After realizing that she had no options left, Xu Qian was no longer as scared as she was in the beginning. Such was the nature of human beings. When there was only one option left, they would stop thinking too much about it. However, Xu Qian still didn’t sleep well that night. Her eyes looked a little red and swollen the next morning. It was obvious that she had been crying in her room all night long.
However, after she put on some makeup, she looked normal again. Xu Qian ordered two takeaway breakfasts as usual, and they were delivered by drone. However, she only took two bites, and she put down her chopsticks. She then looked at Zhang Heng sitting opposite her. She looked like wanted to ask him what he planned to do next.
“Yesterday, I contacted E-Goat with the help of a fan from the group. We will be meeting E-Goat at two in the afternoon. After breakfast, I’ll do a background check on him. After that, we will go over and meet him together,” Zhang Heng said. Wiping his mouth after finishing his food, he said, “If we want to keep this secret from my company, we will have to behave like we always have. As I said, I will continue investigating the stalker for you. It’s crucial that we do this together. Once this is done, no one will suspect you after you report my anomaly nine days later.”
Xu Qian didn’t believe that Zhang Heng could escape the authorities, but she was impressed by his composure, especially after he realized he was a clone. There was almost no emotional fluctuation on him. If an ordinary person encountered such an incident, there was a high chance the person would experience a complete mental breakdown. Coupled with the existence of the memory encoder, the person would start to doubt their own memories or even deny their existence.
Zhang Heng, however, didn’t encounter any of these problems. Being a clone was his identity in this dungeon, and he had no idea who the relatives and friends in his contract list were too.
He didn’t need to take public transport this time when he went out, driving the sports car Xu Qian’s boyfriend gave her instead. And he did not return to Xu Qian’s apartment until 1 pm to pick her up.
After that, the two headed to the apartment where E-Goat lived. Like Xu Qian, E-Goat also lived on the third level and worked as a network engineer. However, the area he lived in wasn’t nearly as luxurious as Xu Qian’s area, not to mention it was a little further away from the city center.
The fans in the group had contacted E-Goat in advance as per Zhang Heng’s request. He chose to meet him at a small restaurant below his house. This was also the place E-Goat had his meals after he got off work. The familiar environment should help him be a little less vigilant.
E-Goat headed down ten minutes early and walked into the small restaurant.
According to the information that Zhang Heng collected, E-Goat was 29 years old this year. Formerly known as Li Chong, he had been living on the third level for five years. In the beginning, he had a roommate who was supposed to be his classmate. After the latter got himself a girlfriend, he moved out to live with her. Since then, E-Goat had been living alone.
During this period, he hadn’t made any friends of the opposite sex. Although his appearance and income were decent, and some of the young girls in his company had shown interest in him, E-Goat had always treated them coldly. Soon, all the ladies in his company began to realize that E-Goat was a weird person. After that, no one bothered him. Thus, E-Goat continued to live his peaceful life alone.
There were even rumors saying that E-Goat was a person with no emotions. However, Zhang Heng knew that people who rarely expressed themselves had the tendency to acquire an unhealthy obsession over something or someone they loved.
E-Goat had been paying attention to Xu Qian since the first day she started livestreaming. He witnessed Xu Qian grow from an unpopular streamer to one with a considerable fan base. And E-Goat had never missed Xu Qian’s stream before. Hence, it was logical if anyone thought that he was madly in love with her.
The more Zhang Heng investigated, the more suspicious E-Goat became to him.
He and Xu Qian were in the car now, monitoring E-Goat in the restaurant through the miniature camera hidden in the flowerpot. The latter had just found a seat at a corner, and the waiter apparently knew him and was excited to serve him. He said hello, but E-Goat responded coldly. He glared at the waiter before turning his attention somewhere else.
While Zhang Heng kept his eye on E-Goat, he also paid attention to other customers in the small restaurant. He appeared to be eliminating all potential threats. Then, suddenly, E-Goat turned around and landed his attention on Xu Qian’s sports car.
Although the glass surrounding the car had been specially treated, and no one was supposed to be able to look inside, Xu Qian could not help but feel anxious. “He doesn’t know, right?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Know that we are here to ambush him.”
“If he knows, he would’ve never headed to the restaurant.”
Having said that, Zhang Heng did not wait any longer. His preliminary investigations proved E-Goat had the motives to stalk Xu Qian. And from the follow-up observations, E-Goat’s figure also matched the stalker he met in the mall a few days ago. Hence, Zhang Heng had to do something about it. He sent another message to the fan who helped him, asking the latter to tell E-Goat to order some food first.
The fan helping Zhang Heng didn’t suspect anything and immediately sent E-Goat an email. He happened to cooperate so well with Zhang Heng because he told him that Xu Qian was very grateful to E-Goat, her number one fan who had stayed with her all these years. Apparently, she wanted to express her gratitude by giving E-Goat a surprise.
The situation caused that fan to be immensely jealous.
When E-Goat received the email and started to order his food, Zhang Heng and Xu Qian had already got out of the car and were walking towards the small restaurant. Compared with Zhang Heng’s calmness, Xu Qian was deep in thought. She even thought about who she should call for help if E-Goat beat Zhang Heng in a fight or if the two were evenly matched.
But it turned out that she overthought the whole thing.
E-Goat was just a network engineer, after all, not a professionally trained combatant. Although he was vigilant, he was no match for Zhang Heng. Before he raised his head, Zhang Heng had already sat beside him with a small knife pointed at his waist.
When E-Goat realized what was happening, he raised his head. Seeing Xu Qian on the opposite side, his expression changed drastically. His reflex told him that he should get up and flee. However, Zhang Heng placed his hand on his shoulder, realizing that his body could not move. He then heard Zhang Heng’s voice,
“Hi, E-Goat. I think we need to introduce ourselves properly.”
