Chapter 71: Targeted Once Again

After spending more than three hours at Apollo Design Company, Ou Xiaolu had already finalized the entire design for the valley. After all, his requirements weren’t many—he simply wanted a unified overall style. The proposals from Apollo Design Company were quite reasonable, too. In fact, when Ou Xiaolu didn’t show up yesterday, they had made a special trip to the valley, thoroughly surveying the terrain. They had even drawn up a rough map. If Ou Xiaolu hadn’t come on such short notice today, they might already have begun building the model.

Even so, they still presented three entirely different design schemes. One was in the style of a Western villa, making full use of the surrounding trees. Another was an Eastern design, meant to appeal to Ou Xiaolu’s tastes. The third was what they called a “natural design,” attempting to integrate modern elements into the forested mountains.

In truth, this last scheme was what the designers most wished to showcase. In their eyes, hiding modern features within the mountains would truly demonstrate their value; otherwise, if all that was needed were a few rustic cabins, what need would there be for designers like them?

Ou Xiaolu wholeheartedly agreed with that view. He rapped his knuckles firmly on the map. “If you want to conceal things, you obviously can’t rely solely on the meadow in the valley. So, plant more trees.”

“But what about the budget…” Chief Designer Kakarot hesitated.

Ou Xiaolu shot him a glare. “You didn’t mention the budget when you were talking with A Luo earlier. Now you bring up the budget with me? If you’re not careful, I’ll lock you and A Luo in a room together.”

In the end, these designers had no choice but to yield to Ou Xiaolu’s financial power. They promised to work overtime again today and have the overall design model completed by tomorrow—at the latest, he would see all the models by tomorrow afternoon.

Ou Xiaolu was quite satisfied with the progress. He agreed to return the next afternoon to review the results and then prepared to leave with A Luo.

As soon as he opened the company’s main doors, Ou Xiaolu saw the security guard from earlier standing as if facing a great enemy—bent over, gripping his baton, clearly ready to rush in at any moment.

When the guard saw Ou Xiaolu coming out with A Luo, he finally relaxed and let out a sigh of relief.

Ou Xiaolu had a soft spot for such diligent people. He approached and greeted the guard.

The guard nodded back and carefully asked, “That tiger of yours really doesn’t bite?”

“It doesn’t,” Ou Xiaolu replied. “I honestly didn’t expect you to be so conscientious. There really aren’t many people as responsible as you these days.”

The guard shook his head. “It’s not about being conscientious—I just can’t afford any more mistakes. Last time, someone brought in a big dog. I asked if it would bite, and he said no. But it ended up biting several people on the seventeenth floor. Nothing happened to the owner, but we all got docked pay.”

Ou Xiaolu was momentarily speechless and could only say, “You’ve really got it tough.”

“But this is a tiger. Next time you bring it out, please be careful—at least prove it doesn’t bite.” Seeing that Ou Xiaolu wasn’t offended, the guard added a friendly reminder.

“How can I prove that? I think it’s best to just keep doing things this way. Once people get used to it, they’ll know my tiger doesn’t bite.”

The two chatted as they descended the building. Just as when they’d gone up, the moment A Luo appeared, the elevator cleared out—no one else dared enter, even when the elevator arrived. Only Ou Xiaolu, A Luo, and the ever-vigilant security guard rode down together.

There was nothing Ou Xiaolu could do about that. Luckily, once A Luo got into the car, people outside relaxed. The guard even saw them off to the car, completing his duty.

Ou Xiaolu’s car circled around the building where Apollo Design Company was located and then headed for the outskirts. He wanted to take A Luo to the valley for another look. Last time, he’d only searched the deep pool and hadn’t checked if there were other hidden gems in the mountains.

He hadn’t driven far when another car passed by, and inside it were the two who had escaped from the Shixi campus in the middle of the night yesterday.

They were driving around looking for members of the Holy Blood Council. After all, the Holy Blood Council was not an official supernatural organization; the so-called Speaker, Upper Councilors, and Lower Councilors all had ordinary jobs in real life.

To find what they were after, they would have to spend quite some time searching the city.

The car had barely gone a few paces when it stopped. The boss in the back seat asked, “Why did we stop? Did we forget something?”

“Boss, I think I just saw the tiger that Tiger’s been following,” said the driver at once.

“You mean the one we saw at dinner yesterday?” The boss thought for a moment before realizing.

“Yes, the same one. If he hadn’t brought the tiger out, Tiger wouldn’t have gone out alone, and the Holy Blood Council wouldn’t have targeted him. Boss, we haven’t found anything today—why don’t we deal with that guy and let off some steam?”

“What kind of nonsense is that?” the boss snapped. “We can’t stay in this city for too long, don’t you know? If we start trouble, the Holy Blood Council will find any excuse to show up and drive us out.”

“See? I told you—speak of the devil, there they are,” the boss said, nodding toward the window, where someone was now knocking.

The driver quickly rolled down the window. Outside stood an ordinary police officer. “No parking here. Move along.”

The driver instantly drove off, muttering, “Boss, you saw right through that cop’s disguise.”

The boss’s face was stinging from the slap of embarrassment, but he maintained his stern demeanor and nodded. “Exactly. This city is the Holy Blood Council’s base. Of course they’re watching us. Still, it’s reasonable for us to target that guy. My compass can reveal our enemies, but it requires blood with masculine energy. Tiger’s blood would have been perfect, but now that he’s gone, the tiger’s blood is the key.”

“So, let’s tail them. If they stay in the city, we’ll leave them be. But if they leave town, well, I’m sorry, but for the sake of my treasure, I can’t show mercy.”

“No problem, boss. Hold on tight.”