Chapter 151: How Can the Chrysalis Know It Will Not Become a Butterfly

Tonight, the stars filled the sky.

The long-standing, hazy nocturnal veil of Witch God Mountain seemed to be blown away by the mountain breeze, revealing a mesmerizing starry sky.

Stepping out of his room, Lin Xiaosu was greeted once again by a heartwarming scene.

In the next room, Little Moon was hunched over, working on her homework.

On a chair on the rooftop sat Butterfly, Little Moon's teacher.

A faint smile graced the corner of Butterfly's lips. "You didn't come back last night."

"Yes!"

"You've got quite some nerve, daring to spend the night in the Miao village."

Lin Xiaosu sat down beside her. "Is the Miao village that dangerous?"

"I've heard it's a bit dangerous, especially for pretty young fellows like you." Butterfly giggled softly, her smile carrying a unique charm under the starlight.

"I've heard it's a bit dangerous—'heard'!" Lin Xiaosu chuckled lightly. "You're quite good with words, and you really like to say 'I've heard'... I understand why you use that phrase. You can advance and attack, or retreat and defend, right?"

Butterfly furrowed her brows, as if she didn't quite catch Lin Xiaosu's meaning.

Lin Xiaosu picked up the teacup in front of him and poured himself a cup. "You used that exact same word the night before yesterday. Have you forgotten?"

"What did I say?" Butterfly asked.

"You said... you heard that the Moon Spirit Saintess, Yixiang, can control all the venomous insects in the mountains with a bamboo flute."

"Oh... I did say that!" Butterfly nodded gently. "I heard it from others, too."

"That's why those two words, 'I've heard,' are so wonderfully versatile. They can lead me astray, but should I ever see through it, you can just brush the whole thing off by saying, 'Well, I only heard about it anyway.' Brilliant word choice!" Lin Xiaosu brought the teacup to his lips and took a sip of tea.

Butterfly's gaze slowly shifted to his face. "Your words tonight... I'm having a bit of trouble understanding them."

Lin Xiaosu said, "It doesn't matter if you don't understand. Once I explain it clearly, you will... You're a member of the Nine-Headed Snake. Your mission here is actually to monitor anyone who enters the mountain. You knew the agents from Hidden Dragon entered the mountain, and you knew when I entered. You simply used this opportunity to instigate a conflict between me and Yixiang, didn't you?"

Butterfly's face darkened. "I don't care to listen to these crazy ramblings. I'm going back to my room."

She straightened up from the lounge chair, which instantly transformed back into a regular seat.

Lin Xiaosu said calmly, "You are a genetically modified human!"

Butterfly's movements came to an abrupt halt.

"A village girl born into the deepest poverty, who needed the help of a kind volunteer teacher just to survive; a volunteer teacher working in the remote mountains with a monthly subsidy of no more than one thousand, yet somehow able to afford millions or tens of millions to undergo gene-modification surgery—don't you think this is a flaw in the story that can never be patched up?"

Her entire body stiffened.

Lin Xiaosu continued, "Once I knew you were a genetically modified human, I understood that every single word you spoke had an ulterior motive. I must admit, your psychology training is top-notch; you wove truth and falsehood together so seamlessly that you completed your layout without anyone ever noticing."

What were the components of her layout?

Right from the beginning, she gave Lin Xiaosu a piece of advice: don't eat the game meat at the lodge.

That advice was entirely correct, and because Lin Xiaosu didn't listen and ate it on the spot, he suffered a quiet loss.

Yet that advice itself was trivial.

Her true layout was the framing of Yixiang.

The portrait of Yixiang she drew planted the subconscious impression in Lin Xiaosu's mind that Yixiang might be the mastermind behind the scenes.

Even more viciously, she told Lin Xiaosu that Yixiang could control poisonous insects with her flute.

And sure enough, in Peacock Valley, Lin Xiaosu actually heard the flute and fell into a perilous trap surrounded by venomous insects.

This served as the grand prelude that forced Lin Xiaosu and Yixiang into a direct confrontation.

Combined with the fact that she was a genetically modified human, a complete logical loop had formed in Lin Xiaosu's mind.

That was why he had rushed back from the Miao village at the earliest possible moment to keep Butterfly under constant surveillance.

He had expected Butterfly to run, but she hadn't!

Since she still clung to illusions, then right here beneath this beautiful starlight, he would shatter every single one of them...

Butterfly slowly closed her eyes.

Lin Xiaosu held his teacup, quietly watching her.

"The Hidden Dragon flying car is already on its way, isn't it?" Butterfly slowly opened her eyes.

The moment those words left her mouth, it confirmed that all of Lin Xiaosu's guesses were entirely correct.

If she were merely a volunteer teacher, she would never have known about Hidden Dragon.

And she certainly wouldn't have uttered those words.

"If I need it to be, it will be on its way very soon," Lin Xiaosu said.

"Meaning... up until now, you haven't actually made contact with Hidden Dragon yet?"

"Yes!"

Butterfly smiled faintly. "Detective Lin, isn't it a bit... overconfident to blindly lay all your cards on the table without any backup?"

Before she finished speaking, her foot suddenly slipped out of her slipper.

A foot as white as jade bore a sharp thorn at the tip.

With a lift, it arched like a boneless snake.

Raising its head from below like a viper, at an angle completely defying human skeletal structure, it kicked toward Lin Xiaosu's shin.

The moment it made contact, that neurotoxin would be more than enough to completely paralyze Lin Xiaosu and strip him of his mobility.

And only then did her final two words escape her lips: "...arrogant!"

Without backup, blindly laying all your cards on the table—wasn't that just arrogance?

Because this gave her a desperate chance at survival.

However, the very instant that foot was about to touch Lin Xiaosu's knee,

Lin Xiaosu's knees suddenly parted, then snapped shut!

Butterfly's expression changed drastically. That foot—which came and went without a trace and killed in such an unimaginable manner—was firmly clamped between his knees, unable to budge even a fraction of a millimeter.

Lin Xiaosu said, "If I didn't give you a chance to launch a sneak attack, you probably wouldn't truly give up!"

Swish!

The coffee table in front of him and Butterfly suddenly flipped upward.

Butterfly threw her hands out, both palms lunging toward Lin Xiaosu's throat simultaneously. In that split second, her fingernails grew as sharp as blades, and their color turned a toxic, flashing blue.

Lin Xiaosu reached out with both hands, grabbed those wrists, and with a swift twist and turn, pinned Butterfly flat against the floorboard. With a soft thump, the coffee table dropped out of mid-air, landing right beside her head without even spilling a drop of the teacups resting upon it.

Despair filled Butterfly's eyes, for she knew all too well that she was no match for the man before her.

Yet surrender without a fight was completely out of the question!

Her waist suddenly tensed and flexed...

Suddenly, the bedroom door clicked open, and a little girl came running out...

Little Moon. With wide, round eyes, she stared in astonishment at the two people on the floor.

Her teacher was lying flat on her back, and the uncle she had met just the night before was pressing down on top of her.

Both adults froze instantly.

"Teacher, what are you two doing?" Little Moon called out.

"We're playing a game!" Lin Xiaosu said.

"Um... yes, we're playing a game... Little Moon, go watch television." Butterfly took a deep breath.

"I don't know how to turn on the TV..."

Lin Xiaosu loosened his grip. Butterfly climbed up from the floor and went to help Little Moon turn on the television.

The fierce and intense battle had transformed into something unimaginable.

One participant of the battle went off to the bedroom to help Little Moon with the television.

The other participant sat quietly by the coffee table, sipping tea.

The television screen lit up, instantly captivating Little Moon's attention. Butterfly slowly lifted her gaze, stepped out of the room, and...

With a reverse of her hand, she gently pulled the door shut.

Butterfly walked over to the coffee table and slowly sat down. "Shall we find somewhere else to settle this?"

"There's no need!"

No need? Butterfly frowned.

She had thought he would agree.

This rooftop was hardly the place for a life-or-death showdown.

She had thought she could reach a consensus with him.

At the moment when Little Moon had walked out and he had covered up their struggle, she thought they had formed some sort of tacit understanding not to expose their most brutal side in front of the child.

Yet, he had rejected her proposal.

"In front of Little Moon, it's not appropriate to have overly brutal scenes. But I think... just talking isn't particularly brutal," Lin Xiaosu said.

"Just talking?"

"Of course, that also depends on how our conversation goes."

Butterfly let out a soft sigh. "I understand what you mean! But I'm afraid you'll be disappointed... I cannot betray them."

"Why can't you? Do you think the organization behind you is sacred? Do you believe the path you've chosen is worth staking the rest of your life on?"

Butterfly replied, "I know they are the dirtiest creatures on this earth, and I'd rather see every single one of them die and rot without a burial site. But... I still cannot betray them."

"Is it because of the microchip in your brain?"

"No, you're wrong. There is no microchip in my brain!" Butterfly said. "They know the kind of person I am; if they tried to control me using my own life, I would never yield. It's because... of my younger brother. He is my only remaining family in this world, the sole entrustment my mother gave me while clutching my hands as she drew her last breath."

"Tell me your story." Lin Xiaosu's eyes grew calm and steady.

"You already know all my key points. Is there really any need to hear the story?"

"There is."

"Very well. If you want a story, I can tell you this story..."

Butterfly told her story.

A part of her story she had already shared with Lin Xiaosu before.

That part was full of the radiance of human nature.

And that part was true.

She truly was a native of Xijiang Province, a child from a desperately poor family deep in the mountains. Her father had died young, and her mother had struggled through hardship to raise her and her younger brother. All of that was real.

She originally had no way to receive an education, until she met a guiding light in her life—Teacher Deng. That was also true.

However, life has more than one side.

There was another side to her life as well.

Teacher Deng had already passed away, and the person who drove him to his death was the school's principal. Although that principal had been brought to justice, in Butterfly's heart, the sacred radiance attached to the word "teacher" had been completely wiped away.

The person who had inspired her awe and reverence wasn't the profession of teaching itself, but Teacher Deng as an individual!

Once Teacher Deng died, the light vanished entirely from her world.

Her only remaining spiritual sustenance was her younger brother, Hu Chi.

Yet, just as her brother had entered the third grade, he vanished without a trace.

She had searched like a madwoman across a radius of thirty miles around the school, but found no sign of him.

Just when she had completely broken down, someone found her.

They told her that her brother had been taken to an island where his genes would be modified, allowing him to rise above ordinary men and become one of the elite.

She begged them to let her see her brother.

They told her that if she wanted to see him, she had to follow their arrangements.

And so, she underwent gene modification; she worked for them, and they promised her that on the day her brother turned sixteen, the siblings would be reunited...

Her brother was fifteen this year.

Next July, he would turn sixteen!

With the story finished, Butterfly gazed far out into the firmament.

Lin Xiaosu gently set down the teacup he had been holding for a long time. "The Blood Spear Project, is it?"