socalfunplaces Page 81
Page 81
Only after ensuring that Mai was no longer a threat did Zero turn to Lu Mingfei and calmly say:
"Lu Mingfei, let her go!"
Lu Mingfei paused, tilted his head slightly, and glanced at her with his golden eyes: "Are you sure?"
“Hmm,” Zero’s gaze fell on Mai Shude’s face, which was flushed but also held a hint of complexity. “If she really wanted to make a move, she would have had plenty of opportunities while following me on the road.”
She guessed that Mai had followed her all the way here, more likely to question her than to assassinate her.
However, Lu Mingfei, this unexpected intruder, turned a questioning into a life-or-death farce.
"Since my lovely and charming fiancée has spoken, I'll let you go this time..."
Before he could finish speaking, everything went black for Lu Mingfei.
He didn't even utter a sound, and lunged straight forward—
"Pfft!" Her entire face slammed into the very center of Mai Shude's chest, which was heaving violently with rage, without any cushioning!
The sudden pressure and the strange, close contact sent a shiver down Mai's spine!
"You bastard...!" She thought Lu Mingfei had finally revealed his true colors and was about to do something wicked, so she instinctively reached out her hand.
Mai Shude then realized she could move again, and she pushed away the head buried in her chest in a mixture of shame and anger.
"Hey! Are you playing dead?! Get off me!" But after a few pushes, the head still didn't react.
When their fingers touched Lu Mingfei's forehead and neck, they felt an unusually low heartbeat and completely relaxed muscles.
The shame and indignation on Mai Shutoku's face froze instantly, replaced by incredulous astonishment—
This guy... he actually fainted?!
Chapter 75 The Disobedient Cat
The streetlights cast a dim, yellowish glow in the night.
A few wisps of thin, eerie black mist, like living things, quietly flowed and spread along the street corner.
Unbeknownst to anyone, three figures were walking within this visual barrier—Shude Mai, Zero, and Lu Mingfei, who was unconscious on Zero's back.
“I say, you three-no girl…” Mai couldn’t help but turn her head, her gaze falling on the slender figure carrying the boy on her back, “I really can’t understand how you got… kidnapped by this kid?”
Zero remained silent. What could she say? Of course, Lu Mingfei couldn't respond either, because he was unconscious.
Throughout the journey, Mai Shude was almost talking to herself, pouring out her anxiety and confusion, but Zero remained silent and did not utter a word.
Zero's pace finally slowed down when he reached an empty traffic light intersection.
Her lowered eyelashes cast small shadows in the dim light as she advised:
"Mai, listen to the boss, and leave this city with Eun-hee."
"Then come with us!" Mai Shude suddenly stopped in her tracks, her attitude resolute.
"No." Zero's answer was completely flat.
"Why?!" Mai Shude's suppressed emotions exploded instantly, her voice rising, "That little bastard is almost dead himself! Everyone who gets involved with him... every single one of them is doomed! Why are you still clinging to him like this? Huh?!"
Zero slowly turned her head; in the dim light, the lines of her profile appeared particularly hard in the shadows.
"You don't need to understand, you just need to... obey the boss's orders."
"I've had enough!" Mai Shude put her hands on her hips, an uncontrollable rage welling up inside her. "You and the boss! You're both riddle-makers! Who knows what kind of crazy things you're plotting!"
The green light came on, its stark white glow illuminating the empty zebra crossing.
Zero glanced at Mai Shude one last time, and a fleeting, complex emotion seemed to flash deep within her icy blue pupils, so fleeting as to be elusive.
"Mai, go with Eun-hee." Her voice lowered, carrying a sense of farewell. "Don't ever come back here."
Having said that, she carried Lu Mingfei on her back and stepped out of the black curtain created by Mingzhao.
The two figures became clear instantly under the cold green light, and then they stepped steadily onto the zebra crossing, heading into the deeper darkness on the other side of the road.
Amidst the swirling black mist, Mai Shude stood frozen in place, watching helplessly as they were swallowed up by the deserted streets.
Her fingertips trembled slightly before she finally touched the miniature communicator in her ear with great force.
"Hey... Chip Girl, over there... did you understand?" Her voice had lost its previous irritability, leaving only a deep weariness and heaviness.
After a few seconds of silence on the communicator, Su Enxi's equally deep voice came through:
"Hmm... I have some speculations."
“Speak.” Mai Shude took a deep breath.
"The boss's last words, the meaning revealed by the 'three-no girl' just now, combined with the fragments of information we obtained earlier... the overall conclusion is: Lu Mingfei, along with everyone closely related to him, including the boss himself... will likely die in the near future, and the root cause..."
She paused for a moment, then said, "It's the 'system' behind him that's in the picture."
In short, it was like a cold bullet piercing through the last vestige of hope.
Even Mai Shutoku, whose personality was as fiery and strong as fire, was completely speechless at this moment.
The previous vague rejection, the resolute look in that back view... all the fragments instantly pieced together in my mind.
A chilling truth broke through the ice.
So this is the final answer.
“So…” Mai’s voice trembled, “they forcibly pushed us away… because they didn’t want us… to die with them?!”
“…” After a brief silence, Su Enxi sighed, “Yes, I’m afraid… that’s what it means.”
Jiu De Mai stood frozen in place, while Su Enxi on the other end of the communicator took a deep breath:
"Mai, things... might not be as hopeless as we think."
"Huh?" Mai Shude was taken aback.
"Do you remember someone mentioned in the Liu family's conversation—'Su Youli'? You saw her in person at Wanda that day, right?" Su Enxi guided the conversation.
"That exceptionally elegant female pianist? Of course I remember her."
“Here’s the problem,” Su Enxi’s voice suddenly dropped to a low pitch, “Just now, I practically scoured every database and archive in the world that records population data…”
"And the result?" Mai Shude's heart skipped a beat.
"...a blank page."
"Impossible!" Mai Shude blurted out, her voice filled with obvious disbelief. "I confirmed it with my own eyes! I even checked her information afterwards... wait!"
She realized something.
Su Enxi added:
"I simultaneously retrieved all the original surveillance footage of the restaurant and its surrounding area that day."
"..."
"—Same here, all images of her have vanished, completely gone, as if they had never existed."
A deathly silence permeated the communication channel.
A few seconds later, Mai Shude's voice was filled with disbelief and a faint glimmer of hope:
"...Are you trying to tell me that behind Lu Mingfei...there is an 'existence' that can easily erase all traces of a person's existence?"
"His fate of death...maybe...can really be rewritten?"
"Yes!" Su Enxi exclaimed excitedly, "That's the only explanation!"
"Someone... or rather, some kind of force, is protecting him! And... they're incredibly powerful!"
That explains why the Liu family firmly supported Lu Mingfei after talking with Su Youli.
It turns out that there was an unimaginable entity behind Lu Mingfei.
"Can you get in touch with the boss?" Mai asked.
"As you know, he's basically the only one who contacts us."
"So what do you plan to do next?"
"After Lu Mingfei and Ling go to school tomorrow, go visit the Liu family and see if you can get some information out of them."
"Are you going to disobey the boss's orders?!"
"Each each other!"
……
Ten thousand meters above the Pacific Ocean, above the boundless clouds.
Xuanling and Lu Mingze sat on a white cloud. In front of them, a large screen made of clouds simultaneously displayed images of Lu Mingfei, Jiude Mai, and Su Enxi.
"It seems your cat doesn't listen to you very well!" Xuanling said coldly.
"They are not cats, they are people."
“Unfortunately, sometimes being a little foolish is a kind of happiness.” Xuanling stared at Jiude Mai and Su Enxi on the screen.
“Sister Xuanling is right!” Lu Mingze said with a smile.
Xuanling did not reply. The image on the screen changed, leaving only the image of Ling carrying Lu Mingfei walking down the street.
“Sister Xuanling, I don’t really understand. Even if you don’t go after my other brother, you don’t need to stay in this universe, do you?” Lu Mingfei couldn’t help but ask.
Xuanling explained, "Someone will be crossing over to kill Lu Mingfei next. I'm just staying here to observe the battle."
Lu Mingze tilted his head, expressing deep confusion.
"Sister Xuanling, with your abilities, killing my brother would be a piece of cake, wouldn't it? Why go through all this trouble?"
Xuanling didn't answer, but instead asked:
Do you know why your other brother chose Lu Mingfei instead of you?
"I don't know, please enlighten me, sister!"
"You can't do it!" Xuanling's answer was simple and straightforward.
Upon hearing this, Lu Mingze's face turned extremely gloomy. He clenched his fist, stood up, and bowed slightly to Xuan Ling.
"Sister Xuanling, could you give me a chance?"