(thud)
The Shikoku dog lay under his hand, looking innocent and bewildered. "Woof?"
Jiang Xia: "..."
Mermaid frowned as she rubbed the tail that had been smacked. Suddenly, she grew to human height, flipped through the air, and dove down right in front of the Shikoku dog.
The dog's fur stood on end. It let out a terrified yelp, turned, and ran.
Mermaid chased after it in a show of force, then suddenly sensed something. She looked up in surprise, then came to her senses and excitedly waved at Jiang Xia.
Jiang Xia froze. She found that ghost's aura?
He followed Mermaid's gaze and realized that it was actually pointing toward the villa.
"Did it run back inside?"
Thinking Like This, he hurried after Mermaid toward the villa.
Twenty or thirty meters away, behind a concealed tree.
Curacao had been secretly recording, pondering how many Uzo Coins this footage could fetch. Then she looked up and abruptly saw Jiang Xia charging straight at her. "?!"
She swiftly put away her phone, flipped over, and—with the same agility she used when slipping into building ventilation ducts—rolled into a nearby shelter she had picked out in advance.
Holding her breath in the howling cold wind, she hid there. Before long, she sensed a figure streak past her and run toward the villa.
"...He wasn't coming for me?" Curacao was initially confused, but then nodded. Of course. She was a professional when it came to tracking. Especially in weather this terrible, which was perfect for tailing someone, there was no way Uzo could have noticed her.
But if that was the case...
"Why did he suddenly head back?" Curacao wondered. "Did something happen at the villa?"
She was about to follow him when a thought suddenly flashed through her mind, and Curacao stopped.