"Um..." Li Mengxiao listened, feeling utterly bewildered. "Do you want me to accompany you?"
"You rest." Xia Qingtian pinched Li Mengxiao's cheek, changed her clothes and shoes, and went out for exercise.
She went down the stairs, passed through the hall, and out the door, jogging in the courtyard.
It had to be said, the air here was really good, and jogging was very comfortable, especially under the courtyard lights, it felt quite atmospheric.
Suddenly, from the greenery not far away, an anxious voice came, as if someone was deliberately lowering their voice while making a phone call: "Don't order me around! I know what I'm doing!"
The other party spoke in a Basque dialect from Spain, at a rapid pace.
Xia Qingtian could only understand the general meaning.
"I don't care, tomorrow is her death day! I've waited for this day for a long time! Moreover, I have help."
"!" Hearing this, Xia Qingtian's eyes widened, and she couldn't help but gasp.
"Who's there!" After the greenery rustled, a figure rushed out.
Xia Qingtian took half a step back before seeing someone dressed as a maid emerge. She had standard European features and looked around twenty years old. Her eyes were full of defensiveness as she looked at Xia Qingtian, her hand hidden behind her back, clearly holding something she didn't want Xia Qingtian to see.
Xia Qingtian didn't think she would be holding a bouquet of vibrant flowers in the hand behind her back.
"Hello," Xia Qingtian said, seemingly clumsily and abruptly in French, "Excuse me, I didn't know you were on a date with your boyfriend."
Hearing Xia Qingtian's words, the maid instinctively glanced back at the greenery where she had been hiding, then looked at Xia Qingtian suspiciously.
"Guest, what are you doing here at this hour?" the maid asked in French as well.
"Madame Camille was too hospitable at dinner, and I accidentally ate a little too much. I wanted to get some exercise," Xia Qingtian shrugged, trying to keep her tone as calm as possible.
"The roads are slippery at night, and the diurnal temperature difference in December is also very large. If possible, it's better not to exercise at night in December," the maid said. "Let me escort you back."
"No need, I'll exercise a bit more before going back," Xia Qingtian replied.
"For the guest's safety, please let me escort you back," the maid's tone was exceptionally serious.
Xia Qingtian could only give a dry laugh, "Then I'll trouble you."
After saying this, Xia Qingtian turned around. After taking just two steps, she saw from a nearby reflection that the maid seemed to have pulled something out from behind her.
"Oh, right," Xia Qingtian's heart chilled. She stopped and turned back, smiling, "Tell your boyfriend to leave quickly. As you said, the temperature difference is large at night, and the roads are slippery."
Seeing Xia Qingtian turn back, the maid quickly put her hand behind her back and nodded, "After we leave, he will leave."
"That's good then." Xia Qingtian turned around and continued walking forward.
Seeing that Xia Qingtian seemed to genuinely believe she was just on a date, the maid surmised that Xia Qingtian didn't understand Spanish and hadn't understood what she said on the phone earlier.
For a moment, the maid's expression showed some struggle.
But then she thought, tomorrow was the opportunity she had painstakingly waited for for years.
She couldn't let anyone or anything hinder her plan, become her obstacle.
Camille... must die!
With this thought, a murderous intent reappeared in the maid's eyes. As long as she was fast enough, she could deal with this guest and then quickly have her accomplice meet her.
As long as the body was hidden, she could wait until the banquet was over.
I'm sorry.
The maid slowly withdrew her hand from behind her back.
To blame, blame Camille!
Just as the maid was about to make her next move, a figure suddenly descended from the sky, passed through the treetops, and smashed heavily into the cluster of bushes.
The maid was startled and quickly put her hand behind her back again.
Xia Qingtian was also startled by the sound and walked closer, "Are you alright... are... you alive?"
What was going on at this Camille estate?
How long had she been here!
First, a maid hiding in a corner shouting threats, and then following her with an unknown weapon hidden behind her back.
And then someone fell from the sky, seemingly a suicide jump, their fate unknown.
Could this night get any more exciting?
"Still... alive..." The other party coughed muffledly and said, "Give me a hand."
Xia Qingtian quickly reached out and pulled the person up. At the same time, she deliberately walked to the other side of the person, using them to shield herself from the maid.
"Thank you... you!" The person turned to look at Xia Qingtian, then looked at her with surprise, "It's you!"
"You are?" Xia Qingtian sized them up for a moment before recognizing the French man who had returned Li Mengxiao's passport at the hotel earlier that day.
"Yes, yes, it's me!" Jean Lingol nodded vigorously, repeating his name, "Thank heavens, I never believed in fate before, but you! You've made me start to believe in fate! I didn't expect us to meet here!"
"I also didn't expect to reunite with you in this manner." Xia Qingtian looked up and saw a window open, from which a makeshift rope made of tied bedsheets and towels was hanging down.
"An accident, this is an accident." Jean Lingol was about to explain further when an angry female voice came.
"Jean Lingol!"
Hearing this female voice, Jean Lingol shivered immediately, then put on a nonchalant smile, "Oh~ my Aunt Camille, what a coincidence, you're out for a walk too!"
"Your way of walking is to go out the window, isn't it?" Madame Camille, accompanied by a group of people, asked sternly, "When will you ever mature!"
"My dear Aunt Camille, don't be angry, it will cause wrinkles." Jean Lingol immediately approached Madame Camille with a grin and said, "It's not worth it for someone like me."
"Wrinkles? You are truly humble! I will shorten my lifespan from anger because of you sooner or later!" Madame Camille glared at Jean Lingol and said coldly, "Norman, send him back to his room. Make sure he's watched thoroughly this time. If he dares to escape again, report him to the police as a missing item from the estate, let him be wanted all over France, and see where else he can run!"
"No! This can't happen! Aunt Camille, I am your nephew, you can't treat me like this! Aunt Camille!" Jean Lingol shouted loudly as he was dragged further away.
Sighing heavily, Madame Camille then looked at Xia Qingtian apologetically, "I'm sorry, I must have frightened you."
"It's alright," Xia Qingtian smiled faintly and shook her head. When she looked back again, the suspicious maid had already disappeared at some point.