Chapter 343 |
Although the group chat had quieted down for now, even the group owner, Gao Ling, wasn’t in a great mood.
She had slowly sunk into a kind of inescapable melancholy, unable to pull herself out of it. Truth be told, she was the most pessimistic of the bunch, but she still had to keep the others emotionally steady.
To put it bluntly… if Yuan really did die, there was nothing they could do to save him. But if something happened to someone on their side, she might still be able to help.
Yuan Yuanyuan, meanwhile, was living quite comfortably, completely unaware that there was a group of people like Gao Ling in the world. Because she had no idea, she had started playing with fire—utterly reckless.
The Saturday issue of the comic showed the current state of the Li family head. Compared to the madness of the last issue, he now appeared calm again, his demeanor returning to its usual gentleness and noble air.
To add a little “sympathy factor” for potential exposure, Yuan Yuanyuan decided to play up the tragedy a bit in the next issue. In other words, she wanted to drop a few hints that the red-dressed woman was seriously injured—but without letting the Li family head notice.
So recently, Yuan Yuanyuan had been pulling some small tricks when interacting with customers. More often than not, the person sitting behind the curtain wasn’t her, but the shapeshifted tavern hostess. She’d wander off to loaf around elsewhere, creating the impression that she wasn’t well. That way, if Ji Qiu ever wanted to include it in the story, he could; if not, at least she’d gotten in some pitiful performances in front of the hostess.
Maybe because she genuinely did look a bit pitiful these days, the hostess hadn’t been giving her such a hard time. Normally, she could roast Yuan Yuanyuan into the stratosphere with just two or three sentences.
Each side was playing their own game, using their own tricks. Even when not in the tavern, Yuan Yuanyuan would go out and try to mess with some enemy monsters—doing what she could.
But Li Zi Jie greeted her like always, and Si Qun was still watching TV. Yuan Yuanyuan suspected he hadn’t moved an inch since she left…
After that day, she became even bolder. Staying out all night became normal. She even secretly asked Si Qun if he’d ever snitch to Li Zi Jie.
Si Qun, still glued to the TV, blinked and muttered, “Nope!” Yuan Yuanyuan was so thrilled she wanted to pick him up and spin in circles.
Gao Ling had recently returned to wandering the pedestrian streets again. She stared longingly at the neon-lit bar not far away, aching to go in. But this time, she didn’t run into any kind monster girls willing to cover for her, and didn’t dare approach the bouncer—so she looped around and headed back.
After crossing half the city for no reason, Gao Ling felt like a complete idiot. She resumed her aimless drifting, east to west, until she wandered into a small alley. Suddenly, she looked up and saw a shabby little house.
She didn’t even know what she was thinking—just wandered through the brambles in a daze. And once she got inside, she heard voices.
“You dare run? Running from my place? Do you even know who invented that escape spell you used?”
Gao Ling: “…”
For a split second, she wanted to turn and leave. But before she could, someone inside looked up. The man seemed briefly stunned when he saw her, but quickly recognized her and said awkwardly, “…Uh, I’m running the shop today. What are you doing here all of a sudden?”
“…Nothing. You go on, don’t mind me.” Gao Ling stepped over the bloody, unidentifiable mosaic on the floor.
“Want something to drink?” The “shop owner” looked up, fiddling with his phone. “This time of day, takeout’s not a bad idea…”
“No no no!” Gao Ling instantly panicked. Where exactly do you plan to have takeout delivered?! What, are you going to turn the delivery guy into the actual takeaway?!
Under Gao Ling’s stern protest, the other gave up on ordering food. Even though by now, Gao Ling understood he had meant to have it delivered to a nearby store, she still felt uneasy.
She glanced at him. He might have forgotten they’d met before, because the face he was using wasn’t the shop owner’s anymore—it was his original face.
Though this face looked similar, it was still “off.” Someone who’d seen both would recognize the difference immediately. So Gao Ling made a very reasonable deduction.
Uh…
This guy, in private, was actually a pretty up-to-date old demon. He hadn’t even been out of that underground place for long, and yet he already knew how to use a phone, order food—he even seemed to genuinely enjoy life.
Wait… what was the deal with that shop assistant from back then?
Gao Ling’s eyes sharpened for a second—then turned dazed again. Yuan Yuanyuan, watching her expressions shift rapidly, wondered if this girl was losing it. What sort of mental story was she spinning now?
Yuan Yuanyuan sat down, fiddling with her phone. She was about to leave anyway. She’d tracked a certain monster nearby today and tossed him into this place to be “dealt with.” She hadn’t expected Gao Ling to witness it.
But Gao Ling probably knew she was the monster shopkeeper, so it didn’t really matter. Chaos was normal in the monster world.
Yuan Yuanyuan sat down beside the “shopkeeper” and asked, “You’re not managing the shop now?”
“Nope. Too busy lately,” he replied while tapping away at his phone.
Gao Ling didn’t dare look his way but still caught a strong medicinal smell from him.
It was a bitter scent—one she hadn’t smelled on him last time.
The weather had started warming up. Everyone was wearing spring clothes now, but he was still wrapped up tightly with no skin showing. She could only smell it, not see anything obviously wrong.
“Shopkeeper, your scent is really strong,” Gao Ling suddenly said.
“What scent?” Yuan Yuanyuan paused—then realized: it must’ve been the medicine the tavern hostess had applied to her that morning. Yeah, that stuff had a strong smell, and it’d been applied all over her, so now her whole body reeked of it.
She’d been soaking in medicine for days now. While she didn’t look injured, her skin underneath was a mess.
She must’ve gotten so used to it that she’d stopped noticing. But Gao Ling had picked up on it right away.
“When are you coming back to run the shop again?” Gao Ling asked. “That outfit you sold me last time? I tried it on—it’s really cute. Why not keep selling stuff?”
“Clothing doesn’t make money anymore. And look at my shop—it’s basically abandoned,” Yuan Yuanyuan said.
Gao Ling sat in the tiny store, looking up at the sky. A tangle of thorns blocked her entire view. A sliver of sunlight peeked through the gaps.
The person next to her sat quietly. The little courtyard was peaceful. Occasionally, a bug chirped. The air wasn’t too hot or cold. The breeze felt nice on her skin.
It suddenly all felt like a dream to Gao Ling. She wanted to ask him so many things—but didn’t know how to begin.
She could still smell that scent on him—it was like a ticking time bomb. Who knew when it might explode?
And yet, the scene before her felt like it had been framed—like a panel in a comic. Even though she knew it probably wouldn’t be drawn, she could see it in her mind’s eye, like it already had been.
Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t stay long. She soon turned and left—Li Zi Jie was still waiting for her. But this time, before returning, she made a note to shower first and wash off that strong smell.
Back home, Gao Ling sat on her bed in a daze. Someone asked her what was wrong. She quietly replied,
“I feel like… I walked into a scene I wasn’t supposed to see.”
“What kind of scene?”
“You know that river where Itachi died?”
“…Yeah. What about it?”
“I feel like I just happened to walk by five minutes before he fell in, with my little backpack on, and we locked eyes for a second.”
“…I don’t really get it.”
“But thankfully, he didn’t try to pull me in with him. I mean… people about to die usually say kind words, right?”
Gao Ling looked up at the sky with a gloomy gaze. A group of monsters flew overhead.
That night, the sky turned blood red again. Gao Ling pulled her curtains tightly shut and spent the whole night drawing.