“Officer, I’m innocent. Look at what I’m selling here. Does any of this look like talismans?” Su Yue understood what had happened at once. An idea flashed through her mind, and she pointed at the pieces of cardboard on her stall.

“Hm?” The lead officer glanced at the cardboard in surprise. It really did have some scribbles on it, but calling this stuff talismans... that was a little too fantastical.

“These really aren’t talismans, but I still have to ask. What exactly are you selling?” the officer asked dutifully.

“These are cardboard paintings,” Su Yue said, already having prepared her excuse. “I paint on discarded cardboard. It promotes recycling, energy saving, and environmental protection. Nature! The mother of mankind. Protecting nature is everyone’s responsibility.”

“I see. Then it’s fine,” the officer said awkwardly. Some lines sounded fine in an essay, but saying them out loud was just weird. This Little Vampire was probably an idiot.

“Whew, that was close. Good thing today’s talismans were just casually made on cardboard. I barely dodged that one,” Su Yue thought in relief.

“But we can’t just let this go, officer! Wouldn’t that mean our child got hurt for nothing?” That annoying auntie jumped out again.

“Exactly, officer. You can’t just take our tax money and do nothing. If it wasn’t this foreign species misleading her, are you saying our good child would’ve gone bad on their own? If you ask me, this foreign species is probably a spy, here on purpose to stir up trouble among us humans.”

Annoying Auntie Number Two, your words are getting dangerously wild!

“Yeah, exactly. Look at her, a foreign species hanging around here. Where’s her owner? Call her owner out and let them explain themselves! Don’t tell me she’s some stray with no owner,” Auntie Number One kept firing away.

“That’s right! If she really doesn’t have an owner, then she’s a dangerous element that could hurt people! Don’t you police have those alarm devices? Take one out and check her!” Auntie Number Two chimed in.

“???” Several question marks practically popped over Su Yue’s head. How had things turned against her after just a few sentences?

“Ma’am, the chance of encountering a wild foreign species in the city is almost zero. I don’t think there’s any need—”

“If we tell you to check, then check! Otherwise, are our taxes paying for you to eat for free?” Auntie Number Two jabbed a finger at the officer’s nose and screamed hysterically.

“Fine.” The officer didn’t want to waste time arguing with unreasonable people. One wrong move and he might end up with a complaint. Besides, a quick scan wasn’t troublesome. Portable alarms were standard equipment anyway. He reached into his bag, took out a flashlight-like device, and said to Su Yue with clear apology, “Miss, please cooperate.”

“I’m done for.” Su Yue wanted to turn and run, but she knew it was already too late.

The officer pressed the button on the device. A beam of light swept over Su Yue, and then the alarm started beeping.

The scene instantly fell into dead silence.

The Little Vampire had been prepared for this!

“I’ve got something to do, I won’t bother you, I’m leaving first!” Seizing the chance, Su Yue turned and bolted.

“Catch her!” The officer snapped back to his senses and shouted as he rushed to arrest her.

Su Yue skipped onto the road just as a large truck roared past. She grabbed the horizontal bar at the back and leaped up in one motion.

“Hahaha, didn’t expect that, did you? This is my escape route!”

The lead officer looked at Su Yue hanging off the truck with a smug expression. He went silent, dropped to one knee, drew his gun, aimed, and fired.

“What kind of Beautiful-Country police is this?!” Su Yue cried out. She had no time to react before the stun round hit her body. Her whole body went numb, and she fell off the truck.

Four or five officers closed in around Su Yue in a dark ring.

“What do we do, Captain? Call the Paranormal Bureau?” a young officer asked.

“Mm. If she’s a wild foreign species...”

“Wait!” Surrounded by them, Su Yue was still tingling all over and couldn’t stand up. She struggled to raise one hand and cut him off.

“I do have an owner! I just forgot to wear my collar when I went out!”

The Paranormal Bureau was absolutely the last place Su Yue wanted to go.

“What’s your owner’s name?” the lead officer asked.

“Chen Yan, twenty-four years old, virgin, lives at 6507 Fandou Garden, phone number 158xxxx0784, single and unmarried, graduated from Qinghua Martial Academy, born in Pingcheng District of Linhai City, both parents alive, and he has a younger sister!” Su Yue blurted out everything Chen Yan had said before in one breath. She felt like her memory had never been this good in her life.

“Captain, is what she said real?” the young officer asked.

“This...” Even the captain couldn’t decide. There really had been cases before of careless foreign species going out without collars, and the information she gave didn’t sound like something she’d just made up on the spot.

Besides, if a wild foreign species had really snuck in from outside, only to set up a roadside stall selling cardboard paintings, that sounded weird too.

“Hey, how about we bring her back to the station first? Let her owner come pick her up. If nobody comes, then we send her to the Paranormal Bureau,” another officer suggested.

“That works. We’ll do that. Hey, you’ll have to come back to the station with us first. Hope you cooperate,” the captain said with a nod, finding it a good compromise.

“My legs are numb.” Su Yue didn’t want to go.

“You, and you. Carry her back.”

“No, no, I can walk by myself!”

...

South City Enforcement, interrogation room.

Su Yue was seated in an interrogation chair made of special material. Both her hands and feet were locked in place. This material could effectively suppress abilities, and it was specially used for dealing with foreign species and ability-user criminals.

Two officers sat across from her. One was the captain, and the other was the young officer. The captain nodded, signaling that the young officer could begin.

“Name!” the young officer shouted absurdly loud.

“Su Yue.”

“Sex!”

“Y-you, can’t you see that yourself?”

“Hm?”

“Female...” Su Yue said in humiliation, her face burning.

“You’re Bloodkin, right?”

“You can clearly tell my race yourself too!”

“Silence! Are you interrogating, or am I? Keep talking back and I’ll call the Paranormal Bureau over.”

“You are, you are...” Su Yue had no way to complain.

“What’s your owner’s name?”

“Ch-Chen Yan.” Su Yue’s sense of shame kept getting stabbed over and over. She lowered her head, face red to the ears.

“What’s your owner’s phone number?”

“158xxxx0784.”

“Alright, I’ll go make the call and have him come over. You just wait here.” The young officer started packing up his things, and the captain also stood up with his teacup.

“?”

Was that interrogation for absolutely nothing?

“Um, could you maybe not call him over?” Su Yue asked softly.

“If we don’t call your owner, how are we supposed to know whether you’re telling the truth?” the captain said sternly, teacup in hand. “Or would you rather be transferred to the Paranormal Bureau?”

“Fine...” Su Yue lowered her head and completely gave up.

...

Beep, beep.

In the spacious meeting room, Chen Yan was reading a document when his phone suddenly rang.

He took out his phone. It was a short number, probably a call from some official department.

He answered and held it to his ear.

“Hello, is this Mr. Chen Yan? This is South City Enforcement. Is that Su Yue yours? She says you’re her owner. If you’re free, come over and pick her up as soon as possible,” a young man’s voice said from the other end.

“Su Yue? Yes, she’s mine. Sorry for the trouble. I’ll be right there.” A slight curve rose at the corner of Chen Yan’s lips.