Although They're Mentally ill, They're Extremely Easy to Comfort - Chapter 74

“What do we do with this guy?”

Ji Nancen pointed at the man lying on the ground, gasping for breath. Qu Ye tightened his grip on his tie with one hand while pinning the man down with his foot. “None of them can leave here alive. If they do, we’re the ones who suffer.”

“Hand him to me. You deal with the one on the floor.”

With a ruthless hand-chop to the neck, Ji Nancen knocked out the man who had been struggling against the tie.

Freeing his hands, Qu Ye knelt to search the man’s body for weapons. Aside from a dagger tucked into the waistband, he found a four-finger brass knuckle duster hidden in the trousers.

Qu Ye slipped it on and shook his hand at Ji Nancen. “Good stuff.”

“Hurry up. Don’t waste time.”

At the prompt, Qu Ye flipped the prone man over. The man clutched his arm, frantically trying to scramble away, but Qu Ye rose and delivered a knee strike that sent him crashing back to the ground.

Pinning the man’s shoulder, Qu Ye muttered a brief “sorry.” Without hesitation, he slammed the cold steel knuckles into the man’s heart. The man’s bloodshot eyes bulged, his back arched, and he died instantly.

When Qu Ye looked back, he found Ji Nancen had stripped the man with the broken neck stark naked. He was baffled. “Why are you stealing his clothes?”

As she pulled on the suit jacket, Ji Nancen urged, “They’re useful, obviously. You better strip a set for yourself, too.”

After successfully changing clothes, Qu Ye carried the unconscious man while Ji Nancen led the way. Their uniform attire didn’t arouse any suspicion.

Leaving the underground market, Qu Ye sat in the car, hesitant about where to hide. Ji Nancen flatly stated the destination: “Back to your courtyard.”

“No, that’s dangerous!” Qu Ye immediately protested.

“The most dangerous place is the safest. If someone is staking it out, we have to find a way to flush them out. Anyone Joe di sends must be silenced on the spot. That’s the only way to ensure our safety. Otherwise, how are you going to meet up with Chu Xi later?”

Ji Nancen had dropped her usual playful demeanor. Seeing her so deadly serious made Qu Ye a bit uncomfortable. He let out a dry laugh. “When you get ruthless, you’re barely human.”

“We’re both people who live by the blade. Soft-heartedness only leads to an early grave.”

“Fair point.”

Qu Ye and Ji Nancen’s counter-surveillance skills were top-tier. To test if they were still being followed, they drove aimlessly around the city. Only after confirming they were in the clear did they speed back to the small courtyard.

Before entering, Ji Nancen—still carrying the kidnapped man—performed a routine check on the small leaf stuck in the door frame. Meanwhile, Qu Ye circled to the back and climbed through a window. With perfect coordination, they ensured no one had entered or left before finally collapsing onto the sofa to rest.

“Exhausted. I should have bought some beer to quench my thirst,” Ji Nancen complained, slumping into the sofa and rolling up her sleeves.

Qu Ye leaned over and poked the unconscious man’s head. “He hasn’t woken up for half the day. You hit him hard.”

Ji Nancen propped her head up and pouted. “See? I told you if you followed me, we’d get results today.”

“I have a plan now for rescuing Miss Pol,” Qu Ye said calmly, but Ji Nancen saw right through him.

“Don’t act alone. I don’t agree with your plan.”

“I haven’t even told you yet, and you’re already vetoing it? That’s not fair.”

“You’re planning to storm the church on Sunday to draw the fire, so I can sneak into the Joseph Estate to save her, right? What’s the point of discussing a suicidal plan like that?”

Ji Nancen snapped back impatiently. Qu Ye sighed and lowered his head, rubbing the bridge of his nose with exhaustion. “I don’t have any other choice. Who would willingly throw their life away if there was another way?”

“Didn’t you say you were waiting for your ‘Think Tank’? Maybe she’ll have a better idea when she arrives.”

As they discussed their next move, the bound man finally woke up. Ji Nancen ripped off his sunglasses and grinned. “Time to get to work.”

Qu Ye reacted instantly, lunging forward to straddle the man. He grabbed his collar and demanded, “Talk! Did Jodie send you?”

The man remained silent. Clearly, while Jodie’s henchmen lacked top-tier combat skills, they had decent training in resisting interrogation. He turned his head away, unmoved.

Ji Nancen gave a wicked smile, grabbed some tissues, and began removing the man’s shoes. As the man struggled and kicked, Qu Ye sat firmly on his shins. “Stay still!”

Ji Nancen knew many forms of torture, but “tickle torture” was a classic. Holding her nose, she brushed the man’s soles, cursing, “Damn! Your feet stink!”

The man couldn’t help but burst into laughter, but he couldn’t move. His toes twitched uncontrollably. Qu Ye, unfazed by the smell, stuffed the man’s own sock into his mouth. Suddenly, he couldn’t laugh or breathe properly. Just as he was about to suffocate, he tapped the floor in surrender.

Tossing the sock aside, Qu Ye stared him down. “Tell us everything you know!”

“The boss… the boss just sent us to watch you and report your movements.”

“Since when have you been following us? Are there more of your people nearby?”

“Since you landed at the airport… there are none nearby right now… but if we don’t go back, more will come… You’re finished!”

“Stubborn till the end,” Qu Ye snorted, delivering a heavy punch.

The man groaned in pain. Ji Nancen sat back on the sofa, thinking for a moment before deciding: “It seems we really can’t stay here much longer.”

Her eyes darted around as she asked the man, “Are all your people staying at the Joseph Estate?”

When the man remained silent again, Ji Nancen lost her patience. She grabbed his jaw and twisted; the sound of the dislocation was sickeningly crisp. The man’s mouth hung open, drooling, his eyes squinted in agony as he shook his head frantically.

“If you hate talking that much, then don’t.” A cold glint appeared in Ji Nancen’s eyes. Time was tight; they couldn’t afford to dally.

Grabbing the man’s tie, she threatened him one last time: “If you want to keep your mouth shut, I’ll give you one last chance. Answer truthfully, or next time… I twist your neck.”

The man nodded frantically. Due to the pain, he could only let out muffled sounds of agreement.

“Are all your people at the Joseph Estate?”

“Mhm… mhm…”

“Has Joe di been staying at the estate these past few days, without going anywhere?”

“Mhm…”

“He’s just ‘mhm-ing’ everything, is this even useful?” Qu Ye asked suspiciously. The man immediately nodded his head in desperate affirmation.

“Looks like he’s just terrified, no big deal,” Ji Nancen replied simply before turning back to the man to continue the interrogation: “How many patrol shifts are there at the estate during the night?”

“Three… three…”

Ji Nancen pulled out the man’s phone and gave it a shake, struck by a sudden inspiration. “This could be fun.”

She unlocked the phone, scrolled through the messages regarding status reports, and deftly typed out a string of words before hitting send.

“It’s called ‘luring the snake out of its hole.’ I sent a fake message saying we’ve been neutralized; someone will be knocking on our door very soon. While this won’t hurt Jodie directly, it’ll take out some of his lapdogs at the very least.”

Ji Nancen propped the man up on the sofa and glanced at the distance to the entrance. “Is there any rope in the house?”

“I’ll go look.”

“I’m going to set a trap to catch them all in one go,” she said, “though your beautiful childhood memories might end up being burned to ashes.”

“What do you mean? You’re going to burn this place down?” Qu Ye looked at her in horror, not expecting her to play this dirty.

“There’s no other way; a price has to be paid.” Ji Nancen beckoned Qu Ye closer and whispered, “Tonight, we pay a late-night visit to the Joseph Estate.”

“Don’t—” Qu Ye started to cry out, but Ji Nancen covered his mouth. “Relax. We won’t alert the enemy. Trust me.”

A bucket filled to the brim with gasoline was suspended above the door. Ji Nancen’s trap was simple—a basic pulley system where the other end of the rope was tied to the captive man.

The moment Jodie’s men burst into the living room, the knot at the other end would slip, and everyone inside would be drenched in gasoline.

Hiding on the second floor, Ji Nancen and Qu Ye waited for the commotion. Once they heard it, they would jump out the window to the front door; a single spark would finish the job.

Ji Nancen stood by the window watching the courtyard, calculating the driving time from the Joseph Estate. Sure enough, after nearly an hour, two cars arrived in a grand, aggressive fashion.

In a straight fight, these men were nothing more than punching bags for Qu Ye and Ji Nancen, but to conserve energy, they preferred to take them out en masse through trickery.

“Action!”

At Ji Nancen’s command, Qu Ye climbed out the window, shuffled along the edge of the terrace to the drainpipe, and slid down nimbly.

Once they hit the ground, they hugged the wall, waiting for the right moment. The sound of the door being forced open was followed immediately by the crash of the iron bucket hitting the floor. Cries of alarm erupted from inside.

Qu Ye pulled out a pre-prepared lighter and walked directly to the doorway.

Ji Nancen laughed loudly and taunted them: “Is Jodie raising pigs? What a bunch of useless trash. I have no idea how Zanda was ever subdued by him. Hahaha!”

The group of men in black tried to retreat out of the house, but seeing the sparking lighter in Qu Ye’s hand, they surged back inside in a panic.

There wasn’t a hint of mercy in Qu Ye’s eyes. He rushed to the door and threw the windproof lighter onto the ground. Instantly, a wall of roaring flames blocked the exit.

The men in black could only scatter like trapped rats inside the house. Little did they know, Ji Nancen had splashed gasoline everywhere except for Qu Ye’s second-floor bedroom.

Sitting in the car, Qu Ye listened to the rising screams coming from the house in silence, his head bowed.

Knowing he was grieving the loss of his home, Ji Nancen comforted him with a smile: “Out with the old, in with the new. It’s all for Joe Pol. Try to look on the bright side.”

“Is doing this actually effective?” Qu Ye asked.

Ji Nancen tucked her hair back. “It’s like a game of ‘Match 3’—we clear them out bit by bit. That Jodie guy might be deep, but we’re using a small force to topple a large one. We took out over a dozen today. Pretty impressive!”

“Where to now?”

“A little tour of Florence? Or we could go straight to the Joseph Estate. Wait for me a second.”

Ji Nancen walked over to the black-clad men’s car. Though the keys were gone, it wasn’t a problem for her. She gave Qu Ye an “OK” sign and began tearing into the wiring panel.

Qu Ye stood beside her with his hands on his hips, teasing: “Lock-picking, hot-wiring, stealing, and fighting… Damn, Ji Nancen, you’re quite the catch.”

The two of them were completely unhurried, as if the raging sea of fire behind them was a mere trifle.

Ji Nancen studied the wires, trying to start the engine. “Don’t just stand there. Go grab the tool kit from the trunk. We need to move fast. The fire department will be here soon. Hurry, hurry, hurry!”

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