Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

To concentrate his attention, Yang Ce deliberately closed his eyes and began trying hard to think about what would happen in a little while. But after thinking for a long time, all that came to him were things that had already happened today; no sign of any precognition appeared.

Yang Ce felt a stab of frustration. Did this ability have some trigger condition too? His brows knitted tight—the sensation was unbearable.

Better to have nothing at all than this. Having the ability but not knowing how to use it left him staring helplessly, itching with curiosity yet powerless. Ignorance would have been kinder.

What exactly triggered this power? Yang Ce pondered until his head ached, but found no answer. When the ability had surfaced before, there had been no warning whatsoever, and Yang Duoji had certainly never made a deliberate effort to use it.

Foreseeing the future was absurd enough on its own; Yang Yongjin was hardly the sort to sit around idly trying to predict what was to come. He was no prophet and no fortune-teller—he had never cultivated the habit or the hobby.

The only explanation was that the ability had activated itself. Could it be... a passive ability? At that thought, Yang Ce's eyes lit up. It was hardly impossible.

Yang Ce had once played an online game in which character skills were divided into active and passive types. Active skills were those a character could unleash at will, anytime and anywhere. Passive skills, by contrast, took effect only under certain specific conditions—skills that triggered themselves without the character needing to do a thing.

For example, "revive on the spot," or "snatch life from the jaws of death" just before dying—that sort of thing. From the jaws of death...

Yang Ce gave a start, as though something had just struck him. Both times his precognitive ability had manifested, his life had been under threat.

The first time was when the brakes of the BMW had been tampered with. He had been about to get in; without the advance warning, he would have been waiting for a wrecked car and a dead man. In his vision from that time, the BMW had collided with a large truck, and he would certainly have died.

The second time was now. But this time was somewhat different—it had come when Lin Yanhe was in danger. Could it be that this precognitive ability worked for those close to him as well?

It was certainly plausible enough. Abilities of this sort were fantastical to begin with—what could not happen? At this thought, Yang Juehuan's heart felt considerably lighter.

For this was the most practical of all explanations. Perhaps this ability was not precognition at all, but premonition—taking effect only when he himself or those close to him were in danger.

As Yang Ce was pondering, he suddenly caught a faint sound outside the window. It was not loud, easily mistaken for the wind, but Yang Juehuan's hearing was keen—at once he recognized it as not wind, but voices.

Without betraying a thing, Yang Yongjin used his ability to look outside the window. A petite, graceful figure in black skintight clothing had lightly vaulted into the courtyard of his villa and was swiftly climbing the rainwater downpipe on the outer wall toward the second floor.

Yang Ce smiled faintly. What a familiar figure—if it wasn't that little wench Wang Yanqiu, who else? Sneaking an attack on him in the dead of night? Yang Xunai gave a wry laugh, but feigned ignorance and stayed in bed.

Sure enough, once Wang Yanqiu had climbed to the second floor, she began peering into each room in turn. Yang Ce was staying tonight in a side room; after checking only a couple, Wang Yanqiu reached the room where he lay and pressed herself against the glass to look inside.

Clearly Wang Yanqiu was wearing a pair of infrared night-vision goggles, and since Yang Ce had not drawn the curtains, she could easily see into the room.

Yang Ce pretended to be sound asleep, still lying in bed, eyes shut, breathing even. After observing for some time, Wang Yanqiu curled a faint smile at the corner of her mouth, then drew a window-picking tool from her pocket, slowly extended it toward Yang Juehuan's window, and carefully opened it.

Yang Ce had moved in hastily and had not fitted the villa with comprehensive security. Still, apart from someone with Wang Yanqiu's specialized tools, an ordinary burglar would have a hard time prying open these plastic-steel windows—unless he smashed them outright, which was obviously out of the question.

The sound of shattering glass would be loud enough to wake everyone in the villa, so prying the door open was the easier option.

Wang Yanqiu opened the window, nimbly leapt in from outside, and quickly closed it behind her. Her tool was special, capable of opening the window without damage, leaving no trace on the window itself, so once it was shut, everything looked exactly as before.

After closing the window, Wang Yanqiu tiptoed to Yang Juehuan's bedside and slowly reached out a hand—but halfway there, she withdrew it. Watching Yang Ce sleep, she found it rather amusing. She had meant to shake him awake, but now she decided to give him a fright instead.

Wang Yanqiu thought it over, then reached toward Yang Juehuan's throat. Of course, she had no intention of strangling Yang Ce—she only wanted to scare Yang Puqi a little. As a killer, how could one lack even the most basic alertness? If he went out on a mission like this, wouldn't he be at anyone's mercy?

But before Wang Yanqiu's hands could touch Yang Juehuan's body, his eyes flew open: "Are you trying to murder your own husband?"

"Ah!" Wang Yanqiu was badly startled by the sudden turn. She had been imagining Yang Puqi's horrified expression just moments from now—she never expected to be the one frightened out of her wits.

"You—how did you wake up?" Wang Yanqiu's hands were still frozen in midair; she had forgotten to withdraw them, and she stared blankly at Yang Ce. "You... how did you know it was me?"

Wang Yanqiu wore a black mask that left only her eyes exposed, which was why she asked.

"I know your body too well. One look at your backside and I know who you are." Yang Ce chuckled. "What's this? The night is long and sleep won't come—couldn't bear the loneliness, so you came to me to cultivate some rapport?"

"Drop dead!" Wang Yanqiu was furious. She had meant to frighten Yang Puqi, and instead had been scared half to death herself.

"How did you know I was here?" Yang Yanchuan asked.

"I saw your car come back and park in the villa courtyard," Wang Yanqiu said.

Only then did Yang Cenbin remember: when he had brought Lin Yanhe inside earlier, he had been in such a hurry that he had simply left the car in the courtyard. The little Wang girl had sharp eyes—it had taken her no time at all to spot it.

"So you were in such a hurry to find me?" Yang Ce grinned, and with one sweep of his arm pulled Wang Yanqiu into his embrace.

Wang Yanqiu struggled once, and finding she could not break free, let Yang Ce hold her. But she threatened: "I'm telling you, you'd better do as I say in a moment—otherwise I'll scream loud enough for the people in the next room to hear, and let them know you brought a woman home."

"Ha!" Yang Xutang could not help laughing. "Then scream." With that, he pushed Wang Yanqiu down onto the bed without further discussion. Wang Yanqiu had assumed Yang Ce was daring her, so she matched him stubbornly, and her cries indeed shook the rafters. But the more she cried out, the more excited Yang Ce became, thinking to himself that this little wench was spicier than most. "Why isn't anyone knocking?" Wang Yanqiu's voice had gone hoarse, and she lay on the bed utterly spent, not moving a muscle.

"This villa has excellent soundproofing. Didn't Li Dagang tell you when you bought it?" Yang Ce said with a sly grin.