Guide Her to Nowhere (NPH) - Chapter 52: Shi Xi Was a Villain Cannon Fodder

Chapter 52: Shi Xi Was a Villain Cannon Fodder

Shen Qi had met Yi Jin earlier and knew Qu Tang hadn’t left. But when he saw Qu Tang, wearing a hooded mask that revealed only her bright black eyes, smiling and greeting him with a “long time no see,” Shen Qi couldn’t hold back. He smiled too.

“Long time no see.”

In truth, they had only been apart for ten days, but it really felt like a long, long time.

“Went smoothly?” Yi Jin asked after the car started moving.

“Yeah. Got the person in charge and the documents without trouble. Handed them over to Shi Xi too,” Shen Qi replied from the passenger seat. Mentioning Shi Xi, he turned back to Qu Tang. “Do you know Shi Xi?”

“Shi Xi?” Qu Tang thought the name sounded familiar, like she’d heard it somewhere.

“Yeah, he showed me your photo and asked if you were on the bus Xie Li hijacked that day,” Shen Qi said. Seeing Qu Tang still looked confused, he added, “It was a headshot from a resume.”

Qu Tang understood. Shi Xi, Shi Xi—Shi Xi must be the older brother Shi Xi had mentioned.

But the name Shi Xi really rang a bell… Then it hit her. Wasn’t Shi Xi the villain cannon fodder from the original story?

One of the original male leads, Shi Ling, was the heir to the Shi family, one of the three great clans. Shi Ling’s rival in the family was his second uncle’s son, Shi Xi, who was a few years older.

The story said Shi Xi was cunning and ruthless. Besides being the head of the Shi family’s second branch, he was also one of the seven elders in the Elder Council. His power and status actually surpassed Shi Ling’s. But he still harbored ambitions to fully control the Shi family, making him Shi Ling’s enemy.

Shi Ling met the heroine because of Shi Xi’s scheme. Though he escaped with his life, he was gravely injured. Luckily, the heroine found him, and after they fucked, his wounds healed.

Shi Ling took the chance to fake his death, biding his time in obscurity. He spent some mushy days with the heroine, then returned to the family to bring down Shi Xi, securing his place as the Shi family heir.

The story, being a smut novel, didn’t detail the process. But it clearly described Shi Xi’s end—Shi Ling drove him out of the family and later sent someone to assassinate him.

Shi Xi wasn’t dead yet. Had Shi Ling met the heroine? How far had the original plot progressed?

All this time, Qu Tang felt the original story had little to do with her. Now, a character from it suddenly popped up, giving her a bad feeling.

She wanted nothing to do with the story’s characters. Influenced by the author’s setup, those overpowered male leads often fought over the heroine, pulling each other’s hair and doing insane things that ended up as “gods clashing, mortals suffering.” She, a small fry, was one of those mortals.

“Figured it out?”

Shen Qi’s voice pulled Qu Tang’s wandering thoughts back.

“Yeah, but I don’t know Shi Xi. I know his younger brother, Shi Xi. He was my employer back in District Four.”

“Then why would he look for you?”

“I escaped.”

Yi Jin’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. He hadn’t forgotten how disheveled Qu Tang looked when he picked her up at the fountain plaza that day.

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him you died. Said Xie Li threw you out to feed the mutants.”

Qu Tang’s eyes showed gratitude. “Thanks.”

Shen Qi doused her with cold water. “Don’t get too hopeful. Shi Xi’s always cautious. If he really wants to find you, he won’t give up just because of my word.”

There were big holes in what Shen Qi told Shi Xi. During Qu Tang’s time at the planting field, Xie Li wasn’t there. Later, Xie Li returned late at night and got killed by Shen Qi before showing his face. To outsiders, Qu Tang just vanished, unrelated to Xie Li.

But Shen Qi had killed almost everyone who knew the truth. Only one person remained—the planting field’s overseer, now in Shi Xi’s hands.

He hoped Shi Xi wouldn’t think to ask that person about Qu Tang before they killed him.

If Qu Tang knew this, she’d probably say there was no need to hope. Heaven wouldn’t let her get that lucky.