Chapter 738: Jiaojiao 18

Tan You said teasingly, "You’ve already seen it, haven’t you? Now it’s your turn to make an entrance."

At Tan You’s cue, Chen Jiao nimbly pushed open the door to the fire escape stairwell and headed for her room. As she passed the rooms lining the hallway, she naturally noticed that the doors on both sides were ajar.

Ye Rong and Yuan Sheng had brought so many men with them that they were bound to make a racket. The hotel’s soundproofing was mediocre at best, so they naturally woke up the other guests. As luck would have it, nearly everyone they disturbed was a member of the film crew.

For instance, Chen Jiao could see the female lead’s eyes peeking through the crack of one door. Glancing across the hall—well, what do you know—it was Liu Fu, also pressed against his door, spying.

Chen Jiao pretended she hadn’t seen a thing. With a slight arch of her brow, she walked to her own door.

Inside, Ye Rong, Yuan Sheng, and their men had nearly turned the room upside down, yet they couldn’t find a single trace of Chen Jiao. Her pharmacy tools, however, had all been swept onto the floor by the goons.

Yuan Sheng’s scalp prickled. Recalling his earlier gut feeling, he was certain his instincts hadn’t been wrong. "It’s a trap! Let’s get out of here!"

Ye Rong scoffed, "Retreat? Why? We are not leaving until we find Chen Jiao..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Ye Rong collapsed. One by one, the goons behind him followed suit until none were left standing. Yuan Sheng, who had been the last to enter, was still by the doorway. Seeing everyone go down, he turned to flee.

And then... he was sent flying back into the room by a kick from Chen Jiao, who had just arrived.

Chen Jiao was wearing combat boots, and the heavy sole slammed into Yuan Sheng’s stomach. He cried out in pain, but his limbs were weak and unresponsive, leaving him unable to dodge. And so, with a single kick, Chen Jiao sent him stumbling back into the room.

Chen Jiao crossed her arms, toying with a small porcelain box in her hand. "Were you looking for me? I knew you wouldn’t behave."

As she spoke, she glanced back down the hall and saw the doors on either side being pulled open even wider. The corner of Chen Jiao’s mouth twitched. Without a moment’s hesitation, she shut... her room door.

The instant her door clicked shut, seven or eight other doors creaked open. The film crew members exchanged glances, then cautiously tiptoed over to her door, pressing their ears against the wood to listen.

But it was dead silent inside. They couldn’t hear a thing.

The female lead and second female lead exchanged a look. Liu Fu whispered, "Let’s go back."

’I don’t know what happened,’ he thought, ’but from the looks of it, Chen Jiao won’t be on the losing end, right?’

With no other choice, they all returned to their rooms. But their ears were still pricked, listening intently. Who could possibly think of sleeping now? They were no strangers to this kind of underworld business, but it was rare for an ordinary person to get the upper hand against such people. ’Could it be that Chen Jiao actually has them under control?’

While their minds raced with different thoughts, back in Chen Jiao’s room, Ye Rong and his men were scared out of their wits. Chen Jiao was all business. She didn’t say a word after entering, simply forcing a pill down each man’s throat.

There were far more of them this time than a few days ago. Chen Jiao toyed with the porcelain vial. "Just as I thought. I’ll need to make more. You’ve got quite a few little brothers under you."

’How could I have fallen for her trick again before even seeing her face?’ Ye Rong thought. It made all their preparations from earlier that day seem utterly ridiculous.

Yuan Sheng clutched his stomach. "Miss Chen! Lady Boss! Lady Boss, we were wrong..."

Chen Jiao found this amusing. "You said the same thing yesterday, and yet, here you are. I’ve given up hope that you’ll ever learn your lesson. Since you’ve come all this way, you can be my test subjects. Congratulations. I just developed a new product and was wondering how I’d observe its effects."

Cold sweat beaded on Yuan Sheng’s back. "Lady Boss, Lady Boss, I really know I was wrong! I didn’t want to come..."

Chen Jiao said, "You might fool some naive girl with that line, but do you take me for an idiot? I know everything about the plans you and Ye Rong made. You think it’s that easy to wash your hands of this now?"

For the first time, genuine terror filled Yuan Sheng’s eyes. "You... How do you know?"

Chen Jiao crouched down and patted his cheek, then wiped her hand on his clothes in disgust. "If I want to know something, I have my ways. Since you came here, none of you are innocent."

"Now that you’ve fallen into my hands, what would you call this? Punishing evil and promoting good? Or perhaps, delivering heaven’s justice?"

Yuan Sheng hadn’t given up on finding a way out. "Lady Boss, spare my life, and I’ll turn myself in tomorrow..."

"And let you live it up in prison? Do you really think I’m that stupid?" Chen Jiao’s expression darkened. "For people like you, prison is like a second home. You think I’d be foolish enough to fall for that?"

"Zhang Ping, on the other hand, knows what’s good for him. He was smart enough not to show up today." Chen Jiao clapped her hands dust-free and stood up, glancing at her watch. "It’s about time. Don’t worry, I won’t let you die that easily."

As the last word left her lips, the previous scene repeated itself. This time, the newly-arrived goons got a firsthand taste of the excruciating pain the first batch had described.

The first batch of goons, having been through it before, were at least mentally prepared. The new arrivals, however, had no such composure. Their howls grew increasingly loud, each one more agonized than the last.

Chen Jiao simply sat to one side, timing them with her watch as they writhed on the floor, her eyes devoid of any warmth. The more she dealt with people like Ye Rong, the more she could empathize with the female protagonist of the *Prison Tyrant* script.

’Seeing her like this, I won’t intervene,’ Tan You thought. ’Chen Jiao was never formally trained. Even after signing her contract and studying with a tutor for two years, her acting style is still raw and unorthodox.’

’In that case, Method acting is what suits her best. Of course, that places extremely high demands on an actor. It’s easy to get so deep into a role that it’s hard to pull yourself out. But with me around, would I ever let anything happen to Chen Jiao?’

’If worse comes to worst, I can just dull these emotions for Chen Jiao later. It’s not as if I’m incapable of it.’

Ye Rong and his men had arrived around one in the morning. But the pills Chen Jiao gave them this time weren’t like the last ones, which only activated at a specific hour. These took effect almost the instant they were swallowed.

Yuan Sheng had thought the heart-twisting agony from last time was the absolute limit, but now he knew he was far from it. It felt as if his bones were being disassembled and snapped, one by one, only to be crudely mashed back together. All he could do was curl into a ball like a cooked shrimp, completely helpless.

The agonized screams from inside the room naturally carried outside. Hearing the commotion, the film crew gathered at Chen Jiao’s door once more. Liu Fu was crouched at the bottom of the heap, with the various lead actors and staff members piled up above him.

The female lead whispered, "Those are all men’s voices."

The second female lead added, "So Chen Jiao must be fine."

The makeup artist chimed in, "She sent that guy flying with a single kick. Does she look like someone who’s losing?"

They all strained, pressing their ears closer to the door, trying to hear more. Finally, Liu Fu, at the bottom of the pile, couldn’t take it anymore. "Let’s go. This is none of our business."

The male lead clicked his tongue in amazement. "Chen Jiao... is she really that much of a badass?"