Chapter 60: Found Out?!

“Miss Ye Xin…”

While the middle-aged man on the stage delivered a passionate speech, Chen Xiaoyan had quietly slipped over to Ye Xingyao’s side. As if afraid the girl wouldn’t hear her, she reached out and waved her hand in front of Ye Xingyao’s pensive gaze.

“Um? Miss Chen, is something the matter?”

Ye Xingyao finally snapped out of his contemplation regarding the man’s speech. He suppressed the slight flicker of annoyance at having his train of thought interrupted and turned toward Chen Xiaoyan with a smile, inquiring in a gentle and kind voice.

“Uh…”

Seeing this side of the girl, Chen Xiaoyan felt a bit at a loss. Compared to the down-to-earth image Ye Xin had projected last night, the person before her now was worlds apart.

“What is it? Is there something on my face?”

Ye Xingyao found the other girl’s reaction a bit strange. However, she seemed like she truly had something to tell him, and her attitude appeared quite friendly.

“No, it’s nothing. Miss Ye Xin’s face is very… ah, no… this young lady… ah, so annoying!”

Chen Xiaoyan failed to organize her words in time. She subconsciously fell back on the scripted responses she used to brush off members of her social circle, but then she remembered she had something important to discuss. In her fluster, she accidentally let out a “this young lady,” completely throwing herself into a state of panic.

“There, there, Miss Chen. Don’t be in such a hurry. Take your time and tell me what is on your mind.”

Ye Xingyao was also a bit baffled by her behavior, but he maintained his facade of pleasantness.

“Thank you, Miss Ye Xin. What I wanted to say is that the network signal here has been jammed. A moment ago, I was in the restroom calling a… a friend, and the signal suddenly cut out.”

Chen Xiaoyan finally regained her composure and blurted out everything she wanted to say in one go.

“Oh? Such a thing is happening?”

Ye Xingyao’s expression grew increasingly solemn. Although he had not been listening to the middle-aged man on the stage for several minutes, he still remembered the content of the man’s opening remarks. Coupled with the fact that the man did not seem to want the events here to be publicized…

While the guests were still maintaining their outward appearance of etiquette, Ye Xingyao took a quiet look around. He noticed that some of the other guests also seemed to have discovered the signal was jammed, as their expressions were rather unsightly.

Could it be that what this man was saying was actually some kind of useful secret? He did not believe it for a second!

Based on the useless drivel the man had started with, Ye Xingyao refused to believe he was saying anything of value. Looking at the entirety of Satellite City, Ye Xingyao considered himself a well-read and knowledgeable girl. He would not be fooled by such boring rhetoric.

That left only one other possibility… the other party wanted to pull off something big, and they did not want the guests here to be able to contact the outside world.

But why would the organizers invite someone as combat-capable as Qiansui? What was the point? It was not as if Qiansui was a part of their plan. Why would anyone want to add such a massive obstacle to their own scheme?

Was their plan going too smoothly, so they decided to find an expert to beat them up?

That was just looking for trouble.

Wait, why did this Chen Xiaoyan think to tell him?!

Ye Xingyao suddenly noticed a blind spot. This Miss Chen was not supposed to know him previously. She was even the leader of a small social clique. Why did she suddenly look like she wanted to hear his thoughts before deciding on her next move?

Ye Xingyao looked suspiciously at Chen Xiaoyan’s somewhat dodging gaze. He knew there had to be something fishy about her.

“Miss Chen, why did you decide to tell me this?”

Ye Xingyao always preferred to ask directly about such things. Otherwise, if they spent all their time second-guessing each other, they might end up treating an ally as an enemy or an enemy as an ally. It would be a disaster to realize they were on the same side only after they had already exhausted themselves fighting.

“That… well, I saw Miss Ye Xin go out with Mr. Qiansui earlier. I thought you were also a Hunter…”

Chen Xiaoyan hesitated, but she looked directly into Ye Xingyao’s eyes with a look of extreme sincerity. It made Ye Xingyao feel a bit uneasy.

‘Is that really why?’

Seeing the shift in Ye Xin’s gaze, Chen Xiaoyan knew she had successfully fooled him.

‘I’m sorry! Dear Miss Ye Xin, I really didn’t mean to lie to you. It’s just that I really don’t want my identity to be exposed. So, even though you are a powerful ally of our Magical Girl Society, I can only resort to this!’

‘Phew… luckily, I thought of a reason beforehand, or I really wouldn’t have been able to gloss this over…’

At the same time, Chen Xiaoyan was secretly feeling relieved.

“…Fine then.”

Ye Xingyao still felt something was off, but since he could not find a reason to refute her words at the moment, he could only nod and accept her explanation.

“So, what does Miss Ye Xin plan to do?” Chen Xiaoyan asked curiously.

As everyone knew, the young girl before her was a Midnight Grade Hunter. Although Hunters were not ranked solely on strength, Senior Qiluo had said that this girl’s experience and strength were the real deal. Aside from Qiansui, no one else present could match her experience in dealing with this kind of situation.

“Me? I don’t have a single tool on me. Right now, I’m just a little girl who is no different from any ordinary person. What plans could I have? I’ll just take it one step at a time.”

Ye Xingyao spread his hands and gave a helpless smile, indicating he had given up on trying. He then went back to listening to the middle-aged man’s nonsense on stage.

‘Well, I’ll try to guess what they’re up to based on this garbage information…’

***

“Hey, Chen, what were you talking to that little hussy about just now?”

Chen Xiaoyan had quietly returned to her seat. Just as she was about to blend back into her social circle, the Chitose Dream Girl grabbed her wrist and looked at her with burning eyes.

“Huh?!”

The sudden contact nearly caused Chen Xiaoyan to trigger her Magical Girl transformation. However, she was no amateur. She quickly gathered her thoughts and replied.

“Oh, I just wanted to scout out her background,” Chen Xiaoyan said calmly.

“So, who is that little hussy? How is her family?” the Chitose Dream Girl asked impatiently.

“Ah, her family isn’t anything special. Mr. Qian just thought she looked pretty and a bit unfamiliar, so he planned to go over and ask. She’s probably just the daughter of some small-time entrepreneur.”

“I see… thank you, Miss Chen,” the Chitose Dream Girl said thoughtfully.

‘This way, Miss Ye Xin’s identity should stay hidden, right?’

Chen Xiaoyan thought to herself, once again feeling smug about her own cleverness.