Jiang Ran was here?
Lin Buyu’s eyebrows knitted together as she prepared to slip away unnoticed. In the very next second, however, Jiang Ran’s figure materialized right in the middle of the previously deserted courtyard.
Lin Buyu’s eyes widened in sheer shock. Holy crap—did he just teleport?!
A flash step?
Clad in a black tactical jacket and trousers, the man stood silent in the evening shadows, looking as though he had seamlessly dissolved into the night itself.
Jiang Ran looked down at the two bodies sprawled on the ground.
To be precise, it was one zombie and one freshly bitten man.
The bitten man’s head and neck had been completely severed, hanging together by nothing more than a thin shred of skin.
Upon recognizing the man’s face, Jiang Ran’s ink-black eyes grew noticeably deeper.
Gao Changsheng?
He remained quiet, saying nothing. Heavy footsteps soon echoed from behind—the patrol officer who had called his attention to the area moments earlier.
When the officer rushed over and caught sight of the two corpses laid out before Jiang Ran, he gasped in terror.
“Gao—Gao Changsheng?!”
“You know him?” Jiang Ran asked in a low, even tone, his eyes completely unreadable.
The patrol officer swallowed hard, forcing his words out: “I do! He joined our base just a week ago—a new elemental member assigned to Team B, wind-type ability. Team Leader Jiang… how on earth did he end up dead here?”
“No idea,” Jiang Ran replied, shifting his gaze toward the nearby zombie corpse. “Bitten by a zombie, presumably.”
Only after he pointed it out did the patrol officer notice that the other corpse was indeed a zombie.
And a mutated zombie at that.
Its irises were a distinct, ghastly green.
…But how could a live zombie suddenly show up inside the base perimeter?
Cowering deep within the tall grass in front of the residential building, Lin Buyu intended to stay completely hidden until both men left. Unfortunately, heaven had other plans.
A stray rat came scurrying right past her feet.
She wasn’t afraid of rats, but rats made noise!
The creature leisurely paced back and forth around her shoes, rustling the dry grass with a series of sharp, frizzy sounds.
“Who’s there?!”
The patrol officer snapped his head toward her direction, instantly drawing his sidearm as he crept forward with extreme caution.
To avoid being shot by mistake, Lin Buyu had no choice but to push herself up out of the bushes.
She raised both hands in a surrender gesture. “I’m… I’m just passing through!”
Her eyes were fixed on the officer, though her gaze kept flicking toward Jiang Ran standing behind him.
Jiang Ran was watching her with a half-smile, a glint of faint amusement practically brimming over his dark eyes.
She could even sense a subtle trace of excitement flickering in his amused gaze.
It was as if watching someone get killed was a thoroughly commendable performance to him.
Ugh… what a freak.
Now she looked tenfold more suspicious.
“Who are you? Why are you here? Did you cause Gao Changsheng’s death? Did you smuggle this zombie into the base?!”
The patrol officer fired off a barrage of rapid-fire questions.
Lin Buyu immediately put on a picture-perfect expression of sheer panic. “No! I have nothing to do with this! I was just passing by when I saw this man leading a leashed zombie around, abusing a couple. I was terrified he might target me next, so I had to hide in the bushes. He was bitten to death by the very zombie he brought in!”
The officer scrutinized Lin Buyu from head to toe.
Observing her delicate, strikingly beautiful face and her fragile appearance—looking for all the world like a helpless girl who could be crushed between two fingers—he found himself believing a good chunk of her story.
“You said he was abusing a couple—where are the victims now? And how did this zombie die?”
“They ran away,” Lin Buyu stammered, mastering the art of playing the fragile damsel in distress. “Though I remember hearing the man who got bitten call the guy who ran off ‘Xu San.’”
As she spoke, tears welled up in the corners of her eyes and cascaded down her cheeks. Her glistening, wet eyes looked thoroughly pitiful and blameless.
She looked completely helpless, practically radiating a desperate need for protection.
“I really was just passing through… Please, don’t kill me!”
Looking at her pitiful, glistening eyes, the patrol officer couldn’t help softening up inside. “Don’t worry. As long as you truly have nothing to do with this, we won’t go around killing innocent people. But you’ll still need to come with me to help with the investigation.”
Jiang Ran watched Lin Buyu’s performance with immense amusement. What a delicate, fragile little flower bud.
However…
“She’s my bedmate. You have no right to take her anywhere.”
Huh?
The patrol officer turned around in confusion, only to watch Jiang Ran stride leisurely toward Lin Buyu. Reaching out a long arm, he pulled the “weak and helpless” girl straight into his firm chest.
“Take Gao Changsheng and the zombie back to Team B. While you’re at it, track down that Xu San she mentioned and question him about what went down. Won’t everything be clear then?”
As he spoke, his slender fingers casually twirled a strand of Lin Buyu’s long hair.
The patrol officer hesitated. “But…”
“But what? Do as I say.” Jiang Ran’s tone remained smooth and gentle, yet the gaze he directed at the officer carried a crushing, unquestionable authority. “If Team B’s leader has a problem with it, tell him to come take it up with me directly.”
The patrol officer instantly swallowed back any further objections. “Understood!”
Without another word, he quickly dragged away the dead zombie and Gao Changsheng’s remains.
Only Jiang Ran and Lin Buyu were left in the open space.
“What brought you out here all by yourself?” he asked casually.
Lin Buyu looked up at him. The main villain really is ridiculously tall. He easily stood above 188 cm.
Keeping her head tilted back, she continued her damsel-in-distress act. “You weren’t around and I felt scared, so I came out specifically looking for you.”
“Oh? Scared, are we?” Jiang Ran shoved a hand into his pocket and nodded with a faint chuckle. “Scared to stay in the room, but not scared to wander out this far all alone… Tsk, my little bedmate sure has a tiny heart.”
Lin Buyu: “…”
Jiang Ran brought Lin Buyu back to the villa.
As the two walked through the first-floor living room one after the other, Nie Fei—who was busy eating instant noodles—slowly tracked them with his eyes.
Lin Buyu’s hair was messy, and her eyes were flushed red as she followed close behind Jiang Ran.
Once the two disappeared upstairs, Nie Fei swallowed his final mouthful of noodles. “Bullying a girl until she cries like that? Is Ran-ge really such a beast?”
Inside the bedroom, Jiang Ran pulled back the covers and lay down on the mattress. He casually patted the empty space to his right, calling out to Lin Buyu, who was frozen by the doorway: “Get up here.”
Lin Buyu shuffled over, pulled back the sheet, and swiftly scrambled onto the bed, burying herself beneath the comforter.
Only her big, expressive eyes peeked out, blinking rapidly. “Are we… going to start now?”
“Mm, you could say that.” Jiang Ran nodded with a smirk. Propping his head up with one hand, he reclined on his side to look at her. “Scared?”
Lin Buyu was utterly convinced that this guy would never lay a hand on a highly suspicious woman.
Blinking her wide, watery eyes, she suddenly put on a coy, shy demeanor. “Not scared at all… honestly, I’m actually looking forward to it.”
“Oh? Is that so? Then feel free to take your time looking forward to it.”
Jiang Ran smiled without elaborating. He was in a surprisingly good mood and felt like teasing her. “You killed that zombie, didn’t you?”
Lin Buyu’s entire body went rigid.
Is this guy made of hypersensitive sensors?! How on earth is he this sharp?!
When she remained silent, attempting to play dumb, Jiang Ran held up a small pebble between his long, elegant fingers.
A faint trace of teal, viscous liquid stained its surface.
“Do you think this rock looks pretty?”
It was the very pebble Lin Buyu had used to blow open the zombie’s head.
Lin Buyu felt her scalp go numb. A main villain really is a main villain—nothing escapes him.
Seeing that she wasn’t responding, he continued smoothly: “Based on the trajectory where this stone landed and the corresponding size of the entry and exit holes on the zombie’s skull, this stone was flicked with quite a precise shot right out of the tall grass where you were hiding.”
Lin Buyu: “…”
This guy is a damn detective.