Four of them followed Liu Ying all the way to her home.
Watching from a short distance away, Ai Tutu said, a little bored, "See? I told you she was going home. This is so boring. Sister Mu, let's go back."
Tang Miao felt like something was off, but he couldn't put his finger on what...
"Let's go back too, Tang Miao. Her dad said all we had to do was make sure she got home," Ling Ling said, looking at him as she slung her little backpack over her shoulders.
He still had his doubts, but Ling Ling was right. Liu Ying had made it home, so there was nothing more for them to do.
Their task had only been to protect her while she was outside. Once she was home, they weren't needed anymore.
"Fine, let's go back. You two be careful on your way home," Tang Miao said.
Mu Nujiao also felt that something was off, but Liu Ying was already home. There shouldn't be any more trouble.
Besides, she and Ai Tutu weren't particularly close to Tang Miao. Now that the job was done, there was no reason for them to stick around.
After parting ways with Mu Nujiao and Ai Tutu, Tang Miao glanced at Ling Ling, who was lost in thought as they headed back to the Qingtian Hunter Agency. "You think something's off too?"
Ling Ling nodded her little head, then looked up at Tang Miao. "According to her father, Liu Ying comes home very late every day, and she always looks pale when she does. But today, she seemed fine. Something just doesn't feel right."
Tang Miao usually didn't like getting involved in other people's business, but when he thought about the reward for solving the problem, he stopped walking. "How about we go back and take another look?"
"Are you an idiot?"
Ling Ling scolded him without mercy. "She's already home for the night. There's definitely no problem inside her house. We can come back first thing tomorrow morning and keep an eye on her!"
Getting chewed out by a little girl, Tang Miao pursed his lips. "But in Detective Conan, doesn't the culprit usually make their move around this time?"
"The security guards in this neighborhood are all Intermediate Mages! If all those people can't protect her, what makes you think you can do any better on your own?"
Tang Miao's mouth twitched...
He hadn't even thought of that. So Intermediate Mages really did get hired to watch the gates...
Seeing Tang Miao staring blankly, Ling Ling smiled. "Hard to believe, isn't it?"
Tang Miao shook his head. He had never doubted the saying, "Money makes the world go round." The idea that money couldn't buy everything, like they showed on TV, was total nonsense.
That was just how the world worked. Maybe money meant little during a war between nations, but in peaceful times, the rich called the shots.
Take Zhao Manyan's older brother, for example. So what if he was a businessman? He'd still knocked his younger brother, who studied magic, out of the running. Zhao Manyan only got lucky because he had plot armor and Baxia's help. Otherwise, he'd have been written off ages ago.
"Then should we stay somewhere nearby tonight?"
"Yeah."
Tang Miao followed Ling Ling, feeling helpless... He was a grown man, yet a little girl was calling all the shots?
They passed a milk tea shop. Ling Ling looked at Tang Miao, who seemed puzzled. "I want milk tea."
"Sure. Wait here."
Feeling a little embarrassed, Tang Miao trotted off to the shop like a lovesick puppy. He couldn't help it. She was his Little Strategist, and she might even turn out to be his lucky star, covering for him in the future. He had to keep her sweet! Besides, what was the harm in doting on such a cute little girl?
The milk tea shop was busy, but they got the orders out pretty quickly.
Ten minutes later, Tang Miao returned with two cups of milk tea.
He handed one to Ling Ling, and the two of them sat down on a stone bench nearby.
Ling Ling took the milk tea, stuck in the straw, and gulped it down. Her little mouth puffed around the straw. She was absolutely adorable.
Maybe Ling Ling realized that the way she was guzzling milk tea wasn't very ladylike, so she changed the subject. "What kind of demon do you think is behind this?"
"How would I know? This is my first time hunting a demon."
Tang Miao shrugged, though he already had a rough idea. He'd never hunted a demon before, but he'd read plenty about them! Judging by the girl's condition every day, it was probably the work of a vampire.
Ling Ling spoke up too. "Magic Capital is enormous. It's practically an ecosystem. Humans aren't the only ones living here. There are all kinds of demons and monsters, even some strange species. They might seem like ordinary people during the day, but who knows what they're like at night?"
She paused, then turned to him. "Do you know what vampires are?"
Tang Miao hesitated, then said, "I know Batman, Spider-Man, and Iron Man."
Ling Ling looked at him with disdain, then spat out one word: "Get lost!"
He'd only been joking. He hadn't meant anything by it. But apparently, Ling Ling didn't like the joke.
"Fine, fine. Go on."
Ling Ling gave a haughty little "hmph" before continuing. "The ones on TV are all fake. Of course, some people do get parasitized and infected, which causes them to mutate. Some of those who mutate still choose to live among people like normal. But others might pursue greater power and do terrible things to get it."
Tang Miao nodded. There was no such thing as absolute good or evil in the world.
"Liu Ying's symptoms fit a vampire's style. These vampires are very particular. They don't just attack women; they carefully select their prey, and their targets have to be the kind of beauties you'd notice. Different vampires have different tastes. Some like women with long, flowing hair, some like virgins, and some like fair-skinned women..."
Hearing that the damn vampire was so picky made Tang Miao unhappy. He wasn't even that picky! As long as both sides were willing and the woman was pretty, wasn't that enough?
Still, being lectured like this by a little girl who ought to be watching Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf felt a bit strange...
But after hearing Ling Ling's explanation, Tang Miao's earlier guess seemed to be confirmed.
Tang Miao's thinking was simple. Especially when it came to something that preyed on women, he clenched his fist and said, "Whatever it is, if we find it and it seems like it might kill someone, we'll just take it out."
In his opinion, its victims might survive in the short term, but there was no telling what would happen if it went on for long.
So if they came across it, they should take it out! After all, her father was offering a million for its head.
Of course, he was doing it to protect all those lovely young women, not for the money!
Ling Ling hesitated, then tried to talk him out of it. "If it isn't threatening anyone's life, we'd better not provoke it. We could get into trouble."
"As long as I'm here—cough, as long as the embodiment of justice is here, what's there to be afraid of? When we find it, you hide. Leave the rest to me."
Seeing that Tang Miao looked ready to risk his life for money, Ling Ling was curious. "If you're so short on resources, why don't you join a major faction? With your talent, I'm sure any faction would be willing to invest a huge amount of resources in you."
Tang Miao looked up at the starry sky and smiled. "Everyone has their own path."
Ling Ling didn't say anything more. Sometimes, ambition alone wasn't enough. Without massive resources to back him up, even someone with outstanding talent would only get so far at the Intermediate Level. When it came time to push for the Advanced Mage level, the resources required would be staggering.
That was why, in this day and age, so many Mages were still willing to become lapdogs for prominent families. It wasn't always because they lacked ambition. Many people simply lost out to reality.
A law-abiding Mage who didn't steal, rob, or kill for treasure wasn't much different from an ordinary person. Even if the pay was better, the costs were just as high...
Only people like Tang Miao and Mo Fan, who were born with cheat codes, could rise from humble beginnings without relying on any faction. Without the Kirin Jade, even with a Dual Element Soul Seed, Tang Miao might have refused to join any faction at first. But now, at his current level, he might have joined the Judgment Society and settled into an easy life there.
After all, even with the help of the Kirin Jade and a trip into the Three-Step Tower, he was only at Intermediate Level Two. Without the Kirin Jade's doubled experience and any other resources, he might only just have reached the Intermediate Level by now.
"Come on, let's find somewhere to rest. We still have to protect her tomorrow," Ling Ling said, finishing the last of her milk tea and getting to her feet while Tang Miao's thoughts were still wandering.
Tang Miao came back to himself and nodded.
A little while later, the two of them arrived at a hotel.
Tang Miao pulled out his ID, intending to get one room, but Ling Ling strongly objected! With no other choice, he shelled out for two rooms. The young woman at the front desk even gave him a disdainful look, as if he were some kind of beast...
Tang Miao was thoroughly exasperated. Did he really look like some creepy uncle who'd go after even a little girl!?
After the two of them went upstairs, Old Man Bao came in too.
Tang Miao ought to have been glad he hadn't brought Ling Ling into the same room with him. He really had no bad intentions, but Old Man Bao, who was worried about their safety, was especially concerned about his little granddaughter.
Once he'd asked around and got the full story, Old Man Bao felt much more at ease. He got a room of his own and stayed there too.
In his room, Tang Miao took a nice, relaxing shower. He also called Tang Yue to ask about Chao He, and after confirming that she still hadn't tracked him down, he chatted with her flirtatiously for a while before flopping into bed and falling asleep.
Little Lingling, meanwhile, buried herself in computer files and even asked her older sister about vampires...
Old Man Bao had it easy: he simply fell fast asleep.
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