Chapter 27: Next time, give our Captain Xu a discount!

Xu Zhiting stood where he was, clutching his courier package.

Gu Cheng assumed he had forgotten something.

"Is there anything else?" Gu Cheng asked, unable to pass as his path was blocked. Receiving no response, he looked at the man who was lost in thought, then followed his gaze.

He had not expected Yan Ye to be there.

Xu Zhiting’s eyes were practically glued to her. "Do you know our boss?"

Boss?

Right, Gu Cheng was an employee at Yan Ye’s "Back Garden," and he was the one delivering the order.

From the very first moment he saw him, Gu Cheng sensed that this man was no ordinary person. Even in pajamas, he could not hide his overbearing aura, to say nothing of the lethal weapons he carried.

Gu Cheng owed this realization to his own keen perception.

"You could say that," Xu replied.

"You’ve only just met her, right? I’ve never heard her mention you."

...

Ignoring him, Xu Zhiting walked straight toward Yan Ye. "Are you here for something?"

"Does Captain Xu like crispy rice? If I had known, I would have given you a discount!"

Xu Zhiting knew his identity in her livestream had been exposed. "You knew it was me?"

Yan Ye shook her head. Unless it was part of a mission, she never used her privileges to investigate anyone. Why did she guess it was Xu Zhiting? Well, when coincidences pile up, they cease to be coincidences.

As the captain of the Supernatural Bureau, he couldn't possibly be incompetent. She just wasn't yet sure what motive this man, who was deliberately trying to get close to her, might have.

"You have my contact information. If you want to eat something next time, just reach out to me directly. I have business to attend to; see you later."

Watching her walk away, Xu Zhiting exhaled deeply.

Good thing she hadn't found out.

What he wanted to "eat" went far beyond just crispy rice!

He didn't turn to leave until the last trace of her figure had vanished from sight.

Little did he know that their next meeting would come so soon.

Zhuang Qingchun led Yan Ye to the door of an apartment in the building. "It's here."

A faint, cloying scent drifted from within, followed immediately by sounds that would make anyone blush—rising and falling for quite a while before finally ceasing.

The neighbor next door pushed his door open, muttering curses.

"Restless in the day, restless at night. Everyone knows the soundproofing is bad, yet she moans so loudly—is she afraid someone won't hear? Is she that desperate for a man?" Seeing Yan Ye and her companion as he passed, he looked them up and down and spoke with a sour tone.

"Are you looking for the person who lives here? You should give her a heads-up. Tell her not to be so loud when she's with a man; it's truly shameful. It barely stops day or night—how do they even manage? Young bodies are nice, I suppose, but she should consider her neighbors! Just look at the ridiculous things being posted in the owners' group."

The man scoffed several times and walked away.

He left behind a composed Yan Ye and a Zhuang Qingchun whose face was as red as a monkey's backside.

"Don't you feel embarrassed at all?"

Yan Ye shook her head nonchalantly. "What’s there to be embarrassed about? If I’m not embarrassed, the embarrassment belongs to others. If you were to push the door open right now, that would be truly awkward."

Zhuang Qingchun rubbed her nose; she had a point.

Perhaps recalling something, Yan Ye chuckled. The first time she had stumbled upon such a scene, her reaction had been identical to Zhuang Qingchun's—perhaps even more flustered.

She had hidden far away, only daring to disturb them once they were finished.

From initial discomfort to final indifferent dismissal—how much time had passed? Even she couldn't quite remember.

Regardless, after living as long as she had, she had encountered every kind of bizarre incident imaginable.

Bored while waiting, Yan Ye opened a reading app to catch up on a serialized novel. Zhuang Qingchun stood curiously by her side, sneaking a few glances.

The story was so engrossing that they didn't even notice when things went quiet inside.

Zhuang Qingchun tugged at Yan Ye's arm. "It seems to be over inside."

"So fast? The guy isn't much, is he?"

Zhuang Qingchun was stunned. "You can tell that too? Boss Yan is truly learned and worldly."

"Average, average. Third in the world."

Yan Ye put her phone away, stepped up to the door, and knocked a few times. There was no movement from within. After a brief pause, she knocked again.

"Who is it!" an impatient female voice called out, her tone raspy from the earlier exertion. A moment later, the door swung open. The woman was disheveled, her hair a mess, wearing a sexy gold camisole dress.

The marks of intimacy were clearly visible on her neck and arms, and as she moved, the friction of her dress revealed even more traces on her thighs.

"Who are you?"

Zhuang Ruyin looked at the two women standing at her door with a cold expression. She didn't recognize them, nor had she seen them before.

"You have the wrong door."

Yan Ye placed her hand firmly on the door as it began to close. "Sorry, I don't have the wrong door. I’m specifically looking for you."

Something clicked for Zhuang Ruyin, and her face turned deathly pale. Almost instinctively, she tried to shove Yan Ye away. No matter how hard she pushed, however, Yan Ye didn't budge an inch.

"Closing the door so quickly? Could it be that you have a secret you don't want discovered?"

"I don't know what kind of nonsense you're spouting. Get lost! You aren't welcome here."

As the gap in the closing door threatened to crush Yan Ye’s hand, a gunshot rang out from behind. The bullet tore through the air between the two women and struck inside the room.

A muffled groan of pain came from within, and Zhuang Ruyin immediately abandoned the others and rushed back inside.

"Feng Zheng!" The living room was a mess, with sofas and chairs overturned.

As Yan Ye stepped inside, something crunched under her foot. She moved her shoe to reveal a dried longan.

Were they really playing such games in the heat of the moment?

The man called Feng Zheng lay on the floor, the "Soul-Locking Bullet" fired by Xu Zhiting lodged in the center of his chest. He was on the verge of death.

The man's soul was being trapped within his body.

What shocked them was that Feng Zheng was gaunt as a skeleton, his skin clinging tightly to his bones. Could someone actually sleep with a person like this without falling apart halfway through?

Zhuang Ruyin glared at them with fury. "It’s all your fault! I’m going to kill you!" She grabbed a sharp fruit knife from the side and lunged at Yan Ye. Xu Zhiting pulled Yan Ye’s arm, dragging her behind him. He drew a miniature pistol from a tool pouch on his belt and fired at the woman rushing toward them. A needle-like projectile shot out and embedded itself into her flesh.

She collapsed instantly.

Without even glancing at her, Xu Zhiting turned directly to face Yan Ye.

"Are you alright? Did she hurt you?"

He lifted his fingertips, as if wanting to touch her face, but restrained by the boundaries of their positions, he suppressed the urge and lowered his hand in silence.

Yan Ye was momentarily bewildered by his sudden gesture.

"I'm fine. But you—what are you doing here?"

"The Supernatural Bureau received an alert. I was the closest, so I rushed over to check." The bureau had detected an unknown energy fluctuation, and the source was only a few hundred meters from his location. Thinking of Yan Ye’s presence in the neighborhood, his first thought had been that she might be involved.

Feng Zheng regained consciousness slowly. Seeing the strangers, he was stunned into silence, but then, hot tears began to stream from his eyes.

In a voice that was both sharp and faint, he cried out two words.

"Save me."