At one in the morning, He Jiaqing entered Xiao Zhenggong's villa.
There were over a dozen bodyguards on the first floor, not one of whom noticed him.
He Jiaqing headed up to the second floor first. It consisted of guest rooms and a study. After a circuit of inspection, he found nothing.
He then proceeded to the third floor, which had two bedrooms. After another search, he still didn't find what he was looking for.
Something so precious could never be kept on the first floor.
Where else could it be?
The basement?
He Jiaqing descended into the basement. The first underground level held a wine cellar and a home theater; the item wasn't here.
There was still a sub-basement level.
The sub-basement was occupied by a garage and a pump room. As he passed the pump room, He Jiaqing stopped in his tracks.
There was a hidden chamber.
Between the pump room and the garage lay a hidden chamber.
He Jiaqing felt along the wall for a moment and found a brick.
This brick was quite unusual. His fingertips could sense its distinct texture, and he knew a specialized mechanism was hidden inside.
The secret door was right here.
The mechanism was easy to disarm, but could there be a trap?
The thing was just behind the door. Even though a seal had been placed upon it, He Jiaqing could still feel its formidable aura.
Entering so rashly would likely entail danger.
Yet for the famous general Zhao Xiaowan, taking the gamble was well worth it!
He Jiaqing rubbed the brick for a moment, and the mechanism was swiftly undone.
The secret door slowly swung open. Tightly wrapped, a long spear stood erect in the center of the hidden chamber.
He Jiaqing approached the spear with extreme caution. He had heard of Zhao Xiaowan's methods—the slightest carelessness could leave one grievously injured.
"To Ziyun's desolate abode, who comes to inquire of the words?" the spear suddenly spoke.
A cold sweat broke out on He Jiaqing.
It was normal for her to speak.
He hadn't expected her to recite poetry, however.
That was also normal—Zhao Xiaowan was not only a general, but a woman of literary talent as well.
"Don't worry, I bear no malice."
According to the information he had gathered, Zhao Xiaowan was both deaf and blind after transforming into a spear. Though he knew full well she couldn't hear him, He Jiaqing still whispered soothing words.
This wasn't meant to comfort Zhao Xiaowan, but to remind himself.
He must not reveal the slightest hint of ill intent. Before the foremost figure of journey cultivation, the tiniest shred of malice would be fatal.
"Yesterday we met over a cup of wine; today the tongue spurs on ten thousand mighty troops. The earth has no rift, the heavens no path—who are you, and who am I?" the spear spoke again, its aura swelling with her words.
He Jiaqing took half a step back, not only because of the imposing aura, but also because he noticed a formidable seal surrounding the spear.
This seal would not be easy to break. He Jiaqing had originally intended to take the spear away from the villa, but now he altered his approach.
"I'll only borrow a little bit of technique from you—just a tiny bit.
"I only want to borrow the technique of Wind Rises on Level Ground. I won't touch any of your other techniques.
"Of course, if you're willing to lend me the technique of Parting Across Ten Thousand Li, I'd be very grateful.
"Your techniques will only be weakened slightly. Borrowed and returned, they'll restore themselves in due course."
He Jiaqing laid a hand on the spear, and its aura surged once more.
The technique was obtained. With no time to test it, He Jiaqing immediately drew back his hand and turned to leave, only to see over a dozen bodyguards storming into the basement.
Sure enough, that brick had held an extra trick.
Now that the bodyguards were here, Xiao Zhenggong would certainly return as well.
This was no place to linger, and He Jiaqing had no desire to tangle with the guards. With a blur of his figure, he vanished from sight.
By the time the guards gathered their wits, He Jiaqing was already outside the villa.
Just as he thought he was making a clean getaway, Xiao Zhenggong suddenly charged straight toward him, unleashing a vicious kick at his chest.
Back so soon?
He Jiaqing dodged the kick, and the shoe flew right off Xiao Zhenggong's foot.
He Jiaqing dodged the shoe as well. It slammed into the steps, shattering the marble staircase to pieces.
The shoelace detached itself from the shoe and whipped across He Jiaqing's back like a lash.
It stung sharply. The blow knocked He Jiaqing into a stumble, and he melted into the darkness of the night.
Xiao Zhenggong pursued for a couple of paces, but finding it impossible to catch up, he spun around and rushed into the basement.
Fortunately, the spear was still there.
Glaring at the group of bodyguards, Xiao Zhenggong cursed, "Useless trash!"
The bodyguards didn't dare utter a word—not because Xiao Zhenggong terrified them, but because the spear did.
A terrifying might pressed upon them like an advancing army of thousands, scaring them so badly they couldn't even part their lips.
Xiao Zhenggong looked at the spear and didn't dare approach carelessly either.
The spear would have to be moved.
He had gone through so much trouble to break into the archives, only managing to read two pages before tonight's whole business was ruined by this wretched thief.
Just who the hell is this wretched thief? When I catch him, I'll tear him to shreds.
***
Running along the road, He Jiaqing felt that his speed was no faster than before.
Did I borrow the wrong technique?
That shouldn't be.
What he had borrowed was a foundational technique. The foundational techniques of journey cultivation were only Wind Rises on Level Ground and seeking good fortune and avoiding calamity.
When Xiao Zhenggong had suddenly ambushed him earlier, He Jiaqing hadn't anticipated it at all.
That proved he hadn't managed to borrow seeking good fortune and avoiding calamity, and now it seemed Wind Rises on Level Ground hadn't been borrowed either.
Why was that?
***
Chengyun Road, Yuezhou.
Qin Minghui arrived at Ruirong Textile Factory.
The mill had been abandoned for many years, its perimeter walls overgrown with thick weeds.
The parents of two children were weeping inconsolably before the gate, desperately trying to rush inside, only to be held back by police officers.
Qin Minghui produced his credentials and inquired about the situation. The two children were still inside the factory grounds, their survival uncertain.
The surrounding roads had already been cordoned off, but no one could say for sure whether the unknown creature inside would emerge.
According to an eyewitness, the creature was a snake—a snake lying on the ground taller than a human, with two fangs larger than kitchen cleavers.
Cleavers?
Qin Minghui pictured the shape of a cleaver. It didn't seem quite like a snake's fang.
The witness was a beggar who had originally intended to spend the night in the mill. Two children had come in playing and roughhousing, and an argument had broken out between them.
During the dispute, the giant serpent had appeared. The beggar had fled instantly, but the children were too slow and were dragged into the factory building by the serpent.
Judging by this description, the odds of the two children surviving were exceedingly low.
A police officer asked Qin Minghui, "Should we dispatch search-and-rescue personnel?"
Qin Minghui disagreed. "Unless they are specialists, do not let anyone approach an anomaly."
One of the officers asked, "Are you a specialist?"
A neighboring officer glanced over Qin Minghui's credentials and remarked, "He's an intern."
"I suggest you wait for your captain to arrive."
Captain Chen Changrui was not in Yuezhou and was currently rushing back.
The nearest teammate was still over twenty minutes away by car.
Rumble!
A plume of bluish smoke rose from inside the plant, and the structure seemed on the verge of collapsing.
A collapse wasn't the issue; what everyone feared most was the anomaly suddenly breaking out.
Qin Minghui said, "Everyone prepare to evacuate. I'll head in first to scout the situation."
The officer tried to dissuade him: "I'll say it again—it's best you wait for your captain, or at least wait for a full-fledged agent to arrive."
"I am an agent of the Dark Star Bureau, and this is my duty. Please cooperate."
Qin Minghui stepped past the cordon, gun in hand, and approached the plant cautiously. Upon reaching the entrance, he didn't rush inside, but made for an outdoor staircase leading to the second floor.
The second-floor door had already been removed, allowing him to enter without making any noise.
In factory buildings like this, the ground floor typically had high ceilings reaching all the way to the roof, while the second floor consisted of operating platforms overlooking specialized equipment. Standing up there gave a clear view of the ground floor below.
These were case studies Qin Minghui had learned during his internship. Just as expected, the second floor was indeed a perimeter platform hugging the equipment.
Standing on the walkway, Qin Minghui looked down and spotted a plump creature squirming beside a knitting machine on the ground floor. Its body was tangled in multicolored, rotting skeins of yarn.
Qin Minghui steadied his breathing, doing his best to suppress his racing heart.
This was his first time seeing an anomaly in person. He was deeply tense, and the creature's size far exceeded anything he knew of living beings.
Judging by eye, Qin Minghui formed a rough estimate: the creature was about six meters long and roughly two meters in diameter.
Although elongated, judging by its proportions, it shouldn't be a snake—it was far stockier and thicker.
The anomaly was predominantly white, dotted with regular black spots and sparse hairs.
The beast crawled onto another row of knitting machines. This time, Qin Minghui was certain it wasn't a snake, because it had legs—short, stubby legs. They weren't packed tightly, but there were plenty of them, more than ten in all.
The creature turned around, and Qin Minghui caught sight of its "face."
It did have a pair of massive fangs, but they weren't snake fangs.
They were insect mandibles!
It was a silkworm. Aside from its gargantuan size, its other features were identical to the domestic silkworms Qin Minghui had seen as a child.
Through observation and comparison with the case files he had studied, Qin Minghui formed a preliminary assessment.
This kind of anomaly was an insect larva. It currently displayed no human characteristics and acted largely on instinct, making it a relatively primitive anomaly under normal circumstances.
Primitive anomalies weren't particularly intelligent. For creatures like domestic silkworms, their vision before pupating was poor, and their combat capabilities shouldn't be high.
Of course, this was only an initial guess. Captain Chen had once mentioned that in Puluo Province, there was an anomaly known as the bagworm moth, which also took the form of an insect larva. That kind was anything but primitive; it possessed high intelligence and terrifying combat strength, capable of wiping out a fully armed hundred-man squad with ease.
Qin Minghui didn't act rashly. Locating the beast's position had already exceeded his mission requirements; what he needed to do now was wait quietly for backup.
Wuu...
A cry!
Qin Minghui froze, turning his gaze toward the corner of the workshop.
Something was moving over there.
It was two bundles of yarn. Qin Minghui had initially taken them for spools on the knitting machines.
He listened carefully to the weeping; it sounded like children.
The children were still alive!
They were trapped inside the balls of yarn!
Qin Minghui tightened his grip on his pistol. The situation had grown complicated.
What did this silkworm want with the children inside the yarn?
Qin Minghui recalled the habits of silkworms: they fed on leaves and had no habit of using silk to hunt.
Seeing that it had tangled all sorts of yarn around its own body as well, could it be... practicing spinning a cocoon?
Silkworms didn't eat before spinning their cocoons. That was the most optimistic inference Qin Minghui could make.
Of course, this was an anomaly, and real-world silkworm traits couldn't be mapped onto it entirely.
After waiting for over ten minutes, the silkworm continued wrapping yarn around itself, seemingly with no other intentions.
A message buzzed on his phone; colleagues had arrived near the factory.
Just as Qin Minghui breathed a sigh of relief, he saw the massive silkworm slither toward the corner of the workshop, lunging straight for the two children bound in yarn.
Using three pairs of short, thick legs, it seized the struggling children, reared up the front half of its body, and opened its mandibles wide.
It assumed the exact posture of a silkworm gnawing on mulberry leaves.
Without a moment's hesitation, Qin Minghui raised his pistol, aimed at the insect, and emptied the magazine in ten rapid shots.
The handgun, specially designed by the Dark Star Bureau for Combatants, packed immense firepower and allowed a Combatant's precision control to significantly boost its accuracy.
All ten rounds struck the silkworm's head dead-on. It was clear the beast felt pain.
A pain like being flicked ten times on the forehead.
The silkworm dropped the children and, driven by raw instinct, slammed into the platform where Qin Minghui had just fired.
The second-floor walkway collapsed from the impact. Qin Minghui was launched straight up, smashing into the ceiling before crashing down onto the floor.
This was nothing like the case studies in textbooks, nor could it be practiced on the training grounds.
It was like a roller coaster, except that he had no safety harness whatsoever.
The moment he struck the ground, Qin Minghui felt as though all his internal organs had been knocked out of place.
His handgun had skittered far away.
He tried to crawl over and retrieve it, but his body refused to rise.
The gigantic silkworm squirmed toward him.
Qin Minghui grabbed an iron pipe from the floor and hurled it at the creature.
As a Combatant, he struck the silkworm's head squarely.
Yet he hadn't attained an official rank, and lacking sufficient force, the pipe failed to injure it.
With a sweep of its body, the silkworm coiled around Qin Minghui and squeezed hard, sending his vision into a blur.
Crack, crack...
His bones groaned under the strain.
Qin Minghui held on desperately with his Combatant aptitude, but he reached his limit in an instant.
The two children were crying.
Qin Minghui forced out a strained shout toward them: "Run!"
The slightly older child tore free of the threads and tried to flee, only to trip over the tangle.
The other child could only weep, lacking even the courage to stand.
The silkworm spread its short, thick legs wide over Qin Minghui.
Qin Minghui clawed at the beast's hide with his fingernails—the only retaliation left to him.
Bang! Bang!
Two gunshots rang out in succession.
A slender figure burst into the workshop.
Lightbulb had arrived!
He fired several shots at the silkworm. Enraged, the beast released Qin Minghui and whipped around, coiling Lightbulb within its bulk.
Swoosh!
Lightbulb slipped right out of the silkworm's grip, slapped in a fresh magazine, and kept shooting.
The silkworm coiled around him once more, and Lightbulb wriggled free again.
After they traded maneuvers for more than ten minutes, Tangyuan dashed into the workshop. Holding a fountain pen, she rushed up beside the silkworm and flicked a broad spray of ink.
The ink coalesced into countless written characters.
Lightbulb yelled, "Run!"
Before his voice faded, characters large and small began attacking everyone on the scene, friend and foe alike.
P.S. Tangyuan, real name You Xuehan, is the team's secretary.
Chapter 334