Ye Xinglan was having a blast insulting, but Xiaoxi was already drenched in sweat!
That guy Ye Xinglan had no intention of shutting up.
Right now, Xiaoxi wished she could kneel down and beg Ye Xinglan to please stop talking—if she kept going, Wadashi would surely be toast!
But Ye Xinglan really had no idea that Mu Xingge had read the novel.
She was still reveling in the thrill of insulting Mu Xingge right to her face without the other party realizing it.
Naturally, everything Ye Xinglan said just now, not a word softer or quieter, had drifted straight into Mu Xingge’s ears.
Mu Xingge: “……”
Hmm… that guest over there seemed to have read everything they just talked about.
Mu Xingge had been reading Xiaoxi’s novels from start to finish, with only one goal: to find clues that might expose who the author was.
And all those plot points Ye Xinglan just mentioned? Mu Xingge recognized every single one.
Thinking this, Mu Xingge couldn’t help but glance over at Ye Xinglan’s table a couple more times.
Sitting across from Mu Xingge, Little Red Riding Hood was also sweating nervously. Of course, she’d overheard Ye Xinglan talking about the novel Xiaoxi wrote—and her voice had been anything but low.
What should she do? Sister Xinglan and big sister definitely didn’t know that the senior had actually read that novel. If they kept chatting like this, the senior would definitely catch on!
Little Red Riding Hood wanted to subtly hint to them to stop talking, but she was now the magical girl Little Red Riding Hood—and she didn’t know Xiaoxi or Ye Xinglan personally.
So all she could do was sit awkwardly, sipping her lemonade, already thinking about how to plead on their behalf later.
But… Senior Mu Xingge was usually gentle and easygoing with her.
Even if she found out big sister was writing her little emperor novel, she probably wouldn’t do anything too harsh… right?
Just as Little Red Riding Hood was thinking this, Mu Xingge suddenly stood up and walked over to Xiaoxi’s table.
It was over!
Xiaoxi caught out of the corner of her eye that Mu Xingge was coming their way, and she felt like dying.
Not only had Mu Xingge discovered that she wrote the little emperor novel, Xiaoxi also desperately didn’t want her to find out that she was Eternal Star!
“…Hello, may we place an order?”
Mu Xingge sized up Xiaoxi from head to toe, then gave a kind and gentle smile.
“Of, of course you can!”
Xiaoxi immediately stood up. It seemed Mu Xingge did care about her public image. Without solid evidence, she wouldn’t do anything rash.
This made Xiaoxi secretly breathe a sigh of relief. Luckily, Mu Xingge didn’t instantly flip into red alert mode and rush over to fold her like a tri-fold screen.
But since Mu Xingge had come over to order, she was probably trying to test her.
No problem. Just treat Mu Xingge like a normal customer and serve her.
Watching Xiaoxi follow behind Mu Xingge as she left, Ye Xinglan blinked.
Uh… probably just a coincidence, right? Maybe Mu Xingge simply happened to want something to eat.
As Xiaoxi helped take their order, she felt Mu Xingge’s gaze scanning her up and down, as if X-rays were making her deeply uncomfortable.
No way! She had to come up with a way to shut Ye Xinglan up later, or find an excuse to say she needed to help out behind the counter, and just not keep chatting with Ye Xinglan.
While Xiaoxi was thinking of a plan, a low shout suddenly came from behind the counter.
“She’s suspicious! Hold her down, don’t let her run!”
The unexpected outburst cut off Mu Xingge’s test. Mu Xingge and Little Red Riding Hood exchanged a look, then immediately got up and rushed behind the counter.
Xiaoxi recognized the voice as belonging to the association staff from before. Who was suspicious? Surely they didn’t mean the shop manager?
She hurried down the hallway behind the counter and saw Su Ying’s private room wide open. Little Red Riding Hood and Mu Xingge had already rushed in and were restraining someone.
Xiaoxi immediately recognized the person pinned down had wings on their back and birdlike tail feathers at the waist.
A monster? Xiaoxi’s heart tightened. She instantly considered whether she should find a secluded spot to transform into [Sirius] and come help. But after seeing who it was, she quickly abandoned the idea.
“I—I haven’t hurt anyone. I just don’t want people to know I’m a monster. I just… just want to run my café properly…”
Su Ying was pressed to the ground by several people, her elbows bruised. Her eyes were red, tears streaming down her cheeks, her sobbing weak and fragile.
“Manager? Are you alright?”
Xiaoxi didn’t care about anything else now and stepped forward to help Su Ying up. She didn’t know what had just happened but was sure Su Ying wasn’t a bad person.
Still, seeing Su Ying’s monster features, Xiaoxi couldn’t help but jump to the same suspicions as the others.
Su Ying was a monster? That explained the monster attack that had occurred at the café before…
Come to think of it, this was Xiaoxi’s first time entering Su Ying’s private room. Su Ying had never let her in before, not even when grabbing a band-aid—the last time, Su Ying had gone in alone.
“Cuff her first! Unrelated personnel, stand back! Be careful not to cause accidental injury!”
The association staff didn’t let their guard down just because Su Ying looked fragile. Soon, a pair of magic-suppressing handcuffs was locked onto her wrists.
Pushed aside, Xiaoxi didn’t dare obstruct the association’s work and took a couple of steps back.
Both Su Ying’s wings and tail feathers were clear monster traits—but after working with her for so long, Xiaoxi had never noticed.
Soon Xiaoxi understood why.
She watched as Mu Xingge and Little Red Riding Hood pulled out a magical device from the room, then searched Su Ying and found a round, metal disk.
Another familiar item. Xiaoxi immediately recognized it as very similar to the magic disguise devices formerly used by the Divine Summoners.
Their main functions were twofold—completely hiding the user’s magical energy fluctuations and mimicking normal human appearance so monsters wouldn’t be detected.
These devices had been used by monsters under the Divine Summoners to stealthily infiltrate other cities, disguised as normal people.
How did Su Ying have such a thing?
But seeing Su Ying sobbing with red-rimmed eyes, Xiaoxi couldn’t just stand by.
Even if she wasn’t sure if Su Ying was involved in the monster attack, at the very least she couldn’t ignore this.
Mu Xingge and Little Red Riding Hood were controlling Su Ying, making her stand against the wall.
Xiaoxi ignored the others’ objections and moved forward to check if Su Ying was injured.
As for whether interacting with a monster was dangerous? Please. With her and Mu Xingge here—not like the Blood Moon Witch was around—what danger could there possibly be?