Chapter 30: An Ant Crawling Along a Thread
Li Xin sat up abruptly. It was nearly impossible to get typical frequencies past her device; she was supposed to be able to listen in on all of them, yet here, all she heard was buzzing. She sat still, thinking through the possibilities. Was the sound just a result of a magnetic surge? Either that or the frequency was military-grade and highly protected. If that was the case, then it definitely wasn’t anything good.
She noticed suddenly that the vibrations had stopped after she sat up. She lowered her body into a crouch — and there it was again. She crawled along the floor, following the buzzing sound in her ear as she searched for its source.
Her journey ended in a corner of the room, where there was a potted bonsai tree on display. It wasn’t particularly eye-catching and there wasn’t anything suspicious about it to the naked eye, but Li Xin circled the plant regardless, inspecting it closely. Finally, she discovered a tiny beetle-shaped circular object hidden near the base of the plant in the soil. It was attached to a silky fine thread that resembled a twig. The buzzing in her ear was going wild, and she frowned. This wave was being controlled remotely via computer.
She inspected the object for several more minutes and then twisted around to stare at the back of Qi Mo, who was currently deep in conversation. Seriously, how many enemies did the guy have? It seemed like no matter where they went, one of these dangerous, life-threatening objects had to make an appearance as well. He seemed to be in perpetual danger; Li Xin couldn’t reconcile the image of the powerful, thunder-like Qi Clan leader who ruled over all of the Western territories with this man who was literally always just narrowly escaping death.
She wondered if she should come to his rescue again. Obviously, she had no desire to, but Sui Xin was in his hands. She glared sullenly at his back and began walking towards him, all the while grinding her teeth in barely suppressed frustration. Red Falcon was right — she was safest with them; without the clan, she was on her own in Southeast Asia and therefore like a tiny ant crawling along a piece of thread.
As she approached the two men, their guide was currently pleading Qi Mo: “Can’t you just leave us this one way to make a living?” His eyes were desperate and glinted with resentment. Beneath the table, his hands curled into tight fists.
Qi Mo didn’t respond, although his body emitted a murderous anger that even Li Xin, who had a unique interpretation of danger, could feel coming off in waves.
Just at that moment, Li Xin noticed that underneath the table, the other man’s hand was casually moving towards his other wrist, reaching for a b.u.t.ton on his sleeve. She stiffened, then swiftly leaped in and announced, “Let’s all be nice and chat some more. I don’t think this project is over just yet.” As she spoke, she rounded the sofa and settled herself deliberately into Qi Mo’s lap.
He looked like he wanted to kill her, but she maintained all smiles. The other man paused and stared blankly at her. “What do you mean?” He asked.
Li Xin glanced at him briefly and then hooked both her arms around Qi Mo’s neck, smiling radiantly. “Come on now, there’s nothing wrong with making a little bit more money. Why ignore the opportunity to gain some profits? If you aren’t interested in it, let me have a go at it. I have my portion of shares and don’t care how much it’ll cost.”
Qi Mo observed her carefully with a frothy look, taking in her uncharacteristically flamboyant flirtatiousness. He sensed a strange p.r.i.c.kling on his back and tensed immediately, suddenly on guard as suspicion flashed across his eyes. His arms circled around Li Xin’s waist then. “If you’re so interested, then I suppose it’s not an impossibility,” he said slowly, focusing straight at her face but imperceptibly sweeping his gaze around the room in his peripheral vision.
She smiled exaggeratedly, her entire face beaming with forced enthusiasm. “It’s a promise then! You can’t inject yourself in my business and dictate who I choose to run the project. I get to choose.”
The other man’s face relaxed back into an easygoing smile at their exchange. “Mistress Qi, you should consider us,” he suggested hopefully. “We’ve been in this business for years and already have all the resources. We would definitely succeed and see a large profit, Mistress. You won’t be disappointed.”
Li Xin glared at Qi Mo. Mistress Qi, what the h.e.l.l. Please, she was a young, unmarried maiden; how could she be perceived as his wife of all things? Still, she smiled coyly and replied, “Well of course I can consider your people. But just now, you were so rude to my darling Mo. In this line of business, that kind of att.i.tude…” Her voice had taken on a sharp, whining tone. The beaming expression stayed on her face, but her disgust showed in her eyes. Honestly, she was going to vomit. Mo? More like mo for devil*.
The other man heard the resentment in her delicately charming voice and rose to his feet, terrified. “Overlord Qi, Mistress Qi, I…”
He was interrupted when Red Falcon and Yellow Falcon suddenly charged at him, moving like lightning, each man clipping one of his arms and breaking his wrist bones.
“Hey! What are you doing?! Ow–” the man’s pained screams were cut off when Red Falcon grabbed his jaw and twisted it.
Li Xin let out a sigh of relief and shot Qi Mo’s attendants an admiring glance. They had understood the words she’d been tracing on Qi Mo’s back. Clearly, they were well-trained. If it weren’t for them, she wasn’t sure how long she’d be able to keep up the sickening doting wife act.
She stood up and went over to the fallen guide, carefully looking over all the b.u.t.tons on his clothing. The on-off b.u.t.ton was located on his wrist just as she suspected; it was a good thing she had stopped him from pressing it, otherwise who knew how much of their bodies would be left.
“What is it?” Qi Mo asked, frowning as he eyed the b.u.t.ton she retrieved from the guide’s sleeve.
She rolled her eyes impatiently. “Does the Qi Clan not own any high tech devices? I mean really, how you people managed to last this long is beyond me,” she said in disbelief. “Don’t tell me your power is just for show. And you call yourselves the rulers of the Americas and Europe… if you ask me, the people of the criminal underworlds there must be idiots.”
Qi Mo’s face darkened. “Mu Lixin,” he ground out, practically seething.
She took in his deadly facial expression and toned it down a little, pursing her lips in judgment. “I’m just telling the truth, that’s all. I’ve only followed you for a few days and I’ve already nearly died three times,” she complained. “Is that how you take on your role as an overlord?” As she spoke, she walked briskly towards the entrance, ready to make an escape from the overlord’s wrath.
And of course, he reached out with one of his powerful hands and grabbed her arm. Except this time, she startled him by twisting out of his grasp and clasping her hand in his instead. “Come on already. There’s something worse than a bomb in this place. You can stay and waste time if you want, but I’m not planning on staying with you.” With that, she began pulling him out the door.
Qi Mo looked back and Red Falcon and Yellow Falcon with his eyebrows raised and quirked his head, indicating that they should follow.
“What is it?” Red Falcon demanded as they walked. “We swept through every inch of that place and didn’t find any trace of explosives or anything that could harm us.”
Back outside in the sea of flowers, Li Xin mentally calculated that they were in a safe position and handed the b.u.t.ton to Qi Mo. “Crush it,” she ordered, then shifted away behind him, sheltering herself in a safe place.
* a pun. Qi Mo’s “mo” is 墨 (mò) as in ink; 魔 (mó) means devil. As you can see though, they’re not h.o.m.ophones. One is fourth tone and one is second.