Chapter 16: The Unexpected Visitor

Ever since Lin Ling and Wu Hang had grown close, Wu Hang had developed a habit of unexpectedly showing up at her home, often stirring up trouble.

These sudden appearances frequently startled Lin Ling, who would be secretly playing on her computer, making her believe her parents had returned. This always left her in a state of disarray.

Even after Lin Ling began living alone, Wu Hang’s habit remained unchanged.

Lin Ling had, over time, grown accustomed to these impromptu visits. However, ever since Xi Yue moved in with her, Wu Hang had rarely dropped by unannounced, typically opting to call or send a WeChat message beforehand.

Yet, to her surprise, after Xi Yue’s passing last month, he had reverted to his old ways of conducting “surprise inspections.” Just like in the past, Wu Hang’s unexpected visit once again left Lin Ling utterly unnerved.

Lin Ling had indeed considered confessing everything to Wu Hang. However, given her current appearance and Wu Hang’s single status, a wave of apprehension washed over her. She certainly didn’t want their genuine friendship to be tainted, and she also wished to preserve her former life and social circles as a male.

‘Perhaps it’s best to keep it a secret for a while longer,’ she thought.

What was she to do now? Knocking him out and sending him home didn’t seem like a viable option.

“Hey? Come down and open the door!” Wu Hang’s insistent voice echoed from her phone.

“Uh, I’ve got a bit of a fever. I’m lying in bed right now… it’s not really convenient. You should just head back first. My apologies.” Lin Ling quickly concocted an excuse, hoping to trick Wu Hang into leaving.

“Holy crap, a fever at a time like this? Don’t worry about it! Someone passing by just opened the door for me. You just stay in bed. I’ll leave your figurine in the living room and even prepare some breakfast for you in advance. That way, your morning will be a bit easier tomorrow.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Ling felt her head spin.

She extended her senses, only to realize that the busybody auntie from upstairs, who had just finished her square dancing, was the one who let Wu Hang in! Damn it! Of all the times to be helpful, Auntie!

‘It seems I’ll have to get back at her sometime soon…’

“It’s fine, I can take care of myself! You don’t have to…”

Before she could finish her sentence, the call abruptly cut off, causing Lin Ling’s brow to twitch in annoyance.

‘Damn it! That brat got into the elevator so quickly!’

‘He’s truly as self-absorbed as ever!’

A wave of profound regret washed over Lin Ling. Why had she ever given that man her door code? Now he could simply waltz in whenever he pleased.

Since there was no other option, she had no choice but to brace herself!

The young girl sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead in exasperation.

****

As Wu Hang stepped into Lin Ling’s living room, a unique fragrance drifted into his nostrils, causing him to pause in surprise.

“Hmm?”

‘This scent is quite pleasant. Did that guy use a room spray?’

Without dwelling on it, Wu Hang set down the figurine he was carrying and walked towards Lin Ling’s bedroom.

He knocked on the door, and after entering the bedroom,

Wu Hang realized with a puzzled frown that the fragrance had become even more intense.

He then noticed his good friend lying on the bed, completely bundled up, their face obscured. Only one arm protruded from the blankets, flashing their customary “international friendly gesture.”

This had been their greeting since childhood; the three brothers always greeted each other this way, often earning them lectures from their parents.

“Is it really that bad? You’re completely swaddled.”

“Cough, cough, cough. Aren’t you afraid of catching it from me?”

“You, good-hearted? Since when?”

Lin Ling offered no reply, merely extending the “international friendly gesture” once more.

“You doing alright, buddy?”

“I’m fine, just about to go to sleep.”

“Oh, well, I’ll just tidy up outside and leave you to it. Say, why does your voice sound so strange?”

“Just… a bit of a sore throat?”

“But, your voice sounded perfectly normal on the phone, didn’t it?”

“Uh, probably the phone or the signal… cough, cough, cough…”

“Is that so…”

Although Wu Hang found it a little odd, he didn’t press the issue. He simply left the room, allowing Lin Ling to rest. Then, with practiced ease, he retrieved Lin Ling’s rice cooker to prepare some congee in advance, along with a few side dishes.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Lin Ling breathed a sigh of relief when Wu Hang didn’t seem to notice anything amiss.

To avoid detection, she had altered her hairstyle and the appearance of one arm, doing her best to mimic her male form.

As for her voice, while the vocal cord reshaping wasn’t perfect, she was fortunate to have passed it off with the excuse of being sick.

After this incident, she realized she needed to be far more vigilant. She couldn’t possibly use “being sick” as an excuse every time her parents or friends came to visit.

Clearly, mastering her reshaping abilities was becoming an urgent priority!

After preparing the side dishes and setting the rice cooker’s timer, Wu Hang made ready to leave.

Before departing, his gaze fell upon Lin Ling’s shattered phone resting on the coffee table. Now that he thought about it, Lin Ling had mentioned his phone was broken that morning. What about all those gigabytes of “resources” on it?

A thought struck him, and Wu Hang called out towards Lin Ling’s room, “Hey, should I take your phone to Ah Yu for repairs? See if we can salvage some of the data?”

Hearing Wu Hang’s voice, Lin Ling quickly responded, “Oh, alright.”

‘There aren’t really any secrets on it anyway. He’s probably just thinking about my ‘resources’ again. What a pervert.’

The moment she sensed Wu Hang step out the front door, Lin Ling immediately retracted the spiritual energy maintaining her disguise, instantly reverting to her original appearance.

‘It seems that even to conserve spiritual energy, I can’t afford to stop essential perception,’ she mused. If she had detected Wu Hang’s arrival earlier, she surely wouldn’t have answered the phone, pretending to be away. Luckily, it was just Wu Hang this time. Her parents, however, would have been far more difficult to handle.

Her mother, at the very least, would never have left. She would have taken her temperature, insisted on medicine, and generally interrogated her about any slight abnormality. In such a scenario, exposure would be virtually guaranteed.

‘Speaking of which… perhaps it would be better to find a time to tell my parents? There’s no real need to hide it from them. The awkwardness would only last for a moment, after all.’

‘Ugh, the dilemma.’

As for now, though…

“Little White! Come practice with me!” She needed to master body reshaping as quickly as possible. That way, she could possess two identities, which, in a sense, would make things much easier to handle.

****

Meanwhile, at this very moment…

In a building not far from Lin Ling’s home, a blonde little girl sat cheerfully on the edge of a rooftop wall, sipping milk tea and observing Lin Ling in the distance.

“Oh, how boring. I thought Little Seven had found a boyfriend. So dull.”

The little girl, who had watched Lin Ling’s entire performance, couldn’t help but let out a theatrical laugh.

‘My new little sister is actually quite cute.’

Overall,

Since arriving on this planet, the little girl had felt a sense of disappointment, mixed with a touch of surprise.

Her disappointment stemmed from the planet’s spiritual energy being so depleted; apart from the spiritual energy within some living organisms, external spiritual energy was virtually nonexistent. Although the planet’s spiritual energy had begun to recover after the Battle Sovereign’s emergence, it remained negligible compared to the central region of the Source Star Universe or the World Tree’s sub-worlds.

Her surprise, however, came from how far they had developed purely through technology. Some of their weapons possessed considerable power. More importantly, the people here were actually capable of passing the Mother Goddess’s trials, which explained why so many races in the Alliance harbored such intense jealousy towards humanity.

Jealousy, after all, was a terrifying thing.

After the three-year protection period concluded, if Little Sister’s precepts were the same as theirs, how far could this race truly go, even with the assistance of their various clans?