According to Yan Tuo’s plan, Nie Jiuluo should have been lying in the back seat for a comfortable ride home, but she disagreed. After lying down all night and finally getting to stand for a while, why should she lie down again?
So they compromised—she’d sit in the front passenger seat first, and could lie down later if she got tired.
As they drove out of the residential complex, Nie Jiuluo noticed Yan Tuo had a wireless earphone in his right ear.
She casually asked, “What music are you listening to?”
Yan Tuo shook his head: “Listening to what’s happening on Lv Xian’s end. He’s set out too.”
Then he briefly explained what had happened over the past two days.
So many things had happened—thinking about it made Nie Jiuluo feel a bit scared in retrospect. This was the awkward part of operating alone. Before, with Jiang Baichuan around, no matter how big a mess they made, someone would clean up after them. Now it was different; even if they got away safely, they left traces everywhere.
She had two things to tell Yan Tuo.
The first was about interrogating Chen Fu, who had revealed the whereabouts of Yan Tuo’s sister.
She had deliberately saved this to tell him in person because telling him earlier would have been meaningless. Black and White Rapids was just a name—no one knew its size or depth, especially since the Bandaged Army had a rule against entering Black and White Rapids.
Yan Tuo listened very calmly. He didn’t know what was wrong with himself—shouldn’t his heart be racing or his eyes filling with tears?
None of that happened. He drove steadily, paying normal attention to road conditions and the rearview mirror, only letting out a soft “Oh.”
Even Nie Jiuluo found it strange: “Your reaction doesn’t do justice to my hard work.”
Yan Tuo couldn’t help but laugh, wanted to say something, but didn’t know what.
Nie Jiuluo continued: “This Chen Fu was quite cautious. He only admitted to things I mentioned first—like when I brought up the blood sacs and Black and White Rapids, he’d follow up with a few words. But whenever it came to their origins and background, he wouldn’t say a word even if it killed him. After careful consideration, I gave him a cut on his crown—didn’t kill him, just the kind that puts him in a long sleep.”
Yan Tuo found it amusing: “This Chen Fu is something, dying, again and again, living time after time.”
Nie Jiuluo said: “I’m not just toying with him. First, Ground Hawks are rare, and rarity has value—this hostage might be worth something in exchange with Lin Xierou someday. Second, since I managed to get information from him this time, in a few months when we have new discoveries, I can chat with him again, might dig up more treasure.”
She was quite looking forward to talking with Chen Fu again and had already designed her appearance for their next meeting, determined to give Chen Fu a new experience in psychological breakdown.
The second thing was that so far, they hadn’t been able to contact Xing Shen.
“With what happened to Jiang Baichuan, Xing Shen and his people are probably like startled birds, won’t show themselves for a while—but knowing him, he won’t stay hidden long… Let’s wait and see. Once Xing Shen passes through Qing Rang and we contact him, dealing with Jin Ren Gate and Black and White Rapids will become easier.”
Yan Tuo had no objections, but after thinking, he discussed with her: “I came out under the pretense of visiting business partners, so I can’t skip all of them. I checked the list—the company has a major channel partner in Zhengzhou who does wholesale traditional Chinese medicine. When we pass through there, I need to visit them.”
Nie Jiuluo nodded: “No problem, you handle your business. I can find plenty of things to keep myself busy.”
Yan Tuo: “If you don’t mind, I’d like to make a detour to Anyang.”
Henan’s Anyang? That place’s name sounded familiar.
Nie Jiuluo’s heart stirred: “You want to go see that… Xu Annie?”
Yan Tuo tacitly agreed.
Finding Yan Xin was important but not urgent, and even if they wanted to hurry, there was nothing they could do right now.
Lin Ling’s situation was still under control for now.
Only this Xu Annie kept nagging at his heart, perhaps because when her father was beaten to death, he had been on the second basement level too.
***
Nie Jiuluo was very curious about the monitoring of Lv Xian and asked Yan Tuo for an earphone to listen.
Lv Xian’s end was quite quiet, but after listening for a while, she could tell he was in a car too. He seemed to be in a good mood, occasionally humming tunes.
Yan Tuo said: “He asked me for a car yesterday, should be driving himself to the farm.”
Only then did Nie Jiuluo notice that Yan Tuo was driving a different car.
She looked around: “This car is plain, doesn’t even have a safety charm. The previous one…”
The previous car had a Five Emperors coin hanging and even a duck ornament.
But she swallowed these words—that car was indirectly lost because of her.
Yan Tuo casually said: “It’s temporary, who cares if it’s plain.”
…
At noon, they reached Luoyang. Yan Tuo searched for a good restaurant and followed the navigation, but Nie Jiuluo didn’t want to bother getting in and out of the car, telling him to eat by himself and bring her something back.
Yan Tuo had to change from dine-in to takeout, writing the delivery address as “Third car in the parking lane on XX Street, license plate ending in 856.”
It would take at least half an hour for the food. Yan Tuo reclined both his and Nie Jiuluo’s seats. After driving all morning, he was tired, and she was tired from sitting. It would be good to lie back and relax.
Once lying down, the view changed from horizontal to vertical, and the world became much more interesting. People were coming and going outside, while inside the car felt like a peaceful sanctuary.
There was a sound from Lv Xian’s end now too, the faint noise of cups and dishes—he must have reached the farm and was eating in the dining room.
Lin Xierou wasn’t there; it was the medical staff welcoming him. Yan Tuo heard a man saying: “Welcome, welcome, welcome leader to guide our work.”
Lv Xian was modest: “You’re too kind, let’s progress together, progress together.”
Such boring pleasantries. Yan Tuo closed his eyes slightly and let out a soft sigh.
Nie Jiuluo heard it: “What are you sighing about?”
Yan Tuo hesitated for a moment but told her honestly: “I have a bad feeling.”
Nie Jiuluo turned to look at him: “Why?”
His eyes remained closed, so she could examine him freely: Yan Tuo’s facial features were perfect for sculpture. Not just his face—his whole frame was satisfying. Even a casual pose of his elbow or tilt of his head would make a perfect bust, and his expressions weren’t empty. A sculpture, after all, needs to speak through expression and posture…
Nie Jiuluo picked up her phone, muted it, and raised it to take a photo.
Consider it preliminary modeling for him.
Yan Tuo said: “I’ve made more progress these past few days than in all my previous years combined, much more. But I’ve also gotten too involved. These past couple of days, I’ve been running around putting out fires, and suddenly I feel this crisis—feeling that many things weren’t done perfectly, too many landmines buried around me. Sooner or later, one moment of carelessness and something will go wrong.”
Nie Jiuluo: “If you’re exposed, what do you plan to do?”
Yan Tuo smiled.
This expression was too good—Nie Jiuluo quickly snapped another photo. Yan Tuo’s face usually didn’t show much happiness, tending toward melancholy, which made his smiles particularly bright and handsome.
He said: “What else can I do? If things come to light, we’ll face it head-on.”
Just then, someone knocked on the window—it was a delivery driver judging by his uniform.
Yan Tuo lowered the window.
The delivery driver glanced inside: “Is this Miss Nie’s order?”
Nie Jiuluo reached out to take it: “Yes, mine.”
She had ordered something too—Yan Tuo was surprised: “What did you buy? Wasn’t it enough that I ordered for you?”
Nie Jiuluo wouldn’t let him see: “This is professional stuff.”
After waiting a while longer, their delivery arrived, and they started eating in the car.
Yan Tuo had never been to Luoyang and had ordered purely based on recommendations. Reality proved that dish names didn’t match his expectations. He had ordered “Premium Peony Swallow’s Nest,” but when he opened it, it was a bowl of thick radish soup with scattered vegetable leaves, the presentation already ruined by transport.
Yan Tuo asked curiously: “Where’s the peony?”
Familiar with Luoyang because of frequent visits to the Longmen Grottoes, Nie Jiuluo pointed to the flower-shaped red radish petals in the soup: “There, the peony.”
“Then these leaves…”
“They’re the green leaves beneath the peony.”
“And the swallow’s nest…”
“That’s the shredded radish. When cooked in the fresh soup, it has the texture of a bird’s nest. The takeout shook everything up, ruining the presentation—you’ll have to use your imagination.”
Well, just to eat a dish, he had to imagine the taste of a bird’s nest, imagine red radish petals were peonies, and small vegetables were peony leaves…
Yan Tuo said: “Then why don’t they call it shark fin Peking duck spicy shrimp—it’s all imagination anyway.”
Nie Jiuluo burst out laughing: “Here, have a big shrimp.”
Yan Tuo took a bite and stopped complaining because he felt that, as a Luoyang specialty, the taste was excellent and worthy of a good review.
While they were eating heartily, after a period of silence, Lv Xian’s nervous voice came through the earphones: “Miss Lin.”
Both of them stopped eating.
Had Lv Xian finished eating and met Lin Xierou?
Sure enough, they soon heard Lin Xierou’s voice: “Don’t be formal, sit down.”
A chair dragged—he had sat down. Though they couldn’t hear this side over there, Yan Tuo still instinctively lowered his breathing and checked the dedicated phone.
Thankfully, there was still a battery left.
Lin Xierou: “You’ve talked with the medical staff? How did it go?”
Lv Xian responded anxiously: “Very well, just hoping the company can allocate more funds to upgrade the medical room.”
Lin Xierou laughed: “That’s a minor matter.”
Yan Tuo listened impatiently to these pleasantries, wanting to grab Lv Xian’s ear and yell at him to get to the point.
Lv Xian cleared his throat: “Miss… Miss Lin.”
Lin Xierou: “Yes?”
Lv Xian: “About what you mentioned yesterday, about being friends with Lin Ling, after I went back, I… I thought about it carefully, and feel that people… people need to spend time together to know if they’re compatible.”
Lin Xierou said coolly: “What do you mean?”
Lv Xian awkwardly: “I mean, we could… get to know each other first.”
Lin Xierou: “Oh.”
Yan Tuo was so tense sweat almost broke out on his forehead. While monitoring could pick up sounds, it couldn’t show the speakers’ expressions. Without seeing them, it was easy to imagine all sorts of scenarios—Lin Xierou’s “Oh” was very meaningful, seemingly doubtful of Lv Xian’s words. Could it be that Lv Xian was acting too unnaturally?
She laughed: “That’s not what you said yesterday. May I understand why your attitude changed so dramatically overnight?”
Lv Xian hemmed and hawed: “Well, I talked with Yan Tuo…”
Nie Jiuluo glanced at Yan Tuo, who frowned and unconsciously sighed.
Lin Xierou: “Oh, Xiao Tuo. What did he say?”
Yan Tuo’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
“He said Lin Ling is quite nice.”
Lin Xierou laughed again: “Nice in what way?”
Nie Jiuluo lightly licked her lips—this Lin Xierou was truly difficult to deal with.
Lv Xian stumbled over his words: “Said Lin Ling is very quiet, very well-behaved, and has good character…”
“But didn’t you say yesterday that feelings are most important about intuition?”
Lv Xian was momentarily speechless.
Fortunately, someone knocked on the door.
It was Xiong Hei, whose arrival undoubtedly saved Lv Xian: “Miss… Miss Lin, I need to use the restroom.”
Footsteps receded, a door closed, and another chair dragged.
Xiong Hei: “Sister Lin, what’s he muttering about now?”
Yan Tuo’s heart stirred—had Lv Xian left his phone on the table in his panic?
Lin Xierou sneered: “Yesterday he was unwilling, today he’s willing, what about tomorrow? Another reversal?”
Xiong Hei: “Isn’t Lin Ling the same?”
Lin Xierou: “Lin Ling is different. She fears me—she wouldn’t dare say no to what I say, at most she’ll just verbally resist. Lv Xian… Lv Xian isn’t mine to raise. Have you checked downstairs?”
Xiong Hei: “Not yet, no point checking now. The root-shedding is tomorrow—whether the quality is good depends on after that. But it shouldn’t be a problem, we’ve controlled it very strictly these times. Sister Lin, isn’t it a waste to use this chance on Lv Xian? Just using the medicine would…”
He didn’t finish, perhaps because Lin Xierou glared at him.
Lin Xierou spoke with ill intent: “Then according to you, who wouldn’t be a waste to use this chance on?”
Xiong Hei: “Obviously someone useful and crucial to us, like that gun dealer from Yunnan—how much has he helped us? Lv Xian… just a medical student, using it on Jiang Baichuan would’ve been better than him…”
He stopped because Lv Xian had returned.
The atmosphere suddenly became harmonious again, Lin Xierou’s voice gentle: “Lv Xian, you can go now. Remember to book your hotel stay—we’ll return to the city tomorrow.”
…
The timing was perfect—the dedicated phone flashed a red light, warning of low battery.
Yan Tuo closed the monitoring connection, put the phone on charge, and removed his earpiece, taking Nie Jiuluo’s as well and putting them back in their case.
Nie Jiuluo asked him: “What do you think?”
It was complicated and hard to sort out. Yan Tuo packed up the meal containers: “For now, I can confirm one thing—Lv Xian isn’t yet a dependent ghost.”
Nie Jiuluo nodded: “I also feel we’re close to finding answers to the mystery that the Bandaged Army hasn’t solved in thousands of years.”
The dependent ghost phenomenon.
When Jiang Baichuan had explained it to her, he said that in the Bandaged Army’s dealings with Ground Hawks, they occasionally encountered very strange situations: formerly good brothers, relatives, or even lovers, without being injured or losing their minds, would suddenly serve the Ground Hawks, turning against and harming their own kind.
Eventually, they dealt with such people through complete physical elimination.
But how dependent ghosts suddenly emerged, why only one person would turn traitor among a group—there had never been an explanation.
Nie Jiuluo looked at Yan Tuo: “From what I heard, Lin Xierou brought Lv Xian to the farm this time to turn him into… a dependent ghost?”
Yan Tuo nodded, he had the same feeling.
Lin Xierou and Xiong Hei’s conversation contained much information.
First, turning someone into a dependent ghost wasn’t easy. Xiong Hei said “Isn’t it a waste to use this chance on Lv Xian” suggesting that even Ground Hawks treasured such opportunities.
Second, these opportunities weren’t available every day. They were waiting for tomorrow, and mentioned a key term: “root-shedding.”
Third, Lin Xierou’s group already had some dependent ghosts, “useful and crucial” ones. Though the full list was unknown, at least one was clear.
The gun dealer from Yunnan.
No wonder Xiong Hei’s group could get so many illegal firearms. If they had contact with a gun dealer who obeyed their every command, wouldn’t he risk everything to get them guns?
Dependent ghosts had to be useful and crucial, able to expand territory and protect the Ground Hawks’ existence and growth—like the Yunnan gun dealer, and Yan Huaishan.
Yan Tuo had a sudden thought: “Could it be one hawk, one ghost, and Ground Hawks can only turn people into dependent ghosts at specific times, like after ‘root-shedding’?”