A Scummy Divorcee Alpha: Ex-Wife’s Top-Tier Soothing Agent - Chapter 8

Du Wan carried the mermaid downstairs, only to find the iron gate at the end of the corridor was locked tight. A thick, heavy chain dangled from it, secured by a massive padlock.

She tried to force it open with brute strength, but the iron lock didn’t budge.

A hotel fire, locked escape routes—one “accident” after another made Du Wan suspect that this wasn’t a coincidence, but a conspiracy.

But the original host’s number one enemy is currently clinging to my back. Who else wants her dead?

Du Wan couldn’t figure it out.

She set the mermaid down on the ground and reached out to feel the side of her neck.

The pulse was beating strongly.

She wasn’t dead; she could still be saved.

Du Wan breathed a sigh of relief, then grabbed her collar and shouted into her ear: “Wake up! If you don’t wake up, I’m giving you mouth-to-mouth!”

Du Wan pouted her lips and was about to lean in, but decided against it. She rolled up her sleeves, curled two knuckles, blew a breath of hot air on them, and then—

She shoved them into the mermaid’s armpits and started tickling her.

“Hahahaha…” Zuo Yijia woke from her semi-conscious state, laughing uncontrollably. Between every laugh, she coughed slightly; the rhythm was distinct and haunting, mixed with her furious screams: “Du Wan, are you looking for death!?”

“Boss Zuo, just bear with it! If I let go, you’ll faint again!” Du Wan kept her head down and continued tickling vigorously, only letting go when she judged it was enough.

“Feeling refreshed?” she said shamelessly. “Don’t you feel much warmer now?”

Zuo Yijia was awake, but her face was numb from laughing. With a dark expression, she gasped for air and lunged with her sharp claws, ready to shred the other’s face.

“Don’t move!” Du Wan jumped back and pointed at her commandingly. “Keep that momentum up! Good! Go scratch that lock!”

“What did you say?” Zuo Yijia’s vision nearly went black.

She held her hand out in front of Du Wan. Between her fingers was semi-transparent webbing, and her fingertips curved inward with extreme sharpness. Her slender knuckles were tinged with a faint pink. The pair of hands looked as if they had been kissed by the Creator—possessing a strange, eerie beauty.

Zuo Yijia waved her hand and asked, “Is it beautiful?”

Du Wan nodded.

“My hands get maintenance twice a week,” Zuo Yijia said haughtily. “They are very precious.”

Du Wan nodded and gave a sharp review: “Good to look at, but useless.”

Zuo Yijia raised her claws to scratch again.

“Boss Zuo, stop focusing on being angry.” Du Wan stopped her with a look. “Find a way out. If this continues, we’ll die here sooner or later.”

“I won’t die,” Zuo Yijia said confidently. “The only one dying here is you.”

“If you think dying by fire or smoke is too painful and want an easier way out,” Zuo Yijia raised her claws, revealing the sharp fangs behind her red lips, and smiled sinisterly, “I can help you out.”

“Dying by my hand is a bargain for you.”

Du Wan gave her a speechless look and tossed the wet towel over.

“Wipe your face.” Seeing that Zuo Yijia didn’t understand, she gestured toward her own cheek and said euphemistically, “Have you ever seen a ‘painted-face’ fish?”

Zuo Yijia’s expression crumbled, and she quickly turned her back to wipe her face.

The temperature in the stairwell was gradually rising, and the air was getting thinner.

Du Wan discovered a small window behind the stairs.

She didn’t know if the mastermind had missed this corner or purposefully left a flaw to bait them. Du Wan didn’t have time to think. She tried to push the window open and glanced down; it was about two stories high, and the ground below was piled with clutter.

With the physical stats of people in this world who could live to 180 on average, this height would at most result in a broken limb.

Du Wan said to the mermaid, “If we want to live, we have to jump from here!”

Zuo Yijia’s face turned pale. “If you want to jump, jump yourself!”

Du Wan: “I’ll jump first, then I’ll catch you down there.”

Without negotiating, she finished speaking and vaulted herself out.

“Hey!” Zuo Yijia’s eyelids jumped as she rushed to the windowsill.

With trash bags acting as a cushion, Du Wan wasn’t injured. She rolled, stood up, and opened her arms toward the window above.

“Jump! Hurry, jump down!”

Zuo Yijia took one look down and her head started spinning. She tentatively extended one leg over the window frame, caught in a dilemma—too scared to jump, but unable to go back.

Du Wan hopped and waved her arms for a long time, but the woman still wouldn’t jump.

“Hey, Zuo Yijia, are you scared?” Du Wan used reverse psychology. “A grown adult like you is actually afraid of heights!?”

Zuo Yijia closed her eyes, the veins on her neck bulging. She barked out a curse: “Bullshit! Who’s scared!?”

“I don’t have all day to wait for you.”

After saying that, Du Wan made a move to leave.

She counted a few seconds in her head. The windowsill above made a noise. Du Wan turned quickly, sinking into a stable stance, and caught the mermaid falling from the sky.

With a clink, the jade hairpin slipped from Zuo Yijia’s hair. Her silver hair immediately cascaded down like a waterfall. The silver moonlight slid through her thick tresses, shimmering brilliantly.

In that moment, the world fell silent. Only the thump-thump of hearts remained.

To cushion the momentum of the fall, Du Wan held her and spun twice.

The moment their eyes met, they locked together. Both stared at the other as if refusing to back down, and neither gained the upper hand.

Du Wan looked away.

Simultaneously, Zuo Yijia turned her head.

A fine layer of sweat broke out on Du Wan’s neck. For once, she didn’t speak, silently setting the person in her arms down.

The moment Zuo Yijia’s feet touched the ground, she immediately began searching for her hairpin.

How clean could a trash heap be? She pinched her nose, her fingertips poking through the garbage while she tried to prevent her long hair from falling into the mess.

It was hard on this germaphobic fish.

Du Wan feigned indifference, glancing casually at the ground.

I’m worried about the hairpin, not the fish.

“Found it. Here.” Du Wan wiped the hairpin, which had broken in two, and handed it to her.

Zuo Yijia: “Than—”

From deep within the late-night alley, a chaotic sound of footsteps suddenly erupted. A moment later, a group of people armed with weapons rushed out, spotting the glowing, conspicuous Zuo Yijia instantly.

“Stop right there, you with the white hair!”

Zuo Yijia froze, frowning slightly.

“What about the one next to her?”

“Must be an accomplice. Hack them both!”

Du Wan: “…”

Those people didn’t look like they were joking; they rushed forward swinging machetes.

“Holy crap, they’re actually after you!” Du Wan realized she was just a “fish in the pond” suffering collateral damage. She shouted while running, “So many people—who exactly did you piss off? Can’t you just apologize!?”

Zuo Yijia looked slender and weak, but her running burst was incredible. She didn’t say a word and soon disappeared into the vast night.

“Zuo Yijia, do you have a conscience!?”

Du Wan panted, out of breath. “I just saved you! Is this how you treat your savior!?”

She ran out of the alley and turned a corner. The mermaid was standing in a corner, almost merging with the night.

Zuo Yijia whispered: “Stop talking nonsense. Catch!”

Du Wan caught a wooden club just as a sharp blade-wind swept from the side. She ducked and blocked a strike with the club.

Zuo Yijia’s voice suddenly tightened: “Watch your back!”

Du Wan didn’t have time to dodge. Her arm was grazed by a machete, leaving a long gash that immediately bled. She gritted her teeth fiercely, grabbed the man, and performed a shoulder throw.

With a heavy thud, the man hit the ground, dust flying. He lay there groaning, blocking the path of those behind him.

Du Wan tossed the wooden club aside, grabbed the mermaid, and ran.

The two twisted and turned through the alleys, losing track of where they were. The sounds of pursuit weakened one moment and surged the next. They didn’t dare relax, simply running forward with heads down.

Until the road ahead was blocked by high walls and thick tiles.

Great. It was a dead end!

Zuo Yijia’s heart sank halfway. She stood frozen, not knowing what to do.

“Run! Are you stupid!?”

Du Wan yanked her arm and dived headfirst into the foul-smelling public restroom nearby.

Heaven never seals off every path.

Zuo Yijia: “…”