Chapter 130: How Shameless!
Xu Mochen finally reached her. He stood tall before her, radiating false benevolence, as though the heavens themselves had dropped a jewel into the middle of the crowd. His guards flanked him, faces stiff, but he only had eyes for her.
"It’s truly you, Lady Ling," he said warmly, voice resonant, drawing murmurs from the crowd. "Fate is wondrous, isn’t it? To find you alive, here, among all these weary souls..."
A ripple of envy stirred in the onlookers.
"She knows the Lord?"
"Did he just... call her Yu’er?!"
"How shameless of her, not bowing right away..."
Ling Yu’s expression remained cold, her gaze sharp as a blade.
"What do you want?" she asked flatly.
The crowd gasped. How dare she speak to the Lord so bluntly?!
Xu Mochen only chuckled lightly, shaking his head as if amused by her stubbornness. He leaned slightly closer, lowering his voice to a tender murmur meant to sound intimate yet audible enough for those around to catch fragments.
"Come with me, Yu’er. To where I stay. We have much to catch up on... and much I wish to discuss with you."
The murmurs turned into open outrage.
"She’s so ungrateful!"
"The Lord himself invites her, and she...!"
"Slap her face and drag her, I say!"
Ling Yu tilted her chin, meeting Xu Mochen’s gaze without flinching. "No."
The word cut through the air like a knife.
Gasps echoed all around. Faces twisted in anger. Someone even spat on the ground near her feet.
But Xu Mochen’s expression never cracked. That was his strength, after all, the mask. He merely smiled, a little wider, a little warmer, his eyes glowing like twin lanterns.
"You’re still as spirited as ever," he said with a soft laugh. "Very well... but consider it. You’ll find it’s safer with me."
[System Notice: Title skill "Snake’s Mask" in effect. True intent concealed.]
Ling Yu narrowed her eyes. She could see the threads beneath the mask, the hints of hunger glinting behind his warm gaze.
’As expected, he wants something from me. And he wants it badly enough to bite down on his pride in front of a crowd.’
Ling Yu was sure that it had something to do with Jiang Meng. She smirked faintly, deliberately tilting her head, letting a dangerous spark of amusement flicker in her expression.
"Safer with you?" she echoed. "I wonder... safer for who?"
The words slipped like poisoned honey, dripping with mockery only he could catch.
Xu Mochen’s eyes flashed for the briefest second with annoyance and irritation, but the mask snapped back instantly. He chuckled again, softer this time, and offered her his hand as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
The crowd was practically foaming at the mouth.
"Why hasn’t she accepted yet?!"
"How dare she insult the Lord!"
"She doesn’t deserve him!"
Ling Yu’s mind raced.
Rejecting him outright again would only inflame suspicion. But accepting him too easily might place her directly under his venomous fangs. But... what better way to uncover the serpent’s true nest than to walk into it willingly?
’He thinks he’s the one pulling strings. Let’s see how well his strings hold when the spider he lured is hungrier than him.’
After a deliberate pause, Ling Yu sighed faintly, feigning resignation. "Fine. Lead the way when it’s time."
Xu Mochen’s smile broadened, victorious yet gentle. "Good. You won’t regret it."
The crowd erupted into whispers and curses, envy burning like wildfire.
"Why her?!"
"Ungrateful wretch!"
"She’s so vile and cunning, playing hard to get!"
Fluffy bristled in her mind.
「Master, are you really going with him?! What if he poisons you or sells you to his stupid goddess anchor thingy?!」
Ling Yu stroked the little beast’s fur, her inner voice calm and sharp.
"Relax. The serpent’s nest is exactly where I need to be. He’ll reveal himself if I let him think he’s won."
[Unknown Cosmic Deity chuckles delightfully.]
「Good. Let him unravel himself under your gaze. Few hunters stalk their prey so boldly!」
[Unknown Cosmic Deity sponsors 500 coins.]
[Quest Progress Updated:
-Gain entry into Xu Mochen’s private facility. Reward unlocked upon uncovering hidden secrets.]
"I’ll leave with you. But before that, let me inform my people that I might not return to the base tonight." Ling Yu turned around and prepared to leave, only for Xu Mochen to grab her arm and stop her from leaving.
"If it’s about that, don’t worry. I’ll let my man go and tell them about it, isn’t it all the same? Let’s go right away, we have a lot to catch up on, don’t we?"
The moment Xu Mochen reached for her arm, intending to escort her without so much as a second thought for her companions, a voice slid into the air like a blade cutting silk.
"Lord Xu, surely even you wouldn’t be so discourteous as to drag off a guest without letting her inform her people first."
The crowd stirred, curious gazes snapping toward the man who dared to cut in. He walked forward with the ease of someone born beneath stage lights, his posture flawless, his steps unhurried, and his lips curved in that infuriatingly perfect half-smile Ling Yu remembered all too well.
Xie Lingzhou.
’What was he doing here?’
Her stomach gave a subtle twist of annoyance. Of all people to step into her line of sight now, it had to be him, the arrogant, devil-may-care film emperor she’d once had the misfortune of serving when she worked part-time at that high-end lounge near her university. He’d been her "VIP client" then, and she’d hated every smug word he spoke, every tip he tossed with the casualness of someone who thought money solved all ills.
But that was then. This was now. And the man before her was not only alive in this twisted apocalypse, he’d awakened far earlier than he should have, disrupting what she remembered of the past timeline.
Xu Mochen’s expression shifted at once. That perfect veneer of courtesy faltered for only a breath, replaced by the faintest twitch of displeasure before he masked it beneath his usual genteel smile.