AZI Volume 2 Chapter 7

"Yes."

Giving this reply to Zhou Chen, a woman dressed in a white qipao, hangs up her phone.

Decorating her attire are black crane patterns and appearance wise, her face resembles Nian Yao Yao. But compared to the latter, she possesses pale blue hair with her horns being white instead of gold.

Should the two stand side by side together, one would easily think of them to be twin sisters of the same age, but in actuality, they are mother and daughter.

"Failed?"

Asking Nian Tao Tao this question, is another woman with long golden hair and an elegant set of green eyes. Protruding out of this woman's mouth was a lollipop.

Compared to Nian Tao Tao, this woman's attire is much more modern in styling, being a white dress shirt with a pair of black mini pants. Layered over her basic attire is a white lab coat.

Much like Nian Tao Tao, this woman's face also resembles another person, and that person would be Jing Yao—for she is none other than the latter's older sister, Jing Yin.

"Not entirely unexpected."

Setting her phone aside, Nian Tao Tao raises a light sigh, as she rubs the ring on her right hand. This silver ring is decorated with a green gemstone.

Currently, the two are sitting within the tanned leather interior of a luxury car face to face.

"The elixir isn't a priority item to me right now. That prank I pulled—let me know what its key ingredient is, I can make my own after some trial and error. What's truly important right now is that map."

Replying to Nian Tao Tao's remark, Jing Yin says—

"I still find it hard to believe that she had succeeded where we failed."

"I wouldn't say that we failed but… Ai."

"The village chief said that if we can acquire a map to their place, then further negotiations are possible. I still recall how difficult it was to even find someone who was in possession of a map, let alone someone who was willing to forgo it."

"Indeed."

As far as Nian Tao Tao is aware of—NPI's information gathering abilities are not anything impressive.

However, they were good enough to make sure that they didn't sell their precious elixirs to anyone that associates themselves with the Long Yue family. This made it impossible for Nian Tao Tao to acquire an IB-09 to close a deal with Zhou Chen for his map.

"I feel like it wasn't a coincidence that Zhou-laoye had been willing to part with his map to her specifically."

"You mean everything is a setup?"

"And Zhou-laoye is but one of the many chess pieces in this setup."

Thinking for a bit, Nian Tao Tao finds herself agreeing with Jing Yin, and remarks—

"In that case, the king should be the village chief. …Tell Qing Yue to be prepared for tonight."

"She'll probably ask me for a tune-up should she know I'm in the city."

It's no coincidence that both Nian Tao Tao and Jing Yin had come into GC012 on this day specifically. Upon learning about Nian Yao Yao's business for coming into this city personally, they were forced to drop their busy schedules to prepare for an ambush.

If they couldn't acquire a map through trading, then their only option left was to steal it.

Such an idea had crossed Nian Tao Tao's mind in the past, but the chief of New Moon Village had said strictly that they will not acknowledge a negotiation that is set up through underhanded methods.

However, would taking something from a family member be considered stealing?

Even to this day, Nian Yao Yao's name is still on the Long Yue family's registry, hence Nian Tao Tao considers the act of taking something of her daughter's to be borrowing and not stealing.

"If your schedule allows it, I don't see why not."

"It's probably best to get it done before we begin the operation. Are you looking forward to seeing your daughter again, madame?"

"And what of you? Are you looking forward to seeing your little sister again?"

"Hmm. Depends on how she reacts."

"Same answer as me."

...…

Upon returning to the luxury car, and being back on the road—

"Tch. I feel like everyone is playing me for a fool…"

Begrudgingly Nian Yao Yao said these words while grinding her teeth together. First it was her mother who played a prank on her using the military, and now it's her client.

"They say, the young can never hope to defeat the old and experienced."

Crossing her legs, Jing Yao presses a fist to her cheek. For some reason, a sense of irritation is welling up in her heart.

"I'm pretty sure I'm way older than that old man."

"Age is but a number, the rest can be made up for with experience. You clearly don't have enough experience."

"Hmm. My household has an old saying that's been passed down for many generations, "those with long lives tend to mature far later than those without." Maybe it's because of that—that I'm inexperienced?"

"Would make sense."

As Nian Yao Yao and Jing Yao converse, Long Hua turns to Tian Cheng, and asks—

"Tian Cheng, who exactly is this surnamed Zhou?"

Having met Zhou Chen in person, Long Hua could suddenly understand why Tian Cheng had chosen to stay in the car.

(That old man is far too sharp to be just an ordinary war vet. The fact that he managed to obtain a building permit to construct a mansion in the third ward means his status has weight in the military. He's also…)

It's unknown if he had been seen through as a practitioner or not, but Long Hua feels like that may have been the case.

(Had Tian Cheng been there as well, things may have been even worse…)

The possibility of Zhou Chen being able to see through Tian Cheng's identity as an object that had been modified by something related to the Immortals isn't zero, so her choosing to stay in the car had been the safer choice.

(…She's surprisingly sharper than what I would have expected from a machine.)

Towards Long Hua's question, Tian Cheng answers—

"The man who killed the level six Immortal more than five decades ago. He is hailed as a hero in the military."

Judging by Nian Yao Yao and Jing Yao's reaction, this also seems to be news to them.

"Well, that explains everything. I figured that they'd have to be someone of high status in the military with a home like that, but this was beyond anything that I could have imagined…"

Raising a sigh, Long Hua pinches the bridge of his nose, as he recalls his conversation with Jing Yao earlier this morning.

(Jing has known me for over ten years, it stands to reason that she's able to notice the oddities that my cultivation base has brought to my person. That old man though… Pure observation skills, along with his experience dealing with practitioners. If there's more people like him out there…)

Unable to imagine what sort of life he would be forced to lead—should his secrets be exposed, Long Hua frowns.

(Looks like I really need to be even more careful from here on out… Especially so in five years' time when I'm sent to the frontlines.)

Originally, Long Hua figured that he would attempt to buy his way out of service through his own savings, or through Nian Yao Yao's assistance—if that wasn't enough; however, that is no longer an option when he is in desperate need of spirit Qi to unravel his own past.

Recovering from her state of surprise, Nian Yao Yao turns to Zhui Yun, and—

"Zhui Yun, bring out the map."

"Yes."

Opening the metal case, and retrieving the parchment, Zhui Yun hands it over to Nian Yao Yao, who unrolls it.

Examining the map with narrowed eyes, Nian Yao Yao nods with satisfaction—despite her own doubts about its authenticity.

"Other than the map itself, quite a bit of important details are written here as well. But we still won't know if it's genuine until we use it."

As Nian Yao Yao stores the map away, Long Hua asks—

"When do you intend to send us out then?"

"Preferably while I am still here in this city."

"How long will you be staying then?"

"No more than a week."

"I see. So, where is the entrance?"

Contemplating for a bit, Nian Yao Yao answers—

"Let's just use the one in the third ward. How does tomorrow sound?"

"After seven is doable."

"Right, you still have a day job to maintain. I've sent you the files on what I can gather about your teammates to your email a while ago. Have you seen it?"

"Haven't had time."

Heaving a sigh, Nian Yao Yao remarks—

"Info gathering really isn't our company's forte, so don't expect much."

"Which is why you wanted New Moon Village's cooperation."

"Correct. So please do your best to ensure that we manage to get a good relationship going with them."

"No promises. If not even the almighty Long Yue family of the east is able to get into a cooperative relationship with this black market, I don't see how I could."

Towards the light of anticipation that is emanating from Nian Yao Yao's golden eyes, Long Hua answers with a dispassionate tone.

"It really is a mystery as to why that is the case."

"Maybe they're just really picky about their customers?"

Replying to Jing Yao's remark, Nian Yao Yao goes on to say—

"If that were the case, fine, but that old hag mentioned to me in the past—about how she was offering a large sum of money and other materials of great value to them for a cooperative relationship. The answer the village chief gave her was something along the lines of "find a map to my place, then we may talk." I remember that quite well, since she was incredibly ticked off to be refused despite offering up so much. The situation back then… Well, it was similar to a rich family's daughter offering up a large dowry to a poor family's son, only for the other side to refuse, and say the former is unworthy."

"That's quite a comparison you're drawing…"

"Well, how else would you describe it?"

Leaving Nian Yao Yao and Jing Yao to converse about this odd topic, Long Hua thought—

(So, the mother was able to make initial contact, but couldn't even get the negotiation process started—despite offering up many valuables to the other side. Sounds insulting, and it probably was. Meanwhile, the daughter took five years to acquire the map, but negotiations have yet to even kick off… Uh, wait…?)

Thinking of this, another thought crosses Long Hua's mind, as he comes to an abrupt realization.

(Aren't they both basically losers here? Neither of them has gotten to the actual negotiation table. The mother has been defeated for certain—since she hasn't even gotten hold of a map after all this time. Meanwhile, the daughter seems to be a loser in the making—especially so if she fails to form a relationship with this black market.)

"Hm? I sense someone thinking ill of me."

Towards Nian Yao Yao's highly accurate remark, Long Hua nonchalantly clears his throat, and asks—

"So, if you did manage to land a cooperative relationship with this village, you'd be rubbing it into her face then?"

"That's one way to think about it. Ah thinking of how I'd feel should that come true is quite nice. The worthless daughter proves to her old mother that she is much more capable than her."

Turning towards the window, Jing Yao asks—

"Where are we headed right now?"

"The hotel. There should be a clothing shop there as well."

"…There better be a café or something there too."

Knowing how long it takes for women to pick out their clothes, Long Hua expects himself to be in for a long wait.

"Oh, we can take that chance to catchup then, Hua."

"…Yeah, not looking forward to it."