Su Ling shrugged. When she opened her mouth, she had the air of a woman of the world.
“I’m from the Witch’s Hut. What else could she want from me?”
Ji Lingyuan looked at Su Ling in shock.
Jian Yan was about to burst from holding it in.
Nuowa stared at Su Ling, then nodded. “Mm, I see. But according to our records, you’re just a temporary worker, right?”
That morning, they’d taken some of the Witch’s Hut’s documents from Tian Tian.
Although the documents couldn’t be leaked, they’d used a bit of leverage, and Tian Tian had been sensible enough to hand them over with alacrity.
“That doesn’t conflict, does it?”
Su Ling tilted her head.
It really didn’t. Temporary workers could take any commission, even that kind. The only difference from regular workers was that regular workers had no right to refuse, while temporary workers did.
“Then the hotel name? Check-in time?”
Nuowa raised her hand, and Jian Yan behind her immediately scurried over. Normally, this kind of thing should have been handled by Logistics Department Minister Ji Lingyuan, but at the moment Ji Lingyuan stood like a statue, staring fixedly at Su Ling.
Su Ling didn’t look at her. ‘If this makes Ji Lingyuan give up on her, then so be it.’
“Star Hotel, check-in at five in the evening.”
Nuowa glanced at Jian Yan, who immediately sent a message to her agents to investigate. In about a minute, a reply came. “Dear Miss Nuowa, this student’s statement is completely accurate.”
Nuowa fell into thought upon hearing that. “What about surveillance footage?”
At this, Yan Lin behind her trembled slightly. Su Ling’s breath caught. ‘Worst-case scenario.’
“Star Hotel is a chain under the Star Chamber of Commerce. We don’t have the authority to view their surveillance,” said Ji Lingyuan, who had been silent for a long time. She stepped forward and gave Su Ling a deep look.
“The Star Chamber of Commerce?” Nuowa frowned.
“Yes. Within the Witch Academy, the Student Council, the Witch’s Hut, the Star Chamber of Commerce, and the Hope Church… these are all student factions that counterbalance each other, and they have some history of conflict. They won’t let us investigate their surveillance,” Ji Lingyuan said, crossing her arms. “Miss Nuowa, the Student Council can use some methods to obtain guest check-in times, but surveillance footage involves internal privacy of their chamber. We’re powerless.”
Nuowa looked at Jian Yan, who spread her hands to indicate Ji Lingyuan wasn’t lying.
“The Star Chamber of Commerce? Can it be bought out?”
At her words, silence fell over the room.
“I’m afraid not. These are all student-run organizations within the academy. They don’t go public and won’t sell to anyone outside the academy—that’s school rules.”
The Witch Academy was essentially a small society.
The students had a high degree of autonomy.
Neither the Student Council nor the Chamber of Commerce were subject to outside interference.
Orphina had agreed to seal off the academy for three days to cooperate with the investigation only because the academy was at fault.
But that was all.
She had only agreed to a three-day lockdown and nothing else—not a single extra word—which already said enough: “I’m sealing the academy for three days because I’m in the wrong. After three days, if you’re still here, whether you’ve found the culprit or not, it becomes an internal academy matter. If you still haven’t left by then, don’t blame me for slapping you away.”
Nuowa understood this well.
She was a board member of The Company, but in the end, she was just a businesswoman.
And the Witch Academy—especially the Andromeda Witch Academy—was a terrifying force that had been passed down for tens of millennia and had even given birth to a Sequence Witch.
She naturally couldn’t afford to make an enemy of them, even if her daughter had died an unexplained death within the academy.
Nuowa took a deep breath.
The nameless rage inside her burned hotter and hotter.
But then she caught a flicker of a gaze—Orphina.
Her heart sank.
Orphina had been watching them the entire time.
After all, Nuowa had brought an old monster with her this time: a Peak Great Witch, one step away from that realm.
Even among Great Witches, there were differences. So Orphina wouldn’t let them roam the academy unchecked.
“Unless you have other evidence… otherwise…”
Nuowa stared hard at Yan Lin, who was hiding behind Su Ling. Her instincts told her that girl was no simple matter. It was a merchant’s intuition, and it had never been wrong.
Su Ling shifted her body slightly, blocking Nuowa’s line of sight.
“How do I prove it? You want me to film a little video for you?”
She looked helpless.
Then she pulled down her collar, revealing her long, fair neck.
“Here—she bit me last night. Is that enough?”
On her neck was a faint hickey.
Actually, it was from Long Ying the night before.
Long Ying had a habit of planting a mark before the real meal, saying it was her way of branding.
That woman had even sworn that Su Ling should prepare herself and tell her if she couldn’t take it.
But in the end… three-quarters the amount in one night—all show, no go.
When Ji Lingyuan saw that faint hickey, her little hands clenched tightly, her body trembled uncontrollably, and her teeth ground audibly.
Jian Yan didn’t dare to keep watching and slipped away to find that little loli Qianqiu to play with, but Qianqiu smacked her away—she wanted to keep watching.
Nuowa fell silent. Finally, she put on her coat. “Aiwa, let’s go. Next location.”
“Yes, miss.”
At that moment, another voice rang out in the room. Everyone was startled. At the entrance stood a pink-haired maid girl who had appeared without anyone noticing. Aiwa, a Peak Great Witch.
Aiwa had been there the whole time, using some cognitive means so that no one except Nuowa had noticed her.
Su Ling’s forehead broke out in a cold sweat. Now she finally knew where the gaze that had been sizing her up since they entered had come from.
Jian Yan quickly followed as Nuowa left. Qianqiu, having enjoyed her fill of the drama, followed contentedly behind. Only Ji Lingyuan remained.
Suddenly, the room held only Ji Lingyuan, Su Ling, Yan Lin, and Yan Li. The atmosphere was suffocating.
Su Ling didn’t dare look at Ji Lingyuan at all now, even though the grinding sound of Ji Lingyuan’s teeth was piercingly loud.
“Linlin, you…” Yan Li called to Yan Lin. Yan Lin came to the bedside, and seeing the beautiful suit on Yan Lin, her eyes were very complicated. She looked from Yan Lin to Su Ling, then at Ji Lingyuan, who looked like a resentful wife. Her head ached.
Yan Lin sat on the edge of the bed, head bowed, not knowing what to do.
At that moment, Ji Lingyuan grabbed Su Ling by the wrist. “Come with me.”
Su Ling looked at her with complex eyes, then let out a light sigh and followed Ji Lingyuan to the rooftop.
There, the cold wind howled.
Just as Su Ling thought Ji Lingyuan was going to interrogate her, she instead pinned Su Ling against the wall. The wind scattered both their long hair, strands brushing their faces.
The next moment, Ji Lingyuan kissed her.
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