thenovelthief Chapter 186: Our Location Is Definitely Safe
Chapter 186: Our Location Is Definitely Safe
Sun Yingbin chimed in, "I’ll stay behind with Yaoyao and wait for her! Xiao Xiao came with us; there’s no reason to just abandon her!"
Zhao Jing, her head still wrapped in gauze, said weakly, "I’ll stay too. I’ll wait for Xiao Xiao and go back with her."
Zhou Ye had already packed his bags and was still hesitating about whether or not to stay and wait for Meng Xiaoxiao.
Seeing that everyone else had chosen to stay and wait for Meng Xiaoxiao, he went along with it. "I’ll stay too. I’ll wait for Xiao Xiao and leave with her. A girl going missing is a serious matter. We have to send more people and search for her properly!"
When Shen Zhiyao said she would wait, everyone called her a hypocrite.
But when Sun Yingbin, Zhao Jing, and Zhou Ye said they would wait, the internet erupted in praise, lauding them for their loyalty.
Chen Yan said nothing, keeping his head down as he read the comments scrolling across the livestream.
The negative comments about Shen Zhiyao made him furious.
So, using a burner account, he made two posts online:
#ShenZhiyaoPredictsMengXiaoxiaoWillReturn#
#IfMengXiaoxiaoReturnsTheEntireInternetApologizesToShenZhiyao#
Then, he sent a text to someone: "Get these two topics trending!"
In less than ten minutes, the two posts shot to the number one and two spots on the trending charts. Shen Zhiyao’s fans saw them and immediately began reposting.
They had long been believers in Shen Zhiyao. No matter how impossible something seemed, if she predicted it, it was bound to come true.
The other netizens were split into two camps:
One camp consisted of Meng Xiaoxiao’s fans. If she returned safely, they would even be willing to get on their knees and apologize to Shen Zhiyao.
This group helped get the hashtags trending.
The other camp was just there for the drama and didn’t mind things escalating. They didn’t care whether Meng Xiaoxiao lived or died.
They would rather see something happen to Meng Xiaoxiao, just to prove they had been right to criticize Shen Zhiyao and that she was nothing but a fraud.
The production team had already consulted with their superiors and decided to stay for two more days.
This arrangement would not only generate buzz but also show that the production team cared about its guests. It was the best of both worlds.
Night fell in the blink of an eye. The rescue team had performed dive after dive, but there was still no sign of Meng Xiaoxiao.
Diving deep into the night was too dangerous, so they had to suspend the search.
Gu Shi had been run off his feet lately. He was supposed to be a tourism ambassador, yet he’d been dragged into this whole affair.
He just couldn’t understand it. The Island Country was always so peaceful. How could so many incidents happen one after another, the moment these guests arrived?
It looked like the star from Hua Country wasn’t going to be found. The Island Country would probably be slammed with negative press, making it even more difficult to develop the tourism industry in the future.
The thought made Gu Shi’s heart sink with worry.
He was exhausted today and planned to head back for a good night’s sleep before resuming the search tomorrow.
As he neared the factory, he saw a figure dash out. The silhouette looked like Qin Feng.
’What’s Qin Feng doing in the factory this late at night?’
Puzzled, Gu Shi followed Qin Feng, tailing him into a hidden mezzanine on the factory’s first basement level.
The moment he descended, he heard a series of piercing screams.
That was followed by a sound from within: "DRIP... DRIP..."
Gu Shi thought a pipe was leaking. If it was left unattended, the entire basement level could flood overnight, so he hurried over.
When he got down there, he was stunned by the scene before him.
Meng Xiaoxiao was hanging on the wall, her arms and legs covered in blood, her head lolling to one side.
Several people were continuously extracting Spells from Meng Xiaoxiao’s body to create Chi Ling.
"Hurry, take more of her Spells! The more the better! We should use her until there’s not a single drop of value left!"
The agony of having her Spells drained sent Meng Xiaoxiao’s body into convulsions. The barbs beneath her feet repeatedly pierced her ankles, and her blood dripped to the floor, one drop at a time.
With each extraction of a Spell, Meng Xiaoxiao’s limbs would shudder, and her agonized screams were suffocating to hear.
"What are you doing!" As Gu Shi got closer, he could see that parts of Meng Xiaoxiao’s skin had turned a bluish-purple. "Meng Xiaoxiao! You... you look like..."
’...like a monster...’
’The production team is going crazy looking for her, and here she is, looking like some kind of monster.’
Snapping out of his shock, Gu Shi scrambled to pull out his phone, but Qin Feng snatched it from his hand. "Don’t you dare tell them!"
"Wait... you’re the one who hid her?" Even someone as dense as Gu Shi could tell something was wrong.
"Why are you doing this? Not everyone on this island is a demon! If you let this get out, we’re all dead!"
"Let her go, now! We can’t afford the consequences of this!"
As he spoke, Gu Shi moved to untie Meng Xiaoxiao.
Qin Feng waved his hand, and the men beside him stopped extracting her Spells.
As the extraction of her Spells ceased, the color of Meng Xiaoxiao’s skin began to return to normal.
She was still beautiful, but her body was covered in tiny puncture marks, as if she’d been pricked by countless needles.
The hem of her white dress was covered in footprints, making her look disheveled and pitiful.
Gu Shi instinctively took two steps back. "She... She’s a demon, too!"
"Of course she’s a demon! And she possesses half the bloodline of the Peacock clan!
It’s the noblest demon beast bloodline in the world!
Haven’t you always wanted to know what the raw material for Chi Ling is?
To put it bluntly, you just extract the Spells from a demon’s body and condense them into blue stones!"
As he spoke, Qin Feng extracted more Spells from Meng Xiaoxiao’s body. The energy rolled into a sphere before finally condensing into a rhombus-shaped stone.
"This is the Chi Ling our Island Country is famous for. Our nation once had a Peacock of its own. This one," he gestured to Meng Xiaoxiao, "looks exactly like her, but her Cultivation is even higher. That’s how we discovered how to make Chi Ling. As long as you possess one, you can avoid disaster, attract good fortune, and it will lead its owner to wealth and prosperity."
His hand gently caressed Meng Xiaoxiao’s cheek, his face a mask of greed.
"As long as we keep extracting her Spells, we can produce an endless supply of Chi Ling. Production will only stop when Meng Xiaoxiao dies, and then the Chi Ling will vanish from the world once more."
Gu Shi confronted Qin Feng. "Didn’t you say Chi Ling required specific materials and took forty years to refine a single one? How can it be something extracted from a demon beast?"
Qin Feng gave a sinister smile. "That’s just a cover story, a convenient way to hide the truth. Whether they’re immortals or demons, who would willingly offer up their own body? Since they’re not willing to give, we’ll just take it by force!"
He sighed heavily. "A pity that even the best resources run out eventually. Once a demon beast’s Spiritual Power is drained dry, it can no longer provide for us. In this era, Spiritual Power is scarce, making Cultivation incredibly difficult. So when a ready-made resource falls into our laps, why shouldn’t we use it?"
"I thought our supply of Chi Ling was lost forever, but then Hua Country delivered a thousand-year-old demon right to our doorstep! This is a gift from the heavens!"
A flicker of excitement shone in Qin Feng’s calculating eyes.
He looked at Meng Xiaoxiao with excitement. "That Peacock years ago brought good fortune to all of us! If we can make full use of this one, she’s sure to make us all rich again!"
Gu Shi roared in fury, "You’re fucking insane! She’s a famous star from Hua Country! Keeping her trapped here will get us all killed!"
Qin Feng chuckled darkly. "They were already here today, weren’t they? But they didn’t find this place... which means... our current location is perfectly safe!"