IWOL Chapter 167: Looking for Clues

Lin Hangzhi suddenly remembered that when he and Xia Qiongyun met, she stood in front of him and repeated with full confidence, “This ticket is mine.”

In the end, he was so annoyed, he directly replied, “Okay, even if it is yours, isn’t it in my hands now?”

Then, tragedy happened.

It turned out that Xia Qiongyun had used her ability on him at that time!

“Was your ability already awakened when you were in the Labyrinth of Time?” Lin Hangzhi couldn’t help but asked. If he remembered correctly, he was in the area for novice pilgrims. The fact that Xia Qiongyun could meet him meant that she had also come from the novice districts and her ability shouldn’t have already been awakened.

“No, I…can be considered a natural.” Xia Qiongyun obviously didn’t want to talk about it. She told Lin Hangzhi with full sincerity, “I really had no other recourse that day…”

Lin Hangzhi waved his hand. “Don’t mention it. It’s really over. I won’t care about it anymore.”

After that, he paused and murmured in a low voice, “Fortunately, it was me, who has a good temper. If it were someone else, you would have been in trouble.”

Cui Zuojing had been in the Pure White Realm for a long time and had seen many abilities. He’d also met people similar to Xia Qiongyun before. However, unlike those he’d meet before, her ability seemed more inclined to…mental suggestion.

“Is there anything else you can do?” he asked.

Xia Qiongyun nodded and said, “Can you take a few steps?”

Cui Zuojing understood that she was probably experimenting on himself so he wasn’t very vigilant and simply walked around the room as normal. Xia Qiongyun stared at him and suddenly said in a cold voice, “Be careful not to fall.”

As soon as her voice fell, Cui Zuojing slipped and couldn’t avoid falling to the ground.

What happened to Lin Hangzhi countless times was now reproduced. Cui Zuojing finally understood Lin Hangzhi’s feelings.

As he fell, he struggled to adjust his body, but it was like he’d been cursed. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop himself from falling. 

The moment before his knees hit the ground, two hands firmly gripped his arms and pulled him into an embrace. Cui Zuojing only felt himself being whirled around, and he somehow ended up being held in Dong Zheng’s arms. 

Cui Zuojing: “…”

He blinked and pressed down on Dong Zheng’s hand holding his waist, feeling as if the skin underneath the clothes he’d touched was on fire and was constantly emitting heat. 

Cui Zuojing hesitated and finally pushed Dong Zheng’s hand away. He stepped away from Dong Zheng’s arms and lifted his gaze slightly to look up at Dong Zheng. There were some doubts in his eyes. He couldn’t understand why, at that moment when he could clearly support himself, he didn’t directly move away from Dong Zheng’s arms.

Dong Zheng also lowered his head, and their eyes met. All Cui Zuojing saw in his eyes was a profoundly gentle smile. 

This person took advantage of me again, he thought. 　

Wang Que’s eyes widened at having witnessed the entire process. Her amazement at Xia Qiongyun’s ability was replaced, and the groundhog in her heart screamed: Ahhhhhhhh! It’s true. This is too good. It’s seriously rio!　

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes glowed, and the corners of lips carried an auntie-like kind of smile, which couldn’t be concealed. Dong Linhai had never seen such an expression on her face. He was taken aback and hurriedly asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Wang Que quickly covered her face and said, “Sister Xiao Xia’s ability is really amazing, ah.”

“Yes,” Dong Linhai agreed. “It’ll have good multi-purpose use in the box.”

“Does your ability have any restrictions?” Cui Zuojing tilted his head, awkwardly ignored Dong Zheng’s gaze, sorted out his mood, and asked. 　

Xia Qiongyun said, “Just like now, when it comes to people, the effect is small. Its effect on objects is much better. And only as long as the other can believe what I say.”

Lin Hangzhi murmured, “Directly rely on the mind to change the state of matter. This is too strong.”

“Not bad.” Although Xia Qiongyun’s ability was still some distance away from the real Truth Talk, Cui Zuojing believed that with more training, it was possible to achieve the most ideal state, which was that the power contained in spoken words can change reality. 

“Abilities alone shouldn’t be enough to give you an excellent rating.”

Xia Qiongyun nodded and said, “My combat skills aren’t bad.”

“Fight?” Cui Zuojing became interested. Xia Qiongyun’s ability had little to do with fighting. Since she could say that she had good combat skills, this showed that she had a lot of confidence in herself. 

Xia Qiongyun didn’t bother to resist and responded with an “Okay.” The incident with the Deep Disguisers made her understand Cui Zuojing’s strength, and she didn’t dare take it lightly. She took a deep breath and prepared herself to fight. 

Cui Zuojing’s gaze swept past her shoulders and turned to Lin Hangzhi, who was sitting on the sofa. “Hangzhi, you come.”

Lin Hangzhi thought he had heard it wrong, and pointed to himself. “Me?”

“Yes, that’s it. You.”

Lin Hangzhi’s unbelievable expression pleased Cui Zuojing to a certain extent, and he laughed in amusement. “Let’s also take a look at your training results during this time period.”

“Alright…” Lin Hangzhi stood up, rolled up his shirt sleeves, and closed his eyes forcibly. When he opened them again, there was a sharpness in his gaze. He solemnly and coldly said, “I’ll say it first, I won’t throw the battle just because you’re a woman.”

Twenty minutes later. 

Lin Hangzhi lay on his back on the ground, staring at the ceiling that was out of focus, struggling to breathe. With one hand, he held his stomach that had just been heavily punched and squeezed out a pained grunt from his throat. 

“…” Xia Qiongyun stood beside him, trying to calm her rapid breathing. She took off her hat, revealing short, messy hair that clung to the side of her sweaty neck. Under Wang Que’s admiring gaze, she reached out to Lin Hangzhi and asked, “Are you okay?”

Lin Hangzhi slowly turned his head to stare at the hand that gave him a fatal blow only half a minute ago, and he couldn’t believe that he couldn’t beat Xia Qiongyun. 

After Cui Zuojing’s hell-like training, his physical skills had clearly improved a lot!

As a straight man of steel, it was naturally impossible for Lin Hangzhi to admit that he was beaten to the point of death. He sat up with his elbows and slowed down for two seconds. Out of a man’s self-esteem, he didn’t accept Xia Qiongyun’s kindness and swayed to his feet and said. “Come again!” 

Xia Qiongyun retracted her hand that was left in the air, stared at Lin Hangzhi’s cheeks that had become taunt due to pain, and she said softly, “You can’t beat me.”

Cui Zuojing was sitting on the armrest of the sofa, drinking watermelon juice with a straw. He touched Dong Zheng’s shoulder and whispered, “Not bad.” 

Dong Zheng nodded, “Better than I thought.” 

Lin Hangzhi’s fighting ability wasn’t as bad as the results showed. Although his initial foundation was poor, with rigorous training from Cui Zuojing, his skills were definitely considered above the level of normal pilgrims at this current stage. 

However, what Xia Qiongyun had to deal with was not only the various skills Lin Hangzhi had learned from Cui Zuojing, but also the innate advantages men had in physical strength. Even so, she’d won without sustaining any injuries and she did so very gracefully. 

Although the battle between them was a bit drawn out. 

Lin Hangzhi insisted on defending his face, leaving his body exposed to Xia Qiongyun’s couple of blows. His own logic told him that if he insisted on fighting with her, he would inevitably be knocked to the ground, and the fight would end.

Lin Hangzhi was a little unwilling. In the Labyrinth of Time, Xia Qiongyun took away his ticket, which could be attributed to her use of her ability and his bad luck. But now, with bare-handed fighting, he was still thoroughly defeated. 

He had to honestly admit that the other party was very strong. Why was it so hard to accept? 

If the other person was a man, he would probably be convinced. Even if it was someone who still looked like a child, like Cui Zuojing, he wouldn’t care. But why was it that, when faced with Xia Qiongyun, he didn’t want to admit his defeat. 

Because the other party was a woman? 　

Lin Hangzhi was silent for a moment and finally didn’t make it difficult for himself. “Okay, you win. You’re very powerful.”

“You’re also very good.” Xia Qiongyun secretly breathed a sigh of relief; her physical strength was about to run out. If Lin Hangzhi had rushed at her again with brute force, she might not fight as well. 

Lin Hangzhi waved his hand and didn’t speak any more. He dragged his painful calf over to Dong Linhai as if nothing had happened, and whispered, “Uncle, are you there?”　

“Very good.” Cui Zuojing commented. He gave Dong Zheng the watermelon juice he’d half-finished. “Your strength has passed my test, and the rest depends on whether your character is compatible with everyone else. This may take a while. When we have time, we’ll enter a team box together and see how the situation turns out.”

“Okay, I can do it.” Xia Qiongyun naturally had no objections. She sat down on the empty sofa and asked. “Do I need to live with you during this time?”　

“It’s not very convenient for the time being,” Dong Zheng said. He’d just discussed this with Cui Zuojing. “If you’re not busy, just come here and train with us.”

“I don’t need to enter a box anytime soon. I have time.” Xia Qiongyun glanced at Lin Hangzhi. The man who had just been beaten was sitting in the corner of the room with his back facing her. His back looked a bit pitiful, and he was holding something in his arms. It looked like… a cat? 　　

“Good. If there are no other questions, we’ll continue to look for information.” Cui Zuojing stood up and naturally took out his mobile phone from Dong Zheng’s pocket. “Give me your contact information.”

After they separated from Xia Qiongyun, the group returned to the intelligence room and continued to search for news about Hell Circus. 

Lin Hangzhi was very quiet and withdrawn and didn’t say much until they returned home. On the other hand, Wang Que was very happy. In her opinion, the fact that Xia Qiongyun could get such a high evaluation from Cui Zuojing meant that if there was no accident, she would join the team and become another female member beside herself. 

This trip was quite rewarding. They found more news about the circus in three recent reports, all of which mentioned that they’d seen posters in safe houses. 

Dong Zheng wrote down the information provided by the three reports and sent it to Fu Zhe, asking him to analyze the circus’s possible entrance distribution places.　

By the time they came out of the intelligence room, Xia Qiongyun had already left Heimdall. Cui Zuojing didn’t directly take her back to the castle after passing her interview, as he’d done with Lin Hangzhi. 

Currently, the Queen has begun to take action. The heirs were peeping in secret, ready to give him a fatal blow and take him back to the Queen so as to obtain the right to inherit the throne. Worm of Mystery could control people and Tang Ji was good at disguising. Cui Zuojing wasn’t certain whether the Queen’s people could penetrate the group. 

It was very important to be vigilant at all times. 　

Cui Zuojing still remembered Tang Ji’s crazy eyes when he left him in Snow Parasite Trail. 

This person would never give up. In Snow Parasite Trail, Tang Ji lurked in the underground parking lot and created an avalanche. He absolutely wanted Cui Zuojing’s life. Cui Zuojing didn’t know what happened, but when Tang Ji finally appeared in front of him, he looked bedraggled and was badly wounded.

Cui Zuojing thought of the mysterious phone call in the Institute of Biochemistry. Intuition told him that Tang Ji’s experience might be related to this. 

Was someone secretly helping him?