The Real Heiress Just Wants to Be a Lazy Fish - Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Explosion

There was no point in letting a corpse walk straight up to her like that. Tao Yitong, a seasoned veteran of a hundred battles, didn’t hesitate; she grabbed the corpse and charged outside at lightning speed.

A violent, chaotic energy suddenly began to surge within the body—an energy that shared the same source as the power within the black jade Buddha head. The opponent’s goal was to blow this place sky-high, and if possible, take her out with it!

If an ordinary member of the Special Affairs Bureau had been here, it would have been lethal. Fortunately, she was the one who had tracked the source to this location.

Tao Yitong immediately turned the jammer to its maximum setting and lunged toward the office building. Although the area was desolate, there were functioning factories nearby; a massive explosion here would undoubtedly draw the attention of ordinary citizens.

BOOM!

The power of the jammer enveloped the entire factory, so no one outside heard more than a dull, heavy thud. The office building shuddered. The blast’s true magnitude was enough to level the entire structure, but Tao Yitong devoured and absorbed the vast majority of the impact.

She then redirected a fraction of that force into the mouth of a figure hiding sneakily within the office building. To check if she and the tunnel had been destroyed, this fellow had peeked out, giving Tao Yitong the perfect opportunity to seize him.

That guy wasn’t as blast-resistant as Tao Yitong. After one of the corpse’s hands was shoved into his mouth, half of his head was blown away. However, Tao Yitong wasn’t worried; he wasn’t human. Losing half a head wouldn’t kill him.

“Oh, oh-oh! Right, I’ll investigate immediately!” Xiao Zheng, suddenly called upon, had a momentary mental blank before hurriedly pulling out her tools from her bag.

“Don’t be nervous. I’ll take responsibility for your safety.” Tao Yitong patted the shoulder of the person crouching on the ground.

Xiao Zheng nodded vigorously. Captain Tao’s voice provided such a sense of security… “You two just got back, you probably don’t have food at home. Come to my place for lunch; I’ll go back and prepare a chicken.”

“Thank you, Fourth Grandma, but Aunt Fu said she’s already prepared a table of food. We’re eating at her place this afternoon.” The “Aunt Fu” Tao Yitong mentioned was the neighbor aunt.

“Then tonight. You two come to my house tonight.” Jiang Zitan nodded slightly. Most videos had some degree of fabrication, including the original source video which could have been staged. Seeing that Tongtong didn’t seem troubled, she hoped this trip would go smoothly.

Although this inn was small, it had independent bathrooms. After a long, dusty day of traveling, taking a hot shower and lying in a fragrant, soft bed was the ultimate comfort.

After her shower, Tao Yitong quickly burrowed into the quilt. Before she could even sigh in relief, she felt the other side of the bed dip slightly. The quilt was lifted, and a familiar, sweet fragrance settled close to her.

A strange tension belatedly surged through her!

What did it feel like to share a quilt with Jiang Zitan? Tao Yitong couldn’t describe it; her entire body stiffened uncontrollably. She slightly regretted not asking the landlady for an extra quilt. She feared her sleeping posture might disturb the other woman, and she feared her lack of self-control—what if she smelled the fragrant Jiang Zitan and bit her?

“Can’t sleep?” The warmth, already very close, moved even nearer. Tao Yitong could feel the breath brush against her ear as she spoke.

“I… I have a bit of ‘bed-recognition’ (trouble sleeping in new places).” The heat behind her ear seemed to scramble her thoughts; the excuse left her mouth without passing through her brain.

The person beside her moved, shifting into a side-lying position. “Want to hear a bedtime story?”

“I’m not a child anymore!” Tao Yitong looked at her. Only a small nightlight remained on in the room, its soft glow making Jiang Zitan’s features appear even more hazy and gentle.

So beautiful, Tao Yitong thought to herself. She forgot to hide the burning intensity in her gaze, which made the woman being stared at feel a bit shy.

A warm hand covered her eyes. Tao Yitong heard the gentle voice beside her say, “Close your eyes and empty your mind. Maybe you’ll fall asleep in a while.”

Her eyelashes brushed against Jiang Zitan’s palm like small brushes. She obediently closed her eyes and began counting sheep. One sheep, two sheep, three sheep keep the sleeping posture steady… four sheep—don’t fall asleep and bite her… five sheep—so fragrant… six sheep… ZZZ…

The person who just claimed to have “bed-recognition” had steady breathing in no time. Jiang Zitan turned off the light. In the darkness, she touched her own face; it was hot. She wasn’t as composed as she seemed; she was merely putting up a front.

Jiang Zitan lay on the other side, trying to think of nothing, but that honey-peach scent wrapped around her unreasonably. The scent that used to let her sleep peacefully in nightmares was now disturbing her peace of mind. The one with insomnia had become her.

She glanced at the sweetly sleeping Tao Yitong and let out a soft sigh. Just as she closed her eyes to rest, the “little furnace” beside her rolled over. Now, they were pressed tightly together.

Jiang Zitan felt her heart rate quicken. She intended to move aside slightly, but the moment she budged, the little furnace hugged her.

She discovered for the first time how strong her sister was; once hugged, she was completely unable to move. Jiang Zitan couldn’t bear to wake her. After a few gentle, fruitless struggles, she allowed her to stay.

Tonight, I really might have insomnia.

Her sister’s steady breath brushed against her neck. Jiang Zitan seemed to hear her muttering in her sleep; she only caught the word “eat.”

She didn’t know what delicacies Tao Yitong was dreaming of, but the girl was so hungry she actually took a bite!

“Ssh…” Jiang Zitan felt a sharp pain in her neck. She took a sharp breath. “Tongtong, gentler…”

Whether the sleeping girl sensed something, she stopped applying force. Instead, an even more agonizingly tingling sensation followed. This scene was remarkably similar to the dream she’d had, though Tao Yitong hadn’t transformed into a monster. Jiang Zitan felt no fear from the dream; instead, there was a faint, strange reaction in both her body and mind.

Fortunately, she let go after a short while. Jiang Zitan’s breathing was a bit rapid. She covered her eyes with the back of her hand; she had just felt a hard-to-admit desire. But she’s my sister… Looking at the sweet, defenseless sleeping face, she felt a surge of self-disgust.

The first half of the night was agonizing for Jiang Zitan. However, the exhaustion from the day’s journey finally caught up, and by the second half of the night, drowsiness swept over her. She finally drifted into a hazy sleep.

Around 3:00 AM, everything was silent even the village dogs were fast asleep. The people who went to Taoli Village for livestreams wouldn’t return tonight, so everyone in the inn was asleep. This was when people were least alert.

Creak, creak…

An extremely light footstep became exceptionally obvious in this environment. It stopped and started, sniffing the air occasionally as if judging something. It moved through the inn bit by bit until, having confirmed the direction, it followed the stairs to the second floor.

“No wonder you said you were popular as a child…” Jiang Zitan remarked with a sigh. She could certainly see why.

“Of course! Back then, the picky eaters were most afraid of meeting me at mealtimes. I was good at nothing else, but I was most active when it came to eating. If they ran into me, they were sure to get a scolding from their parents.” Tao Yitong had served as the “model child” in a very alternative way.

Jiang Zitan laughed softly. “So, did you have good relationships as a child?”

“Naturally. I was the ‘King of the Kids’ in the village; everyone had to listen to me.” Tao Yitong looked at the village, which had changed much since her childhood, with a hint of nostalgia. “I’ve been away for years, and the village has changed a lot. There didn’t use to be so many small villas; they were all single-story houses back then.”

Now, the young adults were mostly away for work, coming back to build houses once they saved some money. The roads had been paved with cement; they used to be difficult dirt paths. Finally, Tao Yitong led Jiang Zitan to a small, aged courtyard. She took out a key, opened the padlock, and pushed the door open to a neat yard.

In the Ancient Battlefield

Xiao Zheng was not combat personnel. Suddenly receiving a mission to go deep into the ancient battlefield, it was impossible not to be afraid. But she hadn’t expected her companions to be big shots, and “big shots among big shots.” Surrounded by them in a protective circle, the eerie, sinister ancient battlefield didn’t seem quite as terrifying.

“I’m going to let my consciousness leave my body in a moment. Watch the red string on my hand; if it breaks, light the incense in front of me immediately.” It was too dangerous; Xiao Zheng had to bring out all her life-saving methods just in case. She took out a palm-sized censer from her bag and inserted three sticks of incense without lighting them.

Fortunately, her companions were reliable. She didn’t have to worry about them being taken down before her consciousness returned. If anything happened while her consciousness was floating outside, she wouldn’t be able to find her way back and would become an idiot!

“I understand.” Tao Yitong repeated the instructions to ensure there were no errors.

“Right! That’s it. I’ll leave my body to you then!” Xiao Zheng sat cross-legged on the ground and activated her esper ability.

Once the sound on her end died down, the colleagues lowered their voices in concern: “Has the Underworld also gotten involved in this?”

“I’m just being cautious. Senior Rong Zhen previously warned us to watch for movements from the Underworld.” Although that entity had hidden its traces in the mortal world, it didn’t mean the traces Rong Zhen saw were fake. The cannibal’s goal was deification; the path of the mortal world was blocked, so the underworld deities were a closer match for its goals.

“It can’t be… that some big figure from the Underworld wants to move against the mortal world?” Both realms had their own rules. It would be a thankless task for an Underworld figure to stretch their hand into the mortal world. Why bother?

A colleague looked grim. Please let it not be someone bored with the Underworld wanting to ‘play’ in the human world.

“She contacted King Qinguang? That fate-master truly lives up to her name. I’ve never heard of anyone being able to communicate with the Yama Kings. If a Yama is watching, there shouldn’t be too many major blunders…” Hearing that a Yama knew of the matter, they felt slightly relieved.

If things were truly that smooth, Senior Rong wouldn’t have been so worried before her death. That cannibal had perfected the art of “tunneling” over the past century a wily rabbit has three burrows, and it might have prepared more than 300 holes for hiding and fleeing. The Underworld was vast; could a Yama watch every corner where a hole might appear?

Tao Yitong didn’t voice her worst fears to avoid damaging morale. But in that moment, she noticed something wrong with Xiao Zheng. The red string with the copper coin fastened to her hand snapped with a “pop” right before her eyes.

Tao Yitong immediately lit the three sticks of incense in the censer. Faint white smoke rose, and simultaneously, the copper bell in Xiao Zheng’s hand began to ring “ding-ling-ling.” A chilly wind rose, and Tao Yitong suddenly threw her dagger in one direction. With a piercing scream, a “black mist” struggled and vanished on a tree trunk.

“Something is surrounding us! All vengeful souls and ghosts!” At some point, a vast tide of ghosts, like an ocean of spirits, began to close in on them.

The scouting colleague had a strange expression. “These ghosts aren’t right.”

“How so?” Tao Yitong asked.

“The clothing and the age of the ghosts aren’t normal. There are many ghosts in modern clothing… they’re from all different dynasties, and there are so many of them. This is an ancient battlefield from the Warring States period; even the inner layer should be from before the Xia and Shang dynasties. There shouldn’t be this many ghosts from later eras. Where did they come from?”

“There are too many. Let’s pick a path and get out first!” These souls varied in strength; individually they were no threat, but in such density, even a swarm of ants can be overwhelming.

“Sister, you must stay away from him. He has violent tendencies!” Most importantly, the more he demanded from those non-human entities, the greater the price he would have to pay later. Don’t get too close, lest you get splashed with blood.

Jiang Zitan pursed her lips into a smile, saying she understood. Then she remembered something else.

“By the way, Tongtong, didn’t you say you wanted to visit Grandfather with me? I’ve talked to him. Let’s go tomorrow.”

“…Okay!” Tao Yitong wore a sweet smile, but the joy didn’t reach her eyes. Finally going to the nursing home. It truly hadn’t been easy to get a meeting with Jiang Hong. What was that old fox plotting now?

Her listening devices in her biological parents’ villa were still working. Since she moved back, Jiang Xianglu only returned occasionally. It was clear he was truly afraid of her “calamity-star” status.

Based on the conversations she’d overheard, it seemed she and Jiang Zitan weren’t actually “switched by mistake.” Jiang Xianglu and Zhao Jinhui seemed to have no decision-making power in the matter; they had to ask Jiang Hong before doing anything. Even if they wanted to kick her out, they didn’t dare as long as Jiang Hong didn’t speak.

Why did Jiang Hong switch Jiang Zitan over? And was Jiang Zitan being targeted by the cannibal related to Jiang Hong? Tao Yitong had reason to suspect that the one in the Jiang family colluding with the cannibal was Jiang Hong himself!

Support