Free Web NovelAt exactly 8:30 AM, Jiang Li, who had been busy for most of the night and had only rested for a little over two hours, woke up in the temporary lodging provided by the Shancheng Si Ye Hui.
Her high-level Spiritual Energy allowed her body to recover quickly with only a short rest, but seeing her mother's name unexpectedly in Tan Qiuming's transaction records last night had kept her awake.
Opening her eyes, she stared at the ceiling for a minute, allowing her body to "wake up," then, as if she had no attachment to the soft and comfortable bed, she decisively got out of bed and went to the washroom. freewēbnoveℓ.com
Five minutes for brushing her teeth, ten minutes for washing her face, then meticulously combing her long hair, putting on her dress, adjusting her prosthetic limb, and wiping the silver handle of her cane clean...
By the time she left her lodging and prepared to head to Xi Yang Yang Hotpot Restaurant, the time was exactly nine o'clock, if one disregarded the slight deviation of a few seconds.
With a cup of soy milk and a multi-grain pancake, Jiang Li had breakfast on the way. When she arrived at Xi Yang Yang Hotpot Restaurant, the place was deserted, with only Zhong Huai, who had arrived early to open up, busy with a broom.
Jiang Li was not surprised by this scene. After standing at the door for a few seconds, she went to a table, put down her cane, and then walked straight to the kitchen.
Night Watch members, after working formally for a period, mostly become nocturnal creatures with habits similar to urban legend. The discovery at Hanye Studio last night had exhausted the Shancheng Si Ye Hui members, so at just past nine o'clock, everyone except Zhong Huai was naturally still sound asleep.
In fact, it was also very difficult to see any Night Watch members other than Tang Tang in the Hua City Si Ye Hui in the morning.
Of course, if you include times other than the morning, the only other member you could frequently see was Li Xuan.
Zhong Huai was a bit surprised to see Jiang Li arrive at the hotpot restaurant so early. After Jiang Li had boiled water, made tea, and sat down in the main hall of the hotpot restaurant, he immediately put down his broom and approached her.
"Gan Yuan Jiang, you're here quite early?"
Jiang Li calmly replied, as she poured the brewed tea into the two cups in front of her, "Yes, I'm used to getting up early. When I woke up, I came over to take a look."
After speaking, she handed one of the filled tea cups to Zhong Huai.
Zhong Huai took the teacup from Jiang Li's hand in a daze, then, stimulated by the slightly hot temperature of the teacup, he came back to his senses and sighed silently.
As the first person of the Shancheng Si Ye Hui, he often undertook the work of managing other members and coordinating operations. As a "Leader," he naturally hoped that his subordinates would be as diligent as Jiang Li.
It's just a pity...
The thought of the Shancheng Si Ye Hui members who clocked in on time and would absolutely not arrive a minute early before 12:30 PM on non-Night Watch days, as stipulated, gave Zhong Huai a throbbing headache.
Strictly speaking, this was all the fault of the previous first person of the Shancheng Si Ye Hui, who was an extremely free-spirited and undisciplined person.
"By the way, how do you manage to get up so early every day? Can you teach me a method to make those rascals come earlier every day too?"
Jiang Li took a small sip of tea, tilted her head in thought, looked around the hotpot restaurant, and then looked at Zhong Huai. "Yes! Turn the hotpot restaurant into a breakfast place, and then make them come help every day."
Zhong Huai frowned slightly after hearing this, deep in thought.
It was indeed a method, but why did it sound a bit torturous?
Has this Miss always spoken in this style?
As he pondered, he suddenly noticed that Jiang Li's lips were silently moving, as if she was muttering something. He couldn't help but ask, "Are you...?"
"Reviewing Spell incantations..." Jiang Li responded calmly, "The incantations for high-level Spells are quite complex. If I don't review them regularly, it's easy to make mistakes when using them on the spot."
Zhong Huai, "..."
Hiss, what kind of divine member is this?
I remember she and that girl Lin Kele were from the same batch... Why didn't I notice her when I was selecting members back then?
It turns out that excellent children are usually other people's.
Who wouldn't want an all-rounder member like Jiang Li, who can handle frontal combat, investigate urban legend independently, and even process archives?
No, I need to find a way to transfer her from Hua City to Mountain City!
As Zhong Huai thought, a bad idea suddenly popped into his mind. "Gan Yuan Jiang, the Shancheng Si Ye Hui is organizing a social event recently. There will be many excellent..."
"Thank you for your kindness..." Jiang Li interrupted Zhong Huai, giving him a strange look before adding, "I'm already engaged. He is a trustworthy person, and I have no intention of changing that."
Hearing this, Zhong Huai fell silent, so embarrassed that he wished he could slap himself five seconds ago.
As if sensing Zhong Huai's embarrassment, Jiang Li subtly changed the subject.
"Senior Zhong, Lin Kele, she..."
Seizing the opportunity, Zhong Huai hurriedly followed up, "She woke up, she woke up! She woke up shortly after you left."
"She told me everything about yesterday. She said that you accidentally found some clues that needed verification and decided to go to Qixinggang Lower Lane alone to confirm them, and she followed you secretly because she was worried..."
At this point, Jiang Li's eyes subtly brightened.
This was the unspoken understanding between good girlfriends. Without prior coordination, Lin Kele had spun a complete lie that perfectly aligned with her own thoughts.
After a pause, Zhong Huai added, "I'm sorry, I misunderstood you yesterday."
Although Lin Kele was indeed not injured yesterday, he had still doubted Jiang Li's true purpose in going to Qixinggang Lower Lane.
After all, he had seen Jiang Li's file and knew that she had once been an Eclipse Society experiment subject.
And anyone who knows a little about various illegal Spiritual Energy organizations knows that the Eclipse Society, Miracle Order, and Wanderers Poetry Society, these three organizations with special "totems," once their mark is imprinted, it's difficult to shake off the influence.
"You're too kind," Jiang Li politely responded to Zhong Huai, then changed the subject and asked, "Senior, is there any work I can do now? I'm idle anyway, so I want to find something to do."
"Oh, and have the names compiled from Tan Qiuming's ledger last night been investigated? Can I take on this task?"
Although she genuinely wanted to find some work to do, there were many options, and she chose this particular one with a hidden motive.
What if, during the visit and investigation, she could meet someone with the same name, surname, and age as her mother?
"Oh?" Zhong Huai pondered for a moment before nodding. "Then wait, I'll go get the list."
If it had been last night, he would definitely not have given the list to Jiang Li, but after hearing Lin Kele's words and observing Jiang Li these past few days, he had gained a bit more trust in Jiang Li.
"Thank you, Senior..."
After quietly saying a word to Zhong Huai, Jiang Li took out her phone, found Wang Bu Liu Xing's contact information, hesitated for a moment, and then typed out a message.
Although she could go on the visit and investigation alone, she just wanted to drag Lu Yibei along!
A date can be work, so why can't work be a date?
Friendly reminder: The Website is about to be revamped, which may result in the loss of reading progress. Please save your "book shelf" and "reading record" in time (screenshot saving is recommended). We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause!
————
After being coerced by Wang Yingying, who used cuteness as a weapon, to take her to kindergarten, Lu Yibei left the God Kingdom Prototype and returned to Tao Hua Family Inn.
Recalling Wang Yingying's tearful eyes as she reluctantly walked into the kindergarten, her mood was quite complex. On one hand, she didn't want to take Wang Yingying to school anymore, but on the other hand, she wanted to see Wang Yingying make that expression a few more times.
Maybe... I'll just beat her up when I want to see it again?
Lu Yibei thought to herself, then, feeling the unique stuffy humidity of the Mountain City air on her skin, she opened her eyes.
Leaning back on the sofa in the tea room, letting the first rays of morning sun fall on her side profile, she waited for a moment, then realized that she still couldn't bathe in the morning sun and return to her original form today. She sighed helplessly.
"Sigh—!"
She stood up from the sofa and stretched, using the French window as a mirror to simply tidy her clothes, then sent a message to Coat through the Dependent Mark (familiar imprint).
"Coat, change into a new outfit!"
"Okay, Devil Woman! (^_−)☆"
Although Lu Yibei hadn't worn human clothes much since acquiring Coat, she still had Coat change styles every one or two days.
This was very necessary, otherwise people would think she never changed her clothes!
After changing clothes, Lu Yibei was about to bravely go upstairs to look for Ju Meng when her phone suddenly vibrated.
She took out her phone and saw a message from Jiang Li.
Miao Miao Jiang: "Are you up? I found some useful clues last night and plan to investigate them further today. Want to come with me?"
Lu Yibei looked upstairs, then at her phone, and typed a reply.
Wang Bu Liu Xing: "Okay! Where should we meet?"
Anyway, I've already told Smelly Girl that I can do whatever I want during the day and play with her in the evening if I have time. It should be fine if I just leave, right? Lu Yibei thought.
Miao Miao Jiang: "Let's meet at Shancheng Central Hospital first?"
Wang Bu Liu Xing: "Okay, then I'll see you at the hospital entrance!"
After replying to Jiang Li, Lu Yibei picked up Lingtai Pure Karma from the ground, dressed neatly, and with a flexible wriggle from Coat, which completely enveloped Lingtai Pure Karma, she stepped out of Tao Hua Family Inn.
On her way to Shancheng Central Hospital, she also grabbed some breakfast.
A cup of soy milk and a multi-grain pancake.
Before, when Jiang Li asked her to bring breakfast, she brought this too.
————
9:00 AM, Mountain City, Igni Grand Hotel.
After waking up, Dorees quickly washed up and then hurried to the hotel's buffet restaurant to enjoy her first meal of the day.
Although the Igni Grand Hotel's buffet breakfast was only diverse in variety and not strictly a gourmet meal, for her, as long as the food was flavorful, it counted as gourmet, and she couldn't miss a single meal.
She wasn't like Lu Yibei, who had the God Kingdom Prototype, earth vein aura, and almost all the urban legend of Hua City following her to provide Spiritual Energy replenishment.
In fact, before participating in the Dream Come True Entertainment City's fighting competition and earning her first urban legend core to devour, she hadn't tasted anything at all due to lack of Spiritual Energy replenishment.
If it weren't for the fact that she wasn't a pure-blooded urban legend, she would probably have been driven mad by the hunger of Spiritual Energy depletion. Around Dream Come True Entertainment City, urban legend of her level didn't even have the qualification to go on a rampage and hunt.
However, ever since devouring her first urban legend core and regaining her sense of taste, it was as if she had unlocked a new world. She would eat as much as possible every day, which might also be another important reason for her significant changes in less than a year, besides her Spiritual Energy fluctuations becoming stronger.
Excessive nutrition, she developed too well, you could say...
Arriving at the buffet restaurant, Dorees excitedly took two full plates of food, found a corner seat, and just as she picked up her fork to start eating, she saw a figure that made her uncomfortable approaching her and sitting opposite her.
"Good morning, Miss Hatuoer."
Looking at Zhang Yu's smiling face, Dorees took a deep breath, trying to appear as natural as possible. "Morning."
Ever since she accidentally overheard Zhang Yu's words last night, she had an inexplicable feeling of resistance towards this man.
It wasn't fear, but she just didn't want to have too much contact with him.
It was as if she knew that being with a certain person might bring great misfortune, so she chose to stay as far away as possible.
Zhang Yu smiled at Dorees, ate some of the croissants on his plate, and took a sip of black coffee before asking, "Miss Hatuoer, I have an important negotiation later. Will you come with me?"
In his opinion, Dorees was here for an internship, and as long as there was an opportunity to learn and see the world, she would certainly not refuse.
However, before he could explain to Dorees what kind of meeting it would be, he heard an unexpected answer.
"I'm not going!" Dorees blurted out.
Important meetings, negotiations—if you can avoid participating, then avoid them. If the talks break down, and the other party can't retaliate against the big shots at the meeting, they can still take out their anger on a small fry like you, right? This was what Lu Yibei taught her.
After a pause, realizing her reaction was a bit excessive, Dorees quickly made an excuse, "Uh, I read your collection of books yesterday, and there are several that I'm very interested in. I want to finish them early."
"Heh!" Zhang Yu didn't suspect anything, chuckling lightly. "The books are always there, they won't run away. It won't take much time for you to attend the negotiation with me, and you can come back and read them afterward."
"..." Dorees opened her mouth, wanting to say something more, but Zhang Yu waved his hand, cutting her off.
"Miss Hatuoer, please don't decline anymore. Mr. Adelaide instructed me to take you out to see the world more often, and I wouldn't dare disobey his instructions."
Zhang Yu brought up Adelaide, and Dorees immediately looked troubled, biting her lip slightly and remaining silent for a few seconds before reluctantly nodding.
"Alright, then I'll go take a look first."
After speaking, she stood up.
"Excuse me, I /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ need to go to the restroom."
"Please do."
Avoiding Zhang Yu, she hurried to the restroom, locked herself in a stall, and immediately took out the small Paper Cicada Immortal that Lu Yibei had given her last night, sending a plea for help to Lu Yibei.
"Teacher, help! The person in charge here wants me to attend some very important negotiation. What should I do?"
