This girl was as unyielding as a stone wall.
Su Mu gritted her teeth, stomped her foot, and finally resigned herself to ordering a plate of fried rice at the hotpot restaurant next door.
“By the way, didn’t you just mention something pretty significant?”
Luo Jialan set her spoon down, her gaze locking onto Su Mu with unnerving intensity.
“Fine, I’ll tell you then,” Su Mu sighed, not bothering to hold back.
She recounted the events in broad strokes, laying out the details with a casual air.
Tang Nai believed that Ning Xi likely hadn’t died.
Instead, to suppress Luo Linglan’s core, Ning Xi had split her power and dispersed it among the other experimental Ning Xi subjects.
The most likely candidate to carry Ning Xi’s essence was, of course, Ning Ling.
If this theory held true, then Ning Ling surely knew far more than she pretended.
“Is that so?”
As expected, Luo Jialan’s reaction was muted, her heart barely stirred by the revelation.
Her bond with Luo Linglan had always been faint, after all.
“After seeing her memories, what kind of person do you think she was?”
Su Mu froze for a moment, caught off guard by the question.
She hadn’t really considered it before, but now, pressed for an answer, she searched her thoughts.
“An unfortunate soul.”
From the fragments she’d glimpsed, Su Mu still didn’t truly know Luo Linglan.
But one thing was certain: the woman’s life was steeped in sorrow.
Killing her closest kin by mistake—however you framed it, that was a tragedy that cut deep.
In the moment when Luo Linglan shattered the mirror image of herself, a quiet, desolate chill had settled over the room, transforming into a sensation Su Mu knew all too well.
Luo Linglan, who had lost her father, must have been terribly lonely too.
“I have an idea,” Luo Jialan said after a long pause, her voice calm but resolute.
“I might need your help.”
“Other than pinching, I’m in for pretty much anything,” Su Mu quipped.
Her words caught Luo Jialan off guard, a faint blush creeping across her cheeks as she shot Su Mu a mock glare.
“I’m not hung up on that! I just want to understand Luo Linglan a bit more—what exactly happened to her.”
“Then keep pestering Ning Ling,” Su Mu said, shoveling fried rice into her mouth, her words muffled.
“The other Ning Xi subjects are all tied to the combat division. No way we can nab them.”
“No, I mean I want you to dive into my dreams again. There might be more clues there.”
Luo Jialan’s body still carried the shackles Luo Linglan had left behind.
Those magical bindings not only restrained her dark magic but also blocked the path from one layer of her dreams to the deeper ones.
Unable to access the third layer, she couldn’t break through to B-rank.
And with the challenges they faced now, her current C-rank strength was no longer enough.
This was about understanding Luo Linglan—and about growing stronger.
She knew Luo Linglan’s talk of restraining her desires had some reasoning behind it.
But whatever those reasons were, the result had been pain.
Still, Luo Jialan couldn’t shake her need to know why.
She couldn’t get close to that woman’s heart, and she shied away from confronting her directly.
Whenever it came to Luo Linglan, her resolve wavered, and even the blade that cut through monsters with ease grew dull and heavy in her hands.
But this time, she decided she wouldn’t run anymore.
It was time to settle things.
“Sure, I can do that,” Su Mu said, her cheeks suddenly flushing.
“But I have one condition. Before we go deeper, you should blow off some steam. Clear your head, stay refreshed. Otherwise, I’m worried…”
Seeing Su Mu’s face redden, Luo Jialan instantly sensed something was up.
‘Something definitely happened last time, didn’t it, Lando? What the heck did you do?’
Why hadn’t she been told?
Even a fragment of the memory would’ve been enough.
Luo Jialan knew there was another Lando in her second-layer dream, but the shackles made communication nearly impossible.
And that second-layer Lando was feeling pretty wronged herself.
‘Didn’t I already pass on as much of the sensation as I could? If you’re so curious, why don’t you figure out a way to get your hands on the real thing?’
***
Edma moved with ruthless efficiency.
The day after receiving the news, she set off, boarding a private jet bound for S City, where Motes awaited.
This was no ordinary trip—it was a grand vendetta.
Forget flying across the country; she’d cross the globe if needed.
She might not be the strongest monster, but she was undoubtedly the richest.
A private jet?
Child’s play.
The Diamond Queen Hotel, where she resided in the royal suite, was just one gem in her vast empire.
Stealing gold bars was merely a hobby.
The money she made from it was a drop in the bucket compared to what she earned in a single day.
Edma herself had no head for business, but her strength drew followers like moths to a flame.
Sure, most were just using her, but as long as she lived comfortably, everyone got their cut.
Plenty of rivals had tried to crush her empire, some even resorting to underhanded tactics.
But in the end, they all ended up under her banner.
Her subordinates would hand her a name and address, and by the next day, the troublemakers would show up, faces swollen, begging for mercy.
Soon enough, they’d taste the perks of Edma’s protection and pledge their loyalty without a second thought.
Half of B City’s industries were tied to Edma in some way, though she couldn’t be bothered to keep track of which ones.
If Luo Jialan, slaving away at her dead-end job, or Ye Wanqing, struggling to pay rent, ever found out, they’d probably be fuming with envy.
Though, to be fair, Tang Nai might just be richer than Edma.
Now, Edma leapt from the embrace of her “big sister” and landed firmly on S City’s soil.
With a light press of her toes, the tarmac—hardened by countless plane wheels—softened like cake beneath her feet.
Motes’s residence was less than fifty kilometers away.
Edma’s gaze stretched toward the horizon, her heart thrumming with anticipation.
‘Today, I’ll have my revenge!’
She could already sense her target’s presence in the city.
It wouldn’t be long before they crossed paths—she could feel it.
But where was the person picking her up?
Spotting a figure approaching, Edma’s patience wore thin, and she shouted, “Hey, what’s taking so long? Don’t you know I’m not here to waste time?”
“Heh, I know, I know,” came a languid female voice.
“That’s why I’m here, little Edma.”
The voice sent a shiver of unease through Edma.
When she finally saw the figure clearly, she instinctively covered her backside.
‘Wait, I’m not ready for this!’
Motes had gotten word of her arrival and had been at the airport an hour early.
As the target of Edma’s revenge, she was even more eager than the avenger herself.
“Don’t run, now. It’s been a while,” Motes purred, her pink eyes glinting with a ghostly light as they fixed on the flustered Edma, brimming with fervent affection.
‘This time, I’ll make her even more lovable.’