Chapter 651 — Can That Really Be a Breakthrough?

Qiu Lingshan was rather vexed. If she went out in this state and the members of her police team saw her, she would lose every shred of dignity!

"Hey, where are you going? Lend me your shirt, would you?" When Qiu Lingshan spoke to Wei Zhao, her tone simply would not harden. This was not her nature at all—but there was no help for it. In Wei Zhao's presence she had already been conditioned to react on reflex, and so she was as gentle as gentle could be...

"There's a pinhole camera here. If you don't want the footage from just now to get out, you'd better put it away." Wei Zhao tossed a small black device to Qiu Lingshan. It was a miniature recorder with onboard storage; it wasn't networked to any other cameras, so there was no need to worry that the contents had already leaked.

Qiu Lingshan was briefly taken aback. She caught what Wei Zhao had thrown, her face flushing a little, yet as though possessed she heard herself say, "You're not staying to enjoy it in secret?"

"Heh..." Wei Zhao smiled faintly, feeling that Qiu Lingshan was pushing her luck. He strode up to her, reached out and tilted up her chin—a very flirtatious gesture, bordering on teasing. "Do you really want me to enjoy it?"

Qiu Lingshan raised an eyebrow. She wanted to resist, but was startled to find that she did not recoil from being teased this way. Could she have masochistic tendencies? The corner of her mouth lifted slightly. "If you want to enjoy it, the brainless girl can give you a live performance anytime—just like before..."

Qiu Lingshan had meant it as an angry retort, but once the words were out they felt unaccountably liberating, as though she actually enjoyed doing this... And in truth, did she? Even Qiu Lingshan could not say clearly. All she knew was that it was a strange and wondrous feeling, one that left her a little bewildered.

What a vixen. Shen Yushu had been absolutely right. Wei Zhao hurriedly released Qiu Lingshan's chin. Though the woman was a little reckless, when she turned coquettish she was hardly ordinary.

"This is the kidney-harvesting ring's headquarters. I've done everything I needed to do. You can handle the rest yourself, right?" Wei Zhao was feeling somewhat uncomfortable thanks to Qiu Lingshan. He had, after all, inhaled some of the aphrodisiac to a greater or lesser degree. Did this girl not realize she was doing something very dangerous? Did she not know that even if he did take her, it would be for nothing?

"There's no signal on my phone here. Take me out, would you?" Qiu Lingshan caught hold of Wei Zhao and swung his arm back and forth like a spoiled little girl.

"Is that so? I hadn't noticed." Wei Zhao instinctively reached for the phone in his pocket, but what he found was An Liwen's phone—a very unusual phone, something like a walkie-talkie. Wei Zhao had seen phones like this before, though. It was probably a special handset made for internal use, operating on an internal wireless band; it could make normal calls on normal numbers, but the SIM card was installed on a server, and the handset itself was like a terminal for a cordless phone...

"What kind of phone is this? A walkie-talkie?" Qiu Lingshan stared curiously at the thing in Wei Zhao's hand.

Wei Zhao was about to explain when the special phone in his hand began to ring... He glanced at the caller ID. He didn't recognize the name; it was probably one of An Liwen's subordinates. Wei Zhao casually pressed the hang-up key, then handed the phone to Qiu Lingshan. "Call your people. This is their internal special phone; it should be able to dial outside lines directly."

Qiu Lingshan nodded without saying much, took the phone and dialed a number. Sure enough, it went through!

"Liu Wangli? This is Qiu Lingshan. I order you to bring your men at once and surround the factory building at No. 1, Taixing South Road, Annex B!" Qiu Lingshan had memorized the address on her way here; it was only after entering that she had fainted. In that moment Qiu Lingshan reverted instantly to her usual brisk competence, which rather surprised Wei Zhao.

Qiu Lingshan hung up and looked at Wei Zhao. "You still aren't planning to show yourself?"

"You know the answer, so why ask? Are you brainless?" Wei Zhao shot back.

"Yes, I'm the brainless girl. So what?" Qiu Lingshan looked at Wei Zhao pitifully. "Give me your outer garment, would you? I can't be seen like this. You don't want other people looking at your things either, do you?"

Wei Zhao was at a loss for words. Since when had they become his things? Still, he took off An Liwen's outer garment and gave it to Qiu Lingshan, then said, "I'm off... Oh, by the way, when you have some free time, you might buy some of this aphrodisiac and take it home to try."

Qiu Lingshan was instantly dumbstruck. She stared at Wei Zhao with a peculiar expression. "Try what? Do you really want to watch me perform for you?"

"Try whether you can break through again." Wei Zhao spoke flatly. "Breaking through from the middle stage of the Yellow Rank to the late stage like this—the internal art you cultivate really is a bit odd..."

Had she misunderstood Wei Zhao? Qiu Lingshan's face grew hot. Even if she had decided to throw caution to the wind, she still knew shame. The reason she had not fallen out with Wei Zhao was simply that she truly had no other choice! She needed his help, and he had already seen her anyway—what would falling out accomplish? Better to wring some advantage out of it as before! Besides, she had no boyfriend, so there was no great psychological burden.

But Wei Zhao's next words made Qiu Lingshan forget her shame entirely. Her eyes went wide and dull with shock! She had broken through? From the peak of the Yellow Rank's middle stage to the late stage? Was that real? How could Wei Zhao tell? Qiu Lingshan instinctively circulated her family's internal art, and was astonished to find that she was indeed at the late stage of the Yellow Rank now. Though it was only the very beginning of the late stage, it was still not to be mentioned in the same breath as her former peak middle stage!

Qiu Lingshan had never imagined she could break through like this. It was far too dramatic! If she told anyone, they probably wouldn't believe it. No wonder Wei Zhao's expression had been so strange, and no wonder he had told her to buy more of the aphrodisiac to try... But how did Wei Zhao know her strength? Even she had not noticed the change in her own strength—how had Wei Zhao spotted it?

Could it be that Wei Zhao's strength was even higher than hers was now, that he had already reached the peak of the Yellow Rank's late stage... or even... Qiu Lingshan did not dare think further. She could hardly believe her own eyes. Wei Zhao should only be ten years old, shouldn't he? At that age, to have the strength of the Yellow Rank's late-stage peak, or even the Mystic Rank—was that possible?

Qiu Lingshan suddenly felt as though she had latched onto a wealthy patron. Had she really struck treasure?