Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Purchasing daily necessities went off without a hitch as always. The environment in the neighborhood was as calm and peaceful as ever, with people coming and going either calmly or hurriedly, no fear, no fights, no death.

Tang Qiu was as pleased as ever, but there was one thing that disappointed her. She had spent a lot of time observing and scouting in the vegetable market, supermarket, neighborhood, and surrounding areas, but she couldn't trigger the item she'd gotten last night, Fate's Prophetic Eye. This meant she wouldn't be able to gain anything from the system in the short term.

Tang Qiu couldn't stand having her plan to get stronger stalled. So, after filling the refrigerator and storage room with the purchased supplies, she quickly shifted gears. In addition to finding a coach to learn techniques, she would use this new plan to cover more ground until Fate's Prophetic Eye was successfully triggered.

Tang Qiu wasted no time. She immediately turned on her computer and began searching online for specific locations of gyms and martial arts schools that offered services like sparring, boxing, Taekwondo, traditional martial arts, and more.

To plan her route and gain a better understanding, she patiently wrote them down on paper. Then she searched online for reviews and ranked these gyms and martial arts schools based on their reputation. Finally, using her neighborhood as a starting point, she planned a route as reasonably as possible.

Since the route was too long and complex, Tang Qiu brought her phone this time. To be prepared for emergencies, she also brought the Confusion Mask she had obtained last night. Finally, as usual, she secured the dagger at her waist before putting on her shoes and walking to the nearest fighting fitness club.

Due to this new plan, Tang Qiu spent the entire day in unfamiliar areas, which made her slightly uneasy. But the solid feel of the dagger reassured her, allowing her to move swiftly through the streets and alleys like any ordinary person.

After a whole day of hard work, the good news was that she found a reliable and capable coach, but the bad news was that Fate's Prophetic Eye still hadn't been triggered.

Among the nine gyms or martial arts schools that offered fighting technique lessons, Tang Qiu finally chose one called Kunlun Fitness Fighting Club.

Actually, in terms of strength, this club wasn't the best in her opinion, but it had one advantage that the others didn’t: it offered a crash program.

Tang Qiu already had some fighting skills and experience; what she lacked was a legitimate excuse to display them. This club perfectly met her needs.

After paying the fees and completing all the procedures, Tang Qiu arranged a specific time with the coach she'd picked for tomorrow's training and quickly left, taking the elevator downstairs.

Arriving downstairs, Tang Qiu let out a heavy sigh. Except for the fact that Fate's Prophetic Eye hadn’t been triggered, everything had gone according to plan.

She took out her phone to check the time. It was now 6:04 PM. It would only take 40 minutes to ride back to the neighborhood from here, so she had plenty of time to get home, eat dinner, and then do some physical training. According to her initial plan, she should have been heading home, but the thought that Fate's Prophetic Eye still hadn't triggered made her reluctant to go home.

After thinking for a moment, Tang Qiu looked around and decided to make a temporary change to her plan.

Since the more bustling areas of the city couldn't trigger Fate's Prophetic Eye, she would go the opposite way and choose some remote, seedy spots. Based on her experience, such places had a higher chance of murders.

Finding a safe and hidden corner, Tang Qiu began searching online for recommendations.

She needed places that were not too upscale or with high per-person spending. She picked an urban village that had many online recommendation posts, was not too far from her current location, and had a chaotic, mixed crowd. After mapping out the route, she took a bus for a part and walked for another part, observing the surrounding buildings and terrain as much as possible, until she arrived at the barbecue joint she'd picked.

It was a barbecue stall with a small storefront but a large outdoor area. Tang Qiu arrived right during dinner time, so there were an astonishing number of people. Even without the owner telling them, they lined up voluntarily.

Filling her stomach was just one of Tang Qiu's goals. She wasn't in a hurry, so she followed suit and got a number from the owner to queue.

Sitting on a cheap but clean red plastic stool, Tang Qiu pretended to play with her phone while secretly observing the crowd out of the corner of her eye.

As she had imagined, this place had both well-dressed office workers attracted by its reputation and sloppy, unkempt social idlers in flip-flops. There were also quite a few young students who came in groups, clearly from nearby schools. Tang Qiu scanned them all discreetly, but Fate's Prophetic Eye didn't react.

Tang Qiu wasn't anxious. She patiently waited as waves of people finished eating and left, until finally, a delicate-looking young girl appeared.

Despite her gentle appearance, the girl's personality was very cheerful. From a distance, she loudly greeted the owner, "Uncle Yu, the usual! Grill it a bit crispier and add extra chili. Oh, and for my dad's portion, less chili. He has mouth ulcers lately and can't eat too spicy."

The owner was a middle-aged man with a big head, thick neck, and a large belly. Upon hearing this, he looked up amidst his busy work and said cheerfully, "Your dad is something else. He has mouth ulcers and still insists on eating spicy food. Just yesterday, he told me he needed to cut back. Looks like that lasted only one day."

The girl wrinkled her nose and made a funny face, giggling, "Actually, he didn't even last a day. Last night, he had plain noodles, but within half an hour, he secretly asked me to buy him spicy strips from the convenience store. My mom caught him, and I got scolded along with him."

The owner gave a couple of chuckles, then said, "Alright, one hour. Come pick it up in one hour. There are too many people now. Even with Uncle Yu's speed, it'll only be ready in an hour."

The girl waved her hand and said maturely, "More people means more money for you, Uncle Yu. One hour is fine. I'll just do some homework in the meantime. You go ahead and work. I'll head back first."

Tang Qiu watched the girl run back to the Huifang Mahjong Parlor diagonally across before shifting her attention to the suddenly appearing system interface.

You saw Su Ying. Fate's Prophetic Eye activated. You have successfully predicted Su Ying's fate. You foresaw her death: March 20th, 01:19.

Tang Qiu frowned slightly, keeping her face neutral. This prediction left her even less time to prepare. Last time it was 26 hours; this time it was less than 6 hours. However, the target was right in front of her and unlikely to go anywhere soon. The area had low surveillance coverage and plenty of hiding spots, so she had enough time to observe the terrain and change her appearance.

To avoid seeming out of place, Tang Qiu didn't leave abruptly. She continued queuing as if nothing had happened.

After waiting for half an hour, Tang Qiu finally got a seat, and it was at a table shared with two girls. Fortunately, the spot faced the road, giving her a clear view of the main entrance of the Huifang Mahjong Parlor.

Satisfied, Tang Qiu sat down and casually selected some ingredients. Then, while pretending to play with her phone, she continued observing the surroundings and the mahjong parlor across the street.

When Tang Qiu was halfway through her barbecue, the girl who was predicted to die tonight appeared again.

Tang Qiu clearly saw her push open the mahjong parlor door, wrap her coat tighter, and run over with some anticipation.

Although the girl was quite tall, judging by her appearance and dress, she wasn't very old. She wore a pink cartoon-themed coat, colorful braided strings in her hair, and matching colorful sneakers. Her big eyes sparkled with anticipation for the food.

A few steps away, the girl shouted loudly, "Uncle Yu, is my barbecue ready? I was doing my homework and smelling the barbecue. I'm starving!"

The owner was extremely busy and replied without looking up, "Almost ready, almost ready! Give me two minutes, okay?"

The girl hugged her arms, nodded with a smile, then couldn't help but lean in to watch the owner's movements intently.

Tang Qiu looked the girl over carefully several times, then subtly looked around. Everything seemed ordinary. There were no suspicious characters lurking nearby, nor anyone mentally unstable walking around. Tang Qiu was puzzled. How could such an ordinary girl, who seemed to be a middle school student, die in a few hours?

Could it be another accidental death like Ji Shulan's original fate?

Frowning, Tang Qiu pretended to eat while watching the girl grab her barbecue and skip back into the mahjong parlor. Then she paid and stood up to leave.

Pretending she had nothing better to do, she wandered around, carefully observing all the surveillance cameras in the area. After casually buying some small, nice-looking or tasty items, she deliberately walked in view of the cameras toward the nearest bus stop.

The road Tang Qiu had come in on was a narrow path—pedestrians only. There were only two surveillance cameras, one of which was broken, leaving many blind spots.

After passing the only functioning surveillance camera, Tang Qiu turned at the nearest blind spot and doubled back to the urban village.

Sticking entirely to surveillance blind spots, Tang Qiu found a hidden spot, turned her jacket inside out, put on the Confusion Mask, then used specially prepared cash to buy a hat, a pair of loose sweatpants, and a pair of knockoff brand sneakers.

After changing clothes in a sufficiently remote corner with no pedestrians passing by, Tang Qiu wrapped her old clothes in a plastic bag and stashed them. Then she showed up again at the barbecue stall as if nothing happened, ordering a second batch of barbecue while waiting for the girl to show up again.