◎Chen Xiang is in Danger!◎
Since Chen Xiang had arrived, there was no shortage of people taking care of Chen Zhu Jing, so Jiao Jia Yi didn’t stay any longer and quickly left on some pretext.
Under the care of his three older sisters, Chen Zhu Jing was on high alert, not daring to let his attention wander for a moment, fully focused on reviewing the book in his hands.
Only when Chen Xiang went to the restroom did he finally relax a little, slumping his shoulders. He glanced at Zhong Yao, and seeing she didn’t explicitly object, he secretly unlocked his phone.
He opened a certain platform and was overjoyed to find that his follower count hadn’t dropped any further. He raised his eyebrows smugly and said, “See? It’s still me.”
Zhong Yao looked puzzled. What did he mean by that?
“These past few days, my followers kept dropping. Obviously, someone was working against me behind the scenes. At first, I thought it was rivals spreading baseless rumors, but after checking, it turned out that wasn’t the case.”
Chen Zhu Jing snorted disdainfully. “There’s a newly registered account recently whose video style is almost identical to mine. It’s obviously just some copycat with no originality, but inexplicably, people were drawn to him. After unfollowing me, they became his followers instead. Fortunately, there are still plenty of fans with discerning eyes who didn’t blindly abandon me.”
Zhong Yao glanced sideways and looked to Si Ning Qing, silently confirming that this was indeed what he meant.
It wasn’t that the followers disappeared, they had simply shifted.
In other words, the fans never truly disappeared, they just moved from Chen Zhu Jing to someone else.
Si Ning Qing blinked, her red lips moving slightly as she uttered a few words: “The law of conservation of energy.”
Zhong Yao’s lips twitched. That answer, very Si Ning Qing.
She smiled sweetly and said to Chen Zhu Jing, “Old fans leave, new ones come. Your followers will only keep increasing from now on.”
Chen Zhu Jing was extremely confident. Brimming with energy, he said, “Of course. One day they’ll realize, an understudy can never be as good as the original.”
Speaking of which, he suddenly remembered how he and Zhong Yao had met and casually asked, “How’s your video account doing now?”
“Not bad.” Zhong Yao’s gaze flickered. She was too embarrassed to admit that after using her ‘superpower,’ her follower count had actually surpassed her master, Chen Zhu Jing.
Seeing her expression, Chen Zhu Jing thought she was discouraged by poor numbers and kindly reassured her: “It’s common for newbies to not grasp the traffic algorithm at first. You’re not buying views or boosting yourself, so having fewer followers is normal. Good things take time.”
Zhong Yao nodded quickly, careful not to give him any reason to check her account.
Her account, Shao Siming, was still in its very private stage.
“Later I’ll send you a few more material libraries, you’ll find them useful when editing your videos.” Chen Zhu Jing seemed to have thought of something and suddenly added, “By the way, there’s a rising star on YuYin recently… I think the ID is Shao Siming?”
“The follower growth is insane. But I checked her videos, she really does have some talent. How can her predictions always be so accurate?” Chen Zhu Jing clicked his tongue in amazement. “Do you think she trained on Mount Maoshan or something?”
Si Ning Qing said, “Mount Maoshan is for exorcising ghosts. Prophecy doesn’t seem to fall under its jurisdiction.”
Chen Zhu Jing scratched his head. “Is that so? I don’t really know then.”
Zhong Yao, listening to them chat back and forth so enthusiastically about “Shao Siming,” instinctively edged a little to the side. It wasn’t exactly a shameful topic, so why did her heart feel increasingly uneasy?
Her phone, in her pocket, suddenly vibrated. She took it out and saw that Dou Dou, who had been acting strange and distant for days, had finally reached out on her own, her little face full of anxiety.
She was so flustered that she didn’t even speak, she just directly sent the video to Zhong Yao.
The video showed the rooftop of a hospital. A man was gripping a woman’s neck with one hand and yanking her hair with the other, shoving her violently. The woman struggled fiercely, but the imbalance of strength left most of her body suspended in midair, with only the tips of her feet brushing the ground.
By their feet lay an elegant handbag, its contents now scattered across the floor.
The man’s eyes were bloodshot. “What’s your payment password?”
The woman, choked and struggling for breath, glared at him and kicked his legs wildly, managing to squeeze out, “M-my birthday.”
“What’s your birthday? Say it!” The veins on the man’s hands bulged, his pupils bloodshot, his expression deranged, and the grip in his hands grew tighter.
The woman’s breathing became more labored, her eyes bulged involuntarily, her mouth opening wide to draw even the tiniest bit of air. The words she had barely managed before were now impossible, her mind buzzing, unable to hear what the man was saying.
The video ended there. What ultimately happened to the woman was unknown, but the moment Zhong Yao saw it, she “thudded” to her feet, her face dark as ink, brows tightly furrowed, eyes blazing with fire, filled with pure rage and disbelief.
The reason was simple: the man and woman in the video were Zhao Si Yuan and Chen Xiang, who had not returned from the restroom.
Zhong Yao couldn’t help but curse under her breath. Judging by the time, Chen Xiang had already been gone nearly ten minutes. She didn’t dare waste a second and immediately ran out.
Chen Zhu Jing looked surprised. “What’s going on?”
“Xiang is in trouble!” Zhong Yao shouted, then disappeared from the ward in the next moment.
Si Ning Qing’s expression also changed, and she immediately got up and followed.
Only Chen Zhu Jing was left, dangling his legs, sitting dumbfounded on the bed, completely confused.
He rubbed his twitching right eyelid, a sudden shadow of dread settling in his chest. He tried to get off the bed, but as soon as he moved, the nurse doing rounds pressed him back: “You can’t move around right now.”
He had no choice but to sit back on the bed, tilting his head to stare at the ward door, hoping Chen Xiang would return soon.
The hospital building had sixteen floors in total. Chen Zhu Jing’s ward was on the ninth floor. Zhong Yao had initially thought of taking the elevator, but it was stopped at basement level two and seemed to pause on nearly every floor. By the time it slowly made its way up and brought her to the ninth floor, it would already be too late.
Si Ning Qing, having just learned about the prophecy this time, frowned and said bluntly, “Take the stairs.”
Zhong Yao nodded, and the two of them dashed to the stairwell, climbing rapidly, taking two steps at a time.
They didn’t even need to reach the rooftop. By the 14th floor, they already heard the sounds of a struggle above them and muffled cries for help.
Si Ning Qing had practiced taekwondo since elementary school and was physically stronger than Zhong Yao. The moment she heard the noise, she sprinted upward, reaching the 14th floor almost in the blink of an eye.
On the 14th-floor staircase, Zhao Si Yuan was yanking Chen Xiang’s hair, trying to drag her to the rooftop. But Chen Xiang’s desperate struggles only enraged him more.
He kicked her in the lower back and cursed, “You filthy slut, messing around with your own brother, is that why you wanted to break up with me? A pair of adulterers!”
Zhao Si Yuan’s leather shoes were polished to a shine, pointed and hard. His kick to Chen Xiang’s lower back made her stumble forward several steps, her head hitting the concrete wall with a loud thud.
He continued to try dragging her upstairs, not expecting a slender figure to suddenly leap out and grab his hand reaching for Chen Xiang.
Si Ning Qing twisted forcefully, and there was a sharp crack. Before Zhao Si Yuan could even scream, she warned, “If you dare make a sound, I’ll cripple the other hand too.”
Zhao Si Yuan instantly gritted his teeth, pain causing cold sweat to break out, yet he didn’t dare utter a single sound.
Although he had been dating Chen Xiang, he had only been aware of her two roommates’ existence and had never truly interacted with them before.
He never imagined that the first time he met Zhong Yao, his family jewels would almost be shattered by a kick, the first time he met Si Ning Qing, one of his arms would be disabled.
“Do you even know what kind of person Chen Xiang is, and you’re protecting her like this?” Zhao Si Yuan raged, provocation in his eyes. “Or are you all cut from the same cloth?”
“No wonder Chen Zhu Jing gets hurt and you all rush to take care of him. So there’s this kind of connection. Next time I get the chance, I’ll have to properly learn that little brat’s method of controlling women.” He grinned widely, spitting out a torrent of filthy words.
Zhao Si Yuan deliberately tried to provoke Si Ning Qing, swinging his other fist, ready to strike while she wasn’t paying attention.
Unexpectedly, as Si Ning Qing gripped his hand tightly, a strange, electric-like current coursed through the skin where they touched and flowed into his body.
The moment the current entered, it ran rampant inside Zhao Si Yuan, darting wildly. Wherever it passed, he felt his blood vessels ignite, his blood boiling, and even his flesh burned with the intense pain of an electric shock.
Zhao Si Yuan, who had been spouting insults moments ago, immediately dropped to his knees, writhing on the ground in agony, desperate to relieve the torment inside him.
Zhong Yao appeared, panting. She didn’t even spare a glance for Zhao Si Yuan’s pitiful state. She couldn’t imagine what Chen Xiang would have endured if she hadn’t had her precognitive ability, or if she had arrived even a moment later.
She rushed to the corner, lifting Chen Xiang, who had collapsed to the ground in a semi-conscious state. Her carefully styled hair was now tangled and messy, and her originally soft, fair face bore red and blue handprints, shocking to behold.
Zhong Yao clenched her fists, wishing she could kick Zhao Si Yuan to death.
Suppressing her rage, she hoisted Chen Xiang onto her back and strode out.
She had full confidence in Si Ning Qing—Zhao Si Yuan, this worthless fool, would get what was coming to him. Her priority now was to get Chen Xiang treated as quickly as possible.
Fortunately, they were still inside the hospital. As soon as the bloodied Chen Xiang emerged from the restroom, a sharp-eyed nurse spotted her from a distance and rushed over.
While contacting a doctor, the nurse exclaimed, “What happened here?”
Zhong Yao explained, “There’s a pervert in the hallway harming someone. Contact security and stop him immediately.”
The nurse, thinking it might be a hospital dispute, was startled but quickly contacted security while also calling the police.