Following Mo Xie

Since that night, Mo Xie's life had settled back into a peaceful routine.

With Tang Yue no longer bothering him, his days consisted of meditation and spell control practice, forging training, taking Ye Xinxia to and from school twice a day, and going to Chenxi at night to supervise work.

By the time he went to school for the second time, nearly two weeks had passed since classes began.

After spending half the morning there, he still hadn't seen Tang Yue. She wasn't teaching the practical magic class, either.

Another practical magic teacher told the class that Teacher Tang Yue had taken the day off.

With Tang Yue away, he could enjoy some peace and quiet.

He stayed until school let out. Just as he was about to head home, his phone rang.

He answered, his expression growing more serious as he listened.

"Bro, what happened?"

Mo Fan waited until Mo Xie lowered his phone before asking.

"It's nothing you need to worry about. Pick up Xin Xia and take her home. I won't be home for dinner."

With a flick of his fingers, he pulled a bag of clothes from his Spatial Ring and looked at Zhang Xiaohou.

"Xiaohou, take me to your dorm. I need to change."

Zhang Xiaohou had no idea what was going on, but he led the way.

On a Commercial Street near Tianlan Magic High School, pedestrians came and went, shopping bags hanging from their arms.

A graceful woman emerged from a shop and stretched lightly, drawing glances from countless men.

Some had girlfriends beside them. When the women caught their boyfriends staring, they gave them a hard punch.

The woman was Tang Yue. She wore a white blouse and black jacket, while her usual tight skirt had been replaced by a knee-length black one. Black stockings covered her slender legs.

The night before, she had happened upon a lead concerning the Black Vatican and had taken the day off to investigate.

But after searching all day, she had followed the trail to Commercial Street only for it to go cold again. The whole day had been wasted.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead. She hadn't eaten since noon and wanted nothing more than to find a place to fill her stomach.

As she turned, a figure at the edge of her vision made her pause.

The person wore a men's suit, a baseball cap, and a mask, hiding his face.

What struck her as odd was how out of place his outfit looked on a bicycle.

Tang Yue kept her eyes on him. A spark of recognition lit her gaze. She had seen that familiar outfit somewhere...

Then it came to her. Mo Xie had been dressed like that when she returned from her home visit that night, and a very similar bicycle had been parked outside his door.

More importantly, the other end of Commercial Street led to the back gate of Tianlan Magic High School.

She was certain that person was Mo Xie!

Today, just like that night—what was he up to?

Curiosity stirred. She sank into the shadows and followed him.

Lately, she had been thinking about apologizing, but she didn't know how to explain herself.

And whenever she remembered the intimate position they had ended up in that night, her cheeks grew hot and her imagination ran wild.

She had considered visiting him at home, but she worried that the sensitive Mo Xie might read too much into it, so she had dropped the idea.

After turning it over in her mind, she decided it would be better to apologize the next time he came to school.

But nearly two weeks had passed, and Mo Xie still hadn't shown up. Wasn't a student supposed to attend school?

Tang Yue had been so gloomy these past few days that her female students had nearly assumed it was her time of the month!

She hadn't expected to run into him while investigating today.

Fine, then. Let's see what that Little Rascal is sneaking around doing.

Mo Xie kept up a steady cadence as he rode among the cars, moving no slower than they were.

[Mo Xie, someone is following you. A Shadow Element Mage.]

"Mm. I know."

As he passed Commercial Street, his Super Intuition picked up a faint shadowy presence behind him.

At first, Mo Xie thought nothing of it. He assumed some Shadow Element Mage had used magic nearby.

But the farther he rode, the stranger it seemed. That presence was clearly keeping pace with the bicycle—or rather, with him.

Want to follow me?

Fine. Let's see if you can keep up.

Mo Xie smiled faintly, his gaze sharpening.

He shifted up two gears, rose from the saddle, and sprinted forward, rocking the bicycle beneath him.

He shot ahead like an arrow from a bow. Cars on either side swiftly fell behind.

Two girls on the sidewalk saw a blur flash past them at an astonishing speed and cried out.

"Whoa! What was that, a motorcycle?"

"Look closer. That was obviously a bicycle!"

"A bicycle? You think a bicycle can go that fast? Do I look stupid?"

"Maybe it had some kind of speed booster."

Behind him, Tang Yue gritted her teeth inside the shadows as Mo Xie accelerated.

How did he get faster? Did he notice me?

She dismissed the thought as soon as it surfaced.

Impossible. I'm an Intermediate Mage. How could a high school student detect me?

Tang Yue shook her head, channeled more Magic Energy, and struggled to keep up.

The sun had not fully set, and there were few shadows along this road. She had to weave from one patch of darkness to the next.

If it had been night, the chase would not have been nearly so difficult.

Mo Xie even had the leisure to glance back while sprinting.

When he sensed the shadowy presence still close behind, he blinked in mild surprise.

Persistent, aren't you? Too bad... you're too weak!

Mo Xie changed position, moving his hands from the handlebars down to the drops and gripping them tight.

He surged forward again at a speed even greater—and more unbelievable—than before.

Tang Yue's eyes widened, her lips parting in shock.

Was he trying to overturn everything she knew? How could his stamina be so monstrous?

Frustration filled her, but all she could do was watch Mo Xie's back vanish from sight.

Ten minutes later, Mo Xie arrived outside Chenxi's building. He handed his bicycle to a security guard and strode inside.

Jiang Ya was already waiting in the lobby. The moment Mo Xie entered, she fell into step beside him.

"Get everyone into the conference room within one minute. And request a video call with the Hangzhou Branch."

"Understood."

Jiang Ya nodded and tapped at her tablet.

A minute later, she led Mo Xie into the conference room.

Every seat around the long, oval table was occupied by Chenxi's senior staff in Bo City. Lin Jiayu was among them, of course.

Today, she had traded her usual striking red qipao for a women's business suit.

Nude stockings covered her long legs, accentuating their curves.

Without her usual allure and elegance, she instead carried the capable air of a powerful businesswoman.

The moment Mo Xie entered, everyone in the conference room rose to greet their boss.

Mo Xie pressed his palm downward, signaling them to sit, then walked to the head of the table and took his seat.

"Everyone's here. Let's begin."

Mo Xie nodded to Jiang Ya.

She understood at once and pressed a button. The conference room lights dimmed, and a screen appeared at the far end of the table.

Projected onto it was a man who looked to be in his thirties. Dressed in a suit and Gold-Rimmed Glasses, he sat at a table much like theirs.

"Boss, our Hangzhou Branch was betrayed by the Zhou Group, which leaked some important information..."

The man spoke in a low voice. His face was grim, and he was clearly in a foul mood.

By the time he finished his report, Mo Xie understood what had happened.

The Zhou Group had been a partner on one of the Hangzhou Branch's projects. Then, halfway through, it had stabbed them in the back and defected to a competitor bidding for the same project.

It had also leaked important information about Chenxi, costing them the project and inflicting heavy losses.

"Hmph! I knew the Zhou Group was no good!"

A hot-tempered man slammed the table in anger.

"Exactly. They pretended to be loyal to us, then pulled this."

An older woman beside him agreed.

"We never should have let the Zhou Group join the project!"

The conference room erupted into noise as everyone condemned and cursed the Zhou Group.

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