Mo Yidong hung up the phone and then typed a few lines on his own.
Annoying:
“How do you know he’s from the Blood Clan?”
Mo Yidong noticed Xia Yu’s phone screen pop up with Samye’s avatar, the contact labeled as Annoying.
He raised an eyebrow, curious.
“Who’s this ‘Annoying’…?”
Xia Yu immediately closed her screen, frowned, and glared angrily at Mo Yidong’s curious gaze.
“Peeking at my phone!?”
Mo Yidong wanted to explain that someone had put it right in front of him to see.
He still didn’t understand why he was called annoying, so he silently held back and turned his gaze elsewhere.
“I…”
“I’m not annoyed by you.”
Xia Yu gripped her phone tightly and hurried to explain.
Not wanting Mo Yidong to misunderstand, Xia Yu quickly clarified.
Staring at Mo Yidong’s troubled expression, she felt her heartbeat quicken, pursed her lips, and finally voiced her thoughts.
“I just feel like sometimes you ask too many questions…”
She didn’t know if all people who liked studying were like this—always asking when they didn’t understand, or even when they did not.
Xia Yu usually spoke little and wasn’t often questioned about what she was doing or if anything had happened.
It was like, one day, suddenly someone cared about your feelings, paid attention to your situation, and abruptly stepped into your life.
That mixture of unease and expectation left Xia Yu at a loss.
“I’m a little unaccustomed to it.”
The reason Mo Yidong liked to ask so much was because some people wouldn’t say anything at all.
Even if asked, they wouldn’t answer.
Unlike Shangguan Xiawan, who actively expressed her preferences, or Zhang Wenshan, who could talk about almost anything.
The elusive Xia Yu made Mo Yidong feel like he couldn’t get a hold of her.
If he wasn’t careful, she might slip away and vanish without a trace at any moment.
What should he do…
Mo Yidong lowered his head slightly and looked at her fair and tender face with a shy expression, like a clear, translucent ruby hiding beneath the surface of a lake.
Only Mo Yidong could see this unique sight, wanting to keep her to himself alone.
“Just consider it as my goodwill toward you. Try to accept it, okay?”
Mo Yidong saw Xia Yu pause for a moment, then nod slightly.
He felt a little more at ease.
“Let’s go.”
The two of them headed to the hall to meet Zhang Wenshan and Shangguan Xiawan.
“Hello, my name is Mephist Sals.”
The man with a golden ponytail bowed politely to the four and introduced himself:
“Many locals can’t remember my name, so most just call me Xiao Sa.”
Hearing Xiao Sa’s slightly imperfect Mandarin, where “Sa” sounded like “fool,” Zhang Wenshan was the first to ask:
“Xiao Sa, what fun things are there here? Something to pass the time until mealtime?”
“I actually have a game that’s even more interesting than the entertainment at home.”
“What? Tell us about it.”
Zhang Wenshan had already tried most entertainment options.
The four of them played mostly to kill time.
If there was something more interesting, he’d be glad to try.
“Ghost Hunting Game.”
“Do we pick someone to be the ghost? Or are you the ghost and the four of us chase you in this mansion?”
“No.”
Sals smiled awkwardly.
“It’s like this: there’s a little kid at my house who’s been hiding and won’t come out. If you can find her, I promise to give you anything you want from this mansion.”
“Really?! That’s great.”
Zhang Wenshan had long been eyeing the porcelain at the entrance.
“If that’s the case… I want the sword in your Collection Room.”
Mo Yidong recalled the feeling of that long sword earlier—light and comfortable.
Taking it back to treasure wouldn’t be bad.
Hey…
Xia Yu looked helplessly at the two boys in front of her.
The kid hadn’t even been found yet, and these two had already decided what to choose.
“How old is the kid? What does she look like? How long has she been missing?”
A missing child was the real problem.
Shangguan Xiawan looked at Sals with concern, wanting to know the appearance to make searching easier.
“Around 1.4 meters tall, a little girl with short silver hair and red eyes. This mansion has many rooms, so I don’t know which one she’s hiding in.”
Sals described her while staring straight at the silver-haired girl in front of him, a slight sinister smile curling on his lips.
“If we split up to search, then we’ll need a new round of teams. This time, I volunteer to team up with Sister Xiao Xia.”
Shangguan Xiawan said this and immediately went over to Qin Yixia, grabbing her hand quickly and pulling her away from Mo Yidong.
It was the first time Xia Yu had been so close to another girl.
Suddenly having her wrist held made Xia Yu extremely nervous.
Anyway, the lights were on now, and people were moving around the house, so there was no need to worry about ghosts.
Zhang Wenshan glanced at Mo Yidong’s uneasy expression.
He didn’t seem comfortable with his girlfriend going off with Shangguan Xiawan.
“Let’s go, find her soon, so you two can reunite.”
The first floor had already been searched by several people with no sign of her.
This time, the four started searching the second floor.
There were also two corridors and many rooms, so searching one by one was indeed time-consuming.
“Sister Xiao Xia and Brother Mo Yidong go to the same school?”
Walking along, bored, Shangguan Xiawan leaned closer to Qin Yixia.
She actually wanted to distract Mo Yidong on purpose and talk about girl stuff.
“No.”
Shangguan Xiawan had been secretly observing the two’s interaction all along and made a subtle discovery.
“But it seems like you’ve known each other for a while…”
“Is that so..?”
Xia Yu smiled, feigning calm as she walked beside Shangguan Xiawan.
Even if they had met since childhood, there wasn’t that unfamiliar feeling of not seeing each other for years.
Since they were a couple, Shangguan Xiawan most wanted to hear gossip about Brother Mo Yidong.
“Have you gone out to eat together?”
“Yes.”
“Is Brother Mo Yidong especially picky!?”
“Yes, he doesn’t like hot food and won’t eat seafood…”
The more Shangguan Xiawan asked, the more nervous Xia Yu became.
How did girls like gossiping about these things so much?
“Do you like Brother Mo Yidong?”
“Of course I do….”
Xia Yu smiled nervously.
“Do you like him enough to… you know… make a move?”
Mentioning this suddenly made Xia Yu recall the shameful scene she had just had in her room.
Her ears instantly flushed red.
“Haha, Sister Xiao Xia really understands~”
Shangguan Xiawan clenched her fists and enthusiastically encouraged her:
“If you like him, you have to act quickly.”
The more Shangguan Xiawan talked, the more tangled Xia Yu’s heart became.
What exactly was this little girl thinking?!
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Zhang Wenshan noticed that Mo Yidong became distracted after separating from Qin Yixia, his mind clearly still on the other pair.
It was as if the presence of Qin Yixia had drawn Mo Yidong’s soul away completely.
“Speaking of which, it’s a pity that one person didn’t come.”
“Who?”
Zhang Wenshan thought of the one who was always inseparable from Xia Yu at school but hadn’t come this time.
“You usually hang out so closely with Xia Yu. Why didn’t you invite him to come play?”
“I asked him. He said he had to work and had no time.”
Mo Yidong said casually, then suddenly asked,
“Tell me, do you find me annoying?”
Zhang Wenshan froze, almost thinking he misheard.
It was the first time he’d heard Mo Yidong ask such a question.
“You usually don’t talk much. Who would find you annoying?”
“Nothing, just asking.”
Zhang Wenshan instantly understood, patting Mo Yidong on the shoulder.
“You’re too eager after just getting back together. How far have you two gone? Besides holding hands, have you done anything else?”
Zhang Wenshan wore a mischievous smile like a bystander enjoying the drama.
He caught a flicker of unease beneath Mo Yidong’s calm exterior, a meaningful smile playing on his lips.
Those who knew, knew.
He wouldn’t ask further.
“Searching room by room isn’t a good plan either.”
Mo Yidong stood still, staring coldly down the long, straight corridor, unable to forget Sals’s secretive smile just now.
He had a bad feeling.
That little girl hiding from Sals wasn’t without reason.
Looking for her the usual way definitely wouldn’t work.