Reborn As Super Heiress

Capítulo 1438: Chapter 1422: The Oil Rat Escaped

By the time they left Porcelain Village, it was already evening. Huo Sining and her group didn’t rush to hit the road; instead, they found a hotel in Changnan Jingdezhen to rest.

Huo Sining, Gu Xu, and Qibao stayed in a suite, while two other guards were responsible for watching over Oil Rat. However, unexpectedly, just as Huo Sining and the others fell asleep, an incident occurred.

They had been traveling all day without a break, so after dinner, everyone went straight to bed. Even Qibao, the energetic child, couldn’t hold up and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

However, around one in the morning, there was a sudden, fierce knocking on the door. Huo Sining and Gu Xu were jolted awake from their dreams. They opened the door to find the two guards looking both panicked and exasperated, shouting:

“Captain Gu, something’s happened! Oil Rat has escaped!”

“What?!” Huo Sining was instantly shocked. Her first reaction was to turn around and look for Qibao.

What surprised Huo Sining was that when they were in the suburbs of the Magic Capital, Qibao could sense Mr. Liang entering the ancient tomb at night and getting injured inside. But this time, Qibao didn’t notice Oil Rat sneaking away, nor did the noise wake the little guy up at all.

Initially, Huo Sining thought the child was just too tired and sleeping too soundly. But after shaking the child for several minutes without any response, she finally realized something was wrong.

“He’s not just asleep; someone’s tampered with him!”

Next to her, Gu Xu examined Qibao’s pupils, hands, and neck pulse, and said grimly.

Huo Sining’s heart immediately tightened, and she panicked: “Damn it, did Oil Rat really poison Qibao?! Qibao is just a kid!”

Saying this, Huo Sining couldn’t care less about the other two military personnel nearby. She crouched down, ready to use Spiritual Energy to detoxify Qibao.

Seeing this, Gu Xu hurriedly stopped Huo Sining, shaking his head: “It’s probably not poison, just something like a sedative, which only makes people drowsy without other side effects. But if you’re worried, we can take the child to the hospital for a check-up.”

Huo Sining was taken aback, and Gu Xu continued to explain: “Although Oil Rat has questionable character, he’s not so inhumane towards a child. He must have planned his escape in advance, but you and Qibao sabotaged his plan with the Thousand-Mile Gu, so he had to find a way to sedate Qibao. With the Thousand-Mile Gu not working, he could escape without concern.”

As Gu Xu spoke, one of the guards nodded and said: “I remember now, during the day on the car, when you went to contact Elder Feng, later, Oil Rat took a porcelain doll from the Feng Family. That doll looked a lot like Qibao. Oil Rat gave that porcelain doll to the little guy; Qibao liked it very much and couldn’t put it down. We thought it was amusing at the time, so we didn’t stop it.”

Upon hearing this, Huo Sining’s face changed instantly. She hurriedly rummaged through a backpack left on the bedside table by Qibao, and sure enough, she quickly found a beautiful porcelain doll inside.

“That’s it, that porcelain doll must be the problem. Give it to me, I’ll have someone test it in the lab.”

Seeing the porcelain doll, Gu Xu had a hunch, he put the doll in a sealed bag and went out to make a phone call. Half an hour later, a man arrived at their hotel with a box in hand.

“Captain Gu.” After arriving, the man didn’t say much, just greeted Gu Xu and opened the box, pulling out various examination instruments to sample and analyze the porcelain doll.

Soon, the conclusion came: “I’ve extracted a white powder substance from this porcelain doll, conducted a dialysis and chemical analysis, and found it contains scopolamine, hyoscyamine, and atropine. These three components have anesthetic and hallucinogenic effects clinically, but since the amounts are small, the impact is minimal; it just makes one sleep longer. I estimate that by tomorrow afternoon, the child will wake up.”

Huo Sining furrowed her brow immediately. She had just randomly decided to have Qibao use the Thousand Miles Gu on Oil Rat, and Oil Rat should have been unaware of it beforehand. Moreover, when he was brought out of prison, he should have been thoroughly searched, so there’s no reason he could have such a sedative with him. Where did Oil Rat get the anesthetic he used on the porcelain doll? Could it have been given by Feng Gang from Porcelain Village?

Seeing Huo Sining’s doubts, the tester explained: “Hallucinogenic anesthetics can be extracted from plants. Jimsonweed, often referred to as mandrake in dramas, contains mainly scopolamine, hyoscyamine, and atropine.”

“I think it’s very likely that the person you were guarding found mandrake somewhere, then applied mandrake juice on this porcelain doll in advance. You might not recognize mandrake, so when he did this, you didn’t notice. Then after the doll was given to the child, he fell for it.”

Huo Sining understood that this was probably the truth. That Oil Rat could remain undetected during many years of tomb raiding, and even managed to escape when things went wrong in the Yunling Ancient Tomb, showed how cunning and crafty he was.

Even with three special forces personnel plus herself on guard, they still ended up falling prey to his deceit. She had confidently assured Zhou Shitao that she wouldn’t let a hair on Oil Rat’s head be harmed, but now the person had escaped without her realizing it. Huo Sining felt as though her words were too boastful, and this slap to her face was burning and embarrassing.

But with the person already gone, regretting now was no use. Huo Sining could only honestly confess to Zhou Shitao, recounting everything that happened in the Porcelain Capital.

“It’s not your fault; I originally anticipated that Oil Rat might try to escape. However, he can run but can’t hide. Unless he stops moving altogether, he’ll eventually be caught. Don’t worry about it anymore, I’ll talk to the police department.”

Zhou Shitao was also a bit surprised by the news, but the experienced elder quickly calmed down, turned around, and comforted Huo Sining, not blaming her at all.

Zhou Shitao’s attitude only made Huo Sining feel even more uncomfortable, especially since she had botched the task Zhou Shitao had assigned, making him have to explain to others. Huo Sining felt deeply regretful.

“If you really feel you didn’t do well, then why don’t you help me with one more favor?”

Perhaps guessing Huo Sining’s thoughts, Zhou Shitao didn’t bother with formalities and directly smiled at Huo Sining: “Coincidentally, there’s an auction in the Porcelain Capital these days. They sent me an invitation, asking me to attend.”