Chapter 9: Run fast, I'll cover your retreat

Jiang Xia checked the recording, set the camera aside, and sent a message to Yoko Kinoshita.

Yoko Kinoshita was a dedicated star who didn't carry her phone while working. It would probably be a while before she saw it.

So, while waiting for her, Jiang Xia boredly looked at Yuko Ikezawa, who was lying nearby.

Usually, when he used a hand-chop to knock someone out, he had a good sense of the force, even being able to estimate how long they would stay unconscious.

But the strike he had just landed on Yuko Ikezawa was a pure reflex after being startled by her; Jiang Xia wasn't confident about the amount of force he’d used.

In other words, Yuko Ikezawa could wake up at any moment.

...Although her combat ability was pathetic, it would be quite troublesome if she really started making a scene.

Jiang Xia thought for a moment, picked up the scarf Yuko Ikezawa had dropped, and used it to tie her up securely.

After that, he found a napkin and covered Yuko Ikezawa’s face as well.

Jiang Xia didn't want Yuko Ikezawa to see his face, which was why he was wearing a mask.

But keeping a mask on indoors was stiflingly hot.

Since she was already knocked out, he might as well cover her with a cloth to block her line of sight.

Done and dusted.

Having created a suitable environment for himself, Jiang Xia sat back down on the sofa to wait for Yoko Kinoshita to return.

……

Over an hour later.

Yoko Kinoshita finally finished work.

She retrieved her phone from the staff member who had been keeping it for her, opened it, and saw the text message from Jiang Xia, feeling a bit surprised.

To be honest, because Jiang Xia hadn't contacted her at all since they parted ways in the car that day, Yoko Kinoshita had assumed she’d been stood up.

She hadn't expected Jiang Xia to actually remember the matter and catch the person with such efficiency.

...He really has turned over a new leaf. This efficiency is higher than many detectives; he’s worthy of being a former paparazzo.

Yoko Kinoshita couldn't help but feel a bit moved.

……

She soon returned home.

After entering and greeting Jiang Xia, Yoko Kinoshita remembered that Jiang Xia had been waiting for her for quite a while, so she planned to make him a cup of tea and get something to eat before slowly asking about the situation.

Passing by the sofa, Yoko Kinoshita’s gaze shifted, and she caught a glimpse of the humanoid creature on the sofa.

She froze instantly. Her look of relief shattered.

—Lying on the sofa was that "captured stalker."

Unlike the "terrifying pervert" Yoko Kinoshita had imagined, judging by the stalker's outfit and figure, it seemed to be a fashionably dressed woman.

However, at this moment, the woman's clothes were covered in wrinkles, looking as if she had been ruthlessly beaten, and she lay there motionless.

In particular, her face was actually covered by a white cloth.

“……”

The heart that Yoko Kinoshita had just set at ease instantly hung back in mid-air.

Looking at this state, this stalker...

She must be dead.

It’s good for a young person to be dedicated, but how, how could he go and kill someone...

…………

Seeing Yoko Kinoshita return, Jiang Xia walked to the coffee table and picked up the camera. He was about to hand it to her so she could check it.

Who would have thought that as soon as he turned around, he would see Yoko Kinoshita looking at him with an incredibly sorrowful expression, pressing her hand to her chest and saying, "You should go. I won't tell them I ever saw you."

Jiang Xia: "……?"

What does that mean? Use me and then toss me aside?

Yoko Kinoshita didn't notice the change in Jiang Xia's expression.

She quickly flipped open her wallet, pulled out all the cash, and dumped the coins into her palm.

After feeling the thickness, perhaps feeling it was too little, she took out her checkbook and a pen.

Yoko Kinoshita bit off the pen cap and was just about to write down some "escape funds" for Jiang Xia when she suddenly paused, lost in thought, and muttered

"No, the legal age of adulthood is now 20, you aren't an adult yet, right? Besides, today's incident was actually the stalker trespassing illegally first. Also, it was me who hired you, which led you to take... somewhat excessive measures against her. Instead of running away, maybe..."

Yoko Kinoshita frowned, trying to think of the best way out, and deeply regretted not studying law back in the day.

"Wait." Jiang Xia vaguely understood, and after a moment of silence, he pointed at Yuko Ikezawa on the sofa. "She isn't dead yet."

Yoko Kinoshita: "?!"

She was stunned for a moment, then walked to the sofa with skepticism, carefully reaching out to touch the "corpse's" neck.

...It was warm.

There was a pulse beating.

...She really was still alive!

Yoko Kinoshita let out a heavy sigh of relief and collapsed onto the sofa, causing the "corpse" to sway.

Realizing she hadn't pushed a minor into the abyss of murder, Yoko Kinoshita’s conscience stopped hurting, and she finally had the energy to notice more details.

For instance, looking closely, she had seen this stalker's outfit today.

...It seemed to be that very ill-tempered colleague of hers.

Jiang Xia sat down beside her and introduced, "This person is named Yuko Ikezawa; you should know her." As he spoke, he handed over the camera. "Take a look at this. It captured something very useful."

Yoko Kinoshita took it and watched carefully.

At first, the footage was quite horrifying. Yoko Kinoshita felt her scalp tingle as she watched Yuko Ikezawa in the video, acting strangely and scattering bloody letters.

However, by the end, her gaze had become somewhat sympathetic.

—It was too miserable; Yuko Ikezawa was truly too miserable.

...But I have to say, well done.

……

After Yoko Kinoshita finished watching, she put down the camera, filled out a check for twice the market rate of the commission, and gave it to Jiang Xia: "Thank you, you've been a huge help."

Jiang Xia didn't decline, though, to be honest, what he actually wanted was a different kind of reward.

Jiang Xia glanced at Yoko Kinoshita's wrist.

The ghost infant clinging there felt a chill down its back, shivered silently, and crawled a bit closer to Yoko Kinoshita, hugging her arm tightly.

Jiang Xia clicked his tongue internally, temporarily withdrawing his hidden longing gaze, and dismantled the videotape to hand to Yoko Kinoshita.

If this thing were sold to Yuko Ikezawa's company or her rivals, he could get several times the income.

But that was quite troublesome, and Jiang Xia didn't want to get any more deeply involved. Besides, he wasn't short on money—the Organization occasionally provided income, and furthermore, the parents of Jiang Xia Tongzhi had left behind a not-insignificant inheritance.

Across the sofa, Yoko Kinoshita looked at the videotape Jiang Xia handed over, slapped her forehead, and suddenly realized that although she had tried to raise the price, she had still paid too little—similar matters were always handled by her manager, and she rarely dealt with them herself.

Thinking about the potential value of this scoop, Yoko Kinoshita picked up the checkbook again and earnestly consulted the fake paparazzo in front of her: "I can't take this for free. What price do you usually sell this kind of information for?"

"You've already paid the commission; how could it be for free?" Jiang Xia didn't care much about the money; he only wanted the ghost. "Don't worry, this is information obtained during the process of handling your commission; it's part of the job. I won't sell it to a second party. How you use it is your business."

Yoko Kinoshita was moved again.

—She hadn't misjudged him; this really was a good kid who was very much worth saving!

However, the additional money definitely still had to be given.

Since Jiang Xia wouldn't say, Yoko Kinoshita planned to ask her manager.

And while she was at it, she would ask her manager to come over and help deal with the stalker.

While Yoko Kinoshita was making a quiet phone call.

Beside her, Jiang Xia took a tablet-sized homemade screen out of his bag, which was connected to several surveillance feeds.

He clicked on one of them, zoomed in to take a look, and a hint of anticipation appeared in his eyes.

…………

After Yoko Kinoshita finished calling her manager, she suddenly remembered that it was just about mealtime.

Thinking of how long Jiang Xia must have spent waiting nearby to ambush the stalker, Yoko Kinoshita hurriedly stood up: "You haven't eaten yet, have you? I'll go make you something."

Jiang Xia, however, looked toward the front door: "No rush to eat yet; there's one more."

"One mo..." Yoko Kinoshita had originally been smiling.

A second later, she suddenly realized that "one more" referred to a stalker, and her face turned deathly pale: "One more?!"

Jiang Xia nodded: "Yeah, it's..."

He had just wanted to say "it's a very fat man" so that Yoko Kinoshita could guess it was her ex-boyfriend and prepare herself mentally.

However, at this moment, Jiang Xia's peripheral vision shifted, and he noticed that beside him, Yuko Ikezawa's head tilted ever so slightly toward him.

...It looked very much like she was subconsciously "pricking up her ears" upon hearing a topic of interest.

Jiang Xia stared silently at Yuko Ikezawa and the cloth covering her face: "……"

Her mental fortitude is truly incredible. Even in this situation, she still has the heart to pretend to be asleep and eavesdrop on gossip.

He stopped mid-sentence and stood up to walk toward Yuko Ikezawa.

Yuko Ikezawa had originally been straining her ears, trying to eavesdrop.

At this moment, hearing Jiang Xia suddenly stop talking, she panicked, realized the situation was bad, and tried to shrink into the sofa.

However, this level of escape was clearly ineffective.

Jiang Xia delivered a hand-chop, and there was a dull thud against the side of Yuko Ikezawa's neck. She fell back into unconsciousness.

Jiang Xia retracted his hand with satisfaction.

This time, he had acted with a very clear head and could estimate about how long Yuko Ikezawa would sleep.

Finally, he didn't have to constantly guard against her waking up.

……

Yoko Kinoshita had watched the whole process blankly.

At first, she had been scared pale by the existence of a "second stalker."

But at this moment, seeing Jiang Xia's clean movements, she suddenly felt that stalkers were just like that.

...Pretty pathetic.

Yoko Kinoshita calmed down and looked at Jiang Xia, wanting to hear him continue the topic from before.

However, Jiang Xia didn't speak again.

He made a "hush" gesture to Yoko Kinoshita and walked silently toward the entryway.

Reaching the door, Jiang Xia pressed his ear against it to listen. Suddenly, timing it perfectly, he pulled the door open.

On the other side of the door, a bulky man was also leaning against it, eavesdropping.

Jiang Xia opened the door suddenly, and the man lost his support, stumbling forward clumsily.

Before he could recover, he was grabbed by the collar by Jiang Xia and thrown into the entryway with a shoulder throw.

After throwing the man, Jiang Xia turned back to close the door and even clicked it shut. He nodded with satisfaction.

—Stalker Number Two, captured successfully.

……

Stalker Number Two was clearly stunned by that throw. He lay on the floor, baring his teeth, looking at the ceiling light in Yoko Kinoshita's entryway, unable to sit up for a long time.

Jiang Xia locked the door, turned around, and kicked him with his toe to urge him, but found that Stalker Number Two had no intention of getting up.

So Jiang Xia had no choice but to bend down, grab his collar, and use some effort to drag him all the way to the living room. He placed him in front of Yoko Kinoshita—and primarily, the ghost infant.

As expected, the ghost infant began to wail, seemingly cursing—probably because it was very unhappy to see its "dad" thrown and dragged.

After wailing, it continued to hug Yoko Kinoshita's arm tightly, looking at her with wide, pleading eyes, hoping its "mom" would condemn this savage paparazzo and let it experience the deep affection between its parents.

However, things were completely different from what it had imagined.

Yoko Kinoshita looked at the man at her feet, her eyes filled only with fear, disgust, sadness, and a hint of indescribable hatred.

Stalker Number Two looked at her with "let's get back together" eyes, wailing "Yoko" while reaching out toward her.

Yoko Kinoshita shuddered and subconsciously hid behind Jiang Xia.

Then she nervously took out her phone and called her manager again, asking when she would arrive.

The manager had already arrived downstairs and had brought several bodyguards.

She received the call and hurried upstairs.

After entering the living room, the manager looked at Jiang Xia, then at the two stalkers who looked miserable no matter how you looked at them, and after a moment of hesitation, she left the bodyguards outside the door.

The fewer people who knew about today's events, the better.

...Since Jiang Xia was already involved, it would be better to let him stay and act as a bodyguard.

After all, this ex-boyfriend on the floor was, at any rate, a heavyweight human weighing two or three hundred pounds, heavier than her and Yoko combined.

If this bastard really decided to throw his life away and wanted to drag them down with him, he could crush them to death just with his weight.

If Jiang Xia weren't there to keep things under control, the manager really wouldn't dare to let Yoko Kinoshita face him alone.

……

Three people, one play.

Jiang Xia stepped back two paces, away from the battlefield, and sat on the sofa, silently watching.

Through his fake "foresight," he understood quite a bit of the backstory and accepted the current turn of events well.

But the ghost infant wasn't doing so well.

Under the ghost infant's wide-eyed, shocked gaze, years of entanglement were brought to the surface.