The Real Heiress Just Wants to Be a Lazy Fish - Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Capture

Tao Yitong exhaled softly, relieved that she had arrived in time to prevent another tragedy. She surveyed the basement; the air was thick with the stench of rot. She didn’t mean the poor victim on the floor, but a familiar, putrid odor belonging to a monster.

Although the other scents in the room were complex, it was certain that there were traces of only one monster’s activity in this basement.

Tao Yitong moved the unconscious neighbor to a corner behind her. Then, after a quick flex of her wrists, she lunged toward the shadow attempting to flee.

The creature seemed to possess a hereditary talent for concealment, but once locked onto by her, its abilities became useless. Combined with the fact that the basement had only one exit which Tao Yitong was firmly blocking it had nowhere to run.

The monster had just taken a punch to the waist from Tao Yitong; its abdomen was caved in, and its movements were hampered. In desperation, it launched a counterattack, but the moment its claws lashed out, Tao Yitong slapped them aside.

“Alright, the personnel are ready for you. You can head out anytime. Oh, right one more thing.” Tao Yitong pulled out her phone. “I’m going to push a contact to you. Add her.”

“Who is it?” Noreen took out her own phone. During her twenty-year slumber, the outside world had changed at a dizzying pace. Fortunately, she had a strong aptitude for new things and had already figured out how to use mobile apps; she had even become slightly addicted to gaming lately.

Tao Yitong told her to add the contact on WeChat, and Noreen did so without suspicion.

The other person’s profile picture was a landscape photo—an aerial shot of a castle. Noreen found it familiar and squinted to look closer.

“Isn’t this my territory?” After typing and deleting several drafts, Tao Yitong finally sent only three words: What is it?

Buzz!

Her phone vibrated; Qian Ran called her directly.

Jiang Zitan, wearing a bathrobe and carrying the warm, sweet mist of a shower, hugged Tao Yitong from behind. “A call at this hour? Is there an emergency…”

Tao Yitong’s identity carried heavy responsibilities, and any mission requiring her personal attention at night was bound to be thorny. However, Jiang Zitan never expected to see the name “Qian Ran” on the caller ID.

Tao Yitong made a “shh” gesture to her sister and then answered the phone.

“Why did it take so long to answer? Wait! I didn’t interrupt you two, did I?” Qian Ran realized belatedly.

“Ahem… no, but I had to step out to take the call.”

“Oh, oh, sorry. I was just a bit bored so I sent a message. You could have just replied tomorrow.” What kind of situation keeps someone with a partner awake at this hour? Qian Ran felt she shouldn’t think too deeply about it; her face was already turning a bit red.

“Why… why are you still awake at this hour?” Tao Yitong asked.

“Sigh, don’t even get me started. Nothing has gone right tonight!” Qian Ran grumbled. “I’m at the hospital.”

“Hospital? Are you sick?”

“Mhm. Well, specifically, I’m injured, not sick.” Qian Ran looked at her left arm, which was wrapped tightly in bandages.

“I didn’t want to cook tonight, so I went to the night market to grab some food. On the way home, a car came out of nowhere and knocked everything out of my hands.” Actually, it was partly her own fault; she had been inexplicably restless all evening and had been dazing out when the car approached. Fortunately, it only hit her food.

“Was the impact serious?”

“Who is this, exactly?” Noreen already had a sinking feeling.

“First, put down your water glass and sit firmly in your chair. Um… it’s your sister, Floy.”

Noreen did put down her glass, but now she felt like soaking her phone in it as well.

Tao Yitong raised her uninjured arm and rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “There was no other way. She went through the official channels I don’t know what deal she made with the higher-ups, but her only request was to establish contact with her ‘runaway’ sister.”

Despite the bright sunlight outside, Tao Yitong felt as though the colors on Noreen were fading into a black-and-white photograph.

“According to the research the authorities have done on your sister over the years, her mental state can be unstable at times. We won’t allow her to come here in person, but if you can communicate more and build some ‘sisterly affection,’ stabilizing her would be a huge merit.” Tao Yitong patted Noreen’s shoulder. “Good luck. You can do it.”

“Sisterly affection…” Noreen’s lip twitched. She truly didn’t know how those two words could ever be applied to her and Floy.

But Tao Yitong was right about one thing: it was better to indulge Floy in these small matters. Otherwise, if Floy actually decided to personally fly to Hai City one day, Noreen wouldn’t even have the chance to cry.

“Fine.” Noreen nodded stiffly and put the phone in her pocket. Her cautious movements made it look like she wasn’t holding a phone, but carrying a time bomb.

“Speaking of her… Xiao Yu, how is that child Floy possessed earlier?” Tao Yitong thought of the child in the wheelchair.

“She’s fine. Floy didn’t do anything to her. In fact… she enabled her legs to stand again.” After Floy left, Xu Musi and the child were taken into custody. The child had been in a deep sleep, only waking up when they disembarked. That was when the Special Affairs Bureau members discovered the child could walk.

However, since she had been in a wheelchair for years, she still needed time to recover before she could move like a normal person.

“When they were abroad, Floy took an interest in the child’s unique constitution and wanted her as a vessel for her manifestation. She offered a generous reward, one of which was letting the child stand again.”

“Originally, Xu Musi didn’t dare take the risk. But after Carnaro’s people targeted the child and pushed the Xu sisters to a dead end, Xu Musi had no choice but to agree to the deal with Floy.”

“I see. Take the child for a thorough check-up; don’t let any side effects linger.” Tao Yitong could hear the hardship in the story.

“Will do. If there’s nothing else, I’ll take Prince Noreen to catch those traitors now,” An Yu said.

“Go ahead. Be safe! Noreen, keep a close eye out don’t let those desperate lowlifes hurt her!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t give them a chance to cause trouble.” Noreen waved her hand.

After they left, Tao Yitong sent a message to her group. Once confirmed that no one else was coming to drop off documents, she snuggled back into Jiang Zitan’s arms.

After saving the injured party, Tao Yitong had attempted to briefly restore the scene. However, the basement had been smashed to bits by her. Not being particularly skilled in this area, her attempts failed several times. In the end, she had to resign herself to calling the logistics team for help.

The colleagues arrived quickly, restored the scene to its original state, and removed the corpse. Simultaneously, they applied a memory-blurring treatment to the neighbor. She would simply believe she had fainted in the basement due to low blood sugar, and that Tao Yitong, after waiting for her to return, found her and took her to the hospital.

Xiao Ran, upon hearing her star employee was in the hospital, made a special trip to visit. She didn’t just give her a massive “red envelope” (bonus) but also extended her vacation time.

However, she seemed very busy, leaving the ward shortly after arriving. The neighbor was a bit confused; Xiao Ran shouldn’t have any new projects right now, so why was she so busy?

Tao Yitong wasn’t entirely sure either. She only knew that Xiao Ran had been checking in at Jiang Zitan’s place every day lately, though she didn’t seem to be doing any actual work. One might think she had jumped ship to the Jiang Group. Could it be because Xiao Yu has been frequenting the Jiang Group to gather intel for me, and Xiao Ran, as a fanatic fan, has been following her there?

Thinking of An Yu, Tao Yitong felt her phone vibrate. A message from An Yu popped up. She took one look, and her face instantly changed.

The vampires are here, including the Prince! They are at your sister’s company right now!

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