Fate Trading System – Chapter 239

Plan A

Mist Map 12

Death

Su Xin entered a state of feigned sleep, her eyes closed, looking very well-behaved.

Liao Qingjie’s gaze couldn’t help but fall on Su Xin’s eyes. Her look wasn’t an invasive assessment, but rather gentle, trying hard not to be noticed.

When these eyes opened, they held flames that could scorch people.

Liao Qingjie didn’t remember where she’d read the saying: beautiful faces are a dime a dozen, but interesting souls are one in a million¹.

In this world with so many countries and regions, a person meets so many people in their lifetime. To encounter someone in the vast sea of humanity whom you find interesting, whom you’re willing to understand deeply, someone you can instantly hit it off with—it isn’t an easy thing.

Although Liao Qingjie wasn’t particularly old, she had experienced quite a lot. But after all this time, she still hadn’t figured out what this thing called ‘liking’ someone really was.

But just now, seeing Su Xin sink beneath the water, she suddenly understood.

But what do you like about her? Liao Qingjie asked herself inwardly.

Do you like her persistence, never turning back once she’s decided?

Do you like how she takes everything seriously?

Do you like her free-spirited, natural personality, uncomplicated and unaffected?

Is it these things?

It’s far more than that.

Just that one afternoon, that one sentence, that one look, that one smile, and… her heart skipped a beat.

When you start liking someone, their good points get infinitely magnified. Liao Qingjie realized she seemed to be in exactly that state right now.

When they first met, she maintained an attitude of suspicion, defense, and protection. But later on, she couldn’t help but let her guard down.

Liao Qingjie once again touched Su Xin’s hair, this time even more gently.

That feeling wasn’t like love at first sight; it was like a wish finally coming true².

Like a heavy weight lifted from her heart³, a sense of fulfillment accompanied by a long sigh of relief.

When golden wind and jade dew meet, that single encounter surpasses countless others in the mortal world.⁴

Su Xin rested for a while, felt it was about enough, and sat up from Liao Qingjie’s embrace.

The expression on Liao Qingjie’s face didn’t change in the slightest. Although her heart had just weathered a storm, her face remained impassive.

She couldn’t possibly let the young woman know about those things right now; at the very least, now wasn’t a good time.

Pursuit, in Liao Qingjie’s view, should be like a slow simmer—a gradual process, simmering until things melt together.

It couldn’t be rushed.

“Let’s go.”

Su Xin picked up her sleeping bag. At least those two hadn’t taken their things when they left. But it was really strange—if they intended to kill, why didn’t they finish the job?

Was it merely because Liao Qingjie had a weapon? Su Xin felt things weren’t that simple.

Some drops of blood stained the ground, likely from Xiao Xiaoruo’s wound.

The stone path here was relatively wide, enough for two people to walk side by side.

Su Xin and Liao Qingjie walked one behind the other. Liao Qingjie had already shaken the water out of her other gun; it was ready for use.

The walls were clean and tidy, holding nothing of value.

The blood trail extended forward a bit and then vanished; Xiao Xiaoruo must have covered her wound.

This underground palace had a complex structure with many hidden passages.

Following the map’s directions, Su Xin walked up to a section of the wall.

That section looked no different from the rest, plain and unremarkable⁵.

Su Xin pressed herself against the wall, carefully feeling around with her fingers, and pressed a hidden indentation.

With a faint mechanical sound, a door suddenly opened in the wall.

Liao Qingjie found it somewhat strange. This person was too familiar with this place, so familiar it didn’t seem like her first time here. How could someone who had never been here know about such a well-hidden secret door?

Liao Qingjie felt suspicious but didn’t show it.

As long as the person in front of her wasn’t the mastermind, wasn’t the murderer, that was enough.

Su Xin entered the secret passage, and Liao Qingjie quickly followed her inside.

It was a moderately sized hidden room. A desk lamp sat on a table—a modern tool, completely out of place⁶ here.

“Xiao Xiaoruo and the others came here, then left.”

There was bloody paper on the stone bed, along with some other scattered items.

“That bullet is still in her calf. If she wants to get it out, she’ll probably need to go to a hospital.”

If delayed, it might cause some problems with her walking.

“Out here in the middle of nowhere⁷… tsk tsk tsk… The question now is, is Xiao Xiaoruo working with the person who stole the Mist Map, or with the murderer, or are they actually all one group?”

“If we follow them, we’ll find out.”

Mist can never withstand scrutiny and contemplation⁸. Pursue it, and understanding will come.

There wasn’t much else in the hidden room. Su Xin searched around once more and then left.

Why were the murals destroyed? That should have been something important.

The final scene in the murals might have depicted a blood sacrifice or the handling of traitors.

Walking further along the stone path, they reached a fork in the road.

Three paths: upper, middle, and lower.

Su Xin chose the middle one without hesitation.

With these kinds of choices, usually two are dead ends, and one is the path to life.

Su Xin had the map ‘golden finger’⁹, making it impossible to take a wrong turn.

Although Lord Fourteen had said he couldn’t activate certain functions for her, this map function itself counted as a golden finger—extremely convenient.

The path ahead narrowed again. Su Xin shone her flashlight, examining the surroundings.

“Why did you stop?”

Liao Qingjie looked at her.

“Something’s strange. Wait a moment.”

Su Xin crouched down, opened her sleeping bag, and took out the compass inside.

She rolled the compass forward along the stone path. Instantly, numerous short arrows shot out from both sides of the stone walls with whizzing sounds.

There should be some way to avoid this, other than testing it like I just did, but I don’t know it right now.

Liao Qingjie followed behind Su Xin, feeling like this trip was almost like an outing.

It was more relaxed than any previous protection mission she’d been on. There was nothing she could do; the object of her secret crush seemed just too capable.

The stone path was deep and winding¹⁰. Liao Qingjie noted that she had already passed three forks in the road.

It was pitch-black, without a speck of light. Apart from the sound of their footsteps and breathing, nothing else could be heard.

“Help me light this area up a bit.”

Su Xin tugged at Liao Qingjie. She was pressed against the wall, studying the mural there.

The content recorded on this mural was different from what was recorded in the second stone passage at the beginning.

This seemed to be a complete, different story.

This time, Su Xin didn’t have a definite path to follow; she had chosen one randomly. At the previous fork, all three paths were viable routes leading to the same place.

Liao Qingjie took out her phone, turned on the flashlight. Three beams of light fell on the wall surface.

“It’s a bit strange.”

Su Xin touched the uneven surface of the wall with her fingertips.

“Hm? Found something?”

“This records a sacrificial ritual, but it seems different from the ones I’ve seen before.”

A group of people danced around one person who was standing. The atmosphere looked very positive.

The next image showed many individuals lying on the ground, with a small figure next to each one.

Then came bonfires, celebrations, holding large banners high.

Everyone was cheering, singing and dancing. A leader holding a staff stood in the center.

This looked like a scene of peace and harmony; no bloodshed or misfortune seemed to have occurred. It was like a large-scale production site, with someone bestowing blessings upon them.

The next image showed a significant change. Still, one person stood in the center holding a staff, but only a few people surrounded them this time. Those small figures looked like children who hadn’t grown up yet, like the infants in the previous picture.

Further along, fewer and fewer people surrounded the leader, until finally, only one person remained.

And that figure was no longer miniature but the same size as the person holding the staff.

Is this… selecting a leader?

The mural stopped here; the story also stopped here.

The path ahead was unobstructed. After studying the mural, Su Xin led Liao Qingjie onward.

Following the route in her mind, Su Xin headed towards the central point.

Before they arrived, Su Xin and Liao Qingjie heard a bloodcurdling scream.

It was a cry of extreme pain, making one’s scalp tingle and sending chills down the spine.

“It’s Xiao Xiaoruo.”

“Xiao Xiaoruo.”

Su Xin and Liao Qingjie exchanged a look, speaking in unison.

“What happened? Let’s hurry.”

Su Xin certainly wasn’t worried about what happened to Xiao Xiaoruo. She broke into a jog. Xiao Xiaoruo was clearly working with the people in this underground palace. If they were together, why would she make such a terrifying sound?

The two began running through the stone passage, their breathing echoing around them.

Another scream pierced the air, tinged with despair.

After those two screams, there were no further sounds.

Due to obstructions and sound transmission, Su Xin couldn’t pinpoint Xiao Xiaoruo’s exact location. She just wanted to head towards the central point first.

After running for over ten minutes, making constant turns, light appeared ahead, and their view suddenly opened up.

Su Xin saw Xiao Xiaoruo lying on the ground.

She was covered in a lot of blood, her body spread out in a ‘大’ shape.

There was no one else around; it was very quiet. Su Xin and Liao Qingjie’s footsteps echoed.

Su Xin walked closer and saw Xiao Xiaoruo’s blood; some flowed from her abdomen, some from her chest.

Her top had been cut open, the fabric scattered to the sides. Her breasts, just like Zou Wanwan’s, were missing their front parts. It looked extremely tragic and carried a strange kind of revulsion.

Looking at the fatal wounds and the amount of blood loss, Su Xin knew Xiao Xiaoruo wouldn’t survive.

The two screams just now must have been from the agony of being cut.

Su Xin could now be certain: there was definitely a connection between them.

The thought of what the murderer did with the severed chest parts made Su Xin’s stomach churn. It was truly disgusting and perverted.

“What happened?”

Su Xin crouched down to ask.

Xiao Xiaoruo stared blankly at the ceiling, her lips slightly parted.

Su Xin couldn’t hear clearly what she was saying and had to lean closer.

Xiao Xiaoruo’s voice was very faint, and she definitely wasn’t speaking Mandarin.

Her lips opened and closed, repeating four syllables.

NA KI MO DO

Drip… drip…

Su Xin heard the sound of dripping water.

“NA KI MO DO…”

Can’t you speak human?!

Su Xin memorized the four sounds but didn’t understand what Xiao Xiaoruo was trying to convey.

Xiao Xiaoruo revealed a smile, tinged with cold mockery.

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