Fate Trading System – Chapter 240

Plan A

Mist Map 13

The Murderer

That smile carried a cold malice, like a cold, slimy viper. Her eyes stared straight at Su Xin.

Su Xin met her gaze, not a trace of fear in her eyes.

That sliver of coldness solidified, frozen forever.

Xiao Xiaoruo was dead.

Su Xin had nothing to lament, much less anything to sympathize with; superfluous pity had nothing to do with her.

Everyone had to take responsibility for their own choices, whether old or young.

It was quiet here. Apart from a bit of wind blowing through the passage, there wasn’t a ripple of disturbance.

This was the center point of this underground palace, quite empty. The ground was mottled with traces, marked by many messy footprints.

“What did she say?”

“Four strange sounds, couldn’t understand them. Maybe some kind of hint…”

Su Xin took two steps, ruffling her own hair.

It was the first time she’d hated someone not speaking Mandarin so much.

NA KI MO DO

What on earth did it mean?

“Bai Yan, look up.”

This place had lamps lit on all four sides; it was very bright, too bright to hide anyone.

Su Xin subconsciously looked up and was somewhat stunned.

“You… are incredible.”

Su Xin patted Liao Qingjie’s shoulder and gave her a thumbs-up.

Few people would think to examine what was above their heads. In a confined space, they tend to focus on the sides, then the ground, and only lastly the ceiling. It’s easily overlooked, but once discovered, the discovery itself evokes admiration, regardless of good or evil.

On the dome ceiling were patterns that looked chaotic yet seemed arranged according to some sequence.

Su Xin immediately spotted the symbol she had been constantly thinking about and researching.

Memories from six years ago and the scene before her suddenly overlapped in an instant. Su Xin subconsciously squeezed her eyes shut and tilted her head, trying to recall that year.

Many years ago, on the murals, these few symbols seemed to have been present.

Su Xin could only identify two characters, her eyes aching from staring.

She took out paper and pen from her sleeping bag and began to write and draw.

First, she recorded those strange ancient characters, then simply sketched out a map—though calling it a map, others who found it might not even know what it was.

Su Xin used a rather special method for recording routes, offering strong confidentiality.

“The murderer is in here.”

Su Xin stretched her limbs, ensuring she wouldn’t make a mistake later.

“That man who was with Xiao Xiaoruo just now…”

“Maybe he turned traitor, or something else happened.”

Su Xin cracked her knuckles and took out a sheathed fruit knife from her sleeping bag, placing it in her pocket.

Actually, Miss Su wasn’t too satisfied with this weapon of hers. A fruit knife wasn’t very handy, and if she went to the supermarket to buy something else impromptu, the police watching her might think she was up to something.

“Let’s go, look around.”

There were several paths leading from here; it was unknown which one the murderer took.

“Let’s split up and look.”

“No.”

Liao Qingjie responded quickly.

“Hm?”

“It’s too dangerous for you alone. We don’t know where the murderer is hiding. If they want to target you, wouldn’t you be walking right into a trap if you’re alone?”

Su Xin momentarily forgot that her current self wasn’t her former self; she didn’t have a gun, only a fruit knife.

“Alright, then let’s stick together.”

Su Xin wasn’t actually afraid for her own safety, she just didn’t want to explain so much. Besides, what if Liao Qingjie got lost? This underground palace was full of twists and turns; one wrong turn and you wouldn’t know where you’d end up.

Wind came from one direction. Su Xin and Liao Qingjie both widened their eyes and headed that way.

Such a strong smell of blood.

A lot of blood flowed on the ground. A person lay face-up on the floor.

It was Teng Li.

Su Xin and Liao Qingjie avoided the pool of blood, looking at the corpse on the ground.

Teng Li’s mouth was stuffed with something, his face still bearing the terror from before his death.

Liao Qingjie frowned. Definitely an experienced hand. How many people must one kill to become this proficient?

The murderer must be an adult male, over 1.76 meters tall, possessing an offensive weapon and something capable of incapacitating someone. Because Teng Li was this tall, to take down a man like this, the killer couldn’t be short and should be quite strong.

“Is he playing hide-and-seek with us?”

Su Xin scoffed.

The murderer, with malicious intent, was playing a joke on them.

Guess where I am? In the shadows where you can’t see me, I’ve killed person after person.

A naked provocation.

“Do you trust me?”

“Of course.”

“Then follow me.”

Su Xin now knew what that faint sense of unease was about. Those strange patterns on the ceiling earlier—she had analyzed a few characters from them, but that wasn’t the main point. It was actually a map; this underground palace had been modified later on!

The damaged murals in the second stone passage, the ritual seen in some passage, six years ago…

Su Xin tugged at her hair. It was very likely the case. What did all this have to do with the Mist Map, and what did it have to do with Xiao Xiaoruo!

Could it be that Xiao Xiaoruo was also one of the ten people from six years ago?

The position of the Eagle Eye carved into the patterns!

Su Xin had a strange premonition that the murderer would be waiting for them there.

If the entire structure of this underground palace was considered a human body, then the central point they were just at was the heart, and the position of the Eagle Eye in the patterns was the brain.

One could only say that carving is truly a great art, weaving many secrets together within it.

It could be described as “viewed horizontally a ridge, sideways a peak, different heights near and far reveal different forms.”¹

A glance just now showed inexplicable patterns, but several characters could be discerned within them. One might think those were the hidden secrets, but looking closer, the patterns were actually an older map of the underground palace. And setting aside those fixed impressions, it was actually a very large eagle.

If connected with the murals seen earlier, if that really was a King Selection Ceremony, the king’s scepter was eagle-headed, so the place he stayed should be too.

Footsteps echoed in the stone passage, traveling far, far away.

NA KI MO DO

As they approached that place, Su Xin heard such sounds again. It seemed like the language of some ancient tribe, conveying its own unique meaning.

“You’ve come. I’ve waited for you for a long time.”

That voice was exceedingly strange, neither male nor female, carrying a slight hoarseness.

Su Xin pressed a mechanism and pushed open the stone door, seeing the young man sitting inside with his side facing her.

“You seem quite familiar with this place, yet no one should have told you the way here.”

The young man spoke again, his voice more pleasant this time, recognizably a young man’s voice.

Half of the young man’s face was handsome, making one can’t help but want to glimpse his full appearance.

Su Xin and Liao Qingjie stood at the entrance. Liao Qingjie’s hand was in her pocket, which bulged slightly—what was inside was self-evident.

“Miss at the door, please don’t act rashly. I have a hostage here, you know.”

The young man stood up, dragging a woman out from under the table. The woman appeared to be semi-conscious, her hands and feet bound, hair disheveled, face deathly pale.

Su Xin saw the young man’s full face. What surprised her was the other side of his face.

That half of his face looked as if it had been disfigured, covered with numerous scars of unknown age, clumped together stickily, looking utterly repulsive.

“Do you think it’s very ugly?”

The young man looked calmly at Su Xin, his gaze so focused it seemed there was no one else in his eyes but Su Xin standing at the door.

Liao Qingjie sensed this emotion keenly, alarms ringing in her mind. Likely a hopeless love rival, but that kind of gaze was truly sickening.

“Actually, I think it’s fine.”

Su Xin had seen things far more disgusting; she didn’t mind what the young man’s face looked like. It had nothing to do with her anyway. What she found repulsive and sickening was simply the young man’s rotten and filthy heart.

He was undoubtedly the murderer.

As Liao Qingjie had deduced earlier, the young man was tall, but didn’t seem frail.

“Is that so? You’re still as kind as before.”

The young man smiled, making that half of his face look even more ferocious.

Liao Qingjie actually had no desire to babble with this person before her; she really wanted to just shoot him dead. If killing wasn’t possible, crippling him would do.

But she couldn’t, because the knife in the man’s hand was pressed against the neck of the woman on the ground, and he was using the woman as a human shield.

“You must be the person we saved six years ago, right? And she might be the captain? Or maybe not, maybe she’s just some innocent person you randomly grabbed.”

“Wow, guessed right.”

The young man nodded.

“I don’t know whether to say you’ve come early or very late. You didn’t actually need to come here. I would have found those people one by one anyway, cut off their heads, and presented them before you. Then finally, I would come to your side, inhale your alluring scent, and accompany you to the Yellow Springs.”

The young man wore a smile, a look of pure yearning. If not for his words, it might seem like something beautiful and worth anticipating. But his words made one’s skin crawl.

“Thank you for your deep affection, but I have no desire to accompany you to the Yellow Springs. So, what does all this have to do with the Mist Map? Did Xiao Xiaoruo steal the map?”

“Miss at the door with the gun, this is now my private conversation time with her. I hope you can step outside, and perhaps close the door behind you for us?”

The young man’s question was polite, but Liao Qingjie found it extremely irritating.

“The Miss in front of you seems like she’ll also disturb our private conversation.”

Su Xin looked at the woman controlled by the young man. Su Xin could no longer see the shadow of the lively, playful girl from six years ago in this person.

“That’s simple.”

The young man used his other hand to strike the back of the woman’s neck. The woman, originally semi-conscious, now completely passed out.

“Rest assured, she won’t hear anything now.”

Liao Qingjie raised her gun, her anger flaring up. Leaving Su Xin alone in a closed space with the murderer would only be more dangerous.

“Spit it the f%ck out if you have something to say!”²

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