Chapter 170: Survival at Sea – A Temporary Team

Ye Qing pondered Song Qian’s words. Thinking back to the golden-ratio human specimens she and Jiang Yan had seen in the mezzanine warehouse on the 31st floor, she couldn’t help but frown slightly.

“Gold, wood, water, fire, earth? Isn’t that a bit too mystical?” Su Dai blurted out, her expression stunned. The despair and gloom she’d felt earlier were instantly swept away by curiosity.

She wanted to press further, but seeing that her husband and Jiang Yan showed little reaction, she swallowed her questions.

Looking around at the devastation, Su Dai’s gaze became vacant for a moment.

When dealing with people, the biggest taboo is to speak too deeply with those you barely know.

All these explosive revelations sounded suspiciously like some kind of conspiracy.

But right now, whether it was a conspiracy or not hardly mattered.

Who knew if they’d even live to see tomorrow’s sunrise?

Their top priority now was simply to survive.

Not to play the hero and expose some grand plot.

They didn’t have that kind of ability anyway…

With that thought, Su Dai tightened her grip on Sun Jingtao’s arm.

Song Qian didn’t respond to her comment. Instead, he smiled, shook his head, and stood up.

He glanced at the sky, then took off his tactical watch and began adjusting it carefully.

Jiang Yan shot a sidelong glance at his back, saying nothing.

She felt this man was hiding secrets—neither wholly good nor bad.

Besides, all the Golden Shield security personnel in the sky hotel were dead.

The three of them had rescued the prisoners.

Even if they didn’t know what was going on with the gold on the rooftop, Mo Jing Sheng should have at least asked about it.

Not only that, he’d specifically assigned two people to escort them to Dongshan.

That kid Kong Wu seemed unreliable, probably a rookie.

But the other one was Song Qian, the top sharpshooter in Anming City.

Whether he was really number one, she didn’t know, but something about all this just felt off.

She couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

Forget it—better to wait and see.

“Jiang Yan, what are you looking at?” Ye Qing, standing nearby, noticed her staring absentmindedly at Song Qian’s back and asked in a low voice.

“It’s nothing.” Jiang Yan shook her head, pulling her gaze and thoughts back.

Sun Jingtao didn’t say anything either.

He stood up and rummaged through the luggage bag, pulling out two towels and handing them to Su Dai and Jiang Yan. “Dry your hair, or you’ll catch a cold.”

“Thank you,” Jiang Yan said, reaching out to take it.

“Hold on tight, everyone! Another aftershock is coming!” Song Qian suddenly warned.

Jiang Yan looked up. Sure enough, in the distance, huge waves were gathering again.

The water’s surface began to heave and ripple once more.

Just one crisis after another.

This aftershock lasted over a minute, as usual.

But they managed to hold on and weren’t thrown apart.

This time, the towels in Jiang Yan and Su Dai’s hands were soaked through—so wet they could be wrung out.

They gave up on drying themselves.

Jiang Yan’s mask was drenched too, so she simply took it off.

The supplies tied up in the cabin had been shaken loose again. Sun Jingtao and Ye Qing got up to secure them once more.

“Judging by the direction of the waves, it looks like the epicenter was right in the city center this time. Luckily, we’re farther away now,” Song Qian said, frowning as he looked into the distance, quietly sighing in relief.

He turned back.

His gaze paused briefly on Jiang Yan.

Seeing the red hard hat on her head, his previously serious expression suddenly broke into a smile. “I thought you were some young guy from a construction site. Didn’t expect you to be a woman.”

Jiang Yan had been bundled up the whole time, face covered.

Now she’d added a black, unisex down jacket, wrapping herself up tightly.

Song Qian was only familiar with Sun Jingtao.

He hadn’t paid much attention to the others.

Now, seeing her face for the first time, he joked on the surface, but was secretly surprised.

Unlike Sun Jingtao’s wife, Jiang Yan had also participated in the sky hotel operation.

She had a heroic air about her.

Just a bit too thin and frail.

Jiang Yan didn’t explain, just played along: “I really am from a construction site—an archivist.”

Ye Qing: “…”

“Wow! Which construction site has such a pretty archivist? I, Kong Wu, could go without food or water and haul bricks for twenty-four hours straight! Wait—no! I could work 24/7, 365 days a year!” Kong Wu said earnestly, patting his chest.

Song Qian smacked him, pretending to be angry. “You’re too young to be such a smooth talker.”

Kong Wu looked aggrieved. “Brother Song, how am I being slick? Look, my lips are so dry they’re about to peel! See for yourself!”

He puckered up and leaned toward Song Qian.

Song Qian pushed him away in disgust.

Seeing Kong Wu’s clowning, the group, still shaken from their ordeal, couldn’t help but laugh.

“Pfft—” Su Dai couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.

Song Qian looked up at the sky. “The sun should be out in another two or three minutes.” He paused, glancing around at everyone.

“By the way, except for Brother Sun, it seems we don’t really know each other. Since fate has brought us together, why don’t we take this chance to introduce ourselves?”

He sat down in front of them. “I’ll go first. I’m Song Qian—Song as in the Song Dynasty, Qian as in Heaven and Earth. I’m from the northern capital, but I’ve been in Anming for years, so I’m half a local.”

Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow.

If she remembered right, Mo Jing Sheng was also from the northern capital.

Hopefully, it was just a coincidence.

“Song Qian… Song Qian… Brother Song, your name’s easy to remember,” Su Dai said, then introduced herself. “Su as in Suzhou, Dai as in the distant mountains.”

“Ye Qing—Ye as in leaf, Qing as in clear water.”

“Kong Wu—Kong as in peacock, Wu as in five. Male, interested in women,” Kong Wu said, then scratched his head sheepishly. “My parents wanted to name me Kong Wu for ‘strong and powerful,’ but made a mistake because they weren’t well-educated. Just call me Xiao Wu, but please don’t call me Xiao Wulang or anything like that…”

Everyone: “…”

“Jiang Yan—Jiang as in Jiang Ziya—” Jiang Yan started, but Kong Wu interrupted:

“I bet the ‘Yan’ is the one from ‘blooming beauty,’ right? All beauties have that character in their name!”

Jiang Yan smiled faintly. “No, it’s the ‘Yan’ from ‘showing you my true colors.’”

“….” Kong Wu, who’d been full of anticipation, choked on his words, digging his toes into the floor and scratching his head.

Sun Jingtao and the others laughed, understanding why she’d used a fake name.

“Jiang Yan?” Song Qian didn’t laugh. He looked at her sharply.

He was about to ask something when Ye Qing quickly changed the subject:

“Tao, Song, seeing how strong these aftershocks still are, we’d better hurry and get out of Anming!”"