Chapter 131: The Woman Down the Mountain Is a Tigress

Seeing Qin Chuan’s "wolf claws" approaching her chest with lightning speed, the woman instinctively slammed on the brakes while raising her hands to block him.

However, Qin Chuan’s hands moved like two incredibly agile vipers, skillfully slipping through the gaps in her defense and landing with surgical precision upon her twin peaks.

"Ah!"

Following a sharp cry, Qin Chuan’s entire body collapsed onto the woman, his mouth pressing firmly against her forehead.

The woman’s beautiful eyes widened in disbelief. When she realized the previous shriek had come from Qin Chuan himself, her fury became uncontrollable.

"Get off me, you bastard!"

The woman roared, exerting force with both hands to shove him aside. She had expected her combat-trained strength to send him flying, but Qin Chuan clung to her like a stubborn plaster; despite two attempts to shake him off, he didn't budge an inch.

The crucial point was that the woman suddenly realized the reason Qin Chuan hadn't been thrown off was that he was gripping her "handles," and in his resistance to her movements, he had even molded them into different shapes.

"I’m going to kill you!"

The woman snapped, unleashing her hidden energy for a third time. This time, Qin Chuan was successfully flung away, crashing heavily against the car door before finally stopping.

"Do you even know how to drive? You nearly scared me to death!"

Qin Chuan panted, clutching his chest as if he were still shaken and traumatized. His look of terror was so vivid that the woman even began to doubt whether her previous reaction had been an overreach.

*Could it be that his actions were just an instinctive reflex to save his own life?*

The woman stared intensely at Qin Chuan, noting that the fear in his eyes didn't seem feigned. A tingling sensation still lingered on her chest, and the thought that her "peaks"—which no man had touched in over twenty years—had been taken advantage of by Qin Chuan made her rage boil over once again.

"Why the fierce look? This is all because you can't drive. Don't tell me you're trying to pin the blame on me?"

Qin Chuan’s aggrieved and indignant retort left the woman questioning reality. It did seem that she was the one who had tried to teach him a lesson through her driving, and it was only by a twist of fate that Qin Chuan had managed to get a little bit of a "benefit."

Self-inflicted? Trapped in her own web? Digging her own grave?

These phrases flashed through Ling Qingxue’s mind, and the more she thought about them, the more fitting they seemed.

"There are a few questions you must answer while looking me in the eye, or I’ll treat you to a few lead pills."

As she spoke, Ling Qingxue pulled out a black Type 92 pistol and pressed it against Qin Chuan’s temple.

Qin Chuan raised his hands above his head, his voice trembling slightly. "Don't be impulsive. I'll cooperate fully."

Seeing this reaction, Ling Qingxue was quite satisfied. Then, Qin Chuan noticed a change in her pupils; they began to spin like a colorful disk, accelerating from a slow rotation to a blur, inducing a sense of vertigo in anyone who looked at them.

Qin Chuan quickly realized this was an incredibly strange, hypnotic secret technique. He played along, his gaze gradually becoming unfocused and dull, though in reality, he was clearer than anyone, waiting to see what the woman truly wanted to ask.

"Did you take advantage of me on purpose just now?"

A moment later, the woman’s icy voice drifted over.

Qin Chuan immediately understood what she was focused on, so he replied in a slow, emotionless monotone: "No!"

"Are you afraid of me?"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"My master said that women down the mountain are like tigers, and the prettier they are, the fiercer they become."

Hearing this, Ling Qingxue was left speechless. She felt as though she were being insulted, yet the statement also held a heavy compliment. After a brief internal struggle, she decided to treat it as him calling her beautiful.

Ling Qingxue asked a few more questions and found no flaws, so she let out a long breath and dispelled the hypnosis. Qin Chuan’s eyes regained their luster.

"This... what just happened?" Qin Chuan asked with a bewildered expression.

Ling Qingxue’s tone softened slightly. "Have you not been resting well lately? How did you fall asleep while we were talking?"

"Really? Why do I feel like something isn't quite right?" Qin Chuan continued his act.

Ling Qingxue stopped responding and gave a well-intentioned reminder: "You’d better fasten your seatbelt, so you don't get bumped around again."

Seeing that his acting hadn't been seen through, Qin Chuan breathed a sigh of relief. Although he didn't know why this murderous, beautiful woman was targeting him, he had at least come out on top during their earlier encounter.

Ling Qingxue restarted the SUV. Once the vehicle was moving smoothly, Qin Chuan probed, "May I ask how to address you? And what does the Dragon King want with me by sending you?"

"Just call me Vermilion Bird. As for what he specifically wants, the Dragon King will tell you himself," Ling Qingxue replied, then fell silent.

Qin Chuan didn't push further when he realized he couldn't get any more information. He began to observe Ling Qingxue on the sly. He guessed that "Vermilion Bird" was just a codename; it was clear she belonged to the Special Military Department, and judging by her strength, her rank shouldn't be low. Even if she wasn't on the Dragon King’s level, she was likely far superior to Mo Qingqiu.

Thinking of Mo Qingqiu, he wondered how Long Qianqiu had managed to arrange her placement beside Qin Youyou so reasonably.

As for the Vermilion Bird beside him, in terms of pure appearance, she was slightly inferior to Lin Wanyu or Liu Qingcheng, but she possessed a unique martial aura and murderous intent that added to her appeal. Furthermore, her body was a perfect, golden-ratio masterpiece, making her overall level top-tier.

Clearly sensing Qin Chuan’s burning gaze, Ling Qingxue snapped, "If you dare to peek again, I don't mind gouging your eyeballs out and stepping on them like bubbles."

"Mo Qingqiu seems to have said that, too," Qin Chuan muttered, rubbing his chin.

Ling Qingxue said coldly, "Nonsense, she learned it from me."

Hearing this, it dawned on Qin Chuan why this beautiful woman codenamed Vermilion Bird was targeting him—it was because of Mo Qingqiu.

"Mo Qingqiu is my niece. If you’re her good friend, then strictly speaking, I’m your elder. How can you speak to an elder with such hostility?" Qin Chuan said with the tone of a school dean.

Ling Qingxue’s eyebrows arched and her eyes widened. She glared at him and expressed her protest by slamming on the gas. For the rest of the journey, she ignored Qin Chuan as if he were air.

About two hours later, the SUV stopped in a very inconspicuous, dilapidated residential area. Ling Qingxue said in a low voice, "The Dragon King is waiting for you in 302."

Qin Chuan looked at her, seeing she had no intention of going up. He didn't ask further and headed straight for 302, wondering why Long Qianqiu had chosen such a run-down place for their meeting.

He soon arrived at the door and knocked lightly. Faint footsteps could be heard from inside.

The door opened, and Long Qianqiu’s figure appeared. Just as Qin Chuan was about to speak, Long Qianqiu made a shushing gesture and pulled him into the room.

However, once Qin Chuan entered the inner chamber, he was met with a sight that made his scalp crawl.