Annoying, easy to keep up with. Huang Yi trailed Professor Meng and ran into no trouble along the way, until he confirmed where Professor Meng was headed—then he was stunned.
A psychology expert, and in just half a month, he’d become so unfamiliar, as if he were a completely different person. He couldn’t even imagine how anyone could easily reshape the worldview of such a formerly neutral psychology expert.
Logically speaking, the man was old, his worldview long since fixed, and on top of that, as a psychology expert, his mental defenses far exceeded ordinary people’s. It should’ve been nearly impossible to deal him psychological damage.
How could someone nearly invincible on the psychological front undergo such a massive change in just half a month?
A shadow of gloom settled over Huang Yi’s mind. He felt like he was standing at the edge of some deep pit, one step away from falling in—or never climbing back out.
Firelight flickered across his face. He didn’t join the others; instead, he backed off and pretended not to see anything for now.
The next day, the weather was fine, but the mood wasn’t.
After such a long recovery, Huan Hong’s body had mostly healed. Her recovery rate had clearly sped up, and Resonance had brought her many benefits.
Jin Luan still needed more time to fully recover, but she could already move freely now and jump into battle.
Being cooped up in the hospital and at home for too long had made them stir-crazy. Especially since they hadn’t seen Little Angel Yin Lin in ages—their hands and hearts missed her.
They arranged to meet up that day.
Song Wuli had originally wanted to decline, but Xia Shiyao played the sentiment card again—something about how long it’d been, how their bond was thinning, how they should enjoy the last days.
Really? It’s just a casual meetup, do you have to pull out all these cards?
Old Song still showed up, using Song’s Time-Off Method to squeeze out nine hours off for the afternoon.
Xia Shiyao came to pick him up. It was that black Bentley again, but she was driving, no outsiders.
They picked up Chen Jiayuan first. She marveled at the car’s luxury while opening the front door, but Xia Shiyao blocked her from getting in.
“Sit in the back, the back seats are more comfortable.”
Xia Shiyao’s thoughtfulness moved Chen Jiayuan deeply, and she happily went to the back.
In the car, Chen Jiayuan was super talkative, touching and sniffing everything.
“Is this car rented? How much per day?”
“My family’s car.”
“Huh? What does your family actually do? How are you so rich and influential?”
Chen Jiayuan was shocked.
“Secret.”
Xia Shiyao shut up and focused on driving.
“Stingy. Whatever, I can find out anyway.”
Ten minutes later, they reached another destination. From a distance, they could see a short girl standing by the roadside.
Despite hiding her face under a hat, Xia Shiyao recognized her at a glance.
That height and build were too distinctive, and she was carrying a guitar bag holding a wand.
Xia Shiyao had a feeling she’d never forget this girl’s figure for the rest of her life, as if it were branded into her very soul.
She slowly pulled the car over, exchanged a glance with the girl outside—it was indeed Yin Lin.
Yin Lin opened the back door and was about to get in when Xia Shiyao called out:
“Sit up front. The view’s better up there, wide open.”
Yin Lin didn’t think much of it, but she did exchange a look with Chen Jiayuan in the back seat. She felt a little sorry for Xiao Chen—there were teardrops welling up in her eyes.
Yin Lin ended up in the passenger seat.
The car slowly started moving. Yin Lin hugged her guitar bag and took off her hat, which was already steaming with heat. This weather was going to kill someone.
Before she could say anything, Xia Shiyao, who was driving, spoke first:
“Why are you wearing pants?”
“Huh?” Yin Lin blinked. “Should I not be?”
Xia Shiyao: “No, that’s not what I meant. I’m saying you look especially good in skirts.”
Yin Lin: “Oh? Big sister knows how to give compliments too.”
Xia Shiyao kept one hand on the wheel and placed the other beside the gear shift.
The car drove through streets full of rubble. People were rebuilding.
Now the people were full of hope, smiles on their faces as they operated construction machines to build houses.
The power outage had lasted half a month, and people seemed to have gotten used to it.
The panic over food shortages had also calmed, thanks to the Full Belly Charity’s daily food distributions.
A single civilian charity organization had held up the food consumption of all the disaster victims in Yiri City. Half a month had passed with no signs of shortage—looked like their supplies were still abundant.
That was why the organization’s position was so sensitive. Their hoarded grain was enough to support an rebel army.
In ancient times, that would’ve been a crime worthy of execution, even if they’d done nothing.
“About the Full Belly Charity, Wan Zi has some theories. Want to hear them?”
Xia Shiyao’s right hand quietly crept to the right again, reaching the passenger seat cushion.
“What’s up with that charity?” Yin Lin’s attention pulled away from her phone. “What theories?”
Xia Shiyao:
“Wan Zi and I investigated. No cargo ships carrying grain have entered or left Yiri City recently.”
Yin Lin:
“And the conclusion?”
Xia Shiyao:
“The Full Belly Charity was prepared. Either they predicted Yiri City would face food shortages and docked their ships at the pier well in advance, or—months ago, before the Demonic Creatures even appeared, they’d already shipped in massive amounts of grain.”
As she said this, Xia Shiyao’s pinky touched Yin Lin’s thigh.
Yin Lin still didn’t react, seemingly focused on mulling over her words. She asked:
“Couldn’t it be a coincidence? They just happened to pass through Yiri City, stopped for a while, and ran into this situation.”
Xia Shiyao:
“That’s not impossible. Wan Zi and I plan to keep investigating. This might not be as simple as it seems.”
While talking, she moved her right hand again, gently stroking Yin Lin’s thigh.
Suddenly, her hand stung—Yin Lin slapped her.
Xia Shiyao dropped the act and grabbed Yin Lin’s fair, tender leg, groping it until she triggered her defensive reflex.
Yin Lin didn’t hold back either. She grabbed Xia Shiyao’s middle finger and bent it backward with force.
This was Yin Lin’s new technique for dealing with Jin Luan’s pervy hands. Since she couldn’t match Jin Luan in raw strength, she had to learn precision strikes.
Like right now—all it took was one finger of Xia Shiyao’s, and Yin Lin had her moving.
Xia Shiyao was indeed in pain and started apologizing:
“Stop, stop, stop, I’m wrong. I’m driving right now. Don’t mess around, it’s too dangerous.”
Yin Lin: “I’m not afraid of a car accident. I’m in Transformation state. Car accident? I can use a Magic Shield.”
That was true. Yin Lin’s Magic Shield could even withstand Demonic Creatures—why would she fear a car crash?
Chen Jiayuan in the back was getting scared too and quickly separated the two.
How weird. Why were Jin Luan and Yin Lin so close?
Huan Hong had teamed up with Jin Luan for years without that level of intimacy. Yin Lin had only debuted a few months ago, yet she and Jin Luan were always roughhousing.
Chen Jiayuan didn’t dwell on it. It was just a little strange.
Once the two in the front calmed down, Chen Jiayuan finally asked:
“So, where are we going today for the final celebration?”
Xia Shiyao sighed while driving:
“Ugh… it sucks. The last two days.”
“Huh? What last two days?”
Chen Jiayuan:
“We’re the 1st of September. You guys?”
Xia Shiyao:
“We’re the 2nd.”
A few seconds of silence passed without Yin Lin answering.
Xia Shiyao casually asked:
“Lin, what about you? What day?”
Yin Lin was completely confused.
What the hell is happening in a few days? Is it some holiday? How do I not know? Dude, what kind of code is this? September 1st, these three…