Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 172 Hostages
In the end, Qin Mei withdrew her hand.

"Okay, okay, you're very good!"

Qin Mei understood.

Oda Yukiko had been trying to extract information from her in various ways, and I had obtained a lot of information from her.

For example, she determined that Jiang Jin and others were her enemies. For Yukiko, the enemy of her enemy is naturally her friend.

Last night, she deliberately brought up the information to determine if they were truly unaware of the balloon's details, thus using this to hinder her.

“I just want to fight for my daughter and me to survive,” Yukiko said, her forehead covered in cold sweat. She knew she had made the right gamble. “Once you unlock the bracelet, I’ll take you to get the data. After that, I won’t interfere with what you do.”

It is unknown to whom Yukiko gave the information.

We don't know where Jiang Jin and the others are now.

This put Qin Mei in a very passive position.

“I’ll do it,” Sun Jing stepped forward and said, “I’ll torture her thoroughly and force her to tell me. Or, I’ll threaten her with her daughter!”

But at that moment, Yukiko suddenly pulled a knife out of her clothes and pointed it at her own throat!

"you!"

Yukiko looked coldly at Qin Mei.

She clearly obtained the knife through some means after she left, and then carried it with her.

“The moment I die, you won’t know who I gave it to,” Yukiko said coldly. “Then it will end up in the hands of your enemies!”

“I don’t understand,” Qin Mei asked, “why don’t you just not come back at all, find a phone booth, make a call, and threaten us? Wouldn’t that be more effective?”

"I've been inside the office building, and I'm certain your bracelet doesn't have any listening devices or tracking devices installed; otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to pass security. However, I feel that you're so comfortable letting me out, you must have a backup plan. Otherwise, what if I try to destroy your balloons after I get out? After all, as long as you have a crossbow, a hunting rifle, or even just a slingshot, as long as you can see the balloons, you could destroy them. What if I go out and ask for help? So you couldn't have let me out without doing something shady."

Yes.

Qin Mei was indeed worried about this matter.

After all, she had already deduced from observing the patrol team's movements outside the window yesterday that the patrol team could see all the balloons. And Yukiko should have noticed this as well. In that case, if they let Yukiko out without tampering with anything, she could easily destroy Qin Mei and the others' balloons.

Originally, I wanted to stick Shirakawa Rin's paper doll on her, but Shirakawa Rin, who is at the LV1 Grass Demon level, makes it difficult for the paper doll to be too far away from her.

Qin Mei took something out of the Reincarnator's Watch.

That's a puppet.

"This, this is?" Sun Jing looked at the doll depicted as a Qing Dynasty person with a queue on the back of their head and said, "Could it be Xia Yu?"

Although Xia Yu caused Blood Lord a great deal of trouble during the previous attack on the patrol team, Blood Lord ultimately spared her life.

After all, Xia Yu is a very rare talent. If she weren't so outstanding as a witch reincarnator, Sima Jin wouldn't have chosen to marry her to gain the marriage bonus aura.

“I used it to cast a curse on you,” Qin Mei replied. “As long as it detects that you have any murderous intent towards us, or any intention to escape, it can instantly kill you, no matter how far away we are.”

"Just as I guessed. I knew you had a backup plan, otherwise you wouldn't have let me out. But I thought it was related to this bracelet." Yukiko stared at the Qing Dynasty doll, momentarily stunned. "This thing can curse and kill?"

"I promise you." Qin Mei put the doll back and said, "Give us the information and tell me where those people are. I'll break the curse for you."

“Okay, but we have to be outside. There are patrol teams and armed self-defense forces everywhere outside these days. Don’t worry, once you take the blue pill, you won’t see the balloons, and the balloons won’t be able to sense you.”

"This medicine will become less and less effective over time, won't it?" Qin Mei said coldly. "You don't think I didn't notice, do you?"

Yukiko readily admitted, "I knew you'd figure it out. But I still hope you didn't."

“Mom…” Yuko was also stunned. She did not expect that her mother and the woman in front of her could be so witty and competitive.

"Actually, I really didn't intend to kill you," Qin Mei replied. "But unfortunately, you don't believe me."

Yukiko sneered inwardly.

Believe you?

Then her forty-odd years of life were wasted.

"Okay, after taking the medicine and waiting for it to take effect, put on the silver thermal blanket and we'll go out."

Then, Qin Mei approached Yukiko.

As fellow single mothers, Qin Mei now feels a sense of kinship with Yukiko.

"I promise you, can you put the knife down now?"

"Excuse me, I only feel safe when I have the knife in my hand." Yukiko glanced at Yuko and said, "Can my daughter come and stay with me now?"

However, at this moment——

Qin Mei suddenly turned her head, her medium's eye allowing her gaze to penetrate the window—

Across the street, a woman with black hair and red lips stood there, her beauty mark under her left eye particularly striking in the sunlight.

Fujiang!

Qin Mei's pupils suddenly contracted: "The people from Nirvana are nearby?!"

After all, through Han Wei, they learned that the Nirvana team had somehow recruited Tomie into their group!
Tomie Kawakami's appearance was so distinctive, and besides, she wasn't human, so she was quickly sensed by Qin Mei, who was a spirit medium!
"Sun Jing! There are people undergoing Nirvana outside!"

Sun Jing reacted immediately, rushed to the window, and soon saw Tomie!

His gun instantly turned towards the window—

boom! boom! boom!
Three bullets pierced the air and instantly struck Tomie's body!

The spirit bullet instantly tore Tomie's body apart!
At this point, there's no time to worry about anything else; we have to escape quickly!
If Jiang Jin were nearby, he could destroy all their balloons with a single shot!

With a wave of her hand, Shirakawa Rin sent out a paper figure from her sleeve, which instantly formed a barrier in front of her, Qin Mei, and Sun Jing.

Qin Mei's mind raced—why was Tomie here? Could it be…?

"Damn it!" She kicked the chair over and pointed at Yukiko. "So you were just stalling for time and lured them here!"

Qin Mei was about to escape when suddenly...

Gunshots suddenly rang out.

Yukiko's body jolted violently, and a flower of blood bloomed instantly on her chest.

Yuko's scream tore through the air: "Mom—Mom—!"

Yukiko's body slid softly to the ground, and blood quickly spread across the floor.

Her eyes were still open, her lips trembling slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she just collapsed helplessly.

Sun Jing's gun was smoking, and he coldly pointed it at Yu Zi again!

He's going to kill the mother and daughter!
Yuko collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face, but her throat felt blocked, and she couldn't make a sound.

Qin Mei didn't expect Sun Jing to shoot and kill so quickly, but she couldn't care less about that now!
"Forget about her! We need to get out of here!"

Yuko knelt beside her mother's body, trembling, tears falling onto the floor.

The bracelet on her wrist was still tightly wrapped around her skin.

Qin Mei took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

She crouched down and roughly searched Yukiko's pockets, but found nothing except the key.

Yuko stared intently at her, the hatred in her eyes almost tangible.

Qin Mei looked at Sun Jing and said, "Prepare to evacuate! Tomie has already spotted us, and Jiang Jin and the others will be here soon."

She went to the entrance, opened the door, checked the situation outside, and said, "Shirakawa, prepare the paper doll substitute."

Yuko remained kneeling, her fingers gripping her mother's clothes tightly. Her tears had dried up, leaving only a cold, almost numb hatred.

Outside, Tomie's body lay in a pool of blood, her body broken into several pieces.

But Qin Mei knew that this body would soon begin to writhe and regenerate—the most terrifying thing about Kawakami Tomie was never her beauty, but her almost incurable immortality.

"Let's go! The one who has achieved Nirvana is definitely nearby!"

Sun Jing grabbed Bai Chuanlin and rushed out, their heads and faces wrapped in a silver thermal blanket, only their wary eyes showing.

Qin Mei followed closely behind, her medium's eye constantly scanning the sky—the balloon was closely following them, its noose swaying gently in the wind like the Grim Reaper's gallows. She deliberately avoided looking at her own balloon; her medium's eye could control itself to only see specific scenes of the polluted layer.

Yuko's cries came from inside the house, but were quickly forgotten.

Qin Mei didn't have time to worry about that girl; the most important thing right now was— "Buzz—"

The air suddenly trembled.

Qin Mei turned around abruptly, and with her medium's eye, she only saw a dark cloud sweeping in!

Those were Liu Yan's swarm of Soul-Eating Bees, each one's stinger gleaming with a cold light. Even more terrifying, behind the swarm, the red fascia of the undead hound Deathstroke was blooming with bronze runes, and ghostly blue flames were dancing wildly in its empty eye sockets.

Deathstroke is preparing to unleash the Ghost Realm to deal with Qin Mei!

"spread"

After rolling into the trash can, Sun Jing fired three shots.

The specially runic spirit bullets pierced through the swarm of bees, and several spirit-eating bees exploded, but more bees immediately filled the gaps.

Shirakawa Rin's paper dolls instantly unfolded, and the three paper dolls that replaced them fled in different directions.

But Deathstroke wasn't fooled at all—it pounced directly on Qin Mei's true form, its jaws agape, revealing its gleaming white fangs.

"Go away!"

Qin Mei's medium eye suddenly lit up with a dazzling blue light!
A translucent ghostly hand reached out from behind her, grabbed the skeleton of the Deathstroke, and yanked it hard—three of the undead hound's ribs broke on the spot, but it merely shook its head, and the ghostly fire intensified.

The swarm of bees continued to attack, trying to pop her balloon, but Qin Mei's medium skills were fully activated, constantly blocking the swarm.

"Sun Jing! Northwest!"

Upon hearing this, the hunter immediately understood, turned his gun in the direction Qin Mei indicated, and pulled the trigger!

The three of them rushed through the streets in a disheveled state, gradually leaving the buzzing of the Soul-Eating Bees behind.

But Qin Mei knew that this was only a temporary respite.

Inside the Black Crow Inn, Jiang Jin said resentfully, "Qin Mei is indeed a Level 3 woman, she's really troublesome!"

He quickly took out the Death Cry hunting rifle from the Reincarnator's Watch.

"Her medium skills can block the Gu worms, but not the Soul-Devouring Bullets!"

"Qin Mei and the others are fleeing eastward from the town."

Liu Yan controlled the distant swarm of bees, sharing the swarm's vision with Deathstroke: "Can Deathstroke still chase them?"

“Broken ribs, but not dead.” Jiang Jin checked the magazine. “I’ll go take care of them.”

Liu Yan suddenly grabbed his wrist: "That's too risky! Your balloon—"

“I’ve already taken the medicine.” Jiang Jin pointed to the medicine bottle on the table. “As long as I don’t look directly at the balloon, it won’t attack me for now.”

Tomie's clone lounged on the sofa, lazily manicuring her nails: "Need me to be bait again? I can die a few more times this time..."

"Shut up." Jiang Jin stuffed the silver thermal blanket into his backpack.

Yu Tianlun reminded her, "Qin Mei is LV3, and you're only LV1! I'll go with you!"

"No!" Jiang Jin shook his head quickly: "Captain, you are our biggest trump card. You can't go out and take risks now. If you die, once the Crimson Team comes in, we will have no one to control Zhou Chen!"

"I'm going too!" Liu Yan said, "If the two of us team up..."

“No,” Jiang Jin shook his head: “Going out together would be too obvious. They’d spot us immediately. Their balloons are hovering in the air. Once they get close, I can use my hunter’s vision to pinpoint their location and then shoot them down one by one!”

Yu Tianlun gritted his teeth and said, "Alright! Be careful, and absolutely do not get close to Qin Mei! She's not someone you can handle right now! If you see any balloons belonging to Qin Mei, pop them too!"

"Didn't you say you were going to capture her alive?"

"That's all based on the premise that you can capture her alive! It's impossible for you to capture her alive if you go out alone!"

They had hoped to use the Gu worms to threaten Qin Mei's balloon from a distance, forcing her to submit. However, the Gu worms couldn't even break through Qin Mei's defenses, and this was even without her using her full strength!
"Be careful!" Liu Yan gripped Jiang Jin's hand tightly.

"do not worry!"

Then, Jiang Jin ran out of the Black Crow Inn!

At this moment, Qin Mei's breathing became increasingly rapid.

They took refuge in an abandoned shop, with Sun Jing gripping his gun tightly, while Shirakawa Rin's paper dolls patrolled the surroundings.

The three balloons remained suspended above the roof, like three swords of Damocles.

"Then the undead hounds and the Gu worms should be nearby, right?" Sun Jing asked, wiping the barrel of his gun.

Qin Mei nodded and said, "It should be... no! We need to keep moving; we can't stay here!"

Suddenly, Sun Jing's balloon burst open in the sky!

The polyamide fiber balloon skin tore like a rag, and with a hissing sound of air leaking out, Sun Jing's body suddenly convulsed—

"No, no!"

Sun Jing's skin quickly wrinkled, and his facial features contorted like a dehydrated corpse. Three seconds later, Sun Jing collapsed to the ground, turning into a shriveled "human skin balloon."

Jiang Jin is nearby!
The moment this thought crossed her mind, Qin Mei's spiritual instincts were automatically triggered. She formed hand seals, and an invisible shockwave erupted from her!
This is her professional skill—[Spirit Tremor - Soul Howl]!
Two hundred meters away on the street, Jiang Jin was about to aim at Qin Mei and Bai Chuanlin's balloons again when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his temple!
My vision blurred instantly, my eardrums felt like they'd been hit by a hammer, and warm liquid gushed from my nasal cavity.

He staggered a few steps and fell to the ground.

Before long, Qin Mei quickly walked towards the unconscious Jiang Jin, and her spiritual eye confirmed that the balloon was still floating above him.

Shirakawa Rin jogged to catch up, and the paper figures fell on Jiang Jin like snowflakes, quickly covering his limbs and torso.

Qin Mei, the "Hunter of Nirvana," wished she could kill the other party immediately.

But there was no other way; the other party was someone Blood Lord specifically requested to be spared alive, so he had no choice but to live.

Shirakawa Rin's paper dolls have been deployed—these paper dolls can not only restrict movement, but also transmit images in real time.

Qin Mei took out Jiang Jin's phone, unlocked it with his fingerprint, and dialed Yu Tianlun's number directly.

"Hello? Jiang Jin?" Yu Tianlun's voice came through.

"Commander Yu, your hunter is in my hands. If you want him to live, come out and we'll settle this once and for all. All of you must come; don't leave a single one out. I'll send you the location later."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds.

"Qin Mei," Yu Tianlun's voice was as cold as ice, "Are you threatening me?"

"We're all Level 3 Reincarnators, so let's not say such childish things."

After hanging up the phone, Qin Mei looked up at the sky.

This time, only she and Shirakawa Rin remained of the Shadow Blade team.

But at this moment, she finally turned the tables.

“Luckily, this gun also has a silencer, otherwise the patrol team would have come,” she said, looking at the Killer Hunting Rifle. “I remember this gun belongs to Liang Qin, right?”

She took out a pair of anti-magic shackles from the Reincarnator's Watch and put them on Jiang Jin.

In this way, he would no longer be able to use any professional skills, becoming no different from an ordinary person. Furthermore, while shackled, his Reincarnator Watch would be completely locked, preventing him from accessing anything from it!

Then, Jiang Jin's body, under the influence of the paper figures on his body, actually floated up. His feet dragged on the ground as Qin Mei pretended to carry him on her back, walking forward.

"Find an open, suitable spot for sniping, and wipe out the Nirvana team in one fell swoop!"

Qin Mei knew that this was her last chance to redeem herself. If she could successfully kill Yu Tianlun and Xu Yinqiu, and capture Jiang Jin and Liu Yan alive before the Crimson Team entered, then the Blood Lord probably wouldn't pursue the matter of Chen Yao, such a genius, being killed by her.

Only by making a contribution could she speak to the Blood Lord and ask him to find a way to get her daughter out of Muxu City! As long as Mingyan was safe, she was willing to risk her own life!

Inside the Black Crow Hotel, Yu Tianlun's face was grim.

The Nirvana team's luck has finally run out.

Now, Jiang Jin is in their hands!
"I should have gone with him!" Although Liu Yan could command the Gu worms, she dared not get close to him, after all, Qin Mei, at level 3, could easily kill Jiang Jin in an instant!
Yu Tianlun's phone received a message from the other party.

The location is an abandoned textile factory in Black Crow Town.

"She'll definitely be prepared to sabotage our balloons!" Xu Yinqiu worried. "Going there would be a dead end!"

Yu Tianlun was unaware that the Blood Lord had specifically requested that Jiang Jin be spared. At this moment, as the leader of the group, he had no choice but to go!

“Even if it’s a trap, we have to go. Jiang Jin was the first person to join our Nirvana team during recruitment! As the team leader, I have a duty to save him!”

(End of this chapter)