Chapter 23: Where Are They Hiding?

Two days passed quickly.

During these two days, Chen Yan stayed home and didn’t go out; when hungry, he ordered takeout, and when tired of takeout, he cooked two dishes himself.

The blue stone slabs he ordered hadn’t arrived yet, so he couldn’t begin setting up the array.

Chen Yan spent half his day each day sitting in meditation, practicing the Qi Transport Technique, savoring the pleasant sensation of Qi entering his body—but no more than that; at his low cultivation level, his body could only handle so much Qi.

After kicking Lu Sisi into the water last time, his Qi (merit?) had grown again, and over these two days, Chen Yan tried practicing a new technique from the secret manual.

“Ling Order.”

Actually, this wasn’t [one] technique, but [a set] of techniques.

Within the set, there were several character incantations: Defense, Attack, Control, Conceal…

There were quite a few of them.

The cultivation thresholds varied, some high, some low; the difficulty levels varied, some strong, some weak.

But since the techniques were divided by character incantation, he could learn them one by one separately.

This set of “Ling Order” was the technique Chen Yan had carefully selected from the manual—the same standard as the Spirit Gathering Array: low threshold, high ceiling.

And it was fully functional.

“Defense” meant defense; once mastered, he could draw upon Qi during danger and condense it into a Qi-based defensive spell.

The others—Attack, Control, Water, Fire—were self-explanatory.

And Chen Yan was a cautious man.

His Qi cultivation was low, so his first choice was…

The “Dun” character incantation!

“Dun”… meant to flee.

·

The “Dun” character incantation had a low cultivation threshold; after two days of practice, Chen Yan had already entered the beginner stage of his “Ling Order: Dun Character Incantation,” and what remained was simply a matter of how high his Qi cultivation rose.

The higher the cultivation, the faster and farther he could run; the lower the cultivation, the slower and shorter the distance.

After mastering the “Dun” character incantation, Chen Yan closed the gate to his courtyard and spent two days leaping around inside.

From the east end to the west end of his own courtyard was at least a hundred meters.

He activated the “Dun” character incantation, condensed Qi, and released it according to the incantation…

His body darted like a swallow skimming water, rising and falling three times, and he could reach the west end from the east!

And during the process, he felt a distinct sensation of [gliding just above the ground].

This feeling filled Chen Yan with delight!

When he first mastered it, he was like a child with a new toy, playing around the courtyard all afternoon.

If he hadn’t feared being seen, he would have run out onto the main road and flown circles around it!

“Fuck, this courtyard’s still too small. Once I learn the ‘Yin’ character incantation, I’m definitely testing it on the road!”

·

On the night of the ritual, just after ten o’clock, Yan’s assistant arrived with his team as agreed.

Taking money meant fulfilling the task; Chen Yan stuck to his principles, had already brought his three treasures with him, opened the door to greet Yan’s assistant, then left with a smile.

As for Luo Qing, he completely ignored Chen Yan.

Yan’s assistant brought three cars, which slowly drove into the villa’s garage.

Two business vans, one sedan.

Chen Yan noticed that several people stepped out of one business van—likely underlings of Fang Zong or Luo Qing.

The other business van clearly wasn’t meant for carrying people.

Through the windows, Chen Yan vaguely saw that the seats had been removed and replaced with various objects, all covered in yellow cloth—he couldn’t tell what they were.

But Chen Yan kept his word: he said he wouldn’t go in, so he wouldn’t.

Still, after Yan’s assistant and his team entered the villa’s garage and the garage door and courtyard gate were both shut…

Chen Yan strolled a short distance, circled around the roadside, then turned at the intersection and headed to the right side of his own villa.

He sat on the roadside inside the community, behind him a flower bed and greenery, and beyond that, the wall of his own villa.

He’d promised not to enter the house, but no one said he couldn’t stay outside.

He sat beside the roadside flower bed in the greenery for nearly half an hour, scrolling through his phone, wondering if they’d started inside.

Ziye, or Zi Shi, began at eleven p.m.

He’d left the house at ten-thirty and had been sitting here for nearly forty minutes.

He checked the time—it was already eleven-ten.

Chen Yan took a deep breath, activated the Qi circulating through his body, and channeled it into his eyes.

He opened his Heavenly Eye to observe Qi, while silently calculating the algorithm from the “Qi and Fortune Cycle.”

He sat still, breathing far lighter than usual, carefully using his “Heavenly Eye” to observe the direction of his villa’s courtyard wall, sensing the Qi fluctuations within…

One minute…

Five minutes…

Ten minutes…

Chen Yan waited like this for nearly twenty minutes.

Winter had arrived several days ago; it was nearly midnight, and outside it was bitterly cold—Chen Yan’s nose had turned red from the cold.

Since entering Qi cultivation, his senses were sharp; he could already hear Luo Qing’s voice from inside the courtyard, through the wall.

Since entering Qi cultivation, Chen Yan’s senses were sharp; carried by the wind, he faintly heard Luo Qing muttering in a strange tone…

The cadence reminded him of his old grandma’s shamanic rituals back in the countryside.

But no matter how hard Chen Yan tried to sense it with his Heavenly Eye…

There wasn’t a single trace of Qi fluctuation.

“That’s impossible. How could a ritual or spell produce no Qi fluctuation?”

After a moment of confusion, Chen Yan suddenly realized—and laughed.

Ha, what high master? Just a con artist.

That Fang Zong had been scammed.

·

Now that he understood, Chen Yan had no reason to sit here freezing his ass off—he stood up, stretched his limbs, and walked toward the community gate.

He hailed an online ride, heading toward the university district in Chengdong, to find an internet cafe for an all-nighter.

This was a luxury villa district; there were no internet cafes nearby.

And he didn’t feel like going anywhere else.

Better to return to the internet cafe near campus—it felt familiar.

·

Behind a commercial street near campus, down a narrow alley, stood a two-story old business building.

Its sign was worn, bearing four colorful large characters: “Extreme Internet Cafe.”

Chen Yan walked in with ease, and instantly felt the full blast of air conditioning warmth, like spring.

And… the smell of a male dormitory in summer!

The air was thick with smoke and instant noodle odor, keyboards clacked nonstop, and occasional curses echoed.

Looking around, the first-floor hall was half-filled with over a hundred computers—clearly students from nearby schools skipping out for an all-nighter.

Chen Yan walked up to the counter and smiled: “Boss lady, open me a machine, all-night!”

Behind the counter, the boss lady, who’d been watching an ancient romance drama on her computer, lifted her eyelids and gave Chen Yan a sultry glare.

“Oh my, Xiao Yan? Haven’t seen you in a while.”

“I graduated,” Chen Yan said. “Didn’t bring my ID—can you swipe mine?”

The boss lady casually pulled out an ID card—no idea whose—and stood up, leaning forward slightly to scan it on the machine at the counter.

Beep.

Chen Yan quietly inhaled.

Sure enough, the “Extreme Internet Cafe’s” one and only flower.

The boss lady looked no older than thirty, with large eyes and a small face; her features were already striking, and combined with the mature allure unique to women her age…

Especially her figure—the ripe, sensual charm of a married woman—and most remarkably of all…

Fine branches bearing heavy fruit!

With her figure, when she stood and bent slightly forward…

That pose—eight out of ten men would stare dumbfounded.

No wonder, back in college, Chen Yan and his buddies always joked about that line.

What’s an all-nighter at an internet cafe? When you’ve got money, you book the boss lady for the night!

Knowing Chen Yan was staring, the boss lady didn’t mind—she’d been stared at by these college kids for years.

But staring was one thing; no one dared do anything improper to the boss lady.

The boss lady might look tempting, but her brother was not to be messed with!

Huge and muscular, arms thicker than his legs, dragon tattoos, bald head…

Such a brother…

She had three of them!!

Usually, they loitered around inside and outside the shop, day or night.

One of them had a crescent-shaped scar on his head—supposedly from a knife fight back in his youth!

With these three brothers who could double as door gods, the shop owner sat there as steady as a mountain.

“Machine forty-six, go.”

The shop owner fiddled with her computer, then tossed Chen Yan a ticket.

Chen Yan took it and added, “Make me a bowl of instant noodles for dinner—add a sausage and an egg.”

The shop owner immediately beamed: “People who get paid for working really know how to spend money on food.”

Saying that, she called out: “Little Gu! Machine forty-six—noodles, with sausage and egg!”

“Mm.”

Suddenly, a crisp voice came from the aisle behind the row of machines beside Chen Yan.

He turned to look and saw a girl’s back.

A black, slightly outdated cotton coat—hmm? Why did this coat look familiar?

A thick braided ponytail hung from her back.

The girl, facing away from Chen Yan, was sweeping cigarette butts off the floor with a broom.

Chen Yan glanced once and looked away, casually asking the shop owner: “Hired someone?”

“No,” the shop owner said, tearing open a bag of chips and eating one herself. “We don’t make enough to afford hiring anyone. She’s a poor soul—yesterday, she wandered up and down this street outside my shop for hours. I saw she was about to collapse from hunger, so I kindly treated her to a bowl of noodles.”

Turns out, she came from out of town to Jin Ling City looking for someone, but her money and phone were stolen. She couldn’t find the person, and now she couldn’t even afford food.”

Chen Yan laughed: “You should’ve taken her to the authorities. Call the police.”

“She refused,” the shop owner said, lowering her voice. “So I suspect she’s one of those runaway girls—afraid to go near the police.”

I saw she couldn’t even eat, so I let her stay here for a few days.”

During the day, she goes out looking for people; by six p.m., she comes back, sweeps the place, and does some server work.”

After midnight, when things quiet down, she sleeps on a wire bed behind the storage room.”

No wages, of course—but I feed her breakfast and dinner every day.”

Chen Yan heard this and thought…

Half-believed, half-doubted.

The shop owner didn’t call the police or report her—she must have her own reasons.

Internet cafés have plenty of violations—fire safety, for instance.

Add to that her three brothers, who clearly weren’t the kind to be trusted—she might be hiding something herself.

Of course she wouldn’t invite the police over for no reason.

But… her heart to help others was surely sincere.

These days, it’s rare enough to see someone extend a hand and treat a poor soul to a full meal—let alone bring them in, feed them, and give them shelter?

Chen Yan didn’t dwell on it—he went to turn on his computer and play games.

He played for a while at his station, headphones on, not noticing anything else.

Suddenly, a hand reached from behind and placed a steaming bowl of instant noodles on Chen Yan’s desk.

Chen Yan was gaming, just clicked his mouse with a big arm motion.

The person behind him dodged, fumbled, and a few drops of noodle broth splashed onto Chen Yan’s hand.

Before Chen Yan could react, a crisp voice spoke quickly from behind.

“Sorry.”

Before he could reply, the person was gone.

Chen Yan froze.

That voice was nice.

But…

That “sorry” sounded oddly familiar.

He was about to turn and look at her back when his headphones crackled.

“Holy shit! Left! Left! Left! Where are you?! Get over here!!”

He dropped the thought and quickly adjusted his headphones, focusing on the battle.

·

Behind the internet café, Little Gu had quickly walked into the storage room and hidden behind the door.

She peeked through the crack at the main hall.

She recognized Chen Yan.

The bucket of chicken she stole the day before—wasn’t that his?

Good—he probably didn’t recognize me.

Thinking this, Little Gu sat on the wire bed and pondered again.

So many days now…

Where the hell were those damn Chen family members hiding?!

·