalies have been explained. The ancient martial arts world was on the decline and its population numbered less than the tens of thousands. Its strength was wavering which means only one thing—something was wrong with it!

Doubt swelled up in Gu Xiqiao’s heart. Her predictions had been accurate ever since she set foot in the ancient martial arts world. Just who was operating behind the scenes?

For such a huge scene to be involved, this plot must have stretched back a thousand years ago.

“Beauty Qiao, we’re back.” Jiji and Wei Xi rushed back hastily with the medicine. They were so eager that they crashed into Gu Xiqiao who was about to exit the main entrance.

Gu Xiqiao passed a note over to Wei Xi. “Follow the recipe as noted down here when preparing the medicine for your Young Master.”

“Thank you, Miss Gu.” Wei Xi immediately went in upon receiving the note.

Gu Xiqiao did not follow her back this time. Jiji stared up at Gu Xiqiao with its mouth open. It wanted to say something and yet it couldn’t. It heard what Zhuge Yan said and whatever Gu Xiqiao theory could come up with, it could too.

“Beauty Qiao!” Jiji suddenly called out. “Something’s happened to Little Hua!”

“I know.” A dangerous look surfaced in Gu Xiqiao’s eyes. “We’ll get Yao Jiamu and the Peacekeepers over immediately!”

The air around them fluctuated and in the next instant, she warped out of existence.

Mingzhou! They’re planning to kill her?! Now that she knew someone had forcefully brought her back to life, do they seriously expect her to die that easily?!