Chapter 584: The Limitation of Ingenuity

Tiantian looked up at Zheng Yingxiong and asked,

"Qiao Wu...?"

"Is that my ability?"

"Yes," Zheng Yingxiong nodded. "But I can only sense the name; I don't know the specifics of the ability. You'll have to figure out how to activate it based on your experiences in reality."

"My... experiences?" Tiantian was taken aback. "I see... no wonder about these parts..."

"Sis..." The young man stepped forward and said to Tiantian, "Time is a bit tight, so I might have to say goodbye for now..."

Tiantian snapped out of it and replied,

"Could you not call me sis?"

"Huh?" The young man was surprised. "I'm eighteen, just starting college... What about you?"

"I..." Tiantian looked a little embarrassed. "I'm twenty-one."

"So, third year of university... right?" the young man asked.

"I..." Tiantian glanced away slightly. "Never mind, you guys go ahead... Remember to give me a map; I'm not comfortable walking there alone."

"Okay... okay..."

The young man picked up a piece of scrap wood from the ground and quickly sketched a route on it.

Zheng Yingxiong also picked up his strange "treasure sword" from the ground, but he was still in poor condition, swaying as he walked.

Seeing this, the young man pulled out a bundle of portable outdoor rope from Lao Fang's body, tied it around Zheng Yingxiong's waist, and secured it to himself. Only then did he get back on the bicycle.

"Sis, leave this kid to me; it'll be fine," the young man said, wiping the sweat from his face. "I don't know your name yet. I'm Cheng Ao Yu."

"Zhang... Tiantian," Tiantian replied. "Just call me Tiantian."

"Alright, Tiantian Sis, we'll meet up at the base later. Don't worry; it's just me there, so it's very safe."

The little hero on the back seat waved his hand and said,

"Sis, goodbye."

Tiantian watched the two slowly ride away, her expression growing hesitant.

"... Qiao Wu?" Tiantian murmured to herself. "Electronic products...?"

Tiantian steadied herself and quickly entered the building from earlier. She remembered it was an abandoned small diner. After searching, she found an old LCD TV buried under the ruins.

The TV was shattered beyond recognition, and a piece of the screen was missing—it was shaped like a sword.

Tiantian picked up a rusty nail from the ground and skillfully pried open the back of the TV, examining its internal structure.

The circuit board and wires were completely gone, as if—

They had been taken to make something else.

"Gears..." Tiantian suddenly thought of something. "Where did the gears come from?"

She rummaged through the ruins and eventually found a large grandfather clock that had collapsed in the corner.

Tiantian first examined the clock's structure, then expertly opened the cabinet door and peered inside. Sure enough, the pendulum had stopped, and the gears were missing.

"Qiao Wu... could it be..." Tiantian quickly realized something, but it seemed too absurd for an ability.

She had heard Yun Yao talk about so-called "Hui Xiang," where most people gained supernatural abilities, but hers seemed ridiculous...

"TVs and clocks..." Tiantian pressed her hand to her forehead, feeling her mind go blank. "Because I'm familiar with these two things... so I can freely use their parts...?"

This so-called "Qiao Wu" seemed far too limited to Tiantian. What if the object wasn't a grandfather clock or a TV?

If she faced danger and there were no clocks or TVs nearby, could her ability still work?

"What am I going to do...?"

Tiantian really wanted to do something for Yun Yao, whose ability "Qiang Yun" was incredibly powerful just from hearing its name. But what about "Qiao Wu"?

"Clever objects..."

Even with a grand name, because "Hui Xiang" relied on the subconscious to activate, Tiantian could only create things she knew.

Her education was limited; before entering her current field, she had only worked on two assembly lines. How could she possibly understand the structure of other precise items?

So, it seemed that "Qiao Wu"'s greatest use was just piecing together a short sword from scrap parts or fixing a bicycle with other components...

"That's ridiculous..."

Tiantian stood up abruptly, brushed the dust off her hands, and showed a disappointed expression.

It might be better to say she had never known her ability was "Qiao Wu," as that would at least leave some hope for the future.

She calmed herself down, took out the map Cheng Ao Yu had given her, glanced at it, and checked the sky—it was probably around two or three in the afternoon. If she set out now, she should reach the base before dark.

Since staying here wasn't safe, she had no choice but to embark on the journey alone.

...

Qi Xia sat silently in Xu Liunian's car, staring out the window. By now, all the black lines were slowly converging toward the sky, signaling that "Tian Ma Shi Ke" had truly ended.

"Qi Xia... where to next?" Xu Liunian asked.

"Turn right up ahead."

Xu Liunian turned the steering wheel with a heavy expression and said quietly,

"Are you planning to follow the map Qing Long drew to find those 'Sheng Xiao'?"

Qi Xia didn't respond, just stared blankly out the window.

"But we don't even know their intentions... Do you want to prepare more before going?"

Hearing this, Qi Xia turned to look directly into Xu Liunian's eyes and said,

"I can see you're thinking of me, but you probably don't know what I'm pondering, so just drive. I'll handle what comes next."

Qi Xia's words left Xu Liunian with no room to argue, so she simply drove on, following Qi Xia's directions.

After half an hour, Qi Xia guided her to a five- or six-story building.

A large white-furred earth tiger stood outside the building.

The earth tiger was baffled when he saw a taxi speeding toward him. When he spotted Qi Xia slowly getting out of the passenger seat, his expression grew even more complex.

This person had been chased by swarms of black lines not long ago, and now here he was, back in a car?

The earth tiger racked his brains but couldn't figure it out. He opened his mouth several times, starting to speak but stopping short.

After holding it in for a while, he finally said,

"Not... not bad for you..."