# 450
**Chapter 450: Not Very Likely**
Former Team 010’s base.
As soon as Baili Pangpang pushed open the villa’s door, Jialan bolted upright from the sofa, the flames of gossip blazing in her eyes.
Lin Qiye, who followed him in, twitched at the corners of his mouth and silently shook his head.
Seeing Baili Pangpang’s dispirited expression, the others tactfully avoided asking how the date had gone. An Qingyu carried a plate of fruit from the kitchen and set it on the coffee table.
“Qiye, that white-fox-masked guy we met today—was he…?” Cao Yuan asked from the sofa, recalling something.
“It was Brother Cool!” Baili Pangpang declared with certainty. “Snaps his fingers to activate his ability and was holding my Soul-Severing Blade—no doubt it’s him!”
Lin Qiye sat down beside the coffee table and sighed. “Never thought he was really still alive…”
“I told you: with the Reversal Jade, he wouldn’t die that easily,” Baili Pangpang said.
“Still, that mask looked familiar, like I’d seen it somewhere…” Cao Yuan fell into thought.
A moment later, Cao Yuan and Baili Pangpang looked at each other and spoke in unison:
“Purification Chamber!”
Lin Qiye blinked. “You saw him at the Purification Chamber?”
“Outside it. We ran into three Believers; he was one,” Cao Yuan explained. “Later, Pangpang tied them up personally. Haven’t seen him since.”
“I saw him,” Baili Pangpang added. “When we jumped off the outer wall, he was watching from afar.”
The three exchanged glances, shock in their eyes.
They never imagined Shen Qingzhu hadn’t died—and had been so close. If so, why hadn’t he come to them?
“Believers… meaning Shen Qingzhu was bound by Yiyu’s soul contract,” Lin Qiye murmured, frowning. He recalled Thirteenth Seat Han Shaoyun in Cangnan City—forced into the Believers, unable to betray them. Until death, Han had sought release.
Was Shen Qingzhu the same?
Suddenly Baili Pangpang froze, expression odd. “Soul contract… maybe it didn’t take?”
Lin Qiye and Cao Yuan looked at him.
“Theoretically, the Reversal Jade can save a dying life and once block any mental attack regardless of realm,” Baili Pangpang said hesitantly. “But I don’t know if the Believers’ soul contract counts as a mental attack. If not, Brother Cool’s been controlled. If it does…”
“It might’ve been nullified?” Lin Qiye’s eyes lit up. “So Shen Qingzhu might not be controlled at all?”
“Then why stay with the Believers? Why not return to Night Watch?” Cao Yuan asked.
Lin Qiye fell silent.
“In the cave, Brother Cool said if he got the chance, he’d wipe out the Believers to avenge Li Jia,” Baili Pangpang mused. “Think he’s undercover, trying to bring them down from inside?”
Cao Yuan frowned. “Not likely. You know his temper—could he really stay undercover that long?”
“Slim, but not impossible,” Lin Qiye sighed. “People change.”
Everyone turned to Baili Pangpang.
After recent events, he felt different—like a child who’d grown up overnight. The silly, naive young master was gone; now he was steady, almost dependable. Most obvious: his smile had vanished.
“Why’re you all staring…” Baili Pangpang muttered.
“Nothing… just used to you clowning around. Your sudden silence feels weird,” Cao Yuan said.
Jialan nodded vigorously.
Baili Pangpang blinked, then scratched his head and chuckled. “How ’bout each of you calls me Fat-Ge, and I’ll graciously perform chest-breaking-a-brick to liven things up?”
Cao Yuan raised a brow. “Chest-breaking-a-brick? I can do that too. Big deal.”
“?” Baili Pangpang scoffed. “How many bricks?”
“One.”
“Hah, only one? Fat-Lord here can do one and a half!”
“Iron brick.”
“……”
Jialan silently lifted a kitchen cleaver, smacked it against her forehead—clang!—the blade snapped.
Cao Yuan: …
Baili Pangpang: …
“Sister Jialan’s awesome!” Baili Pangpang clapped wildly.
Jialan tossed the broken cleaver, hands on hips, chin high.
Lin Qiye watched Baili Pangpang clap until his palms turned red, eyes softening. He smiled and joined the applause.
…
Guangzhou-Shenzhen.
Miu Nightclub.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Neon lights flashed in the gloom, bass shaking the floor. Air thick with alcohol and hormones, youths writhed to the beat.
In the rear VIP booth, five seductive beauties crowded Ninth Seat, giggling in his ear.
Shen Qingzhu sat alone at the edge, gaze on the flickering screen, swirling his glass.
Ninth Seat glanced at him, murmured to the girls. Three rose and slid onto either side of Shen Qingzhu.
“Handsome, drinking alone? Come play~” One pressed against his arm, voice syrupy.
“Yeah, have a drink with us!”
“Little hottie, I need the restroom—come with me…”
Shen Qingzhu’s brow creased. He swept them a cold look. “Get lost.”