Chapter 188: Meeting the Parents in Reverse

‘I’m an hour earlier than I was in the dream.  It seems like I have plenty of time left.’

…Is it really enough?

Even though the looming crisis has been temporarily alleviated, Su Mu still can’t relax.

‘If everything I saw in the dream was real, about to happen, then it means everything I’ve done these past days was pointless. From the very beginning, Justice’s target was me.’

‘There’s no reason for that guy to go after Lu Shan. Obviously, it’s me, the one closely tied to Lu Shan—Genius Girl Irina—that he’s set his sights on.’

‘Maybe Lu Shan, as Mi Xian Shan, does hold some value to him.’

‘But if you put me and Lu Shan together, I’m clearly the bigger prize. This live broadcast is Justice’s plan to kill two birds with one stone.’

‘The moment the broadcast begins, the second Lu Shan is pushed out by him, I’ll fall into a completely passive position. If I show any sign of wavering, Justice will use Lu Shan as a bargaining chip, dragging me bit by bit into his carefully woven trap. Even if Irina manages to break free by then, I fear there’ll be lingering regrets I’ll never be able to make up for.’

Lost in thought, Su Mu had already dialed Lu Shan’s number.

“Beep, beep, beep –“

The familiar busy tone, but not the familiar flustered girl greeting her.

The call time read: 01:32

“Hello, the number you dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later.”

Still didn’t make it in time…..

Unconvinced, Su Mu dialed Lu Shan again. 

She was nearly as frantic as a mouse on a hotpot, scratching her fluffy pink hair into a bird’s nest from anxiety.

“Beep, beep, beep….”

‘Sigh, I might as well accept reality and use this time to do something.’

“Hello? Senbei? What are you calling for.”

Just as Su Mu was about to give up, the call miraculously connected. 

On the other end was Lu Shan’s familiar childlike voice, but it sounded muffled, as if there was a diaper between her and the microphone.

“Wait, wait, wait, you’re Mi Xian, right? Why are you only picking up now?”

Coming back to her senses, Su Mu asked indignantly. 

Even though she knew her bad mood wasn’t Lu Shan’s fault, she couldn’t help but want to vent.

“Huh? I-I haven’t woken up yet……”

On the other side, Lu Shan struggled to crawl out from her blanket. 

She looked as tired as someone who just stayed up all night partying, barely able to lift a finger.

Cats are nocturnal by nature, and tend to sleep in till the sun is high.

“So, have you had anything strange happen to you lately?”

“Something strange? No, not really. If you really want to count it, I ate takeout for several days and didn’t get an upset stomach. Does that count as strange?”

Though her strength hadn’t returned, Lu Shan had temporarily shaken off her craving for dark magic. 

She’d always lived comfortably, and these past few days had been even lazier—she couldn’t even be bothered to visit the Hotpot Restaurant.

If possible, Lu Shan wished these lazy days could last for a few more years.

“Let me ask you, have you cared about Justice lately? Has that guy contacted you?”

Su Mu fired off question after question, worried that the half-asleep Lu Shan wouldn’t be able to keep up. 

Lu Shan was completely stumped by the barrage.

About three seconds passed.

“Sorry, senpai, can you repeat that? I didn’t understand.”

‘What a silly Hakimi!’

“Forget it, come over here right now, to… to He Ping Road. I’ll send you the location. Come to the café downstairs.”

Su Mu didn’t know what else to say to this version of Lu Shan, so she just called her out.

She didn’t have time to overthink it. 

Anyway, Lu Shan was just an ordinary person now, so she wouldn’t arouse suspicion. 

Even if someone did notice, no one would do anything to her. 

There weren’t any old-fashioned Magical Girls left these days.

The Magical Girls, under that silver-haired witch’s lead, were doomed anyway. 

Accepting a few weirdos didn’t matter.

“I don’t want to.”

To Su Mu’s surprise, Lu Shan actually refused after a moment’s pause.

‘She refused me?!’

At that moment, Su Mu felt just like Luo Jialan after being turned down—utterly incredulous. 

This was the first time this had happened.

‘I’m still holding her lifeline!’

“If you don’t come, I’ll delete your account.”

“Go ahead and delete it. I’m going back to sleep.”

With that, Lu Shan hung up, leaving a fuming Su Mu behind.

“Hey? Hey! You—you! If you don’t believe me, I’ll stop caring about you……”

By the time Su Mu realized the call was over, Lu Shan had already slipped back into deep sleep, still holding the same pose as before she put down the phone, a shiny bubble forming at her nose.

Su Mu’s call notifications kept popping up on the screen, but Lu Shan had set her phone to silent. 

So, Su Mu just kept dialing, getting angrier with every attempt.

No amount of shouting could outdo a girl’s silent fury.

“Just wait, I’m coming to find you right now. I have your home address.”

Lu Shan might be able to resist being exposed, but last time Su Mu scanned her, she was lucky enough to get her home address.

‘Just you wait, just wait!’

***

A short while later, Su Mu arrived at Xingfu Community, checked the building numbers, and headed to the fifth building.

This was an old neighborhood, with no fourth building—probably because the number didn’t sound auspicious, so they skipped it in the design. 

In a sense, Lu Shan was living in the “fourth” building.

Because of its age, the buildings here were generally low and didn’t have elevators. 

Unluckily, Lu Shan lived on the seventh floor—the very top.

As Su Mu climbed the stairs, she kept reminding herself to stay calm. 

But as her calves began to ache, she grew more and more resentful.

Especially when she remembered that she’d come all this way to save this silly Hakimi, only to have her hang up.

Finally, Su Mu reached unit 701 and knocked hard on the door.

She used more force than necessary. 

Rather than knocking, it was more like pounding. 

Even some plaster dust fell from the adjacent wall.

“Lu Shan, Lu Shan! Open the door! If you don’t come out, I’ll come in myself.”

Su Mu could have just hacked the door lock with her handheld device and barged in, so she wasn’t bluffing—she really meant it.

But how could the soundly sleeping Lu Shan hear any of this? 

As expected, Su Mu was just about to….

The door opened.

Su Mu looked up to see a casually dressed, tall middle-aged man and was dumbfounded.

‘Wait, is Lu Shan secretly into this sort of thing?’

“Hello, I’m Lu Shan’s father. Are you here to see her?”

‘Her father? Oh no, just now I…’

Hearing Lu Shan’s father’s obviously unfriendly tone, Su Mu froze in panic.

‘What do I do? I think I just messed up. Was I too rude just now?’

“Uh, well, sorry. I thought she lived alone. I’m her, um…classmate. I came to talk to her about something.”

Staring back at the man’s suspicious gaze, Su Mu wished she could just sink into the floor.

‘Damn it, how could I end up in a situation like this!’