Chapter 100: Abduction and Betrayal
Translated by: iris.knight
"Boss! This is something between us, don't intervene!" Qi Wan’s voice came in bits and pieces as he was choked by Qi Yichen. But his fingers were also wrapped tightly around Qi Yichen’s neck.
"It’s more than something, it’s a grudge!" Qi Yichen rolled his eyes. "Your word choice is nowhere near appropriate."
"I’m warning you, you better let go right now!" Qi Wan glared at the scholar as he tried to stand while holding onto Qi Yichen’s neck.
"We’ll let go together!" Qi Yichen also gradually stood up, his hands still around Qi Wan’s neck.
"Okay! I counted three times..." Qi Wan stood up cautiously, "Three!"
And they grabbed each other's necks again and fell to the floor.
"You cheater! I knew you were never going to play fair!" Qi Wan gritted his teeth.
Qi Yichen showed no signs of weakness. "You lunged first!"
Gu Qingyu watched Qi Wan and Qi Yichen wrestle each other with an excited glint in her eyes. This is a once-in-a-hundred-year opportunity! If only I had a tiny red flag to cheer them on!
At this moment, someone pushed open the door. It was Xiao Qi. Qi Yichen and Qi Wan stopped and turned their heads together, looking at Xiao Qi in a daze.
The scene that Xiao Qi saw was Qi Wan straddling Qi Yichen’s hips, his hands tugging at the scholar’s collar. The base of Qi Yichen’s neck and his collarbone was bare, as he fisted Qi Wan’s clothes and tried to push Qi Wan away. And in the background, Gu Qingyu was pointing excitedly at the bed near her.
"Um, Xiao Qi, it's not what you think..." Gu Qingyu swallowed weakly. "W-would you believe me if I said that they're fighting?"
"Of course I believe you, why wouldn't I?" Xiao Qi closed the door immediately, walked to Gu Qingyu's side, and looked at Qi Wan and Qi Yichen with expectant eyes. "I might have a crush on you, but I'm still going to support you on things like this!"
Qi Wan’s jaw dropped.
"Yeah! She's already made things clear. Carry on, both of you!" Gu Qingyu draped her arm across Xiao Qi's shoulder and grinned deviously.
With Gu Qingyu and Xiao Qi watching them with such excitement, neither of them could carry on the fight and they each stood up and patted the dust off their clothes.
"Why are you guys stopping?" Xiao Qi looked disappointed and turned to Gu Qingyu.
"Is the floor too hard for you?" Gu Qingyu blinked in confusion. Then the two girls stepped aside, and gestured towards the bed.
"Go away!" Qi Wan rolled his eyes and straightened his clothes.
"Let me tell you! It's not over yet!" Qi Yichen also straightened his clothes.
"You think I'm afraid of you?" Qi Wan hmphed. "Same place!"
"Okay!" Qi Yichen went out angrily, Qi Wan followed, leaving only a confused Xiao Qi and a sighing Gu Qingyu.
Xiao Qi blinked in disbelief. "Xiao Yu, old place... where is it?"
Gu Qingyu narrowed her eyes and smiled at Xiao Qi. "I think it's a chicken coop."
They looked at each other, each revealed a mysterious smile. But, 3, 2, 1... "Not good!" The two suddenly changed their faces at the same time, and immediately ran out of the door.
When they arrived at the chicken coop, they didn't see either Qi Wan or Qi Yichen. The chickens were still pacing about leisurely, and an old lady was sitting at the door. She should be that old lady that told Qi Wan about this place and released Qi Yichen when he got locked in.
Gu Qingyu walked over and smiled politely. "Hello, have you seen two men pass by this place?"
"Oh! Yes!" The old lady pointed to a place. "Oh, they headed that way, and on the way, they were rubbing each other's necks. Ah, youngsters these days!"
Gu Qingyu cleared her throat awkwardly while Xiao Qi grew anxious. "Xiao Yu, hurry! Things are gonna get bad if we don't get there soon!"
"That's right! Thank you!" Gu Qingyu immediately recovered, bowed deeply to the old lady, and pulled Xiao Qi along.
It didn't take long for them to hear noise coming from a room.
"Where is this place?" Gu Qingyu looked at the door suspiciously.
"It's the pig pen." Gu Qingyu jumped as the old lady's voice came from behind her.
"Oh man, this is too much!" Gu Qingyu immediately opened the door, but the room was empty.
"This is..." Gu Qingyu frowned. She tried to turn back and ask the old lady, but her head suddenly felt incredibly heavy. The world spun before her eyes, and everything faded to black.
When she opened her eyes again, she was in a dark place.
Where am I? Her night vision activated, and the space before her opened up to a small room. She just wanted to move her limbs, but nothing would budge. She was bound tightly by rope, and the rope seemed to be enchanted.
Where's Xiao Qi? She looked around, Xiao Qi was nowhere to be seen. A red dress unfolded in front of her eyes, and Yan Zun slowly floated out of the Lifeblood Jewel of Destiny.
"It seems that you placed your trust in the wrong person." Yan Zun narrowed his eyes slightly and turned to look at the locked door.
Is it... Xiao Qi?
Gu Qingyu didn't dare to speak, she gently said in her heart. "Master, where am I?"
"We're still at Ye, but this place is quite well hidden." Yan Zun wandered around. "It seems that the person dug it themselves."
"That person? You mean Nightingale? Then that means Ye Jin won't know of this place at all." Gu Qingyu was startled.
"That's hard to say." Yan Zun looked at her. "Your master is still here, what do you have to be afraid of?"
"Yeah, but..." She sighed, but the door opened and cut short her conversation with Yan Zun.
Rays of light came from the open door and blinded her. She squinted her eyes, trying to adjust to the bright light. Right then, something swept across her face and left a stinging pain on her cheeks. Slap! The crisp sound bounced from the walls. Gu Qingyu raised her head and saw Ye Ya's twisted face.
"Oh, you're still alive." Gu Qingyu raised her eyebrows lightly and looked at Ye Ya with a flat look.
"Huh, do you think Brother Ye Jin will actually kill me? Don't be stupid! All he wants is your Lifeblood Jewel of Destiny!" Ye Ya sneered, standing behind her was Nightingale.
"Oh? Does that mean that a piece of rock is worth more than the two of you added together?" Gu Qingyu scoffed.
"You--" That remark agitated Ye Ya. She raised her hand, but Nightingale grabbed her wrist and stopped her.
Ye Ya looked at Nightingale with hostile eyes. "What are you doing?"
"Miss," Nightingale drew her lips into a line. "We should focus on the main goal."
Ye Ya freed herself with a huff. "No need to remind me."
Meanwhile, Yan Zun watched as he sat on the floor. "So, do you want your master to help?"
"No need." Gu Qingyu said softly in her heart.
"What are you thinking about? Are you waiting for Big Brother Ye Jin to come to rescue you again?" Ye Ya sneered.
Gu Qingyu looked at Ye Ya, and there was a mocking smile in the corner of her mouth. "If I can't even solve this little thing myself, how can I stand beside him?"
"You want to stand by his side?" Ye Ya's body shook with laughter and her voice resounded like a silver bell. "Your best friend sold you out and now you are trapped here! Not a single one of your precious friends even noticed that you're missing!"
"Really." Gu Qingyu turned and glanced at Yan Zun, a hint of a smile graced the corners of her lips. They can't see Yan Zun, so of course they did not count him. But, is Yan Zun a friend?
"Miss, please resolve this as soon as possible." Nightingale's ruthless voice came from behind Ye Ya. She was patiently waiting, but her patience is growing thin.
"I know, I know." Ye Ya frowned, clearly dissatisfied with Nightingale, then looked at Gu Qingyu, and smiled again. "So, are you ready to accept death?"
"I'm curious, what will Ye Jin do if I die? The first person he would think of are you two." Gu Qingyu tilted her head. "Sure, you can take the Lifeblood Jewel of Destiny and try to barter for your lives, but as people who have known him for so many years, you should know that the Lifeblood Jewel of Destiny is not the only thing he's after. So, when I die, which one of you is going to be the scapegoat and take the fall?"
Both of their faces turned pale. Nightingale stared closely at Gu Qingyu. "Miss, please don't listen to the babble of this demon girl. She wants to cause us to fight amongst ourselves, your subordinate believes that..."
"No." Ye Ya raised her hand and motioned the former executive to shut up. "She's right." The girl in pigtails slowly turned around and looked at Nightingale. "You're much better at disguises, yet I'm the one that wore the disguise and lured her here as an old lady. Why is my magic applied to this rope? Why are you standing behind me? And all you did was keep telling me to finish the job. Nightingale, you were never the kind of person that just went along with my whims. The second my tone shifted, you would vanish. Why are you so...tolerate today?"
Nightingale gritted her teeth. "Miss, she is our common enemy."
"But we are not allies either." Ye Ya stared at her unflinchingly.
Nightingale's hand pressed gently on the whip around her waist. "Does that mean that you are going to get rid of me first?"
"I'm not that stupid." Ye Ya chuckled. When she turned back, there was a glinting dagger in her hand and she approached Gu Qingyu. Gu Qingyu simply watched her. Both Ye Ya and Nightingale were smart people, they would not be so easily swayed.
She narrowed her eyes slightly, and tried to summon her Soul Chain. Ye Ya hmphed at her efforts. "Don't bother, your weapon has been locked by my seal. The Soul Chain, right? It's a good weapon, but it's a shame that it won't save you."
She stopped in front of Gu Qingyu and raised the dagger. All Gu Qingyu heard was Yan Zun's soft sigh as he stood up slowly. Gu Qingyu looked at Ye Ya and Nightingale with pity. If Yan Zun steps in, neither of them would survive this.
And it's not like she was cornered. This level of seals no longer posed any trouble to her after she had awakened as the White Tiger.
"It's that look again? Save it!" Ye Ya sneered and she drove the dagger down.