Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Tang Qiu noticed a subtle difference, but had no intention of probing or digging deeper; she only wanted to obtain her 1 attribute point in the simplest and most convenient way.

With a new target, Tang Qiu no longer searched aimlessly. She hid in a dark corner, observing the middle-aged man she had met for the second time with barely noticeable glances from the corner of her eye.

The man was clearly cautious. Upon entering the hotel, he did not head straight for the lively areas or meet up with friends like the others. Instead, he looked around, and only after sensing nothing unusual did he push through the crowd and walk deeper inside.

Tang Qiu had never been to the place the man went, but she knew it was a private room. Unlike the bustling lobby, it was more secluded, and for certain people, more convenient and safer.

Only after the man's figure disappeared around the corner leading to the private room corridor did Tang Qiu withdraw her gaze. She first checked the time on her mechanical watch, then began a long wait.

While waiting, a question came to mind for Tang Qiu, and she asked the system in her mind.

Tang Qiu said, "My last operation was very successful. I saved the target and put the prey in prison early. But because I advanced his wife's death, I lost the 1 attribute point I had just gained. Why was the result different from my first operation? In the first operation, I subdued the prey, but only brought about minor changes, meaning he would continue to commit crimes. Both times, there were subsequent killings after my actions—why were the results different?"

This related to her deserved gains, so Tang Qiu was concerned.

The system replied.

"Because of the causal logic of indirect versus direct, and accident versus necessity."

The system answered Tang Qiu very succinctly. After pondering for a while, Tang Qiu gradually understood the system's judgment criteria. Indirect and accidental refer to randomness. Tang Qiu prevented the prey's impulsive crime; even from an omniscient perspective, it was impossible to predict who the prey's next victim would be. But direct and necessary refer to Tang Qiu preventing the prey's premeditated crime. The prey's premeditation had a tendency toward revenge and venting. Tang Qiu's prevention kept the prey from succeeding in his revenge, so his hatred did not disappear but instead increased, leading to the death of the prey's wife.

Tang Qiu got it. Under her mask, she made a face of disgust and annoyance. It seemed that in future operations against similar prey, she would need to prepare more thoroughly; otherwise, she might end up working for nothing, just like last time.

She checked her watch from time to time. Time gradually went from 00:54 on the 8th to 02:19. Over an hour had passed before her awaited target appeared again.

The moment the light fell on him, Tang Qiu keenly noticed something he hadn't had before—a black backpack.

The middle-aged man wasn't carrying it on his back but holding it. His movements seemed casual but with a touch of caution. Tang Qiu noticed that as he passed each person, he deliberately kept the bag from touching anyone, indicating that the contents of the bag were very important to him.

Tang Qiu took a few more glances but could only tell from the bulging veins on the back of his hand as he held the backpack that it was not light. As for what was inside, she couldn't tell at all.

To avoid arousing the middle-aged man's vigilance, Tang Qiu still didn't dare look directly. She observed him with her peripheral vision as he walked out of the bar. A few seconds later, Tang Qiu left the corner, mingling with a few people who happened to be leaving, and exited the bar.

The moment Tang Qiu appeared under the streetlight, she first glanced at the middle-aged man's back, then pulled down her cap brim before slowly following him at a distance.

At first, Tang Qiu was very careful in her tracking, because the item's cooldown hadn't passed yet, and this target was completely different from the previous ones. But after following for a while, she noticed something off about the middle-aged man's state.

His steps were light, and he appeared too elated, as if he had finally gotten something he had wanted for a long time. Once away from the complex environment, he lost some of his vigilance.

Tang Qiu shifted her gaze from his back to the backpack he was carrying. Even though she wasn't too concerned, she couldn't help but wonder what was in the bag that made the middle-aged man so happy. Could it be a deadly weapon, like a gun?

Tang Qiu's pupils constricted, and she felt a hint of excitement. Not having touched a gun since arriving in this world made her feel a little insecure. Even though she didn't often need one, not having one and not being able to use one were two different things.

Certain that the middle-aged man was completely absorbed by the backpack, Tang Qiu relaxed a bit. She followed him through several alleys until they reached a remote abandoned building.

The building used to be a furniture store, then closed down. It looked like it hadn't been rented out for years. The walls were peeling and paint-chipped, and the glass was broken and dirty.

Because there were no lights, under the pitch-black night, the building looked like a giant creature standing on the ground. The middle-aged man was clearly familiar with the area. He didn't even turn on his phone's flashlight; he moved forward in the dark and smoothly found his old minivan parked in front of the building.

Such a dark environment made it easier for Tang Qiu to hide. She confirmed there were no surveillance cameras or pedestrians, and the item cooldown had passed. She decisively hid behind a tree, transformed into a cat, and then, under the cover of night, stuck close to the wall and silently approached the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man remained completely unaware. He unlocked the car door with his key, carefully placed the backpack on the passenger seat, and was about to get in when his phone rang.

Glancing at the caller, the man looked a bit impatient, but he paused to answer.

The middle-aged man said in a harsh tone, "What's the rush? I'll call you when I'm done."

Because the environment was so quiet, even though the man hadn't put the call on speaker, Tang Qiu, hiding under the car, could vaguely hear the voice from the phone.

It was also a man's voice, somewhat ingratiating as he said, "Brother Li, I'm just... worried. Worried that old guy will change his mind at the last minute, and worried that you might not go smoothly and end up being set up. How did it go, Brother Li? Did you get the money?"

The man on the phone was very cautious, afraid of angering the other. But the middle-aged man still cursed unhappily, "Stop jinxing me! I've been in this game for years; how could I let some rookie screw me over? As for the money, I haven't got it yet. That old guy broke his word again. But don't worry—if he dares to short me even a single cent, I'll kill him."

Tang Qiu couldn't see the middle-aged man's expression, but just from his tone, she could sense his ferocity.

Quietly peeking out a little from under the car, she confirmed that the man still had his back to the minivan while on the phone. Seizing the opportunity, Tang Qiu leaped nimbly into the minivan, then hid under the back seat, leaving only two dark, gleaming eyes visible in the darkness.

The two men were still talking on the phone.

The other man said angrily, "That old guy really isn't honest, daring to hold back our money. Brother Li, let's mess him up."

The middle-aged man cursed a few more times, then said in a slightly calmer tone, "Give it another two days. That old guy promised to pay within these two days. If he still hasn't paid after two days, we brothers will drown him."

The two muttered curses and complaints for a while before hanging up.

The middle-aged man spat with a hint of smugness, then got into the car and slammed the door hard.

Turning on the car lights, the man didn't start the engine immediately. Instead, he leaned over and unzipped the black backpack on the passenger seat.

From her low angle, Tang Qiu couldn't see what was in the backpack, but judging from the man's greedy, delighted, and excited expression, it probably wasn't a weapon as she had guessed, but money.

Sure enough, after unzipping the backpack, the middle-aged man pulled out several stacks of crisp, bundled hundred-yuan bills, brought them to his nose, sniffed them with a look of ecstasy, then put them back in the backpack.

After carefully zipping it up, the middle-aged man started the car. As he started it, he hummed, "With that little guts and skill, trying to split the money with me? Dream on."

Hearing this, Tang Qiu understood roughly what was going on. It seemed this target would die from a dispute over splitting the spoils with his accomplice. Since neither was a good person, Tang Qiu had no qualms.

Following the middle-aged man's car for a long time, Tang Qiu, hiding under the seat, couldn't tell where he was driving. She only sensed that he drove at a moderate speed, sometimes going straight, sometimes turning left, as if making several detours before finally stopping.

The man opened the door and got out. Tang Qiu listened to his footsteps gradually fade away before crawling out from under the seat. She lightly jumped onto the seat and watched the middle-aged man enter the unit in front. Two minutes later, the light in the fourth-floor window came on. It seemed this was the target's residence.

With the goal achieved, Tang Qiu turned her cat head to observe the surrounding environment.

This was a self-built housing area even more chaotic and dilapidated than the one where she had tailed the teenage girl. The road wasn't even paved with cement; it was entirely dirt, narrow and lined with piles of garbage on both sides.

As far as the eye could see, there were buildings six or seven stories high, packed tightly together with almost no gaps. Only a few were painted with colored paint; most exposed cold, rough cement gray. There were not only no surveillance cameras but also hardly any trees. Just from this environment, Tang Qiu could imagine the kind of people living here.

Poor, struggling, and some involved in illegal trades like the middle-aged man from earlier.

Because the gaps between buildings were too narrow, and there were no streetlights, even though the moon was full and cloudless, not much light came through. Everything was pitch black. Feeling very secure, Tang Qiu studied the car lock while asking the system, "You've installed the smart module. Besides chatting with me, what other functions do you have? Can you connect to the internet? Can you navigate? Did you remember the route from the bar to here?"

The system seemed taken aback by the high expectations Tang Qiu placed on it. After a few seconds, it replied.

"The network module needs to be drawn from the special prize pool before it can be installed. At this stage, I only have basic database and storage functions. I cannot connect to the internet, nor can I navigate for you. However, I have recorded the complete route from the Despair Bar to here."

A slight smile curled at the corner of Tang Qiu's mouth. She had discovered another way to use the system.

Turning back into human form, she had no trouble opening the car door and getting out. Thanks to her skills honed in the apocalypse, this craft still had its uses in this world.

Deftly hiding in the shadows, Tang Qiu looked up at the fourth-floor window where the light was still on. Only after the light went out, becoming part of the darkness of that building, did Tang Qiu lightly stretch her limbs and say to the system, "Open the route. Let's go home."

When leaving this self-built housing area, to save time, Tang Qiu exchanged some cash she had on her for a bicycle.

The bicycle was very old and nearly falling apart. Tang Qiu left five hundred yuan hidden under a brick near where the bicycle was parked, enough for the owner to buy a better one.

She hopped on the bike, and with the rusty chain creaking, Tang Qiu, with the system in her mind, spent a full two hours getting home.

Of course, as soon as she returned to a familiar spot, she immediately dumped the bike in a surveillance blind spot, then transformed into a cat and entered her home.

She spent the day as usual, following a routine. As soon as night fell, Tang Qiu didn’t even bother with her evening run; instead, she transformed into a cat and set out to find her target again.

Slipping through a broken window into the target’s home, she found the man sound asleep, snoring loudly. The TV in the living room was still on, casting faint light and the soft sound of what seemed to be a TV series.

Tang Qiu wrinkled her nose at the dirty windowsill and floor, then found a relatively clean spot to land, nimbly avoiding various clutter and trash before hiding in a corner with a good view and a well-hidden spot.

It was 10:19 PM on April 8th. There was still an hour and a half before the guy would face a life-threatening crisis. From the looks of it, the person who wanted to harm him hadn’t shown up yet, so Tang Qiu waited patiently.

Around 11 PM, the prey Tang Qiu was waiting for still hadn’t appeared, but the phone the guy had casually thrown on the bed suddenly rang.

Startled awake, the man sat up abruptly, grabbed the phone, glanced at the caller ID, cussed a couple times, then answered in a pissed-off voice, “Damn it, what do you want? If it ain’t important and you woke me up, I’ll fucking kill you.”

A male voice that Tang Qiu had heard just over ten hours ago came through the phone, still with an ingratiating tone, “Brother Li, it’s like this. Someone came to us with a job. The price ain’t bad, but I don’t know the guy, and I’m afraid of walking into a trap. So I wanted you to come take a look and see if it’s worth our time.”

The guy’s tone softened a bit, “What job? How much they paying?”

The man said, “Same as before. They want us to kill someone—a woman. A hundred thousand upfront, another hundred thousand after it’s done.”

The guy sounded dissatisfied, “Only two hundred thousand in total? That’s a bit low.”

The man replied, “That’s what I said too. But the guy said he wasn’t sure about our skills yet—he wants to see us in person before he’ll up the price.”

The guy spat and agreed, “Alright, I’ll come over now. Where is he?”

The man said, “Same place, Brother Li. The guy said the buyer’s in a hurry—we’ve got at most an hour. If we don’t show up, he’ll find someone else.”

The guy muttered a curse, “Not much money, but plenty of demands. Tell him to wait. I’m on my way now. If he leaves before I get there, you’d better watch your back.”

He hung up, then went to the bathroom, hastily throwing on his clothes. Taking advantage of his time in the bathroom, Tang Qiu retreated the same way, slipping back out through the broken window.

The bread truck parked downstairs was in a different spot than the night before—it seemed the guy had gone out during the day and was careless and left the windows half-open, which worked in Tang Qiu’s favor. With one leap, she jumped into the car, found her hiding spot from the previous night, and settled in like usual.