The fatigue from constantly receiving “guests” for a whole day and night was mostly dispelled when the rewards were handed out.
Lin Gui massaged his temples and looked beside him.
Eve had fallen asleep on the desk at some point.
Her pale gold short hair was scattered across her arms, her breathing soft and slow.
Lin Gui withdrew his gaze and began tidying the cluttered desk.
He returned the last few glass beads to their box and stacked the letter paper neatly.
“Hey, handsome.”
A deliberately softened voice sounded.
Lin Gui looked up.
Hannah had leaned in toward the counter at some point, her upper body tilted forward.
Her crimson eyes curved slightly, carrying an almost sycophantic smile.
“Big sister has a very, very small favor...”
“...she'd like to ask you to help with, okay?”
She blinked, her eyes gleaming beneath her thick eyelashes.
The innate seductive aura of a pureblood demon was deliberately amplified by her at this moment.
Like a hook, it gently scratched at a person's defenses.
Lin Gui hadn't even spoken yet.
Eve, who was lying on the desk beside him, suddenly stirred.
She turned her head and lifted those purple eyes from her arms.
They weren't fully open, just squinting through a narrow slit.
Her gaze landed precisely on Hannah's face.
Silent, yet as sharp as a knife.
The smile at the corner of Hannah's mouth froze.
Under that gaze, she inexplicably felt a pang of guilt.
As if she had done something wrong and been caught red-handed.
She instinctively drew back her leaning body and straightened her spine.
Sitting up straight and proper.
Eve gave a soft huff and buried her face back in her arms.
A faint, victorious curve curled the corner of her lips.
Lin Gui was completely unaware that two gazes had just clashed silently.
He looked at Hannah, who had suddenly become well-behaved, feeling somewhat puzzled.
“You... why are you still here?”
Pausing, he asked:
“Where is Roger?”
At the mention of Roger, a flicker of dimness flashed deep within Hannah's crimson eyes.
But she immediately masked it with an even brighter smile.
“Oh, him? He's helping Lord Gusion deal with some enemies.”
Her tone was casual, as if she were talking about the weather.
“They need my help right now, so...”
She looked at Lin Gui with a sweet smile.
“How about using that miraculous little vessel of yours that can traverse the Wailing Corridor...”
“...to take me to Mirror-Shadow City, what do you say?”
“I'll pay you.”
She blinked and lowered her voice.
“I'll pay with Roger's secret stash.”
Before her voice could fade, rapid breathing came from the corner.
Rosa and Maren struggled to prop themselves up, their eyes filled with excitement.
“Take us with you!”
Maren's voice was hoarse. “Father might still be there.”
“Shut up!”
Hannah whipped her head around, the smile instantly vanishing from her face.
Replaced by a cold, biting anger.
“If you want to die, I can oblige you right now.”
Her voice was very low, yet it carried a bone-chilling coldness.
“If it weren't to save your damn father...”
“...how would things have gotten this bad!”
At some point, a dark sheen had appeared on her fingertips, the phantom of sharp claws faintly visible.
“Don't push me.”
She said each word deliberately, her crimson eyes locking onto the two of them.
“Don't forget, you're the ones who personally...”
“...got your father killed in there.”
Rosa and Maren turned deathly pale. They opened their mouths but ultimately lowered their heads in silence.
Hannah turned back, her face once again wearing a gentle smile.
Her rapid change of expression was jaw-dropping.
“You see?”
She looked at Lin Gui, her voice softening once more.
“Roger has a lot of secret savings—a full hundred thousand gold coins.”
“You just need to take me to Mirror-Shadow City. It's so easy...”
“...and you can earn that much. What do you say?”
Lin Gui didn't say anything.
He simply pointed silently at the corner of Hannah's mouth.
There, a trace of dark red blood was slowly seeping out.
It was clearly her internal injuries acting up from her emotional outburst just now.
Lin Gui's lip twitched slightly.
“...I think I'll have my Priest treat you first.”
An hour later.
The flying vessel was steadily placed on the ground.
Hannah walked a circle around it, her crimson eyes full of curiosity.
She reached out to touch the cold metal wings.
“This little thing can burst with that kind of inhuman speed?”
She turned to look at Lin Gui, her tone seeking confirmation.
“Hugh said that your speed when traversing the corridor...”
“...is something even his father couldn't hope to match.”
Lin Gui didn't reply.
He was carefully binding over a dozen large wooden boxes to the back of the flying vessel with steel chains.
His storage space couldn't store living things, including spirits with souls.
And these thousands of glass beads filled over ten large boxes.
Their volume had long since exceeded the limits of his storage space.
After securing the last buckle, Lin Gui clapped his hands and took the driver's seat first.
Hannah's eyes lit up, and she quickly stepped forward, intending to sit in the second row.
But a hand gently tugged at the corner of her clothes.
Eve had stood beside her at some point, a smile on her face.
She pointed to the very back row of the flying vessel.
“You sit in the back.”
Her tone was gentle, yet brooked no argument.
Hannah was taken aback, then her crimson eyes curved, revealing a suggestive smile.
“What, have you taken a liking to that little mage?”
She lowered her voice and leaned closer.
“But doesn't he already have a lover? A loyal elven one at that.”
“Would she allow a “third party” to butt in?”
Eve smiled faintly and didn't answer directly.
She turned to look at Lin Gui, her voice clear.
“Mr. Lin Gui, don't forget Theia's parting words.”
She raised her hand and gently tapped her shapely cheek with her fingertip.
Only then did she look back at Hannah, her smile carrying a triumphant declaration.
“I welcome you to ‘woo’ me anytime.”
“To fulfill Theia's wish and make me her true ‘sister’.”
Hannah looked at her in astonishment, unable to immediately grasp the convoluted logic of her words.
Eve, however, leaned close to her ear and whispered in a breathy voice only the two of them could hear:
“I recall that Miss Hannah is Mr. Roger's lover.”
“You wouldn't do anything... to betray him, right?”
The corner of Hannah's mouth twitched violently.
She had only wanted to get a bit closer to that black-haired kid to make negotiations easier...
How on earth did she get misunderstood as trying to “steal her man”?
Besides, what was there to steal about a mere High-tier High Rank little mage?!
Compared to Roger, who was a High-tier Legendary before even turning forty, he was vastly inferior, okay?
In terms of both talent and looks.
She opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing.
She silently turned around and obediently climbed into the very back row.
Eve watched her defeated back, her lips curling in satisfaction.
Only then did she lightly sit in the second row, right behind Lin Gui.
Feeling her back tightly hugged by a soft body—much tighter than before.
Lin Gui sighed helplessly; this scene felt strangely familiar.
Rate on N.U.
