Chapter 988: Perplexed and Smitten (48)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The town of Wales became much livelier and crowded at night, a stark contrast from the day.
Perhaps it was because the temperatures were much cooler at night, thus making it easier and more comfortable for everyone to move about.
An Xiaoning and Fan Shixin were exhausted because of the various obstacles they had to overcome the day before. Besides, there was still a corpse inside their rented room, making it inconvenient for them to move about. Hence, they stayed in since neither of them wanted to go out anyway.
They felt secretly thankful and relieved when they heard Wen Lele and He Yi’s voices because they did not bump into each other directly.
They were staying on different floors, and An Xiaoning could guess how frustrated and terrified they both felt even without having to look at their faces.
Fan Shixin and An Xiaoning initially planned to leave the next morning. However, they changed their minds and decided to leave that night instead.
Just at this very moment, the mysterious Mr. Xiao arrived.
His arrival lifted a weight off An Xiaoning’s chest.
“I’ve already arranged for a ship to wait for you at the harbor. You may go there after two hours.” After telling her the address of the harbor, he continued, “There’s some food on the ship, and you may rest assured that they’re safe for consumption. I’ll arrive after you do in S Nation.”
“That’s more like it. You have no idea how dangerous it was for us to have come here.”
“I know. You met with a flood dragon, didn’t you? No big deal, you won’t die anyway,” he said nonchalantly.
An Xiaoning almost choked when she heard his words. “You obviously won’t care if anything happens to me, but someone else will!” she retorted.
Fan Shixin chimed in, “Exactly. My Young Sir cares. My Young Madam helped you out with this and you still had the cheek to say such a callous thing. Do you have a conscience at all?”
“How much money is a conscience worth? She’s only working for me because she wants to find out something from me. This is merely a transaction between two willing parties. If she dies so easily, that just shows that Heaven wants her to die and no one can stop that.”
“You don’t actually have to make this deal with me. You’re so capable and powerful. Why don’t you just move the corpse to the museum in S Nation yourself?” An Xiaoning said feebly.
The mysterious Mr. Xiao answered, “Firstly, I don’t want the people working for me to die. Unless anyone discovers the ancient grave by accident, I wouldn’t have allowed anyone to find out about it, although I’ve already sealed it. Secondly, it’s better for you to deliver the corpse to the museum in S Nation. It won’t be convenient for me.”
“I reckon this pretty lady must have been closely related to you. Aren’t you going to take a look?”
He had been keeping his back to them ever since he arrived, and he never once took a look at the corpse.
“Her appearance has long been etched deeply in my heart. So what if I don’t take a look at it? Hua Jin, let’s meet in S Nation,” he said in a melancholy tone.
He vanished soon after.
He would often show up and disappear without a trace.
“Young Madam, I have a feeling that this woman was his lover.”
An Xiaoning glanced at the corpse and said, “If she wasn’t his lover, she must have been his sister. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone through such painstaking means to preserve her corpse. I’m pretty sure there’s something else inside her body. If not, it would’ve decomposed long ago, especially in such a warm temperature.”
“Since he’s gotten a ship ready, shall we take a short break before leaving?”
“Yes, I don’t like being here. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can be at ease.”
After resting for a little longer than half an hour, the two of them embarked on their journey home, bringing the corpse along.
Fan Shixin first carried the corpse bridal-style, so as to make it seem as if she was just asleep. He then waited outside while An Xiaoning settled the check-out procedures. Yet, the owner of the motel wasn’t around and she had no choice but to wait.
Unfortunately, Wen Lele entered coincidentally, causing An Xiaoning’s heart to almost jump out of her chest. An Xiaoning covered her face with her hand and turned to the side.
Wen Lele casually caught a glimpse of An Xiaoning’s figure and found her to be rather familiar-looking. Hence, she took a few more glances.
She then approached in a bid to see An Xiaoning’s face. However, there was no way An Xiaoning would allow her to see her features.
Just as Wen Lele was inching closer, Fan Shixin immediately knocked her unconscious, thus allowing An Xiaoning to heave a huge sigh of relief.
At this moment, the owner returned and An Xiaoning said, “This lady here fainted.”
The owner immediately dialed the handset in Wen Lele’s room and said, “Hello, your companion passed out near the concierge.”
After the owner hung up, An Xiaoning said, “I want to check out of the room. Here’s the key.”
“Miss, you won’t be able to get a refund if you check out at this time.”
“It’s alright.” She turned around to leave with Fan Shixin.
Once they reached the door, she grabbed his hand and hinted for him to hold up. Fan Shixin asked in puzzlement, “Young Madam, aren’t we leaving?”
“Wait a minute.”
She leaned against the door and waited for He Yi to bring Wen Lele back to the room before saying, “Let’s go. I was just afraid that the owner would be unscrupulous and violate Wen Lele.”
“Why do you even care about her? She’s so annoying.”
“We’re now overseas and things are chaotic and dangerous here. She may be brainless, but at the end of the day, she’s still your Young Sir’s former classmate, isn’t she?”
Fan Shixin chuckled and said, “If she had any brains at all, she wouldn’t have been coerced into coming here at all. That man who came with them wouldn’t have died if he hadn’t come at all. If Wen Lele was the one who entered that secret chamber, she would’ve never made it out alive either.”
“She wanted us to set her up with you when she came over to Wei Ni Estate that day.”
Fan Shixin remarked callously in disdain toward Wen Lele, “She’s mentally retarded. She thinks I’m a great catch just after meeting me once. I don’t want to date her.”
“How did you answer her?”
“I just rejected her tactfully.”
They weaved through the crowded streets and hailed two rickshaws at the entrance of the town. The harbor was actually only a short distance away. However, the rickshaw drivers were still unwilling to give them a ride and only compromised after An Xiaoning offered to pay them double the price.
They arrived more than an hour later.
The journey took much longer than she had imagined. After all, it was a human-powered rickshaw and could not be compared to a car at all.
They arrived at the seaside.
The sky was full of stars, and their reflection glistened on the surface of the ocean. What a breathtaking sight.
A yacht was parked beside the shore and was exceptionally eye-catching under the bright moonlight.
The three of them boarded the yacht, after which Fan Shixin placed the corpse down and gave his body a little stretch. He switched on the lights of the yacht and began maneuvering it with finesse. Soon, they began sailing toward a different direction.
The loud sounds of the strong breeze filled their ears. An Xiaoning leaned toward the side and felt much more relieved.
Due to the sudden mishap last night, they could not bring their portable chargers with them and Fan Shixin’s mobile phone was completely out of battery while hers was at 25%. However, it seemed to be depleting soon too.
Despite knowing that Jin Qingyan would be keeping tabs on her location via the GPS bracelet on her wrist, she nonetheless tried to send him a text message. However, it could not be delivered because there was no reception in the area they were in and her mobile phone had already shut down by the time there was reception.