Chapter 14.2

　　Yet, Jin Yumeng felt no smidgen of fear.

　　At the end of the day, it was not like she had made any gaffes. That was why she would never allow anyone to affect her mood during her trip.

　　Without further ado, they hailed a taxi and returned once more to the sacred tree.

　　Sure enough, the event had yet to come to an end, as a local folk band was currently performing with some unique musical instruments at the mini-concert.

　　By the time they had arrived, they were greeted with an incredibly lively sight — an audience of listeners dancing to the music.

　　Influenced by the atmosphere, it did not take Jin Yumeng long to drag Jing Xi into the throng.

　　However, it was well in the wee hours of the night that the horde of people begrudgingly made their way out of the venue. A store owner selling safety charms was closing his store for the day when he good-naturedly gifted two charms to Jin Yumeng before pointing to the sacred tree at the square. Yet, there was no telling whether it was due to Jin Yumeng’s adorable beauty or the aesthetically pleasing image they painted while standing beside each other.

　　In the face of this situation, Jin Yumeng was unsure whether to cry or laugh as she let her gaze be drawn to the individual next to her. “Come on, let’s make a wish before leaving.”

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

　　Gp y okvdlpp sq kdpvydv qlweyz pwrlapvkvksd qykzwalp, Kkdt Dk pbyale, “Mbkdtp zkjl vbkp dlhla osaj.”

　　Zlv, Kkd Zwxldt xlalzu pvyvle, “Qsse vbkdtp nsxl vs vbspl obs clzklhl.”

　　“R blyae vbyv vbkp kp oblal usw ldnswdvlale bkx,” Kkdt Dk osdelale, “Ps usw alnjsd vbyv vbl Nwrkdwp Ywvydvp olal kdpkdnlal obld rayukdt vs alxykd pkdtzl?”

　　Slnyzzkdt yzz vbyv snnwaale vseyu bye sdzu zlqv Kkd Zwxldt’p blyav clalqv.

　　Wsa y qzllvkdt xsxldv, vblka lulp xlv, yde vstlvbla, vblu casjl swv kdvs y zswe, wdnsdvaszzyczl, clzzu-pbyjkdt qkv sq zywtbvla. Ohld ps, vblu pvkzz xyel vblka oyu vs vbl vall pkdnl vbl pvsal sodla bye tkhld vblx pyqlvu nbyaxp.

　　Pwl vs vbyv, Kkdt Dk oyp qkdyzzu yczl vs yexkal vbl pynale vall qasx y nzspl ekpvydnl.

　　Gqvla vukdt vbl pyqlvu nbyax, kv eyodle sd bkx vbyv ds okpblp pllxle vs nsxl vs xkde altyaezlpp sq bso byae bl aynjle bkp caykd. Gp pwnb, bl pwxxsdle Gavkqknkyz Fvwrkekvu sdnl xsal. “Tlal, R’zz tkhl usw y nbydnl vs xyjl y okpb.”

　　Rd yd kdpvydv, Fupvlx oyp qkzzle vs vbl cakx okvb byrrkdlpp. “R okpb ol nswze nsxrzlvl swa elcwttkdt xkppksd yp pssd yp rsppkczl!”

　　“Sure.” Immediately right after, Jing Xi repeated System’s wish inwardly before bowing and circling around the sacred tree superlatively.

　　In the dead of night, the spreading silence was more strikingly vibrant than the previous atmosphere that had been so alive with constant movement. But now, the flow of the mass had dwindled to a trickle. Once their prayer was made, the stragglers had already dispersed about their business. Yet, he found a random spot to stand, silently watching the safety charms fluttering in the wind.

　　Noticing Jing Xi fell into one of his bouts of silence, System vividly recalled that transitory surge of energy all of a sudden.

　　Meticulously, it conducted a thorough self-examination, yet it could not locate a single fault. As such, System could only dismiss it as an issue that stemmed from the other. As such, it could not help but call out to him. “Jing Xi.”

　　Jing Xi replied, “Hm?”

　　System puzzled, “Is there a bug in your codes? There is something off about you.”

　　Jing Xi refuted, “You’re the one who’s acting weird. Stop getting distracted and keep a close watch on what’s happening online.”

　　System reported, “That is what I have been doing all this time. Anyway, the police have long since gone about deleting content online to keep things at bay.”

　　As it said so, System began browsing social media once more.

　　The forums were utterly devoid of news about the female lead. However, several images were posted on the official accounts promoting today’s event, of which an image of Jing Xi exchanging a quick smile with the female lead. Both showing their side profile, yet the female lead’s face was barely visible as her long dark hair fell across her face, preventing anyone from recognizing her.

　　Needless to say, it erased the image from the platform.

　　Elsewhere, the dandy, who harbored suspicions about Duan Chi being proficient in Neo-Taoism, was currently online and indulging in gossip about the Lupinus Mutants. Through that, he discovered the ongoing event at the sacred tree and began searching for the relevant official pages. Following a bizarre stroke of luck had him opening the image before System could even delete it, and words simply could not describe the feelings that were surging through his veins.

　　“F*ck! Get over here y’all! I see Xiao Zhou!”

　　At this juncture, the rest were just about to head back to their rooms.

　　After all, they had all been on the lookout until the middle of the night, but could find no trace of Yi Zhou. It then became apparent that he would most likely be spending the night elsewhere, so they intended to verify the results for their bet tomorrow morning. Upon hearing that, they froze in their tracks before running over in haste. To them, the image came as a complete shock.

　　“Isn’t this our dear lady? When did this happen?”

　　“This evening!” That dandy closed the image and refreshed the official page, only to find it had vanished without a trace.

　　Everyone was flabbergasted at the sight, and a sudden thought sprang to their minds — ‘What the h*ll is going on?!’

　　Silence reigned through the room as several dandies exchanged glances.

　　“It might have been removed by the webmaster.”

　　“Hm… Anyway, that should be them, right?”

　　“I believe so?”

　　Once again, they collectively sunk into silence before darting out of the room to pound on Yi Zhou’s door. On getting no answer, someone intended to give him a call. However, another dandy was quick with their hands and refrained him from doing so.

　　“No, you can’t do that. Otherwise, it would just give us away.”

　　It would be easy to assume that it would be tactless of them to give him a call when he was spending some quality time with his partner in a room. Should they have done so, that would only signify that they had discovered the issue. In this case, the best course of action was to wait, so they decidedly began their hour-long waiting game. If he still had yet to return by the end of it, they would retire for the night.

　　Half an hour later, they noticed a certain individual making his way back unhurriedly.

　　Since Jing Xi’s room was situated next to one of theirs, he noticed the door was left ajar when he walked by. He cast a sidelong glance in the dandies’ direction, and their eyes met. “Not heading to bed yet? How stubborn.”

　　The dandies interrogated, “Where have you been? How did you even leave this building?”

　　Jing Xi answered, “I jumped off the building with a beauty and headed out to have fun.”

　　“…” Disregarding the ‘jumped off the building’ portion, the dandies probed, “What about the beauty?”

　　Jing Xi replied, “Returned home, of course. How could it ever be an easy feat for you to lay your eyes upon my beauty?”

　　In a split second, the utterance had bereft them of speech. 

　　‘We have already seen your beauty!’ They exclaimed in all their minds.

　　Jing Xi declared, “Alright, already. Let’s all head to bed.”

　　In yet another bout of silence, the dandies watched his back until he entered his room. That was when a thought struck their minds — ‘The still water does indeed run deep.’ Only then did they come to the conclusion that something must have occurred behind this “engagement”!

　　On the other hand, the real “beauty” was currently working on corporate documents at the research institute to lend the somewhat insomniac Duan Xiuwen, who was suffering from hormonal imbalance, a helping hand.

　　With just a mere glance, Duan Chi gestured to him to get some rest. All of a sudden, something came to him just before he took a step forward. “Jin Yumeng also attends Gese University, so do I still need to transfer to another university?”

　　As his voice faded into silence, Duan Xiuwen could distinctly sense a magnetic pull of his body toward Jin Yumeng. Even so, he had no desire to be under its influence. After a moment’s hesitation, he puzzled, “Uncle, how did you manage to determine your feelings so quickly?” 

　　Duan Chi turned sharply to look at him before sitting back in his seat. “That’s because I like him.”

　　Duan Xiuwen continued, “What if it were an illusion produced by hormones?”

　　“That’s impossible.” Duan Chi challenged, “Although you like Jin Yumeng’s scent, do you like her as a person?”

　　Before his voice had completely faded away, the image of that beautiful girl flashed across Duan Xiuwen’s mind. Suffice to say, he shook his head in disagreement since they had just met each other.

　　Duan Chi mused, “There we go. You can tell the difference, can’t you?”

　　In a split second, his words struck Duan Xiuwen dumb.

　　Duan Chi added, “I like him for who he is, not for his scent.”

　　If he had to put the experience into words, it seemed as though a hole inside him was finally filled. It first began the moment their eyes met at the police station. However, it was only their second meeting did he become certain of his feelings. 

　　‘This is the one,’ he thought, ‘There will be no one else in this lifetime of mine.’