Chapter 152: The Moon Asks the Waning Years for Redemption

Butterfly lowered her gaze, saying, "You know about the Blood Spear Project too?"

"Taking gifted children from the Great Xia, subjecting them to genetic modification, and turning them from within into a spear meant to pierce Great Xia's defenses—that is their Blood Spear Project!" Lin Xiaosu said. "Do you truly believe your younger brother can still come back?"

Butterfly's body trembled slightly.

Just this single question shattered her defenses.

Because she knew clearly how the Blood Spear Project was forged; it was a training regimen conducted through the method of raising Gu. What does raising Gu mean? It means placing ten venomous insects into a single container and letting them slaughter one another.

Only the single venomous insect that ultimately survives is called a Gu.

The Blood Spears within Hydra were forged in the exact same manner.

Any child who entered had a chance of survival, but the absolute maximum limit of that probability was one-tenth.

And that was merely the upper limit.

Because raising Gu involved far more than a single round of trials.

The people on that side told her that her younger brother was still alive.

However, could the words spoken by those people possibly be trusted?

"Let's change the question!" Lin Xiaosu said. "Even if your younger brother could somehow return alive, do you think he would still be your brother?"

Butterfly's trembling intensified. This was the second point where her defenses were breached, once again relentlessly targeted by Lin Xiaosu.

Anyone who entered Hydra's secret base underwent comprehensive, all-encompassing modification.

An innocent and kind person went in, and a demon came out.

Her younger brother had been only nine years old when he entered.

A nine-year-old child was a blank sheet of paper. When he came out, who could possibly know what he would look like?

This was what Lin Xiaosu meant when he asked: after he returns, will he still be your brother?

Lin Xiaosu sighed softly, "It seems this question still causes you pain. Let's ask the third question: do you truly believe that by working for them, they will ultimately honor their promise?"

Butterfly slowly raised her head. "Stop asking!"

"Because out of the three questions I asked, you cannot answer a single one!" Lin Xiaosu said. "You simply have no other options left; you can only choose to believe them. Because the only straw you have to grasp is held in their hands, and even if that straw has already turned to ashes, you would rather believe it still exists than accept that it is gone."

Butterfly said, "Since you know all of this, why bother asking?"

Lin Xiaosu replied, "If you truly have no other way out, I do!"

Butterfly jerked her head up in astonishment...

Lin Xiaosu continued, "Hydra is the greatest adversary of the Hidden Dragon, and also my greatest adversary. I will unearth their secret bases one by one, and sooner or later, I will find out exactly what kind of people are inside them. If your younger brother is still alive, I can find him."

A wild, frenzied look filled Butterfly's eyes.

"Isn't it a bit ironic? The promise they made to you—that they would let you find your younger brother—is most likely nothing more than a lie. Your younger brother is merely a bunch of green grass hung in front of a donkey turning a millstone. But I, your enemy, am the one who can genuinely help you find your brother. In this regard, I am entirely different from them!"

"You are no different at all! You also want to use me! Do you dare deny it?" Though Butterfly's voice was kept very low, her state of madness was already fully exposed.

"I admit that I am!" Lin Xiaosu said. "But my use of you has a fundamental difference from theirs! For them to achieve their goal of utilizing you indefinitely, it is impossible for them to ever truly return your younger brother to you. But as for me, while I am utilizing you, I can genuinely find your brother."

Butterfly's heart leaped violently...

This was the difference.

Yes, it was indeed different.

Hydra had told her that if she worked for them, they would return her younger brother to her.

He had just used a vivid metaphor: the bunch of green grass in front of a donkey turning a millstone.

That bunch of green grass was merely shown to the donkey; it was never meant to be truly eaten by the donkey.

If the donkey actually got to eat the grass, it would lose all motivation to keep turning the millstone.

What those people wanted was simply to keep her, Butterfly, working for them forever. Therefore, they would never actually give her brother back to her...

And he was different!

Whether it was him or the Hidden Dragon, their ultimate goal was to eradicate evil and sweep away all of Hydra's secret bases in Great Xia in one fell swoop.

If this goal was truly achieved, it would indirectly accomplish Butterfly's own objective as well—within the membership records of the secret bases, she could truly discover her younger brother's whereabouts.

The rooftop was very quiet.

The sound of televisions drifted faintly from only a few rooms.

Including Butterfly's own room.

Little Moon was in there watching cartoons.

Butterfly's gaze slowly pulled back from the distant horizon and shifted onto Lin Xiaosu's face. At that moment, an unprecedented conflict and hesitation filled her expression. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Faced with someone like me, why give me... a chance?"

"Because of Little Moon!"

Because of Little Moon—what an absurd reason...

What an unreasonable explanation...

And yet, Butterfly understood. She sighed softly, "Throughout the entire Miao Village, with a population of three hundred thousand, probably everyone thinks that Little Moon is fortunate to have met me. But who could have imagined that the reality is the exact opposite?"

For people of Hydra, encountering the Hidden Dragon or those standing on the Hidden Dragon's side meant it was strictly a matter of life and death, with no second possibility.

Yet tonight was different. Tonight, Lin Xiaosu had given her a chance.

Why?

What Lin Xiaosu told her was: because of Little Moon.

This statement was true.

At least at the exact moment Lin Xiaosu uttered those words, it was real.

Because he had genuinely felt Little Moon's affection for her teacher—an affection that went far beyond that of a student for an instructor, resembling much more a child's love for a mother.

No matter what kind of person she was, no matter how many times she had committed evil deeds in the past, and no matter how many years she deserved to serve according to the criminal law, in Little Moon's eyes, she was the single star shining brightly in an endless, pitch-black night.

Because in the darkest moment of Little Moon's life, she had become the child's salvation.

Yes, salvation!

And yet, who could have guessed?

In truth, Little Moon was her salvation as well.

Among all beings in this world, only the eyes of a young child remain flawless.

It was precisely because Lin Xiaosu saw this that he believed Butterfly was not beyond redemption...

On this night, the stars and the moon still shone brightly across the sky of the Miao Village.

On this night, a gentle breeze swept across the mountain ridges.

On this night, no one knew what words had passed between Lin Xiaosu and Butterfly.

However, a single shifting piece had thus quietly been placed onto the great chessboard of the world...

The night grew deep. Butterfly returned to her room and gently smoothed out the quilt on the bed. Little Moon had been very well-behaved; after watching an episode of her cartoon, she had climbed into bed by herself and pulled the blanket over herself to sleep. Her teacher stood under the dim, warm light, gazing at her in silence for a very, very long time.

Lin Xiaosu also returned to his guest room and stood by the window, looking out at the small garden.

In the small garden, phoenix-tail bamboo swayed in the breeze.

A few butterflies fluttered gracefully among the flowers.

Butterflies were truly strange creatures: before breaking out of their cocoons, they were ugly little worms; only after breaking through could they display their ethereal elegance and stunning grace...

Also on this night, a small car departed from Taichong.

There were two people inside the vehicle: Liu Qianxing and Li Ziyi.

Liu Qianxing was driving, while Li Ziyi sat in the passenger seat, gazing out into the vast firmament with an expression of profound desolation in her eyes.

"Ziyi, are we just going to fail like this again?" Liu Qianxing's voice drifted over, carrying a hint of desolation and a trace of incomprehension.

Indeed, she had always placed absolute trust in Ziyi's schemes, supported by countless successful precedents that gave her unwavering confidence.

Yet, during this trip to the Southern Frontier, faced with this inexperienced young man, they had failed once more.

And they had failed two successive plots.

In truth, he had fallen right into both traps meticulously laid out by Li Ziyi.

The first plan had been: to borrow the peerless martial prowess of Du Tiange to kill him! The hardest hurdle of this plan was luring him across the national border. To achieve that, they had designed several sets of schemes, one of which involved helping Lin Xiaosu encounter a romantic confidante in the Southern Frontier, and then abducting that confidante across the border to lure him into following.

They had even designed a scheme as elaborate as that.

One could easily imagine how thorough their preparations had been.

Who could have anticipated that Lin Xiaosu wouldn't make them waste much effort at all—he had simply run off to a border post on his own and crossed the frontier voluntarily. However, while the opening act followed their script to perfection, the later stages deviated entirely.

Du Tiange crossed paths with him.

And Du Tiange ended up dead!

While Lin Xiaosu returned alive and kicking!

The second plan was to lure him into the Miao Village.

Because they knew how terrifying the Miao Village was.

Anyone from the Hidden Dragon who entered would die.

If he entered, he would die just the same.

The greatest challenge remained how to get him to go inside...

Once again, it didn't require much brainpower on their part; Lin Xiaosu, acting on a sudden whim of his own, walked right in...

That entry had initially filled the two women with wild joy, bringing a sense of divine favor...

And yet, the script had deviated once more!

The first half matched their design intentions to perfection, dreamlike in its execution.

The second half deviated once again, to a degree that made them doubt reality itself.

Right inside a place like the Miao Village, facing the former Thousand-Face Killing God of the Hidden Dragon, he had launched a counter-kill and eliminated him directly!

With both schemes failed, they had no choice but to leave.

And they had to leave in the dead of night.

Because they harbored a terrifying premonition that the chess piece left behind in the hotel might be exposed. Once exposed, Lin Xiaosu would likely trace it right back to them.

You could doubt whether a donkey actually had four legs, but you must never doubt the tracking skills of that scumbag Lin.

They successfully slipped out of the Southern Frontier.

By the break of dawn, they had safely arrived in a major metropolis.

Melting into the tens of millions of people, the tension within them finally seemed to ease.

At that moment, having changed their identities, absolutely no one could lock onto them based solely on vehicle information or personal identification records...

Liu Qianxing finally let out a long breath and asked, "Where are we going now?"

Li Ziyi replied, "We are going to see my teacher."

"Our teacher from university?" She and Li Ziyi had been classmates in university, so Li Ziyi's teacher naturally counted as her teacher as well.

Li Ziyi shook her head gently. "No, a teacher from a different path."

Liu Qianxing's expression shifted drastically...

"This scoundrel is indeed somewhat extraordinary, but rest assured, before our teacher, everything he is and does amounts to nothing at all!"

...

The morning sun rose.

The hundred-li Miao Village was bathed in sunlight, serene and peaceful.

The breeze carried the same coolness as yesterday.

The mist retained yesterday's hazy veil.

From the tea plantations, the songs seemed to echo just as they had yesterday.

Lin Xiaosu strolled leisurely past the edge of the tea garden, while two village women whispered quietly to each other hidden among the tea trees...