Chapter 78: The Scent of Suspicion

More than the peculiar town and its terrifying inhabitants, Bai Chen was utterly bewildered by Libelle’s presence.

The young woman standing before him, too, stared with wide, incredulous eyes.

‘How did Bai Chen end up here?’

‘Leaving aside why I’ve been pulled into this bizarre illusion for a second time, why is he caught up in it as well?’

Their gazes simultaneously dropped, settling on the hands clamped over each other’s mouths.

Both gasped sharply, then recoiled, releasing their hold.

‘Disgusting. Truly repulsive.’

Bai Chen quickly scrubbed his hands against his clothes, the thought of them being sullied by a monster’s saliva making him resolve to thoroughly cleanse them the moment he returned.

Mo Qiu, however, merely registered his actions from the corner of her eye.

She glanced at her own still-gentle palm, but made no move to mimic him.

Their hands now separated, they both maintained a cautious distance, each wary of a potential attack from the other.

‘No, this is not the time to be entangled in a skirmish with Bai Chen.’

Mo Qiu, too, had recognized the inherent dangers of this illusion.

She understood that she needed to find a way for both Bai Chen and herself to escape this place first; once they were back in Fengling City, they could indulge in whatever games they wished.

****

*Thump, thump, thump!*

At that precise moment, the heavy door behind Bai Chen was violently pounded.

His heart lurched as he spun around.

From beyond the door, bestial roars erupted, urgent and frenzied, as if the townspeople had discovered a trespasser in their home.

‘Damn it, he’ll draw the other townspeople here!’

Footsteps echoed.

Bai Chen looked back to where the young woman had been, only to find her already sprinting towards the window.

“Don’t even think about running!”

Bai Chen cried out in a desperate rush, while Mo Qiu launched herself forward, shattering the window as she leaped through.

Mo Qiu was right behind her.

The very sky seemed to darken at his shout, as if a slumbering deity had been roused, an angry god ready to unleash punishment upon the world.

‘You idiot, Bai Chen! You’re going to get us both killed!’

As he leaped from the window, Bai Chen stretched out his arm, his fingers agonizingly close to brushing the young woman’s flowing blue hair.

At that very instant, the world before his eyes warped once more.

Bai Chen collapsed, utterly powerless, watching helplessly as she vanished from his sight.

****

When Bai Chen next opened his eyes, a splitting headache assailed him, though it quickly subsided.

What lingered, however, was a pungent, sour stench that assaulted his nostrils, mercilessly tormenting his olfactory nerves.

‘I’m back?’

He awoke beside a heap of refuse, the familiar high-rises of Fengling City towering beyond.

Guided by the distant hum of traffic, he pushed himself to his feet and slowly made his way out of the alley.

Back in the vibrant city, he felt as though he had returned to his true home.

In stark contrast to the desolate town, everything in Fengling City now seemed remarkably welcoming and charming.

Yet, Bai Chen quickly became aware of the peculiar glances from passersby, who all covered their noses and gave him a wide berth.

He took a tentative sniff of himself, nearly swooning from the overpowering stench of the garbage dump.

‘How did I even end up in a place like that?’

As he walked, he strained to recall the moments before his unconsciousness.

Bai Chen remembered being on his way to Mo Qiu’s house, and then…

“I saw Mo Qiu, and then my head started aching.”

‘Mo Qiu, that’s right!’

Bai Chen immediately pivoted, breaking into a run towards Mo Qiu’s residence.

‘Could it be a mere coincidence?’

‘That Mo Qiu appeared in the very direction the alluring voice had led him?’

A horrifying thought began to coalesce in Bai Chen’s mind.

‘Could the strange occurrences be connected to Mo Qiu? Has she done something to me?’

This particular conjecture was so terrifying that Bai Chen’s pace involuntarily slackened, and he found himself suddenly reluctant to visit Mo Qiu’s home.

‘What if Mo Qiu has become my enemy…?’

Bai Chen’s fists clenched instinctively.

It took him considerably longer than anticipated to reach the apartment building where the young woman resided.

The large yellow dog downstairs, as always, began to bark furiously the moment it spotted him.

Bai Chen, drenched in sweat from his exertion, tugged at his collar and, without pausing to catch his breath, headed upstairs.

‘I recall it being this one…’

He had arrived.

Standing before the door, Bai Chen noticed that Mo Qiu’s apartment was not securely shut; it remained slightly ajar.

‘Could she not be home?’ he wondered.

Bai Chen knocked, but receiving no answer, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Mo Qiu was nowhere to be seen in the living room, though freshly purchased groceries lay on a counter.

‘Has she gone out again?’

Bai Chen walked further in, stopping before the young woman’s bedroom door, which appeared to be unlocked.

‘This is a girl’s room.

Will there be bras and panties strewn across the bed?

No, don’t be ridiculous.

Mo Qiu isn’t that messy of a person… probably.’

Bai Chen licked his slightly dry lips, his trembling hand closing around the doorknob.

With a sudden resolve, he pushed it open.

He stepped inside.

It was incredibly dark.

The curtains were drawn tight, and no lights were on, leaving Bai Chen unable to discern anything.

“What’s that smell?”

‘What *is* that smell?’

Bai Chen sniffed, noticing a somewhat stuffy odor permeating the room.

He clambered onto the bed, grabbed the curtains, and yanked them open with considerable force.

The room instantly became much brighter, finally allowing him to take in its full appearance.

It was surprisingly tidy, with no intimate apparel carelessly strewn about.

Except for the quilt, which was conspicuously rolled up on the bed.

Bai Chen initially thought his eyes were deceiving him, but no—the quilt on the bed was unmistakably wriggling!

It shifted like a giant caterpillar, startling him so much that he scrambled backward, nearly tumbling off the bed.

The ‘caterpillar’ quilt slowly lifted, revealing its true form: a sleepy, disoriented face.

“Bai Chen?”

“Mo Qiu, why are you still in bed?”

“Just a little sleepy.”

Bai Chen accepted her explanation.

Mo Qiu, for her part, seemed entirely unfazed by his presence on her bed, her slender arm emerging from beneath the covers to rub at her eyes.

This was Bai Chen’s first time witnessing her in such a recently awakened state.

Her eyes were still hazy with sleep, her eyelashes fluttering gently as if reluctant to fully open and face the invading light.

Wisps of hair clung softly to her cheeks or playfully cascaded across her forehead, lending her an air of effortless, languid beauty.

‘So cute… wait, no!’

Bai Chen noticed Mo Qiu’s arm exposed.

Given her typical demeanor, the young woman beneath the covers was likely wearing absolutely nothing!

Before Bai Chen could even process this realization or attempt to stop her, Mo Qiu casually tossed aside the quilt right in front of him, revealing the true sight beneath.

Bai Chen froze, the scene before his eyes far from what he had imagined.

The young woman was still clad in a cute, flimsy nightgown, its hem modestly covering her upper thighs.

Mo Qiu scrambled on all fours towards the edge of the bed, her backside conveniently facing Bai Chen.

Her lower half… was adorned only in a pair of small, white panties—devoid of any pattern, a pristine, immaculate white.

As the young woman’s plump backside swayed enticingly with her movements before Bai Chen, a familiar internal conflict flared: his ‘lower house’ was once again poised to launch a protest against his ‘upper house’!

Just as Mo Qiu was about to get off the bed, she seemed to recall something, suddenly turning and scrambling back.

Bai Chen, meanwhile, retreated to the very edge of the bed, his body tilting precariously backward.

A faint, clean scent from the bedding clung to her, and her hazy eyes drew close to his face.

“Mo… Mo Qiu?”

“Sorry,” Mo Qiu murmured, “I still want to sleep.”

With that, Mo Qiu simply leaned against his chest, her even breaths softly caressing him.

Bai Chen’s body instinctively tensed, his arms trembling relentlessly.

He yearned to push her away, yet found himself utterly unable to.

He braced himself, preventing his body from toppling off the bed.

Despite his arms shaking uncontrollably, he gritted his teeth and held steadfast.

“Have you been sleeping this entire time?”

“Mhm.”

“What about those groceries…?”

‘They were originally for tonight’s dinner.’

‘Ah, so that’s it.

How absolutely wonderful that I won’t be eating Mo Qiu’s dinner tonight,’ Bai Chen mused, a wave of profound relief washing over him.

“Were you truly asleep the whole time?”

“…You smell awful,” the young woman muttered, twitching her nose.

“You’ve worked up quite a sweat.”

“If I smell bad, then don’t cling so tightly.”

“Sweat, no, that’s not right.

This is *Bai Chen’s* scent.”

Far from releasing him, Mo Qiu only tightened her embrace.

‘Am I the only one who can detect this scent?

Only me, yes, only me.’

‘This is the very scent Bai Chen emits when he’s like a wild beast.’

Experiencing it now, Mo Qiu felt a perverse thrill.

‘She simply couldn’t resist.’

“Since you’re so sleepy, perhaps we should postpone our study session?” Bai Chen inquired.

“Mhm.”

“In that case, I’ll be going now.”

Only after watching his retreating figure leave her home did the young woman finally enter the bathroom, emerging a few moments later.

‘Fortunately, I managed to hide in bed the moment I returned, otherwise he might have detected something amiss with my identity.’

Mo Qiu settled before her computer, feeling the cool touch of the chair against her skin.

This had been her closest call to having her identity exposed, and she was relieved to have successfully dispelled his suspicion.

‘And I even got to smell Bai Chen’s scent when he’s been exerting himself.

Such a privilege, one only I get to experience in this entire world.’

Mo Qiu licked her lips, her dead fish eyes narrowing slightly.

Walking down the street with his hands in his pockets, Bai Chen reflected on the day’s various encounters.

The shadowy figure he suspected was Mo Qiu, the freshly bought groceries on the table, and the sleepy-eyed young woman…

‘Was it truly just my imagination?’

No, that couldn’t be right.

He adored Mo Qiu’s dull, lifeless eyes, but he also knew perfectly well that such eyes were capable of concealing countless secrets.

Including some deeply hidden ones.