12 A Hidden Misfortune

"Why do you make it sound like such a bad thing?!" Yue Qin exclaimed, digging her heels into the ground.

"There's no time to explain now but we need to return. Now!"

Hearing Bing Bing's heavy voice laced with untold worry, Yue Qin could only stop resisting and let her sister drag her along. It wasn't often that her playful sister spoke in such dark tones and when she did, Yue Qin knew that something big was happening.

As soon as they left the toilet and entered the school corridors though, Yue Qin suddenly wished she had protested a bit more vehemently.

All eyes turned towards them as they passed by most likely caused by the two balls that bounced unrestrainedly on Yue Qin's chest, emphasised by her overly small shirt. Yue Qin's face burned with shame as she lowered her head, hoping her long hair could help cover her face. With her newly enhanced senses, Yue Qin could hear the sound of cameras shuttering a distance away.

"Bloody hell." Bing Bing cursed at the attention being diverted towards them.

Glancing at Yue Qin, Bing Bing had apparently also guessed the reason why they were attracting so much attention. Moving nimbly, she darted towards a male student and snatched the sickly green jacket that was draped over his arms.

"Sorry, I'll borrow this for a while!" Then, before he could react, Bing Bing had thrown the jacket over Yue Qin's shoulder and they vanished from his sight.

Now that Yue Qin was covered with a thick jacket that was obviously mismatched with her clothes, she received much less attention than before. At most the heads she turned were those that were attracted by how hideously mismatched her clothes were.

Finally, they reached the carpark where their mini car was parked. Almost immediately, Bing Bing then started the car and it took off into the air, its driving system set on auto-drive. The route she set though was certainly not the one that led home.

That was another difference between this world and 21st century Earth. The cars here were mostly automated and the wealthy would purchase levitating cars while the poor could only afford land-bound cars.

Now that they were finally in an enclosed space on the way home, Yue Qin couldn't hold back the curiosity that had been burning her from the inside.

"Bing Bing, just what is going on? Didn't you say I activated a physique? Isn't that a good thing?"

"In normal circumstances, yes. But now..." Bing Bing hesitated for a moment, her eyes darting around nervously.

"Now what?" Yue Qin asked utterly bewildered.

"You haven't heard the news yet, right? No, of course, you haven't." Bing Bing stopped for a moment gathering her thoughts. "Qin Qin listen up, right now I can only hope that the Physique you have awakened is a bad one. A super bad one."

Then she cursed again under her breath, kicking the chair behind her.

"Bing Bing!"

"Dammit, I should have covered our faces earlier or do something to cover up our identities earlier."

Yue Qin felt a growing sense of foreboding. "Bing Bing, just what is going on?"

"What do you know of the Kingdom we are in now?"

"We are in the Kingdom of Ni, a Tier II Kingdom under the Jade Empire. "

"And what do you know of the Jade Empire?"

"This... aren't they just they just a normal Empire?"

"They are, but currently-"

"Currently what?"

"Currently they have been gathering people with unique physiques from all over their Empire. They have even extended their informants all over their vessel states." Bing Bing said softly worry clouding her voice. "And those people they have gathered, none of them has been heard from ever again. Rumours say that the life tablets of those who were taken away were shattered within a month of their disappearance."

"What?! Whatever for?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure either but I have heard several reasons for it. Some say it's because the Great Guardian is deathly ill and only through gathering the life essence of those with special physiques can he continue to live. Some say it's because the Emperor is cultivating a demonic technique and needs to use the people with special physiques as a cultivation furnace to supplement his cultivation. Some say it's because the Crown Prince is expanding his harem and wants to collect all the beauties with great potential to become his lovers while ensuring the males become his devoted servants. Some say that it's because the Kingdom is planning to launch a crusade to promote itself to a tier I Kingdom so it is training an army of elite death soldiers filled with all the geniuses it can gather. Personally, I am leaning towards the last reason."

Yue Qin's brain stuttered to a halt for a moment before she felt a heavyweight sinking in her gut. "So... you're saying that if anyone found out I'll be taken away to become a death soldier?"

"No, I'm theorising that you'll become a death soldier but the possibility of you becoming a concubine in the Crown Prince's harem or something similar is just as high."

"Then what should I do?"

"Hide. That's the best thing you can do." Then grimacing, Bing Bing continued. "Unfortunately I didn't expect that your current appearance would attract so much attention. By the time I threw that jacket over you, it was already too late and many people would have taken a photograph of you."

Yue Qin felt like cursing in her heart. If she knew this would happen, she would have just left those points alone.

Just at that moment, Yue Qin heard the annoying system again. "Hehe. See? I told you not to throw all your points into charm. Look what's happening now?"

"Shut up. I don't need you rubbing salt into my wound now."

"Then what should I do?" Yue Qin asked out loud to Bing Bing, worried. She had just started this new life of hers that seemed so boundless and filled with potential. She didn't want her path to be cut before it even began. Be it becoming a cultivation furnace, a source of life, a concubine or a death soldier, none of them seemed like appealing options. And those were only hearsay. Perhaps the truth could be much worse.

"I've already set our course to stealth mode and adjusted the course to one of our safe houses on the outskirts of the city. You should know that as long as we set the course to our safe house, an emergency alarm would be sent back to the Clan and one of the Clan Elders would meet us there. As to what happens after, we can only consult with the Elder on what to do afterwards."

Yue Qin felt the faint metallic taste of blood on her tongue as a result of her biting her lips. All she could feel now was an overwhelming sense of dread that threatened to drown her.

A warm hand clasped over hers, jolting her out of her thoughts. "You'll be fine Qin Qin. Don't worry too much yeah?"

Internally, could only wince bitterly at her vain decisions earlier. "The Clan... the clan would protect me right?" She whispered hesitantly.

But Bing Bing only reflected a forced smile at her, avoiding her eyes, clearly unwilling to answer her question.

With that, she knew with absolute clarity that it was unlikely the Clan would be able to protect her this time. At least not in the way she had hoped.

Still, Yue Qin couldn't help but grasp desperately at the last straw of hope that presented itself to her. Although Bing Bing couldn't answer her question, surely the Elder would be able to, right? After all, at the initiation ceremony, the Clan had promised to protect them as long as they remained loyal. Surely the Elder would have an answer for her right?

The ride to the safe house felt like an eternity, with the pool of dread constantly amplifying in her gut.

When she was finally about to explode from anxiety, the car finally exited stealth mode and slowly landed in the underground carpark.

Then they descended from the car into a dark tunnel and walked towards the entry, with Bing Bing shining the torchlight from her phone.

As soon as they arrived at a dead-end, Bing Bing held up her phone and started sweeping the walls. Yet, with the number of times Bing Bing swept her phone across the 3 walls of the tunnel, Yue Qin couldn't help but feel a trace of doubt surfacing.

"You do know how to get into the safe house right?"

"Of course I do! Just errr... give me a moment longer!"

Remembering the scene of Bing Bing staring at the tunnel with unconstrained interest when she first arrived, Yue Qin couldn't help but question her again. "This is your first time here right?"

Bing Bing raised her hand and touched her nose embarrassed. "Is it that obvious?"

Although there was no avoiding the pool of dread she currently felt, the humorous look of Bing Bing's lost expression brought Yue Qin a moment of reprieve.

"What are you looking for? I'll help."

"There are supposed to be two cracks in the wall in the shape of a Y! All we have to do is place our hand against it and it will activate the detection systems in this tunnel."

Sweeping her gaze across the tunnel again, Yue Qin's eyes eventually fell onto a corner at the very bottom of the wall. "You mean that?"

Bing Bing blinked. "Yes, that!" Then she strutted forward and placed her hand against the crack, a hiss of pain escaping her lips. As she lifted her hand, Yue Qin could see a trail of blood dripping down her palm.

Although she could not see it, Yue Qin knew that there were probably more sensors hidden somewhere along the tunnel for it was impossible for a safe house to be safe just relying on blood.

Then again staring at the stone wall that was once a dead-end breaking apart, she wasn't interested anymore in how the system worked. All she wanted to know was to know if there was a solution to her problem.