Qian Luo ran until she was out of breath. Seeing her beat-up little car parked nearby, she dove inside, clicked the locks shut, and peeked guiltily over her shoulder.
She pulled out her phone to call her Senior Sister. She needed to set up a safe meeting spot before an vengeful Zhang Youwei caught up and cleaved her in half.
Honestly, Qian Luo thought Zhang Youwei was a great girl—she was beautiful, caring, kind, powerful, and remarkably pure. As long as she wasn’t angry and you didn’t trip her “berserk” switch, everything was perfect.
But unfortunately, back when Qian Luo was young and reckless, she had done a few… questionable things.
Sitting alone in the car, Qian Luo covered her forehead with her palm. Zhang Youwei was such a pure soul that she turned beet-red just looking at a spicy magazine. Now, the person who had literally twisted her nipple years ago was back. Even someone as thick-skinned as Qian Luo felt a flush of embarrassment. If Youwei wanted to kill her now, Qian Luo felt she couldn’t even claim it was a wrongful death.
Once her heart rate slowed, she tried the call again.
Static hissed through the receiver. The interference was heavy, a rhythmic buzzing that made it impossible to connect.
She hung up. The car became eerily silent—so quiet she could hear her own shallow breathing.
Suddenly, a sneer echoed from the silence: “Scared?”
Knowing she was alone in the car, the sudden voice made Qian Luo jump so hard she nearly hit the ceiling. Her phone clattered to the floorboards.
She turned with trembling shoulders to see Ye sitting in the back, arms crossed, her emerald eyes staring fixedly at her.
Relieved it was a familiar face, Qian Luo exhaled. “You scared the life out of me, Yeye! I’ve been dealing with ghosts all day—if you pop up like that, I might accidentally slash you.”
“Are you stupid?” Ye asked. “Zhang Youwei already knows you aren’t an ordinary person. She sent Zhuo Zitong out specifically to test you. With her violent temper, weren’t you afraid the ghost would claw your throat out?”
Qian Luo leaned down to retrieve her phone, but it had slid into an awkward crevice. “Don’t be like that, Yeye. Little Stupid Zhang is actually a good person. As long as she doesn’t find out I’m the one who… well, never mind. I thought you and Senior Sister went out to play?”
Ye leaned back. “With just the two of us? What’s the fun in that?”
Qian Luo was currently doubled over in a very unladylike position, reaching between her legs for the phone. “Why can’t the two of you have fun? I don’t get you. You’re always picking fights and causing trouble with me, but in front of Senior Sister, you don’t say a word. You just turn into a cat and act cute. If you’d just stay a cat, I—”
As if provoked, Ye lunged forward, grabbed Qian Luo by the hair, and slammed her face into the steering wheel.
With half her face pressed against the horn, Qian Luo groaned, “Lady Ye, I was wrong! I’ll shut up, okay?”
Ye let go and sat back.
Qian Luo stuck out her tongue and went back to fishing for her phone. Her fingers brushed against something—not the smooth glass of her phone, but a small, metallic protrusion stuck to the interior paneling.
Her fingers paused. She felt around it, then pried the button-sized object loose. She held it up to the light.
A strange little device.
Just then, Qian Zhen returned and climbed into the driver’s seat. She buckled her seatbelt and looked at the object in Qian Luo’s palm.
Qian Luo flipped it over. “Sister, what do you think this is?”
The air in the car suddenly turned cold. Qian Zhen took the device and made a “shushing” gesture. “Just some old gum, I suppose. Drive. Let’s head back to the villa.”
Qian Luo had followed her sister long enough to know a signal when she saw one. She started the engine and pulled away.
Once they were moving, Ye leaned down, retrieved Qian Luo’s actual phone, and tossed it into the dashboard tray with a clack. After that, the car went silent. No one spoke a word.
They drove through the bustling downtown and onto the outer ring road, finally pulling up to their villa. Qian Zhen had been busy on her phone the whole way, snapping photos of the device and sending them via WeChat. Finally, she let out a sigh and flicked the object out the window.
Qian Luo blinked, ready to jump out and retrieve it. “Wait! We should find out who’s listening! We should show Yin Tong the evidence so she stops doing this!”
Qian Zhen looked at her quietly. “Do you think that would change anything?”
Qian Luo went silent.
Qian Zhen patted her head. “You are meddling in the core interests of a massive corporation. It’s impossible for them not to monitor you. Even if you confront them with evidence, they’ll just move from ‘obvious’ surveillance to ‘covert’ surveillance. They’d just hide it better.”
Qian Luo looked up sharply. “Sister, I was just thinking… if Zhang Youwei found out she was being bugged, what would she do? Would she just swallow her pride? Or look the other way?”
Qian Zhen paused.
“Would she allow them to keep watching her?” Qian Luo continued. “Not a chance. The first time, she might threaten to quit. The second time? If Zhang Youwei has to repeat herself, her sword wouldn’t spare anyone involved.”
Now it was Qian Zhen’s turn to be silent.
Qian Luo unbuckled her belt. “Just because we act like ‘normal’ people doesn’t mean we don’t have rights. I’m a ghost-tamer, too. I have principles!” She hopped out, scooped the ‘button’ off the ground, and looked at her sister through the window. “If I see another tamer on this case, I’m giving Yin Tong an ultimatum: either they go, or I go. And if I find another one of these bugs, I’ll drop a vengeful spirit in their house to see who’s really behind it! I’m not playing nice anymore!”
She turned and marched straight toward the Zhou family ancestral home.
Yin Tong was too dangerous to handle directly; she could shut you down with a soft smile and a gentle word. It was impossible to stay mad at her. But dealing with Zhou Hailing? That was a piece of cake.
Hailing was likely home resting, while Yin Tong was still at the office. This was the window. Yin Tong was perfect and seemingly without weakness, but like any fortress, she had a gap: she cared too much about Zhou Hailing.
Qian Luo knocked on the front door. No answer.
She stepped back and scanned the villa. First floor: red curtains for guests. Second floor: blue curtains for elders. Third floor: the far left window with white lace was Zhou Xiaoming’s room.
Next to it: pink, flamboyant curtains fluttering in the breeze.
Zhou Hailing’s window was open.
Qian Luo performed a quick hand seal, leaped from the ground, and used the decorative stonework as footings. In two seconds, she had vaulted into the room and was sitting casually on the windowsill.
Zhou Hailing was practicing the piano. Startled, her hands slammed against the keys, creating a discordant boom.
Qian Luo smiled from the ledge. “Miss Zhou, your security seems to have gone on vacation.”
Hailing stood up, flushed with anger. “Who gave you permission to enter my home?”
Qian Luo looked surprised, swinging one leg over the edge. “Am I inside?” She stood up on the outer marble ledge. “I’m outside.”
Red with rage and knowing the “data clerk” was faster than her, Hailing lunged forward to push her. “Get out!”
She shoved at Qian Luo’s chest. Qian Luo let out a scream and toppled backward, but as she fell, she hooked her arm around Hailing’s waist and pulled.
Qian Luo was now dangling three stories in the air, with Zhou Hailing’s upper body yanked halfway out the window. Hailing squeezed her eyes shut and shrieked in terror.
…
Corporate Headquarters, Top Floor.
Yin Tong stood before a massive floor-to-ceiling glass wall, looking out over the city with a frown. On her desk, a small receiver was playing audio.
“Who gave you permission to enter my home?”
The moment Hailing’s voice came through, Yin Tong spun around and gripped the edge of her desk.
Then, a playful voice: “Am I inside?”
A scuffle followed, then Qian Luo’s staged scream. Yin Tong’s posture relaxed slightly—until a second later, when Zhou Hailing’s blood-curdling, soul-shattering scream pierced the air.
Yin Tong’s spine went rigid. Cold sweat instantly soaked through her shirt.
Then, Qian Luo’s voice floated through the speaker, calm and light as a feather:
“Miss Zhou, you’d better hold onto me tight. If you fall from the third floor, you’ll end up just like Zhuo Zitong.”
…
Qian Luo is playing a dangerous game of chicken! Will this move force Yin Tong to stop the surveillance, or has Qian Luo just turned a powerful employer into a lethal enemy?