Chapter 146: 145. To Kill For

"One hundred and twenty-nine million six hundred thousand people are cursing you… how is that possible?"

Looking at the red-haired director's stubborn little face, Hearing Li Ang actually half-believed her at first. Although the director liked to lie when she was sober, she was this drunk now—she wouldn't still be instinctively teasing him on purpose, would she?

However, Hearing Li Ang's trust lasted less than a second before he snuffed it out himself.

The Cleanup Bureau's building had a large footprint, but compared to nearly 130 million people, it still seemed far too small. Forget just the fifth or sixth floor of this building—even if you counted the entire Police Department's area, you couldn't fit that many people in.

No matter how he thought about it, it was just drunken nonsense, right?

"Don't be scared, don't be scared."

He hooked the red-haired director's arm over his own neck, bent his knee to prop up her bottom, and adjusted into a posture that was easier to carry her in. Then, holding her as he walked upstairs, he went along with her words and coaxed her:

"I'm really good at cursing people out. If those people curse you, I'll curse them back for you."

"Liar. You're so honest—how could you possibly know how to curse people?"

"I'm not lying to you."

"If you're not lying to me, then why won't you look me in the eye? Are you afraid I'll see through your lie?"

"…"

"Look at me, quick! I don't believe what comes out of your mouth. You like to lie—I only believe what your eyes say."

"…"

So in your eyes, am I honest or not honest, exactly?

Seeing that, without getting a reply from him, the red-haired director in his arms was starting to struggle again, Hearing Li Ang had no choice but to open his badge panel and switch out the Silver-grade "Elite Performer" badge. Then, looking down at her with a serious face, he said:

"I'm not lying to you. I really am good at cursing people out. If those hundred-plus million people upstairs curse you, I'll curse them back for you."

"Th… then you have to keep your word… if they curse me, you definitely have to curse them back for me!"

She stared into Li Ang's eyes for a long while. Finally, the red-haired director, her drunken eyes hazy, calmed down. Grabbing his lapel, she whispered her instructions:

"But don't curse them too harshly. I'm the one who started it. It's only right that they curse me… I just… I just… I've been cursed at for too long. Going up there alone is a little scary…"

"…"

Looking at the red-haired director curled up, on the verge of tears, Hearing Li Ang couldn't help but freeze for a moment. He vaguely felt that her words seemed to reveal some information—maybe it wasn't just drunken nonsense. Maybe there really was something up there…

There wouldn't be any danger, would there?

After standing on the second-floor landing of the stairwell for a while, holding the red-haired director, Hearing Li Ang asked hesitantly:

"Director, those people who curse you… do they normally come down?"

"No."

The red-haired director shook her head, leaning against Hearing Li Ang's chest, her eyes a little hazy, and said:

"They… they all stay on the fifth or sixth floor, guarding the top ten… twelve ant nests. Unless someone enters the fifth floor, they won't come down."

Twelve ant nests?

After noting down this cryptic name, and hearing that those 130 million "people" wouldn't come down, Hearing Li Ang finally relaxed his suspended heart a little. Holding the red-haired director, he cautiously stepped out of the stairwell and, moving at a pace that was almost one step at a time, entered the same reception room the Taurus Director had used last time.

After setting the red-haired director down on the reception room sofa, Hearing Li Ang rummaged through the messy room. Under a pile of empty bottles in the corner, he found a thick-looking cashmere blanket and draped it over her. Then he picked up a sofa cushion from the carpet, dusted it off, lifted the red-haired director's head, and tucked it underneath.

Phew… she's finally settled.

He looked at the director, who was obediently lying still on the sofa cushion, her eyes the only thing following him. Hearing Li Ang couldn't help but let out a long breath.

A regular drunk is already troublesome enough. A drunk who is suspected to have terrifying combat ability and is covered in secrets is doubly—

—doubly troublesome. But thankfully, everything went fairly smoothly. He had finally coaxed her up and settled her in, which counted as repaying a little of the favor.

"It's late. You should get some rest. I'm going downstairs to sleep too."

After saying goodnight to the red-haired director, whose eyes were growing hazier, Hearing Li Ang crouched down to tuck the blanket around her, then turned to leave.

However, he had only just reached the door when his vision blurred. His whole body instantly left the ground, yanked back to where it had been by some inexplicable, tremendous force.

"I knew you were lying to me~"

Reaching out to undo the button at Hearing Li Ang's collar, she used her pinky finger to hook out the hair tied around his neck. Then, cheeks flushed with the color of wine, the woman smiled smugly, gently tugged on the hair tied around Hearing Li Ang's neck to pull his face closer, and cunningly blinked her drunken, hazy fox eyes at him.

"You promised to help me curse people out, but the moment you got me into bed you wanted to run? Dream on!"

"…"

What a headache… If I'd known, I would have poured two more bottles into her first, gotten her completely knocked out, and only then brought her up…

He looked down at the red hair hooked around his neck by her. Knowing he probably couldn't break free, Hearing Li Ang could only helplessly continue coaxing her:

"It's not that I want to lie to you. It's mainly that it's too late now, and you're this drunk. I can't just sleep right next to you, can I?"

"Why not?"

Shrinking back into the wide sofa to make room for one person to lie on their side, the red-haired director directly pulled Hearing Li Ang down onto the sofa and said with a beaming smile:

"You're just sleeping next to me. Nothing's really going to happen. What are you so afraid of?"

"…"

"Come on, lie down properly!"

Ignoring Hearing Li Ang's resistance, she yanked him down and forcibly pressed him onto the sofa. Then the red-haired director wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, burrowed her head straight into Hearing Li Ang's chest, and said in a slightly muffled voice:

"Sleep, sleep. I'm so sleepy…"

"Uh… sleeping here is fine too, but there's another sofa over there. I could drag that one over…"

"No need. This sofa is wide enough."

"It is wide enough, but I toss and turn in my sleep. What if I fall off…"

"I'll hold you."

"…"

This is killing me…

Feeling the thigh that had suddenly draped itself over him, and the posture where it was already impossible to tell who was in whose arms, Hearing Li Ang's scalp couldn't help but tingle with numbness.

It wasn't that he was opposed to this kind of thing. It's just… the combat ability of the lady in his arms was really a bit too over the top.

As a normal man, when he had just been pulled down, Hearing Li Ang naturally couldn't help but have a few improper thoughts in his heart, but when the red-haired director started wrapping her arms around his waist, he clearly heard a faint *crack* of his lumbar vertebrae shifting out of place.

So the "fatal" here isn't "fatal" in another sense, but truly might cost him his old life.

The little fancy that had just popped up had, under this solid bear hug kill, already flown straight to the ninth heaven; the present Hearing Li Ang didn't have a single other thought, only wanting to quickly escape from the red-haired director's bear hug, afraid he'd really be strangled to death by her in her drunken state.

"Director, director! Holy shit, loosen up a bit!"

After pushing hard twice without budging her, and instead having his bones creak and crack under the squeeze, Hearing Li Ang fiercely gritted his teeth, just about to get serious, when he felt a dampness spread across his front, and the red-haired director in his arms began to tremble uncontrollably.