“Stop, I understand, please stop crying…”
Lu Shan kept wiping away the tears that wouldn’t stop flowing from the corners of her eyes.
Su Mu helplessly handed over another tissue, helping the half-choking, half-rambling girl wipe her face.
“No, you don’t understand…”
Lu Shan felt there were endless grievances she wanted to vent.
Being comforted by Su Mu, she instead cried even more bitterly.
Her heart only thought, ‘I originally wanted to help Su Mu, but in the end, I got myself tangled up in this.’
Su Mu only experienced it once, but Lu Shan had been tormented over and over for who knows how many days and nights.
“It’s okay…”
“It’s not okay! I’m afraid when I open my eyes tomorrow, I’ll be back before we even left again…” Lu Shan’s voice, choked with sobs, sounded exceptionally fragile and pitiable.
She was already petite, and at fifteen, her build was close to that of an elementary school student, making Su Mu suspect she was comforting a little girl.
Fortunately, this version of Lu Shan hadn’t yet suffered Tang Nai’s meddling.
When transformed, she wouldn’t turn into a cat girl but would instead assume her eighteen-year-old state, which was a bit of good news.
“It won’t happen. By my side, you should… probably… be able to break free from the loop.”
Tang Nai had said that due to her own unknown authority, she could change the past and influence the original causality.
Lu Shan couldn’t.
She couldn’t resist the constraints of causality, so once she did something with serious consequences, she would be forcibly sent back to correct it.
But as long as it involved Su Mu, these original causal chains would be severed.
For example, because Su Mu saw the post about Mi Xian while browsing the forum, Lu Shan’s act of not posting to reserve a spot didn’t cause her to fall into a loop.
“You promise?”
Su Mu broke into a cold sweat.
Being looked at with those pleading, autumn-water-like dark eyes of Lu Shan’s, she…
“I promise.”
It felt a bit like a scumbag move, but to calm Lu Shan down, she had to say it for now.
In truth, Su Mu was just guessing; this casual promise felt inexplicable.
If Lu Shan opened her eyes tomorrow back in her own home…
Su Mu had no doubt that the next time she saw Lu Shan, the other girl would stare at her resentfully, then pin her down and take fierce revenge.
Lu Shan sniffled with her reddened, delicate nose, then revealed a brilliant smile.
Her mood instantly shot from rock bottom to the peak, all her inner worries completely vanishing.
“Then… what should I do now?” Lu Shan tilted her little head, falling into confusion.
Due to the endless loops, for a while she had only thought about finding Su Mu first, and hadn’t considered at all what she should do after finding Su Mu.
Su Mu shifted the topic.
She looked at Lu Shan’s harmless little face, then sensed the dense and powerful magic power within her body, and a bold idea formed.
“Then find Tang Nai to send you back… wait, hold on.”
“Don’t rush. Stay and help me with something first.”
Hearing this, Lu Shan looked utterly bewildered.
‘How did I end up coming here for manual labor?’
“Don’t worry, since I’m asking for your help, there will definitely be compensation. How about this: for any material needs, that bad little loli on the bed can help satisfy them. As for magic power… I can take you to ‘block the bridge’.”
Su Mu examined Lu Shan’s petite figure and nodded solemnly.
‘Hmm, small target, and her abilities are stealthy. Next time we’re surrounded by the allied forces, I’ll have her infiltrate them and wait for an opportunity to ambush.’
“Anything can be satisfied?”
Lu Shan blinked, the corners of her lips curling up slightly, revealing a hint of delight.
“Yes, whatever you want, just say it.”
From the information Tang Nai revealed, one could glean that the disparity in strength between enemy and ally was quite significant.
This was also why Su Mu hadn’t gone to find Ye Wanqing, because dragging her in would only plunge her into danger and worry.
But Lu Shan was different.
Given their deep connection, if the situation turned bad, she could probably protect herself.
Besides, in the worst-case scenario, Tang Nai couldn’t possibly just stand by and watch.
‘That girl was best at running away, and there was no… between her and me… Would she really let those witches tie me up and take me to Yanyu Tower to be a courtesan, then come to support my business and experience a romantic fling?’
The more Su Mu thought about it, the more uneasy she felt.
Although Tang Nai wasn’t that evil, she was very likely to use this as material to weave a dream and then hypnotize her with it.
‘The hero and the demon king were already outrageous enough; something like Young Master Tang and Courtesan Su, please no!’
“Anyway, you just need to stay by my mom’s side. When someone comes looking for trouble, you take her away. No problem, right? Once you agree, no backing out.”
Hearing the task was so simple, Lu Shan couldn’t help but narrow her eyes, her little hand rubbing her chin as she pondered hard.
Pondering failed.
The reward was too tempting.
Thinking about the possibly endless wealth waving at her in the future, Lu Shan couldn’t help but drool.
‘Hehe, then, whoever dares to mock me for drooling even after being cured, I’ll hire a million trolls to flame them to death!’
The moment Lu Shan, tempted out of her senses, blurted out “Deal!”, she suddenly recalled Su Ya’s Sealing Grasp.
A chill ran down her spine, and she was about to go back on her word, but how could Su Mu give her that chance?
“My mom is very nice, don’t worry. She’s in the kitchen right now. Shall we go get acquainted?”
Being looked at with Su Mu’s smiling eyes, Lu Shan’s pretty face turned pale then flushed, feeling somewhat wronged again.
‘Why? Just out of the tiger’s mouth, and right into the wolf’s den?’
“Relax, as long as you don’t provoke her, she should remain in her ordinary human state—even if her authority is suddenly awakened, you just need to tell her I asked for your help.”
Lu Shan scrunched up her little face, her tone miserable.
“What if she doesn’t believe me?”
“Doesn’t believe… isn’t that why you’re going to get acquainted?”
About ten minutes later, Su Mu finally managed to convince Su Ya that this black-haired girl who hadn’t come through the front door was her friend.
Even so, Lu Shan always felt timid sitting with Su Ya, a sense of restraint she didn’t even feel at other friends’ houses.
“Speaking of which, Miss Tang Nai said there would be another guest today…”
Hearing Su Ya muse thoughtfully, Su Mu’s delicate brows tightened.
‘It could only be Lemon. Is it today? So soon, can’t it wait a little longer?’
“I originally thought it might be Miss Lu Shan’s friend…”
Lu Shan’s pretty face flushed, and she gave a light humph.
‘Little friend’ or something… she wouldn’t repeat the same mistake this time.
Given the chance, she’d definitely reshape herself into a big sister!
While tangled in thought, the doorbell suddenly rang.
“Lemon’s here too…”
Su Mu complained, then headed to the entryway to open the door.
However, the moment her hand landed on the handle, a sudden sense of danger arose.
‘Wait, when Lemon gets close, do the threads trigger an alert?’
Su Mu quickly tried to sense the threads, only to find they were still right where they should be.
But before she could even sigh in relief, those threads simultaneously transmitted a single thought to her.
“Mother is here, so warm.”
Su Mu was so startled she jerked her hand away from the handle as if electrocuted, her sapphire-blue pupils trembling violently.
This was the first time this had happened.
All the threads were lazily inactive, with no will to move.
Even if Su Mu forced them, they would only tighten symbolically, all immersed in the so-called warmth.
Just as Su Mu stepped back, the door lock was suddenly twisted from the outside.
The lock cylinder popped out under an unknown force, and then the security door opened.
Appearing in the doorway was not the expected Lemon, but a tall woman with long, dark green hair.
Her ample bust strained against her clothes, as mature and alluring as Motes.
Her lazy, casual, narrow phoenix eyes were slightly narrowed, making her appear even more wicked and bewitching.
She wore a black trench coat over a form-fitting white sweater, which was also stretched taut by her figure.
Countless deep purple thin threads, as if showing affection, entwined with the warning threads Su Mu had set up.
They gently caressed the ends of Su Mu’s threads right in front of her, like a kind mother stroking her own child’s head..
In one hand, she held a purple chain that led straight to somewhere outside the door.
And with the other hand… she also held a purple chain that led straight outside.
Sun Chuan, standing outside, suddenly tightened her grip on the chain in her hand, dragging the other person hidden outside into Su Mu’s view.
“Pleasant surprises one after another. Miss Irina, or should I say…”
It was a girl with bright yellow hair.
She wore only a thin tracksuit, her eyes vacant.
A collar around her snow-white neck, depriving her of her freedom.
“Lu Shan, go!”
Su Mu snapped back to reality and quickly shouted to Lu Shan.
The black-haired girl understood immediately.
Right under Su Ya’s astonished gaze, she grabbed Su Ya and dragged her into the shadows, disappearing in an instant.
After all, her target had always been only Su Mu.
And upon sensing Su Mu’s ability, her interest in this girl had reached its peak.
Even Sun Chuan couldn’t stop her—or perhaps she didn’t care to.
“Tang Nai actually accepted a Strange Person, and that Strange Person was one I created unintentionally. This is truly…”
Sun Chuan slowly stepped into the entryway, her elegant high heels tapping against the wooden floor with a sound like horse hooves.
“I can’t help but suspect this is a trap. But if Tang Nai really wanted to deal with me, she probably wouldn’t need to go through this much trouble. So you must be very interesting.”
As Sun Chuan pressed closer step by step, Su Mu instinctively retreated.
Unknowingly, she had already backed up against the sofa.
Although keeping distance didn’t mean much at this point, Su Mu still strongly resisted the woman’s approach.
Sun Chuan licked her bright red lips, her eyes gleaming with intense interest.
“Don’t worry. I originally came with the intention of corrupting you, but now… it’s time for me to have a deep conversation with my long-lost child~”