Nora Scott picked up the bamboo flute, twirled it in her hand twice, and then raised an eyebrow at Pedro Langley, "Why did you bring the bamboo flute along?"
"Intuition."
"Huh?"
Pedro Langley genuinely said, "Whenever I go out with you, sothing always happens. I happened to see it on the sofa when I was leaving, so I picked it up."
"..."
Nora Scott’s mouth twitched slightly as she glanced at him, deciding not to argue with him.
*
The city hadn’t seen snow, but the wind was fierce, the air dry, and the gusts felt like knives against the skin.
Having acted several tis with Nora Scott, Pedro Langley had mastered the art of stealth. Silently, he followed behind Annabelle Pinto with Nora Scott, infiltrating Stone Village.
The village housed vicious dogs, occasionally barking, provoking a few angry shouts from villagers in their sleep.
Annabelle Pinto’s destination was a small house, a single-level structure with two rooms, with two dogs tied outside, currently resting with eyes closed.
Nora Scott and Pedro Langley exchanged a glance.
—With vicious dogs around, sneaking in from the rear is the best option.
However, Annabelle Pinto didn’t dodge.
It was evident she had trained in Qinggong; her footsteps were exceptionally light, landing silently without making any noise.
As she approached the door, she raised her hand, revealing an unsheathed dagger.
"Woof—"
It wasn’t until she reached the front that a dog sensed the danger, intending to bark cautiously, but before it could utter a sound, its neck was slashed, blood spilling on the spot.
The other dog t the sa fate.
Watching everything from the shadows, Nora Scott slightly furrowed her brows, as her voice comnted coolly, "She strikes quite ruthlessly."
She spoke nonchalantly.
Not being a dog lover herself and glimpsing Annabelle Pinto’s ruthless approach, Nora Scott had gauged Annabelle’s skills and experience. —Killing the dogs was Annabelle Pinto’s quickest thod.
"Might the people living inside be in danger?" Pedro Langley frowned.
Nora Scott pondered and said, "Let’s check."
Based on the info she received, if Annabelle Pinto couldn’t stealthily obtain the blueprint, even if she caught the owner’s slight attention, she wouldn’t leave him alive.
Now, she just hoped the owner was sleeping soundly, not easily awakened by any noise.
As they approached the flat-roofed house, they could hear sounds of rummaging around, crashes resounding, lacking any sense of ’stealth’, resembling blatant robbery.
The occupant was likely a bachelor. There were just two rooms: one bedroom and another combining a living room and kitchen. Windows were tightly shut, covered in dust and gri, with clouds blocking the moonlight, offering no illumination—peering inside, only darkness could be seen.
Nora Scott and Pedro Langley both sensed an ominous feeling.
Nora Scott walked ahead of Pedro Langley, gripping the bamboo flute tightly, then set her expression, silently arriving at the closed door.
"Creak—"
The door opened.
In an instant, Annabelle Pinto sensed sothing was amiss, instinctively wanting to retreat inside. However, Nora Scott moved a step sooner than her, without moving the bamboo flute, she struck Annabelle’s nape with a hand chop. Annabelle hurriedly turned her head, but before she could see Nora Scott’s face clearly, her vision went dark, and she fainted.
Nora Scott instinctively supported Annabelle montarily but then felt it was wrong. She snatched the blueprint from Annabelle’s hand, and tossed her towards the door, where she lay alongside the dogs that had t their end.
Then she injected her with a poison needle.
As Nora Scott perford this sequence, Pedro Langley had already entered first.
By the ti she threw Annabelle Pinto and entered, Pedro Langley had just co out of the bedroom, his gaze deep as he quietly said two words to Nora Scott, "It’s cold."
"Oh..." Nora Scott frowned and nodded, then she reacted, astonished and asked, "Cold?"
Even if Annabelle had gone for the kill, it had only been two or three minutes total... how could it be "cold?"
Pedro Langley nodded, stepped aside, tilting his head to look towards the bedroom, "Frozen to death."
The owner living here was truly impoverished.
The living room contained almost nothing except a table, a stool, and just two broken bowls. The kitchen had hardly any remaining rice.
The bedroom contained only a bed.
Besides, there was a pile of dry firewood and an abandoned iron pot. The pot was filled with ash from the wood but devoid of heat, suggesting it hadn’t been used to light a fire in ages.
An old man lay on the bed, eyes closed, lifeless, a tattered quilt covering him, along with so filthy clothes piled on the bedding.
Nora Scott pursed her lips and, in the dim light, gazed at the elderly stranger, comnting softly, "He must have been ill, unattended, combined with the cold, and just left like that."
No matter how calm she appeared, her voice carried a slight wavering. Pedro Langley grasped her hand, gently squeezing it.
Nora Scott looked at him.
"I just think..." Nora Scott exhaled, "If he was soone Easton trusted with the blueprint, he must have had an extraordinary past."
"..."
Pedro Langley lowered his gaze, remaining silent.
A desolate individual, whose late years were so miserable and passing so painfully, was worthy of lantation.
And—
If once he had a brilliant, carefree life, it was even more tragically poignant.
*
Nora Scott thought that if she could et him, maybe they could talk... talk about the blueprint, talk about Easton.
Unexpectedly, she t him, but he was already gone.
Nora called the mbers of Biel Hall who were following her, instructing them to contact the village’s director tomorrow to notify them of the elder’s passing. At the sa ti, she asked them to investigate the elder’s life and compile the information to send to her.
As for Annabelle Pinto, Nora ignored her, leaving her with the two dogs, to wake up and leave on her own once the drugs wore off.
——The night temperature wasn’t too low. Annabelle was dressed warmly, and since the drug’s effect ti wasn’t long, Annabelle wouldn’t die from hypothermia when she woke up.
Nora didn’t let the Biel Hall people make any moves, not even arranging the elder’s funeral herself, leaving it to the village’s director. She wanted to separate the stolen blueprint from Biel Hall — hoping that Annabelle would suspect Robert Durant or Alexander Vaughn.
*
After finishing up, Nora and Pedro Langley returned to the hotel late into the night.
Since the hotel was watched by Biel Hall mbers, and given the late hour, Nora and Pedro only wanted to go back to organize the blueprints. Thus, they relaxed and didn’t enter the hotel separately as usual.
As a result——
Just as they reached the elevator doors, the elevator dinged and opened.
Luna Durant stepped out from inside.
Upon seeing them, Luna was dumbfounded.
Luna’s eyes widened, her lips moved, and only after a while did she speak haltingly, "You, you guys..."
"Doesn’t Miss Durant know?" Having been caught, Nora remained calm, slightly furrowing her eyebrows and asked composedly, "Pedro Langley, my husband."
"..."
To Luna, this realization was like being struck by lightning.
"Even though I don’t trust Miss Durant’s character," Nora paused and continued, "it’s best to stay away from a married man, lest you find yourself with broken legs, unbeknownst to anyone."
"You damn—"
Luna opened her mouth to curse.
But the next mont, feeling Pedro’s cold gaze sweep over her, Luna closed her mouth reflexively.
Pedro ignored Luna completely but took Nora’s hand and said, "Let’s go." He pulled her into the elevator.
As they passed Luna, Nora deliberately glanced at her and smiled slightly.
These small gestures were extrely infuriating.
The elevator doors closed.
The two vanished side by side in the elevator, leaving Luna feeling as though she’d imagined the entire encounter.
!!!
How can it be!
Luna raised her hand to her collar, breathing heavily, gasping.
Nora Scott and Pedro Langley...
She had never thought their scandal would be true!
Back then, she, Rosa Sullivan, and Nora were all filming at the sa school, yet she suspected Rosa, never thinking it would be Nora!
Nora was a master of misdirection!
That bitch!
Luna gritted her teeth angrily, her eyes filled with murderous rage.
...
In the elevator, Nora thought of Luna’s reaction, believing Luna still harbored feelings for Pedro.
Nora asked, "Has she been bothering you lately?"
Pedro thought for a mont and replied seriously, "Perhaps she wants to, but she hasn’t had the opportunity."
"...cocky idiot."
What’s there to brag about being fancied by a woman like that?
No other abilities, but an expert at attracting unwanted attention.
"Don’t you wonder what she wants to do, going out so late?" As the elevator doors opened, Pedro asked suddenly as he stepped out.
Nora paused.
Pedro turned to look at her.
The next mont, Nora took out her phone and made another call.
Within five minutes, a ssage returned.
——Luna Durant went out for a midnight snack.
"Doesn’t she have an assistant?" Nora laughed lightly, handing the phone to Pedro, "When has she ever done such things herself?"
Pedro took the phone, scrolling through the information and so photos.
Finally, his gaze fixed, zooming in on a certain spot, "She has a USB flash drive in her hand."
"Hm?"
Nora leaned in and squinted her eyes.
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