Chapter 334: Borrowing Techniques Is Not Stealing

At 1 AM, He Jiaqing entered Xiao Zhenggong's villa. Over a dozen bodyguards were on the first floor of the villa, yet none of them noticed He Jiaqing.

He Jiaqing first went to the second floor, which contained guest rooms and a study. After a thorough search, he found nothing. He then proceeded to the third floor, which had two bedrooms. A full inspection still yielded no sign of what he was looking for. Something so valuable wouldn't be kept on the first floor. Where else could it be? The basement?

He Jiaqing entered the basement. The first sub-level housed a wine cellar and a cinema, but the item wasn't there. There was also a second sub-level. The second sub-level contained a garage and a pump room. As He Jiaqing passed the pump room, he stopped. There was a hidden room. A hidden room was located between the pump room and the garage.

He Jiaqing felt around the wall for a moment and found a specific brick. This brick was unique; He Jiaqing's fingers could sense its distinct texture, indicating a hidden mechanism within. The secret door was here. The mechanism wasn't hard to decipher, but could there be a trap? The item was just behind the door. Despite the seal, He Jiaqing could sense its formidable presence. Entering so rashly would likely be dangerous. But for the sake of the renowned general Zhao Xiaowan, taking the risk was worthwhile!

He Jiaqing rubbed the brick for a moment, and the mechanism was quickly solved. The hidden door slowly opened, revealing a tightly wrapped long spear standing upright in the center of the secret room. He Jiaqing cautiously approached the spear. He had heard about Zhao Xiaowan's methods and knew that even a slight lapse in attention could lead to severe injury.

"Desolate Ziyun's abode, who comes to seek a word?" the spear suddenly spoke.

He Jiaqing broke out in a cold sweat. It was normal for it to speak. He hadn't expected it to recite poetry. This was also normal; Zhao Xiaowan was not only a general but also a talented scholar.

"Don't worry, I mean no harm."

According to the information he had gathered, Zhao Xiaowan, after transforming into a spear, was both deaf and blind. Even though he knew she couldn't hear him, He Jiaqing still spoke softly, trying to soothe her. This wasn't to soothe Zhao Xiaowan, but to remind himself. He must not show the slightest ill will; against a grandmaster of cultivation, any malice would be fatal.

"Yesterday we met over a cup of wine, today my tongue commands a myriad of mighty armies. No crack in the earth, no path in the sky, who are you and who am I?" the spear spoke again, its imposing presence intensifying.

He Jiaqing stepped back half a pace, not only due to the increasing power but also because he noticed a powerful seal around the spear. This seal would be difficult to break. He Jiaqing had initially planned to take the spear from the villa, but now he changed his approach.

"I only wish to borrow a little technique from you, just a bit. I simply want to borrow the 'Wind from Level Ground' technique; I won't touch any other skills. Of course, if you're willing to lend me the 'Separation of Ten Thousand Miles' technique, I would be very grateful. Your technique will be slightly weakened, but what is borrowed will be returned and eventually restored."

He Jiaqing touched the spear, and its presence intensified once more. Having acquired the technique, He Jiaqing had no time to verify it. He immediately withdrew his hand and turned to leave, only to see a dozen bodyguards rushing into the basement. That brick indeed held another secret.

With the bodyguards here, Xiao Zhenggong would surely return as well. This was no place to linger. He Jiaqing, not wanting to engage the bodyguards, vanished in a flash. By the time the bodyguards reacted, He Jiaqing was already outside the villa's front door. Just as he thought he could escape smoothly, Xiao Zhenggong suddenly charged forward and kicked at He Jiaqing.

Back so soon? He Jiaqing dodged the kick, and Xiao Zhenggong's shoe flew off his foot. He Jiaqing evaded the shoe as well. It struck the marble steps, shattering them. The shoelace detached itself from the shoe and whipped He Jiaqing on the back like a lash. That hurt quite a bit. He Jiaqing stumbled and then disappeared into the night.

Xiao Zhenggong chased for a couple of steps but couldn't catch He Jiaqing. He turned around and rushed back into the basement. Thankfully, the spear was still there. Xiao Zhenggong looked at the group of bodyguards and cursed, "Useless!" The bodyguards dared not speak, not because they were scared of Xiao Zhenggong, but because they were terrified by the spear. Its terrifying aura, like a thousand soldiers charging, left them speechless. Xiao Zhenggong looked at the spear, not daring to approach it easily. The spear needed a new location. He had finally managed to get into the archives, only to have seen two pages before this damned thief ruined his entire night. Who was this damned thief? If he caught him, he would tear him to pieces.

On Chengyun Road, Yuezhou City, Qin Minghui arrived at Ruirong Textile Factory. The factory had been abandoned for many years, with weeds growing rampant around its walls. The parents of two children were weeping heartbrokenly at the entrance, desperately trying to rush into the factory, but they were held back by the police. Qin Minghui showed his identification and learned the situation: two children were still inside the factory premises, their fate unknown. The surrounding roads had been cordoned off, but no one was sure if the unknown creature inside would emerge.

A witness claimed the unknown creature was a snake, coiled on the ground, taller than a human, with two fangs larger than cleavers. Cleavers? Qin Minghui imagined the shape of a cleaver; it didn't seem to match snake fangs. The witness was a beggar who had intended to sleep in the textile factory for the night. Two children had entered the factory to play, and a small dispute arose between them. During the dispute, the giant snake appeared. The beggar immediately fled, but the two children, being slower, were dragged into the factory building by the creature. According to this description, the children's chances of survival were very low.

A police officer asked Qin Minghui, "Should we send in search and rescue personnel?" Qin Minghui disagreed: "Non-specialists should not approach anomalies." Another police officer asked, "Are you a specialist?" A nearby officer, who had seen Qin Minghui's ID, commented, "He's an intern." "I suggest you wait for your captain to arrive." Captain Chen Changrui was not in Yuezhou; he was on his way back. The closest other team members were still over twenty minutes away by car.

Boom! A puff of green smoke rose from the factory building, which seemed on the verge of collapse. A collapse wasn't the main concern; everyone's greatest fear was the anomaly suddenly rushing out.

Qin Minghui said, "Everyone prepare for evacuation. I'll go in first to assess the situation." The police officer tried to dissuade him: "I stand by what I said, it's best to wait for your captain, or at least for official team members to arrive." "I am an agent of the Dark Star Bureau, bound by duty. Please cooperate."

Qin Minghui crossed the cordon, holding his gun, and cautiously walked towards the factory building. Upon reaching the entrance, he didn't rush in but instead took the outdoor stairs to the second floor. The door panels on the second floor had been removed, allowing him to enter without making a sound. In factories like this, the first floor usually extends all the way to the ceiling, and the second floor typically serves as an operating platform for special equipment. From the second floor, one could clearly see the situation on the first floor. These were all case studies Qin Minghui had learned during his internship. As expected, the second floor was indeed a platform encircling machinery.

Standing on the platform, Qin Minghui saw a corpulent creature on the first floor, wriggling next to a knitting machine, entangled in various colorful, almost rotten threads. Qin Minghui steadied his breathing, trying his best to suppress his pounding heart. This was his first time seeing an anomaly in person. He was very nervous, and the creature's size far exceeded his understanding of living organisms. By visual estimation, Qin Minghui made a rough judgment: the creature was about six meters long and two meters in diameter. Although it was elongated, judging by its proportions, it shouldn't be a snake; it was shorter and thicker than a snake's body. The anomaly was predominantly white, with regularly distributed black spots and sparse hair.

The monster climbed onto another row of knitting machines. This time, Qin Minghui was certain it wasn't a snake because it had legs—short, thick legs that weren't dense but were numerous, more than ten of them. The monster turned, and Qin Minghui saw its "face." It did have a pair of large teeth, but they weren't snake fangs. They were insect mandibles! It was a silkworm. Aside from its massive size, its other features were strikingly similar to the domestic silkworms Qin Minghui had seen as a child.

Through observation and comparing it to cases he had studied, Qin Minghui formed a preliminary judgment. This type of anomaly belonged to insect larvae. It currently showed no human characteristics, acted primarily on instinct, and generally qualified as a relatively primitive anomaly. Primitive anomalies usually didn't have high intelligence. Animals like domestic silkworms, before metamorphosing into moths, didn't have very good eyesight, and their combat capabilities shouldn't be strong. Of course, this was only a preliminary assessment. Captain Chen had once mentioned that in Puluo Province, there was a type of anomaly called the bagworm moth, also in the form of an insect larva. These anomalies were not primitive; they were highly intelligent and extremely powerful, capable of easily annihilating a fully armed hundred-person squad.

Qin Minghui didn't act rashly. Locating the monster meant he had already exceeded his mission objectives. Now, all he needed to do was quietly wait for backup.

Crying! Qin Minghui stiffened and looked towards the corner of the factory building. Something was moving there. It was two balls of yarn. Qin Minghui initially thought they were spools from the knitting machine. He listened carefully to the crying; it sounded like children. The children were alive! They were trapped in the yarn balls!

Qin Minghui gripped his pistol. The situation had become complicated. Why would this silkworm put the children in yarn balls? Qin Minghui recalled the habits of domestic silkworms: they should eat leaves and didn't have a habit of hunting with silk. Seeing that it was also entangled in various threads, could it be practicing cocooning? Silkworms don't eat before cocooning. This was the most optimistic guess Qin Minghui could make. Of course, it was an anomaly, so he couldn't completely apply the rules of domestic silkworms.

After waiting for over ten minutes, the silkworm continued to wrap itself in yarn, apparently with no other intentions. A message arrived on his phone: colleagues had reached the factory vicinity. Qin Minghui had just breathed a sigh of relief when he suddenly saw the huge silkworm wriggle towards the corner of the factory building, pouncing on the two children in the silk threads. It used three pairs of short, thick legs to grab the struggling children, reared up half its body, and opened a pair of mandibles. This was identical to how a domestic silkworm would chew on a mulberry leaf.

Without a moment's hesitation, Qin Minghui picked up his pistol, aimed at the creature, and fired ten shots, emptying the magazine. The Dark Star Bureau's specially designed pistols for combatants were extremely powerful and could have their accuracy significantly enhanced by the wielder's control. All ten shots hit the "silkworm's" head. It was clear the silkworm was in pain. It hurt as if it had been flicked on the head ten times.

The silkworm dropped the children it was holding and instinctively lunged at Qin Minghui, who had just fired. The second-floor platform collapsed from the impact. Qin Minghui was first launched upwards, hitting the roof, and then fell back to the ground. This wasn't something one could learn from textbooks or case studies, nor could it be practiced on a training ground. It was a bit like a rollercoaster, except he currently had no protective gear. The moment he hit the ground, Qin Minghui felt as though his internal organs had shifted.

His pistol fell some distance away. Qin Minghui wanted to retrieve his pistol, but he couldn't stand up. The enormous "silkworm" wriggled towards him. Qin Minghui picked up an iron pipe from the ground and threw it at the "silkworm." As a combatant, he could accurately throw the iron pipe at the silkworm's head. But he hadn't reached a higher level of proficiency; his strength wasn't enough, and the iron pipe failed to injure the silkworm. The silkworm swept its body, coiled around Qin Minghui, and squeezed tightly. Qin Minghui's vision blurred. His bones creaked. Qin Minghui used his combatant's talent to desperately hold on, but he reached his limit in an instant.

The two children were crying. Qin Minghui, with difficulty, shouted to the children, "Run!" The slightly older child broke free from the threads, tried to run, but tripped over the threads again. The other child just cried, lacking even the courage to stand up. The silkworm turned towards Qin Minghui and unfurled its short, thick insect legs. Qin Minghui clawed at the silkworm with his fingernails; it was the only counterattack he could manage.

Bang! Bang! Two gunshots rang out in quick succession. A slender figure rushed into the factory building. Lightbulb is here! He fired several shots at the "silkworm." The enraged silkworm released Qin Minghui, turned, and coiled Lightbulb within its body. Whoosh! "Lightbulb" slipped out of the silkworm's body, changed magazines, and continued firing. The "silkworm" turned to coil again, and Lightbulb escaped once more.

After circling for over ten minutes, Tangyuan rushed into the workshop. Holding a fountain pen, he approached the "silkworm" and flung out a large splatter of ink. The ink transformed into countless characters. Lightbulb shouted, "Run!" Before he finished speaking, the characters, both large and small, began attacking everyone present, indiscriminately.