Chapter 57: Pu Liuqian’s Mind Arts

Chapter 57: Pu Liuqian’s Mind Arts

The pursuers were relentless. The patrol members were already right on top of me. Just as I was weighing whether to abandon the parasitic host, a voice suddenly spoke inside the host’s brain.

“Pull out. I’ll take over.”

Who was that?

I glanced around. Every force chasing me was closing in, hemming me in from all sides. There was no way I could escape on my own. Since I was going to abandon the host anyway, I thought, I might as well hand it over.

So I cut my connection with the parasitic host at once and withdrew.

When I opened my eyes, Uncle and Mother were both watching me. That meant the person who had taken over the host was neither of them.

Uncle said happily, “You really pulled it off. We received all the intelligence from the quantum information materials. You brought back quite a haul this time—a major contribution to the base. The intelligence far exceeded our expectations.”

A moment ago I had been fleeing for my life. Now I had suddenly detached from the pursuit and returned to this calm, unhurried space, and my mind still had not caught up. I asked Uncle, “Who was it that took over control of the parasitic host? Will he be in danger?”

Uncle said, “Even if we have to abandon that parasitic host, it was worth it. The person who just took over for you was Engineer Lin. Since you’re still worried about how things stand over there, let’s watch together.”

He tapped the device on his wrist, and the large screen on the base wall immediately lit up with a live feed of the host’s escape.

In midair, the parasitic human I had been controlling moments ago was surrounded by a ring of patrol members. Down on the ground, twenty or thirty security dogs prowled and barked furiously.

The flying motorcycle rider who had been pressed against my chest earlier had come to a stop. She stood in the air, removed her helmet, and shook out a fall of long black hair. The strands stirred gently in the breeze.

A man stepped forward from the patrol team—their captain, by the look of it. He gave the woman a military salute and said, “Young Miss. You’re saying you deliberately took this person with you while he was fleeing? Our Sky-Eye systems tracked him and a parasitic pigeon skulking on a rooftop, fiddling with some device. The moment our investigation team’s Sky-Eye systems flew over, they bolted. We suspect they are resistance spies.”

The woman said, “You pack of pigs. You certainly gave chase quickly enough—and with breathtaking stupidity. If you hadn’t pursued so aggressively, I could at least have sensed the general location of the resistance. Instead, you went ahead and treated me as a spy. What exactly are your same-frequency sensing and information-sharing channels for, if not this?”

The captain said, “This subordinate is incompetent. In the heat of the moment, we didn’t think clearly. We only wanted to arrest them and find out what they were doing. They ran the moment they saw us—a sure sign of a guilty conscience.”

The woman said, “Idiots. Do I really have to tell you what they were doing? Think before you act.”

The patrol members fell silent at once.

I stared at the strange scene on screen and asked Uncle, “Who is this woman? What kind of background does she have to be this formidable?”

Uncle smiled. “You brat—you really will grab anyone. That is the only daughter of Pu Xuande, the Shadow Pavilion’s Grand Elder. Her name is Pu Liuqian. She’s a capable woman and well known in the upper reaches of the Elite World. Almost everyone in the upper ranks of the Elite World knows her. She rarely appears in public and only shows up for major occasions. Her exceptional ability is telepathic sensing—she is, in a sense, a psychologist. Her specialty is mind arts. She once used them to subdue a group of political dissenters and clear the path to power for her father, Pu Xuande. Ever since, the Elite World has said that in front of her, everyone is transparent. Most people don’t dare go near her, and no one provokes her. How on earth did you manage to grab hold of her?”

I said, taken aback, “I had no idea who she was. In that emergency I grabbed the first person within reach—she was just unlucky. Is this Grand Elder Pu Xuande really that powerful? His daughter is so arrogant she doesn’t even take the patrol team seriously. That’s a deep background.”

Uncle said, “The Shadow Pavilion is a mysterious management organization. Every decision in the entire Elite World originates there. Though it presumably has some internal division of responsibilities, ordinary elite people know only one name: Pu Xuande. He is the Shadow Pavilion’s spokesman—all of the Shadow Pavilion’s political orders are issued by him. People call him the Chief Steward of the Shadow Pavilion. Your mother and I, however, don’t see it that way. We think Pu Xuande is genuinely nothing more than a spokesman, with no real decision-making power. For the public, of course, that image is sufficient. As for Pu Liuqian—her own abilities are one thing, but with Pu Xuande as the great tree standing behind her, every department and organization in the Elite World must show her some measure of deference.”

I nodded. The Elite World was not simply the pack of wolves I had imagined. It was a jianghu unto itself.

Beyond that, I still did not know how Pu Liuqian’s mind arts differed from my own same-frequency sensing, or from that of elite people in general. They all seemed like tools for reading minds. Perhaps if I ever had the chance to experience her mind arts firsthand, everything would become clear.

On the screen, Pu Liuqian ignored the patrol captain and shot her hand out, reversing her grip to seize the parasitic host by the throat.

“You actually dared grab my throat just now? Hm. No—wait. The person inside the host earlier wasn’t you. Who are you? Did that person leave?”

The parasitic host controlled by Engineer Lin burst out laughing. “Everyone says your mind arts are formidable, Pu Liuqian. Seeing them today, I can tell they truly are different from same-frequency sensing. Impressive. My consciousness is fully shielded, yet you can still tell the difference. What kind of power is this?”

Pu Liuqian frowned. “If I had known that person would run, I would have stayed put. You don’t interest me. The only reason I carried him so far was that I wanted to meet him face to face. That person is no ordinary figure. What a pity.”

Engineer Lin smiled. “I sensed that from the start. A fierce woman like you being so cooperative and going along for the ride—there could only be one reason: you wanted to search the contents of his mind. How could I let you succeed so easily?”

Pu Liuqian said, “For a powerful figure in the resistance to say that tells me this person’s identity is something special. Let me guess. He is your young master, isn’t he? Young, yet already versed in same-frequency sensing and frequency-tuned penetrating-wave ability. So what exactly was he doing just now?”

Engineer Lin said nothing.

Pu Liuqian continued, “Your young master went to the roof of a thirty-three-story building himself—a building that happens to face our quantum research institute. What could he see from there? Penetrating waves and same-frequency sensing wouldn’t be enough. That means the device was the key. Li Tongfei, did you find that device just now?”

The patrol captain stepped forward. “We were so focused on catching the fugitive that we haven’t had time to check the device yet.”

Li Tongfei turned to one of his men. “Zhang Xiaolong, Lü Sanyan—take a few people and fly over there immediately. Find out whether it’s still there. Move.”

Pu Liuqian shook her head. “Too late. He fled in such an obvious way on purpose—leaping and bounding everywhere—precisely to draw your pursuit and buy his accomplice enough time to move the device. You all walked right into it.”

She stepped up to the parasitic host. Her gaze passed over the host’s face, and she spoke in an even tone.

“I know your people are watching. I think we can strike a deal. This parasitic host is expensive, and it carries a legal identity—no small investment to modify. I can return it to you and give it a pass as well. As long as it breaks no laws, it can move about freely. Your young master can walk the streets in broad daylight from now on, with no need to hide in dark underground caves or pose as a parasitic pigeon eating pigeon feed. What do you say? All I want in exchange is the real name of that device. Nothing more. Just a name—in exchange for your young master’s freedom. That’s an excellent trade.”

I snapped my gaze toward Uncle, quietly stunned. Young master—she might have been guessing. But she had genuinely seen through the identity of the controller, something I myself could not do. And she had immediately grasped that the world’s only information intelligence processor was significant. That meant she could infer what we had done simply from the device’s name—not something a single parasitic host was worth trading for. But if we told her nothing, she could still deduce the broad outline of our operation from the device’s sheer value.

This woman truly deserved to be called a psychologist.

The smile on Uncle’s face thinned. He stared at the screen without speaking, his fingers tapping absently against the device on his wrist.

The parasitic host’s body went still. Then Engineer Lin’s voice came through the host’s throat, without a trace of unease.

“Young Miss Pu is every bit the psychologist. Inferring what’s in people’s hearts wherever you go. Very well—I’ll tell you. The device is called an electronic predictor. We were using it to measure the intervals in your patrol routes. We didn’t expect to be discovered, so we had no choice but to run.”

The patrol captain, standing nearby in complete bewilderment, had just moved to step forward when Pu Liuqian silenced him with a single look.

“You weren’t involved,” she said. “You had no time to make contact with that device. So you’re lying. How about letting that young master come out and speak for himself?”

I looked immediately at Uncle. Uncle shook his head. “Don’t give her anything. She’s probing us. Call Engineer Lin back.”

I said quickly, “If we do that, Pu Liuqian will still conclude that the device far outweighs the parasitic host in value. And something worth that kind of effort, positioned near the quantum research institute—she’ll be able to infer our objective.”

Mother came over then and said quietly, “Call Engineer Lin back. Pu Liuqian will work out our target sooner or later. What she doesn’t know is what we obtained or how much. Ignore her.”

Uncle nodded and sent Engineer Lin the order.

On the screen, the parasitic host went perfectly still, then crumpled to the ground. The base had abandoned the body entirely.

Pu Liuqian looked at the limp form on the ground, her brows drawing together. She said to the people behind her, “It appears the resistance has made off with data from the quantum research institute.”

One of the patrol members asked anxiously, “You’re saying the resistance stole the core data from the quantum research institute? Grand Elder Pu specifically ordered us to keep a close watch on this area. We even installed additional laser trackers. Anyone who dared approach would have been killed without question. We never detected a single person going near the place. Oh—four days ago, five pigeons did fly over there. We killed three with the lasers, and two flew off beforehand.”

Pu Liuqian raised her eyes toward Hua City. “An elegant method. Those two pigeons that escaped were the two people who carried out the theft just now—one in a pigeon body, the other a parasitic human. Catching them would have been useless regardless. You could never trace their true bodies. That means the most valuable thing was the device. You idiots went after the branches and abandoned the root. The pursuit was in entirely the wrong direction. Had you secured that device, you would know precisely what they stole and how much quantum technology material they took. What good is capturing the parasitic host now?”

Furious, she kicked the limp body from midair down to the ground. Dozens of security dogs surged forward and tore at it. The patrol members in the air exchanged helpless glances, knowing the fault was theirs, and lowered their heads.

My heart clenched. Pu Liuqian was going to be a serious problem. From nothing more than that handful of clues, she had reconstructed our entire operation.

At that moment, Engineer Lin walked over. “I didn’t expect her judgment to be that precise. But why didn’t she move against Beichen when she had the chance? Why did she let herself be seized and even lead his pursuers away?”

Mother said softly, “She’s clever. She knew Beichen was operating through a parasitic host. What she wanted was to sense the secrets inside his mind through close physical contact with the host. That was far more useful than capturing a useless parasitic host.”

The moment she finished speaking, Pu Liuqian and her group vanished swiftly into the sky.