Chapter Forty-Five: Negotiation—Caught in the Trap

Qin Yu followed Qian Ying and his group to their lodging. Along the way, all of them remained silent, each lost in their own thoughts. After arriving at the house, Qian Ying and his team sat together, facing Qin Yu, as if waiting for her to speak first.

But who was Qin Yu? She was the kind of person who could spend a whole month in a dull laboratory without uttering a single word to anyone. She sat there, head lowered, silently twirling a dagger in her hand, her thoughts inscrutable. Yet, from the tension in her muscles, it was clear she was on guard.

The only sound in the room was the faint breathing of those present. After about half an hour, Qian Ying finally broke the silence. "Miss, let's not beat around the bush," he began. "Our people saw you with crystal nuclei in your possession—more than one, in fact. Would you be willing to part with a few for us?"

Only then did Qin Yu lift her head to look at Qian Ying. "My name is Qin Yu. Captain, you can call me by my name. I must say, the Falcon Squad truly lives up to its reputation. As for the crystal nuclei, yes, I do have some… but…" She left her sentence hanging.

Qian Ying caught on immediately and smiled. "Miss Qin Yu, we can certainly negotiate the price. May I ask how many crystal nuclei you have?"

Qin Yu thought for a moment, mentally counting the number of people before her. Having made up her mind, she replied, "I don’t have many left. After giving away a few just now, I have eight remaining. One of them is a water-type nucleus, and since my ability is water-based, I’d like to keep that one. That leaves seven, which I am willing to trade with you."

Qian Ying’s face lit up with joy. Seven was a good number! If the fit was right, his ability might even advance a level—a prospect he had long been awaiting, as he’d been stuck at advanced tier two for quite some time.

One of the men in Falcon Squad, upon hearing this, flashed a glint of cunning in his eyes and looked at Qin Yu with renewed interest. Things were getting more intriguing by the minute.

Qin Yu, of course, noticed the man's gaze and thought to herself, So, there are clever ones among them after all. It seems this squad is even more formidable than I imagined. She began to look forward to testing her mettle against them.

Qian Ying, for his part, paid no mind to such thoughts and addressed Qin Yu directly. "Qin Yu, how about seven hundred catties of food for the seven crystal nuclei? Does that price satisfy you?"

Qin Yu glanced at Qian Ying with some surprise. In her eyes, food was far more precious than crystal nuclei. Why, then, would the captain of Falcon Squad offer such an uneven trade?

Feng Mei’er’s eyes darkened with hatred as she listened to Qian Ying’s offer, her gaze fixed on Qin Yu. Qin Yu, however, ignored her.

Although Qin Yu was puzzled, she had no intention of pointing out the disparity. She took seven crystal nuclei from her bag and placed them on the table before Qian Ying. "I trust that the captain of Falcon Squad is a man of his word. I’ll leave these seven nuclei here. As for the food, I’m sure a man of your abilities has already found out where I live. Kindly have it delivered there."

Qian Ying watched Qin Yu’s lips move, and the dark desires he had tried to suppress began to rise again. He swore to himself that he had never in his life felt such a powerful longing for a woman—he wanted her, wanted her intensely, wanted her to yield to him for a lifetime.

Noticing the change in Qian Ying's expression, Qin Yu frowned. "If that's all, I’ll take my leave," she said, standing to go.

At that moment, Feng Mei’er, who had harbored resentment all along, suddenly stood up and approached Qin Yu with a coquettish smile. Grabbing Qin Yu’s arm tightly, she said, "Miss Qin, leaving so soon? Would you like me to walk you out? I’d be worried if you went alone. If something were to happen…"

Qin Yu looked at her with distaste and forcefully shook off her grip. "No need to trouble yourself. I know the way. Besides, no one would dare harm me under the eyes of Falcon Squad. After all, we just completed a transaction. If anything were to happen to me, what would others think?" With that, she strode out the door.

Qian Ying, snapping out of his daydreams, saw Qin Yu shaking off Feng Mei’er. Once Qin Yu had left, he turned to Feng Mei’er. "Did you try something with her? Who gave you permission to do that?"

Feng Mei’er turned around, her smile full of hidden meaning. "Captain, wasn’t it you who wanted me to do this? Or… do you not want her after all?"

Behind her ambiguous smile was a murderous intent, though Qian Ying, lost in his fantasies, failed to notice. Others in the group did, but what did it matter to them? The captain’s private affairs were none of their concern. In fact, perhaps it was time for a change in leadership. Besides, that woman Qin Yu was far from simple.

Back in her own quarters, Qin Yu found her companions waiting anxiously. She smiled. "What are you all doing?"

Wang Bing replied, "Waiting for you! We decided that if you didn’t return soon, we’d go looking for you."

The group all nodded in unison.

Qin Yu was touched by the sight. "Now that I’m back, you can all relax. Go on, I’m tired and need some rest."

Wang Bing, seeing the fatigue in Qin Yu’s face, agreed and led everyone out.

Once alone, Qin Yu locked the door behind them. Her head was spinning, perhaps a reaction to some instinctive sense of danger. On a whim, she entered her inner space.

As soon as she entered, she lost consciousness. The green mist, which had long since yielded to her, seemed to sense something and rushed eagerly into her body through fine scratches on her arm.

Once inside, the green mist surged straight into her sea of consciousness.

"Qin Yu… Qin Yu… Qin Yu…" In her daze, Qin Yu heard a familiar voice calling her name. She wanted to answer, but no sound came out.

"Come to me… over here…" Her body slowly rose and tried to walk toward the voice, but the chaos in her sea of consciousness made it impossible for her to find the way.

Sensing her confusion, the owner of the voice cursed, "Damn it!"

With that, Qin Yu’s body fell again.

Inside her sea of consciousness, the green mist began repairing the damage. Meanwhile, her physical form in the space glowed with a green light, while her hands radiated an ever-intensifying blue glow. The green and blue lights competed, each growing stronger, and soon half the space was shrouded in their brilliance.

Under this radiance, the crystal nuclei Qin Yu had collected turned to ashes.