Once the preparations were finished, Qi Gu made a point of reminding Niu An to tell her son and daughter-in-law not to come home until they heard from her.
Niu An naturally did as he asked. Her son and daughter-in-law were both ordinary, sensible people; they would hardly go out of their way to come home and court death under these circumstances.
Then she looked at Qi Gu and asked, "You still look the same to me. What do you two look like to Xiao Bao? You won't give yourselves away in front of that thing, will you?"
Qi Gu said, "I modified the incantation a little, so the illusion works on humans too. We still look the same to you because you already know who we really are."
The three of them headed toward Niu An's home together. After they went up into the apartment building, Qi Gu caught Lin Hanzhi's wrist through the fabric of his long sleeve and gave it a reassuring pat. "Don't be afraid. Just act the way Teacher Niu told us her son and daughter-in-law normally behave together."
Lin Hanzhi lowered his eyes to his cuff, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "With you here, I'm not so afraid anymore."
Watching the two grown young men chatter and pat and touch each other, Niu An instantly recalled Qi Gu in elementary school. Back then, he had never been this lively. He had been quiet, with a composure far beyond his years, and had therefore never made any friends. Seeing that he was no longer all alone now comforted her.
It was just... she did not quite understand why friends these days were always draping their arms around each other and touching each other so much.
Young people really were more uninhibited.
Still, that