Chapter 47
With each turn, Ling Jing watched as the cars on the road became increasingly sparse, and her brow furrowed tighter and tighter.
She stared unwillingly at the car far ahead. Finally, when there were no other vehicles on the road besides theirs, she called out to stop, had the driver turn into a side lane, and took out her phone to make a call.
“...It’s no good, Gu Ximian, this place is too remote. If we keep following, we’ll definitely be discovered.” As soon as the call connected, Ling Jing anxiously reported to Gu Ximian, “But I can already see a lone villa over there, it looks like Lily’s place... Is she really brazenly keeping Zhuang Chi in her own home?”
The other end of the line fell silent, and Ling Jing immediately realized her words had an implication that could easily be misinterpreted. She hurriedly and stammeringly added, “Well... not necessarily. Maybe she’s keeping Zhuang Chi somewhere else and is just going home for now... Speaking of which, why don’t we hand this over to the police?”
“Because there’s no evidence,” Gu Ximian said faintly. “Even if I’m one hundred percent certain that Lily has Zhuang Chi’s pheromones on her, that’s something that probably can’t even be tested for. It’s not enough to convince the police, not to mention Lily’s special status. It’s debatable whether they’d even believe me.”
Feeling that she had a point, Ling Jing lowered her eyes, dejected. She turned to look in the direction Lily’s car had gone, her mind racing to come up with a good plan that wouldn’t alert the enemy.
After receiving Gu Ximian’s call, she had barely taken the time to think through Gu Ximian’s words before unhesitatingly taking her driver to give chase, carefully following Lily all the way from the school until now. Now that she finally had a moment to breathe, Ling Jing realized just how much information was packed into Gu Ximian’s few short sentences. The more she thought about it, the more alarmed she became, and she asked, at a loss, “So, so Lily kidnapped Zhuang Chi... does Olivia... know about it?”
“Who knows,” Gu Ximian replied quickly, her tone conveying a sense of indifference, as if it didn’t matter either way. “We’ll find out after we rescue Zhuang Chi. For now, it’s better to keep this from Olivia, just in case she tips her off. I’ll find a way to get some information out of her later. You should avoid contact with her for now. Just drive around the area, see if there are any guards around, and then come back.”
Knowing that Gu Ximian was afraid she couldn’t keep a secret and would let it slip in front of Olivia, Ling Jing obediently agreed. Then, she belatedly asked in confusion, “...Speaking of which, why did you think to ask me for help? Even if you don’t know if Olivia is trustworthy, there’s still An Chen...”
Although she didn’t want to admit it, the Student Council President should be more capable than her. As Ling Jing was thinking this, she heard Gu Ximian say, “Because you’re the only one who is outside of this whole affair. And also, because I was in a hurry at the time, and I felt that if it was you, I wouldn’t need to waste time explaining.”
The words implicitly meant, “I trust you would act first without a second thought.” Ling Jing felt this was a compliment and was suddenly happy. She recalled the moment she received Gu Ximian’s call; she had indeed started preparing nonstop, only remembering to ask in the midst of her haste, “What about you? Are you coming with me?” Gu Ximian had given a negative answer, her voice devoid of emotion as she replied, ‘I need to make some preparations.’
Now that the pursuit was stalled, Ling Jing was worried and eager to try something. “So when are we breaking in? Zhuang Chi has been held captive for four days now, I’m worried...”
Her initial general concern for Zhuang Chi’s safety had now deepened by another layer—why did that little princess have Zhuang Chi’s pheromones on her? Did she... did she do something to Zhuang Chi?
Despite thinking this, Ling Jing inexplicably felt it wasn’t something she should say to Gu Ximian, so she stopped uneasily. Gu Ximian was silent for a long while, and when she spoke again, her voice was heavy. “...I also want to rescue her immediately, but like you just said, we haven’t confirmed if Zhuang Chi is at Lily’s place. Rushing in recklessly will just alert the enemy. If something goes wrong, it might even put Zhuang Chi in danger...”
She paused again, took a slow, deep breath, and her voice grew cold. “...The simplest way is to kidnap that little princess first. Tell her Olivia asked her out, then make a move. Doesn’t she love tricks like that?”
...Oh no, Gu Ximian sounds dead serious. Were the “preparations” she mentioned for arming herself? Ling Jing was terrified. But... but wouldn’t that also be a crime? That’s...
She felt it wasn’t quite right, but she was also vaguely aware of the problem at hand: they couldn’t take direct action without confirming Zhuang Chi’s location, and who knew how long it would take to get information through more peaceful means—and Gu Ximian clearly didn’t want to waste another second.
Infected by the emotion coming through the phone, Ling Jing gripped her phone a little tighter, desperately thinking of how she could help. She knew that even if she impulsively drove over there now, it would most likely just make Lily wary and be counterproductive. She wished this car could turn invisible.
Isn’t there any way? Ling Jing thought. A simple, quick reconnaissance method that wouldn’t alert Lily to anything unusual—
“...”
Her eyes flew open, stunned by the strange idea that had suddenly popped into her head. She was silent for a full minute before she spoke hesitantly.
“...I, I can’t guarantee it’ll work, it might be useless...” Giving a disclaimer first, Ling Jing looked at the small villa in the distance and stammered, “But... but I might... have a way we can try.”
Lily had been back for a while. Zhuang Chi silently shrank into a corner of the room, trying to minimize her presence and not provoke the little princess, who was clearly in a very bad mood.
...She didn’t know who at St. Blaisedon had pissed her off, but anyway, this person had come in with a sullen face and even slammed the door. Zhuang Chi thought silently. And she hadn’t said a word since coming in. What was going on? Could she ask if she had run into Gu Ximian? Would that be a bit too forward?
“...Zhuang Chi, what do you like about Gu Ximian?”
As if hearing the call in her heart, Lily suddenly brought up Gu Ximian herself. But the content of the question caught Zhuang Chi completely off guard. She wondered why Lily was so certain that she liked Gu Ximian, and then she heard Lily answer her own question, “It’s her face, isn’t it? I don’t think she has any other good qualities.”
“...” Zhuang Chi blinked silently, held back, and then held back some more, but finally couldn’t resist responding in a small voice, “...I think she has many good qualities.”
Lily’s cold gaze immediately shot toward her. Zhuang Chi braced herself against it, thinking with resignation that this time, she would truly never be able to shake off the label of liking Gu Ximian. Sure enough, she heard Lily’s cold voice say, “Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder.”
“Since you’re so infatuated, I’ll tell you about her current situation.” As she spoke, Lily leaned back against her chair, which let out a slightly harsh creak. “She’s already forgotten all about you. I saw her getting all chummy with other Alphas. What a pity, she doesn’t care about you at all.”
“...”
That’s one hundred percent a lie, Zhuang Chi thought.
“You saw her today?”
But this lie, filled with biased emotion, provided her with a good opportunity to ask this question. Hope rose in Zhuang Chi’s heart. She saw Lily frown and run a hand through her hair in annoyance, saying impatiently, “I saw her. She was just as I described. You don’t believe me?”
Indeed. I don’t believe a word of it. But of course, Zhuang Chi couldn’t say that. She seriously considered whether she should cooperate and pretend to believe it, perhaps by putting on an expression of disbelief or heartbreak... How should she do it?
She had no experience in acting. Her expression twitched strangely a few times before settling into a complex state. Who knew what Lily understood from it, but she just snorted and said, “So you should forget Gu Ximian as soon as possible. You haven’t known each other for long anyway, how deep can your feelings be? To put it bluntly, it was just lust at first sight.”
...She couldn’t respond to that. Lily’s fundamental premise was completely wrong. Zhuang Chi chose to remain silent. Fortunately, the little princess didn’t seem to expect an answer from her this time and backed off on her own. Seemingly deciding to end the topic, she picked up the doctor’s examination report from the table, her brow furrowing slightly.
“Your gland, its condition is a bit dangerous,” Lily said after looking at it for a while before putting the report down. “Did the doctor tell you?”
“...No.”
That doctor, whether he had been warned or couldn’t speak their language, had been silent throughout Zhuang Chi’s entire examination. The report he left behind was written in a foreign language with flamboyant handwriting that Zhuang Chi couldn’t understand at all. This was the first time she was hearing an explanation from Lily. She asked blankly, “Dangerous means... something’s wrong with it?”
“...” For a rare moment, Lily seemed to hesitate. In the end, she didn’t elaborate, only saying simply, “...Just get more rest. Don’t make me angry, and I won’t punish you again.”
Ah, that doesn’t sound good, Zhuang Chi thought. It feels really serious. But does this mean Lily won’t be releasing pheromones into her room for a while? That’s good too, since it was really painful...
She remained silent. Lily probably mistook her silence for being lost in grief and surprisingly didn’t criticize her further. She just stood up, said, “I’m leaving,” and turned to go, but she took the report with her. It was unclear if she didn’t want Zhuang Chi to see it or if she hadn’t understood it either and planned to ask the doctor directly.
Zhuang Chi finally let out a sigh of relief after Lily left the room. She silently rubbed her slightly stiff face. In her current situation, she wasn’t that concerned about whether her gland was failing. She was more worried about whether her plan had succeeded.
...At least Lily did meet Gu Ximian, Zhuang Chi thought. That means her plan is halfway successful. And the other half... depends on whether Gu Ximian’s nose was sharp enough today.
To put it plainly, the plan was to rely on Lily picking up some of her pheromones when she came to her room in the morning to transmit a message. But her coffee-scented pheromones weren’t a particularly strong type, and it was an unknown how much would remain by the time Lily reached St. Blaisedon. She could only hope that Gu Ximian, who had previously shown extra sensitivity to pheromones, would notice.
Zhuang Chi had made an effort based on this theory, directing and acting out a whole scene with the desperate hope that it might work—but she probably couldn’t do it a second time anytime soon, or her already battered gland might really go on strike.
Now that it had come to this, she could only leave it to fate. Zhuang Chi thought, and Lily’s words from earlier popped into her head unbidden: ‘She’s already forgotten all about you.’
What a clumsy attempt to drive a wedge between them, probably to make her give up hope sooner. Too bad she knew her protagonist very well. If she could never escape for the rest of her life, Gu Ximian would remember her for the rest of her life—Zhuang Chi was certain of this.
Okay, now to think about plan B. Zhuang Chi sat down by the window. If her plan today didn’t work, she still had to keep trying. Let her think...
She sat there, lost in thought, for who knows how long. There was no clock in the room, so she could only judge by the gradually darkening sky outside that a long time had passed. Her thinking didn’t yield any satisfactory results. Zhuang Chi sighed silently, thinking of washing her face to freshen up. Just as she stood up and took two steps, she saw a shadow flash across the sky outside the window.
Zhuang Chi blinked, thinking it looked like a bird, but it seemed bigger than the sparrows or magpies she usually saw. She wondered if there were seagulls or the like in this area and approached the window with some interest. When the bird’s shadow appeared in her vision for a second time, her eyes widened in shock.
...It was a familiar-looking, grayish-white, chubby hawk.
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