The Vine Treehouse

Eve's expression was subtle.

It was a mix of testing the waters with a hint of anticipation, and pure curiosity blended with a touch of slyness.

She tilted her head slightly, her purple eyes staring unblinkingly at Lin Gui's face.

She seemed to be waiting patiently, hoping to catch a flicker of surprise, panic, or any interesting reaction on his face.

However, Lin Gui only remained silent for two seconds.

Then, slowly, he looked at her with dead-fish eyes.

“Are you...”

His tone was flat, cutting straight to the point.

“...afraid that those invisible, intangible ghosts who can pass through walls...”

“...will drift in during the middle of the night to peek at your sleeping face?”

Eve blinked.

Then, she gave a straightforward shrug.

The feigned ambiguity on her face instantly vanished, returning to her usual slightly sly composure.

“That is indeed the case, Mr. Lin Gui.”

She even smiled, admitting it without the slightest hesitation.

“After all...”

Her gaze swept meaningfully across the various corners of the room.

“There are simply too many ‘spectators’ here.”

Actually, it wasn't just Eve.

Even Lin Gui himself felt quite helpless against these “neighbors,” who were almost entirely immune to physical and magical detection.

Relying on his own soul power, he could barely perceive the presence of spiritual bodies.

But the soul power of these ghosts was so weak it was almost nonexistent, like candles in the wind.

As a result, his soul perception often came up completely blank, yielding no feedback whatsoever.

He looked at Eve and sighed.

“Fine.”

“But in exchange...”

“...how about you help out tomorrow and write a few letters?”

Hearing this, Eve merely smiled faintly.

She turned slightly, clasping her hands gently behind her back in a pose she deemed elegant and charming.

“Mr. Lin Gui~”

“Sharing a room with a pure and beautiful lady...”

“...isn't that a reward in itself for a gentleman?”

She blinked, a hint of mischief in her tone, as if saying, “How can you still make demands?”

Lin Gui rolled his eyes at her. While stretching his aching wrists, he casually remarked:

“Before Theia left, she secretly told me...”

“...she hoped I would ‘win you over.’”

“That way, you two could be real ‘sisters.’”

He yawned, mimicking Theia's tone.

“She also said that this would make you her ‘biological younger sister’ in name and in fact.”

“What's the matter...”

He looked at Eve, his tone indifferent.

“...do you want that too?”

“...”

The smile on Eve's face froze instantly.

Immediately after, with a whoosh, her entire face flushed bright red from her neck to the tips of her ears at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“I... I...”

She opened her mouth, unable to speak coherently.

Seeing Lin Gui finish tidying up the counter and walk naturally toward her,

she actually took a small step back instinctively, her hands clutching her skirt in a bit of a panic.

She looked like a completely different person from the “charming” and mature persona she had just tried to put on.

Seeing this, Lin Gui only smiled and stopped teasing her.

He bypassed her and was the first to push open the door leading to the temporary living quarters on the second floor.

The room was empty, containing only dust and a few pieces of discarded furniture.

Lin Gui walked to the center of the room, his mind shifting slightly.

【Storage】—Open.

In the next second,

two simple wooden beds with clean bedding, a small storage cabinet, a magic lamp, and even a small wooden bucket filled with clean water along with toiletries...

...appeared out of thin air on the empty floor of the room.

They were neatly arranged, as if they had been prepared long ago.

The blush on Eve's face had not yet faded, and she was stunned by the scene before her.

She had originally thought Lin Gui had used the Shroud of the Gloomy Night to hide these supplies beforehand.

After all, the flying vessel and that large wooden crate had been following them like shadows.

But since the post office was built, she hadn't seen Lin Gui move that large crate out at all.

Where did these daily necessities... come from?

Lin Gui did not explain. He simply lit the magic lamp with practiced ease.

The warm glow dispersed the darkness in the room.

Lin Gui walked to Eve's bed and squatted down.

He reached out and lightly tapped the edge of the bed frame with his fingertip.

【Growth Acceleration】 silently circulated.

A few stray grass seeds on the floor instantly germinated, and bright green vines burst from the ground.

As if endowed with life, they intertwined and climbed, wrapping around the bed frame.

In the blink of an eye, an exquisite “little treehouse” woven from fresh vines, just large enough for one person to lie down, enveloped the bed.

The vine leaves were dense, forming a natural screen.

Lin Gui then retrieved several small metal bells from his storage space.

He carefully tied them to several main vines on the inside of the treehouse.

“All done.”

He stood up and brushed off the nonexistent dust from his hands.

“Now, no ‘ghost’ will be able to peek at your sleeping face.”

“If anything touches the vines, the bells will ring.”

Eve stepped forward, squatting down to look at this “boudoir” filled with rustic, natural charm.

She poked her head in to examine the clinking alarm devices inside.

Finally, she looked up speechlessly at Lin Gui, who had already swiftly taken off his dusty, old mage robe.

Wearing only a simple undershirt, he had wrapped himself in his blanket and was leaning against the headboard with his eyes closed, taking a light nap.

She thought to herself:

Eve couldn't tell if what she felt in her heart was disappointment or something else.

At least, it seemed that Mr. Lin Gui...

...really didn't have much romantic interest in her.

She sighed softly, bent down, and crawled into the vine treehouse.

With a rustling sound, she took off her outer robe and folded it neatly.

She changed into comfortable pajamas and lay down, surrounded by the fresh fragrance of the vine leaves.

She watched the light and shadows from the magic lamp filtering through the gaps in the leaves above her.

Gradually, she drifted off to sleep.

Late at night.

Blackwater City fell back into a deathly silence.

Outside the window on the second floor of the post office.

A few glass beads quietly rolled out from the cracks in the wall.

“Over here, over here!” Troy's tiny, suppressed voice of excitement rang out.

“I told you guys, the elf sister and the mage brother were super intense back then!”

“The Saintess sister is here tonight too, so they'll definitely... you know!”

She led several children's soul beads, eagerly crowding toward the window.

“We'll peek quietly. Don't make a sound!”

Just as the beads were about to roll under the windowsill—

all of them suddenly came to a screeching halt.

A familiar, soul-shivering pressure descended from above.

Troy “looked up.”

Only to see a figure already standing by the windowsill at some point.

Lin Gui was wearing only a thin undershirt, his arms crossed, his Eyes of the Netherworld swirling with a gray light.

With an expressionless, annoyed look on his face...

...he looked down at them.

“...”

Troy's bead wobbled awkwardly.

“M-Mage brother...”

“You... you're not asleep yet?”

Lin Gui let out a cold snort through his nose.

“Tell me...”

“...who exactly am I staying awake in the middle of the night to guard against?”

“Uh...”

Troy's bead rolled back half a turn.

“Um... goodnight, mage brother!”

“We're leaving right now! Right now!”

With that, she led the children's soul beads and zipped back into the crack in the wall.

They vanished into the darkness.

Her faint, quiet grumbling could still be heard: “How did he find out...”

Lin Gui stood by the window, rubbing his temples in resignation.

How could he have known Troy would bring people to spy on them?

But more importantly...

The “voices” of these little ghosts discussing things so excitedly...

...even with his eyes closed, he could “hear” them clear as day.

It seemed that tonight...

He wouldn't be getting any peaceful sleep.