The Real Heiress Just Wants to Be a Lazy Fish - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: The Prank

In the dark of night, Jiang Zitan’s heart beat as loud as a war drum. Despite her fear, her mind remained exceptionally clear at this moment, instantly cycling through several escape plans.

Suddenly, she heard a phone ring from above. Jiang Zitan initially thought her own phone was ringing at this critical juncture, but she saw no light from her device. This ringtone… it came from above and to her left, exactly where the owner of the skirt was positioned.

A phone ringtone… and a rather strange one at that. A somewhat absurd hypothesis flashed through Jiang Zitan’s mind. She lifted her head and locked eyes with two pairs of small, shining eyes from above.

Inside the room, Tao Yitong was finding it strange. She had clearly seen Jiang Zitan return, so why hadn’t she entered the house yet?

She had spent the entire afternoon arranging the business with the vampires. Those blood-suckers had caused her such massive trouble; she had to splash back a bucket of dirty water as a gesture of “reciprocity.” It had taken her all afternoon to settle the matter.

Jiang Zitan and Tao Yitong looked at each other; they both guessed that Xiao Ran had likely dialed the wrong number. To ask such a question at this hour had she run into Noreen and An Yu?

Once the voice of the colleague on the phone calmed down slightly, Jiang Zitan asked, “Did you dial the wrong person?”

Xiao Ran’s sobbing paused. She let out a hiccup, having already started crying before the call. Tears blurred her vision and her hands were shaking violently; perhaps that was why she hadn’t noticed she had tapped the wrong contact.

“Sorry, I dialed wrong.” Xiao Ran’s face, already red from crying, flushed even deeper. She tremblingly tried to hang up, but Jiang Zitan called out to stop her.

“Wait a moment.”

“Is something… wrong?” Xiao Ran valued her pride and tried to suppress the tremor in her voice but failed. Realizing Jiang Zitan had already witnessed her various embarrassments since childhood, she simply gave up and let it be.

“An Yu is busy with something; don’t look for her right now,” Jiang Zitan instructed.

The sobbing on the other end subsided a bit, replaced by a touch of fear. “Jiang Jiang, is she going on another dangerous mission?”

Compared to a strange woman appearing beside An Yu, Xiao Ran was clearly more afraid of her going on missions. Ever since she learned of An Yu’s second identity, whenever she couldn’t reach her, Xiao Ran would be terrified, wondering if she was out on a mission and in danger.

“She is on a mission,” Tao Yitong interjected. Before her voice even faded, Xiao Ran’s sobbing grew louder.

“But a family elder is with her, you don’t need to worry.”

“How can I not worry…” Xiao Ran wiped her tears over the phone. “Whenever I can’t reach her, I can’t even sleep. I can’t help her with anything…”

She spoke incoherently, but Tao Yitong understood everything.

“The elder accompanying her this time is very powerful; the small fry in this place won’t be her match. Where are you? What did you see just now that made you call An Yu?” Tao Yitong sat up slightly and asked.

“I… I…” Xiao Ran’s tears were about to fall again. “I just saw An Yu walking very close to a woman at the hospital entrance. Maybe I’m just overthinking.”

“You are overthinking! In terms of seniority, that person is An Yu’s great-grandmother—hiss…”

“Tongtong! Don’t move! Did you pull your wound again?” Jiang Zitan’s anxious voice came through the other end of the line.

Xiao Ran blinked her tear-filled eyes. Did she hear wrong? Great-grandmother?

“Um… Jiang Jiang?” After the flurry of chaos subsided, Xiao Ran asked tentatively.

“Yes?”

“Is your partner okay? Is she injured again?” After learning about the dangers of An Yu’s work, Xiao Ran had developed an ability to anticipate such situations.

Jiang Zitan sighed softly. “Yesterday she carried out a relatively dangerous mission, so she sustained some minor injuries.”

Xiao Ran unconsciously bit her lower lip. “Then An Yu…”

“She’s fine.”

Xiao Ran breathed a sigh of relief and wiped her eyes. “Then which hospital is your partner in? Is it the one An Yu just came out of?”

After talking with her old friend and her friend’s partner, Xiao Ran finally had a slight smile on her face as she left the ward. So it really was a great-grandmother; she had misunderstood. Since she was an elder, she should bring some gifts for a visit next time…

But what gift is appropriate for a vampire? The smile on Xiao Ran’s face suddenly froze. The temperature outside had warmed up today, but her heart grew cold bit by bit. She was beginning to realize the gap between an ordinary person like herself and An Yu.

The sun was shining brightly outside, but her retreating figure carried an unspeakable sorrow.

Holding her sister who had nearly met with disaster, her expression was somewhat dazed; it took her a long while to recover.

The woman appeared somewhat like a person of mixed heritage, her eyes reflecting a faint blue tint. She looked like a gentle person, but when her gaze swept over the men lying scattered on the ground, killing intent and ferocity flashed through her eyes.

Jiang Zitan recognized her. She remembered that the leading luxury jewelry company from K Province was expanding into Hai City, and the one sent was the chairman’s daughter. Rumor had it the chairman’s mother-in-law was from the UK; this should be that group’s newly arrived eldest daughter, apparently named… Xu Musi.

“Thank you for saving my sister. I must take her to the hospital for a check-up first, but I will surely reward you all handsomely later,” Xu Musi thanked them repeatedly.

“Getting the child to the hospital for a check-up is more important. Oh, and this cat…” The neighbor girl looked at the cat that had shifted into Tao Yitong’s arms.

Once her hands were free, Tao Yitong took the cat from Jiang Zitan. She quietly pinched a bit of powder and sprinkled it on the cat’s wound; the previously lethargic little fellow instantly perked up.

Eh?

Tao Yitong noticed the cat’s recovery ability seemed unnaturally fast. The powder shouldn’t have taken effect that quickly, yet the edges of the wound were already beginning to heal. This was not an ordinary kitten, but it was too weak—so weak that she hadn’t sensed any abnormality before. The little thing likely just had a stroke of luck and gained a bit of spiritual intelligence. It stood to reason; if it had any more cultivation, it wouldn’t have been injured like this by a few ordinary humans.

Keep training hard, Tao Yitong thought, patting the cat’s head.

“Sister, Kitty…” the child sobbed.

“Take it to a pet hospital immediately,” Xu Musi told a bodyguard behind her. Looking at the cat in Tao Yitong’s arms, her expression softened significantly. “Go to the one my friend owns.”

The bodyguard stepped forward, took the cat, and left immediately. Afterward, she called in a group of people all her bodyguards but she didn’t seem to have plans to call the police yet.

“Leave the matters here to me. I’m sorry for wasting your time,” Xu Musi said gratefully, though there was a subtle hint of politely asking them not to interfere.

“This incident is too atrocious! Daring to snatch a child in broad daylight!” The residents of this community were all wealthy or prominent; security was tight, and strange vehicles couldn’t just enter and leave at will. This likely wasn’t a simple kidnapping case.

The neighbor girl vaguely felt this incident was targeted at the sisters. “There’s a first time, and there might be a second. You’d better call the police to check if someone ordered this,” she suggested kindly. This time the child was lucky to run into Miss Tao, but if it was premeditated, who could say what would happen next?

“Thank you for your concern. I will call the police in a moment.”

Xu Musi’s expression showed anger and lingering fear, but no confusion. This meant she already knew there was something wrong with the situation, and her claim to call the police seemed like a platitude for outsiders.

The bodyguards dragged away the thugs paralyzed on the ground. Because of their rough handling, something fell out from the leader’s pocket. It was a sheathed dagger, looking unlike a product of modern craftsmanship; it was what had filled his bulging pocket earlier.

When the dagger hit the ground, it was jarred, and a section of the blade was exposed from the sheath.

Tao Yitong, who hadn’t intended to intervene, suddenly spoke up: “I already called the police when I found them kidnapping the child. They’ll be here any minute.”

Xu Musi frowned slightly.

“I wasn’t sure if I could catch them at the time, so I called the police first. If they had really driven out, the police could have intercepted them at the intersection.” Tao Yitong’s explanation was reasonable; she called for the safety of the child. Xu Musi wasn’t ungrateful and thanked her again.

However, Jiang Zitan, who knew her well, immediately realized there was something wrong with these men. Ordinary people should indeed call the police, but if even Tongtong couldn’t catch the car, could ordinary police? Therefore, Tongtong would at most call the police to wrap things up after saving the child, not before. Her explanation was also a platitude for Xu Musi. The one arriving shortly wouldn’t be an ordinary officer, but Peng Shuang, the police liaison for the Special Affairs Bureau.

Xu Musi’s eyes reflected a struggle. She wanted to take these people away; some secrets couldn’t be interrogated by ordinary police. She needed to dig deep into what was behind them.

Tao Yitong quickly made a fuss to leave the hospital. The place was full of that annoying disinfectant smell; it wasn’t nearly as comfortable as her bed at home.

Under the treatment of various precious medicines, her injuries healed quickly. The “dirty stuff” from the Sea Demon wasn’t as potent as that of Xiangliu, which had tormented her for months. After a week, she was back to running and jumping.

During this time, although Tao Yitong just wanted to recuperate in peace, there were too many things happening. Some people always wanted to break her tranquility.

A few days ago, the evidence against Jiang Xiangfu and Jiang Hong was complete. Since the other members of the Jiang family weren’t involved in the esper world, the Special Affairs Bureau informed Jiang Xiangfu’s family of his various crimes through the police.

Jiang Hong went without saying; with multiple crimes combined, his soul might be extracted and cast into the Avici Hell. Since his body actually belonged to Jiang Xianglu, they would extract Jiang Hong’s soul if conditions permitted. Once the soul and body were separated, the body would die immediately, and the Jiang family would soon host another funeral.

As for Jiang Xiangfu, he was guilty of attempted murder. Based on Tao Yitong’s experience, he’d likely get a life sentence. Once those filthy supernatural methods are involved, the punishment is handled with increased severity.

Despite this, his family couldn’t be left alone. The Second Branch of the family spent money everywhere to clear paths, but the methods that used to be invincible now met walls everywhere. People seemed to have conspired to avoid them; up until now, they hadn’t even seen Jiang Xiangfu’s face. To an ordinary person, this case reeked of strangeness.

The desperate Second Branch could only turn to the two daughters of the First Branch specifically Jiang Zitan. Although Tao Yitong held the majority of shares, only Jiang Zitan could reach the higher-level connections. So they cast aside their pride and went to Jiang Zitan’s house to cause a scene, even bringing elders from the hometown to wail and roll on the floor, demanding Jiang Zitan find a way to get him out or at least reduce the sentence.

Jiang Zitan showed no reaction to these absurd claims; she had heard plenty of similar things over the years. But Tao Yitong straight-up laughed.

“Jiang Xiangfu is in for attempted murder, and you just want Sister to get him out with a few words? Do you think the law is the toilet paper in your bathroom? Why don’t you just ask Sister to send you to heaven instead?” As for the latter, Tao Yitong could personally send them to see the view from the sky without needing Jiang Zitan.

They knew too little about these ancient monsters. If they knew this “Mole” possessed mind-reading abilities, Tao Yitong would definitely have locked everyone’s hearts to prevent the plan’s total collapse.

Fortunately, she was the first one he encountered.

Thinking about anything else was useless; she needed to avoid being dragged into a situation where three enemy S-class espers counter-attacked simultaneously. Vampires above the sea, Sea Demon beneath which way to choose? Tao Yitong quickly had an answer.

“You are a mole for the Chinese authorities.” This time, the eyeless Mole spoke a language Tao Yitong couldn’t understand, because he didn’t need her to. He had already made his judgment. Fortunately, the Sea Demon had raised a mist; he wasn’t worried the mole could send intel back, but he didn’t know how many Chinese officials had infiltrated. He had to catch her and interrogate her for her companions.

Tao Yitong turned and “fled” without hesitation, while purposely exposing a weak aura, indicating her strength was merely C-class. Smuggling into a powerful country made the Mole inherently suspicious, but if Tao Yitong’s strength was weak enough, he wouldn’t be too vigilant. Especially after “seeing” this Chinese mole jump into the sea, he laughed out loud.

The sea was the Sea Demon’s territory; jumping in was a death wish!

The Master of Earth Demons revealed his true form an eyeless, wingless Earth Dragon. He opened his bloody maw, intending to bite off Tao Yitong’s arm while she was off-guard, but before his sharp teeth could snap shut, he realized his body was out of control again!

He clearly wanted to close his mouth, but his body’s reaction was to open it wide; his brain sent instructions opposite to his intent! And that S-class esper didn’t dodge but charged forward, striking his upper jaw directly!

Blood diffused in the ocean. The pain left his brain momentarily blank. Survival instinct made him pull away from Tao Yitong; otherwise, at such close range, she could have hollowed out his head!

A group of elders with little education but big dreams started being aggressive the moment they walked in, spitting everywhere as they spoke. Tao Yitong’s expression gradually soured. She had wanted to recuperate peacefully without getting violent, but some people insisted on pushing their luck.

Jiang Zitan hesitated as if she wanted to ask something but ultimately remained silent. At this angle, she could clearly see Tao Yitong’s snow-white shoulders and exquisite, sexy collarbones…

When Tao Yitong came out with a knife to threaten the parrots, she was wearing pajamas. This spaghetti-strap nightgown offered limited coverage, so it was easy to see fine white marks on her shoulders and collarbones, like scratches from fingernails. But because her skin was so delicate, the marks were exceptionally obvious.

Because Tao Yitong had been at the center of the explosion yesterday, she had inevitably suffered some scratches. Such minor injuries were negligible to her; within a day, the wounds had healed into white marks, and in a few more days, they would likely vanish entirely.

But Jiang Zitan was meticulous. she had observed the positions of the gashes on the dress… comparing them now with these “scratches” on Tao Yitong’s body, the positions were exactly the same!

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