Chapter 17: Chaoyang: ???
At this time of night, the only one who could possibly sneak in would be Chaolu.
Chaoyang really couldn’t think of anyone else.
But he remembered that he had left a mark for Chaolu—so why would she get exposed?
“Don’t tell me…”
Chaoyang frowned, and then an image flashed in his mind.
After dinner that night, Bald Man and Monkey had each carried one child in their arms. But instead of sending them directly back to their room, they gave them a little “tour.”
The excuse was that since they were now “part of the family,” they naturally needed to familiarize themselves with the environment—even though the room they stayed in was locked.
He remembered that when they had been in Bald Man’s room, because Bald Man set him down and he stumbled a bit, the invisible pen in his pocket had fallen out.
Even the cap had come off.
“Don’t tell me… when she turned a corner, she took the wrong path, and then saw the glowing dot at Bald Man’s door, so she thought…”
That it was the room he and Mibao were in?
Chaoyang: “…”
That would be really bad.
“Brother Chaoyang, what’s wrong?” Mibao, who had woken up, walked to his side and tugged at the hem of his shirt.
Chaoyang’s expression was heavy. “Chaolu came to look for us, but it seems Baldy and the others found her.”
“Huh?”
Mibao instantly looked anxious and worried.
“Then what should we do? Can we go save her?”
Chaoyang looked helpless. “We can’t even get out of this room…”
“Oh, right, the door’s locked.” Mibao pouted in frustration.
But soon her eyes lit up again. “Ah, we can ask my big brother! Big brother, big brother, are you awake?”
[Mm, I’m always here.]
The system responded.
“Big brother, do you have any way to open this door?” Mibao asked anxiously. “We want to go rescue Sister Chaolu, but the door is locked.”
[Let me see…]
The system checked the current points, then looked through the system mall—and really did find something that could be exchanged.
[Got it! A Master Key for Mechanical Locks!]
Mibao’s eyes lit up. “Really? Big brother, you’re amazing!”
[Of course. Hold on, I’ll exchange it for you right now.]
The system was full of pride.
Meanwhile, Chaoyang, watching Mibao talk to herself on the side: “…”
It seemed her condition was getting worse.
She actually believed some imaginary being could help.
He let out a soft sigh and took a step closer to Mibao. Maybe he should remind her, bring her back to her senses.
“Mibao, I know you’re anxious, but—”
“I’ve got it!”
Before Chaoyang could finish, Mibao excitedly raised a freshly materialized golden key.
“Brother Chaoyang, we can unlock the door and save Sister Chaolu now!”
Chaoyang: ???
Wait a second, where did that key come from?
He froze, instinctively thinking it must be a house key Mibao carried, and she was just imagining it as a master key.
Until—
Mibao placed the key in the lock and—click!—the padlock outside snapped open.
Then, she pushed the door open a crack and turned back to look at him.
“Brother Chaoyang, hurry!”
Chaoyang: “…”
Wait—wasn’t this supposed to be Mibao’s fantasy?
Why did a real master key actually appear!?
Stunned and bewildered, Chaoyang stared at Mibao, dumbfounded, for a full three seconds before finally staggering out in a daze.
Although… still…
The most important thing right now was making sure Chaolu got away safely.
So as they left, Chaoyang instinctively covered their tracks, putting the lock back in place to prevent anyone from noticing.
Before long, the two little dumplings ran toward the source of the noise—but they took a different route, since they couldn’t risk being spotted by those bandits.
At the same time, Chaolu was inwardly cursing her luck. She hadn’t expected to get exposed because of this!
“Chaoyang, you big idiot, how did you even mark the place!?”
She gritted her teeth and cursed while sprinting at full speed.
Thankfully, she was an athlete, her stamina was solid. Even though she wasn’t familiar with this lousy place, she still managed to dash ahead and left the adults chasing her far behind!
But, as mentioned earlier—she wasn’t familiar with this broken-down place.
So…
As she kept running, she suddenly realized she had rushed into a dead end.
Chaolu: “…”
Game over.
This time it was total wipeout.
Hearing the shouts and pounding footsteps getting closer and clearer, she leaned back against the wall, breaking into a cold sweat.
When they caught her later… should she drop to her knees and beg for mercy, or just kowtow nonstop?
Just as she was debating this, she suddenly heard some strange noises above her head.
Puzzled, she looked up—only to see the iron grate of the ventilation duct being pushed open from inside. Immediately after, a little head popped out.
“Sister Chaolu!”
Mibao’s eyes sparkled as she reached a hand down toward her.
“Hurry, climb up!”
Chaolu was startled, but there was no time to ask questions. She immediately kicked off the wall for momentum and grabbed Mibao’s hand.
Of course, Mibao didn’t have enough strength, so very quickly Chaoyang also reached down, grabbed her other arm, and together the two little dumplings pulled with all their might until they managed to haul her up.
No sooner had they dragged her inside than Bald Man’s group arrived.
Chaoyang quickly set the metal grate back in place, then the three kids huddled together silently without making a sound.
“…Weird, where’d she go?”
Bald Man swept his flashlight around with a baffled expression.
“I clearly saw that figure run this way.”
What the hell?
The others soon rushed over too, looking around in confusion.
Yeah, they had all seen that fast runner head straight here—so how did the person just vanish?
“Boss, maybe that person was just a beggar who lives here?” Monkey started analyzing. “I just asked the brothers on patrol outside, they said nothing unusual happened. That means the person could’ve been here all along.”
Bald Man narrowed his eyes. “You mean… they’re familiar with the layout here, that’s why we couldn’t find them?”
Monkey nodded.
Bald Man thought about it… and it actually sounded reasonable.
“That might be it.” He rubbed his chin. “When I opened the door earlier, I caught a whiff of something foul. And that person’s frame looked really scrawny—could be a beggar malnourished for years.”
Chaolu, hiding above: “…”
Beggar your ass.
She only stank because some gross adult splashed urine on her!
And as for being short and thin—dammit, what do you expect? For a twelve-year-old girl to look tall and mighty like a warrior?!
“Forget it. What kind of trouble can a stinky beggar stir up? Let’s head back,” Bald Man finally said with a wave of his hand.
“Go to sleep!”
Everyone agreed—just a skinny beggar, the type to bolt at the sight of people, like a rat scurrying out of the gutter. Nothing to be afraid of.
At worst, a rat might sneak food at night.
No big deal—they’d just stash the food away later!
And so the group left in a noisy crowd, and soon the place fell quiet again.
Only then did the three curled up in the ventilation duct finally let out a breath of relief.