Chapter 353 |
Faning had gathered a lot of information by now, but he hadn’t spoken any of it aloud—instead, he kept it all to himself.
Meanwhile, Yuan Yuanyuan actually knew even less than Faning… after all, she hadn’t personally seen the letters between the man surnamed Liu and Seventeen, not even though that man, who seemed to be Liu, was now right here in the tavern.
She was still speculating on her own… Was that thing something Si Qun persuaded Seventeen to eat? What really happened back then? Why did Si Qun want to give Seventeen a gu?
Yuan Yuanyuan’s mind hadn’t caught up yet. Her first instinct was still that gu must be something harmful to the human body—because this stuff had hurt her plenty… and so Yuan Yuanyuan began to think more deeply about why Si Qun would persuade Seventeen to take it.
Thinking about it carefully, back when Si Qun wasn’t yet a little fool, he should’ve been a formidable and ruthless figure… who could really say what had happened back then? What if there had been something unspeakable between Seventeen and Si Qun?
That thought crossed Yuan Yuanyuan’s mind. Truth be told, if she wanted to ask the person involved, it wouldn’t be hard—Si Qun was just five hundred meters away around the corner. But Yuan Yuanyuan couldn’t just go up to him and ask.
Should she go as the Red-Clothed Woman? Sorry, Si Qun might not be willing to talk to Seventeen, but what about the Red-Clothed Woman… Li Zi Jie and Si Qun’s relationship to the tavern was really odd. Yuan Yuanyuan used to think they were something like subordinates, but after becoming the Red-Clothed Woman, she realized the boss lady had never assigned any tasks to Si Qun or Li Zi Jie.
The two of them gave the feeling of honored guests—served with food and drink, not needing to do anything. No one knew how they’d even made their way into the tavern.
Of course, Yuan Yuanyuan could just go look for Si Qun directly, but after playing dead for so long, she really didn’t dare suddenly appear in front of him, afraid she’d scare him too badly… Though come to think of it, Li Zi Jie and Si Qun hadn’t made any big moves to look for her either.
Ahem.
So, while the Li Family Head’s words hadn’t managed to fool the protagonist Faning, they had somehow managed to confuse the supposedly clear-headed Yuan Yuanyuan… Let’s just say, luckily Yuan Yuanyuan still couldn’t go around talking freely—otherwise, she really might’ve made a fool of herself.
Gao Ling looked at the comic and, for the first time, realized what that white stuff actually was.
It was hair…
She thought back to how Si Qun’s hair looked in the comic—jet-black and glossy, duang duang duang—how could it be white?
Could it have faded naturally after being cut and left for a while?
Or maybe Si Qun had dyed his hair during the time it was cut?
Gao Ling kept making wild guesses, taking things a step further—was the current Si Qun really the original Si Qun? Or maybe he was the son or grandson of the one from back then…
—Just how far can human imagination go?
But now, Gao Ling had finally solved one mystery: what that white silk really was.
It turned out to be Si Qun’s hair… That was interesting. It was a part of the body, and though it didn’t harm the body, it reminded Gao Ling of all those fantasy novels she’d read.
In those stories, every part of a monster or divine beast was a treasure. Characters would want to pluck off every last hair.
Even just one feather could make a peerless duster. As for demon cores, demon blood, demon bones… no need to even mention.
This time, Monster Notes had taken a unique path and used hair instead… Though Si Qun’s hair really did look like it’d been gnawed on by a dog—it was probably all cut off.
No one knew if he could still keep his hair now. It felt like after this news came out, Si Qun would be plucked down to three strands.
Also, Si Qun was the Gu King… Oh no, the online fangirls were definitely about to go crazy again.
Whether grandson, son, or the original—Si Qun was now the center of attention. He hadn’t shown up for work for several days. Even though there was nothing in particular for him and Li Zi Jie to do, Yuan Yuanyuan still noticed their absence.
This time the situation was even more serious. Originally it was just Si Qun on leave—now Li Zi Jie had taken leave with him. Both of them were gone, and Yuan Yuanyuan was starting to worry about the kitchen…
She struggled for a while and nearly went up to wash the cups herself. For some reason, she seemed to have developed a strange case of cleanliness—her heart resisted letting others do the dishes.
But she couldn’t exactly say no… So she could only watch as two new girls were sent off to wash the cups.
As a result, the two girls had been feeling lately… as if someone was watching them with a bone-chilling gaze, wanting to—
Li Si Qun had recently disappeared, and had become even more popular—whether in the real world or the comic, he kept shooting into prominence, constantly catching everyone’s eye.
Thanks to the Li Family Head’s recent activities, everyone was now paying attention to what he’d said in the last issue. Online, several interpretations of his words were gaining traction. One matched Yuan Yuanyuan’s own thoughts. The second speculated that maybe Si Qun had some hidden hardship back then, and was emotionally manipulated by his older brother—
Deep down, Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t really believe that Si Qun had been harmless to Seventeen. She’d seen too much of his innocent act. Even though people kept whispering that he was a prehistoric beast, she still couldn’t bring herself to see him that way.
A handsome face really does win you points.
Yuan Yuanyuan sighed and flipped open the latest issue of Monster Notes. What was the Li Family Head scheming this time? Hopefully he wouldn’t say anything too insane again?
Opening the comic, the first thing she saw was the Li Family Head’s massive face… He was sitting in a small room, drinking tea. Seated opposite him was another person.
The man had long arms and legs, a strikingly handsome face, and eyes that were sharp and spirited—one look and you could tell he was the type who was always thinking.
His hair was tied into a ponytail, with some strands hanging over his forehead. At the moment, he sat before the Li Family Head, looking extremely respectful. Even while drinking tea, his posture and manners were impeccable—there was nothing to criticize.
Yuan Yuanyuan silently watched the comic and thought, Isn’t that…
Big Bones!
Why was he over at the Li Family Head’s place?
【“I remember the last time I saw that booklet, it was sixty years ago,” the Li Family Head said with a sigh. “Didn’t expect time to pass so fast.”】
【“Yes,” Lin Bones replied respectfully, lowering his head.】
【“Back then you were just a little kid. Who would’ve thought you’d be in this position now?”】
【“Not at all,” Lin Bones said. “Here’s the booklet you requested. Please take a look.”】
【The Li Family Head glanced through the booklet casually. He paused slightly when he got to a certain page.】
【“Only one name? Looks rather pitiful,” the Li Family Head said, then tossed the booklet back to Lin Bones. “And that one person is already dead.”】
【Lin Bones caught the booklet deftly. The Li Family Head waved his hand. “Forget it, let’s get to the main business. Add the name.”】
【“Then congratulations on your daughter’s wedding,” Lin Bones said respectfully, taking out a pre-prepared pen and beginning to write in the booklet.】
…That girl actually got married? Yuan Yuanyuan paused, stunned as she read the comic. Whose poor kid was unlucky enough to catch that girl’s eye…
Uh, no, wait. But if they were writing the name into the Li family genealogy… that meant he was marrying into the family?
Yuan Yuanyuan stared at the comic, her emotions suddenly complex. First, she could almost hear a mix of wedding and funeral music in her ears. Second, when Lin Bones wrote the name in the booklet, he exposed the Li family’s genealogy.
Last time Yuan Yuanyuan hadn’t looked carefully, but this time she studied it. There wasn’t a trace of Qiu Ying’s name. But Li Si Qun’s name was there—clearly written. Sadly, the line slashing through it was even more prominent.
And the mention of a family with only one person… if she wasn’t wrong, that was her own pitiful little noble family—the same one that had earned her a small plot of land, where she’d watched over little monsters for more than half a year.
Lin Bones looked pretty handsome in the comic—faithful to his real-world looks.
Wait a minute… Li Si Qun and the Li Family Head had split, hadn’t they? And the fallout had been intense.
For the longest time, Yuan Yuanyuan had seemed to have something clouding her vision. Suddenly, she looked up in a flash—she’d overlooked something she had known all along.
Back then, there definitely hadn’t been some consensus between Si Qun and the Li Family Head… The two of them had clearly fallen out. In the end, the Li Family Head won and Si Qun lost.
Then how had the Li Family Head defeated a monster like Li Si Qun? That guy was practically on the level of Saitama.
And hadn’t Li Si Qun and Seventeen disappeared at the same time?
Yuan Yuanyuan unconsciously came up with a guess—one that was dangerously close to the truth—
Could it be… that he used Seventeen to disrupt Si Qun’s state of mind?