Chapter 74: Ling Wei’s Vigil and Lu Chen’s Agony

At three in the morning, the residential complex lay shrouded in silence.

A pale moon hung above the rain-streaked apartment buildings.

A crisp evening breeze stirred gently, causing the old trees in front of the building to rustle. On a nearby bench, a drunkard lay slumped, his snores sporadic and faint.

A black-haired girl sat on another bench, concealed within the shadows cast by the tree canopy and the apartment building. She gazed up at Lu Chen’s rented window, her dark eyes fixed and unblinking.

The night was deep now, and most homes had extinguished their lights, yet a faint glow still emanated from that particular window.

Ever since leaving Lu Chen’s apartment, Ling Wei had remained seated there. Her gaze pierced through the evening breeze and the glass, locking onto the young man without wavering, observing his every movement.

Through the gaps in the leaves, a few dark feathers drifted down, and a shadowy figure approached.

“Your attire tonight truly suits the darkness, Master. If you wore an eye mask, you’d be even more like a stalker.”

Zero fluttered his wings, descending to perch beside the girl. Ling Wei gently stroked his head.

“Zero, you’re describing the traditional, gloomy kind of stalker. These days, the sunny and cheerful type is all the rage. Did you retrieve Mr. Lu’s call records?”

“Of course. Please listen.”

The crow plucked a dark feather, activating ‘Reality Render.’ Pale white magical energy coalesced in the air, forming a translucent audio playback interface.

The girl extended a slender finger, lightly tapping the play button. The sound waves on the interface immediately vibrated and fluctuated, and Lu Chen’s conversation with Old Nie clearly echoed forth.

Ling Wei narrowed her beautiful eyes, listening with keen interest as the young man spoke, hearing his voice shift from tension to relief, and then from relief to utter collapse.

A dull thud resonated, the sound of a phone hitting the ground. The pale white interface vanished, and the audio abruptly ceased.

The girl let out a soft sigh.

“Oh dear, it seems I’ve been exposed after all.”

Zero gazed at his master’s crestfallen expression, a pang of pity stirring within him. He offered comfort, “Please don’t be sad.

“You see, Mr. Nie knows nothing of your magic. He didn’t mention your ability to disguise yourself during the call. Brother Lu is likely still none the wiser.”

“Impossible, he must have figured it out. That fellow looks like he accidentally let out a ridiculously loud fart during a freshman orientation, and now he’s desperately gnawing on a photo album in his study.”

“One glance through the Eye of Scrutiny would tell you everything. In his current state, he couldn’t possibly notice us.”

The girl spoke, then took a heavy, deep breath, propping up her fair chin.

“I had planned to reveal my identity to Mr. Lu after accepting his proposal, while simultaneously snatching the Heart of the Moon, to truly savor his expression… What a pity.”

Zero glanced at Lu Chen, who was metaphorically ‘eating glass shards,’ and shook his head with a sigh.

“I’ll retract my earlier comfort, then. Sometimes, you truly deserve what you get.”

“Speaking of which, how did Brother Lu and Lily of the Valley manage to get your Masquerade Potion? That compass shouldn’t have been able to detect your potion, should it?”

The girl tilted her head, lost in thought.

“And given Lily of the Valley’s personality, they wouldn’t just inexplicably venture deep into the White Shroud Forest.”

“Ultimately, when they went to collect the potion, I was keeping a close eye on the vault’s surveillance and defensive magic formations. Yet, I didn’t detect a single anomaly, nor did I even catch a glimpse of them.”

“While it’s true I’ve been less vigilant lately, the entire defense system was quietly breached and even hacked by someone else… It was probably The Consultant’s doing.”

“What exactly does she intend to do? Does she want to use Lily of the Valley to expose my identity and lure Morning Star to interrogate me?”

The crow flapped his wings, as if struck by a sudden realization.

“Perhaps she just wants to see you live out this life as a sweet, soft magical girl?”

“You should read fewer light novels. In any case, from now on, heighten our vigilance against The Consultant. Assume she could appear at any moment to stir up trouble.”

“Understood. By the way, Master, how should we deal with Mr. Lu? Should we imprison him?”

The girl shrugged noncommittally.

“That would only make the Heart of the Moon sink deeper, a truly inferior strategy.”

“I don’t think it can sink any deeper. And if you do nothing, Morning Star might just show up at your doorstep with a whole convoy, ready to take action, you know?”

The girl gently stroked Zero’s head again.

“Zero, there’s no need to be so pessimistic. Smile a little. Don’t always dwell on that terrifying, platinum-Christmas-tree-like old aunt, Morning Star. There might still be room for things to turn around.”

“Room to turn around?”

Ling Wei gazed at the dimly lit window, a playful smile curving her lips.

“Indeed. Even if Mr. Lu already knows my identity, he might not do anything at all.”

****

When Lu Chen awoke, the midday sun was already bathing him in its warmth.

The floor beneath him felt warm, and the photo album clutched in his arms was outlined with a golden glow by the sunlight.

He had heard from his hard-drinking friends that after a hangover, one’s body would feel weak, the head would throb, and memories from before sleep would be fragmented and unclear, with symptoms being particularly severe for recent drinkers.

What utter nonsense.

The physical weakness was real, and the splitting headache was undeniably so.

Yet, whether due to Silvermoon or not, his memories were damnably clear. Not a single disgusting detail had faded or vanished; they clung stubbornly to his mind, refusing to leave their ‘nest egg’.

The room in the forest, the analysis results of that potion, and the matter of Arrogance—he had forgotten none of it. He couldn’t even deceive himself into believing it was all a dream.

Lu Chen lay sprawled on the floor, his heart beating steadily as always. He numbly turned his head, looking towards the treetops outside the window.

It was a large banyan tree, its dense canopy as emerald green as in previous springs. On one branch, several sparrows perched side-by-side.

They occasionally turned their small heads to look around, sometimes hopped on the branches, rubbing and snuggling against each other, their sesame-seed-like black eyes reflecting the cloudless blue sky.

Lu Chen couldn’t help but curve his lips, letting out a weak, self-mocking chuckle.

‘Xia Shi is truly dead.’

The treetops swayed gently in the breeze. The young man stared blankly for a long while before slowly propping himself up, shakily rising from the floor.

He retrieved the off-white storage box from the top of the bookshelf and carefully placed the photo album back inside. Then, he rushed into the kitchen to splash cold water on his face, quickly making his way to the living room to pick up his phone from the coffee table.

He opened his messaging app and tapped on Morning Star’s profile picture.

‘I must expose that scum’s true colors.’

‘Miss Morning Star, having defeated her once, can surely defeat her a second time.’

‘If I just tell her the general situation and hand the potion over to the New Light Group, I can deliver a fatal blow to that bastard…!’

Lu Chen gritted his teeth, his hands trembling as he typed out a long string of words, recounting everything he had witnessed recently. His thumb hovered over the send button—

But he couldn’t bring himself to press it.

‘Can this really work?’

‘Arrogance is the most powerful oddity, a madwoman who has deceived everyone for hundreds of weeks. Without Silvermoon, she would never have been exposed.’

‘That bastard must have realized she’s been exposed. But why hasn’t she acted? Why hasn’t she immediately come after me? It makes no sense at all.’

‘Could it be that I’ve misunderstood something?’

‘Old Xia, after all, is retired, and he once blindly believed in resurrection magic. Perhaps he made a mistake when testing the potion?’

‘Arrogance must be dead. That eerie cabin, perhaps it was just a trap set by some other oddity who bore a grudge against Xia Shi? Other clues could have different explanations.’

‘Perhaps the girl beside me isn’t Arrogance after all?’

Xia Shi’s smiling face flashed through his mind.

“Enough!”

Lu Chen roared in anger, biting down hard on his tongue, the sharp pain jolting him back to his senses.

‘Stop deceiving yourself. Xia Shi… Xia Shi is gone…’

He bit through his lip, tasting the metallic tang of blood, and again lifted his phone, his thumb trembling as it neared the send button.

‘Whatever traps Arrogance has laid, I have to press it, I have to click it.’

‘This is the right thing to do. This is the only correct answer…!’

‘It’s just a tiny button! Come on! Hurry!’

Lu Chen roared inwardly, his teeth grinding together, his body tensing with all his might—yet he still couldn’t press his thumb down.

“Damn it! What am I so afraid of?!”

He cursed himself aloud, took a deep breath, and placed the phone back on the coffee table, preparing to try again. It was then that a crisp knock sounded at the apartment door.

Xia Shi’s voice drifted through.

“Hello? May I come in?”