Chapter 225: The More Dreadful Conjecture
On a rare sunny spring day in City C, the bright sunlight had early on made the outdoor garden extraordinarily vibrant.
Today was Saturday. If it had been in the past, it would still be a working day for Jiang Yao at the Golden River Club. However, starting yesterday, her job had moved to the Axintesi Import and Export Trading Company, and she was finally enjoying a proper weekend with two days off.
In the bedroom, Jiang Yao slowly opened her eyes. Her first reaction was to stretch out her right hand to feel beside her, but unfortunately, the messy bedding was empty.
Zhong Jing had left?
Jiang Yao quickly rolled up the blanket and sat up, confused, looking around the exquisite and bright large bedroom in the natural light. On the floor not far away lay Zhong Jing’s clothes scattered about.
It seemed he was still here, and Jiang Yao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Her gaze fell on some details at the head and foot of the bed, and she couldn’t help but grin.
Everything in front of her was chaotic, as if a husky had excitedly camped out in the bedroom all night — no, it should be two.
Thinking of the absurd experiences from last night, Jiang Yao’s face flushed slightly, and her heart involuntarily flickered with excitement. Those beautiful and wild scenes seemed to perfectly replay in her mind.
The turbulence of the past night had given Jiang Yao a whole new perspective on the lives of men and women. It was different from the previously hysterical and vented antics of young people relying on “quantity.” Instead, there was more delightful, blush-inducing, and intimate interaction.
All sorts of positions and actions had been tried; the whole process could even be described as super passionate. From the awkward and forced stiffness at the beginning to fully letting go, Jiang Yao thought this was probably the most relaxed, wild, and enjoyable experience for the two of them after tasting forbidden fruit.
Even with a thick skin, she felt her face burning at the thought.
The feeling of being lost was both wonderful and difficult to articulate, mixed with a tinge of anxiety about the future.
“Have I fallen? Why do I always want these things, and increasingly so…”
Jiang Yao bit her lip and shook her head vigorously, trying to dispel the stirrings of desire in her mind as her long, beautiful, light golden hair flew around chaotically.
“You’re up quite early! Weren’t you always fond of sleeping in? The treadmill’s speed function is acting up; I’ll have the vendor come fix it another day.”
Zhong Jing walked into the bedroom in loose shorts, his bare skin glistening with the unique rosy hue of someone who had just showered. A towel draped over his shoulder suggested he had been working out on indoor fitness equipment earlier.
“Aren’t you also strong enough to get up early? You’ve worked up quite a sweat.”
Jiang Yao lazily stretched, then pressed the button at the head of the bed, closing the bedroom curtains again to block out all sunlight.
“I have some things to take care of at the office today and can’t run back to bed!”
Seeing her stance, Zhong Jing thought she was about to make another advance, quickly stepping back and hurriedly explaining.
“Dream on, I need to get dressed.”
Jiang Yao rolled her eyes, threw off the blanket, and her almost naked beautiful figure was directly exposed to Zhong Jing’s sight. With a disdainful smile, she walked toward the wardrobe.
Zhong Jing turned his head, deeply inhaling to alleviate the inner restlessness as he focused on the enticing silhouette of her bare back.
As she opened the wardrobe, just as she was about to take out a piece of clothing, a barely perceptible wave of a familiar aura entered Jiang Yao’s senses, causing her movements to pause.
Slowly turning her head to look toward the window, a strange smile slowly appeared at the corner of Jiang Yao’s mouth.
“The curtains are well closed; hurry up and change.”
Zhong Jing was getting dressed too, but when he looked up, he found her staring off into space again.
“Jiang Yao, how about you let me help you get dressed and see your craftsmanship.”
Jiang Yao waved the lace lingerie in her hand, revealing a devilish smile.
No way, if I go over and touch her a couple more times, we might end up back in bed again. I need to restrain myself.
Zhong Jing, while tying his tie, wore a nonchalant expression, but his body remained unmoved, and his expression seemed slightly dulled. “I’ve already had breakfast. There’s milk and bread left for you in the fridge. By the way, today’s a rest day, so you can just have fun at home.”
Ignoring what Zhong Jing had actually said, Jiang Yao glanced toward the window again, her attention refocusing. A few seconds later, she felt that familiar aura drawing closer.
Unmoving, Jiang Yao began to get dressed, but a sense of indecisiveness emerged in her heart.
Zhong Jing had left, and Jiang Yao only escorted him to the front door without stepping into the outdoor garden.
Closing the door behind her, she returned to the living room side of the window and quietly opened a gap in the curtains. Watching Zhong Jing walk out of the outdoor garden, Jiang Yao couldn’t help but clench the curtain fabric, letting out a sigh.
Zhong Jing froze, his pupils constricting as he momentarily halted in his tracks.
Behind Zhong Jing was the entrance to Jiang Yao’s outdoor garden, and not far in front of him, in a corner of the community’s landscaping, Karumi Seiya was sitting on a resting bench, sideways, casting a lukewarm gaze.
“……”
Zhong Jing felt a wild beast jumping around in his head, tearing and rolling, unable to find peace.
“Weren’t you in City Z yesterday?”
After several seconds, Zhong Jing walked slowly to Karumi Seiya, lowered his head, and gazed into her eyes, which clearly showed signs of not having slept all night, with traces of bloodshot.
“Jing-kun, I’m sorry, I lied to you… Actually, the meeting with the EVN Group representatives is next Tuesday. Leaving tomorrow is still on time.”
Karumi Seiya stood up from the bench, lightly adjusted her dress, and then slightly bowed, as obedient as ever.
Zhong Jing pulled out a cigarette to light up, glanced back, and then directly brushed past Karumi Seiya, walking purposefully toward the parking lot.
Karumi Seiya looked at the outdoor garden of Jiang Yao’s home, sensing a familiar aura mixed with peculiar emotions, and could only silently follow.
“Feeling disappointed?”
After closing the car door and rolling down the window, Zhong Jing finally spoke.
“Jing-kun, is it her body that mesmerizes you? But the closer your relationship with her, the more dangerous it becomes. The Queen herself is the embodiment of the devil!”
Karumi Seiya kept her head down, her words slightly slurred.
“But you didn’t say that before. You said you didn’t mind me seeing other women, whether before or after marriage. Didn’t you anticipate this for yourself?”
Zhong Jing exhaled smoke out the window, and his expression gradually grew cold.
“I’m not like that now!”
Karumi Seiya’s voice suddenly rose, her hands tightly gripping the hem of her dress, gritting her teeth.
“The shareholding ratio of the Karumi Consortium in the new company will increase year by year. This cake is far larger now and in the future than having you marry me. The freedom you want, I will also give you.”
Zhong Jing sighed and moved his hand to the gear shift, preparing to start the car.
“I don’t want that. I only want Jing-kun’s heart!”
Karumi Seiya turned her head, tears streaming down uncontrollably.
“Following me will actually be more dangerous than gaining freedom; you should understand now what I intend to do in the future.”
Zhong Jing sighed, gently patting Karumi Seiya’s shoulder.
“And what about her? She will eventually turn into a monster!”
Karumi Seiya trembled all over, her tear-filled eyes staring straight at Zhong Jing, as if she still couldn’t understand what he was thinking.
Whether she would turn into a monster, I don’t know, and I won’t let such a thing…
Zhong Jing smiled, feeling a sense of helplessness, even a kind of resigned relief.
“Really?”
Karumi Seiya stopped crying, her face showing a confused expression.
“At least it is for now.”
Zhong Jing threw out that sentence without looking at her reaction, directly starting the car.
In a garden villa, behind curtains, Jiang Yao slowly relaxed her grip. The bright light disappeared again, and the living room was shrouded in darkness once more.
“Zhong Jing, what exactly is our relationship now…”
Touching her abdomen, Jiang Yao sat back down on the sofa with a sense of desolation, entering a state of stupor.
……
Today marked the first true rest day for Meng Huai since joining the Hyacinth, or rather, since joining the Golden River Club.
One day, Meng Huai, carrying his laptop bag, left the Golden River Club, where he was temporarily residing, under the pretext of looking for a rental.
After getting in a taxi and having the driver circle around for almost an hour, he finally arrived at a library in Art Park in District J, located in the northwest of City C, and chose the quietest corner.
Taking out a secure phone, he peeled off a small device with USB flash drive functionality from the back and connected it to his laptop.
On the computer screen was the information that Meng Huai had received from the secret operations support center of the Dark Arrow Special Operations Team, covering data from the past twenty years, the past forty years, and ultimately tracing back to the founding year, detailing the data of thousands of Dark Arrow members who had gone missing due to blood invasions.
Every night, Meng Huai had spent an hour before sleeping browsing and analyzing the data, corroborating some of the information to some extent.
Before him was an enlarged black-and-white half-length photograph of a young soldier dressed in the Type 87 army uniform, who could vaguely be recognized within the real-life context—Zheng Shaolin.
Zheng Shaolin was a typical false name; his real name was Zheng Yuanchao, born in 1965, a member of the logistics team of the 204th brigade in the southern oversight area of Dark Arrow prior to the blood invasion, and had gone missing in 1990 near the southern border.
“Zheng Shaolin really is a member of Dark Arrow, but with average qualifications; he only became a knight this year… still hard to tell, he’s already 55 years old.”
Looking at Zheng Shaolin’s data from before the blood invasion, Meng Huai’s mind floated up the image of that sturdy man, reminiscent of a fitness instructor, and a slight smile crept to his face.
Suddenly, in the directory of reduced-size documents, Meng Huai unexpectedly saw a photo of Wan Yue. Instinctively, his hand moved to click on the profile picture, hesitated for a few seconds, and then moved away, hitting the page-turn button instead.
Two hours later, Meng Huai closed the file, cradled his head in his hands, and leaned back in his chair.
From beginning to end, he had not seen Wan Yue’s data, nor even anything similar, which led him to doubt whether the data provided by the support center was complete. After all, Wan Yue, whether she admitted it herself or through Meng Huai’s observations, had proven to also be a member of Dark Arrow.
“Her data is not here, which means her identity is absolutely classified…Could she be someone who escaped from the Blood Dragon Team? But that doesn’t fit either; she hasn’t fallen into the Black Blood Clan, and the timeline doesn’t match.”
Staring at the ceiling lights in the library, Meng Huai realized that his understanding of the Hyacinth still resided within an observable yet untouchable information cocoon.
But what he could be certain of was that both the Wang family and the Hyacinth were covering up or hiding a tremendous secret, one that had a significant correlation with Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao’s identities.
Suddenly, his phone in his pocket vibrated. Taking it out just to glance at it, Meng Huai put away his laptop and quietly walked out of the library.
The artistic park in District J was a high-end urban leisure area developed in recent years to match the much higher land prices than ordinary areas surrounding it.
In the spacious park, a mix of elderly and young children roamed about. Meng Huai turned left and right, finally spotting a familiar figure outside a tea shop in the lakeside rest area.
Today, Han Jie Li was in casual sportswear, leaning on a cane, smiling at him.
After a simple nod, the two walked into the tea shop, finding seats in a secluded corner.
“Brother Meng, I heard from the support center that you’ve been reviewing the data of members who were blood invaded by Dark Arrow, starting from the founding year. What are you trying to do? I can’t quite understand.”
Holding a cup of fruit tea, Han Jie Li casually scanned the shop’s decor while softly inquiring.
“Still backtracking and sorting some leads.”
Having not eaten or drunk anything for several hours, Meng Huai took big gulps of his fruit tea, not paying attention to the implications of Han Jie Li’s words.
“Brother Meng, I don’t know if I should ask.”
After a few seconds, Han Jie Li put down his teacup and stared intently into Meng Huai’s eyes: “Where exactly are you now, at the Luo family in Province Y or at the Wang family in Province S? Have you been in City C all this time?”
Meng Huai smiled faintly, shaking his head lightly, “I can’t answer that. No need to pry too deeply; at least, I am very close to the Wang family now.”
“What exactly are you backtracking on? Brother Meng, you can fully trust me; I can provide anything within my capabilities. Third Uncle has always warned me not to interfere with the strategic tasks of the seeds, but now…”
At this point, Han Jie Li couldn’t help but let out a sigh, looking quite helpless.
Seeing the obviously weary expression on the other’s face, Meng Huai frowned slightly: “Is there some trouble in Dark Arrow now? You look like you haven’t slept all night.”
Han Jie Li lazily pulled down the zipper of his hoodie, his eyes empty: “It’s still about the traitor…early yesterday morning, Zhen Guang Quan died… The situation wasn’t fully determined yet; it’s still classified, which is why I didn’t tell you.”
Then Han Jie Li lowered his voice and recounted everything that had happened, especially regarding Zhen Guang Quan’s identification as a traitor within the Western Oversight Area from start to finish.
Meng Huai’s expression grew increasingly grim, his face even showing slight twitches, threatening to destroy the delicate contours of his handsome face, and even the teacup in his hand seemed on the verge of shattering.
The legendary former captain of the Xuan Armor Team, the chief of staff of Dark Arrow’s Western Oversight Area, had actually been a spy planted by the forces behind the scenes.
Thinking back to last year’s 907 Hospital operation, where Han Bi’s efforts had failed miserably, and the casualties in the Embroidered Uniform Team had been immense. Then recalling the many strange coincidences of the 1101 Mysterious Event, as well as this year’s308 operation when the Wang family and the Hidden Ones Alliance had been wiped out while attacking the Black Dragon Society, Meng Huai finally understood who had been playing everyone for fools all along.
“Dark Arrow is practically falling apart. With Zhen Guang Quan’s death, the plan to unearth the traitors in headquarters has turned into a pipe dream, and suspicion now points to the Blood Dragon Team’s inner circle. They’re scheming to keep us preoccupied. So, I agree with what you’re doing now, Brother Meng; even I might not be someone you can trust fully.”
Han Jie Li let out a wry smile, shaking his head with self-deprecation.
Meng Huai set down his teacup, his mood returning to normal; after several seconds, he pointed to his chest: “Han Jie Li, do you remember when we first met last year, when you were verifying that Xia Yan and Gu Yao had been blood-invaded?”
“You said Xia Yan and Gu Yao were blood-invaded by that grandmother of the meatball, and would become super monsters possessing effective multi-allelic genes.”
As Meng Huai recalled the first meeting and conversation with Han Jie Li, he pulled out a notebook from his bag, as if their identities had been reversed, now it was his turn to dig deep into every detail.
“Uh? You remember? Yes, I had just joined the Special Secret Operations Team at that time, and the data I could access was very limited, but it was enough to shock you.”
Han Jie Li chuckled to himself at the sight of the other being ready to take notes.
“You mentioned the issue of the Queen. I’ve roughly understood some information within my intel range… but regarding Xia Yan and Gu Yao, I feel there are still some blind spots in my understanding, or rather, only now am I able to realize all the ambiguity from before.”
Meng Huai nodded his pen tip, his expression unusually serious: “Last time I asked you, what is the connection between Xia Yan and Gu Yao’s blood invasion by the grandmother and the Queen she sows? Will they both be multi-allelic capability monsters?”
Furthermore, besides Xia Yan and Gu Yao, since the founding of the country, have there been any incidents of Dark Arrow members being blood-invaded by the grandmother escaping? If so, are those all classified intelligence?
Hearing this, Han Jie Li’s pupils constricted, his whole body tensed, and after a long time, he didn’t speak, just fixed his gaze intensely on Meng Huai.
Brother Meng, have you discovered new victims of the grandmother’s blood invasion…
Han Jie Li stood up to glance around, very alert, confirming that no one would eavesdrop before sitting back down.
“I’m just suspecting that Xia Yan and Gu Yao may not be the first victims of the grandmother’s blood invasion.”
Meng Huai mumbled ambiguously, his gaze fixed on the teacup as his brow knitted tighter.
Brother Meng! What exactly did you discover!
Han Jie Li couldn’t help but lean forward, grabbing Meng Huai’s arm with urgency.
“Don’t ask. It’s just my own speculation. There are too many secrets in the world of blood clans, far more than we previously imagined, and it’s even more complex…”
In his mind, the beautiful face of Jiang Yan, with her charming smile, appeared, and Meng Huai directly closed his eyes, afraid to think further.
“Impossible… The ancestor plan keeps the highest-level data of the Queen confidential, apart from that I know everything else; there have been no records of common people being blood-invaded by the grandmother in the past few decades… unless it happened eighty years ago, but those things probably only the Wang family would know.”
Han Jie Li murmured, not fully believing what Meng Huai had just said, but he had a feeling that Meng Huai must have discovered figures in the Wang family comparable to Xia Yan and Gu Yao.
This means that it’s still necessary to collect intelligence from the Wang family…
Meng Huai nodded, agreeing with Han Jie Li’s viewpoint.
However, if there are more people in this world than just Xia Yan and Gu Yao who have been blood-invaded by the grandmother, it could be the most unimaginable and terrifying secret.
By the way, there’s something else I need to entrust you with. The Blood Dragon Team will soon mobilize elite forces to the south for a large-scale operation. If you have any intelligence related to the Liang family in the south, let me know promptly!
Meng Huai wanted intelligence that Han Jie Li couldn’t provide, but that didn’t stop Han Jie Li from making a request for intelligence support for Meng Huai. He then recounted recent operations that Han Wei had been carrying out in the southern oversight area.
Liang family… I’ll try my best.
The inadvertent brainstorming session between Meng Huai and Han Jie Li left Meng Huai’s mind in disarray, and he had no intention of continuing their chat. Having skipped lunch, the two parted ways in a hurry.
Phew… I must have a good chat with the Wang family next week… Brother Meng said something a bit alarming today. If Xia Yan and Gu Yao were not the first victims of the grandmother’s blood invasion, then things are even more complicated.
He must have discovered something yet didn’t tell me.
Watching Meng Huai’s departing figure, Han Jie Li sighed deeply, more determined in his internal plans.
