Chapter 16: Her Lover, the Deceiver

In the small forest behind the nursing home, in a secluded corner, sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the two figures.

“Let me leave, and I’ll let you live.” The masked perpetrator gripped the sharp knife tightly, glaring fiercely at the girl blocking his path.

This girl was extremely dangerous. No matter what, the fact that she could appear before him and block his escape made her an enemy, a deadly enemy.

The perpetrator narrowed his eyes. Either the girl died, or he did!

Jia Hua took a step forward, her large eyes blinking curiously. “Why did you set off a bomb to hurt people? They’re all elderly; how are they supposed to survive? You’re really bad.”

Jia Hua glanced up at the raging fire rising from the inpatient building in the distance and sighed twice. “Hurry up and tell me your reasons. I’ll help you see if you need to do non-human tasks later.”

Jia Hua had a kind heart and intended to help the perpetrator analyze things before he became a member of the Atonement Team.

In past mission worlds, if she encountered natives who might become her team members, she would always enthusiastically offer help. After all, expanding the team’s population made their Atonement Team look more impressive. Since the Atonement Team had too many missions, pulling in more people meant they could also share some of the easier missions. Giving the hardest, most tiring, and foulest missions to the newcomers was a fine tradition of their team.

The sounds of police cars and fire trucks came from outside, grating on the perpetrator’s nerves.

“They all deserve to die! Rich old people all deserve to die!” the perpetrator said coldly. “I see you want to die too!”

The mental power of a male Alpha surged towards Jia Hua—C+ rank mental power, already considered quite good in An City.

But Jia Hua couldn’t help but smile. A brilliant smile spread across her lips as she walked step by step toward the perpetrator. Sensing danger approaching, the perpetrator slightly hunched his back, gripping the knife as he backed away continuously.

A figure darting downwards caught Jia Hua’s attention.

Looking closely, she saw Zhen Yan had somehow spotted the two in the forest from the balcony of the burning inpatient building and was now agilely climbing down.

In the split second Jia Hua was distracted, the perpetrator seized the opportunity, suddenly rushing forward with the sharp knife aimed straight at Jia Hua. By the time Jia Hua snapped back to attention, the blade was right before her eyes.

“Seeking death.”

A cold smile tugged at the corner of Jia Hua’s lips. She directly sidestepped and executed a flying kick, sending the perpetrator slamming heavily into the thick concrete wall.

“Ugh—” The perpetrator was in extreme agony. It felt like the spot where he’d been kicked had shattered. He couldn’t utter a single word, only managing pained grunts.

Watching the perpetrator writhing in agony, Jia Hua shrugged.

Bet you didn’t know, but this kick was specially trained. It can be lethal when kicking people, yet no injury can be detected. Jia Hua had pulled her strength for this kick, so the perpetrator wouldn’t die.

Jia Hua turned her head and saw Zhen Yan was almost there. A certain thought in her mind was dismissed. Her hands moved nimbly and rapidly, completing a complex set of gestures. A faintly visible spirit talisman formed amidst her movements, and finally, that talisman was struck into the perpetrator’s body.

This talisman was taught to taskers like them by the Head of the Atonement Group, Ah Sin. Ordinary people couldn’t see it.

Its function was to make the person marked by the talisman glow in the eyes of the Netherworld Envoys, allowing them to be spotted at a glance. Typically, a person marked with this talisman would die silently after some time, be taken away by the Netherworld Envoys, fall into King Yama Palace, and finally be thrown by King Yama into the Atonement Team for reformation.

Jia Hua didn’t quite understand the laws and regulations of this ABO world. She didn’t know if this kind of perpetrator would be sentenced to death, but she did know that this person would belong to the Atonement Team. Since that was the case, she decided to help him out—the sooner he started doing missions, the sooner he could be reincarnated. How wonderful.

“Jia Hua! Are you alright?”

In just a few moments, Zhen Yan had already run up to Jia Hua, pulling her behind herself. Panting as she asked, she vigilantly eyed the man curled up in the corner of the wall.

“Is he the perpetrator?” Zhen Yan asked quietly.

“Yeah, it’s him,” Jia Hua nodded.

“I’ll go grab him and hand him over to the police. You go wait over there.” Zhen Yan said, starting toward the man, but Jia Hua grabbed her hand.

“Don’t go. The police are here.”

Zhen Yan looked back and saw police officers in uniform running quickly towards them. The two stepped aside, waiting for the police to arrive.

Once the police arrived, they immediately began questioning. After hearing the account, they dispatched two officers to take the perpetrator away. As the officers approached the perpetrator, the perpetrator suddenly gritted his teeth, pulled something unknown from his clothes, and flung it quickly at Jia Hua.

The police were caught off guard. Zhen Yan hurriedly pulled Jia Hua aside to dodge, but Jia Hua’s eyes darkened. She kicked violently at the object, and the small thing flew back along its original path at high speed, exploding on the perpetrator’s face.

“Bang—”

“Take cover!”

The blast range wasn’t large, but it was enough to shatter the perpetrator’s face. He was dead beyond doubt.

Everything happened too suddenly. Whether it was Zhen Yan or the police officers, they all stared in shock at the perpetrator lying lifelessly against the wall.

Zhen Yan’s shock was fleeting. Her eyes darkened, and she suddenly turned and embraced Jia Hua, pressing Jia Hua’s head against her shoulder. Then, in an extremely low voice, she said to Jia Hua, “Cry.”

Jia Hua, bewildered by Zhen Yan’s series of actions, blinked. Feeling Zhen Yan pressing her head with one hand while stroking her back soothingly with the other, her eyes shifted slightly. The next second, the sound of sobbing started.

Jia Hua: “Wuwuwu, I’m so scared, so scared, wuwuwu…”

Zhen Yan: “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. The police are here; they will protect us. You were so brave. It’s a good thing you kicked it away, otherwise, the dead would be us and the police. You saved all of us. You’re a hero.”

Jia Hua’s sobbing paused for a moment, then continued.

Jia Hua’s teary eyes, pressed against Zhen Yan’s shoulder, were filled with amusement: I’m a hero?

Jia Hua kept crying, and Zhen Yan kept soothing her. Her words built Jia Hua’s image up to be extremely noble. Even the police officers nearby were moved, and many of them joined in the comforting efforts.

Jia Hua, Zhen Yan, and the perpetrator’s body were all taken back to the police station.

Inside a quiet, dim interrogation room.

“…Zhen Yan and I went to the nursing home to just look around. Because I had briefly looked at the nursing home’s employee roster, when I first encountered the perpetrator, I noticed he had a scar on his forehead, which wasn’t on the roster. I guessed he wasn’t from the nursing home… When he passed me, I smelled blood on him. So Zhen Yan and I went looking for him, but we also smelled blood at the door of the monitoring room. The situation was urgent, so I had Zhen Yan break down the door, and we found a dead person inside… I told Zhen Yan to call the police. I’m curious and have a strong sense of justice, so I wanted to catch the perpetrator. While searching, there was a loud bang from the nursing home’s inpatient building, and it caught fire. I happened to see that man fleeing frantically from the inpatient building. I followed him all the way into the forest…”

The interrogating officer listened with one ear to Jia Hua’s statement, pieced together from her recollection, while the other ear listened through an earpiece to Zhen Yan’s statement in another interrogation room. Combined, they indeed sounded like the truth.

After finishing, Jia Hua picked up her water cup and drank a sip to moisten her throat.

“When we arrived, the criminal was curled up on the ground. Which of you used force against him?” the officer asked steadily.

Through the earpiece, the officer in the other room was also asking Zhen Yan this very question.

Jia Hua’s genetic test identified her as a female Omega, and Zhen Yan’s identified her as a female Alpha. Moreover, Zhen Yan had already received an early admission letter to the Imperial Fourth Military Academy.

Both of them looked up simultaneously, meeting the officers’ eyes directly.

Jia Hua: “Zhen Yan.”

Zhen Yan: “I did.”

For some reason, both officers breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing these responses.

The perpetrator’s identity was quickly investigated. Jin Chang, 43 years old, a teacher at Li City University. His wife, daughter, and parents had all died within a single year.

An officer, holding Jin Chang’s information, connected this nursing home arson to a similar case at a nursing home in Li City a few days prior. These two cases seemed related.

The police here began solving the case. Finding nothing suspicious about the two individuals, they were released after leaving their contact information.

“Next time you encounter something like this, call the police immediately. And don’t go chasing criminals. You’re both still minors; protecting yourselves is most important…”

“Alright, will do next time for sure.” The two nodded repeatedly.

After some more warnings, the police escorted them out.

As soon as they stepped out of the police station, they found the entrance crowded with teachers and students from An City No. 2 High School. Seeing them come out, everyone surrounded them, incessantly asking if they were injured.

The two were overwhelmed, repeatedly showing they were fine. However, their luggage had already been packed. The entire grade was to return to school immediately. The trip was terminated and would be rescheduled for another day.

Sitting on the bus back, Jia Hua and Zhen Yan were sitting together again. Both held their phones, silent.

Zhen Yan’s phone suddenly vibrated. She picked it up to see a message from Jia Hua: 【How did you answer?】

There was no context given, but Zhen Yan instantly knew what Jia Hua was asking.

Zhen Yan lowered her head and typed back a single character: 【Me.】

Jia Hua glanced at Zhen Yan from the corner of her eye, a smile in her eyes: 【Zhen Yan, you liar.】

Zhen Yan lowered her head and typed: 【From now on, let me handle it.】

Jia Hua’s expression froze, and she no longer hid the smile on her lips: 【Okay, I’ll hide behind you.】

Zhen Yan looked at those words, her heartbeat suddenly quickening. An impulse flashed through her mind. Holding her phone, she turned her head, just about to confess her feelings directly to Jia Hua, when she found Jia Hua already asleep, her head resting against the bus window.

Asleep in seconds? Looks like she really is exhausted.

Zhen Yan’s impulse instantly dissipated. She chuckled softly, sat up straight, and carefully guided Jia Hua’s head to rest on her own shoulder. She gazed straight ahead, her expression softening considerably.

Leaning on Zhen Yan’s shoulder, Jia Hua’s eyelashes fluttered slightly before finally closing completely. Her entire body relaxed as she fell into a deep sleep.

The sun set in the west. Autumn’s orange light streamed into the bus, gradually illuminating the two figures leaning against each other. The highway was long, and the bus seemed like it could just keep driving forever.