Are You Allergic To Romance? - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Now, Who Should Be Afraid? Is It Me, or You?

‘Xie Mianzhi’

Old Man Hong Que was slightly surprised to hear his granddaughter on the phone pronounce the other person’s name with such solemnity.

As if that person was very important to her.

Is she very important?

Hong Que looked at Lu Ze standing beside him, probably asking with his eyes: Do you know how Little Jing met that Miss of the Xie family?

Lu Ze shook his head. He had been very busy lately and couldn’t spare time to visit Jing Yuan in Misu, so he didn’t know either.

The old man coughed, then held the receiver and continued, “That’s a good name. So how do you have her necklace?”

Jing Yuan paused for a few seconds before briefly telling her grandfather, “I’ll tell you in person later.”

She didn’t want anything related to herself to worry her family or cause any unnecessary impact on Miss Xie Mianzhi.

Hong Que knew Jing Yuan was reluctant to explain, so he didn’t press her. He understood Jing Yuan’s concerns; this child always liked to solve everything by herself.

“Alright, my good child. Then there’s one thing I need to confirm. Is this Miss Xie a ‘good person’?”

Here, “good person” referred to a reliable confidant who would not cause Jing Yuan negative consequences and would keep secrets.

Hong Que had to ensure whether his granddaughter had any grudges with the other party and, assuming she knew Jing Yuan’s true identity, whether she could keep a secret. This was necessary to categorize the Xie family as either an enemy or an ally, so they could prepare countermeasures.

Jing Yuan certainly understood Hong Que’s implication. She paused for a few seconds. In her heart, she hoped Xie Mianzhi was that kind of person, at least someone who wouldn’t be genuinely afraid of her, even with a million uncertainties.

“She poses no threat to me.” Jing Yuan did not answer directly.

“So she still doesn’t know your ‘identity’?” The old man heard the subtext.

“She doesn’t know.” Jing Yuan’s answer was straightforward. This was a routine response. Her great-grandfather was worried that her non-human form would be discovered by outsiders and cause her harm.

Hong Que shook his head. “Then Miss Xie Mianzhi cannot be considered a ‘good person’ after all, since she doesn’t know your true appearance. In short, be very careful. If you need my help with anything, just ask.”

Humans are always wary and resistant to the unknown. Once they discover a higher species that surpasses them, they will stop at nothing for profit, let alone the Xie family, who view the business world as a battlefield.

Jing Yuan was silent for a few seconds before replying, “I know.”

“Of course, I still hope you can get through this sensitive period quickly so your body feels better.”

Listening to the old man’s concerned words over the phone, Jing Yuan wished for the same.

There was a time when she thought she had everything under control, but since meeting Xie Mianzhi, her state of hunger and thirst had occurred many times, though she was able to suppress it.

The frequency was abnormal.

She didn’t know why this was happening, but she was more grateful that she hadn’t hurt Xie Mianzhi or scared her away.

Jing Yuan ended the call after exchanging a few more pleasantries with her grandfather. She looked down at the necklace in her hand and ultimately did not enter the post office.

**

For several days,

Misu Town was always overcast and rainy.

“Looks like it’s going to rain again. How about you go back first, Jing Yuan? There aren’t many customers today anyway.”

Boss Chen stood at the storefront, looking at the stormy weather outside. The forecast clearly said it would clear up this afternoon and wouldn’t rain, but the sky was already mostly dark.

A storm was coming.

Moreover, the main road outside Misu was under repair, so there likely wouldn’t be many more customers passing by.

The situation was so bad you couldn’t hit anyone with a thrown stick.

If they weren’t the only decent shop operating within ten miles, Boss Chen would have closed early today.

“It’s fine.” Jing Yuan glanced at the sky outside and continued sorting the goods that arrived yesterday.

“Oh, you child. It’s dark, and it’s not safe for a girl to walk home alone. You should go back early,” Boss Chen waved his hand, urging her. He wanted to smoke a cigarette, so he stayed outside, pushing her:

“We probably won’t have many more customers. The workers repairing the road stopped working today. Hurry up and go home. I can watch the store myself. Old Ma will be back after his delivery anyway. I won’t pay you extra for working overtime here.”

“I’ll leave when my shift is over,” Jing Yuan replied.

Boss Chen sighed, feeling helpless.

If it were anyone else, they would have bolted at his first word. Jing Yuan was just too honest.

Jing Yuan knew Boss Chen was kind. Otherwise, his employees wouldn’t have stayed with him for so long. Even Sister Jin and the others, though they often complained about Boss Chen’s rambling, always supported the chubby Boss Chen in crucial moments.

However, she would be alone at home anyway. Golden Bean and Yuan Bao were safely settled in their kennel.

Besides, one thing had been nagging at her: whether she should personally deliver the necklace.

She had stood outside the post office for a long time, pacing back and forth, but ultimately chose to turn back.

There were many ways to return the necklace to Xie Mianzhi, but she realized one thing—

If possible, she wanted to see that person one more time.

Just one more time. She missed her.

Thinking this, Jing Yuan slowly walked behind the counter, carefully wiping her hands with a tissue. Only then did she take out a blue velvet jewelry box from her pocket and gently open it. Inside was Xie Mianzhi’s necklace.

Because it was valuable, she had specifically bought a suitable box to package it this morning. She searched several shops and finally bought an exquisite box that looked like it was meant for jewelry.

If she hadn’t helped the other person untangle the necklace from her hair that day, Xie Mianzhi wouldn’t have lost it.

Jing Yuan stared at the emerald necklace, lost in thought.

“Oh, welcome! Welcome! Our store hasn’t closed yet.”

The simple and honest voice of the boss at the entrance snapped Jing Yuan out of her reverie. Jing Yuan quickly placed the jewelry box near the cabinet below, then looked up and saw a few strangely built men with backpacks walking into the store.

One of them was covered in sweat, his leg seemed injured as he walked with a slight limp, and he was subtly hiding something in his hand. Before Jing Yuan could take a second look, the man walked directly in front of her, chuckling and blocking her view.

His sinister grin made her very uncomfortable.

Another tall, skinny man directly pointed a spray can at the surveillance camera screen by the door and sprayed it, then violently smashed the electrical equipment nearby. Instantly, all the equipment in the store stopped working.

“Hey, little brother, you—”

Before Boss Chen could step forward to stop him, the third man, who was keeping watch at the door, grabbed Boss Chen and aggressively held a sharp weapon hidden behind his back against the boss’s head.

Then, he violently pushed Boss Chen into the store.

Everything happened in an instant.

“Hey! Is that car outside yours?” Clearly, the limping man leading the group was the mastermind. He turned around. The dagger in his hand was still stained with undried brown grime, as if it had just been used to stab someone.

He looked at Boss Chen, his tone urgent and vicious. “Damn it, is it yours or not! Speak up, damn it!”

Boss Chen felt the sharp weapon heavily pressed against his temple by the man next to him. For the first time in his life, he felt so close to death. He must not have checked the almanac today to encounter these robbers.

“Y-Yes… Yes, it’s mine. It’s mine. You can have everything you want, just don’t hurt us! Seriously, it’s a small business, really…”

“The keys.”

“In, in my pants, pocket,” Boss Chen stammered. Under the harsh command of the man next to him, he quickly pulled out the car keys and handed them over, shaking violently all over.

Clang, clang—

The metal rolling door at the back was pulled down and locked tight by one of the accomplices.

They were sealing off the store.

The familiar grating sound of the rolling door closing at the end of the day now sounded like a death knell, indicating that these people wouldn’t let them go easily.

The man holding Boss Chen, upon receiving the car keys, tossed them to another person, signaling him to start the engine.

“Hey, hey, Fatty, your female clerk is stronger than you. Look at your legs shaking like a sieve, ha ha ha ha.” The burly man laughed, aggressively tapping Boss Chen’s face with the hilt of the weapon, then the group of sneering, arrogant men turned their gaze to the female clerk at the counter.

The limping man looked curiously at the expressionless clerk.

He had encountered many people; they either cried and screamed or begged him for mercy and offered to do anything for him. Why was this one so calm? So boring.

Boss Chen saw the limping man walking towards Jing Yuan behind the counter.

He immediately pleaded, “That child is just an employee. Sh-she doesn’t understand anything. I’ll give you anything in the store you want! Please don’t hurt her, don’t hurt us! Seriously, we’ll give you anything, and we won’t call the police…”

The limping man listened to the boss’s plea and grinned, but he had no intention of being merciful.

“You, take all that stuff out, hurry up.” The limping man, now standing beside Jing Yuan, pointed the dagger directly at her face, ordering her to act quickly and hand over all the money in the store.

Jing Yuan looked at the group. They were positioned in several places, and their division of labor was clear. This was a highly targeted robbery. The dagger pressing against her jaw must be stained with the bl00d of several people.

These desperate criminals wouldn’t let them go easily.

But she didn’t seem nervous at all. It was just that Boss Chen was currently being held hostage by one of them.

She felt a little passive.

So Jing Yuan looked up at Boss Chen.

“Damn it! Hurry up! What are you spacing out for!” The limping man’s impatient roar was right beside her ear.

“G-Give it all to them, give it all to them.” Boss Chen was too preoccupied to care about anything else and quickly shouted for Jing Yuan to take out all the cash from the register and the spare money from the cabinet below. Money could be earned back, but if they died, everything would be lost.

Jing Yuan obeyed the boss’s command and took out all the cash from the register and the emergency funds from the safe below.

During this time, the limping man kept the dagger pointed at her at close range, as if the cruel blade would mercilessly pierce her neck if she made even the slightest non-compliant movement.

“Wait, what’s that?” The limping man saw the blue gift box tucked in the corner of the cabinet and signaled for her to pick it up.

Jing Yuan pressed her lips together, silent for a few seconds, but ultimately had no choice but to hand the box to the other person.

The limping man instantly snatched it. When he saw the emerald necklace clearly displayed inside, he knew instantly that this necklace was expensive and very valuable.

They were planning to finish this job and go abroad, but they hadn’t expected to find such a huge treasure today!!

The man immediately kicked over the cabinet, checking for other hidden treasures, but there were none. Still, those who knew their stuff knew they could sell that necklace for a good price on the black market overseas!

They’d hit the jackpot!

The limping man turned around contentedly, looked at the others, and then tilted his head, signaling his subordinate to deal with the fat man first.

“Don’t do this! I already gave you the money! Please let us go—” Boss Chen understood the leader’s intention and tried to appeal to the devils’ conscience one last time. Unfortunately, his pleading words only annoyed the man holding him.

The man violently struck the back of Boss Chen’s neck, knocking the boss unconscious onto the floor, then raised his weapon and aimed it at the downed man’s head.

Just as he was about to blow the fat man’s brains out.

“Put it down.”

A flash of lightning outside was immediately followed by a terrifying, loud sound, like a phantom, accompanying the command. Black rain then started pouring down like a curtain.

The storm had truly arrived.

The group wasn’t startled by the sudden lightning and thunder, but by the fact that the female cashier at the front desk actually dared to speak up like that.

The man who was stopped by the command laughed, looking at the calm-faced female cashier as if he had discovered something new. His expression was extremely exaggerated: “Excuse me, what did you just say? You’re ordering me to put something down? Did I hear that right?”

Jing Yuan looked up at the group of people, and at the blade only a few centimeters from her neck, and repeated coldly, “I’m giving you one chance, a chance to live. Let him go.”

The man laughed out loud as if he had heard a joke about the apocalypse, blowing a vulgar whistle and dramatically addressing his big brother, the limping man.

“Brother Po, did you hear that? This chick is telling me to let him go, or I’m going to die, ha ha ha.”

The man named Brother Po also chuckled continuously. He fiercely pressed the dagger against Jing Yuan’s neck, then took a moment to size her up again. She had a nice face and a great figure. Looking closely, she was truly captivating.

“Why aren’t you afraid?” The limping man patted the woman’s cheek with the blade, picked up a strand of her hair to sniff it closely, and continued:

“If you want to save your boss, you don’t need to order him. That guy has a short fuse and explodes easily. He could blow up your and your boss’s brains. Have you ever seen brains splatter out? I’ve seen it many times. Why don’t you beg me? Solve this problem for me, and maybe both of you can live, ha ha ha ha.”

The limping man laughed loudly, then glanced down at his crotch, signaling the female clerk in front of him to actively kneel down and perform a certain act for him. He’d enjoy himself before leaving, of course, he wouldn’t let her live.

Low, scornful whistles came from the other lowlifes. Jing Yuan slightly tilted her head and glanced at the clock on the wall.

17:40:07.

Then she stared straight at the limping man.

Her eyes were abnormally cold, which greatly annoyed the limping man, who was performing a solo act.

“I’m telling you to beg me! Are you looking for death with that look in your eyes?!” The limping man immediately reached out and roughly grabbed her hair, forcefully trying to shove the female clerk down. However, the moment his arm made contact, it was pulled by a huge, strange suction force right to the woman’s front.

Before he could react, her ice-cold hand firmly gripped his throat. The next second, his entire face was violently slammed onto the counter. Instantly, as the steel glass shattered, the unbearable impact caused his larynx to burst, and liquid immediately spurted from his mouth.

Jing Yuan looked at the limping man’s miserable state and retorted, “Can you still laugh now?”

Before the limping man could react, Jing Yuan harshly yanked him up by the back of his neck and timely blocked him in front of her. The sharp weapon that was meant to strike her instead pierced the man’s shoulder blade.

“Aaaah—!!!” The man instantly screamed in pain.

Quickly, the others rushed forward and surrounded her.

The aggressive man cursed loudly in frustration, “What the f* are you?!**”

Because the woman in front of them actually used their boss as a shield, the previous strike missed.

“What the hell! Damn it!”

Just as the hot-tempered man was about to charge, Jing Yuan immediately grabbed the limping man with both hands and violently threw him at the attacker. Simultaneously, a man on her front left threw a punch at her.

She didn’t dodge at all and directly caught his fist, instantly straightening his arm. Her other hand intended to use a safe amount of force, but the other person’s muscles were too weak. His wrist and arm snapped immediately.

Next was another person attacking from the eight o’clock position beside her. She delivered a punch that broke his nasal bone, then locked her arm around his neck and pinned him to the floor.

Then came the fourth person.

Sounds of bones being shattered echoed everywhere.

After breaking the fourth person’s arm, Jing Yuan looked up at the clock on the wall again.

17:40:59.

Jing Yuan muttered to herself. She looked down at her hands, frowning slightly, seemingly dissatisfied with such a “quick resolution.”

She looked gloomily at the four people howling on the floor, then walked towards the only survivor who was still shell-shocked—the aggressive man who was previously so arrogant. He still dared to hold a weapon and point it at her.

“I don’t think you should be pointing that at me anymore.”

No sooner had she spoken than the aggressive man’s weapon was snatched out of his hand by the lethal woman in front of him as if by magic.

He had no idea what happened in that instant. The ice-cold steel object was already pressed against his head.

Those golden eyes looked down at him coldly—a gaze from the abyss.

“Bang.”

Jing Yuan took in the sight of the man wetting himself in fear. Although she had added a sound effect as a prank, she merely rotated the weapon, quickly dismantled it, and threw all the pieces onto the floor.

Instantly, the man, having been spared, collapsed onto the floor, his pants completely soaked.

“W-What are you…” The man trembled. Extreme terror made him only dare to crawl backward. He couldn’t comprehend what the woman in front of him was.

“A good citizen,” Jing Yuan scoffed, crouching down in front of the man. She asked coldly, “Which hand did you use to hit him with the hilt earlier?”

“Wh-What do you mean?”

“Which hand hit him?” Jing Yuan glanced at the unconscious Boss Chen, her tone still casual, as if in a warm, heartfelt chat between a clerk and a customer.

The man didn’t know what the other party intended, but her golden pupils seemed to be changing unnaturally, with fine, black, cobweb-like patterns gradually spreading in her eyes. The non-natural sight made his mind go completely blank. He could only slowly raise his right hand. The next second, his right hand was gently grasped by the other party.

A bone-chilling cold instantly invaded him.

“I was already in a bad mood,” Jing Yuan took a deep breath and continued to ask, “Do you know? My wages are paid daily. You just tried to blow his brains out, so who will pay me my wages today?”

As soon as she finished asking, the man’s index and middle fingers were snapped instantly.

“Aah—”

“So should you have hit him?” Her eyes gradually became terrifying, vertical pupils.

“N-No… Aah… No, cough, cough—” The man endured the agonizing pain of his fractured fingers, looking at her terrifying eyes, shaking his head frantically.

“Should you have?”

“N-No… No, I shouldn’t have, I shouldn’t have—!!” The man’s psychological and physical state finally broke down. His bloodshot eyes were filled with tears caused by the immense pain. He sobbed, clearly articulating those three words, howling like a maniac.

“Very good.” Jing Yuan finally released his hand, satisfied. She took a tissue nearby and wiped her hands, then turned to the limping man still howling and clutching his shoulder. She took his backpack, phone, and other items.

Inside were photo albums of some victims, various forged IDs and passports, all revealing the cruel crimes of these bandits.

“Call the police and turn yourselves in. Tell the police everything you’ve done, and the heroic deed of my boss protecting the store. Otherwise, you’ll all die here.”