Chapter 24: A Soul with a Home

Inside the speeding off-road vehicle, Song Zining observed Qian Ye with great interest and said, “You’ve become much more ruthless now compared to before!”

“This is the Neutral Zone. If you aren’t ruthless, you’re already dead.”

“You should have been like this long ago. It seems that the Neutral Zone is truly the place that suits you best.”

“No, if I had a choice, I would rather never have come to the Neutral Zone.”

The interior of the off-road vehicle suddenly fell silent, with neither of them speaking. After a moment, Song Zining suddenly remembered something and said, “I almost forgot an important matter. Come with me to a place, to meet someone.”

“Who?”

“You’ll know when you see her. She’s a beauty.”

Seeing Song Zining act mysteriously, Qian Ye merely smiled and followed his direction, changing course toward the depths of the wilderness.

After about an hour, a small town appeared in front of them. Qian Ye parked the off-road vehicle outside the town and left Zhu Feng to guard it, while he followed Song Zining into the town.

Song Zining led Qian Ye to a dilapidated courtyard, pushed open the door, and entered, leading Qian Ye inside. As soon as they entered the courtyard, Qian Ye heard a muffled sound coming from the house, as if someone’s mouth was being covered.

Song Zining gave a mysterious smile and led Qian Ye into the house, pointing at the bed and said with a mischievous grin, “What do you think, isn’t she a beauty?”

There was indeed a woman on the bed, or more accurately, a woman bound to the bed. Her eyes were covered, and her hands and feet were tied to the corners of the bed, stretching her body into a large cross.

It was evident that this woman had a very nice figure, tall and long-legged, and quite attractive. A cloth was stuffed in her mouth, preventing her from saying anything, and she could only make indistinct noises. Feeling someone enter the room, she struggled even more fiercely.

With this struggle, the scene instantly became more provocative, igniting an irresistible urge to commit a crime.

Qian Ye gently tapped her calf, and the sound of metal echoed from where he struck.

“Gao Hu person?”

“Of course, and a very important one.”

“She is…”

“Hong Lian. I heard you’re looking for her too?”

“She’s Hong Lian? Her strength should be decent. How did you manage to tie her up so easily?”

Song Zining had used only ordinary ropes, and the method of binding was nothing out of the ordinary. This would work for tying up an ordinary person, but to bind a Gao Hu person, especially someone like Hong Lian, it was far from enough. Yet, not only did Song Zining manage to bind her, but it seemed she had been bound for a long time.

Song Zining smiled, “I didn’t bind her; she bound herself. The mechanical devices Gao Hu people use to modify their bodies, if they fall into the hands of someone with ill intentions, become the best tools to restrain them.”

Song Zining then explained in detail, and Qian Ye finally understood that Song Zining had readjusted the power units at Hong Lian’s joints, changing their direction. So when Hong Lian’s muscular system issued a command to move forward, the power unit would pull the joint backward.

In this way, no matter what action Hong Lian tried to take, she would have to rely on her physical strength to overcome her own mechanical devices. These devices were originally designed to enhance Gao Hu people, and without them, Gao Hu people were weaker than ordinary humans. Their physical strength could be imagined.

Hong Lian was no exception, so at this moment, her struggling was even weaker than an ordinary person, and she had been bound by Song Zining for a long time.

“How did you catch her?”

“If this young master wants to find someone, it’s as easy as pie.”

Qian Ye felt a headache, upon reuniting after a long separation, this Seventh Young Master Song seemed to have grown even more thick-skinned.

Qian Ye coughed and said, “Seventh Young Master, what are you planning to do with such a person you caught?”

“Give her to you, don’t you think she’s quite attractive? Besides, she has a high status among the Gao Hu people. If you take her, it’s like having a third of the Gao Hu people in your hands. We want to establish a kingdom, and we need people, right?”

“Wait a minute.” Qian Ye quickly stopped Song Zining to prevent him from continuing, “Many Gao Hu people are already on my side. She might have other uses, but let’s talk about taking her later.”

Hearing the two discuss her, Hong Lian struggled even more, but unfortunately, all it did was increase the temptation and arouse men’s desires.

Song Zining walked to the bedside, removed the blindfold, and pulled out the cloth from her mouth. With a bit of freedom, Hong Lian wanted to scream, but upon seeing Song Zining, her face turned deathly pale, and she dared not move.

“That’s better, being obedient will spare you some pain,” Song Zining praised, then waved his hand, sending several floating leaves to cut through her bindings, “Get up and come with us.”

Gritting her teeth, Hong Lian slowly propped herself up and climbed off the bed. Song Zining had not altered the settings of the power units on her body, so she was now weaker than an ordinary girl.

Moments later, the three of them got into the off-road vehicle and drove out of the town, heading towards the edge of the landmass. Song Zining still sat in the passenger seat, and Hong Lian was in the back. Qian Ye and Song Zining’s heads were in front of her, swaying back and forth, but even if she tried to attack, it would be futile, let alone whether she could even break their skin.

Just as Hong Lian was undecided about whether to act, Song Zining suddenly turned around and said, “Hong Lian, this is my brother, Qian Ye. From now on, you belong to him! How about it, pretty good, right?”

Hong Lian gritted her teeth, Qian Ye was the one she had wanted to eliminate early on, and now she hated him even more. Most of her subordinates had been lost to Qian Ye, and the losses were extremely severe. She also lost the most important treasure of her clan, an overloading module-equipped cannon. So, after escaping the city lord’s mansion, she didn’t dare to return to her clan and had been wandering around, hoping for an opportunity to steal the cannon from Qian Ye.

Unexpectedly, she was captured by Song Zining before she could even make a move.

Hong Lian’s eyes were filled with rage, but Song Zining’s gaze lingered on her mouth and throat, saying meaningfully, “Don’t do anything foolish in front of us. The consequences will be very bad.”

Under Song Zining’s gaze, Hong Lian felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her head, making her shiver all over. She still had a last resort, a miniature origin gun in her mouth, with bullets hidden in her throat. This made it difficult to search, and if she suffered a fatal injury like a throat slash, the origin bullets could provide some protection.

But under Song Zining’s scrutiny, she became uncertain, “Could he have seen it?”

The chill in Song Zining’s eyes dissipated, and he smiled, “But my brother is so excellent, it’s really a bargain for you.”

Hong Lian looked at Qian Ye, and from the side, she could only see his profile. But that was enough. In terms of appearance, the upper echelons of the Blood Race had always been at the pinnacle of the Evernight world. Apart from a few Demon descendants, they could completely dominate all other races. Qian Ye was an ancient Blood Race lineage, and compared to today’s upper-class Blood Race, he lacked some refinement and elegance, but he had a timeless, profound aura.

In terms of attractiveness, in the turbulent Neutral Zone, Qian Ye’s charm was even greater.

Moreover, Hong Lian had witnessed Qian Ye’s combat power, which was incredibly strong. The killing arrays she set up could severely injure experts at the sixteenth or seventeenth level, but in front of Qian Ye, they were annihilated, leaving him only lightly injured.

The Neutral Zone was a place where people naturally gravitated towards the strong. The Gao Hu people, who lived as mercenaries, were even more so.

So, Hong Lian suddenly felt a strange feeling in her heart. This feeling was just a little, like the first hint of green in the spring thaw of a frozen earth.

Hearing Song Zining’s words, Qian Ye shook his head with a bitter smile, “Stop messing around, I’m a married man.”

Song Zining, who was drinking water, spat it all out. This blow to his image made him furious, “You, what do you call a married man? Do you think she acknowledges you? Do you think you can hold onto her? Wake up, brother, it’s not even dark yet… no, it’s about to dawn.”

Qian Ye grinned, “I’ll hold onto her eventually.”

Song Zining sighed, “Be realistic. If she is as you say, you won’t even be able to keep up with her. Even if you somehow manage to stand on equal footing with her, how long will that take? Decades or even centuries, everyone will change.”

“We’ll see then.”

Song Zining, exasperated by Qian Ye’s stubbornness, said angrily, “Fine! When I meet Night Pupil, I’ll definitely tell her about seventeen, nineteen, and the little bird.”

Qian Ye was shocked, and his hand trembled, nearly flipping the off-road vehicle. Inside the car, Song Zining and Hong Lian were tossed around, colliding heavily. Zhu Feng, in the back, was startled, thinking there was an enemy ahead, and poked his head out of the vehicle, aiming a machine gun around, but there was no sign of any enemies in the dark night.

“Lord, where are the enemies?” Zhu Feng shouted.

Qian Ye’s face stiffened, and he focused on driving, pretending to hear nothing. Song Zining, though trying hard not to laugh, was visibly shaking, but he knew that laughing now would be disastrous.

Hong Lian, on the other hand, felt differently. She turned and glared at Zhu Feng through the window. To her, this traitor was the most hateful, even more so than Qian Ye.

When Zhu Feng saw Hong Lian’s icy glare, he was terrified. After all, Hong Lian’s authority was deeply ingrained, and Zhu Feng subconsciously felt fear. But he quickly remembered that Hong Lian was now a captive, and he had just switched allegiance to Qian Ye, so it was the perfect time to show his loyalty. He summoned his courage and glared back fiercely.

Hong Lian never expected such a response and was almost overwhelmed with anger. But she had no power to punish Zhu Feng, not even to scold him, with Song Zining sitting right next to her.

For Gao Hu people, uncontrolled mechanical augmentations were unimaginable torture. Hong Lian, with her extremely tough personality, was weakened by the torment of the readjusted power units and lost her will to fight.

Originally, Hong Lian had accepted her fate of being forcibly paired with Qian Ye, but Qian Ye refused. And from Song Zining’s words, it seemed Qian Ye had another woman he couldn’t forget, choosing to be alone. At this moment, Hong Lian felt a new, uncomfortable sensation, very uncomfortable.