Master, What Dao Do You Cultivate?-Chapter 17: Everything Is Predestined

Buying a person's life and clues on the black market isn't something an ordinary person can afford. Although the siblings had decent income, they hadn't been in this line of work for long, and their savings were running low.
With only revenge in her eyes, Shen Bixin sold off most of her belongings and quickly returned to work.
She hated this company, but she had no other choice.
To ensure each squad functioned properly, the company quickly assigned a new A-rank team member. Clearly, her brother's death hadn't affected the company's operations in the slightest.
Shen Bixin also gained a new understanding of that set of serial numbers.
The claim that it was for easy communication was false; what truly mattered was convenience in replacement. To the company and her teammates, it was as if nothing had ever happened.
Watching the newly assigned A-rank arrive, just as full of passion as her brother had been, Shen Bixin finally realized that she, her brother, and most people in this city were nothing more than tools that could be replaced at any time.
So-called personal choices in life felt more like self-consolation or a hypnotic lie.
Everything returned to normal—until midnight two weeks later, when another emergency signal came from a platinum-tier client.
The squad set out again, this time heading to a gang hideout at the intersection of Xindong Street and Xichang Street. They weren't sure if the client had been kidnapped there or if it was something else.
Due to the special circumstances, the rescue helicopter took off as usual, with a backup armed helicopter following for support.
Initially, they assumed the client had been kidnapped, so the rescue squad planned a stealth mission. But by the time they arrived, the building was already filled with the sound of intense fighting, as if fireworks were going off inside.
With no other choice, they had the helicopter land on the rooftop again, and the rescue squad descended to extract the client.
This building was much shorter than the previous one. Seeing such a familiar scene, Shen Bixin grew cautious, crawling step by step down the staircase, searching according to the client's activated locator.
The sounds of gunfire and explosions grew closer.
Descending two more floors, passing through dark hallways and abandoned rooms, they finally reached the client's confirmed location. Pushing the door open, they found a frail figure leaning against the corner wall—wearing a battered police helmet that obscured his face, clad in a bulletproof vest, and with blood streaming down his arm.
Glancing at the emergency rescue activator implanted in the client's prosthetic body, the squad members prepared to extract him. Shen Bixin applied a hemostatic synthetic skin patch and gave him an adrenaline injection.
Bang! Bang! Bang!—
Before they even stepped out of the room, unsettling gunfire erupted outside, and E collapsed to the ground.
"Found them! They're here! It's the Security Task Force! Kill them!"
A barrage of gunfire followed. Clearly, the gang in this place hadn't been following the gun ban.
The squad had encountered situations like this before. A tossed two high-explosive grenades outside, while B quickly set up a portable defense shield, covering the client as they retreated to the rooftop.
Shen Bixin hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to save E, but another wave of bullets riddled his body, and the gang members rushed forward.
The squad had no choice but to retreat quickly. But just as they reached the stairway landing, more gangsters stormed up from below—some of them were even Qi Refiners.
Shen Bixin couldn't remember exactly how they managed to break through. She only recalled it being the most terrifying bloodbath she'd ever experienced.
"Get the client upstairs first!"
Being the closest to the client, Shen Bixin had no time to think. She grabbed him and dashed toward the rooftop.
Behind her, the three remaining squad members covered their retreat while explosions thundered from behind. Shen Bixin clenched her teeth and dragged the weakened client onto the rooftop.
But when they arrived, they saw that the madmen who had climbed up from the outside were already shooting at the helicopter. To avoid being shot down, the pilot had no choice but to lift off.
The moment they saw their target had been brought to the rooftop, the gangsters turned their guns toward them.
Just as Shen Bixin was about to retreat with the client, he suddenly broke free from her grasp, took a step forward, and punched the ground.
A barrage of blue lightning erupted like a rain of swords, striking down every gangster standing at the rooftop's edge.
After unleashing that attack, the client collapsed, exhausted. Clearly, that move had drained him completely.
This guy was a Qi Refiner?
For once, the client was actually helpful. With explosions continuing to draw closer from below, Shen Bixin propped him up against the wall, called the pilot back, and set up a remote-controlled Neural Disruptor on the rooftop. Then she took position, ready to fire at anyone who made it out.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!—
Soon, several gangsters burst onto the rooftop, only to be gunned down by Shen Bixin.
The fact that they had reached the rooftop meant the three squad members covering their retreat were as good as dead.
Maybe it was the unresolved anger from her brother's death, but Shen Bixin emptied every weapon she had.
In no time, the entrance was littered with over a dozen corpses.
To survive and avenge her brother, Shen Bixin even considered abandoning the client and escaping. But the memory of how he had saved her just now made her determined to save him instead.
For the first time, she seemed to understand a bit of what her brother had felt.
Click—
Hearing the empty magazine, Shen Bixin drew her pistol and aimed at the entrance, but before she could fire, she slumped to the ground and chuckled to herself.
The client, lying on the ground, gasped heavily and asked,
"We're not getting out of here. What are you laughing about?"
"We held out. The rescue team is here."
As soon as she spoke, a thunderous roar came from behind the building.
An armed helicopter, bristling with weapons, fearlessly descended onto the rooftop.
Spotting the client in the corner and seeing more gangsters rushing up, the helicopter’s machine guns rained down bullets toward the stairway.
No ordinary Qi Refiner could withstand that kind of firepower—the rooftop was instantly torn apart.
Another squad descended from the aircraft. Shen Bixin, finally relieved, began checking the client's injuries again.
She discovered that the client’s prosthetics and even some internal organs had been recently replaced, and he had fractures—evidence of recent severe injuries.
"Heh… so this is platinum-tier service. I knew you guys would pull it off."
His voice, muffled by the helmet, sounded oddly familiar to Shen Bixin.
She reached out, intending to remove the helmet for a more thorough examination.
But the moment she did, she saw a face she had been searching for all this time.
Six neural interfaces were embedded in his scalp, arranged like the scars from a head-burning ceremony. A fresh scar ran diagonally across his nose.
Tie Kuang Seng!
Even if his body shape had changed due to prosthetic modifications and surgery, Shen Bixin would never forget that face.
As she stood there in shock, the second squad swiftly placed the client onto a stretcher.
Her mind was flooded with images of her dead brother and fallen comrades. With only one thought consuming her, she raised her gun and shouted:
"Tie Kuang Seng?"
On the stretcher, Tie Kuang Seng turned his head in confusion.
Bang! Bang! Bang!—
Bullets hit his head with pinpoint accuracy, splattering blood and brain matter all over the stretcher.
Bang! Bang! Bang!—
Startled, the second squad instinctively reacted to protect their client. Without hesitation, they raised their weapons and fired at Shen Bixin—who, for all they knew, might have been a gangster in disguise.