Robot: Gold Coin

Liu Chang'an found a red rope and tied the scroll up.

Red is festive.

Then, he threaded a red cloth strip through the center of the scroll, tied it up at both ends, and carried it on his shoulder. This was a very careful way of protecting the scroll for Liu Chang'an.

After all, his shoulders were so strong and powerful, like the marbles Michelangelo had brought from Carrara northwest of Florence and piled up in front of St. Peter's Basilica (this is a playful metaphor, because Michelangelo later went into debt because of this pile of marbles and eventually fled Rome, thus expressing the irony that many women leaned on Liu Chang'an's shoulders, but also left him with a lot of emotional debts, not water).

"Is there anything else I need to promise you?" Li Hongfang asked, hinting with some urgency.

"We'll talk about it later; let's treat your injuries first."

Li Hongfang nodded shyly, agreeing. With such a large patch of dead skin on her back, she figured he wouldn't be interested; he'd definitely want to heal it first.

So Li Hongfang unzipped the back of her cheongsam and walked towards her room, glancing back at Liu Chang'an.

"Change your clothes, we're going to Xiangtan University." Liu Chang'an turned around. Honestly, she'd exposed her wound to him again; there wasn't anything to see anyway.

Li Hongfang was somewhat taken aback, feeling as if she had misunderstood something. She hurriedly went back to her room to change her clothes.

Winter days are early and overcast. Even before dinnertime, the streetlights are already on, casting a soft glow.

The pace of life on campus is always a bit slower. As you walk through the campus streets, the private cars and buses also slow down. The men and women coming and going are mostly students from the nearby universities, exuding youthful energy.

"Do you feel a sense of longing and closeness to these young bodies?" Liu Chang'an asked.

Li Hongfang nodded, smiling with a hint of regret, "Unfortunately, I'm past the age of enjoying life on campus."

"I didn't mean for you to make these kinds of remarks... I was just referring to the fact that your body is being eroded, constantly losing its vitality and energy, so your body instinctively craves replenishment and is coveting these young and vibrant flesh and blood bodies," Liu Chang'an explained.

Li Hongfang was startled, her teeth chattering. After Liu Chang'an's explanation, Li Hongfang realized that she did indeed have such a desire hidden within her.

What she actually craved most was the aura emanating from Liu Chang'an. Originally, Li Hongfang thought she had received a hint from Liu Chang'an asking her to offer herself to him, and that her body was preparing to accept it, which was why she had this feeling.

Now that it seems... that's how it is. Li Hongfang quickly asked, "Then... what does this mean?"

"Scientific research involves bold speculation and careful verification. I don't have any evidence yet, but I suspect that if you don't receive treatment, you might be dominated by this bodily instinct and eventually become a monster that drains human life force... Perhaps that's the purpose of that mysterious creature, or its method of expanding its own species, and not simply to torture you?" Liu Chang'an speculated.

Liu Chang'an did recognize a little monster with these characteristics, but all she did these days was play cards, eat, and learn makeup from Zhou Shuling. Liu Chang'an didn't want to talk to her. When he seriously wanted to ask her something, she couldn't help him at all.

"Big brother, don't scare me." If they weren't on the street, Li Hongfang would have knelt down before him.

Liu Chang'an didn't say anything more. Anyway, she wouldn't understand if he said more, and if she asked, he would have to explain it to her.

Liu Chang'an led Li Hongfang to Su Nanxiu's glass house.

"This... isn't this Su Nanxiu's place?" Li Hongfang didn't know what Liu Chang'an was up to. She had been controlled by Su Nanxiu for a period of time and worked for Su Nanxiu, so she was very familiar with this glass house.

"You might not know that she is also a top-notch biologist in the field of anomalous organisms." Liu Chang'an stood in front of the glass house, looking up at the monitoring robots crawling on the walls. They adjusted their angles, allowing their cameras to cover the area where Liu Chang'an was standing from different angles.

Li Hongfang had no idea; she had always thought that the girl was just a beautiful, ruthless young woman from a super-rich family who controlled an enormous amount of terrifying resources.

You really can't judge a book by its cover... Li Hongfang glanced at Liu Chang'an again; this young man was the same way.

Otherwise, why would Su Nanxiu be so infatuated with Liu Chang'an? Li Hongfang still remembered the bitter and resentful expression on Su Nanxiu when she and Su Nanxiu were monitoring Liu Chang'an and Bai Hui rowing on the lake that day.

Why bother? Li Hongfang had just sighed like that, but then she thought, if someone like Liu Chang'an fell for him, even she herself probably wouldn't be able to utter that "Why bother?" sigh anymore, and would be deeply entangled in it herself, right?

Fortunately, there's a significant age gap between us, so there was never any romantic tension between us from the start. Even though I've been overthinking things these past few days, I've quickly cleared up the misunderstanding.

"I don't have any suitable equipment on hand, so your back injury needs to be examined by her... Besides, I know you said someone is watching me, and it's most likely her." Liu Chang'an smiled. "In that case, let's just do it right under her nose, so she doesn't become suspicious... If I hide with you to do something, she might actually discover your injury later and use you as a research subject, occasionally dissecting you or observing your lesions."

Li Hongfang couldn't help but move closer to Liu Chang'an, her eyes darting around. After receiving news from Liu Chang'an about the treasure's location, she ran away without informing Su Nanxiu or contacting Su Nanxiu again. She had intended to use this opportunity to get rid of Su Nanxiu, but little did she know that she would end up delivering herself to her doorstep.

What can we do? Like I said, our lives are at stake.

The glass door opened, and to greet Liu Chang'an and Li Hongfang was the same robot with a full head of blond hair.

"Hello, we meet again. I'm the latest model, and I'm the one that my master is most satisfied with. You can call me Gold Coin, Little Gold, or Florin." The robot greeted Liu Chang'an.

"Hello, since you're the latest model, how come we meet again?" Liu Chang'an greeted it as well.

"Because the audio and video data of the robot you met before has been transferred into my memory, it's as if we've met again," the robot Little Gold explained.

"That's true," Liu Chang'an agreed.

"She... she's really a robot?" Looking at the lifelike skin texture, Li Hongfang was astonished. This was actually a robot?

"Yes, it says its name is Florin, which was a currency of 16th-century Florence, and it was also Gold Coin."

"Blood Ancestor, you are truly learned and talented."

Liu Chang'an ignored the robot. These robots were really persistent; they all liked to call Liu Chang'an the Blood Ancestor.

Li Hongfang had many doubts, but she didn't ask any questions and simply followed behind Liu Chang'an.