Chapter 28: Jade Pendant

Xu Xianyue?

The moment Ye Jingqiu heard that name, she dashed forward several steps and leaned in close to Xie Pingzhi, craning her neck. “Where? Where is she?”

Xie Pingzhi gestured vaguely toward the distant, teeming crowd. “Over there. I just caught a glimpse of a silhouette that looked just like her, but she’s probably long gone by now.”

“No way. Teacher Xu told me a couple days ago she was doing some tutoring. Why would she come here?”

Ye Jingqiu scanned around, on the verge of bolting off to search, but she remembered the reason for her trip to Mist Spirit Mountain and stopped herself short.

Xie Pingzhi patted her shoulder. “Just ask her yourself later. Maybe I got it wrong.”

After all, she’d only glimpsed Xu Xianyue a few times while keeping tabs on Ye Jingqiu, and her memory wasn’t the sharpest. It wasn’t impossible she’d misremembered.

Ye Jingqiu nodded to herself. If Teacher Xu had really come to Beijing, why wouldn’t she have said anything? They’d just been chatting about post-semester plans a few days ago, and everything had seemed perfectly normal.

Shi Zui, who had been quietly observing the pair, started forward—only to feel her left wrist buzz a few times. Glancing down, she saw the long-dormant He Ju status had changed.

The lame exotic beast was on the move again. Its pace was slow, but its direction was clearly northeast. With Mist Spirit Mountain as a spur of the Yan Mountains, its bid to flee into the deep wilds was obvious.

“Let’s move,” Shi Zui said, saving the forward route marked by Aether. She glanced at the other three. “The He Ju’s trying to escape.”

New developments in the mission spurred them into action without delay. The four set off at once, carving a path utterly unlike the tourists’ route.

Ye Jingqiu’s figure faded gradually into the mountain woods.

And right then, not far from where she had paused to stare, Xu Xianyue calmly looked away.

Her right hand brushed the impossibly thin mystery item in her pocket. She tugged her duckbill cap lower, then melted back into the downhill crowd, never glancing back.

~~~

Mist Spirit Mountain towered high, its underlying strata impermeable to water, ensuring near-constant flows. Such geology birthed vast networks of caves and subterranean rivers—like Xinglong Cave to the southeast, sprawling over five thousand square meters.

So Xiao Qiu, who had properly studied geography, wasn’t shocked that the He Ju had holed up in one.

This particular cave midway up the slope, though, seemed excessively deep.

Concealed amid thick foliage, the cavern mouth was nearly impossible to spot. The forest floor squelched with damp mud, its rocks blanketed in moss that had erased their natural hues.

Even Aether’s diligent guidance lacked pinpoint precision. Without Shi Zui’s quick eye for the entrance, they might have wandered these woods for circles more.

“The He Ju hasn’t emerged yet—give it about ten more minutes,” Zhou Xianhui said, checking the topo map. The knuckle of her bent left hand rapped her waist sheath, vigilance sharpening.

Xie Pingzhi lounged against a nearby trunk, feeding gold bullets into her silenced gun. “Suits me fine. We’ll let it waltz right to us. What’s that saying—guarding the… the rabbit…?”

“Waiting at the stump for the hare,” Ye Jingqiu supplied helpfully. “But it’s moving awfully slow. And what if the cave has another exit?”

“True. Out here, the branches limit our room anyway. Better to hunt it down.”

Shi Zui nodded, leading the way. She sliced obstructing limbs, softened her steps, and advanced with care.

Ye Jingqiu stuck close behind.

The cave yawned empty—no stones, no trees—and widened steadily inward, ceiling soaring perhaps five or six meters. Prime real estate for a loft conversion with mountain views.

Aether had verified breathable air, toxin-free. Still, bereft of sunlight, they needed searchlights to dimly pick out the path.

Prolonged quiet turned breaths thunderous in the vaulted confines.

Xie Pingzhi eyed the polished walls: water-worn, yes, but also scarred by shifted boulders—wind’s doing, no doubt.

The beastly reek hung faint, but all signs pointed here as the He Jus’ den. These dormant exotic beasts lurked truly remote.

Shi Zui and her team had braved death’s door countless times; a dim cavern posed no terror. Absent the Candle Dragon’s stirrings, He Ju pursuit wouldn’t have reached them.

Ye Jingqiu, though—this was likely her first.

Shi Zui half-turned, peering back to gauge Xiao Qiu’s comfort—

And found her aping their poise flawlessly, utterly unafraid. Her roving gaze even sparked with thrill.

“Captain?” Ye Jingqiu clocked the slowdown, mistook it for trouble ahead, and hissed on her breath. “Exotic beast?”

…She’s holding up splendidly.

Captain Shi reflected, concern dismissed.

She shook her head and pressed on.

Several hundred meters farther, the stench thickened. A whisper of draft stirred from the depths.

Distant came low, ragged beast-breaths.

The C-rank He Ju.

Its pack annihilated, might it bear Candle Dragon scale traces? Had the He Ju commander passed some uncanny word before the end?

Lights snuffed; darkness absolute. Shi Zui halted, signaled. Xie Pingzhi and Zhou Xianhui hugged opposite walls, sealing escape.

Ye Jingqiu eyed her dismal Rampage Value. Talk about Instinct playing it safe.

Lion versus hare: full exertion regardless. Shi Zui spared no prep, threat or no.

The He Ju’s rasps swelled; Ye Jingqiu caught claws whispering over stone.

Closer and closer they drew, until the distance between them had shrunk to a perilously intimate range. The He Ju Beast’s sense of smell was keenly attuned; one more step forward, and it would catch the unmistakable scent of living humans.

Almost there.

One of its beastly claws reached out, resting on the rocky crevice. The He Ju Beast detected something faintly unusual in the air, causing its advance to falter ever so slightly.

Seizing the moment, the searchlights blazed to life in unison. Shi Zui sprang upward in a fluid leap, her dual-blade tactical knife tracing a gleaming silver arc through the air.

The cave floor erupted in brightness. In that split second, Shi Zui spotted a thin shard clamped in the He Ju Beast’s right claw.

Caught off guard, the beast unleashed a furious roar. Undaunted, Shi Zui evaded its slashing talons. Just as she reached out to snatch the unidentified object—

A figure streaked toward her at blinding speed. She ducked low with acrobatic grace and, in the blink of an eye, was poised to claim the prize first.

There was someone else in the cave!

Shi Zui let out a cold laugh, casting aside all restraint. She drove her right-hand dual-blade tactical knife deep into the exotic beast’s shoulder, using the momentum to launch herself airborne once more. Her waist muscles coiled and released like a spring, sending her pure black boot lancing straight toward the intruder’s outstretched palm.

Then, spotting her opening, she flicked the dual-blade knife toward the gap in the He Ju Beast’s claws. Her Wind Instinct kicked in, boosting her speed to another level. Right in front of the other woman’s eyes, Shi Zui snatched the thin shard and flung it backward.

A pained groan echoed through the cavern, the beast’s roar amplified by the enclosed space into a shrill, deafening screech. Enraged and mindless, the He Ju Beast lashed out wildly with a barrage of wind blades—an indiscriminate storm of attacks.

Her objective secured, Shi Zui had no intention of retreating. For someone to appear here in Mist Spirit Mountain at this precise moment, bold enough to intercept her snatch… the intruder’s identity was glaringly obvious.

Autumn’s chief instructor, Olivia Stapleton.

Missing her chance at the prize, Olivia clicked her tongue in regret. As she prepared to withdraw, she thrust her knife toward the He Ju Beast, clearly aiming to slow Shi Zui’s pursuit.

The provocation sent the He Ju Beast into a frenzy. The number of wind blades in the air doubled in an instant. Shi Zui rarely resorted to her Instinct unless absolutely necessary, so she relied purely on her own reflexes to weave through the onslaught of lethal gales bearing down on her.

Yet the searchlights illuminated only a finite space. Shi Zui’s movements grew constrained, and one wind blade sliced across her path, grazing the front of her neck by the narrowest margin.

Her combat suit offered no defense against elemental forces. The gale tore open her collar in a flash, and a softly glowing Azure Jade Pendant slipped free.

Olivia’s eyes locked onto the pendant just as she turned to leave. Her expression shifted in an instant. The next second, wind elements surged around her, and without a moment’s hesitation, she expended her entire Rampage Value.

Instinct: Wind Slash—activated.

A ferocious gale whipped up without warning, severing the red cord with thunderous speed and spiriting away the pendant from Shi Zui’s chest in a fraction of a second!

It all unfolded in the span of a heartbeat. Shi Zui landed lightly on her feet as Xie Pingzhi dispatched the He Ju Beast. Ye Jingqiu caught the flung thin shard.

The crisis seemed perfectly resolved—except for the pendant now in Olivia’s possession.

Shi Zui’s face was ashen, her emotions typically locked away behind an iron facade now manifesting as palpable fury. Pure Black Flame materialized from thin air, an invisible pressure blanketing the entire cavern.

“Send it back,” Shi Zui said in a low voice, enunciating each word like a final ultimatum. “Olivia, this is no joke.”

Ye Jingqiu looked up. Not far away stood a tall woman with pale skin, her pure brown hair tied back in a high ponytail that revealed a pair of cool, calculating eyes. She looked… oddly familiar?

Xie Pingzhi sucked in a sharp breath beside her and leaned in to whisper, “That’s our base’s longtime rival. We don’t exactly get along under normal circumstances, but today she’s gone straight for outright theft.”

“What’s with that jade pendant?” Ye Jingqiu asked, puzzled.

“It’s the captain’s most prized possession—she never takes it off. In five years, I’ve only seen it twice. Imagine how much she treasures it.”

Olivia’s demeanor sobered at the words. Her gaze flicked over the impassive Ye Jingqiu before she pinched the Pixiu Jade Pendant between her fingers and gave it a little shake. Her Chinese came out haltingly:

“I won’t destroy it, but I have a question, Shi. Where did you get this thing?”

The Pure Black Flame crept forward once more, a clear sign that its master’s patience was at an end.

Shi Zui ignored her, her tone icy as frost: “Last chance. Send it back.”

Olivia’s eyes flickered. The others were still outside and couldn’t arrive in time; Autumn and the base couldn’t afford an all-out rupture just yet. But she had no intention of handing it over immediately.

Boss Ye’s matching half-jade pendant was always with her, nearly identical to this one. What’s more, Xiao Qiu had often jetted off to auctions to snap up similar jade pieces, shelling out absurd sums without batting an eye—and she always reminded them to keep an eye out for jade pendants during missions.

Could Xiao Qiu’s return to China a few years back have been for this very item around Shi Zui’s neck?

With that thought solidifying, Olivia flashed a grin and leaned casually against the rock wall. “Come on, Captain Shi, no need to be so grave. How about a little wager instead?”

She pointed at Ye Jingqiu. “That’s your team’s newbie, right? No Instincts from either of us—let her chase me down.”

“If she catches me, I’ll give it back.”