"Alright, alright, let's leave the thanks until after we've caught the culprit. Time's critical. I've a few important questions to ask Jing Shu first," Captain Wang said helplessly, his voice sounding weary as he adjusted his tactical vest. This incident had been far too dangerous; nearly thousands of people almost perished in the fire and falling stone. The murderer had to be found before they could strike again.
Su Xiangnan's eyes narrowed as he shot Qian Duoduo a sharp look, the intensity of his gaze cutting through the dusty air. This old fox always had to outshine him by just a little, even in a crisis. Truly, lifelong rivals never stopped clashing, their competition etched into every interaction.
Even though they'd both been framed this time, he still gnashed his teeth in hatred, the muscles in his jaw ticking. Truth be told, he only viewed Qian Duoduo as an annoying competitor, but when it came to that government smiling tiger, his hatred was bone deep, cold and unwavering. Su Mali always assumed their relationship's good, but it's that smiling tiger who really gave him a headache, his every move a calculated maneuver.
"Yes, the culprit must be caught," Qian Duoduo agreed, his voice rough with fatigue. His traditional robe was in tatters, the fine silk shredded by debris, and his face was smeared with dust and soot. The walnut he'd been fiddling with for more than ten years was gone, lost somewhere in the rubble of his grand estate.
The tense atmosphere eased somewhat thanks to Jing Shu's success in preventing the castle explosion, the looming threat of total destruction finally receding. As the life saving hero, everyone treated her with extra kindness and admiration, their voices softening when they spoke to her.
Even the old doctor carefully tended her wound, his wrinkled hands steady as he cleaned the jagged cut. She hated pain, but she couldn't very well grimace and groan now with so many eyes on her. Inwardly, though, she's cursing Lin Yi to hell and back, her anger simmering beneath her calm exterior.
If she'd known earlier that Lin Yi intended to blow up Xishan, she'd have just stolen the explosives herself. It would have saved her so much trouble and kept her skin intact.
Scanning the vast, vaulted space of the castle, she didn't see that drama loving, brainless son of a landlord, nor did she spot Qian Duoduo's daughter, Qian Qianjin, or his wife. The hall felt emptier without the family's presence.
Later, she learned he had whisked his family away by helicopter the moment he heard the castle might have been rigged with bombs, the rotors' thump thump thump fading into the storm, leaving only himself behind to deal with the mess.
When the only two direct witnesses left, Su Mali and Jing Shu, were finally together, Captain Wang pointed at Fei Zhuzai and said, "Jing Shu, tell us the transaction location, the time, and whether it's really with him."
When the man behind Qian Duoduo stepped forward, Jing Shu's posture stiffened as she is stunned, while Su Mali instinctively backed away, her fingers catching on the hem of her shirt.
In that instant, Jing Shu pieced together most of the story, the disparate threads finally forming a coherent picture.
She shook her head, the movement causing a dull throb in her forehead. "The deal was at the chen (dragon) hour (7 AM - 9 AM), specifically eight this morning, in the underground casino of the abandoned manor. The person then is also called Fei Zhuzai. They do look alike, but the one we dealt with must have been an impostor. And by the afternoon, he's already dead in the underground passage, his body left to rot."
The Fei Zhuzai standing before them wore a tight black suit. He is clearly a self disciplined fat man, his movements precise. He is nothing like the one who'd been bitten by a snake earlier, who'd lounged lazily on the sofa with a careless smirk.
Su Mali suddenly realized the discrepancy, her eyes widening. "I knew something felt off with the one this morning."
Fei Zhuzai also had a revelation, his brow furrowing as he processed the information. "So the person I chatted with on WeChat is the same culprit. They must have finished the transaction with Su Mali, locked her in the underground casino, then disguised themselves as her, Uncle Gou, and two masked bodyguards to come trade with me. They played the perfect timing trick. That way, the timeline I mentioned and Su Mali's disappearance didn't match, and you'd all think I was lying."
Jing Shu nodded, her gaze fixed on the blueprints on the table. She's probably the unexpected variable in the plan, the reason both the timelines and the people failed to match up as Lin Yi had intended.
Still, with such solid evidence, a furious Su Xiangnan wouldn't naturally believe Qian Duoduo had kidnapped his daughter for some hidden agenda.
The brilliance of the scheme lay in the fact that once the bombing began, Su Mali appeared unharmed and revealed the plot to frame them. But since the outside bombardment hadn't ceased, Qian Duoduo wouldn't suspect this is Su Xiangnan's doing.
After all, if the goal's simply to sow chaos, killing Su Mali outright would have been the simplest way to ignite a war. Why let her go? Only a fool wouldn't believe a delicate young lady had escaped captivity, uncovered the conspiracy, and then just happened to show up in the heart of his fortress. So he'd immediately ordered the castle's defenses to activate. He's falling right into Lin Yi's trap.
Everything had been staged for one purpose: Lin Yi wanted the castle defenses triggered so he could detonate the mountain and wipe out everyone gathered at Xishan in a single, massive eruption of fire.
This man's utterly insane, his mind a dark labyrinth of malice.
Yang Yang kicked the wall hard, the thud echoing through the hall. "How'd we ever let him escape to come back and retaliate? This entire incident's deliberate. The speed of those rumors spreading outside proves he's behind it. He lured our whole unit here to wipe us out."
Jing Shu nodded, her fingers tracing the bandage on her head. Lin Yi's ambition's vicious and wolf like, hungry for total destruction.
Once the bombing outside stopped, Captain Wang ordered the others, along with Qian Duoduo's guards, to go handle the aftermath. They'd heard that one side of the mountain's hit, causing a massive landslide that'd buried the roads, and casualties are still being tallied as the rain continued to fall.
"Report! We've identified the woman who lost her upper body in the blast. Her name's Ling Qi. Tracking her last call, we located the other end's IP address just five minutes ago."
By then, Jing Shu's wound had been bandaged, the white gauze stark against her hair. She'd rinsed it with filtered water free of red nematodes, the cool liquid a brief relief. Qian Duoduo even provided her with Qian Qianjin's clothes to change into, the fabric soft and expensive.
The temperature's dropping rapidly, the cold seeping through the stone walls. Soon, it will turn freezing, and she needed to layer up to keep her strength.
"Pursue her! This time we must catch her alive. Where's the location?" Captain Wang barked, his hand going to his holster.
"Banana Community."
"Then move out, now."
Jing Shu's hand trembled, the sudden surge of adrenaline making her fingers twitch, and she accidentally tore the leather jacket she's holding. It looked like she'd just performed a barehanded feat of ripping clothing apart, the tough material snapping like paper.
Around her, people swallowed hard, their eyes fixed on her hands. How much strength would it take to rip through leather like that?
She ignored their stares and quickly called Grandma Jing, her heart thumping against her ribs.
The beeping tones echoed in her ear, each one dragging her heart further down into a pit of anxiety.
Finally, a familiar voice answered. "Hello?"
Relief washed over her, the tension in her shoulders finally breaking. "Grandma? What are you doing?"
Grandma Jing huffed, the sound comforting in its normalcy. "What else? Zijin and I are tidying up the first floor, clearing away the dust."
Jing Shu relaxed, her breath coming easier. "Alright. Grandma, don't go out these next few days, no matter what happens. Oh, has our neighbor Lin Yi come by to see you?"
"Him? We just chatted a while ago."
Jing Shu's heart thudded wildly again, the rhythm erratic.
"That young man said he's moving away and won't be able to drop by often anymore. What a pity. He said he'd visit again if he'd time, then hurried off. Looked like he's in quite a rush."
Jing Shu pressed her lips tight, her jaw aching from the strain. "Okay, Grandma, just stay home. If anything happens, hold down '1' to call me immediately."
After hanging up, she phoned Zijin to confirm everything's quiet at the house, then called the rest of her family one by one. Everyone's safe. Only then had she allow herself to breathe easier, the cold air filling her lungs.
No, this wouldn't do. As long as Lin Yi's free, she'd feel like she'd a bone stuck in her throat, a constant, sharp irritation. She had to eliminate him. Otherwise, she'd never sleep soundly again.
No, she must!
===
I'm not sure if I've ever said this before, but one of my favorite game genres is MMORPGs.On PC, I play Guild Wars 2, and on Android, I've been playing Gaia Odyssey, A3: Still Alive, and Lineage 2: Revolution. That was back around 2020, I think? So yeah, about five years ago. Oh, and SAO IF too!
I started playing Gaia Odyssey and A3 right when they launched in my country, and I've been playing SAO IF ever since.
My usernames? I use Richark for Gaia and A3, and Rikhi for Lineage and SAO IF. My Richark character's around level 200, while Rikhi is somewhere around 350 (I think? Maybe? I kinda forgot lol).
Anyway, I seriously love Gaia Odyssey. It's just light and fun to play.
And A3? The story and graphics? Damn, they're so good. So pleasing to the eyes.
And SAO IF—I've always loved Sword Art Online, especially versions that let me customize my avatar (I love that I can choose the gender instead of being stuck as a male MC). That's also why I play Fatal Bullet on PC.
These three games, I downloaded and played them all the moment they officially launched here.As for Lineage, honestly... I forgot why and when I started playing it (please don't judge me 😭).
So anyway, I started translating and uploading here about five months ago—around June—and since then, I haven't really touched my mobile games. The last time I played was early August.Then today (Oct 23), I opened my games again on my laptop since my phone storage's full and my laptop still has some space.
And guess what? Out of nowhere, I got a mail notification in A3 saying the server will shut down on 2025/11/18.
I was SHOCKED. Like, what the actual fuck? That's less than a month away!!
God, I'm so stressed about it. I mean, the game's honestly so damn good—the story, the visuals, the characters, everything!
It hurts knowing it's ending.
Then I opened Gaia Odyssey and saw a notice about a big update coming on December 2.At least that one's still alive, but man… my A3 character. I even made a guild there, got it up to level 4, and I was the guild leader, dammit! Now it's been demoted back to level 1—probably because there aren't enough active players anymore. Still, it's such a waste. Seriously, what a shame...
Like... dayummm.
Ugh...
This is actually the second game I've played that's shutting down.
The first one was Uta Macross Sma-Pho De-Culture (歌マクロス スマホDeカルチャー), a Japanese rhythm game for the Macross franchise. That series is legendary—mecha, war, songs, and love triangles all mixed together.
It's kinda like AKB0048—mecha, idols, and space battles.
Honestly, thinking about Macross ending still stings too.
Oh, and I usually play assassin class whenever it's an MMORPG or open-world type of game. Anyone here play those too? Add me, please. (´･ω･`)ノ