A Girl's Secret Feelings

After a few brief remarks, the group instinctively shifted into stances that would let them act quickly.

They stayed on guard for several seconds before Luo Li couldn't resist reaching for another piece of meat.

As she chewed the beef, she spoke indistinctly. "Could it be an ordinary criminal?"

"No." Sitting to her right, Lu Shaoqi was browsing a page of relevant information.

"If there were really a super serial killer like that, the other squads would have dealt with them already."

Tianhai City had seven special Transcendent squads in all. The squad led by Qiu Ye ranked sixth among them. Because of her easygoing, noncompetitive approach to life, promising newcomers never chose to join her squad.

"Then it's a Transcendent."

"But a Transcendent killing dozens of people... that doesn't seem very normal either." As the blue-haired little girl spoke, she made sure to fish the biggest piece of tripe out of the pot.

"And besides, if they're a Transcendent, they must know who we are. Yet here they are, pretending to be ordinary people."

Luo Li volunteered at once. "I'll go test them!"

Hearing this, Qiu Ye tacitly approved her plan.

Luo Li was tiny, and she looked like an adorable doll. People found it easy to let their guard down around her, making her the best person to approach them.

She went straight to their table. Facing Chen Xi and Lin Yue, she grinned.

"Miss, do you have a boyfriend? My boss wants to get to know you."

Lin Yue looked as if she wanted to say something but held back. Chen Xi was the first to answer the startlingly forward question.

"...Who's your boss?"

"Over there." Luo Li pointed at Qiu Ye, whose face had flushed with embarrassment.

"Luo Li!"

Qiu Ye hissed angrily as she hurried over and yanked Luo Li away. Luo Li had been pressing both hands against the table and acting cute.

"I'm sorry. She's just a child and doesn't know better. Please forgive her if she offended you." Qiu Ye bowed slightly and apologized sincerely.

There was no need to test them any further.

[Kagura Mind Eye] was the second Legend Luo Li had mastered. It had just one ability—to discern a target's emotions and hostility.

If Luo Li had dared to pull a stunt like that, it meant the two women in front of her had passed her ability's test.

"It's fine. Kids are like that. I understand."

After Chen Xi spoke, she waited for Qiu Ye to keep testing her. But Qiu Ye apologized once more, then turned and went straight back to her seat.

She wasn't going to ask anything else?

Chen Xi glanced at Qiu Ye again. When Qiu Ye noticed her looking, she smiled.

So she didn't want to meddle...

The other party had clearly realized she was a Transcendent. After probing her with some kind of ability, she had decided to let her go.

"Is she pretty?"

Lin Yue's voice pulled Chen Xi out of her thoughts.

The black-haired girl turned her head. Lin Yue was propping her chin on her left hand, a slice of meat held in her right, but she had yet to put it in her mouth.

At that, Chen Xi looked back at Qiu Ye.

Three seconds later, she reached her conclusion. "She's pretty."

There was something special about Qiu Ye. She had a way of making people trust her for no apparent reason.

"I see..." Lin Yue quietly set the slice of meat in her bowl.

Seeing how hard Lin Yue was trying to hide her disappointment, Chen Xi thought she was just being moody like a young girl. She used the serving chopsticks to put a freshly cooked slice of beef in Lin Yue's bowl.

"You're beautiful too, Lin Yue. Sometimes, you don't have to compare yourself to other people."

"What?!" Lin Yue protested hurriedly.

"I'm not a child. How could I get upset over something like that?"

Even so, that inexplicable sense of disappointment eased a little.

What was going on?

She felt this way every time she was with Chen Xi.

After eating a little more, the two saw that Qiu Ye really had no intention of investigating them further. Chen Xi left the hot pot restaurant with Lin Yue.

The street outside the restaurant was packed with people. They had to walk some distance to a bus stop before they escaped the crush of the crowd.

Chen Xi stole a glance at her. "I'll walk you back to school."

The girl who had been so cheerful in the restaurant seemed to have something on her mind now.

"Mm," Lin Yue murmured.

Noticing that she was in a strange mood, Chen Xi considered her words for a moment before asking, "What are you thinking about now, Lin Yue?"

The blonde girl hesitated, but in the end, she asked, "Why... are you so nice to me?"

"It's as if we've known each other for a long time."

That was exactly how she felt, and it left her confused. The memories the two of them shared had already been erased by Regression.

At her words, Chen Xi's expression remained calm.

"There's no reason." Her eyes gazed indifferently at the blonde girl.

"Lin Yue, sometimes people show you kindness without wanting anything in return."

"If I had to say, it's the way you treat people that lets you see this side of me."

"Go back and get some sleep."

She patted Lin Yue on the head. The bus pulled up, and Lin Yue gave a soft hum before hurrying aboard.

It wasn't until she sat down that Lin Yue came back to herself after their conversation.

So hot...

She gently touched her burning cheeks.

Talking to herself, she lamented, "Ah—I should've just asked if I could stay at your place."

In this loop, since they both knew Wu Xin wouldn't attack Chen Xi before she advanced, Lin Yue hadn't even come up with an excuse.

The bus started as the girl reproached herself.

Watching it pull away, Chen Xi's racing heart finally settled down.

Who knew what had made Lin Yue think along those lines? Chen Xi had only been treating her as she normally would.

Fortunately, after everything she had been through lately, she could now spin a story without batting an eye.

But in a way, this had been a blessing in disguise. At least from now on, she wouldn't have to keep up an act around Lin Yue.

Once she had calmed down and made sure no one was around, Chen Xi took out Rain Lord's pupil and swallowed it whole.

Lin Yue had never eaten one, so she didn't know that after swallowing Rain Lord's pupil, you could choose whether or not to absorb it.

Although Wu Xin wouldn't attack her, that didn't mean she wouldn't try to take Rain Lord's pupil.

Chen Xi didn't want to have to watch out for that ghost every second.

As for why the conditions for mastering it were so simple, killing Rain Lord had already been the greatest trial.

After taking the last bus home, Chen Xi slowly climbed the stairs, reviewing her earlier actions as she went.

The residential complex was old, and its wiring had been poorly maintained for years. The lights in the stairwell shorted out from time to time.

Chen Xi felt her way up in the dark. Fortunately, she was a Succubus and had excellent resistance to darkness.

When she reached the third step, the black-haired girl heard a faint sound of breathing coming from outside her front door.

Someone?!

It was probably Wu Xin again.

Chen Xi calmed herself and simply turned on her phone's front-facing flashlight.

An unexpected visitor appeared before her.

"...Zhu Li?"

In front of the security door, the red-haired girl was crouching and idly drawing circles on the ground with flames.