Chapter 62: The Downfall

On this comic book page, a sports car is depicted, with a man and his daughter sitting inside. It's an ordinary, familiar scene, not unlike something you'd find in an automotive magazine.

A beautiful car, a beautiful woman.

Such a cliché and tired trope—it clashes starkly with the earlier raucous scene of the car shaking to the rhythm of dance.

Yet what truly surprises Li Changluo about this comic is not the speeding car racing down the highway, but something almost hidden in an unremarkable corner of the page, just off to the side of the highway.

There, crouched down, is a little girl. She sits with her back to the viewer, huddled on the ground, clutching her head in her hands just like in Munch’s “The Scream,” as if silently pleading for help.

This tiny, incongruous detail is utterly out of place amidst the rest of the comic.

It’s stifling—makes your heart race with unease, as if the air itself is too thin to breathe.

At just a glance, Li Changluo spots this unsettling element and realizes that the girl here must be the same as the one he holds in his hands.

“Is the task completed?”

Li Changluo asks with a cheeky grin, addressing Young Lord Long Qi.

Long Qi remains silent.

But Li Changluo doesn’t believe the mission is finished—certainly not so easily. After all, this is a D-level task, and the last time he did an F-level one, he’d nearly been pummeled to death.

“You two, stop following me.”

Long Qi can’t take it any longer. He says in a low voice to Li Changluo, “Go back and wait. You can keep all the rewards.”

“No, we’re teammates. We can’t abandon you. We started together, we’ll return together.”

Li Changluo refuses Long Qi’s suggestion.

Not because he’s turned over a new leaf—become diligent or considerate.

It’s simple: he’s never up early unless there’s profit to be had. Long Qi is so fixated on these comic book pages that he’d rather bring along two more people than let Li Changluo keep the page.

That’s not normal.

Li Changluo dislikes trouble, but if there’s greater gain to be had behind it, he’s willing.

Besides, tagging along with someone of higher rank is basically a free ride.

And who’d turn down something for nothing?

Opportunities to freeload like this don’t come often.

Young Lord Long Qi, never much of a talker, is almost at his wit’s end dealing with this shameless rascal.

With a dark expression, he leaves the parking lot.

Li Changluo and Xiaoqing hurry to follow.

“Do you play Honor of Kings?”

Li Changluo tries to strike up a conversation with Long Qi. For young people, games are the simplest, most direct way to make friends.

...

“What about League of Legends?”

...

“PUBG? Do you play that?”

“What is it you actually want?”

Long Qi is growing exasperated.

“Don’t be mad. Actually, I just wanted to ask...”

“What’s your relationship with the ‘Elder Dragon’ in games?”

“Are you all considered draconic creatures?”

Li Changluo’s smile is irrepressible.

Though Xiaoqing isn’t the brightest, even she can tell Li Changluo is courting disaster—the silent, grim-faced monster in front of them is already brimming with fury, ready to explode at any moment.

She’s even wondering how she might knock this creature out if a fight starts.

If you strike a snake, aim for its seven-inch spot—but what about a dragon?

Should she use ‘Smite’?

Her gaze keeps drifting, intentionally or not, to Long Qi’s neck, filled with murderous intent.

“One last question—what about you dragon spirits...”

“Were you hatched from eggs or born live?”

Li Changluo continues his string of reckless questions, oblivious to the danger.

Long Qi walks ahead, with Li Changluo and Xiaoqing trailing behind.

Suddenly, Long Qi comes to a halt.

Caught off guard, Li Changluo bumps right into him.

For Xiaoqing, this unexpected movement is the start of a fight.

She must protect her own side’s weakling, Li Changluo.

That’s all she can think of.

So she raises her hand, leaps up, and delivers a fierce chop at Long Qi’s neck, hoping to knock him out.

Smack!

It happens so fast that Li Changluo barely registers what’s going on.

All he sees is Long Qi slumping limply to the ground.

“What are you doing?”

Li Changluo turns pale, staring at Xiaoqing.

“You were fighting! I was helping you!”

Xiaoqing smooths her hair and gives him a sweet, expectant look, hoping for praise.

Li Changluo throws his head back in despair.

He feels as if his brain is about to be sucked dry...

He is so, so tired.

Outsmarting the enemy on one side, dodging sneak attacks from teammates on the other.

Fine, she likes knocking people out.

But could she at least...

Not do it right in front of the police?

Is that too much to ask?

This is just common sense.

Sure enough, on the pedestrian street, two patrolling officers are walking toward them. Xiaoqing’s knockout blow to Long Qi has been witnessed in full.

The officers approach warily.

Assaulting someone in public? How brazen can you get?

“Tch, some expert you are. The most talented monster of your generation, and you can’t even act. I saw you smirking—get up.”

Li Changluo glances at Long Qi, who is sprawled on the ground, and laughs helplessly.

Of course, Long Qi isn’t really unconscious, nor would he be so easily felled by Xiaoqing.

In life, it’s all about acting.

Li Changluo hadn’t expected that this straight-laced, image-conscious spirit would stoop to playing dirty, matching his own tricks.

It’s a familiar scene—this is Li Changluo’s signature move.

To be outfoxed at his own game—unthinkable!

“What’s going on here?”

The two officers have already arrived, checking on Long Qi, still lying on the ground.

“A skit, maybe? Constable catching a thief?”

The older officer scans Li Changluo, teasing lightly.

A young man in period costume lies on the ground, another stands nearby dressed in the garb of a brocade-clad imperial guard. It’s like a scene from a historical drama, a constable catching a thief.

Experienced cops, like seasoned physicians, have their own diagnostic methods—‘look, listen, question, feel.’

It’s not as miraculous as in the stories, but spotting something unusual at a glance is second nature.

To his eye, the cute girl who attacked doesn’t seem nearly as suspicious as Li Changluo.

Even though that adorable girl is staring at his neck, clearly pondering whether to knock both of them out.

“Brother, you’ve spent all our family’s savings on cosplay, and you still won’t give up—why must you insist on going to the convention in Shanghai?”

Li Changluo refuses to sit and wait for disaster.

He immediately bursts into tears, sobbing and sniffling dramatically…

Then—

He starts punching and kicking the supine Long Qi, putting on a show of bitter disappointment.

In his fervor, he even spits on him.

The officers quickly move to restrain him, thinking, Aren’t you dressed just as oddly?

“Look at her eyes—my little sister’s eyes need expensive surgery, and we’re out of money. And yet you, you refuse to change your ways and keep cosplaying! Don’t you realize she’ll go blind?”

As he speaks, he moves to strike the hapless “elder brother” again.

Li Changluo’s performance is so vivid, so compelling, that even Xiaoqing gets swept up and bursts into tears herself.

The two officers can only sigh in pity and frustration, glaring resentfully at the white-robed cosplayer on the ground.

“As heartbreaking as it is, both of you need to show your ID cards.”