ReadNovel Chapter 387 - 372: Figured It Out
Chapter 387 - 372: Figured It Out
After Wei Heng and the other two left, the room suddenly fell silent.
The early morning sun, still tinged with mist, spilled lazily through the half-open window. Gu Xi sat by the window and glanced up at Qi Xiang, not saying a word, just waiting quietly.
After a long moment, Qi Xiang suddenly spoke. "That woman came looking for me after I went back last night."
Gu Xi looked up in surprise, her eyes meeting Qi Xiang’s. "She didn’t leave?"
She had thought the woman would leave with Huo Changzhou. She never expected her to stay behind and even seek out Qi Xiang.
’She’s got some nerve.’
"What did she want to talk about?" Gu Xi asked, casually picking up the breakfast Wei Heng had just brought—a wild vegetable cornbread bun—and breaking off small pieces to eat.
"She said..." Qi Xiang sat on the sofa across from her, propping her chin on one hand resting on the armrest. A hint of cold mockery glinted in her eyes—was it for the woman, or for herself?
She said, "She and my adoptive father, Dr. Qi Xiao, are old acquaintances from many years ago..."
Gu Xi swallowed the slightly bitter mouthful of wild vegetable cornbread and looked up at her. "And?"
If all she wanted was to get on friendly terms with Qi Xiang, why hadn’t the woman shown up when Qi Xiang first arrived?
"And then, she gave me this." Qi Xiang pulled a bright red, gold-stamped invitation from her bag and tossed it onto the small table in front of Gu Xi.
It was an invitation to Gu Garden.
’To think it would end up in front of me. How very interesting.’
Gu Xi picked up the invitation and casually flipped it open. She heard Qi Xiang tilt her head slightly and say lazily, "Gu Xiaoxi, I’m not actually that bad of a team player..."
Last night, when Wei Heng had come to her for help, she had initially considered making a small sacrifice and temporarily acting as his protector to help him fend off the flock of male admirers that had suddenly appeared.
But after thinking about what that woman had said, Qi Xiang ultimately decided not to intervene.
Of course, she would never admit that she also just wanted to watch the drama unfold.
"You want to go?" Gu Xi handed the invitation back to Qi Xiang.
Qi Xiang didn’t take it. Instead, she looked up at her and said seriously, "You’re the one who wants to go."
Gu Xi met Qi Xiang’s gaze. "You figured it out?"
Qi Xiang nodded, glanced at the cornbread bun in Gu Xi’s hand, then stood up and walked over to pour her a glass of warm water. "Yang Chi said that Ye Junhan contacted you last night..."
Gu Xi wasn’t surprised that Yang Chi knew. He controlled all communications signals for the entirety of Farm 0101.
Although Yang Chi hadn’t revealed the content of the call, he did vaguely mention that his cousin, Shen Yue, had contacted him afterward to ask about last night’s events. He also said that the person Gu Xi had brought back before, Yan Xun, had escaped to Gu Garden...
Qi Xiang was a very smart girl. The moment she heard the words "Gu Garden," she immediately pieced a few things together.
"You deliberately mentioned Gu Garden on the call, and given your current situation, everyone will subconsciously assume... that the person infiltrating Gu Garden tonight will be either Shen Yue or Ye Junhan."
After a pause, she added, "Of course, the most likely candidate is Ye Junhan."
"And once they have that idea in their heads, they’ll subconsciously assume... that if they go, you won’t."
Qi Xiang looked up at Gu Xi, meeting her crystal-clear and exceptionally calm eyes. "Gu Xi, I don’t actually approve of you going to Gu Garden at a time like this. But I won’t interfere."
She pushed the invitation on the table toward Gu Xi. "Take this. It might be useful?"
Gu Xi wasn’t surprised that Qi Xiang had figured out her plan. She had indeed hinted to Ye Junhan that he should infiltrate Gu Garden at night to create a smokescreen. Of course, it wasn’t entirely a smokescreen. With her and Ye Junhan working together—one overtly, one covertly—they might uncover more of Gu Garden’s secrets.
Qi Xiang had always been a smart girl, so Gu Xi wasn’t surprised she had figured it out.
But...
Her gaze fell on the invitation Qi Xiang had pushed over. Gu Xi raised an eyebrow slightly, meeting Qi Xiang’s somewhat sly look.
"This..." She tapped the invitation twice with her finger.
A faint smile touched Qi Xiang’s lips. She gracefully sat down beside her, raised a hand to cover a yawn, her posture elegant, languid, and yet alluring.
She winked at Gu Xi. "Once, when I was with my adoptive father, Dr. Qi, I met a very special ability user..."
Her fingertips gently slid across the bright red, gold-stamped invitation as Qi Xiang lowered her gaze. "He was a user of the Transformation Ability. He could, for a short period, transform into anyone he had seen before, perfectly replicating their appearance and build."
At this point, she tilted her head slightly to look at Gu Xi and pushed the invitation under her finger toward her.
Gu Xi: "You figured it out?"
Qi Xiang smiled without a word. Although Gu Xi had never specified what her ability was, based on the abilities Gu Xi had already demonstrated, Qi Xiang guessed... that Gu Xi’s ability could perhaps convert into any other form of ability.
That would naturally include transformation.
However, Qi Xiang had also learned from that person that while the Transformation Ability seemed miraculous, it actually had a fatal flaw—
it could only be maintained for a very limited time. Furthermore, if the user was attacked during the transformation, the slightest instability in their ability would cause their face to distort and the ability to fail.
Of course, that might have been because the Transformation Ability user she had met was of a relatively low level. She didn’t know about Gu Xi... Qi Xiang looked up at Gu Xi.
Gu Xi picked up the invitation from the Liu Family again.
Before Ye Junhan told her that Yan Xun had fled to Gu Garden, she hadn’t actually planned to infiltrate it tonight. But things were different now.
Gu Xi suddenly asked Qi Xiang, "Will Dr. Qi also be at Gu Garden tonight?"
Previously, Zhou Jinyu had said the research institute’s main force had long since withdrawn from the Central Base and was now in City A.
But so far, aside from Zhou Jinyu, none of the other researchers had shown themselves.
Gu Xi hadn’t cared where they went before, but now... she wanted to figure something out.
Qi Xiang paused, surprised by the sudden question. After a moment’s thought, she said, "The woman didn’t mention that. How about I go and confirm?"
Gu Xi: "I’ll have to trouble you, then."
After Qi Xiang left, Gu Xi’s gaze returned to the bright red invitation.
’Is it just me, or has the Gu Family’s presence been a little too prominent lately?’
But this was completely at odds with the Gu Family’s low-profile conduct over the years; it was even somewhat contradictory.
And the Gu Family... They had stood for centuries before the apocalypse. They made swift decisions to retreat unscathed at the very beginning of the outbreak. And even after so many years in the shadows, they could still manipulate the current situation. This showed that the Gu Family’s decision-maker was definitely an intelligent person.
’But the current situation doesn’t seem like the work of an intelligent person.’
Gu Xi’s intuition told her something was wrong here.
’Perhaps someone sensed something and deliberately muddied the waters, hoping to fish in the ensuing chaos?’
’Or... has there been a problem within the Gu Family itself?’