Chapter 97: Flower Fairy

Gong Jiu? That was Miss Nine’s name?

It was a strange name, and yet oddly fitting, as if she had been born to it.

And when it slipped slowly from the red lips of the woman in her twenties, it sounded deliciously suggestive.

Especially when those large amber eyes gazed at you, bright with moisture...

Gong Jiu shivered, then rubbed the gooseflesh rising on her arms and sneered, “Don’t call me like that. It’s disgusting. I’m not familiar with you.”

At that, the seductive woman curved the corners of her rouge-colored lips. “Oh? So we’re not familiar, are we? And yet... every inch of your body, I’ve touched before.”

Several men present instinctively looked at Gong Jiu.

“Go to hell! You even drag up things from kindergarten... Damn it! Flower Sprite, sooner or later I’m going to touch you back...”

A fierce life needs no explanation. A fierce woman needs no loneliness, because... someone will naturally walk beside her.

But it was obvious these two had a grudge between them, and a very serious one at that.

Otherwise, after hearing Gong Jiu’s vulgar barrage, Flower Sprite would not have laughed and drawn the pistol from her waist, leveling the muzzle straight at Sui Yi’s head.

“I really hope you can keep cursing with all that pride of yours... Come on, darling, I’m waiting.”

Flower Sprite... true to her name.

“Damn it!”

Gong Jiu glanced at Sui Yi, gritted her teeth, and finally sighed before obediently surrendering.

She even walked with a limp.

Sui Yi’s eyes caught that uneven gait, and a faint curve touched her lips. Miss Gong Jiu still had a little cunning in her after all.

By this point, Gong Jiu’s people had effectively been taken out in one sweep. Though none were dead, the badly injured were badly injured, and the uninjured had pistols pressed to their heads, leaving them with no ability to resist.

After ordering her men to tie up Wind Slaughter and the others securely, Flower Sprite tapped Gong Jiu’s wound with the gun barrel and mocked her, “Well, well. It’s rare to see you looking this miserable.”

“Ugh—Flower Sprite, what exactly do you want? If you mean to kill us, just say so!” Gong Jiu winced, glaring at her.

“Don’t call me Flower Sprite... My name is Hua Yaofei. It’s nothing much, really. I just want to take a look at your family’s ancestral treasure map.”

The moment Hua Yaofei said that, Gong Jiu’s expression changed. Sui Yi also raised her brows. A treasure map? Ancestral?

Gong Jiu’s face darkened, like thunderclouds were pressing down overhead. After a moment of silence, she gave a cold, brittle laugh. “I didn’t realize I still had one of your people inside my family.”

“Likewise. I don’t believe you don’t have spies on my side either... Otherwise, how would you have known I came to this tomb ahead of time?”

“Then you’d better ask your spy first how I found this tomb!” Gong Jiu looked ready to pounce and bite the woman to death.

Sui Yi, bound and seated on the ground, silently sighed. Did these two women have to go somewhere private to settle their personal hatred?

“Ho ho ho, are you praising me?” Hua Yaofei covered her mouth and laughed, then glanced toward Sui Yi. At last she gave her some attention. “So you’re the reinforcements Gong Jiu found. You look so young...”

As she spoke, she brushed Sui Yi’s face with a slender, manicured finger. Sui Yi did not dodge, remaining calm and still.

Hua Yaofei gave a slight surprised sound and studied her carefully for a while, then hooked the body of the pistol beneath Sui Yi’s chin.

Wind Slaughter and the others changed expression slightly. Gong Jiu looked downright green.

Sui Yi turned her face away. She found this woman somewhat strange, somewhat off, though she could not quite say why.

Lifting her eyes lazily, she said flatly, “Miss Hua...”

She had barely gotten the words out when Hua Yaofei’s expression changed.

Miss Hua?

Were you provoking me on purpose? Have you forgotten that you’re a prisoner?

Sui Yi noticed the woman’s darkening mood and paused, then changed tack. “Miss Hua, I think if we don’t leave here soon, some dangerous creatures nearby will come looking for us.”

“Dangerous creatures? What do you mean?” Hua Yaofei narrowed her eyes and instinctively glanced around before looking back at Sui Yi with a smile. “I arrived several hours before your group did, and I didn’t see any dangerous creatures.”

“That just means I was lucky. I saw animal tracks earlier... You can take a look over there.”

Hua Yaofei was a little suspicious, but she only smiled. She was not timid in the least, and even chose not to have her subordinates check for her. Instead, she followed the direction Sui Yi had indicated on her own.

Behind a clump of bushes, her eyes moved back and forth. Her expression suddenly tightened. She stared at one spot for a long while, then shifted slowly to another...

Then she laughed.

Turning back with the pistol in hand, she said, “Miss Sui, are you sure you wanted me to see footprints?”

“Hm?” Sui Yi blinked.

“There’s a pair of underwear in there.”

And it was stained with blood. Hua Yaofei looked at Gong Jiu with a smile that was not quite a smile. At that moment, Gong Jiu’s face turned green, and she suddenly remembered the pair of underwear she had tossed at Sui Yi earlier...

If you don’t act out, you won’t die. If you do act out, you will definitely die.

In an instant, Gong Jiu turned her face away and complained to Sui Yi, “Didn’t I tell you not to throw your discarded underwear around? What kind of girl does that!”

Sui Yi: “...”

Hua Yaofei snorted with laughter for quite a while before finally becoming serious. “A row of footprints, three-toed, about the size of a human palm... Doesn’t sound like anything easy to deal with. Boys, pack up. We’re moving.”

As she spoke, her gaze slid over Wind Slaughter and the others. “But I don’t carry baggage. Let me think... should I just kill them?”

“Kill them, and you won’t see even a hair of that treasure map.”

“Ho? You think I can’t search them myself?”

Hua Yaofei leaned forward, swung an arm, and pressed Gong Jiu flat to the ground.

Wind Slaughter and the others cried out, each of them bristling with killing intent. Sui Yi frowned. This Hua Yaofei seemed rather vicious. She wondered whether she would really kill.

Just as Hua Yaofei was reaching into Gong Jiu’s pocket, Gong Jiu snorted with laughter. “Flower Sprite, do you really think I’d be stupid enough to keep the treasure map on me? Have you forgotten I have an exceptional memory for it? If you’re so capable, why don’t you take my head with you?”

Hua Yaofei’s expression stiffened. She yanked her hand back quickly, then patted it off. “Ha. You’ve improved, haven’t you? Fine, I won’t kill them. But don’t expect me to carry them along either.”

With a flick of her hand, she ordered, “Tie them all up securely and leave them here. As for whether anything hungry comes along to eat them, that’ll be their luck. Oh, right.”

Her fingertip paused and settled on Sui Yi. “This lady can come with us too.”

She probably understood that Sui Yi was the only person here with any real connection to the tomb. In the end, this was still their family’s business, and she might prove useful.

Besides, Hua Yaofei’s instincts were much the same as Gong Jiu’s—this Sui Yi was capable.

So Sui Yi and Gong Jiu were both bound with their hands behind their backs and taken away with them.

As they left, Sui Yi turned her head and looked toward a large tree in the distance.

A person hung from one of its branches.

Whether dead or alive, it was impossible to tell.

Forest expeditions were dangerous. Fortunately, this forest was not very large, so crossing it would not take much time. The real danger lay only in the local creatures that lived there, and...

Along the way, Sui Yi also saw human footprints—naturally from Hua Yaofei and the group, and from Wind Slaughter and the others earlier. Some were messy, and occasionally they crossed each other.

Unlike Gong Jiu, who carried herself with spirited courage, Hua Yaofei was clearly far more ruthless. Anyone who would burden her, or even fail to complete her orders, she could abandon without hesitation—kill on the spot if need be.

That was why Gong Jiu had always been suppressed by her in direct confrontation.

Not ruthless enough.

And yet in terms of martial skill, Gong Jiu seemed to be stronger.

It was a pity that Miss Nine was currently trapped and could barely walk without staggering.

After about two hours, they stopped to rest.

Perhaps because Sui Yi and the others were considered highly valuable, Hua Yaofei was not stingy when it came to food.

At least there was water and bread.

All along the way, Sui Yi had been observing this group, with special attention on Hua Yaofei.

The woman was shrewd—extremely shrewd. In her hands, she seemed to have some kind of advanced device capable of detecting sound waves. For instance, the sound-wave frequencies of certain animals differed from those of humans, and if they appeared within range, the device would issue a warning.

That was why, up to this point, they had not encountered any danger.

Very experienced indeed.

“That’s a sound-wave sensor, imported from Germany. That woman has business like this under her control, so getting one wouldn’t be difficult,” Gong Jiu said while eating, she and Sui Yi seated close together beneath a tree.

Sui Yi nodded, then asked casually, “Then why don’t you get one?”

That sounded almost as if she were saying Gong Jiu was inferior to Hua Yaofei.

“Bullshit! If I hadn’t come in such a hurry and been unprepared, why would I...” Gong Jiu stopped herself.

Under Sui Yi’s half-smiling gaze, she suddenly thought of her own little underwear and sanitary pads.

But then...

It seemed Gong Jiu remembered something else. She quickly leaned close to Sui Yi and whispered into her ear, “That woman is a pervert. Don’t let her take advantage of you.”

“Hm?” Sui Yi blinked, not quite understanding.

“Er... um... she’s into women.”

“Into women?” Sui Yi looked at Hua Yaofei, frowning. “But there’s no lace on her clothes...”

A spray of blood nearly burst out.

Gong Jiu silently turned away and smashed her head against the tree, all the while silently bleeding inside.

Why did the world still have such an innocent person...

Sui Yi, you must be a master of hidden darkness!

Just then, Sui Yi suddenly narrowed her eyes. Without a trace of change in her expression, she swept her gaze around, then quickly drew a line across Gong Jiu’s hand with her fingertip.

Gong Jiu froze.

Ready?

And at that moment, abruptly and eerily, a dense chorus of cries rose from every direction. Hua Yaofei’s sound-wave sensor in her hand exploded at once!

All their expressions changed.