Chapter 417: The Heavenly Serpent's Visit
When he arrived at the prison entrance, Qian Wu noticed that Saturday had blocked the man from coming inside.
The man didn’t object at all. He simply stood there, holding a book in complete stillness.
Hearing someone approach, Saturday put away the iron rod in her hand and turned to look back at Qian Wu.
Qian Wu gave her a slight nod and smiled. “Go to his room first.”
Saturday understood his meaning and reached out to pat Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin on the shoulders.
“Huh?” Both of them looked confused.
“Tsk. Might need you later.” Saturday said in a low voice, then turned and entered the prison.
When she reached the window in the hallway, Saturday hid to the side and spoke quietly: “This is a test. Do not answer. If you hear me, look to your left rear.”
Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin both glanced back at Saturday’s position at the same time. Saturday nodded at them, then walked toward Chen Junnan’s room.
“Oh? Weekend?” Chen Junnan grinned. “What’s up?”
“Tsk. I’m Saturday, not Weekend.”
“Saturday *is* the weekend.”
“Tsk. Cut the crap.” Saturday pulled Chen Junnan over to the window and said seriously, “Take a look at that guy... do you recognize him?”
Officer Li and Zheng Yingxiong also slowly walked over to the window.
They saw a man with black-rimmed glasses standing by the gate. He looked a bit disheveled, but seemed friendly enough.
“How the hell could I not recognize him?” Chen Junnan frowned. “Isn’t that the ‘Heavenly Serpent’?”
“Tsk! Heavenly Serpent?” Saturday’s eyes went wide.
Chen Junnan looked at her and said, “Weekend, do you know? I have three wishes in this life.”
“Tsk. What?” Saturday asked impatiently.
“One: world peace. Two: no more miserable people. And three...” Chen Junnan sighed. “I wish my friend named Weekend could stop starting every sentence with ‘tsk.’”
Saturday’s lips moved. She wanted to speak directly, but found she really couldn’t start without saying “tsk.”
“Tsk! What business is it of yours how I talk?!” She punched Chen Junnan hard. “Can you get to the point? You know the ‘Heavenly Serpent’?”
“Yeah.” Chen Junnan nodded. “Weekend, tell those guys never to make eye contact with the Heavenly Serpent. If you’re afraid of being suspected, look at the bridge of his nose instead.”
“Tsk. Why?”
“Because that bastard can read your thoughts when you lock eyes with him.” Chen Junnan said. “Good thing I’m clever enough to have found a countermeasure.”
Saturday sensed something was wrong. Qian Wu probably recognized the Heavenly Serpent too. But both Qi Xia and Qiao Jiaheng had plenty of secrets in their minds. If a “Heavenly-tier” found out in advance, the consequences would be disastrous. So she immediately sent a telepathic message.
The two men behind Qian Wu heard Saturday’s transmission and subtly shifted their gaze without changing expression.
After Qian Wu saw the man clearly, he silently took an old pair of sunglasses from the pocket of his leather jacket and put them on.
“Oh, you...” The Heavenly Serpent smiled wryly, looking a bit awkward. “‘Twin Flowers,’ what are you doing? We’ve known each other for years. This is my first time at your turf, and you’re treating your guest like this...”
“Heavenly Serpent, you may be a ‘guest,’ but I can’t fully trust you.” Qian Wu smiled. “You simply can’t control your ability. The secrets in others’ hearts are too tempting for you.”
“Ah...” The Heavenly Serpent laughed and then nodded. “Yeah... you’re right. Though it’s rude... I really can’t help it...”
He then looked at Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin behind Qian Wu.
“Maybe this is a bit presumptuous, but... who are these two?”
“Do you need to ask so specifically?” Qian Wu said. “Anyway, they’re my friends. They’re staying with me for now. As for you, we’ve never had dealings before, and you don’t look like you’re here for business. What brings you here?”
“I... actually...” The Heavenly Serpent rubbed his hands nervously. “I came looking for someone...”
“One hundred thousand.” Qian Wu said. “One hundred thousand yuan, and we can find anyone for you within one cycle—except ‘natives.’”
“One hundred thousand...?” The Heavenly Serpent paused, then gave an ingratiating smile. “Heh... I haven’t heard of ‘money’ in ages... Where would I get that?”
“Then it’s hard for us to help you.” Qian Wu pretended to be troubled.
“How about this...” The Heavenly Serpent stepped forward and lowered his voice. “I recently made a new discovery... how to make ‘natives’ unleash ‘Echoes.’ If you’re willing to accept it, I can trade this result with you.”
Qian Wu paused, considering the feasibility. Soon he felt it was bad news.
“Wait...” Qian Wu shook his head. “‘Natives’ barely have their wits about them. They might indeed unleash ‘Echoes’ with high probability, but they don’t know what they’re doing. Everything follows instinct. That sounds far too dangerous.”
“But ‘natives’ are easy to fool!” The Heavenly Serpent grinned. “Don’t you think? With just a few words, we can coax them like children, and then use their ‘Echoes’ to achieve our goals...”
“But they are ‘people.’” Qian Wu took a cigarette from his pants pocket, put it in his mouth, and lit it. “The only difference between you and me is that I don’t treat people as tools.”
“People... why can’t people be tools?” The Heavenly Serpent looked puzzled. “People aren’t just tools... they can be weapons, shields, research materials, and experimental subjects... People are the cheapest thing here!”
“Heh...” Qian Wu sneered and spat on the ground. “I don’t want to hear your nonsense. But tell me first: who are you looking for?”
“Chen Junnan!” The Heavenly Serpent shouted. “I’m going to make that brat’s life worse than death!”
“Ha...” Qian Wu’s expression instantly turned cold. “Heavenly Serpent, I don’t care who you’re looking for here, and it’s none of my business if you want to experiment on natives. But you’ve just stepped on my mine.”
“Stepped on your... mine?” The Heavenly Serpent didn’t understand at all.
“You dare say you want to make ‘Big Baby’ suffer worse than death in front of me...” Qian Wu walked toward the Heavenly Serpent step by step. “Do you know why a ‘cat’ exists?”
Before the Heavenly Serpent could react, Qian Wu grabbed his arm.
The next second, Qian Wu’s figure rapidly shrank, his height dropped significantly, until he was exactly the same as the Heavenly Serpent.
“You...”
Qian Wu wanted to say something more, but suddenly found it hard to breathe. This body seemed to have some serious problems.
“What are you doing...?” The Heavenly Serpent asked in confusion. “Are you copying my body?”