Chapter 130: Cradle

Screeeeech—

The sound of tires skidding across the pavement was sharp and jarring.

Wuyong’s car was a tiny electric vehicle, so compact it was almost comical.

She often joked it was her senior brother’s “grandpa cruiser.”

Its ability to withstand impact was practically zero.

Forced to a sudden stop, the three people inside were thrown forward by inertia.

When they lifted their heads again, the road ahead and behind was completely empty. To the naked eye, there was nothing blocking their path.

But when the engine started, the resistance from the tires told a different story—something was definitely wrong.

Shi Jiang flipped open her briefcase—one issued by The Bureau specifically for Qin Qing. Papers and miscellaneous items spilled onto the floor. With a few swift motions, she transformed the case into something that resembled a tactical vest.

“Put this on.”

Qin Qing didn’t waste time. She slipped it over her head while Shi Jiang helped fasten the side buckles.

She took a moment to glance at Wuyong in the front seat.

Wuyong held a yellow talisman between her index and middle fingers. “I’m not completely defenseless.”

Shi Jiang pulled out a roll of black elastic bandage and quickly wrapped it around her palms and wrists. The band came with built-in Velcro, enough to keep it secure.

A dagger was placed within easy reach.

Gun in hand, Shi Jiang flipped off the safety and forced a smile. “I don’t think backup’s going to make it. We’ll have to save ourselves.”

Outside the car, everything was still.

The incident that had just forced them to stop now felt like a dream.

Qin Qing checked the System Panel. No danger alerts. No people within several hundred meters of the vehicle.

Wuyong swallowed hard. “It’s dead quiet. What do we do?”

Shi Jiang replied, “We can’t stay in the car. We’ll be sitting ducks.”

“Isn’t it the same if we go out? If there’s a sniper, we won’t even see who’s attacking us.”

Qin Qing sided with Shi Jiang. “We can’t just wait here to die. We need to get out.” She looked at her two friends and said seriously, “I can make us invisible.”

But it would cost a bit of merit.

She made a wish to the System Panel and exchanged for the needed merit.

Moments later, their reflections in the rearview mirror began to fade.

Once invisible, even their voices couldn’t be heard, though they could still feel each other.

Soon, their hands found each other and linked together.

Shi Jiang opened the rear door and used her foot to kick out several items from the car in different directions—throw pillows, a tissue box, a blanket, a small trash bin…

None of it triggered any response from outside.

Shi Jiang scratched the palm of Qin Qing’s hand as a signal. Qin Qing did the same to Wuyong.

As they had agreed beforehand, the three of them waited a moment, then exited the car hand in hand.

They headed toward the nearest building with lights on.

No one tried to stop them.

But after they had walked about a hundred meters, the little “grandpa cruiser” exploded behind them in a thunderous blast, flames shooting skyward.

The thick, billowing smoke made their hearts pound with lingering fear.

If they had stayed put, they’d likely be three unrecognizable corpses by now.

Feeling Shi Jiang tug hard on her hand, Qin Qing pulled Wuyong forward with equal force.

They started running, but no matter how far they ran, the building with the lights never seemed to get any closer. Changing direction didn’t help either.

Their running felt more like they were stuck in place, treading air.

Shi Jiang slowed down and came to a stop.

This was no longer just a trap—it was a game. They were being toyed with, like cats playing with mice.

It was infuriating.

Shi Jiang’s grip on Qin Qing’s hand tightened, a clear sign she was just as angry.

Qin Qing tried to make another wish through the System Panel. They needed a way out of this ghost-wall-like space.

【Detected: Cradle Holder is currently in a special state. Dual states cannot be stacked. Please deactivate current state before attempting another exchange.】

!!!

Suddenly, the hand holding Wuyong’s began to shake violently up and down.

She could faintly hear Wuyong’s voice.

“Our invisibility is fading!”

Qin Qing looked at her two friends. Their outlines were gradually becoming more solid, and their voices clearer.

Shi Jiang said in a low voice, “Look ahead.”

Qin Qing lifted her head. As their invisibility faded, she saw another group of figures slowly emerging in the distance, their silhouettes becoming distinct.

As soon as the figures solidified, the System Panel finally piped up, far too late.

【Warning! Warning! You have entered a high-risk area. Evacuate immediately!】

【Warning! Warning! You have entered a high-risk area. Evacuate immediately!】

Qin Qing: “…”

For the first time, she truly felt the System Panel was a useless little piece of junk.

And right now, leaving wasn’t as simple as just wanting to.

Compared to the three of them, the other side had overwhelming numbers.

Every one of them was armed.

They were all men, led by two figures, the rest clearly hired muscle.

And among the two leaders, Qin Qing recognized one of them.

Hong Du—the mastermind who had escaped during the Taiyi Ziwei Sect pursuit case.

The other wore a hood and a mask, his face completely obscured.

The System Panel identified him: Yan Hua.

Yan Hua’s voice had been altered, mechanical and emotionless.

“Heh, the files didn’t mention you could do that.” He was speaking to Qin Qing.

“To draw you out, I had to reveal myself too. Not exactly a comforting move.” He sighed to himself, the mechanical tone making it sound eerie and unnatural. The words slithered through the air like a snake’s tongue, cold and sticky. “Such a beauty, and so dangerous. How about…”

Yan Hua paused for a moment, his gaze slowly sliding over Qin Qing like a lick of flame. Then he said, “Surrender, and I’ll spare your life. We can work together. I’ve never seen a tool as unique as yours. You’ve seen my strength too. You and I, we’d be a perfect match—power joining power.”

Hong Du, standing nearby, grew anxious. “Brother…”

Yan Hua raised a hand to silence him, eyes still fixed on Qin Qing. “Think about it. You won’t get a better offer.”

Qin Qing found his words nauseatingly slick, the kind that screamed narcissistic showman.

She forced down her disgust and played along. “If we’re going to work together, what’s in it for me? Shouldn’t you at least show me your real face as a sign of good faith?”

At the same time, her hands moved quickly, equipping herself and her two companions with shields exchanged from the System Panel. Each one could withstand three close-range shots from an M16.

Yan Hua possessed a tool called the Two Forms Meter.

This tool had two extreme functions: Reveal and Conceal.

Once activated, even the System Panel couldn’t override it.

That was how he’d managed to spirit Hong Du away without a trace, leaving the System Panel unable to track them. Even when they approached, the System Panel gave no warning—they were completely undetectable.

But the Two Forms Meter couldn’t operate in both modes at once. To force Qin Qing into revealing herself, Yan Hua had been compelled to switch it from “Conceal” to “Reveal.” Now that she was visible, they could no longer hide either, and the Ghost Wall scenario couldn’t be maintained.

If she could just stall a little longer, backup would arrive.

Yan Hua chuckled. “Beauty, now that’s just insincere. The city’s crawling with surveillance cameras. Are you trying to get me killed?”

“Oh, come on. With all your skills, Mr. Yan, how could you be afraid of a few little cameras?”

“You…”

Just then, both Shi Jiang and Qin Qing’s phones started ringing.

No time to answer.

“Enough stalling,” Yan Hua said, his voice cold and sinister. “If you won’t cooperate, then I’ll send you to meet the Great Deity. I won’t even feel bad about it.” He smiled darkly. “I’m quite curious to see what kind of item you’ll drop.”

He waved a hand toward the people behind him. “Do it!”

Shi Jiang didn’t wait for them to move. She struck first.

“I’ll hold them off! You two, run!”

Yan Hua’s voice was icy. “Don’t waste your strength. No one’s getting out of here.”

Shi Jiang didn’t draw her gun. She lunged at the nearest enemy like a panther, swift and deadly. The man didn’t react in time, and she locked him down, turning his weapon on his allies. Three black-clad figures dropped in an instant.

As the bullets ran dry, Shi Jiang spun and drove her elbow into the man’s temple, dazing him. Before he could recover, she drew a knife and drove it cleanly into his heart.

He didn’t even have time to scream. His eyes widened in shock, and as Shi Jiang yanked the blade free, he collapsed, blood bubbling from the gash in his chest.

The group of heavily armed black-clad men hadn’t expected Shi Jiang to be so fierce.

Their bullets bounced off her, repelled by the shield. In that moment, she was nearly invincible.

Panicked, they scrambled for cover.

What they didn’t know was that Qin Qing was layering shield after shield onto Shi Jiang, burning through her hard-earned Merit Value at a terrifying rate. At this pace, she’d run out soon.

The stench of blood in the air made Wuyong gag.

Qin Qing fared slightly better, but the brief exchange of Merit had left her nerves screaming like they were being stabbed with needles.

The black-clad men, after a moment of confusion, realized that while Shi Jiang’s shield could block bullets, it couldn’t stop hand-to-hand combat. They abandoned their guns and coordinated their assault. One of them circled around behind her while the others engaged from the front, then lunged in with a chokehold.

Surrounded and overwhelmed, Shi Jiang began to falter.

Not far away, Wuyong stood pale-faced, clutching a stack of yellow talismans and chanting under her breath.

In the next instant, the talismans flew from her hands, streaking toward the melee.

Her eyes were sharp, her voice cold and clear.

“Bind!”

“Entangle!”

“Break!”

The talismans exploded midair, wrapping around the black-clad men grappling with Shi Jiang. Cries of pain erupted as they were bound and thrown off balance.

Shi Jiang seized the opening and struck back.

Qin Qing was just about to praise Wuyong for the move—it had looked incredibly cool—when she saw Wuyong cough up a mouthful of blood and collapse to one knee, her body sagging.

Qin Qing grabbed a fallen gun, recalling the key points from her shooting lessons. She raised it with both hands, took aim, and pulled the trigger.

The first shot hit flesh with a sickening thud. Her fingers moved on instinct, squeezing off more rounds.

Not every bullet found its mark, but it was enough to disrupt the enemies swarming Shi Jiang.

Finally, Shi Jiang broke through the encirclement and pulled back.

“Go, now!”

Her Merit Value was gone. Her head throbbed so fiercely she could barely see.

“You useless trash!” Yan Hua, who had been watching with arms crossed, cursed.

He pulled something from his coat—a baton-like object.

With a flick of his wrist, it extended into a five-foot-long staff, its tip gleaming with a cold, deadly blade.

Yan Hua gripped the weapon and advanced with the remaining black-clad men, closing in on Qin Qing and the others.

Wuyong had passed out, blood on her lips.

Qin Qing’s head pounded so badly she wished she could just faint. Even holding the gun felt like lifting a boulder. Worse, it was out of bullets.

When she reached Shi Jiang, she saw the blood smeared all over her. It wasn’t clear when one of the shields had failed, but Shi Jiang hadn’t had time to replace it.

Qin Qing had no Merit left to shield all three of them again.

As Yan Hua and his men closed in, she did the only thing she could—cast a shield over herself and stepped in front of Wuyong and Shi Jiang.

Yan Hua’s weapon was unnaturally sharp. With every swing, another layer of Qin Qing’s shield shattered.

One layer… two layers… three layers…

She was desperately trying to think of a way out.

Teleport somewhere else?

No, that would violate the Law of Space.

Attack the assailant?

No, that would violate the Law of Life.

Slow down the attacker’s movements?

No, that would violate the Law of Free Will.

…

Every method she could think of—each one effective in theory—was blocked by the System Panel, unavailable for exchange.

And because she had probed too many of the fundamental laws in such a short time, the backlash piled on. Her injuries worsened, and even her consciousness began to blur.

Qin Qing could already hear the sound of helicopters, the wail of police sirens, voices shouting through loudspeakers…

Rescue was almost here!

It had only been a few minutes since the explosion of the old minicar, yet their side’s combat strength had already been nearly wiped out. Who could have predicted such a rapid collapse?

Yan Hua, however, paid no attention to the approaching threat.

Hong Du tugged at him. “Bro, we have to go now! We won’t make it in time!”

“Just a little longer. There won’t be a better chance to kill her than this. She’s about to break. I’m getting that rare item off her today, no matter what!”

Qin Qing listened as her shield shattered layer by layer.

Rescue was so close.

But the System Panel was flashing non-stop.

In an instant, dozens of alerts flooded the screen—

【Merit Value depleted. Unable to exchange for shield!】

【Warning! Warning! Extreme danger detected. Evacuate immediately!】

【Cradle Holder’s mental energy overdrawn. Cease usage immediately!】

【Cradle under attack!】

【Cradle under heavy attack!】

【Cradle nearing collapse!】

【Cradle has notified Guardian Elder.】

【Cradle Holder in critical condition. Cradle preparing to initiate core emergency protocol.】

【Cradle will forcibly enter Completion State. All stored energy accumulating…】

【Countdown: 3… 2… 1… Executing!】

【Cradle No. 17905 says goodbye!】

【Good morning, good afternoon, good night, my dear. May you be safe every day.】

A burst of milky white light flared.

Qin Qing lost consciousness completely.