Chapter 45: The Most Terrifying! (Second Update—Seeking First Subscription and Monthly Votes)

"What an interesting question you asked," Qingyi caught the keyword. "Should she have seen it, rather than could she have seen it?"

"I have some suspicions."

"Put that way, it is true. Her family's nanny clearly said she didn't notice anything unusual, yet the position of the kitchen gives a direct view of that dog?"

"Mhm." Zhang Shutong nodded. "There are two things I can't be certain of. First, she very well might not have seen it. It was pitch black outside, the dog was a black dog, and rarely does anyone actively look out the window while cooking or washing dishes."

"Second, even if the nanny really did see it," Zhang Shutong frowned as he said this, "what would be her motive for hiding it?"

Qingyi fell into deep thought as well. "If she were in cahoots with the arsonist, she should have just opened the door from the inside to coordinate with them."

"That's why I say this is a discovery that isn't really a discovery."

"How long has that live-in nanny worked there?" Qingyi asked again.

"Ever since Gu Qiumian started middle school."

"Then she has even less motive. If she wanted to make a move, she would have done it long ago—unless something happened recently?"

"That can't be ruled out." Zhang Shutong sighed; the tangled threads were only getting more knotted the more he tried to sort them out.

"Your mission today is quite formidable then. This isn't just for fun; you have to keep Gu Qiumian company while scrambling to clear your head." Qingyi made a rare joke.

"More than that." Zhang Shutong held up a third finger. "I also have to guard against Ruoping."

Remembering her attitude at school—talking about couple outfits, being so eager to see the new deskmate—she was practically like a little demon who feared the world wasn't chaotic enough.

For some reason, people always loved to speculate about romance between him and Gu Qiumian, which gave him a massive headache just thinking about it.

Old Song was like that, Ruoping was like that... but it was limited to just a headache; he could still handle it.

"Why hasn't she come back yet? Gu Qiumian either."

"That's just how girls are." Zhang Shutong thought to himself that he hadn't even mentioned the clothes-changing incident from this morning to him.

"I'm quite looking forward to seeing how you handle this." Qingyi was feeling a bit mischievous.

Ignoring him, Zhang Shutong looked toward the direction of the restrooms.

The toy store and the restrooms were not too far apart, situated diagonally from each other, which was why he hadn't moved his spot. Standing just outside the display window, he could chat idly with Qingyi, admire Optimus Prime, and glance over to keep the entrance in full view.

——Unless Gu Qiumian ran into trouble inside the women's restroom.

The probability of such a thing happening was truly too small. Zhang Shutong liked to be fully prepared, but that didn't mean he was worrying groundlessly, otherwise he might as well say Miss Gu had a chance of choking every time she drank plain water.

Besides, the foot traffic in the mall was high; who would dare make a move here?

The entrance was easy to find, but with the crowd today, trying to cut through the throngs and spot a specific person was somewhat difficult.

Zhang Shutong only looked subconsciously, not seeing the figure of the girl in the cyan dress, so he withdrew his gaze and analyzed further:

"I estimate that by noon, the local police station will have figured it out, and we'll see then."

"True, so don't put too much pressure on yourself. Just treat it like an intelligence puzzle game," Qingyi comforted. "Besides, her family is coming back tomorrow, and we aren't going to unpopulated areas. Surely nothing's going to happen just today."

"I hope so..." Before he finished speaking, the phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated. Zhang Shutong checked it and saw a new message.

It turned out to be a picture sent by Ruoping.

She was holding a plastic bag containing three... very thick and small meat pies, somewhat resembling Beijing-style meat gate-pins.

"Egg burgers, one for each of the three of us, have a taste."

Zhang Shutong had never heard of this item and asked Qingyi, but the other person's focus was elsewhere:

"How are we supposed to split three?"

"Whatever, I'm not eating. By the way, help me explain later."

"Explain what?"

"Just about Gu Qiumian. Ruoping is too gossipy, and you and Dukang are too. Stop guessing blindly."

Zhang Shutong replied offhandedly, feeling it was necessary to urge Qiu Mengmeng to hurry; he had heard some girls even retouched their makeup in the restroom, which was truly terrifying.

Yet just as the message went out, a vibration came from the bag he was holding, and Zhang Shutong remembered she hadn't taken her phone.

At that moment, Qingyi said with glowing eyes:

"Oh, look at this. Is this a Blue-Eyes White Dragon?"

Knowing he was talking about rare cards from Yu-Gi-Oh, Zhang Shutong glanced over. "Fake, probably."

"Of course I know it's fake, but the bootleg craftsmanship is pretty decent. Look at that holographic foil, and the three-dimensional feel of the pattern..."

The two of them simply looped back into the toy store, and Qingyi asked him to press the card against the glass, preparing to take a photo as a souvenir. Zhang Shutong asked why, since it was pirated and inexpensive, he didn't just buy it to keep at home.

Qingyi replied that this was a man's faith; a fake was a fake, it couldn't be treated as real, and it must not be trampled upon.

Zhang Shutong couldn't understand his train of thought, but he nodded anyway and did as he was asked.

Thus, with his bag in one hand and the upper edge of the card pinched between his fingernails in the other, he pressed it against the glass while naturally casting his gaze forward.

"A bit more to the left, slightly off..."

Meng Qingyi was reminding him when he suddenly saw Zhang Shutong's hand loosen, and the card fluttered downward.

Then, for the first time, he witnessed such a rich wave of emotional fluctuations on his best friend's face—in a sense, the two of them were very much alike: one wore a poker face and the other a cold face, rarely showing surprise or anger outwardly.

This time, however, it was different.

Meng Qingyi watched Zhang Shutong's face and saw the other slowly widen his eyes, a complex expression taking form. Terror? No. Panic? A little. But it looked more like a situation had completely slipped beyond his control, and Meng Qingyi knew that losing control was the thing people of their type found most disturbing.

The boy was no fool and instantly reacted by looking over. Through the glass, that was precisely the location of the restroom entrance:

"What's wrong?"

"Shit—"

Before the final word could leave his mouth, Zhang Shutong had already bolted out of the store.

The scene not far away had completely exceeded his expectations; even the worst-case scenario he had imagined was nothing compared to this—no, rather, it was worse than the worst!

Right now, he wished he could just teleport there.

However,

It was already too late—

...

Rewinding to a few minutes earlier.

A subtle stir arose behind her, and the girl named Gu Qiumian instinctively turned her head. Naturally, there was a constant flow of people in the mall, so she shouldn't have heard a sound right behind her, but a faint scent drifting from behind gave the person away.

It was a woman wearing sunglasses and a mask, fashionably dressed with a slender waist and long legs.

She had a head of chestnut-colored, voluminous long waves, wore knee-high boots, and seemed to be rummaging through her bag for something.

Gu Qiumian took a step back. Everything happened in a flash, causing the woman's outstretched hand to grasp empty air.

Yet the woman did not give up, stepping closer to ask:

"Young lady, I saw you shopping with your classmate just now, didn't I?"

Though the woman's facial features were obscured and her exact age was impossible to tell, her voice sounded as if she were smiling brightly.

"Don't panic, don't panic, Auntie isn't a bad person." As she spoke, the woman flicked up her sunglasses with a finger and winked playfully. "What's your name?"

Judging by her eyes, she was a pretty woman. Without waiting for Gu Qiumian to speak, the woman's hand dipped back into her bag, fumbling around for a brief moment. When it reappeared, a piece of chocolate was clutched between fingers tipped with red manicure polish:

"Take it and eat."

The woman's fingers were fair and slender, yet somewhat rough with calluses visible along the edges. She dangled the chocolate in front of Gu Qiumian's eyes and added in a cheerful tone:

"Don't worry, I'm not a child kidnapper. I just feel like you're an especially congenial girl. Sometimes people just connect by fate; didn't Auntie forget to bring her phone? Could you lend me your phone to make a call?"

Aside from dressing rather bizarrely, she actually possessed a certain approachability, though her aura might remind one of those mischievous little demons who feared the world wasn't chaotic enough.

"I didn't bring my phone either." Gu Qiumian didn't take the chocolate, replying coldly and vigilantly.

"Oh dear, that's terrible then. My kid is still waiting for me at home, let me tell you, he's just this tall."

Originally, the woman had troubledly measured against her own leg, but speaking of her child seemed to make her excited again:

"He's so cute, you can pinch his cheek and he won't even talk, just rolls his eyes and stares at you. It's just that he doesn't even know how to cook, if I don't call home right away he's bound to cry."

Gu Qiumian thought about it for a moment:

"How about I take you to the information desk, Auntie?"

"No, no, I couldn't possibly trouble you."

"But my phone is with my classmate, you can come over with me."

"That wouldn't do, it'd be too much trouble for you..." As she spoke, the woman looked around cautiously, appearing terrified of being discovered by others, while casually asking in a familiar tone:

"By the way, that classmate of yours, boy or girl? What's your relationship? Do you need Auntie to vet him for you?"

She seemed effortlessly capable of mastering the rhythm of a conversation.

Gu Qiumian subconsciously glanced in a certain direction and shook her head in refusal.

Strangely enough, she felt no animosity toward this woman. Although the other's attitude was somewhat overly... enthusiastic, if she hadn't wrapped herself up so tightly, she might genuinely have felt the urge to exchange a few words with her.

Thus, Gu Qiumian simply repeated what she had said about the phone.

"You really didn't bring it?"

Gu Qiumian nodded.

Seeing this, those pretty eyes of the woman instantly filled with disappointment, resembling a child who couldn't get their favorite toy, and even her tone grew somewhat depressed.

Perhaps she wasn't lying, and that child really was waiting anxiously at home, longing for his mother.

Just when she thought the woman would know when to retreat and give up, the woman reached into her bag once more. This time, she pulled out a small notebook, holding it up with both hands in a serious manner:

"Then, young lady, could you write down my number? If you run into your classmate later, could you help me send a text?"

This wasn't an overly difficult request. Gu Qiumian was just about to nod and agree when she saw a figure sprinting from across the way, moving with flying speed and rushing up to the two of them in the blink of an eye.

Gu Qiumian blinked, looking bewilderedly at "New Peach and Old Talisman," failing to react to what was happening before the boy took a single swift step to shield her behind him.

He was panting heavily, his scalp tingling, and the words flew right out of his mouth—

Naturally, directed at that big demon wearing sunglasses:

"Mom, what are you doing here?"