Chapter 313: Defying Fate (Part 18)

I’ll translate the given text into English, maintaining the context and names while ensuring the translation is vivid and accurate:

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Still, it’s better to sense the situation first…

Shui Miao’s mind raced as he began to sense the internal conditions of this military base.

Hmm? How could this be?

Uh…it’s actually a trap!

Shui Miao was immediately taken aback upon sensing the situation inside the base.

This base was divided into three layers. The top layer appeared just like a regular military camp, with many rooms and vehicles, but there were only five or six soldiers playing poker in the surveillance room, which made Shui Miao feel something was strange and off.

When Shui Miao sensed the second layer of the base, he discovered that this level had at least hundreds of heavily armed soldiers, with extremely tight security – guards every three steps and posts every five steps. Moreover, in a large control room, there were many computers and soldiers, as well as sixteen people wearing yellow coats. In a room adjacent to this control room, Grandpa and seven or eight elderly men were being held captive, all sitting quietly in meditation. What surprised Shui Miao was that the person in charge of the control room wasn’t a military officer, but rather an elderly man in a yellow coat with a bagua pattern printed on it. This old man had a kind face, with silver-white eyebrows and hair, but his eyes were particularly clear, making him look quite strange. The old man was directing hidden surveillance cameras in the rock crevices to monitor Jiang Zhihao and his team, while also ordering searches for Shui Miao’s whereabouts.

Therefore, Shui Miao was certain this was a trap, a grand conspiracy designed to lure him here for an adventure.

The third layer contained large quantities of weapons, medicinal pills (dānyào), and even missiles…

Could these people actually be members of the Xuan Group?

Shui Miao wasn’t particularly interested in the missiles, and couldn’t help but suspect the true identities of these people in yellow coats.

Immediately afterward, Shui Miao began contemplating their true intentions.

Suddenly, three police officers entered the surveillance room…

They were none other than Captain Lin, Chu Miaoyi, and Lin Xue.

After being escorted into the surveillance room by soldiers, the elderly leader hurriedly approached with a smile.

“Welcome, welcome. I’m Yi Tianwen, head of the Xuan Group.”

The old man first showed his credentials to Captain Lin and his team, then shook hands with Captain Lin.

Captain Lin nodded with a smile, “Hello, Director Yi. It’s an honor to meet you.”

Yi Tianwen smiled slightly, then nodded at Lin Xue and Chu Miaoyi without shaking hands.

Then Yi Tianwen directly addressed Captain Lin, “Captain Lin, the information you provided was very valuable. We’ve also observed that this Shui Miao is indeed quite extraordinary.”

“Unfortunately, we lost track of him. I wonder why Director Yi was in such a hurry to have us brought here?” Captain Lin and his team didn’t know the specifics of what had happened. They had been picked up by a military helicopter near Niutou Mountain, then flown here directly by military aircraft.

“I forgot to tell you, Shui Miao has already arrived here.”

Yi Tianwen gestured for Captain Lin and his team to sit on the sofa, then the computer on the table immediately played back footage of Shui Miao leaping over ten meters from the mountain.

Seeing this footage, Captain Lin was stunned, “How is this possible?”

Lin Xue was also shocked. If Shui Miao had such abilities, then the person who touched her body yesterday must have been him.

Chu Miaoyi was so surprised she covered her mouth with her hand.

“Anything is possible,” Yi Tianwen said calmly with a slight smile, “Let’s get back to the point. In fact, we’ve been having you investigate the theft of precious cultural relics from ancient tombs, but the results haven’t been satisfactory. However, based on Shui Miao’s current performance, we can conclude that the world-shaking treasure hidden in the tomb was stolen by Wang Yong, and then, through a series of coincidences, ended up in Shui Miao’s hands, thus creating Shui Miao’s current cultivation. Therefore, the reason we’ve brought you here this time is mainly to ask for your help, to help our nation recruit Shui Miao, to contribute to the Xuan Group, and more importantly, to contribute to our country.”

“How can we help?” Captain Lin frowned, “Shui Miao won’t listen to me.”

“Why don’t you approach him directly? He’s actually quite reasonable, and of course, he should be patriotic too.” Lin Xue felt this was getting too mysterious. Deep down, she felt that this Yi Tianwen wasn’t as simple as he seemed. She subconsciously worried that once they captured Shui Miao, they might do all sorts of experiments on him.

Lin Xue imagined Shui Miao being treated like a helpless lab rat.

Therefore, Lin Xue was determined to help Shui Miao.

Chu Miaoyi also spoke up, “Shui Miao has had a hard life, but he’s a good person. As long as we talk to him properly, he should agree to contribute to our country.”

“Hehehe…”

Yi Tianwen smiled slightly, waved his hand and said, “We need to test what kind of person Shui Miao really is. We’ll make the specific arrangements. When we need your help, we hope you’ll follow our plan.” Yi Tianwen stood up and said to his subordinates, “Show these guests to their rooms to rest.”

Shui Miao sensed that Captain Lin and his team were being taken to the same room where Grandpa and the others were being held.

In other words, they were under house arrest.

Shui Miao never imagined that after guarding day and night against the thousand-year-old female ghost Bai Niangniang trying to harm his loved ones and friends, he would actually be outmaneuvered by a living person.

This Yi Tianwen appeared kind on the surface, but his heart was extremely sinister!

Shui Miao was very unhappy. If he wanted to talk, he could do it openly. Detaining his loved ones and friends first, what kind of negotiation was that?

“Group Leader, Shui Miao still hasn’t shown up. Should we deploy reconnaissance robots for a search?”

A young woman in a yellow coat approached Yi Tianwen.

Yi Tianwen nodded and said, “Fine.”

Immediately, Shui Miao sensed this woman giving orders to deploy fly-shaped reconnaissance devices and using thermal sensors for detection.

“Hmph! Xuan Group, you want to play games? Then let me play with you properly…” After sensing the situation in the control room, Shui Miao sneered coldly to himself, “I’ve cultivated the Lingtong Jue and Zongheng Ce. My mind is sharp. If you want to outwit me, then let me show you my true strength!”

Immediately, Shui Miao used his mind to send a telepathic message to Jiang Zhihao, telling them to return the way they came, and to call for a helicopter to stand by at any time.

Then, Shui Miao activated his Yin-type immortal energy, wrapped his body in it, bypassed the traps, and entered the first level of the base.

All they relied on was electronic surveillance.

Shui Miao dodged left and right, avoiding the surveillance cameras, moving skillfully and directly heading toward the power room.

There were six soldiers and a young man in a yellow coat in the power room. This young man was meditating in the power room. There was a slit in his forehead, and a string of bells hung at the door. The young man’s code name was Shumu, because he was naturally a freak with three eyes. His third eye didn’t need to open to see ghosts and monsters. Once opened, his eyes became a demon-reflecting mirror. Weaker ghosts and monsters could even be killed just by his gaze.

However, Shui Miao wasn’t a ghost or monster.

Shumu was assigned to the power room specifically to prevent ghosts from causing trouble here.

“Beep…”

“Beep-beep…”

Suddenly, dripping sounds echoed in the quiet power room.

Shumu couldn’t help but frown and open his eyes, looking up. But there were no water pipes in the power room. Where was this dripping sound coming from?

“Beep-beep-beep…”

The dripping sound became more urgent.

The power room was large, and Shumu began to feel uneasy. He quickly ran to the door and called for the soldiers to come check the room.

“Beep-beep-beep…”

“Shhhhh…”

The water sounds became more urgent, quickly turning into the sound of a large water pipe leaking.

The soldiers were also panicked. One soldier hurriedly ran to find maintenance personnel, but halfway there, he was suddenly punched unconscious by Shui Miao, who immediately put him into the Shengyuan Ring, dressed in his uniform, transformed into the appearance of this soldier, and ran to the maintenance department to call a team of maintenance engineers.

In the chaos, the soldier who had transformed into Shui Miao gathered water from the air using water-type immortal energy, forming droplets that dripped from the corner of the wall…

“We found it! Here, here!”

A soldier discovered the water trail and shouted in alarm.

But the maintenance engineer hurriedly explained, “It’s nothing serious. This is emergency equipment. The real problem is the leakage from the unit over there.”

Shui Miao followed the direction the engineer pointed, and with his water-type immortal energy, soon water began to seep from the ceiling of that wall…

“Ahh! No good! Quickly activate the backup power, shut down unit No.1, let’s go…”

The maintenance team shouted in panic.

“Bang!”

It happened in an instant. A drop of water fell, causing a short circuit. An explosion sounded, and unit No.1 emitted a large amount of white smoke. The backup power hadn’t been turned on yet, and the first level of the base was plunged into darkness.

The shockwave from the explosion knocked everyone down.

Inside the power room, a large amount of pungent chemical fumes filled the air.

The young man in the yellow coat was particularly sensitive to this smell. He was the first to run out of the power room. Shui Miao quickly used other water vapors to cause a chain reaction of explosions. Units No.2 and No.3 were all short-circuited by water vapor, plunging the second and third levels of the base into darkness.

However, shortly after, the backup power in the central control room automatically turned on.

But it didn’t last long before the circuits in the central control room also malfunctioned, plunging the entire base into complete darkness.

Taking advantage of the darkness, Shui Miao quickly headed toward the central control room…

Inside the central control room, Yi Tianwen shouted, “All Xuan Group members, pay attention! Immediately enter first-level combat readiness. If there’s any abnormality, attack immediately. Everyone else, stay put.”

“Yes!”

The sixteen Xuan Group members immediately sprang into action. They were well-trained, but in this pitch-black environment, they inevitably caused quite a bit of confusion.

Shui Miao stopped not far from the central control room. After sensing the actions of these Xuan Group members, he sneered coldly. Immediately, he activated his immortal energy, driving the large amount of chemical smoke from the power room into the central control room. In an instant, everyone was coughing uncontrollably.

Although Yi Tianwen was also a cultivator, his cultivation base was far shallower than Shui Miao’s. He originally wanted to activate his spiritual energy to dispel the smoke around him and continue holding his position, but the smoke forcefully entered his nostrils…

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