The night was as dark as ink. Deep in the old house, a solitary lamp flickered, illuminating Dai Shiya's resolute profile.
She played with the bullet stained with gunpowder in her hand, and the cold metal touch made her mind clearer.
The cheers of the tribesmen in the daytime seemed to still echo in her ears. Such trust and dependence made her feel both gratified and vaguely uneasy.
She walked to the window, her eyes penetrated the heavy curtains and cast into the inky night sky in the distance.
Although this sudden aid solved the crisis at hand, the hidden power behind it was like an abyss that made it difficult for her to see through.
She must find out whether this force is a kind of helping hand or a poisonous snake with hidden murderous intentions.
Dai Shiya turned around and walked towards the study with firm steps.
She knew that some things must be done in secret.
She turned on the computer, and the cold light emitted from the screen reflected her deep eyes.
Her fingertips danced on the keyboard, and lines of code, like her meticulous mind, wove into an invisible net.
The next morning, the atmosphere in the family meeting room was suffocatingly depressing.
The elders looked solemn, and the air was filled with worry, as if a storm was about to come.
"Shiya, we have finally stabilized now, why do you still want to investigate those who helped us? What if they have any bad intentions? Wouldn't it be a disaster?" An elder said with a frown, his voice full of anxiety.
Another elder also echoed: "Yes, Shiya, we should live a stable life now and shouldn't make trouble anymore."
Faced with the misunderstanding of the tribe members, Dai Shiya felt helpless.
She understood their concerns. After all, after experiencing the previous turmoil, they all hoped to live the rest of their lives in peace.
But she knew even more clearly that if she allowed unknown threats to lurk in the dark, the family would sooner or later fall into crisis again.
She took a deep breath, swept her eyes over every elder present, and said calmly: "I know everyone is worried, but there are some things we can't turn a blind eye to." She
paused, her voice low and firm: "I won't let anyone threaten our family again."
Her eyes were like torches, like a sharp sword, piercing people's hearts.
The elders were shocked by the firmness in her eyes, and they all lowered their heads, not daring to look directly at her.
"I will take care of everything." Dai Shiya said, stood up, and walked straight to the door.
"Shiya..." The elders' voices came from behind, and Dai Shiya didn't look back, but just left a faint sentence: "You don't have to worry."
She opened the door of the conference room and walked out, without a trace of hesitation.
The sun was shining outside the door, but she felt an unprecedented chill.
"Do you think she will listen to our advice?" Elder A's voice trembled a little.
"I'm afraid... it's difficult." Elder B sighed. "
Then what should we do?" Elder C's tone was full of confusion.
"Let's wait and see..." Elder D's voice was old and weak.
Dai Shiya walked out of the meeting room, but did not leave directly. Instead, she stopped at the door, turned around, and looked at the elders with worried faces again.
She spoke slowly, her voice cold and firm, "Instead of guessing here, why not go together to see the truth behind this aid."
The elders looked at each other, obviously not expecting her to make such a suggestion.
An elderly elder asked hesitantly, "Shiya, what do you mean?"
"I invite you to participate in the investigation." Dai Shiya's tone was calm, with a trace of unquestionable firmness in her eyes, "Instead of letting suspicion grow within the family, it is better to witness everything with your own eyes." As
soon as these words came out, the atmosphere in the meeting room became more complicated.
Doubts, curiosity, and even faint expectations, all kinds of emotions intertwined.
The elders stopped talking, their eyes full of inquiry.
Finally, the oldest elder broke the silence and nodded slowly, "In that case, I also want to see what is hidden behind this."
So, in the next few days, Dai Shiya had a group of special "investigators" around her.
She did not refuse, but frankly shared the progress of the investigation with them and guided them to participate.
Her fingertips lightly touched the computer screen, and the cold screen emitted a soft light. Lines of code jumped in her eyes, like jumping notes, tapping the unknown secret.
She tapped on the keyboard skillfully, making a crisp sound.
She checked various data, trying to find clues.
The elders seemed cautious at first, but gradually, they were attracted by her meticulous logic and keen insight, and they all threw themselves into the investigation.
In the process of unraveling the mystery again and again, an astonishing fact gradually surfaced.
Dai Shiya discovered that the force that assisted the family was not a monolithic entity, but there was a hidden undercurrent that was quietly manipulating everything.
This undercurrent was like a dormant venomous snake, which seemed docile and harmless on the surface, but actually concealed murderous intent.
This set off alarm bells in her heart, and the atmosphere that was originally slightly relaxed because the truth was about to be revealed suddenly became tense.
She looked out the window, and the sunlight was no longer warm, but with a hint of chill.
The emergence of this undercurrent meant that she was facing not just a simple aid force, but a more complex and more dangerous situation.
She immediately adjusted her strategy and shifted the focus of the investigation to this hidden force.
She understood that only by completely eliminating this hidden danger could the safety of the family be truly ensured.
She no longer directly attacked the aid force as before, but began to secretly collect intelligence about this undercurrent.
Her fingertips danced on the keyboard, and the lines of instructions were as calm and decisive as her mood at the moment.
"This... this..." An elder looked at the data displayed on the screen and was so shocked that he couldn't speak.
Dai Shiya did not respond, she just stared at the screen, with a sharp light flashing in her eyes.
Suddenly, she stopped what she was doing and her eyes fell on the corner of the screen, where a string of seemingly random characters was flashing at a weird frequency.
Her heart was shocked, and her intuition told her that there was a bigger secret behind this string of characters.
"This is..." an elder muttered to himself, and then his voice stopped abruptly.
Dai Shiya's fingertips hovered above the keyboard. The flashing characters on the screen seemed to be mocking, jumping one by one, as if challenging her patience.
The room was silent, with only the hum of the computer cooling fan and the suppressed breathing of everyone.
Suddenly, the computer screen flashed, and all the characters disappeared in an instant, replaced by a dazzling red light.
The alarm sounded sharply, breaking the tranquility of the room.
"Not good! They found out!" an elder exclaimed, his voice trembling.
Almost at the same time, the lights in the room went out and fell into darkness.
In the darkness, Dai Shiya felt a cold metal touch against her back.
"Don't move!" A low voice sounded in her ears, with a hint of threat.
"It seems that you have discovered our little secret." Dai Shiya felt a chill running from the soles of her feet to the top of her head, but she did not show any fear.
She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.
"Who are you? What do you want to do?" Her voice was calm and firm, without a trace of trembling.
"It doesn't matter who we are. What matters is that you know something you shouldn't know." The voice was even colder. "Now, you have two choices. One is to shut up and forget everything you saw. The other is..." He didn't continue, but the threat was self-evident.
Dai Shiya could feel the metal against her back getting stronger, and the cold touch made her skin sting.
The air in the room seemed to solidify, full of gunpowder.
At this moment, Dai Shiya's phone vibrated, and the faint light on the screen was particularly dazzling in the darkness.
She glanced at it calmly with her peripheral vision. It was a message from Wei Qing.
There was only one sentence on the screen: "The USB drive has been delivered, password: your birthday." Dai Shiya was delighted, and a warm current surged into her heart.
Wei Qing's appearance was like a glimmer of hope in this cold darkness, giving her endless strength.
She took a deep breath, and a barely perceptible smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
"It seems that I have a third choice." Dai Shiya turned around suddenly, grabbed the wrist against her back, and twisted it hard.
"Ah!" A scream cut through the night sky...
In the darkness, Dai Shiya restrained the attacker with her backhand. With the weak light of her mobile phone, she saw the other person's face clearly. It turned out to be her distant cousin who was always taciturn.
Shocked, Dai Shiya quickly turned on the light with the key she found on him. The sudden
light made her cousin subconsciously cover his eyes, and Dai Shiya took the opportunity to completely subdue him.
"Tell me! Who ordered you?" Dai Shiya asked sternly, her tone cold and her eyes as sharp as a knife.
The cousin's eyes flickered, and he dared not look at her, hesitating and unable to speak.
At this time, other elders also heard the sound and rushed over. Seeing this scene in front of them, they were all stunned.
Dai Shiya showed everyone a miniature eavesdropping device found on her cousin, and projected the intelligence sent by Wei Qing before - a document about the factional struggle within the aid forces - onto the big screen.
Data showed that the aiding forces were not monolithic. One of the factions was plotting to use this aid to control the Dai family, and this cousin was a pawn bought by them.
Seeing these ironclad evidences, the elders finally believed Dai Shiya's judgment and expressed their support for her to continue investigating.
The originally tense atmosphere was eased by the revelation of the truth. Dai Shiya's wisdom and decisiveness brought the situation under control.
Seeing the change in the attitudes of the elders, Dai Shiya was very pleased.
She knew that only by unity can we overcome the difficulties.
She looked around at everyone and said firmly: "We will definitely find out the truth and protect the family!" The elders nodded one after another, and the atmosphere within the family became more harmonious. Dai Shiya's leadership was once again demonstrated.
Dai Shiya continued to investigate in depth. She keenly realized that the hidden forces in the aiding forces were not willing to fail, and they were brewing a new conspiracy.
On the computer screen, an encrypted email caught her attention.
The content of the email was encrypted, but she could feel that there was a huge danger hidden behind this email.
At this moment, a rapid knock on the door broke the silence of the room.
Dai Shiya's heart trembled, and an ominous premonition came to her mind.
"Miss Shiya, it's not good..." The housekeeper's anxious voice came from outside the door, "Outside...outside..."