The atmosphere grew a bit awkward. Everyone in the room turned their heads slowly in unison, their gazes settling on Han Qingyu with looks of amusement or helplessness.
What astonished them wasn't that Han Qingyu hadn't returned it, but that none of them had even noticed he hadn't.
"But I really forgot. I'm not faking," Han Qingyu said calmly under their collective scrutiny.
A momentary lapse in judgment—or charging in advance. He thought to himself: *Little girl, you should actually be happy, you know? The situation right now basically means I've already decided to protect you once we're inside. That's definitely going to cost source energy, so it's a completely reasonable fee... If I don't charge in advance, when the time comes to strike, I might hesitate for an extra couple of seconds, unable to stop myself from agonizing over the waste... and you'd be dead.*
However,
"That's not it."
Yin Caixin shook her head stubbornly, looking as though she desperately hoped she had read Han Qingyu correctly. Gesturing toward He Tangtang, she added, "When he dismantled his gear and returned mine, you clearly looked right at him... So how could that not have reminded you?"
Amid quiet chuckles, Yin Caixin kept her eyes fixed on Han Qingyu's face as she spoke.
When she finished, the corners of her mouth curved into a smile. Watching Han Qingyu look embarrassed, helpless, yet still eager to quibble, she suddenly felt much more at ease.
As things stood, Little Caixin's own teammates actually had no idea she had come here.
After they returned and tried to persuade her to back out, she had told them she was going to find the reception staff to place a call to her grandfather.
Doing that here was troublesome, and the call hadn't gone through.
On the walk back, realizing she could only rely on herself now, Yin Caixin had forced herself to calm down and think along the way. Only with great effort did she finally hit upon a train of thought:
*Given the strength that man has displayed, for him to be greedy over this little bit of source energy block at a time like this probably proves he has no intention of harming me.*
With that, combined with the things her grandfather had previously mentioned about Han Qingyu's reputation and conduct in the Huaxia Front, a strange logic emerged:
[If he really kept it on purpose, it proves he genuinely isn't trying to take everything from me lock, stock, and barrel.]
Yes, "take the pot and all." Her grandfather said that back during his days on the Huaxia battlefield, he often heard his comrades use the phrase, which basically meant taking everything clean away.
"It really does seem like that. I'm right."
Little Caixin tilted her head slightly, working through her logic. Her faint bluish eyes gazed up at the high wall and the ceiling, subtly revealing a hint of relief and delight.
How wonderful it was to be able to trust someone so formidable.
Yet, to put absolute trust in him right away—a voice deep inside still pushed back... *Sigh, it's so tough. So should I bring up Luca's suggestion or not?*
"Caixin, you seem to be hesitating over something. It's fine, just say it," Shen Yixiu encouraged her, a smile in her tone.
Yin Caixin looked at her, still hesitating.
"Your teammates tried to convince you to drop the cooperation with us after you went back, didn't they?" Wen Jifei suddenly chimed in from the side, helping steer the subject away from Qingzi.
Yin Caixin snapped her head toward him. "How did you know?!"
"Divined it," Wen Jifei said, sounding breezy yet deadpan. "Did you forget? I'm a scientist of the Zhouyi and Eight Trigrams."
"That's amazing! Then you..."
"I also divined that you didn't agree."
Yin Caixin's eyes widened, and she nodded quickly. "Mm-hmm."
She rushed on, "Still, we're actually scared too. Laying down our lives for righteousness—put yourselves in our shoes and think about it. You're so strong..."
He Tangtang looked bewildered. "What laying down your lives for righteousness?"
Liu Shiheng said, "She probably meant to put ourselves in her shoes."
"Yeah, put... put... Anyway, we really are a bit scared." Yin Caixin hesitated for a moment, then threw caution to the wind. "Luca suggested we exchange hostages with you."
Silence fell over the room.
"Hostages?" Wen Jifei asked curiously.
"Yes. Luca suggested that among the people staying outside, without gear, we leave one on your side, and you... you leave one on our side."
"..." Han Qingyu sat up straight.
Yet Yin Caixin didn't immediately notice the shift in atmosphere. She continued meekly, "Just... just your weakest one will do. Luca said otherwise we might not be able to keep an eye on him."
As she spoke, her gaze wavered between Liu Shiheng and Wen Jifei.
Wen Jifei tried to dodge her look.
He failed to dodge it.
He grew rather annoyed.
"Hey, let me warn you: when you say 'weakest,' stop looking at me! Just because I'm a scientist doesn't mean I can't fight." Wen Jifei mimed drawing a blade in midair. "Watch it, or I'll slash you to show you what Grade A means, what a Double-A squad is!"
"You... so you're Grade A too?!" Yin Caixin was utterly stunned.
"Naturally," Wen Jifei replied placidly. Of course he was Grade A—it was just that he was also Grade B, C, D, E, and F.
"Then... then why aren't you going in with us?"
"Because I'm a scientist of the Zhouyi and Eight Trigrams."
"...Oh." Yin Caixin nodded.
"Actually, I think the suggestion isn't bad, and I wouldn't mind going over as a hostage," Liu Shiheng spoke up somewhat unexpectedly, smiling. "So who do you plan to leave on our side?"
"Baudouin." Yin Caixin gestured as she described him. "Dark hair, curly, bearded... the one who fought for the spot against your Tangtang at the end."
"Oh, then..." Liu Shiheng was about to turn to Han Qingyu to seek his opinion.
"I disagree," Han Qingyu cut into their conversation, his tone somewhat chilly.
Yin Caixin turned to him. "Why—"
"I don't do things like that," Han Qingyu said.
The atmosphere plummeted to freezing cold. Yin Caixin thought it over and roughly understood: this was a squad leader's principle and decision.
The young girl felt awkward all at once. "I'm sorry..." she apologized. "We... we really didn't mean any harm. Luca isn't a bad person either. It's just that he's the most trustworthy, dependable one on my side, and the most cautious. He even sleeps in his gear here."
...
Luca was critically injured.
If not for a coincidence—that tonight, in order to convince herself, Yin Caixin had come to Han Qingyu's side to invite Shen Yixiu to stay with her, Shen Yixiu had agreed, and after their conversation ended, Shen Yixiu walked back with her toward her room...
Luca would probably already be dead.
What happened within those dozen-plus seconds was as follows:
When Shen Yixiu and Yin Caixin got within ten meters of their rooms, faint sounds of fighting came from inside.
Shen Yixiu engaged her gear in an instant, broke through the door, and deflected a fatal slash aimed at Luca's chest.
By then, Luca had already taken a slash to his back during the initial sneak attack, sustaining grave injuries.
Three people were besieging him, and one of them was Baudouin.
Shen Yixiu prepared to kill.
Suddenly, a voice came from outside the room, telling her to stop.
In that moment of panic, Yin Caixin, who was not wearing gear, had a blade pressed against her back right behind her heart by another lurking, unfamiliar face.
Luca lost consciousness.
The three people besieging him knew they were no match for Shen Yixiu and decisively retreated outside.
Shen Yixiu couldn't strike.
So, in the end, Han Qingyu had overlooked one thing:
Earlier, thanks to He Tangtang's reminder, he had already grown somewhat suspicious of Baudouin. He just hadn't been certain enough and had no evidence to convince Yin Caixin. Furthermore, he assumed that since the man's objective was to enter the trial, he wouldn't make a hasty move, so Han Qingyu hadn't acted for the time being.
And just now, with what Yin Caixin had said... he had been too busy being displeased.
Consider this: when an operative of the Cleansing Faction infiltrated this place, he had to enter the trial no matter what. Having lost the five-person selection, Baudouin had originally still been trying to win a spot through Yin Caixin. But in the end, Luca, the backbone of their squad, had actually suggested using him as the exchange hostage...
He had no choice but to take a desperate gamble.
He contacted three other Cleansing Faction operatives in the hotel to make a move on Luca.
Once Luca died at the hands of Cleansing Faction infiltrators, Baudouin could step up to take the spot for the trial while becoming the backbone of their side, swaying and manipulating Yin Caixin's decisions.
He had even planned to cast suspicion on Han Qingyu and the others, framing Luca's death as their move to eliminate the last obstacle, thereby squeezing them out of the squad.
Baudouin simply hadn't expected that Yin Caixin had spent this evening over at Han Qingyu's side, nor had he anticipated that she would bring Shen Yixiu back with her.
Chapter 122