Why

"Making more acquaintances..."

Huanluo looked at Moumou with a puzzled expression. This trip to the Night Ghost encampment had completely revolutionized her understanding of Moumou's social circle. Previously, she had always assumed that Moumou and Liangyin had reached an absolute dead end in terms of survival in Kyrenia. Yet, judging by the past few days, Moumou had quite a few friends in Whiteedge City. Furthermore, every single one of them was either powerful, influential, or possessed unfathomable hidden depths. It was truly hard to imagine what heinous crimes Moumou and Liangyin could have possibly committed back then in Whiteedge City to end up on the most-wanted list to such a degree.

Although Moumou maintained a calm facial expression on the surface, her inner self was so utterly stunned by this continuous parade of old acquaintances reuniting that she couldn't even be bothered to mentally sigh in exasperation.

Su Yi, on the other hand, was genuinely calm. His poker face remained largely unchanged, save for a polite veneer maintained out of necessity for his status. He spoke much more than before, and his skin tone had darkened considerably. It was impossible to tell whether the past Su Yi had worn exceptionally heavy makeup or if the present Su Yi had simply tanned under the sun at terrifying speed.

"Even Night Ghosts hiding deep within the forest need to stay informed about world events," Su Yi said, "otherwise, one day we wouldn't even know how we lost when another faction completely overruns our homeland. Don't you agree?"

"Good point. As the saying goes, align with the world, march with the trends. If you fall behind, you get beaten. One can never have too much advanced culture to learn," Moumou dryly chuckled, echoing Su Yi's sentiment while her mind was clearly elsewhere. "Anyway, I'm just asking casually. Since your Night Ghost companions probably don't understand a word I'm saying right now anyway, let's drop the act and speak frankly. Huanluo and I really did come here looking for ingredients, that's true. But halfway through our search in the forest, we detected the magical aura of a friend of ours, radiating right from that spot where the tree fell over. Yet when we approached, my friend's aura had been artificially masked. And you and your Night Ghost colleagues just happened to be near that battlefield. Might I ask, have you seen my friend?"

"It seems you really are quite familiar with Xi," Su Yi replied with a composed expression. If his lips hadn't been moving, Moumou would have truly thought Su Yi was a ventriloquist prodigy. No matter what he said, this fellow always kept such a completely expressionless face. Even now, as a faint arc of a smile touched his lips, he looked just as calm and self-contained, lacking any of that warm, springtime friendliness. He and Xi were simply two extremes. "Xi just loves it when people hide nothing from her and lay everything out clearly. Judging by the familiar tone with which you recount events, you must have already received quite a bit of 'education' from her."

Su Yi's human speech was noticeably more fluent than Xi's by more than just a little, and even his sarcasm was far more infuriating and punchable than anything Xi could say.

"You're not so bad yourself," Moumou retorted. "The biggest difference between humans and Night Ghosts lies in backstabbing and scheming. It seems you've learned quite well after spending all these years living in human nations. Sarcasm, veiled insults, idle gossip, malicious speculation, fabricating grounds, and slapping unjustified blame on others must be as second nature to you as eating meals by now."

When it came to sharp retorts, Moumou never backed down. Since Su Yi hadn't been polite to her, nor showed any intention of willingly handing over Liangyin's whereabouts, she felt no need to swallow this inexplicable grievance.

"Now that I think about it, the very first time I met you, you were just like this—indiscriminately demanding that I prove my identity without rhyme or reason. I never imagined that after all this time, meeting again, you'd still be as eager as ever to pin a badge of guilt on me. You aren't happy unless I've got two criminal charges weighing down on my head, right? Exactly where did I offend you to hold such a deep grudge?"

"Yet the facts proved that you were indeed the very person I suspected, weren't they?" Su Yi's face remained ice-cold. "Was it not you who swindled the young master of the Norco family? I was simply doing my duty to the best of my ability, staying loyal to my position and obligations. I don't feel I did anything wrong."

"Splendid. Then allow me to casually inquire: what position do you currently hold, and what grand enterprise are you plotting? Would it be convenient to disclose that?" Moumou asked, narrowing her eyes with a displeased expression.

"There is nothing inconvenient about it. I hold the position of heir to the Night Ghost chieftain, and I plot the interests of the Night Ghost race," Su Yi answered calmly, showing no signs of anger.

Huanluo stood aside with a cold gaze. Whether it was her imagination or not, she always felt that this seemingly hyper-rational, poker-faced Night Ghost heir was treating Moumou with exceptional patience. Just moments ago, he had given his subordinates such a decisive, two-word command, yet when it came to Moumou, he was actually willing to keep his temper and explain so much nonsense. Truly remarkable.

"That's just wonderful. Standing right before you are two prospective Night Ghost recruits. As humans who have defected to the Night Ghost race—being among the very few—I must express that I require organizational support. My friend is missing. She's right around here, but someone is blocking me from searching for her. What should I do?" Moumou raised her hand and posed the question.

"When you eventually upgrade and achieve official status, I will naturally help you. But for now, you are still a human and fall outside my jurisdiction," Su Yi replied with absolute, deadpan bureaucracy.

"Says who? I am a prospective Night Ghost personally acknowledged by the Night Ghost Witch's heir, Xi! At the very least, that makes me half one of your people." Whether Moumou sensed Su Yi's unusual tolerance toward her or not, she brazenly argued her point, acting as arrogant and willful as a spoiled young miss, shedding her usual cleverness entirely and behaving like an unreasonable shrew.

"Then, would you like to use this 'half-status' to ask something specific?" Su Yi's tone remained strictly professional, yet his words inadvertently left Moumou a sizable loophole to exploit.

"Alright then. Liangyin was right here just now, wasn't she? That armored rock beast was defeated by her, right? What on earth are you planning to do to her? Where is she currently staying? Is she locked up as a prisoner?" Moumou blurted out a string of questions in one breath.

"Pardon me. Your access clearance only permits you to select a single question," Su Yi said solemnly.

"Then let me ask: is Liangyin under your control, locked up and forced to undergo training every day for some unknown purpose?" Moumou took a deep breath and rattled off the entire sentence at breakneck speed without a single pause.

Su Yi's rare patience was finally exhausted by Moumou. The nerve inside his brain—which had somehow remained unusually resilient all day—finally snapped under the relentless harassment. A wave of chilling pressure continually radiated from Su Yi's body. He pivoted on his heel, looking thoroughly prepared to simply turn and walk away with an elegant sweep.

"Alright, you win." Seeing that she had pushed things too far, Moumou instantly morphed into an innocent maiden persona, trotted up, and gently tugged at the corner of Su Yi's leather jacket. Transforming into a pitiful, fragile state, she softly whimpered, "Fine then. Just answer me one question: why have you been constantly stopping me from seeing Liangyin?"