The Real Heiress Just Wants to Be a Lazy Fish - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Aftermath

In the VIP ward, Tao Yitong lay on the hospital bed, enjoying her sister’s meticulous care. Since being wheeled from the operating room to the ward, her mouth hadn’t stopped moving.

Ordinarily, a patient who has just undergone surgery should absolutely not overeat, but what would happen if Tao Yitong wasn’t allowed to eat? Would the hospital’s food warehouse remain intact? After staring down the “playing dumb and cute” Tao Yitong for a long while, the doctor finally surrendered.

“You can eat, but avoid greasy and spicy foods.” Wait, wasn’t Captain Tao nauseous from eating something ‘unclean’? How can she still eat?! Is this the difference between the strong and everyone else?

“Master was right; it seems it’s time to practice the martial arts she left me.”

Tao Yitong opened her mouth but couldn’t find words for a long time. This was likely destiny preventing them from seeing each other one last time; no wonder Rong Zhen said it was too late.

“But you must never tell my Master about this! Everything is fine now anyway, don’t let her worry.”

“Mhm…” Tao Yitong gave a low response.

“Also, tell my Master tomorrow that I know I was wrong, and I’ll never talk back to her again. Ask her to reply to my messages when she has time.” Qian Ran left the hospital, the cold wind making her instinctively wrap her down jacket tighter.

“Did you… have a fight with your Master?” A strange person?

“Wasn’t it a tourist?” Quite a few people had been coming here to play these past few days.

“I’m not sure.” Jiang Zitan shook her head slightly. “Maybe the landlady’s eyes played tricks on her. I heard she’s been watching those livestream videos lately; maybe she got a bit spooked?”

“Possibly. Those livestreams have the whole village on edge; people living here don’t even dare go out at night.” Though Tao Yitong said this, she was more inclined to believe there truly was such a “person.”

That weirdo bought instant noodles at the small shop last night, and there happened to be traces of boiling water and noodles from last night on their side. The water in the kettle wasn’t even dry, and there was a bit of spilled noodle broth on the stove; it was hard for Tao Yitong not to connect these two things.

Was the “person” Jiang Zitan encountered this fellow?

This place wasn’t safe anymore. She had made the right choice to clean up her adoptive parents’ old home; she had to let Jiang Zitan stay there tonight and shouldn’t let her go out alone.

Tao Yitong felt very guilty. She thought nothing would happen in broad daylight, but that fellow was more arrogant than she imagined. Until she caught that guy, she couldn’t let Jiang Zitan stay alone again.

That thing was highly feral and extremely dangerous.

Tao Yitong made this judgment because she had found something abnormal while checking her Master’s room just now. There were only two habitable rooms in her Master’s house: one for her Master and one for herself; the rest were for storage. Her own room looked normal, with no signs of being touched, but her Master’s room showed signs of habitation.

Despite being away for so long, the funeral portraits in her Master’s room were clean and free of dust.

If she had only seen that, Tao Yitong might have felt the little thief was at least helpful with the cleaning, but she discovered traces of blood spatter in the corner.

Although the room had been meticulously cleaned, as long as she used a special tool to shine on the floor, she could reconstruct the tragic scene of the initial blood spatter. That fellow had killed a “person” in her Master’s room; the victim’s death was gruesome, possibly even an “exploding” type of death.

However, if that fellow remained in the village, things would be easier to handle. As for Jiang Zitan nearly fainting just now, Tao Yitong felt it probably wasn’t that simple; she had to catch the person and question them to be at ease.

Tao Yitong didn’t realize she was unknowingly knitting her brows. Jiang Zitan watched her in silence for a while, then reached out to rub the space between her eyebrows. “Don’t frown, or you’ll grow wrinkles early.”

Tao Yitong snapped out of her thoughts, rubbed her own forehead, and gave a sweet smile. “Those rumors combined with Seventh Aunt’s experience are indeed a bit scary. Plus, the village kids saying they saw ghost shadows… I feel like if we filmed our experiences, it could serve as the opening for a horror movie.”

Jiang Zitan also smiled and nodded in agreement, but she suspected the village truly had encountered some unclean things.

Though she appeared normal, the heaviness in her chest persisted. While Tao Yitong turned to get something, she raised her hand to press the area over her heart. It felt very stifling, like a stone was pressing down on it, followed by an inexplicable emotion that made her feel uncomfortably sad. This discomfort existed only on a psychological level and would deepen due to certain triggers.

For example, when Tao Yitong left the room to wash fruit, she suddenly felt a strange urge to make her stay. Clearly, the room and the kitchen were only a few steps apart, but even so, she didn’t want Tongtong to leave; she even felt an exceptionally sad impulse when she saw her walk out the door.

What is wrong with me? Why do I have such strange emotions? Ethereal yet real.

“It wasn’t exactly a fight. I wanted to talk to her properly, but she said I broke the sect rules and wouldn’t let me back. I know it’s my fault, I accept it—if I can’t go back, I won’t. But she just had to add that I’m not allowed to go there for her funeral after she dies. Why say such unlucky things when she’s living perfectly fine…”

Listening to Qian Ran’s rambling, Tao Yitong felt an unspeakable heartache while leaning in Jiang Zitan’s arms.

“You’ll listen to your Master’s words, won’t you?” Tao Yitong asked.

“I have to listen, of course. I can’t make her angry…” Since technology is so advanced, they could still video chat without going back. Qian Ran reminded her again: “Remember to tell my Master for me. I don’t know why she suddenly stopped replying to messages.”

Tao Yitong’s hand holding the phone tightened slightly. “Um… Senior Rong had something to do and went back. Maybe the signal on the mountain is poor.”

“Oh, I see. No wonder Master hasn’t been replying. I don’t know what’s so great about staying on that broken mountain. A bunch of old fogies won’t let us build this or change that, making the signal in the mountains pathologically bad…” Qian Ran didn’t suspect anything; she had always believed her Master’s Celestial Fate remained strong.

“Sorry for the intrusion. I’ll see if I can contact my Senior Sister later.” Qian Ran hung up and pulled her down jacket’s hood up to reduce the cold wind’s damage to her face.

But the moment she put on the hood, she seemed to see a flash of light in the sky. Her eyes didn’t see the sky, but the vast River of Celestial Fate.

Was it in the direction of the Southern Dipper? The fluff on the hood had just happened to block her vision, so Qian Ran couldn’t see the fleeting light clearly. To whom did that light belong? Tianfu? Tianliang? Mhm… it should still be Tianxiang. After all, that was the only active one lately; the other five stars were like they were dead, with no movement at all.

What a pity; she had planned to bring her Master over for a while. Why did she go back so soon… she didn’t know when they would meet again.

“Captain Tao.” Among the Special Affairs Bureau members who arrived to handle the scene was a girl quite familiar with Tao Yitong. While running around, she didn’t forget to give Tao Yitong a teasing wink.

The young people in this bureau hadn’t been trained under Tao Yitong. Members who hadn’t been “tempered” weren’t like the previous bureau where most people held an overflowing awe for this captain. Who would dare tease her there?

“Your relationship is so good” Truly! Captain Tao, who could be cool enough to make people’s legs weak during missions, was even more effective at breaking through defenses when acting spoiled. Her girlfriend must be dazed by the sweetness; if it were her, she’d probably give her life for it.

She passed by with a “hehe” laugh, quickly dodging when Tao Yitong raised her hand, agile as a monkey on a mountain.

“Do your work well! Don’t forget your vacation applications are still on my desk waiting for approval!”

“I’m sorry, I was wrong!” The lethality of this threat was immense; every Bureau member present instinctively shuddered.

Jiang Zitan couldn’t help but chuckle at their “mouse meeting a cat” behavior. “So fierce.”

Tao Yitong’s eyes widened. To save her image, she leaned in close to her sister. “I am not~”

The voice was like a coo. Tao Yitong knew without guessing that although her colleagues looked busy, their ears were pricked toward them. So, she specifically lowered her voice into Jiang Zitan’s ear.

Jiang Zitan felt Tao Yitong’s breath on her ear. Those few people ahead were peeking back again, seemingly discussing them. Her ears uncontrollably flushed crimson.

“I’ll go see if they need help. If not, we’ll head back to the Bureau. I’ll personally check on the spy and the matter with Secretary Fang.”

Jiang Zitan nodded. “Alright.”

With outsiders present, her sister was prone to shyness. Tao Yitong felt her heart itch. She glared at the people peeking, and once certain they had all turned away, she kissed Jiang Zitan’s cheek.

Then, she walked over with a straight face and asked her colleagues for their preliminary analysis.

Everyone was serious during work reports; such matters were no joke. Several people explained their findings. The spy caught earlier was a coward; it didn’t take long for him to confess. It was normal for other factions to send spies here, and after a certain prophet released that prophecy, this place became even more tempting to those wolves.

But unexpectedly, an accident happened between the two spies sent by the Dark Court. One killed the other. Fearing accountability, the survivor found this place to bury his companion. However, there was a monkey on this mountain nearing spiritual awakening; the monkey dug up the corpse and immediately became tainted with Demonic Qi after one bite.

The traces left around matched the spy’s statement. After circling around to ensure no danger remained, Tao Yitong left the scene to the team taking over.

However, there was still one problem regarding their return: the deer beside her sister.

Her sister seemed to really like it—how many times had she reached out to pet it? Tao Yitong was almost jealous, but it was rare for her sister to be interested in something…

This deer had moved beyond the realm of ordinary animals; the Bureau should be able to take it in. After a moment’s thought, Tao Yitong made up her mind and smilingly took Jiang Zitan’s arm.

As they left the park, the white deer followed them for a distance but didn’t stray too far. When Tao Yitong heard the sounds of human activity nearby, the deer stopped following. It was smart, knowing it shouldn’t reveal itself to ordinary people outside the deer pen.

“What exactly are you? Forget it, if you don’t want to acknowledge me, just go back. Do you know the way to the pen? You’ve been here so long, you should remember…” Tao Yitong had just muttered a few words when the white deer seemed to find her noisy and silently turned toward another direction.

“This fellow…” Tao Yitong huffed. Once I get it to the Bureau, I’ll pet it however I want!

The white deer walked a short distance then turned to look back at them more specifically, at Jiang Zitan. Jiang Zitan seemed to see a sense of reluctance in the deer’s posture before its figure disappeared into the woods.

“Do you really like it, Sister?”

Jiang Zitan hadn’t forgotten someone was just jealous of a deer. A trace of a helpless smile appeared in her eyes. “Not as much as you.”

This one sentence made Tao Yitong beam instantly. When they reached the Bureau, anyone who ran into her asked if something good had happened.

Tao Yitong waved them off, not mentioning her private affairs, but asked where the stupid spy was being held. She headed to the interrogation room, while Jiang Zitan went to see Secretary Fang on Tao Yitong’s behalf.

Secretary Fang sat in the meeting room, still feeling lingering fear, but it paled in comparison to her worldview being shattered repeatedly today. Holding her niece, who had fallen asleep after staff had hidden her horrific memories, she sat on the sofa listening to people explain the specifics of that monkey.

Tao Yitong had thought her deceased maternal grandmother was the “clean stream” of the family who didn’t need worrying about. Alas, she had relaxed too early. Her family was full of “hidden dragons,” and none were easy to manage. She felt a throbbing headache.

“Zhao Zhengzhi doesn’t know much, so I’m applying to interrogate his parents.” Xiao Yu’s interrogation didn’t require bringing people in; she could conduct an ordeal of the soul without the subject realizing perfect for a case where alerting the enemy was inconvenient.

“Mhm, go ahead. Be careful not to alert them. I’ll also find a way to test the Jiang couple about grandmother’s situation.” Tao Yitong felt it was troublesome. After all, that couple viewed her as a “calamity beast,” fearing she’d bring them bad luck just by staying for two days. In this situation, they might not acknowledge her.

Perhaps… she could try asking Jiang Zitan for a small favor? Although that couple didn’t welcome her, they were quite warm toward their adoptive daughter. If their goal wasn’t just exploitation…

When Jiang Zitan learns the truth about the Jiang family that twenty years of affection were likely for an ulterior motive she’ll probably be devastated… Tao Yitong suddenly felt reluctant to reveal the truth before Jiang Zitan.

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