A mysterious nighttime meeting, shrouded in fog

The shop owner sat up straight, but Ye Jiang didn't look at him. She just stared at the steaming food stall, waiting for her pancakes. However, the puppet was controlled by the shop owner, and it wouldn't make any unnecessary movements without his instructions. After waiting for a while, Ye Jiang realized that the puppet wasn't doing what she asked, and she pursed her lips.

The boss noticed her little action, calmed down, lazily lay back down, and ignored her.

"I want a pancake with eggs and sausage," Ye Jiang reiterated to the puppet, her voice much slower and less than pleasant. "Two."

She has been trying her best to adapt to the rules and be a good citizen, but the fact that the business owner refuses to do business with her despite her willingness to pay has not been explained to her by anyone. She has been told that business owners also have the right to choose their customers.

Ye Jiang was unaware that this challenged her preconceived notions, so she was now slightly unhappy.

"Can't you understand human language, you little brat? Listen carefully, I... won't... be... your... baby..."

Before the shopkeeper could finish speaking, he noticed the outsider's eyes were red with anger. This kid just wanted to buy a pancake; wasn't he going too far? The shopkeeper wondered to himself, but he quickly lost interest in the outsider because his puppet suddenly froze, then began adding eggs and sausage to the pancake uncontrollably...

bite.

The electronic transaction notification sounded, and the outsider took the prepared pancakes and left.

The boss remained stunned for a long time... What happened?

On the other side, Ye Jiang walked and ate the pancake as she went. The pancake smelled delicious. The shopkeeper's attitude... Although the shopkeeper's attitude wasn't very good at first, he eventually changed and made her a pancake.

It's forgivable.

So, I'll come back to buy his cakes tomorrow.

Ye Jiang ate the pancake, lost in thought.

Steaming hot

The aroma of Teng's scallion pancakes soothed her taste buds. Ye Jiang's gaze drifted aimlessly across the street. She noticed that the early risers stopped what they were doing and stared blankly at her. She saw distinctive black tattoos on every single one of them. She saw that eight or nine out of ten townspeople possessed the Blood Moon symbol. Despite their rare talents, these supernatural abilities were used by the townspeople as if they were commonplace in their daily lives. She noticed that the townspeople generally had bad tempers and were somewhat resistant to her arrival. Even among the townspeople themselves, there were frequent conflicts, and they might even come to blows over the smallest things.

She did not see the child.

This seems to be a rather strange town, Ye Jiang thought as she threw the oil-absorbing paper that wrapped the scallion pancake into the trash can.

However, she didn't take it too seriously. She was just a passerby completing a mission and had no intention of buying a house and settling down here. How much could the local customs and traditions affect a passerby like her?

Thinking about this, she pondered her mission: to find a townswoman named Mei Ti. The mission giver didn't intend to contact her directly, telling her to contact him after finding the target. The giver provided her with some information, including a photograph of Mei Ti— a young girl with black markings on her forehead, who appeared to be underage. It was a recent photo. The giver said the girl was only 15 years old, lived on the east side of town, and had no parents, relatives, or friends. She had disappeared a month prior.

Ye Jiang headed toward the address of the girl provided by resident A, hoping to get some useful information from the girl's home; otherwise, she would just be searching blindly like looking for Invisible Man.

Watched from all sides, Ye Jiang arrived at the home of the girl Mei Ti. This girl named Mei Ti was obviously much poorer than the other townspeople. Her house was dilapidated. Ye Jiang just stood at the gate and did nothing, but the gate opened by itself due to its rot. So Ye Jiang walked in without any sense of morality.

She climbed through the window of the small building and entered the girl's bedroom. The bedroom was surprisingly cluttered with miscellaneous items. Wildflowers picked from outside were placed by the window, already withered from lack of water. Various books were piled on the desk, ranging from books on literacy and intelligence to various miscellaneous notes. There was a takeout container on the table. Ye Jiang opened the container, and a fragrant aroma of food wafted out. The food inside was still intact and fresh, and looked to be no more than a day old.

Why is there food? Has the young woman who owns the house returned?

It's not impossible.

Then why did she leave again?

Is she hiding from someone?

Ye Jiang's mind was filled with questions. She was really bad at thinking, and when she had too many questions, her face would turn blank.

She shook her head, postponing all the questions in her mind.

She thought that if the girl had returned, then she was considered missing and would definitely not be going in and out of the house during the day. It was more likely that she would sneak back at night. So she decided to spend a few nights here and keep watch to see what was going on.

Ye Jiang continued to observe the bedroom. She noticed that the drawer under the desk was not closed and had a crack. She pulled the drawer open and found that there were many things inside, some wrapped in clean white paper and some in small bottles. When she opened them, she found that both the paper and the bottles contained the same thing.

It was medicine, little white granules. The smell suggested it was a medicine used to treat Pollution. Ye Jiang remembered the smell; she had taken quite a few when she was in the hospital, and the memory was vivid.

Ye Jiang stepped on something, making a rustling sound. She bent down and picked it up. It was a drawing, drawn with childlike strokes, depicting a faceless child blowing out candles on a cake, surrounded by several other faceless people clapping and singing, "Happy Birthday to you~~~"

Ye Jiang looked around the room with the painting in her hand. She saw that the walls of the room were covered with paintings. Some paintings depicted audiences watching movies in a cinema, some depicted men and women working busily in an office building, some depicted customers shopping during a mall promotion, and some depicted elderly people chatting in a square. These paintings exuded a vibrant and joyful atmosphere, but none of the people in the paintings had faces.

There was a blank space on the wall, Ye Jiang tried to paste the painting in her hand onto it, and it fit perfectly.

There was nothing else to see in the bedroom, so Ye Jiang left and wandered around the other rooms of the building, going upstairs and downstairs, but found no useful clues.

She prepared to leave and returned to her bedroom. She paused as soon as she entered, then slowly walked to the window and leaned her upper body out. A group of people, also with tattoos and Blood Moon symbols, wearing uniforms, were standing in the courtyard below. They were the town's Guard. They looked up and silently gazed at Ye Jiang.

The Guard had long heard rumors of outsiders, and after a patrol, they finally found them.

"Good morning, guests from outside." The leader of the Guard greeted Ye Jiang and asked with concern, "Did you sleep here last night?"

The Guard seemed unaware that the owner of the building had disappeared, assuming that Ye Jiang had been taken in by the owner and spent the night there.

Ye Jiang didn't reply, and the Guard assumed she agreed, continuing, "There's something we're asking according to procedure, and we hope our guest won't feel offended—guest from out of town, may we ask what brings you to our town?"

Ye Jiang's gaze swept over the uniforms of the group below, and she casually offered an excuse. "Tourism."

She wasn't telling the truth. Although this Guard was the most friendly people she had met since arriving in town, she wasn't stupid enough to tell them everything, considering how afraid the townspeople were of these uniformed men and how she disliked using her brain.

She said, "Shuiling Town doesn't welcome tourists?"

"How could that be?" The Guard smiled gently. "Shuiling Town welcomes all tourists. It is a pleasure to have friends coming from afar."

Ye Jiang would never believe him; the townspeople's gazes towards her held no hint of welcome whatsoever.

Guard: "We heard that another young man has also come to Shuiling Town. Does the guest know what he's here for?"

"I don't know." That's the truth.

Guard: "Then do you know where they are?"

"I don't know." That's a lie.

"Really?" The Guard weren't angry at all at answering "I don't know" twice; their amiability was as if they had masks on their faces.

"Then we'll go find that guest, and we won't bother you any longer." The Guard seemed to be simply following procedure, preparing to leave once they knew their purpose. Before leaving, they even thoughtfully said to Ye Jiang, "Our Shuiling Town isn't exactly a great tourist destination, but the snack street on the south side of town has some charm; perhaps the guest could check it out there."

The Guard leader smiled warmly, "Welcome to Shuiling Town."

Chapter 86: A Mysterious Night Meeting, shrouded in mystery.

Welcome to Shuiling Town.

The Guard flashed warm smiles in unison, yet somehow it felt eerie. Ye Jiang remained silent. Seeing this, the Guard leader nodded to her, said nothing more, and gestured for his subordinates to leave.

"I noticed Pollution when I Shuiling Town," Ye Jiang suddenly spoke up, addressing the group below.

The Guard who had already turned away turned back at the sound of the voice. He looked up and said, "Yes, that's right. There may be evil Polluted in the town. We're investigating."

Ye Jiang asked, "The Polluted?"

The Guard exchanged knowing smiles, their expressions conveying a meaningless exchange to Ye Jiang. "Yes. But guests needn't worry..." the Guard leader said, his expression meaningful, "We'll find the Polluted and ensure you're not in danger. It's not a big problem."

The Guard asked considerately, "Does the guest have any further questions?"

Ye Jiang neither confirmed nor denied it, and the Guard, unperturbed, withdrew politely. Ye Jiang watched them walk out of the courtyard. Just before leaving, the leader paused, then walked to a willow tree by the courtyard wall. The tall willow branches swayed gently in the breeze. The Guard leader stood under the willow for a moment, a barely perceptible hint of displeasure flashing across his face, before stepping out from under the tree and leaving the courtyard with his men.

The Guard left.

Ye Jiang jumped out of the window, went to the willow tree, and looked up at it.

rustle.

The wind rustles through the treetops, causing the greenery to sway and ripple.

Nothing happened.

Ye Jiang slowly lowered her head. At that moment, a willow leaf gracefully fell, landing gently on her shoulder. She reached out and picked it up. The willow leaf was slender, with several strangely distributed black lines on it. It looked familiar, exactly like the lines on the skin of the townspeople. As she stroked the veins of the leaf, a gentle energy flowed through her fingertips, feeling as if she were touching a supernatural artifact. Ye Jiang knew that she had borrowed and examined the artifact Yu Qingyi possessed, so she wouldn't mistake it.