Fate Trading System – Chapter 242

Plan A

Mist Map 15

Hotel

To put it simply and crudely, only a fool doesn’t take advantage of a good opportunity.

Although it wasn’t about wanting some creepy hugging and kissing, the benefit of sleeping in the same bed was still something worth fighting for.

Su Xin and Liao Qingjie went upstairs and stopped outside the door of the room Xiao Xiaoruo had stayed in previously.

“Go in and take a look?”

“Okay.”

Because it was a run-down little place with few people, the room doors weren’t locked when unoccupied. If you wanted to lock them, you could only bolt them from the inside. When guests checked in, they would be given a key.

Su Xin originally went in thinking she wouldn’t find anything, but she couldn’t afford to miss any spot, because perhaps something very important might turn up in some overlooked place.

The room was ordinary, the furnishings identical to their own room.

Would Xiao Xiaoruo have left any clues?

After meticulously searching the room all over, they found nothing special. Everything had been taken away, which was only natural.

Su Xin picked up the pillow and felt it all over. During a previous mission, she had a target who liked to hide secret intelligence inside his pillow, sleeping on it every night—you couldn’t imagine how secure he felt.

This was actually an easily noticeable place, yet also an easily overlooked one. It depended on what kind of thing was hidden inside the pillow.

Su Xin unzipped the pillowcase and felt a piece of paper inside.

“Hey, I found something.”

Su Xin waved the paper in her hand, and Liao Qingjie came over to look at it with her.

【If you can see this paper, it means you’ve successfully gotten out, right? And I’m probably gone. This is a really upsetting prediction for me. I originally wanted to kill you there, but with someone following you, it definitely wouldn’t have been easy for me to make a move. This is all a scam. What on earth is he trying to do?】

Su Xin scoffed and placed the note in Liao Qingjie’s hand. It was a load of nonsense without a single key point, yet hidden in such a concealed place. She’d found it, thinking there might be some clue.

“Doesn’t seem like anything important.”

“She’s asking me what the culprit’s motive is? I’d like to ask her the same thing.”

Su Xin pressed her forehead. Maybe it wasn’t entirely useless. Amidst all that text, only one sentence had value.

This is all a scam.

Undoubtedly, the person who set up the scheme was the culprit, and they were all caught in the middle—at least Xiao Xiaoruo was.

So, what exactly did the culprit deceive her about?

The two restored the room to its original state, closed the door, and returned to their own room.

“Don’t you think the landlady is strange?”

“It’s alright. While her reaction wasn’t exactly that of an ordinary person, it couldn’t be called abnormal either.”

Although Liao Qingjie said this, she was already listing points of suspicion in her mind.

“I feel like something’s off, but the landlady doesn’t give me the impression of being a bad person.”

Su Xin considered herself quite perceptive in this regard, able to distinguish whether someone was dangerous or not.

The landlady had a peaceful aura. Whether it was her movements, expression, or words, there was a sense of detached calm, like a very ordinary woman who worked from sunrise to sunset, quietly living her own little life.

“Do you have signal on your phone?”

Liao Qingjie and the others had lost most of their luggage, only bringing back two sleeping bags containing their previously wet clothes, some food, and an emergency flashlight.

“No.”

There was no signal reception in this place, absolutely none. Forget about social media apps; even phone calls couldn’t be made.

“We can only wait until tomorrow when we leave, find a place with signal, and then make a call.”

“Mm.”

Su Xin actually wanted to check on the landlady again. She sat on the bed, thought for a moment, and prepared to go out.

“Going to see the landlady?”

“I’ll do a surprise check, see if I can find anything out. If anything happens, come down quickly.”

“Okay.”

Su Xin tiptoed down the stairs. The small inn had only two floors. The landlady lived in a back room on the ground floor. This area had a small courtyard with a vegetable garden, followed by the kitchen and bathroom.

The aged staircase groaned under the weight. Su Xin held her breath and descended even more carefully.

As it turned out, the soundproofing in this inn was probably indeed not very good, because just as Su Xin reached the landlady’s door, intending to eavesdrop without knocking, the landlady opened the door.

“I just heard you coming down the stairs. What’s wrong? Is there anything I can help you with? Are you hungry?”

The landlady spoke kindly. A wisp of smoke drifted from her room. Su Xin sniffed it—it was the smell of incense.

“Ma’am, are you making offerings to a deity? The smell of incense is so strong.”

“Ah, yes.”

The landlady nodded.

“I didn’t come down for anything specific, just wanted to ask if you have any drinking water. You should be careful, though; this could easily start a fire. And if the doors and windows are shut tight, the smoke can easily make you sick.”

“I’ll be careful, nothing will happen. You want drinking water, right? I’ll go get it for you.”

The landlady walked out of her room, pulling the door shut behind her. Su Xin’s view was blocked; she didn’t see anything.

The landlady brought over a kettle and two paper cups.

“I don’t have any bottled mineral water for sale here, just home-boiled water. But don’t worry, miss, it’s water drawn straight from the well, absolutely safe. It’s a poor, remote place; you’ll have to make do.”

“Thank you.”

Su Xin took the cups and kettle with a perfectly natural expression and went back upstairs.

“How did it go? Any discoveries?”

“Nothing much, but I got this.”

Su Xin waved the kettle in her hand.

“You were discovered?”

“Those stairs are impossible, and the landlady has incredibly sharp ears.”

“After we go back and make the call, the police will come in a couple of days. Maybe they’ll question her. We really don’t have any reason to right now.”

“Alright then.”

There was nothing else to do but wash up and sleep.

Su Xin lay on the bed without taking off her clothes or pants, simply pulling the quilt over herself. Liao Qingjie washed her face and then slipped in too, her hand naturally coming to rest on Su Xin’s waist.

“Hey there, Comrade, your hand seems to be in the wrong place.”

“Ah, sorry. Force of habit.”

“So you used to sleep holding someone else, huh?”

“No, I used to sleep holding my little bear, Annie.”

In reality, there was no little bear named Annie; it was just a clumsy excuse to avoid embarrassment.

“Well, you’re quite young at heart then.”

“Thanks.”

Su Xin slept on her side. To prevent her hands and feet from misbehaving again, Liao Qingjie turned her back to Su Xin, and the two fell asleep back-to-back.

The landlady knelt on a cushion in the corner of her room, tightly gripping the pendant hanging around her neck. Her face was pale, her forehead beaded with sweat, as she prayed to the idol in the corner.

What came from her mouth was neither Mandarin nor a local dialect, but a strange ethnic language. The landlady knelt there, murmuring something, her eyes filled with despair.

The landlady prayed for about 30 minutes before getting up from the floor. Because she had knelt for so long, her blood circulation was poor, and her knees were swollen and painful. The landlady rubbed her knees and sat there for a long time before getting up to bathe.

If an outsider were present, they would surely be astonished by her body.

The feminine characteristic of breasts was still present, though the front part was missing. Even stranger, it was missing only on one side.

After bathing, the landlady put on her clothes and returned to her room. She didn’t turn off the light and go to sleep right away but took out a book from a cabinet. Tucked inside the book was a photograph. In the photo, she was no longer young; although she was still smiling, one could tell it was forced.

Perhaps it was all karmic debt¹. The landlady looked up at the ceiling. There, a strong hatred flickered, but only for an instant, quickly replaced by peace.

Since one step had already gone wrong, might as well let the mistake run its course.

She wouldn’t make a move, because that child would have their own plans.

All she could do was kneel here day and night, praying to their god, begging for forgiveness, praying for good luck. Let all those karmic consequences fall on her alone.

The next day, when sunlight streamed through the window, Liao Qingjie opened her eyes. She was quickly stunned by the situation before her.

They had clearly gone to sleep back-to-back last night. How had she woken up to find things like this?

Liao Qingjie discovered her arm was firmly wrapped around Su Xin’s waist, while Su Xin was curled up quietly in her embrace, looking small and well-behaved.

Her lips, slightly compressed, were pouted, looking full and tempting, rising and falling with a very regular breath.

This… Liao Qingjie hesitated.

In this situation, shouldn’t she perhaps do something?

But she was a decent, honest person! If she did something now, wouldn’t that be taking advantage of the situation, acting like a hooligan?

Yet, if she did nothing, it would feel like a waste.

Liao Qingjie struggled to overcome her inner impulses, trying to keep reason online.

Before Liao Qingjie could finish her internal struggle, Su Xin opened her eyes, completely awake.

She wasn’t particularly insensitive; how could she not wake up with someone staring intently at her?

Now, the little figures arguing inside Liao Qingjie’s head didn’t need to struggle anymore. It was completely hopeless now anyway.

One was frantically blaming the other.

I told you to kiss her earlier, and you didn’t! See! She’s awake now! The bird in hand flew away!²

Liao Qingjie inwardly tsk-tsked. She wasn’t that kind of indecent person!

“Hey there, Comrade, I really think you can take your hand off my waist now.”

“Oh, right. I swear, I absolutely didn’t do anything improper. I just woke up, and we were like this.”

“Maybe my sleeping posture isn’t great, and yours isn’t much better.”

“Maybe so.”

Liao Qingjie withdrew her hand, her fingertips brushing—intentionally or unintentionally—against skin, yet her expression remained perfectly righteous.

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