Hehe

“What do you mean?” Dracula, seeing the other’s expression, completely unlike a joke, sensed something was wrong and began backing away step by step.

“You just make me feel annoyed,” Wen Yiqian said with a half-smile. “You can’t bring me any fun. So what’s the point of you being in this world?”

“You… you… what exactly do you want to do?” Dracula’s voice grew unsteady. It was precisely because he feared death more than most people that he would go to any lengths to survive.

The impression this man gave him, whether in words or actions, was nothing like a normal person.

Especially that eerie, unhinged aura. It made one feel a danger that was hard to name.

The most terrifying thing was that after all this time, Dracula hadn’t seen a single trace of the police.

Logically, if the other party had everything under control, the police should have shown up by now.

But not one officer had appeared.

Which meant the man standing in front of him might not have called the police at all.

Why not call the police?

Wouldn’t a normal person, upon encountering a criminal like him, hand the matter over to the authorities?

Dracula watched the other man close the distance slowly, and his pupils contracted.

Could it be that the reason he hadn’t called the police was… that he intended to kill him with his own hands?

Walk the night path too often, and you’ll eventually meet a ghost.

Kill too many people, and you’re bound to run into a madman.

The person before him was a complete and utter madman.

“I… I apologize,” Dracula said, eyes filled with fear, still backing away. “Don’t kill me.”

Wen Yiqian’s lips curved slightly upward, as if he had caught a flicker of amusement, and he kept advancing.

“I swear, that little girl didn’t lose a single hair,” Dracula vowed desperately, his voice cracking. “Spare me this once. I really don’t want to die.”

The smile on Wen Yiqian’s face grew wider.

“Please!” Dracula dropped to his knees without hesitation, kowtowing as he cried out. “I really don’t want to die. Hand me over to the police. I beg you.”

Seeing the other man pause for just a moment, Dracula scrambled around him and bolted desperately toward the alley’s exit.

As he ran, he screamed, “Murder! Murder! Help! Someone help!”

As if in answer to his cries, a dark-faced, broad-shouldered man appeared at the alley entrance.

“Save me… save—”

Dracula had barely reached him, words still unfinished, when the man pressed him to the ground and pinned him there.

“Police!”

Hearing those two words, Dracula felt none of his usual fear. Instead, for the first time in a long while, he felt something close to safety.

So this is what it feels like. To be protected.

For a moment his chest was full of things he couldn’t name. His nose stung, and the tears came without warning.

“Of… Officer, there’s someone in there who wants to kill me!”

Li Weiguo listened to Dracula’s tearful, aggrieved voice and looked up into the alley.

Wen Yiqian was walking toward the exit. Expressionless. Unhurried.

Li Weiguo’s eyes narrowed slightly. An instinctive sense of danger rose in him, and his hand moved without thinking toward the pistol at his waist.

“Hehe…” Wen Yiqian spotted Li Weiguo, suddenly scratched the back of his head, and let out a sheepish laugh. “I was just scaring him.”

When he smiled, his eyes scrunched into crescents. He looked like an absolute fool.

For reasons he couldn’t quite explain, Li Weiguo exhaled.

Dracula’s psychological defenses had completely collapsed, and he quickly gave up the location where Xiangxiang was being held.

Even if he hadn’t, it would only have taken tracing the taxi that brought him here. A quick check of the departure area combined with nearby surveillance footage and Xiangxiang’s hiding place would have been found in short order.

A few officers were dispatched to retrieve her. Wen Yiqian, feeling the tiredness settle in, headed straight to the police station.

There was still one question turning over in his mind.

Why didn’t I get dizzy or get a headache after performing for so long this time? Last time was nothing like this.

Could it be… that last time really was just motion sickness?

He mulled it over, and another possibility surfaced.

Or maybe, after yesterday’s session, something shifted in my brain. It’s better adapted now. Better at running at that speed.

He couldn’t pin down the answer. Not yet.

Still, this was undeniably good news. Performing without a time limit would make handling future problems considerably easier.

Before long, the officers brought Xiangxiang back to the station.

“Wen Yiqian!” The moment the little girl spotted him, her lips trembled and she burst into tears, charging straight at him.

Wen Yiqian, being somewhat oblivious, clearly had no idea what the moment called for.

Instead of crouching down to catch her in the kind of tearful reunion you’d see in a TV drama, he just stood there with a blank look on his face.

Left with no other option, Xiangxiang latched onto his leg and wailed.

“You…” Wen Yiqian stood frozen for a moment. After a brief hesitation, he said, “Don’t wipe your snot on my pants…”

Xiangxiang cried harder.

Jingjing had been waiting at the police station the whole time, too worried about Xiangxiang to leave. She watched the scene from the side with a helpless expression, then stepped forward and scooped the girl up.

As a kindergarten teacher, her ease with children was second to none. She settled into a chair in the corridor with Xiangxiang in her arms and, with a few quiet words, brought the little one down from her tears.

Exhausted and wrung out, Xiangxiang fell asleep in her arms shortly after.

Only then did Wen Yiqian sit down beside her, looking at the damp patch on his pants with a resigned expression.

“When it comes to children, you need patience and love,” Jingjing said softly, a small smile on her face.

“Are you saying I have neither?” Wen Yiqian asked, genuinely puzzled.

“You’re quite the conversationalist.” Jingjing rolled her eyes. “I bet you don’t have a girlfriend.”

Wen Yiqian had nothing to say to that.

Shortly after, Grandma Xu was finally notified and came to the station.

This had been Wen Yiqian’s request: don’t tell the old woman until Xiangxiang was safe.

He had been worried that hit after hit might be too much for her, and she’d collapse on the spot.

Now that everyone was accounted for, the old woman was shaken but not broken.

After giving their statements, the group left the station together.

Grandma Xu walked ahead holding Xiangxiang’s hand. Wen Yiqian deliberately slowed his pace and fell into step beside Jingjing, who was strolling unhurriedly behind.

“You have something to say to me, don’t you?” Jingjing glanced at him sideways. Her instincts were sharp.

“You seem to really like that little brat Xiangxiang,” Wen Yiqian said, keeping his tone light, as if he were just making conversation.

“She’s the smartest child in the kindergarten.” Jingjing nodded. A gentle smile crossed her face. “And my favorite.”

“You like her…” Wen Yiqian paused. He turned to look at her, his gaze cutting straight through. “Or do you feel guilty?”

(End of Chapter)