chsdbacks Chapter 116 Disguise
Chapter 116 Disguise
Nie Lingfeng could feel his internal energy being rapidly depleted. This was not a long-term solution. He had to find the reason for the sudden activation of the Gu poison, otherwise, the next outbreak might be uncontrollable.
He let go of her hand, walked to the window, opened it a crack, and looked outside. The alley was quiet, with only a few old people sunbathing and a stray cat rummaging for food in the garbage. But he could sense a faint, almost imperceptible fluctuation of "qi" in the air.
It wasn't murderous intent, nor hostility, but a more covert, sinister kind of probing. Like a venomous snake slithering through the grass, like a spider weaving its web in the shadows.
"Tonight," he said softly, as if talking to himself, "might be unsettling."
---
As evening approached, before it was completely dark, the afterglow of the setting sun bathed the alley in a dark red hue. Nie Lingfeng decided to go downstairs to buy dinner. The hotel didn't provide meals, and there were no takeout options nearby, so he had to go out and buy something.
He told Chen Duo to lock the door and put on the security chain, and not to open it for anyone.
"I'll be back soon," he said, pulling a talisman from his pocket—a "calming talisman" that the old master had casually drawn back at Longhu Mountain. Although its effect wasn't strong, it was better than nothing. He folded the talisman into a triangle and stuffed it into Chen Duo's hand. "Take this. If you feel uneasy, hold it."
Chen Duo took the talisman and held it in her palm. The texture of the paper was unfamiliar, but the extremely faint Taoist aura remaining on it gave her a sense of inexplicable peace.
"Mm." She nodded.
Nie Lingfeng checked the doors and windows again to make sure they were locked before pushing the door open and leaving. His footsteps echoed in the corridor, gradually fading into the distance.
Chen Duo was the only one left in the room.
She sat on the edge of the bed, holding a talisman in her left hand and a panda doll in her right. The last rays of sunlight streamed in through the window, casting blurry shadows on the wall. Faint sounds of talking, cooking, and television mingled together in the alley, like a chaotic symphony.
Chen Duo looked down at the talisman in her palm. The triangular piece of paper was already warm, and the runes drawn with cinnabar on it glowed slightly in the dim light. She clenched her fist tighter, and the purifying aura flowed into her body through her palm, like a drop of water falling into boiling oil, instantly eliciting a slight reaction.
The Gu poison within my body seems to have... quieted down a bit.
But it was only "seemingly". She could feel that those black things were still writhing deep inside, like a dormant volcano, calm on the surface but boiling magma inside.
She closed her eyes, trying to recall the method Nie Lingfeng had taught her—to concentrate, feel her breath, and imagine herself as a tree, with roots firmly planted in the earth and branches reaching towards the sky, the wind passing through the branches and carrying away all her distracting thoughts and anxieties.
This is the simplest form of meditation, but it remains difficult for Chen Duo. Her sense of "self" is too weak, and she is too easily lost in those chaotic memories, fragmented emotions, and instinctive impulses brought about by the Gu poison.
But she is trying.
Because Nie Lingfeng said this was "normal." Normal people would use this method to calm themselves down.
She wants to be a normal person.
Time passed second by second. The sky outside the window grew completely dark, the sounds in the alley gradually thinned out, and night began.
Suddenly, Chen Duo opened her eyes.
It wasn't about what I heard or saw, but rather... what I felt.
A familiar yet instinctively repulsive fluctuation of "Qi" was approaching.
It wasn't the gentle, mellow inner strength of Nie Lingfeng, nor the cold, murderous aura of the previous men in black; rather, it was a... twisted, manic aura, filled with greed and malice.
Like rotten sweet fruit, like moldy silk, like... Wang Bing.
Chen Duo's body tensed instantly. She loosened the talisman, stood up, walked to the door, and listened intently.
There were footsteps in the corridor.
More than one. Light and steady, yet still clear in the quiet night. Footsteps stopped outside the door, then came the sound of a key being inserted into the lock—not the key to 302, but the key to 301 next door.
Chen Duo breathed a slight sigh of relief. But the next second, her heart jumped again.
Because of the distorted fluctuation of "Qi", it did not enter 301, but instead... stopped outside her door.
"Knock knock".
A knock on the door. Not loud, but very clear.
Chen Duo didn't move or make a sound. She pressed herself tightly against the door, her breathing so soft it was almost inaudible.
"Knock knock knock".
The knocking came three more times, this time a little louder. Then, a voice came from outside the door—it was the plump aunt's voice, but it sounded a little strange, as if she was deliberately lowering her voice:
"302, open the door and check the water meter."
Chen Duo's pupils contracted slightly.
She remembered that Nie Lingfeng had said before going downstairs that the hotel's water meter was on the first floor and was checked once a month, and that they wouldn't check it at night.
Moreover, this voice... although it sounds similar, the tone is wrong. The plump aunt always speaks in a lazy, drawn-out way, but this voice sounds a bit rushed, a bit... deliberate.
It's a disguise.
Chen Duo took a step back, her right hand instinctively rising, the black line on her palm beginning to heat up slightly. The Gu poison within her body, like a shark smelling blood, began to stir restlessly.
"302? Did you hear me? Open the door, it'll be quick." The voice outside the door rang out again, this time with a hint of impatience.
Chen Duo didn't respond. She turned around and quickly walked to the window, hoping to leave through it. But the window had security bars—old-fashioned steel bars, rusty but sturdy. Moreover, the opposite wall was right outside the window, very close, with nowhere to step.
Can't escape.
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. Nie Lingfeng had said that if they encountered danger, they shouldn't fight head-on, but try to buy time and wait for him to return.
How to delay?
She looked around the room—the bed, the table, the wardrobe, the television… there was nothing that could be used for defense. Her poison might work, but once used, it would reveal her location and thoroughly enrage the person outside the door.
Just as she was thinking, a soft "click" came from the door lock.
It wasn't the sound of a key turning; it was... the sound of a tool moving the lock cylinder. It was very faint, but clearly audible in the quiet room.
They're coming in.
Chen Duo gritted her teeth, retreated to the innermost part of the room, and leaned against the wall. Her left hand tightly gripped the calming talisman, while her right hand was raised, palm facing the door. The black lines on her skin began to glow, and something seemed to be writhing beneath her skin, trying to break free of its restraints.
"Squeak—"
The door was slowly pushed open a crack.
An eye peered through the crack in the door, scanning the dimly lit room. Then, the door was pushed open completely.
Not the fat auntie.
There were three men dressed in dark gray overalls, wearing baseball caps and masks, so their faces were obscured. But the fluctuations of "Qi" emanating from them instantly confirmed to Chen Duo that they were extraordinary individuals, and their cultivation was not weak.
The leader was a man of medium build, holding a device that looked like a mine detector, with a green light flashing on its screen. When he saw Chen Duo, his eyes lit up, and he gestured to the two people behind him.
The three of them stepped into the room at the same time.
"Miss Chen Duo," the leading man spoke, his voice hoarse and laced with a formulaic coldness, "please come with us. We don't want to resort to violence, but if you resist, don't blame us for being impolite."
Chen Duo didn't speak. She just stared at them, her emerald eyes reflecting a faint light in the darkness, like those of a feline. On the palm of her right hand, the black lines grew brighter, and something beneath the skin was writhing violently, almost bursting through.
"Don't waste your energy." The man seemed to have seen through her intentions, sneered, and raised the device in his hand. "This is a 'frequency jammer' specifically designed to counter Gu poison. It can disrupt the activity of your Gu poison. If you use Gu poison now, not only will it not harm us, but it will also backfire on you."
Chen Duo's pupils contracted slightly. She could feel that the high-frequency fluctuations emitted by the device were indeed interfering with the Gu poison within her body. The restless black energy seemed to be bound by invisible chains, its movements becoming sluggish, and its power to break through the seal was weakening.
But she didn't give up. She gritted her teeth and forcefully activated the Gu poison. The writhing beneath her skin intensified, and black lines began to spread up her arm, climbing like vines.
"Stubborn to the end." The man frowned, waved his hand, and ordered, "Take him down!"
The two people behind him moved at the same time! They were so fast that they left afterimages as they pounced on Chen Duo from the left and right, each holding a specially made metal chain—the chains were engraved with fine runes and emitted a suppressive "qi" aura.
Chen Duo suddenly raised her hand, her palm aimed at the two rushing towards her. Black poison gu gu shot out like smoke, but it was blocked as if it had hit an invisible wall less than half a foot away from her palm!
It was that jammer! The high-frequency waves it emitted formed a barrier around Chen Duo, confining all the poison to a very small area, making it impossible for it to reach the enemy!
"puff!"
The Gu poison backfired. Chen Duo spat out a mouthful of black blood, her body trembled violently, and she staggered back two steps, crashing into the wall. The Gu poison within her body became even more violent due to the backlash, like a trapped wild beast frantically ramming against the seal, each impact bringing excruciating, tearing pain.
"It's over." The leading man stepped forward and pulled a metal collar from his pocket—the inside of the collar was covered with fine needles, the tips of which gleamed with a faint blue light. "This is the 'Qi Suppression Lock.' Wearing it will suppress your Qi and the Gu poison to the lowest level. Don't worry, it won't hurt much, just like... being bitten by a mosquito."
He reached out and put the collar around Chen Duo's neck.
Chen Duo tried to dodge, but her body was stiff from the backlash and excruciating pain, slowing her movements by a fraction of a second. The collar drew closer, the eerie blue light of the needle's tip magnifying before her eyes…
Just as the collar was about to touch her skin—
"boom--!!!"
The room's window, along with the security bars outside, was ripped off by a violent force! Steel bars twisted, glass shattered, and debris rained down into the room!