The sky was already bright, and warm sunlight streamed into the room.
Lin Xiao opened his eyes groggily and felt something pressing on his left arm. Looking down, he saw Betty sleeping soundly with her head on his arm.
Lin Xiao stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, his mind racing through his thoughts. He got Betty drunk, carried her back to the hotel, flew out to steal the needle, and came back to confess. Betty, with red eyes, said, "I don't know if I should believe you." Then he squatted by the bed, and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.
The question now is: how did he get onto the bed? And why is he hugging Betty? And why is Betty resting her head on his arm?
Lin Xiao carefully tried to pull his arm out. The moment he moved, Betty frowned, mumbled something indistinctly, and buried her face in his chest. Lin Xiao froze, too afraid to move.
Okay then. I'll lie down for a while longer.
He closed his eyes again, a distinct smile curving his lips. Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, drawing a golden line across the ceiling. Everything was perfectly quiet.
Immediately afterwards, a cell phone rang urgently.
That's not Lin Xiao's phone. It's Betty's.
Betty was startled awake by the ringing phone. She opened her eyes abruptly and found herself lying in Lin Xiao's arms. She recoiled as if burned. Lin Xiao reacted quickly, grabbing her waist and pulling her back. His other hand had already picked up the ringing phone from the bedside table.
A nickname appeared on the screen: "Dumb".
Betty's face changed instantly. She reached for the phone, but Lin Xiao raised his arm high, and Betty couldn't reach it no matter how many times she tried. She glared at him, and he grinned at her before pressing the answer button.
"Hello?"
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. Then a deep, clearly displeased voice said, "Who are you?"
"You called me, and you asked who I am?" Lin Xiao said matter-of-factly. "I haven't even asked who you are yet. Disturbing people's sleep so early in the morning, don't you have any sense of public decency?"
"I'm Betty's father," the voice squeezed out through clenched teeth. "Who the hell are you?"
"Oh—General!" Lin Xiao's voice suddenly became enthusiastic. "I'm so sorry, I didn't recognize you earlier. I'm Lin Xiao, a bodyguard sent by the Hidreleven Group, Betty's personal security guard. You're Betty's father, right? It's a pleasure to meet you."
There was silence on the other end of the phone.
Betty's face had gone from pale to red, then to a deep red that could fry an egg in. She clutched the blanket to her chest with one hand, while trying desperately to reach Lin Xiao's phone, which he was holding up, with the other. Lin Xiao held her down with one hand, while steadily holding the phone with the other. She lay sprawled on Lin Xiao's chest, flailing her arms and legs, but she just couldn't reach it.
"You have my daughter's phone." General Ross's voice was low, struggling to control his emotions. "Where is she?"
"Her?" Lin Xiao glanced down at Betty, who was clinging to him and desperately trying to reach his phone, and his smile widened. "She's asleep. Still asleep. She was exhausted last night."
Betty froze. She looked up, staring intently at Lin Xiao with her brown eyes, and silently uttered three words: You're asking for it.
A very faint cracking sound came from the other end of the phone, as if something had been crushed.
"You fucking... wake her up, kid, right now!" General Ross's voice was squeezed out, each word hard-earned. "Right now!
"Wake her up?" Lin Xiao's tone suddenly became hesitant. "General, that's not a good idea. She's sleeping soundly. It's impolite for a grown man like me to wake her. Why don't you call later? I'll pass on the message to her—"
"You fucking--"
Then came a long silence on the other end of the phone, so long that Lin Xiao wondered if the old man had fainted from anger.
But finally, General Ross spoke, his voice unusually calm, so calm that Lin Xiao raised an eyebrow. "Alright, give the phone to Betty."
This time, Lin Xiao didn't make things difficult for him. He put down his phone and handed it to Betty, his expression seamlessly switching from a playful grin to a well-behaved and sensible one. Betty snatched the phone from his hand, sat up, turned her back to Lin Xiao, took a deep breath, and put the phone to her ear.
"Dad."
"You two were together yesterday?"
Betty's grip on her phone tightened slightly. She glanced at Lin Xiao —he was leaning against the headboard, hands behind his head, a look of schadenfreude on his face. She bit her lower lip, her voice returning to its usual coldness. "Yes."
The silence on the other end of the phone didn't last long. General Ross's breathing became noticeably heavier, but he didn't react. A man who had been a general for decades still possessed this much self-control.
"Okay, okay, I'll call you back later. I'm not in the mood to talk to you right now." His voice was low, and he spoke a beat faster than usual. "To be honest, are you sure you were together last night? He didn't leave you? Maybe he came to the military region?"
Betty's eyelashes trembled very slightly. She bit her lip, glanced at Lin Xiao, and slowly lowered her head.
Yes, we've always been together.
There was a second of silence on the other end of the phone. General Ross's voice rang out again, filled with suppressed anger. "Fine. You're good. We'll talk about my matter later."
The phone call was abruptly disconnected.
Betty was stunned for a few seconds, then got out of bed and headed for the door without looking back.
Lin Xiao walked barefoot to her side and blocked the doorway, but Betty turned her head away from him.
"I'll take you to school." Lin Xiao followed, picking up the car keys from the table and twirling them between his fingers. "It's not safe for you to drive alone. You drank so much last night, I'm worried about you."
Betty snatched the keys and strode towards the parking lot. Lin Xiao followed behind, hands in his pockets, walking leisurely, his smile never fading.
The black Land Rover drove out of the hotel parking lot and turned onto the main road. The car remained quiet for a long time. Betty gripped the steering wheel with both hands, her eyes fixed on the road ahead. Lin Xiao leaned back in the passenger seat, legs crossed, his fingers tapping a rhythm on his knees.
The car eventually stopped in front of Culver University.
Betty unbuckled her seatbelt, opened the car door, and got out, her expression slowly returning to its indifferent state.
"You don't need to follow me anymore! I won't mention that matter. Just do what you need to do and leave. You don't need to..."
"What are you having for dinner? What time do you get off work?"
"Were you even listening to what I was saying?!"
"Do you want pizza? I saw a place with really good reviews."
Betty:...
Betty walked into the school gate without looking back. Her steps were quick, the hem of her white lab coat billowing in the wind, and her ponytail swinging in a neat arc over her shoulder.
Lin Xiao leaned back in the passenger seat, watching her disappear through the lab building's doors. The smile on his face slowly faded, replaced by a somber expression. He sat in the car for a while, his fingers unconsciously tapping his knees, before starting the engine.
I should go see Mystique.
He parked his car in the parking lot near the school, not in a hurry to get out. From last night until now, this matter had been on his mind. He had left Mystique a note, telling her to wait for him at the hotel. Had that blue-skinned woman actually gone? If she had, what would she be doing at the hotel? Knowing her personality, she certainly wouldn't be sitting obediently in the room waiting for him. She might be lurking in some corner, ready to catch him off guard.
Thinking of this, Lin Xiao's lips curled up again.
About twenty minutes later, he arrived at the hotel he had booked. He walked to the door of room 1207 and knocked twice.
No one answered.
He listened intently; there was breathing inside, very faint, but definitely present. He placed his hand on the doorknob and gently pushed—the door wasn't locked. The hinges turned silently, revealing a room with the curtains drawn tightly shut, dimly lit.
The next second, a blue figure pounced down from the shadows in the corner of the ceiling. Mystique had reverted to her true form: blue scaly skin, red hair cascading over her shoulders, bloodshot yellow eyes with dark circles as if she hadn't slept for days. She pulled out two short blades and aimed them straight for Lin Xiao's throat. Her movements were as swift as a venomous snake leaping from the shadows.
Lin Xiao turned to the side, and the short blade grazed his neck, severing a few strands of hair.
The second attack followed immediately. Mystique used the momentum to flip in mid-air, her feet landing on the wall for leverage, and she sprang back like a spring, her short blade once again aimed at his chest. Lin Xiao spun around, sliding half a meter backward, and the short blade missed its mark.
Mystique did not pursue. After landing, she took two steps back, hunched over, with her arms hanging at her sides. Her two short blades gleamed coldly in the dim light, and her eyes were fixed on Lin Xiao. Then she pounced again.
Lin Xiao stood in the center of the room, his hands hanging at his sides, his face completely unguarded. He didn't even adopt any fighting stance; he just stood there, chest wide open, as if deliberately placing himself within her attack range.
Mystique, looking astonished, hurriedly sheathed her dagger in mid-air.
Why not avoid it?
Because I'm not afraid.
Mystique's eyes narrowed again. Her yellow, vertical pupils shrank into two thin slits in the dim light, like two blades aiming at each other. "Why aren't you afraid?"
"Not being afraid means not being afraid."
Mystique fell silent. She stared into Lin Xiao's eyes, trying to find a flaw in his face—a hint of guilt, a trace of tension, a primal fear of death. But she found nothing. He stood there, relaxed, his gaze open, a faint smile even playing on his lips. It was as if the two short blades in her hands, capable of piercing steel plates, were less intimidating to him than nail clippers.
"I don't have time for your nonsense." Mystique sheathed her dagger, crossed her arms, leaned against the wall, and turned her head away from him. "Tell me, why aren't you in your New York? What are you doing here?"
Lin Xiao put his hands in his pockets, tilted his head and stared at Mystique for a while, a slight smile playing on his lips.
I've been looking for you. I miss you.
Mystique whirled around, a complex mix of emotions flashing in her yellow eyes: confusion, wariness, anger, and a hint of panic she couldn't quite hide.
"Shameless."