Chapter 32 - 30: Mysterious Cat

Chapter 32: Chapter 30: Mysterious Cat

Yin Zhen pulled out her phone and placed an order through the city’s express delivery app, setting the destination as the front desk of a hot spring hotel two kilometers from the psychiatric sanatorium.

Then she rummaged through her messy apartment until she found a large cardboard box, tossed in some stuffed animals and random odds and ends, and dragged it out to the elevator landing.

Finally, she shifted into cat form, slipped inside, and curled up beneath the clutter.

Fifteen minutes later, the elevator doors opened and someone picked up the box.

The delivery guy scratched his head. "What’s in here? Weighs a ton."

He wedged the box onto the footboard of his e-bike and twisted the throttle, shooting off into the night.

Wind filtered through the gaps in the cardboard, carrying a rare summer-night coolness with it. Yin Zhen lay flat inside the box and opened the forum.

When she’d returned earlier, the system had announced that this round’s missions would be released in twenty-four hours — Players were advised to rest — and that the next trip to the Red Corpse World was seven days away.

The moment she entered the forum, Yin Zhen froze.

[Congratulations to Player ’Blossoming Prosperity’ for completing the Silver Card Event: ’Assassination’]

The previously quiet forum exploded. Every Player who had been lurking surfaced at once, and replies came flooding in by the dozen.

[Naming is Too Troublesome]: Queen!! You absolute legend!! Holy shit!!

[Want to Eat Mao Xuewang]: What the hell!!

[Signal]: What the hell +1

[Winter Night Fire]: So YOU’RE the one who stole my kill!

[Want to Kill Someone Today]: Who is Blossoming Prosperity?

[Want to Eat Mao Xuewang]: No idea, but anyone who can clear a Silver Card Event is no small fry. Are they a Silver Card too?

[Want to Kill Someone Today]: I specifically went to the surrounding cities to hunt down those low-level council members. I definitely killed one, but the system never gave me a completion prompt. I figured it would settle after I returned — turns out someone else got there first.

[Want to Eat Mao Xuewang]: Yikes, rough luck.

[Signal]: Wait — was the target Lucia Dracula? Didn’t Naming is Too Troublesome post saying she’d be the easiest to kill?

[Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence]: Lucia successfully transferred her consciousness. She’s not dead.

[Winter Night Fire]: Are you and Blossoming Prosperity a couple or something?

[Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence]: Yep, she’s my better half — never met her in person though~

[Want to Eat Mao Xuewang]: Hey, can you borrow word count from someone? I came this close to running out completely. Can we trigger Event Cards in our own world?

[Signal]: Same here o(╥﹏╥)o. I’m scared you won’t be seeing me next round.

[Want to Kill Someone Today]: Blossoming Prosperity, get in here and explain yourself!

[Naming is Too Troublesome]: Why are there still only seven people in the forum? I’ve been thinking about it, and there should be ten of us — matching the number of invaders in the first Eliminate the Invaders mission. Does that mean the other three have already... died?

The e-bike hit a bump, and Yin Zhen got a faceful of junk. She was forced to close the forum.

She shifted to a slightly more comfortable position and turned the question over in her mind. She had a rough guess about those three missing Players.

Back at the police station, she’d overheard officers talking about a girl who’d said she was going to "transmigrate" one second and dropped dead the next. That was probably one of them.

Then there were the two who’d posted online — one a Blood Feeding Ground employee, the other someone who’d been transmigrated as a Blood Beast.

Those three probably never made it into the forum. The last two might still be alive.

As for the three Blood Clan invaders still outstanding from the previous round’s public mission — if they hadn’t been eliminated by official forces, they were very likely still lurking somewhere in the shadows of Guan City.

Just over forty minutes later, the e-bike pulled up in front of the hot spring hotel.

While the delivery guy was parking, Yin Zhen sliced open a flap on the bottom of the box using blood silk, slipped out, and vanished into the landscaped shrubbery.

The night breeze rushed against her ears as her heart hammered in her chest. Through a cat’s eyes, the outline of the sanatorium grew steadily sharper.

Warm amber lanterns lined the paths. Several three-story buildings were scattered across the grounds, and the one furthest inside was the largest — and the quietest.

Sheng Yehan was on the second floor.

Yin Zhen hugged the wall the whole way to the building, then scaled the exterior drainpipe. The floor-to-ceiling window hadn’t been fully shut; a narrow gap remained, and warm golden light leaked through the slit in the curtains.

She crouched on the windowsill and heard voices.

"Nan Jiamu. You actually came to see me?"

Yin Zhen’s pupils contracted instantly to vertical slits. Nan Jiamu — the female lead of the CEO romance novel!

A gust of wind parted the curtains for just a moment. Yin Zhen caught a glimpse of Sheng Yehan lounging on the sofa, his ankle — fitted with an electronic shackle — propped up on the coffee table, his brooding gaze tracking the woman who had just walked in.

She had long black hair, wore a white dress, and had a sweetly pretty face. She was looking down at Sheng Yehan.

Yin Zhen didn’t hesitate for a second — she activated the Mysterious Cat Item immediately.

[Mysterious Cat (Single-use Item): While in cat form, presence is greatly reduced. Duration: 10 minutes.]

Almost the instant the Item took effect, Nan Jiamu glanced toward the window. Then she reached into her bag, produced a signal jammer, switched it on, and set it on the table.

The jammer would block all electronic signals, ensuring that no one could eavesdrop on their conversation.

Sheng Yehan watched her with a puzzled look, then a sardonic smile curled his lips. "Guan Heting’s still lying in the ICU, and you’re already here crawling into bed with me?"

Nan Jiamu gave a faint smile. "His car. I tampered with it."

Sheng Yehan shot upright instantly.

Outside the window, Yin Zhen recalled a news headline she’d only half-registered in passing.

[Guanshan Group CEO in Critical Condition After Sudden Car Accident — Murder or Mishap?]

Sheng Yehan stared at the woman before him — the one he both loved and despised — in utter disbelief. "Why would you do that? You clawed your way up to secure a place in the Guan family. You hadn’t even had long to enjoy the good life before you decided to kill him? What, for Guanshan Group’s billions?"

A faint contempt entered Nan Jiamu’s smile. "I’ve already signed an agreement waiving all claim to the Guan family’s assets."

"Then why? Don’t tell me — you’ve fallen for someone else?" Sheng Yehan pressed.

"Yes. I’ve fallen for someone else."

Sheng Yehan went still.

Nan Jiamu’s voice was soft and unhurried, as though she were talking about something entirely unremarkable.

"He had a hard childhood — parents divorced, raised by his grandmother. He started working odd jobs in middle school. Handed out flyers, washed dishes, worked the night shift at a convenience store. At his lowest, his grandmother died and relatives seized the house. He was framed and expelled in high school, left with no choice but to work in a factory. Everyone wrote him off. But he never gave up."

"He refused to take a single cent from his mother or stepfather. He taught himself programming, surviving on steamed buns and water, and got into the best university in the country. He tutored students on the side, won the top scholarship, published exceptional papers, went abroad for advanced studies after graduation, and was even nominated for the Turing Award."

Sheng Yehan opened his mouth. Nothing came out.

"When he came back, everyone assumed he’d start a company, go into investment, become the next tech tycoon. But he didn’t."

"So what did he do?"

"Stayed by my side."

Sheng Yehan’s brow furrowed.

"He would never think that every bit of my effort was just about making myself worthy of Guan Heting — that my greatest achievement was getting Guan Heting to love me, and that my perfect ending was becoming a tool for the Guan family to produce heirs. He told me to go after whatever I wanted, that he was willing to sacrifice everything for me."

Sheng Yehan was silent for a few seconds. Then he laughed — a sharp, scornful sound that cut through the quiet room like a blade.

"Are you out of your mind, Nan Jiamu? A man that accomplished, who clawed his way up from nothing on sheer ability — and he’d throw it all away for love? You actually believe that? Guan Heting never sacrificed everything for you either!"

Nan Jiamu said nothing, letting Sheng Yehan mock her.

"Men are ambitious creatures. What got him where he is today was ambition and ruthlessness — not love. You think he’d give up anything for you? He’s probably just using you. You’re too naive. You’re giving yourself way too much credit!"

Nan Jiamu smiled too, faint and calm, like moonlight resting on still water.

"You’re right. Why would someone that exceptional give up everything for love?"

"You— who is he?"

A look appeared on Nan Jiamu’s sweet face that Sheng Yehan had never seen there before.

"Everything I just described was my own story. The person I’ve fallen in love with is myself."

A flicker of embarrassment crossed Sheng Yehan’s face.

"You think I’m exceptional too, don’t you? I must have been out of my mind before — actually willing to hand my research over to Guanshan Group for love, just to build up Guan Heting’s legacy. Thank god I woke up. Sacrifice one Guan Heting, and I get to start an entirely new Chapter on my own terms."

"I went after Guan Heting not because I hated him, but because he was in my way. He wanted to make me his Mrs. Guan. I don’t need that title. My name is my title."

Sheng Yehan pressed his lips together. Beneath this woman’s sweetly pretty face, he saw a madness deeper than his own — utterly still on the surface, yet roaring underneath.

"The reason I came to see you today," Nan Jiamu said, her tone shifting sharply, "is because I want to talk to you about... the Invasion Game."