Reborn as the Vampire Prince at Server Start, I am Invincible

Chapter 86 : Returning Home

Returning Home"All done? How scary. Then I really need to beg you, don't report this to the police, okay?"

The woman's voice on the other end of the phone was still mocking him. Although she said words of concession, it was clear she didn't take the threat seriously at all.

Wang Hu finally lost his cool, his face cold as he asked, "You didn't call just to taunt me, did you? Say it—what do you really want?"

"I don't want anything. I just want you to terminate your deal with Young Master Long. Make your people take down all those missing person posters and destroy them. And never do it again."

Cecilia said coldly.

"I haven't thought about the rest yet. I'll let you know when I decide."

Upon hearing this, Wang Hu laughed angrily. "What right do you have to negotiate with me? What if I say no? Little miss, what could you possibly do to me?"

"I can't do anything to you right now, but in the future, who knows?"

Cecilia gave a faint smile. At the same time, she flicked her right hand, and with a "clack," she opened the black folding knife. "If you don't want to hide at home for the rest of your life or have the police get involved, my advice is to do as I say. After all, as you saw today, people like me—when pushed to the brink—are capable of anything."

"Of course, I can also offer you some financial compensation. Tell me, how much did Dragon Abyss give you?"

After hesitating for a moment, Wang Hu named a number, "Four hundred thousand. He said if I caught you, he'd give me a total of four hundred thousand in cash. If you can pay me more than him to make this go away, naturally I won't bother you again."

In the adult world, there is no right and wrong, only interests. Everyone's basically out for money. If you can make money peacefully, why resort to violence?

"Four hundred thousand? Why don't you just rob a bank? I'm the one negotiating with you, not the other way around. Understand?"

Even as she said this, Cecilia couldn't deny that when Wang Hu mentioned the number, she was a little tempted.

Paying the price of two or three pieces of blue equipment to temporarily resolve a real-world issue was, in her view, quite a bargain.

Though taking care of Wang Hu wouldn't remove Dragon Abyss, the mastermind, and there'd surely be another "Li Hu" or "Zhang Hu" after him—Cecilia had no other option at the moment.

Until she found the next safe place to stay, she couldn't allow Gu Yanxi's family to be put at risk because of her.

"Then you state your price. Let's see how much you've got!"

Wang Hu's voice had a hint of impatience.

"I can give you fifty thousand, provided that in the next couple of days, you follow my instructions: recall all your people, take down all the posters, and don't inform Dragon Abyss. After two days, you can do as you like."

Cecilia thought things over, then said.

"So you mean to say, for two days I do nothing and get fifty thousand for free?"

"You also have to take down all of those flyers you put up,"

Cecilia kindly reminded him.

Putting down the phone, Wang Hu sat on the couch in the arcade's office, lit a cigarette, and fell into deep thought.

Do nothing for just two days, keep it a secret from Young Master Long, and get fifty thousand in cash. He'd definitely get yelled at, but for fifty thousand? And he'd be able to keep things under control with the girl on the other end of the line. From his perspective, it was a pretty good deal.

There was silence on the line, but Cecilia wasn't in a hurry. She sat on the bench by the roadside, absentmindedly flicking her folding knife.

The terms she suggested were already her biggest concession. If Wang Hu had any sense, he wouldn't refuse to spend two days stalling Dragon Abyss for fifty thousand.

A dozen seconds later, Wang Hu's voice came from the other end, "Fifty thousand is too little. I want a hundred thousand. You'll need to cover my three underlings' medical bills, too."

"Screw you. Prepare your own medical bills."

She laughed lightly, cursed, and got ready to hang up.

"Wait, wait, fifty thousand it is, but you have to give me half as a deposit—twenty-five thousand upfront, not a penny less."

Seeing how forceful the girl was being, Wang Hu finally put aside his own schemes and hurriedly agreed.

"Tonight, first make sure all those missing person posters are taken down and show me your sincerity. Tomorrow at this time, I'll give you the full fifty thousand."

With that, Cecilia hung up, not giving Wang Hu another chance to haggle.

She'd been out for so long—it was time to go home.

She pressed her left shoulder, which hurt even more than before. After the fight, the exhaustion hit her all at once. Now that she'd relaxed, her whole body felt a dozen kilos heavier—a result of rarely exercising and overexerting herself.

I should've hired a few people like Dragon Abyss did.

With a weary sigh, Cecilia thought to herself.

Even with over twenty million in her account, she still hadn't changed the frugal habits ingrained in her over the years. Now she'd become a girl, yet she was still brawling in alleys with street punks.

Letting anger get the better of her again... That was reckless.

She stood up from the bench, picked up the unused gauze and alcohol, and began her heavy steps toward home.

Passing a supermarket at the entrance to the apartment complex, she suddenly craved yogurt. But as she gazed at the rows of dairy in the clear glass cooler, Cecilia licked her parched lips, then silently turned and left.

Because the lighting was poor and she deliberately concealed herself, the elderly guard in the booth didn't notice her. Not long after entering the apartment complex, Cecilia arrived at Gu Yanxi's home.

She lightly knocked on the cold metal security door. In less than three seconds, Gu Yanxi's slightly excited voice rang out from inside.

"Who is it? Anna, little miss?"

The voice was loud—deliberately so, for Yao Qian to hear.

Hearing this, the ice-cold girl who had just blackmailed some gangsters couldn't help but show a faint smile. She cleared her hoarse throat and replied in as gentle a tone as she could manage, accepting Gu Yanxi's welcome.

"Mm, I'm back."

Soon, the door opened from the inside. The moment Gu Yanxi saw Cecilia, the smile on her face froze.

"What happened to you... Did you fall?"

In the living room, Yao Qian—who had been watching TV—sat up from the sofa as soon as she heard the voice. She looked up and immediately spotted the large patch of gauze on Cecilia's knee, the center already seeping with red.

"Mm, the street was too dark, I tripped and fell,"

Cecilia gave a faint smile, stepping through the door and looking at Yao Qian, acting obediently. "Auntie, I'm troubling you again."

Yao Qian was briefly stunned before coming to herself and hurrying off the sofa, saying warmly, "Not at all! You're welcome anytime. Is it serious? Do you want Auntie to take you to the hospital?"

"I already took care of it myself. It's just a little scratch, no need to trouble you."

Cecilia still wore her docile smile, seeming as gentle and harmless as the girl next door.

Since Cecilia insisted, Yao Qian didn't push, and could only go back to the sofa in resignation, watching as her daughter dragged Cecilia into her own room.

Bang!

The room door closed.

"How much girl talk can they possibly have... Geez..."

She complained quietly. For some reason, Yao Qian suddenly thought to herself that her daughter's sexual orientation seemed a little off recently.

......

As soon as they entered the room, Gu Yanxi pulled Cecilia to the bedside and squatted down to check the gauze on her knee.

A moment later, Gu Yanxi looked up, her face tinged with a hint of frost, and asked with displeasure, "Tell me—what happened?"

"I just tripped and fell,"

Cecilia stubbornly insisted.

"Don't use the same excuse you told my mom on me. Out with it!"

Gu Yanxi abruptly stood up, practically pressing her face against Cecilia's, her tone fierce.

Cecilia averted her eyes guiltily, trying to dodge Gu Yanxi's piercing gaze. She whispered, "Someone pushed me over—I fell and hit the ground."

"Hmph, I knew it."

Gu Yanxi snorted. Then, as if remembering something, she asked with genuine concern, "Was it just your leg? Did you get hurt anywhere else?"

Cecilia raised her right hand and pulled down the collar of her left shoulder, revealing fair skin and a delicate collarbone.

Under the bright bedroom light, it was clear that a large, dark bruise had appeared on her left shoulder. The edges were reddish, and the mark faintly fit the shape of a fist—forming a stark contrast with the surrounding milk-white skin.

"Damn—that's serious. I'll get the medicine for you, we should still have some Yunnan Baiyao spray at home."

Seeing the bruise, Gu Yanxi was both angry and distressed. Just as she was about to fetch the medicine, she suddenly remembered something more important and anxiously asked, "Did you get hurt anywhere else? Just these two spots?"

"No,"

Cecilia answered honestly this time.

"The people you fought—were they the ones posting flyers? How many? I bet they're worse off than you, right?"

Gu Yanxi asked.

When Cecilia returned, her expression seemed tired, but not defeated. She certainly didn't look like someone who had lost a fight.

"Mm, there were three. I stabbed one, broke one's finger, and the last one... I think I knocked out a front tooth."

She finished, but worried that Gu Yanxi would be concerned, Cecilia quickly added:

"It's fine, I've already come to an agreement with their boss. You probably won't see any missing person posters tomorrow. And they won't dare call the cops, don't worry."

Even after this reassurance, Gu Yanxi couldn't help but facepalm.

"Whatever, they deserved it. I'll go get the medicine."