Chapter 68: Fast Car

The traffic on the bridge wasn’t heavy, but it wasn’t light either. Because of the drizzle, everyone was driving relatively slowly, keeping a sensible distance from each other. The endless threads of rain fell into the countless beams of the headlights, momentarily utterly exposed, before being smashed to pieces, leaving only tiny splashing droplets in their wake.

“Time isn’t exactly ample,” Tian Xi glanced at Qi Xin in the passenger seat. The girl was sitting very upright, hands on her knees, which combined with her fully geared-up appearance made her look somewhat incongruous. “Speaking of which, do you get carsick?”

“No,” Qi Xin said, frowning slightly, unsure what Tian Xi meant by that question.

“Good. I’m going to speed up next,” Tian Xi chuckled softly.

Qi Xin quickly understood why Tian Xi had asked if she got carsick. The acceleration was brutal. Tian Xi steered with her left hand, took out a pair of sunglasses from the center console with her right and put them on, and floored the gas pedal. The entire sedan roared, slicing through the traffic flow like a sharp knife as it barged into the emergency lane, forcing several other vehicles to brake sharply. Qi Xin didn’t know cars, but she could understand the massive force pinning her firmly against the seatback—the so-called push-back sensation. Her right hand was tightly gripping the grab handle above the door; only that gave her a sliver of security.

This was no ordinary sedan, Qi Xin suddenly realized. A normal car could never achieve that kind of acceleration from a standstill. This was a steel beast disguised as a normal sedan! She looked back: the cars she’d overtaken were all rolling down their windows after their emergency stops. Judging by their lip movements, they were cursing profusely, probably expressing concern over the progress of their reincarnation.

The tassel hanging from the rearview mirror swirled gracefully. The woman handled the steering wheel with practiced ease. The sedan was like a swordfish weaving and darting through a massive school of fish. Many times, Qi Xin thought they were about to crash in the next second, yet Tian Xi always found that narrow gap just big enough to slip through—no, “slide through” might be more accurate.

She looked at Tian Xi. The woman was smiling, almost coquettishly. The shadow of her thick sunglasses fell on her fair, jade-like cheeks. Narrow streaks of light, pulled by the speed, flickered and rushed past beneath her eyes. The speed was already near one hundred fifty, and the number was still climbing, but Tian Xi showed no sign of slowing. She even had the leisure to casually tap the stereo on after a gear shift. A slow, rhythmically steady song began to play. It was an English song Qi Xin hadn’t heard before. A gentle female voice echoed in the car. Outside, car after car was overtaken and thrown behind them, their headlights dragging into twisted ribbons of light.

She even hummed along to the tune for a line. Qi Xin understood that lyric: “Leave here, without a sound, we can’t see the stars, but it’s a beautiful night.”

Did Tian Xi want freedom? Did doing this give her a feeling of freedom? In that case, no thanks. Qi Xin struggled with all her might to maintain rational thought. That kind of freedom would be better off dead.

“This car’s top speed is two hundred forty,” she heard Tian Xi’s amused voice say. “Although it’s not a fancy car, it’s not bad either. Want to see it?”

“Slow down,” she murmured.

“Say something nice? Like, call me ‘Sister’?”

“Sister Tian Xi, please,” Qi Xin didn’t hesitate for a second, “slow down.”

“Ugh,” the woman’s voice sounded regretful. “It’s no fun if you just comply immediately.”

Qi Xin’s body was tense. She had no intention of acting tough. Her mind was somewhat blank. She didn’t understand how Tian Xi could joke and steer to overtake cars at this speed simultaneously. She finally, with absolute clarity, understood one thing: no matter how gentle and smooth Tian Xi seemed normally, she was still a Lake Cutter.

Li Yuan’s words were spot on. This woman had zero sense of social responsibility. Even if the cars she overtook ended up in a pile-up because of emergency braking, it would probably only make her laugh even more radiantly, maybe even pop open a bottle of champagne. Yu Mi was right, too. For a lunatic like her, you should put a bomb in her brain and squeeze out every last drop of value from her. Only that would be an act of social responsibility.

Fortunately, Tian Xi didn’t go back on her word. Before leaving the bridge, her speed gradually decreased. Though it still wasn’t exactly slow, Qi Xin could finally let go of the grab handle. Her expression was calm, but her face was still somewhat pale.

The song suddenly cut off. A phone call was coming in. Qi Xin looked at the car screen. The contact read Li Yuan. Tian Xi answered the call. Li Yuan’s voice rang out directly: “How much longer until you arrive?”

“Looks like about ten minutes,” Tian Xi laughed. “Took a bit of time getting Qi Xin changed.”

“Ten minutes?” Li Yuan sounded slightly stunned, as if she hadn’t expected them to arrive so soon. After a moment, she said, “Okay.”

“But there is one thing I need to mention,” Tian Xi laughed. “Because we were in a hurry, we might have been speeding.”

Li Yuan sighed. “Just speeding? That’s nothing. Just tell Fang Qi. Oh, right—how much over the limit?”

“About three times? Probably not that fast. Two times, close to three times.” Tian Xi mused thoughtfully.

“You said…”

Li Yuan’s voice stopped abruptly. Tian Xi had hung up first.

“That… woman.” In the back seat of the car, Li Yuan held up her phone, unable to bring herself to smash it for quite some time. She could only grind her teeth and take a deep breath, pressing a hand to her forehead. “I never should’ve let her bring Qi Xin.”

“You know she’s doing it on purpose to annoy you, right?” Fang Qi said, somewhat helplessly. “No point in paying her any mind.”

Li Yuan opened her mouth, but in the end, she just fell sullenly silent.

Fang Qi glanced at her, clearly still fuming, and said, “Right, one thing I need to remind you: this mission might be a bit complicated. Try your best to see if you can capture some alive.”

“Complicated?” Li Yuan composed herself and asked, “Anyone else I should be paying attention to?”

“Many. The Su Family building has indeed become the first place worth investigating.” Fang Qi nodded. “Remember those Disease Supremacists? Someone reported that the arson might be connected to them, and they’ve been sighted here in the Old City District. If I had to guess, their organization is probably hiding out here in the Old City. Additionally, there’s one other thing you need to be careful about… and this, you’d better not tell Qi Xin.”

“Is it about Qi Ran?” Li Yuan guessed easily.

Fang Qi nodded. “Yes. Li Siwen filed the report. He says Qi Ran and that girl from the Jiang Family are also in that building. Try your best to prevent any interaction between Qi Xin and Qi Ran.”

“That won’t require my intervention,” Li Yuan shook her head. “Though they’re sisters, their relationship is no different from strangers.”

“That’s not what matters. What matters is how others perceive it,” Fang Qi rejected her statement. “Remember what I told you? Qi Ran and Qi Xin are symbols now. They represent the secret of the Tao Family Ancient Mansion, held separately by Qi Jianguo and Li Wanying. No one will believe that the two sisters truly know nothing. Therefore, one of them must belong to the Executors, and the other to The Circle. And there cannot be any contact between them.”

Li Yuan sighed. “The Executors going back on their word, colluding with Li Siwen—this fact will be exposed?”

“Yes. This fact must be a rumor,” Fang Qi nodded. “Understood?”

“Sounds rather twisted, this narrative.” Li Yuan nodded. Suddenly, someone knocked on the car window. She turned her head and saw Qi Xin standing outside. After getting out of the car, she opened the trunk and pulled out a black briefcase.

“Where’s Tian Xi?”

“After she spotted your car, she dropped me off by the roadside and told me to walk over,” Qi Xin said calmly. “She said she turned her phone off, so you don’t need to call her again.”

“I wasn’t even going to call her. Presumptuous.” Li Yuan was so annoyed her teeth itched, but her voice softened involuntarily when she saw Qi Xin. “Why are you wearing so many layers?”

Qi Xin raised her hands and said, “Tian Xi said you’d be evaluating my practical skills, so I needed to be fully prepared.”

“Aren’t you hot?” Li Yuan sighed, walked up to the quietly standing girl, and started unbuckling the bulletproof vest on Qi Xin. “Don’t listen to that woman in the future. She’s just messing with you. Your back is soaked with sweat. If the wind hits you later, you’ll catch a cold.”

Qi Xin stood quietly, letting Li Yuan remove the gear from her body. Li Yuan took out a pack of tissues, reached her hand into the back collar of Qi Xin’s shirt, and wiped the sweat from her back. Then she tidied Qi Xin’s clothes and smiled. “That looks much better now. Don’t worry. I’ll protect you on this mission. Actually, I’m quite strong. Right, Fang Qi?”

Fang Qi sighed and said, “In Team Two, there really is no one who can beat your Sister Li Yuan. She is indeed quite strong.”