【President Yalan, do you think a deceased man who deliberately planned to molest a female would mistake the wrong person just because it was dark at night?】
Hermoke revealed information explosive enough to shake everything apart.
This was his usual style—directly striking the vital point while still leaving room for negotiation, tempting others into making deals with him.
Yalan’s sharp gaze swept toward the distant villa.
Under the dim yellow light, Lu Yi’s figure disappeared behind the curtains.
His grip on the steering wheel tightened as he scanned the faces in the graduation photo, finally spotting Lu Yi hidden in the most inconspicuous corner.
The girl looked sleepy and exhausted, as though she were perpetually overworked.
Her pale skin resembled malnutrition, but those lips, shaped like flower petals… were strikingly red.
Could someone so physically weak and pale really have lips that red?
Yalan logged into the Paranormal Association’s employee management center through his optical brain and pulled up Lu Yi’s profile separately.
Then he replied to Hermoke’s message.
【What do you want in exchange?】
Hermoke quickly responded.
【The autopsy report of the deceased.】
【Deal.】
Soon, a new image was sent over.
The screen displayed a string of optical brain messages:
【Everyone has to attend the school anniversary party~ Student Lu Yi has already been registered.】
【Tuesday night at 8 PM. The party location is Jasmine Bar.】
Hermoke also thoughtfully included the sender’s personal information. After comparing it with Lu Yi’s profile, Yalan confirmed that the sender truly was her classmate.
But that night…
There had been no party at Jasmine Bar.
Yalan became thoughtful and started the car to leave.
On the second floor of the villa, Lu Yi stepped out while drying her hair, only to hear the sound of a car finally driving away outside the window.
Her exhausted nerves immediately tightened. Using the moonlight, she lifted a corner of the curtain and saw that Yalan, who had brought her home earlier, was only now leaving…
Lu Yi watched the car disappear from the alley before nervously returning to bed.
That night was filled with nightmares.
She slept restlessly. The nightmares from the past few nights tangled together—sometimes an operating table, sometimes a living wax museum…
Only when she dreamed of her life in her original world did she feel a trace of comfort.
Lu Yi walked through a familiar campus while voices echoed around her, though the words were all blurred and indistinct.
“…?”
Someone handed her a bouquet of small daisies.
“Happy graduation, …”
It was the voice of a young man. Lu Yi tried to see his face clearly, but no matter how hard she tried, his features remained hidden behind a fog.
His voice was pleasant and gentle.
“Today is the last day. May I… walk part of the way home with you?”
Lu Yi did not answer. Her eyelashes trembled as she opened her eyes.
The dream ended. Dawn was breaking.
This was the last memory she had before transmigrating. After finishing the college entrance exam, she had returned to school normally, but nobody had given her flowers, nor was there any gentle boy offering to walk her home…
Lu Yi pressed her cold little face and got up to wash away the sweat from her nightmare.
To pay off the original owner’s student loans, Lu Yi still had to work part-time as a tutor today.
After tidying herself up, Lu Yi forced a smile at the mirror, trying to make herself look more natural.
She was too pale—pale in a sickly way. Yet her lips remained abnormally red, like red roses spreading from the center outward.
After thinking for a moment, Lu Yi lightly applied blush beneath her eyes.
The old villa’s door creaked open, and the smell of blood immediately hit her, making her slightly nauseous.
Not fresh blood, nor refrigerated blood bags, but dried blood that was already becoming stale.
To a vampire, blood like this smelled like spoiled food.
Her nose twitched slightly as she located the source of the blood nearby.
A small golden-furred kitten lay beneath the flowerbed. Its front paws and stomach were covered in dried blood clots, with traces of fresh blood still seeping out.
Lu Yi crouched beside it and instinctively covered her nose.
Although this was a beast world, not every animal could transform into human form. Some galaxies even specialized in selling animals incapable of evolving into humans as pets.
The little golden kitten before her had bright fur, clean paws, and soft delicate ear fluff. At first glance, it was obviously some noble’s pet cat.
“…How did you end up here?”
Lu Yi crouched there and thought for a moment, her expression remaining blank.
“Forget it. I’ll help you.”
She sighed, removed her sweater coat to wrap around the kitten, and walked directly toward the old villa’s…
Back garden?
Wrapped tightly inside the sweater, the cat detective Hermoke vaguely sensed that the route seemed wrong, but he worried about alerting the enemy too soon.
This was a field operation plan specially designed for the forty-billion reward. Using a kitten form nobody could resist, he intended to sneak into Lu Yi’s home… and observe her every move!
She was the person closest to the deceased and the one most likely to have had contact with the target.
Hermoke estimated that within two days, he would definitely find a breakthrough through Lu Yi.
Once he found the silver-haired female, Victor’s forty billion star coins would enter his account, and his planet-purchasing plan could finally succeed.
His little black nose twitched.
Hermoke seemed to smell dirt.
Wait… dirt?
His cat ears twitched. Hermoke opened his eyes and saw an extremely horrifying scene through the gaps in the knitted sweater—
Lu Yi was kneeling on the ground, using a small shovel to dig something. A crystal-clear bead of sweat hung from the tip of her delicate nose, proving she was working very hard.
But the entire cat nearly panicked.
“Consider it… me accumulating good karma. Rest in peace.”
At that moment, Hermoke understood everything!
This Lu Yi…
She was digging a grave for him!!!
“Meow!”
“Meow meow meow!”
“Meow meow!”
Hermoke pushed desperately with all four paws, trying to break free from the tightly wrapped sweater.
“This flower looks the prettiest. It blooms all year round. After you pass on here, you must remember that I was the one who buried you, so bless me…”
“MEOW MEOW MEOW!!”
Was there a cat meowing?
Lu Yi stopped muttering to herself, her curled eyelashes fluttering twice.
Suddenly, she turned toward the bundled sweater in horror as though she had seen a ghost—
The “dead cat” inside was wildly kicking and struggling!
The small shovel in Lu Yi’s hand clattered onto the ground.
Afraid and nervous, she slowly approached the sweater and untied the two sleeves wrapped around it.
Within the soft beige fabric, the golden kitten’s ears drooped slightly. Its round pupils instantly narrowed into vertical slits as it stared at her nervously.
Lu Yi’s bright red lips parted slightly.
“N-Not dead…?”
Hermoke: “Meow……”
The human and cat stared at each other for a long time until the watch on Lu Yi’s wrist suddenly began beeping nonstop.
Only then did she panic and stand up.
“I’m going to be late…!”
Once again, she roughly grabbed the sweater sleeves and carried the kitten inside. Her hands moved rapidly as she treated its wounds, and finally, after slinging her somewhat worn canvas bag over her shoulder, she stumbled out the door.
On the sofa, the harmless-looking golden kitten suddenly transformed into a young man wearing a hoodie.