Chapter 72: A Daily Life Difficult to Maintain
November in Jiangcheng County, though located in the south, wasn’t quite blanketed in snow, but the biting winter wind had people bundled in thick layers.
Luo Ling rubbed her hands together, shivering slightly as she exhaled, her breath misting in the cold air.
“Too cold?”
Su Wan took Luo Ling’s hands in hers, sharing her warmth.
“Not really…”
“Still trying to act tough. You’ve always been like this, always cold hands and feet, needing me to warm them up every night before you could sleep,” Su Wan chuckled. “Want to buy some warmer gloves? It won’t count as a birthday present, just a necessary item.”
“…Mm.”
Luo Ling nodded, carefully controlling her strength so as not to hurt her sister’s hand.
Luo Ling was still incredibly strong, about ten times the grip strength of an average adult, but she could now control it, preventing accidental injuries.
However, this level of strength wasn’t remarkable among Awakened Ones on the Judgment path. Ancient Martial Artist Liu Songyi possessed the terrifying power to shatter steel plates with his bare hands, and even Yang Meili, not known for her strength, was about as strong as Luo Ling.
Luo Ling’s struggles stemmed from her lack of technique in controlling her power.
After some practice, she could at least manage daily life without incident.
Luo Ling and Su Wan had come to the city’s shopping mall not for any specific purpose, but simply to spend time together.
It was rare for her sister to have a whole day off, and Luo Ling wanted to accompany her, whether it was her birthday or not. Her sister worked too hard.
Few people were outside in the cold, but the shopping mall was bustling with people.
Perhaps because it was the weekend, there were many couples, but Luo Ling and Su Wan, holding hands, looked more like close friends than sisters.
They rarely came to the shopping mall and looked at everything with curiosity, but the prices on the tags quickly discouraged them.
“Things are so expensive in the city…”
Su Wan worried if she had brought enough money.
The fifteen hundred yuan she had might only be enough for two pieces of clothing.
She still had to treat Xiao Ling to a birthday dinner later, she couldn’t spend Xiao Ling’s money so quickly…
Luo Ling, observing Su Wan discreetly, noticed her sister’s gaze lingering on a plain, white dress several times, seemingly drawn to it.
She glanced at the price tag: twelve hundred yuan. Completely affordable.
“Sister’s birthday is coming up soon. I’ll buy it for her as a gift,” Luo Ling thought to herself.
After browsing several stores, Su Wan finally bought Luo Ling a pair of warm gloves for two hundred yuan. They were a cute, girly pink, with soft fluff around the wrists, looking a bit childish.
Perhaps in her sister’s eyes, she was still the little girl who always followed her around.
Su Wan wanted to buy her another piece of clothing, but Luo Ling refused, saying she had just bought some recently. Su Wan could only give up.
They could use the extra money for a nicer meal.
The prices in the shopping mall were indeed high. Two hundred yuan for gloves was unthinkable; Luo Ling’s most expensive pair before had only cost twenty or thirty yuan.
It was almost noon, and they found a Korean BBQ restaurant, wanting to try it since neither of them had ever had it before.
“Is it good?”
Su Wan asked, flipping the meat on the grill and placing a piece in Luo Ling’s bowl.
“Mm, it’s delicious,” Luo Ling said, looking at the untouched dipping sauce in Su Wan’s bowl. “Sister, you should try it too.”
“No rush, you’re the birthday girl today,” Su Wan smiled gently. “I’ll eat after you’re satisfied.”
“It’s just a birthday, nothing special…”
Luo Ling looked out the window at the bustling shopping mall, everyone seemingly happy.
But… the terrifying scene from her dream hadn’t appeared.
The matters of Awakened Ones seemed like just a small interlude in their ordinary, everyday lives. It had been a week since Luo Ling had dealt with any of that, and she had gradually recovered from the events of Baiyan Village.
“Mm, it is quite tasty, just a bit expensive,” Su Wan said, taking a piece of meat after seeing Luo Ling slow down.
She looked up and saw her sister staring out the window, and asked curiously,
“Xiao Ling, what are you looking at?”
“…”
Luo Ling lowered her eyes, her gaze falling on the dipping sauce in front of her.
“Nothing, Sister.”
Impossible.
Luo Ling’s eyes trembled slightly, her chest rising and falling.
Had she… seen wrong?
Had she been having too many nightmares lately…?
No… perhaps, she hadn’t been mistaken.
Luo Ling discreetly shifted her gaze, looking out the window again.
A hunched figure, shuffling slowly through the bustling shopping mall, looking out of place.
Luo Ling recognized this old man.
She recognized him all too well.
“I wasn’t mistaken, that’s… Uncle Huang,” Luo Ling’s heart sank. “How is this possible? Whether it was the real Uncle Huang or the Meat Puppet, he should be dead… how could he be here?”
What had happened in the past week?
“Xiao Ling, are you feeling unwell?”
Su Wan noticed her sister’s sudden change in demeanor and quickly put down her chopsticks, but before she could stand up, Luo Ling stopped her.
“I’m fine, just… it’s a bit stuffy in here,” Luo Ling shook her head. “I’ll go out for some fresh air. You continue eating.”
“But…”
Su Wan hesitated.
They had only eaten about half of the food they had ordered. It would be a waste to leave.
“I’m fine, just getting some fresh air,” Luo Ling smiled. “I’m a grown-up now, I won’t disappear just by taking a walk. You wait here.”
Su Wan wanted to say more, but seeing Luo Ling’s expression, she suddenly understood.
Mm… so that was it.
Her sister must have felt she hadn’t eaten enough and was making an excuse to leave so she could finish the rest of the food.
“Alright, don’t go too far,” Su Wan sat back down and picked up her chopsticks. “I haven’t really had a chance to try this yet, heh…”
Her sister was so considerate now. As the older sister, she had to understand her sister’s intentions.
Luo Ling, who had been thinking of how to reassure her sister, was relieved that Su Wan had changed her mind.
“Don’t worry, I’m just taking a walk.”
Luo Ling picked up her gloves from the table and walked out of the restaurant.
Avoiding her sister’s gaze, Luo Ling paid the bill and headed towards the shopping mall.
Old Man Huang was gone, but Luo Ling hadn’t planned to confront him directly.
Finding a deserted corner, she quickly transformed into her White Witch form, sending out a few Spores to scout the area, then checked the group chat on her phone.
Two new members had been added to the group.
[Company Dispatch Specialist – Cen Xiangyun]
[Company Dispatch Specialist – Li Shaoheng]
So these were the Company personnel Ji Shinian had called for.
Their profile pictures were of themselves. Cen Xiangyun looked like a fashionable city woman, while Li Shaoheng was a stern-looking middle-aged man.
There hadn’t been any messages in the exchange group for a week, but today, just like Luo Ling, they had also discovered the deceased villagers of Baiyan Village appearing in the city.
After attempting to make contact, they realized these villagers were merely puppets. Killing them would turn them into piles of sand and pebbles.
Although they posed no immediate threat, unsure of the potential consequences, the exchange group was currently trying to eliminate them, but it wasn’t going smoothly, as they had to avoid being seen by ordinary people.
“Sand and pebbles turning into living beings, it must be an Awakened One on the Myriad path…” Luo Ling’s eyes flickered.
There was someone in Performer’s memories who fit the description.
…Artist.
Realizing that this trouble was caused by the Harbingers of Calamity, Luo Ling secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Dealing with the Harbingers of Calamity was much easier than dealing with the Puppet Ballad…
At least, Luo Ling had some understanding of this relatively mysterious organization from Performer’s memories, unlike the Puppet Ballad, which was mostly unknown and terrifying.
However, what was the Harbingers’ purpose in doing this?
These sand and pebble Meat Puppets were just empty shells. Killing them would turn them back into sand and pebbles. They didn’t possess the terrifying ability to consume flesh and blood like real Meat Puppets.
Of course, they looked very similar.
…Wait, looked similar?
A thought struck Luo Ling. Her Spores had also located Old Man Huang, who was wandering around the shopping mall.
“Not only do they look similar, but even their auras…”
Luo Ling’s expression turned grim. She had seen the Meat Puppet version of Old Man Huang, and it was almost identical to the one before her now.
However, she was certain that this “Old Man Huang” was harmless.
Just a pile of moving sand and pebbles.
So, Artist’s target couldn’t be Jiangcheng County, or the exchange group…
His target, from the beginning, was the same as Performer’s.
—The High-Risk Grotesquery, the Puppet Ballad.
“So, it’s a trap…” Luo Ling took a deep breath. “It seems they’ve already figured out that the Puppet Ballad’s ‘eggs’ will devour each other.”
The reason for releasing these fake Meat Puppets into the city was to lure out the “eggs.”
Luo Ling suddenly thought of Ji Ying.
…Would she appear?
Was she truly an “egg”?
These questions, although Luo Ling had been deliberately suppressing them, still lingered in her mind.
Just as Luo Ling was lost in thought, she saw a familiar figure through her Spores.
…Her sister?
Why was she out here?
Luo Ling looked down at the time and instantly understood.
Half an hour had passed unknowingly…
Su Wan, her face filled with anxiety, was asking people if they had seen Luo Ling. She was about to approach “Old Man Huang.”
No, she couldn’t let her sister come into contact with “Old Man Huang”!
Even though she knew these sand and pebble beings were harmless, Luo Ling still didn’t want her sister to encounter them.
She immediately transformed back into her normal form, picked up her gloves, and walked towards the location indicated by her Spores.
“Have you seen a girl about this tall, wearing pink gloves? …Sorry to bother you.”
Su Wan was anxious. After finishing the barbecue, she had waited for a while, but her sister hadn’t returned.
When she went to pay the bill, she found that Luo Ling had already paid.
A wave of negative thoughts washed over Su Wan. She even absurdly imagined that her sister had run away from home, abandoning her.
That was why she had been frantically asking around.
Just as she was about to approach an elderly man with a limp, she felt a tug on her sleeve.
“Sister, I’m here.”
Luo Ling, slightly out of breath, had rushed over just in time.
“Xiao Ling… you’re okay,” Su Wan breathed a sigh of relief, patting her chest. “You scared me, I thought…”
“I just got lost,” Luo Ling said calmly, her gaze involuntarily falling on “Old Man Huang” not far away.
Indeed, seeing him with her own eyes, the resemblance was even more striking…
Terrifyingly so.
However, the exchange group and the Company were eliminating these fake Meat Puppets, they should notice this one soon.
To avoid any accidents, it was best to take her sister away quickly.
“Sister, I want to go somewhere else. Let’s go to Huolu Mountain. I heard the sunset there is beautiful,” Luo Ling said, turning to Su Wan.
“Ah… sure, anything you want. It’s your birthday,” Su Wan nodded, ruffling Luo Ling’s hair.
As she raised her hand, she noticed a small tear in her coat and frowned.
She had only bought this coat three years ago, why was the quality so poor…?
Never mind, she would mend it when they got home, she could still wear it.
Luo Ling carefully took Su Wan’s hand and led her away from “Old Man Huang.”
“Excuse me, ladies.”
A clear, unfamiliar female voice called out from behind them, a mature, composed voice that commanded attention.
Luo Ling turned and saw a woman in a khaki trench coat and a white beret, her face hidden behind a mask and sunglasses, as if trying to conceal her identity.
The woman lowered her sunglasses slightly, her gaze fixed on Luo Ling.
“Xiao Ling, do… you know her?” Su Wan asked, puzzled.
The woman looked like a celebrity, not someone they would know…
“Who are you?”
Luo Ling asked, though she already knew the answer.
Cen Xiangyun, a Company employee. Besides her clothes, she looked exactly like her profile picture.
Luo Ling wasn’t surprised that Cen Xiangyun was here, but she was surprised that she had called out to her.
Why…?
“Hello, I’m from Huaxing International Limited Liability Company. Here’s my business card. Could I borrow a few minutes of your time to ask you a few questions?”
Cen Xiangyun’s voice was pleasant, the kind of voice that made people want to listen.
On the business card she handed to Luo Ling was her name, and… her codename.
Elemental: Ice.
A single word, “Ice,” was enough to explain her ability.
Luo Ling didn’t take the business card, simply staring at Cen Xiangyun.
“You’re also an Awakened One, aren’t you?” Cen Xiangyun said, her smile evident even behind the mask.
…Had she been seen through?
Luo Ling’s eyes narrowed. She glanced at her sister, who looked bewildered, and her expression darkened.
Why bring up these things when her sister was here…?
She didn’t want to involve her sister in this.
“Your sister is an ordinary person, right? It’s fine, this ‘information’ doesn’t matter to ordinary people. This disordered world has a certain degree of cognitive correction,” Cen Xiangyun seemed to sense Luo Ling’s annoyance and patiently explained.
Was that so?
Luo Ling was surprised. This was the first time she had heard of this.
Thinking about it, it seemed to be true.
She hadn’t hidden anything when discussing Awakened matters with Ji Ying.
Even in Qingshan Hospital, the members of the exchange group hadn’t been very secretive.
Luo Ling hadn’t paid much attention to these details until Cen Xiangyun mentioned it.
“You can see that fake Grotesquery, right? Ordinary people can’t,” Cen Xiangyun said. “Have you considered joining the Company? We’re a large Awakened organization. I see you have great potential, you would definitely pass our interview!”
Luo Ling was taken aback by Cen Xiangyun’s words. She hadn’t expected her to stop her just to… recruit her?
She must have thought Luo Ling hadn’t joined any organization since she hadn’t seen her in the exchange group…
But then again, “Luo Ling” was indeed a rogue Awakened One.
“Sorry, I’m not interested,” Luo Ling shook her head, pushing the business card back.
But Cen Xiangyun didn’t take it back, instead, she slipped it into Luo Ling’s pocket and said,
“Don’t be so quick to refuse. You might change your mind later. By the way, miss, could you tell me your sister’s name?”
Cen Xiangyun looked at Su Wan, a strange glint in her beautiful eyes behind her sunglasses.
“…Huh?” Su Wan, who had been listening in confusion, finally spoke. “What… what do you want?”
“I’m a talent scout. Your sister has great potential to be a star. I just wanted to know her thoughts. She could become a household name in the future!”
Cen Xiangyun gave Luo Ling a thumbs-up, and Su Wan was flattered. “Xiao Ling… is really that amazing?”
“My name is Luo Ling. Don’t bother my sister,” Luo Ling said in a low voice, shielding Su Wan behind her. “I don’t want to get involved in these things. Deal with them yourselves.”
If her sister weren’t here, she might have helped Cen Xiangyun deal with these fake Meat Puppets.
But now, she just wanted to take her sister away from this place.
“Alright, perhaps we’ll meet again. The Company’s doors are always open to you.”
Cen Xiangyun didn’t press the matter, waved at Luo Ling, and walked towards “Old Man Huang.”
Without a sound, “Old Man Huang” instantly collapsed into a pile of ice-covered sand and pebbles, startling the nearby passersby, who looked up at the ceiling, thinking something had fallen from above.
When Luo Ling looked again, Cen Xiangyun was gone.
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