The Scent of Callery Pear Blossoms

The Special Affairs Department office was silent.

"They're gone?"

Ai Qing looked at the sweating man behind the desk. "Two perfectly good people, and you're telling me they're gone?"

"There was nothing we could do. The roadside surveillance cameras only caught a few side profiles. They were wearing masks too, so we couldn't tell where they came from. As for this photo..."

The man looked at the photo on the desk, showing the criminal tied to a chair, and his headache worsened. Pointing at the bridge of the nose and cheekbones, he said, "There are obvious signs of plastic surgery here, and it was recent. Finding them won't be easy."

"If everything in the world were easy, All Under Heaven Peaceful would have come long ago."

Ai Qing had no patience for such brainless excuses. She pointed again at the white powder in the plastic bag on the desk. "What about this? Any new leads?"

"Uh..." The man looked as though he wanted to speak but couldn't.

"Is that so?" Ai Qing seemed disappointed. "If New Sea's capabilities fall short, then I can only report this to the Astronomical Society..."

Once the lid was lifted, though, if anything unpleasant came out, things would become truly unpleasant.

"Cough, cough, no, that's not what I meant." The unlucky fellow who had clearly been shoved out to take the blame hurriedly waved his hands. He did not dare try bargaining at all. "It's not that we refuse to cooperate. It's just that this sort of unconventional hallucinogen mixed with Source Matter is far too common. There's simply no way to trace its origin..."

"Hm?" Ai Qing frowned.

"The part that affects people mainly comes from the Source Matter inside, but too many Border Relics can produce this kind of thing. Its composition is also too easy to alter. There are already dozens of varieties recorded as having circulated on the market, and if we could access the Astronomical Society's database of banned drugs, there might be tens of thousands.

"At the end of the day, the powers of Ascenders and those hellish creations are simply too irrational. We truly can't do anything about it."

The sweating man had completely surrendered.

"If you're not capable, why make so many excuses?" Ai Qing withdrew her gaze in disappointment and prepared to leave. The man let out a breath of relief.

But after pushing open the door, Ai Qing turned back and suddenly asked, "Since there are so many things you can't handle, then when there are things you can handle, you surely won't refuse, right?"

"...Right. Of course."

The man behind the desk froze for a long while, then couldn't help but curse those useless parasites who held their posts without doing any work to hell and back. After silently adding a massive debt to their account, he barely forced out a smile. "We will cooperate with everything we have."

"That would be wonderful."

The door closed.

"Music!"

Inside the dimly lit private room, two figures nestled together on the sofa, whispering sweet nothings. One of them raised a hand and snapped his fingers.

So Huai Shi, expressionless in the corner, numbly began to play his instrument.

In his backpack, the emotionless Book of Destiny wrote down a record: On my first day working with Liu Dongli, he made me play music for him. I'll remember this grudge.

That was right. This was Huai Shi's first day moonlighting as a host.

In order to survive, he had fallen from an elegant cellist into Liu Dongli's personal BGM player. They had debuted as a duo: one sold his body, the other sold his art. Three curls in his hair and a V-neck jacket, and becoming a superstar host was practically just around the corner... my ass!

Everyone else had personal bodyguards. Why had it turned into me personally guarding a bodyguard?

Sleeping in the same house was one thing, but they even had to go to work together!

Was that really necessary?!

If not for the threat to his life and Ai Qing's daily eight-hundred-yuan hiring fee, he would have quit long ago.

Until this matter was resolved, he would probably be tied to this host.

Huai Shi's demands were not high: I'll take the blame, and you can go die.

Once this was resolved, they would go their separate ways. They would tacitly pretend nothing had happened and never have anything to do with each other for the rest of their lives. That would be best.

After he got rid of that damn Crow too, he could start his life over. With his finally activated cheat ability, he would rise to the pinnacle of life, marry a rich, beautiful woman, fulfill his Wishes of counting money until he broke dozens of printing presses, and becoming so famous that even after death he could turn into a pretty girl and enter the Gacha Pool...

In the middle of his ridiculous fantasies, his sharp hearing suddenly caught restrained sobbing from the sofa.

Amid the alcohol and the sorrowful cello music, the woman leaning against Liu Dongli's chest could no longer suppress the grief in her heart. She choked out a sob, gripping Liu Dongli's hand.

"In my heart, I've always, always thought of you as my son... I'm sorry. I kept it from you all this time. If my son were still alive, he'd definitely, definitely be about your age..."

Amid Huai Shi's faint snort of laughter, Liu Dongli's professional smile stiffened as well.

When he finally saw the client off and returned, he came face-to-face with Huai Shi's mocking expression.

"Eugh—"

Huai Shi looked him over and sighed sincerely. "Is this the legendary true flavor of being a host?"

"Flavor my ass!" Liu Dongli rolled his eyes. "More like the scent of callery pear blossoms! I've slept with clients so many times, and now I've slept my way into becoming someone's son!"

"Tsk, tsk. Shouldn't you be making some lofty speech about comforting lonely women and bringing them warmth? Then I could also greatly improve my opinion of the host profession..."

"I think there's something wrong with this." Liu Dongli gave him a sidelong look and pointed at his head. "No matter how nicely you put it, hosts are just people who sell smiles and bodies. Where's all that lofty nonsense coming from?"

"But you seemed pretty happy doing it." Huai Shi froze for a moment, then his eyes filled with pity again. "Don't tell me you like older ladies?"

"Bullshit!"

Liu Dongli shot him a disdainful look. "Do you think everyone's as broke as you? Back then, with this face of mine, all I had to do was name a price for however much I wanted to hold someone, and within a few days, I made forty million..."

Huai Shi remained calm. "Oh, and then?"

"...Then I got caught." Liu Dongli said dryly. "That woman arrested me herself. Later, she said that since I liked using my face to cheat women out of money so much, I might as well become a host. I'd be free once I paid back every cent I cheated her out of."

Huai Shi was stunned. "And then you really became a host?"

"What else was I supposed to do? Get sent to the Border? My ability doesn't work on anything other than people. Going there would be suicide." Liu Dongli smoked gloomily. "When they've got a gun shoved in your mouth, try shaking your head. I was damn near pissing myself, okay?"

Hearing this, Huai Shi became intensely curious. He leaned closer and asked in a low voice, "Didn't you use that ability of yours back then?"

Liu Dongli's expression grew even more dispirited. After a long while, he finally squeezed out a few words.

"I used it. It didn't work."

"So did you use it or not?!"

"I used it, but it was fucking useless."

Liu Dongli shook his head in defeat. "Later, I kept thinking: my ability must have taken effect. I was trying to escape, so I even used ten times the normal amount! When I used my ability, she should have fallen madly, helplessly in love with me...

"Funny, isn't it? Her name was clearly Ai Qing, yet love was worth less than a penny to her."

"Uh..."

Comparing that to the woman he had met a few days ago, Huai Shi was somewhat dumbfounded. "Are you sure you're describing a human and not Steel Godzilla?"

At last, Liu Dongli gave him another look, as though looking at an idiot. "Are you kidding? She's the Astronomical Society's top authority in New Sea, an inspector with the power to temporarily make every Ascender work for her.

"How could Godzilla compare to her? If you offend Godzilla, you'll only die a more miserable death. If you offend her, you'll suffer worse than death!"

As the two talked, they had already left through the back door of the club and were walking down the street, looking for somewhere to get dinner.

Liu Dongli was paying.

He really could not stand Huai Shi's plain boiled Dried Noodles anymore.

"If I don't eat some meat soon, my abs are going to start digesting themselves..." Liu Dongli flamboyantly patted his stomach. "How about hot pot?"

Huai Shi glanced at him and said darkly, "I hear too much hot pot makes your ass hurt."

Liu Dongli froze, then immediately realized the little bastard was implying something. He could not help lifting a leg and giving that endlessly dirty-mouthed thing a vicious kicking.

In the end, thoroughly put off, they hastily ate a bowl of noodles before heading home. Liu Dongli still complained that walking was tiring and shouted that he would drive over tomorrow.

"I mean, it's already midnight."

Walking down the street, Huai Shi could not help yawning. "Can't you get off work earlier? Bro, I'm seventeen this year. I'm still growing!"

"Really? Looks like you're already pretty much done developing. Where else are you planning to grow?" Liu Dongli snorted. "Besides, what host works during the day? Because of you, I even skipped the second half of my night shift today."

As he spoke, he rubbed a few fingers together, making Huai Shi think about how much he could earn from going out with clients at night.

Huai Shi's expression immediately turned strange. He looked back at him for a long time before suddenly asking,

"Does this count as persuading you to turn over a new leaf?"

"...Get lost!"

As they traded barbs on the road, Huai Shi heard the sound of a bird beating its wings. A black Crow landed on the tree ahead and turned to look at him.

For some reason, Huai Shi suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

At Crow's prompting, he abruptly turned his head and looked behind him.

At the end of the silent suburban street, under the dim glow of the streetlights, a hunched shadow crouched soundlessly atop a fire hydrant.

A slightly comical monkey mask slowly lifted.

Its indifferent eyes stared at them.

...It had finally come!

Almost instantly, Liu Dongli reacted. With his left hand, he blocked Huai Shi behind him and casually shoved his handbag into Huai Shi's arms.

His right hand reached into his clothes and gripped the weapon in its holster.

He retreated rapidly.

At the same time, a piercing sound of metal grinding erupted beneath Fierce Ape's feet.

Under those slowly tensing claws, the fire hydrant was torn apart like thin paper. As the shadow suddenly sprang forward and lunged toward them, a violent jet of water burst from the shattered hydrant.

Huai Shi staggered backward, looking around in panic. Amid his fear, a wave of relief rose in his heart: thankfully, that guy had chosen to attack here.

If they had walked a little farther, there would have been no streetlights... In complete darkness, Liu Dongli's ability would probably have had no room to work.

Before he could react further, Fierce Ape's howl tore through the air. In the blink of an eye, it was already within ten paces.

And Liu Dongli was already standing directly beneath a streetlight.

He raised a hand, swept back the hair from his forehead, and grinned at Fierce Ape.

In that instant, some power Huai Shi did not understand activated. Using Liu Dongli's face as its medium, it reflected into Fierce Ape's eyes.

In an instant, its movements stiffened, and it fell from the air.

Unable to move.

Unable even to breathe.

Liu Dongli did not dare let his guard down. He raised the gun in his hand, aimed at it, and pulled the trigger hard. Amid the deafening blast, Huai Shi suddenly felt the world darken.

The streetlight was flickering.

He froze and turned around in astonishment, seeing the electrical box beside the fire hydrant already billowing smoke.

Under the violent deluge from the water jet, sparks and smoke spewed wildly from it. As the streetlight flickered madly, a thunderous explosion rang out.

The streetlight went out completely.

Holy shit! What kind of shoddy construction had the contractor behind this municipal project done?!

My hand slipped, and tomorrow morning's scheduled update became an immediate update... Oh well, I won't take it down... Once again asking for recommendations and saves~