Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Tang Qiu moved incredibly fast, intending to catch the man off guard and subdue him on the spot, just like when she used a brick to knock out her prey during her first operation.

But just as she sprinted to within a few meters of the man, he suddenly turned around as if by some sixth sense, seemingly anxious about why his target hadn’t arrived yet.

Tang Qiu had no way to avoid crashing head-on into him. In the moment their eyes met, her face turned fierce and she decided to strike first, while he was still stunned. She leaped into the air and kicked him squarely in the chest.

The man instinctively tried to block, but since he had no professional training, his arms had barely come out of his pockets before Tang Qiu sent him flying.

His body was lifted off the ground uncontrollably, slammed heavily into a tree trunk, and then fell to the ground. The man screamed in pain, and the dagger in his pocket fell out with a clatter.

Hit him while he’s down. Tang Qiu rushed over in one swift move and gave the man a heavy kick to the stomach.

The man immediately curled up, clutching his abdomen, and let out a pitiful howl.

He had no clue what was happening. He came to kill, but before seeing his target, a stranger attacked him. Thoughts raced through his mind. Driven by a desperate will to survive, his eyes widened, and he wanted to beg for mercy.

But Tang Qiu gave him no chance. As soon as the man managed to shout, "Stop hitting me," she kicked him in the face repeatedly, twisting his mouth and swelling his eyes shut.

With a final flying kick, she knocked the man unconscious. Then, before anyone could come investigate the screams, she quickly wiped the blood off her shoe soles on the man’s clothes. Then, using the wall for leverage, she leaped onto the top of the wall and jumped down without looking back, fleeing the scene swiftly.

While pulling down her hat brim and walking briskly away, Tang Qiu quickly glanced at the text that appeared on the system interface.

You rescued He Hongxuan at 07:55 on March 29. You have had a major impact on He Hongxuan’s fate. You have gained 1 basic attribute point. You have successfully unlocked the special prize pool.

You drew from the special prize pool. You have successfully obtained the item (Common): Fate's Prophetic Eye (One-time use).

You observed Liu Xingchang. Item: Fate's Prophetic Eye - in use. Use failed.

You have had a moderate impact on Liu Xingchang’s fate. You have reduced his prison sentence. You have hastened his death. You have gained 1 universal attribute point.

You have had a major impact on Qin Mei’s fate. You have hastened her death. You have lost 1 basic attribute point.

Tang Qiu skimmed through the text, but when she saw the last line, she almost thought she was seeing things. What did it mean to lose a basic attribute point? Could such things be lost?

She stopped in her tracks, full of confusion. In disbelief, she read the few lines from beginning to end twice before confirming that what she saw was real. She had indeed gained 1 basic attribute point from He Hongxuan during this operation, but then, because of someone named Qin Mei, whom she didn’t even know, she had lost that point.

Tang Qiu couldn’t accept it. All her hard work had been for nothing.

Her face darkened. Without a second thought, she decided she had to make up for the loss. But her current environment wasn’t safe enough to think things through, so she suppressed her irritation and quickened her pace toward a pre-selected spot to make her escape.

Three hours later, at 11:03 AM, Tang Qiu arrived home safely. She shut off her cat form, stowed all her gear safely, then washed up and changed into her own clothes before walking out of the house as usual.

As usual, she wore a calm expression and moved at a leisurely pace while buying vegetables at the market and household goods at the supermarket. Pretending to compare prices, check ingredient lists, and expiration dates, she deliberately lingered in the supermarket for a long time, making sure she was fully visible to the security cameras. Since there weren’t many people in the store, she walked past the employees several times, ensuring she left an impression.

While doing all this, Tang Qiu showed no outward signs of agitation, but her mind was racing.

She analyzed the text from the system interface and started formulating a new plan.

First, she needed to deal with that person named Qin Mei, a new target apparently related to Liu Xingchang. Who was she? What was her connection to Liu Xingchang? Why did her intervention to prevent Liu Xingchang from harming He Hongxuan today instead lead to Qin Mei’s death?

From the phrase "lost basic attribute points," she deduced that Qin Mei was different from Liu Xingchang, even the opposite. One was a murderer, so the other must be a good person. Only by having a good person die prematurely would one lose points.

But then another question arose. She remembered that during her first operation, when she only knocked out her prey without causing permanent injury, the system interface showed that she had only a minor impact on the prey and gained nothing.

At the time, she inferred that failing to prevent the crime didn’t stop the prey from committing it later. The man had gone on to assault another woman, hence the minor impact.

Later, when she broke the prey’s legs and damaged his genitals, completely eliminating any future possibility of committing crimes, she finally obtained that one basic attribute point from him.

To Tang Qiu, based on the information she had so far, there seemed to be no difference between these two scenarios. Why then did they result in two different outcomes? Could it be due to the relationship between Qin Mei and Liu Xingchang?

Pushing her nearly full cart to the checkout, Tang Qiu watched the cashier scan the items one by one and then pondered another difference.

Since her actions today hadn’t changed the ultimate outcome of Liu Xingchang’s crime, why did it still count as a moderate impact? And if he was going to kill Qin Mei later, why did it reduce his prison sentence and hasten his death?

No matter how much she analyzed these pieces of information, they were full of contradictions.

After successfully returning home with two large bags of supplies, Tang Qiu first cooked something simple to fill her stomach. Then she took out a blank A4 paper and listed all her doubts and the contradictions she had thought of. After analyzing them again without any results, she began to formulate her next plan.

She drew a big circle around the name Qin Mei. After much thought, she concluded she could only work through He Hongxuan.

For safety, she couldn’t search for anything about Liu Xingchang or Qin Mei online. After this morning’s incident, even though Liu Xingchang hadn’t caused any harm to He Hongxuan, he couldn’t leave the police station anytime soon.

On the surface, the whole matter seemed unrelated to He Hongxuan. But if the police investigated deeply, they would inevitably uncover Liu Xingchang’s original murder plot. In other words, the police would definitely contact He Hongxuan and his family. Tang Qiu could use her item to turn into a cat form and listen in without raising suspicion.

Once she figured out who this Qin Mei was, she could target her and devise a new action plan. Perhaps this might even trigger the use of Fate's Prophetic Eye. As long as she determined the exact time of death, it would be much easier for Tang Qiu to reclaim the attribute point she had lost.

Finally sorting things out, Tang Qiu’s irritability immediately subsided. She carefully tore the A4 paper into tiny shreds, flushed them down the toilet, and then sat back on the sofa, lifting weights while reading the original owner's law books, waiting for the item’s cooldown to pass.

At 3 PM, Tang Qiu received a message from Lei Yue saying that their meeting would be delayed. At 9 PM, she appeared at He Hongxuan’s home in cat form.

Tang Qiu entered through the same partially open balcony window. When she slipped in, she didn’t see any police officers, but the living room was in complete chaos.

Three adults, including Tian Li, were rushing in and out, frantically pulling things out and stuffing them into suitcases. He Hongxuan stood in a corner, looking a bit confused and scared, occasionally looking up at one person or another.

No one noticed a tabby cat suddenly slip in through the balcony. Tang Qiu quietly hid behind a large flowerpot, peeking out with just half her cat head to watch the commotion in the living room.

“This, this, we need this,” said a middle-aged woman who looked somewhat like Tian Li but was a bit plumper, as she tried to cram a small pillow and blanket into a bag. She then directed a tall, thin middle-aged man, “He Wenlin, hurry, go get the blue rabbit with long ears from your son’s bed.”

He Wenlin was putting some clothes into a suitcase. He replied while heading toward the children’s room, “That’s not necessary, it’s old and faded, and the seams have come apart several times. Doesn’t our son have a lot of toys? What about the fox one? He likes that too.”

“Not the fox one,” the middle-aged woman said, annoyed. “That’s just for hugging casually, not for sleeping with. He can’t fall asleep without it. Stop talking, just go get that blue rabbit.”

The middle-aged man grumbled something but eventually obeyed and brought it over.

Tian Li was helping the middle-aged woman pack her toiletries and cosmetics. She occasionally stuck her head out of the bedroom, holding up a bottle and asked, “Sis, should we take this? Looks like it's almost empty. Do you have a spare? If not, you can use mine at my place.”

The middle-aged woman glanced up and answered, “Take it, take it. There's still a little left, enough for about five or six days.”

Tian Li muttered, “Okay,” and went back to packing.

Despite all the chaos, the three of them worked together efficiently. In less than twenty minutes, two suitcases and two large handbags on the living room floor were completely full. The middle-aged woman gave a final check and said with satisfaction, “Alright, all set. Let’s head out now.”

Picking up the luggage and putting an arm around He Hongxuan's shoulder, the group of three adults and one child were about to leave. As He Hongxuan turned, his sharp eyes caught sight of a round cat head, and his eyes widened in delight. “Kitty?”

Tang Qiu had deliberately let herself be seen. Since this place couldn’t serve as a source of information, she needed to find a way to follow them, at least to figure out where they were going.

Twitching her ears, Tang Qiu put on a wary look on purpose before tentatively stepping out from behind the flowerpot. But she didn’t approach the group; instead, she stopped at a moderate distance and looked up to observe.

He Hongxuan, naturally the easiest to approach, shook off the middle-aged woman’s arm and ran toward Tang Qiu without caution, reaching out to pick her up. “Kitty.”

Tang Qiu hesitated for a moment but ultimately didn’t jump away, letting He Hongxuan lift her.

Being held in a human’s arms felt strange. The sudden elevation was unsettling, but since it was a child holding her, Tang Qiu could barely tolerate it. She even pretended to be friendly, placing her paw pads (claws retracted) on He Hongxuan’s arm.

The three adults were clearly surprised to find a cat suddenly in their home. The middle-aged woman said in astonishment, “Where did this cat come from? Did someone lose it? How did it get in?”

The middle-aged man looked toward the balcony and said, “Probably climbed in through the window. This reminds me, we need to close the windows since we’ll be gone for so long. The previous screen was damaged. When we get back, we’ll have to get a new one installed.”

The man said as he walked over and closed the balcony window, then checked all the windows in the house.

"Is this a stray cat from the neighborhood?" Tian Li gently stroked the kitten's head, said, sounding curious, "It's quite friendly. Could it be the same cat that brought Xuanxuan home last night?"

He Hongxuan seemed completely oblivious to the adults' words, simply hugging Tang Qiu with joy, calling out 'Mimi' every now and then.

Seeing her son's delight, the middle-aged woman patiently let him hold the cat for a while before telling him, "Alright, Xuanxuan, it's time to go. You can hold it for now, but once we go downstairs, you'll have to put it down. We can't take the cat to Auntie's house, understand? That's Auntie's home, not ours. We can't cause trouble like that."

He Hongxuan's face turned pale as if struck by lightning, his eyes brimming with tears as he looked at the middle-aged woman, then at Tian Li, whimpering, "Auntie~"

Tian Li initially didn't want to get involved but couldn't help herself, and stroked the kitten's head again, saying, "Forget it, sis. It's okay. Since Xuanxuan likes it, let him take it. He was scared this morning, and having this cat around might comfort him."

At the mention of the morning incident, the middle-aged woman immediately agreed without a second thought, not even consulting the middle-aged man. She made the decision, "Alright, bring it along. Let's see these next few days. If Xuanxuan really likes it and it's easy to care for, we can keep it."

He Hongxuan beamed with joy, nuzzling Tang Qiu's forehead.

Tang Qiu instinctively pushed him away with her paw pads but then, remembering her goal, grudgingly lowered her paws.

In her cat form, she hopped into Tian Li's car, placing her paws on the door and standing upright to memorize the route.

She only intended to gather information as a cat, not to stay long-term at the target's home. Once she confirmed the new address, she'd leave right away.

But just ten minutes after leaving the neighborhood, the middle-aged man's phone rang. As he answered, his face visibly stiffened and grew confused.

After hanging up, he said doubtfully, "It was the police. They said there's a case that needs us to cooperate with an investigation. They're at our doorstep now—apparently, no one answered when they knocked, so they called me."

At the word "police," Tang Qiu pricked up her ears and raised her head to look at the middle-aged man.

Tang Qiu had finally gotten the information she wanted, but everyone else was shocked.

"Police?" Tian Li and the middle-aged woman both looked astonished. Tian Li asked, bewildered, "Could it be related to this morning's incident? But Xuanxuan is just a child. Even if he was at the scene, he can't be a witness, can he? And there were so many people this morning—why would they come for Xuanxuan?"

The middle-aged man looked even more perplexed. "It's not about Xuanxuan. They're looking for me."

Tian Li gasped in surprise. "Looking for you? But weren't you on a business trip in Yongze City this morning? You only came back by high-speed rail this afternoon. You weren't even at the scene. What would they want with you?"

"I have no idea," the middle-aged man shook his head. "They just said they'd wait for us at the door."

Tian Li exchanged a puzzled glance with the middle-aged woman. "So, should we go back now?"

Despite his confusion, the middle-aged man replied honestly, "We have to go back. We can make a U-turn up ahead. Let's head back and see what the police want with me."

Just ten minutes after leaving home, the group of three adults and one child returned, loaded with bags.

Tang Qiu followed He Hongxuan and successfully encountered the police. But to her surprise, among them was a familiar face—tall, with a square jaw and a reassuring demeanor—Lei Yue.

The two hadn't met at the planned time and place, yet now they met in an entirely different way.