Chapter 99: Thrown Away

Li Changluo took out his lighter and leisurely lit a cigarette. He took a deep drag, and only then did he feel the world was beautiful once more.

He sat at the end of the corridor, smoking, hugging his knees, gazing dreamily toward the other end of the hallway...

There, Biluo was blinking her lovely, big eyes at him, smiling sweetly, holding—

An ice cream cone.

She used her little finger to gently scoop a bit of ice cream and popped it into her mouth...

Her face was filled with bliss.

If you love her, just buy her a Häagen-Dazs?

So exhausting...

All that running was so exhausting...

And besides, something about this scene felt off...

Li Changluo kept shaking his head.

You made me run so far, built up so much anticipation...

I thought you were about to unleash some world-shattering power...

At the very least, I expected you to go all out, activate some ultimate move, a magical crystal arrow...

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

But instead...

After all that running, you tell me...

Your big move is summoning an ice cream cone?

Ha, truly impressive...

Are you about to say, “Brother, I’ll buy you popsicles for a whole year?”

“Brother, come over here, you should try this, it’s delicious!”

The little girl looked like a child sneaking snacks, carefully scooping another bit of ice cream with her finger and popping it into her mouth.

My heart, truly, is so tired...

Li Changluo took a fierce drag on his cigarette, stubbed it out hard on the floor, stood up straight, and strode over to the little girl Biluo...

Damn it, are you messing with me?

I swear, today I’m going to teach you a lesson.

At that moment, footsteps echoed in the corridor. White Lotus came clattering back again. Still in the stairwell, she heard strange noises coming from the second-floor hall...

Li Changluo’s voice, and if you listened closely, there was a little girl’s voice as well...

Wailing, but...

Pain mixed with joy. The cries made White Lotus’s face burn red...

“Brother, you’re really amazing…”

“Amazing, aren’t I?”

White Lotus could even make out the indecent exchange...

Li Changluo, you beast...

Have you no shame...

Angry, White Lotus quickened her pace, determined to stop Li Changluo’s vile behavior...

“Let go of that girl—!”

White Lotus stormed up to the second floor, her light body taking several steps in the air before she landed in the corridor...

“You—you’re back again?”

Li Changluo’s face was flushed, an expression of utter enjoyment. He looked at White Lotus in surprise, a touch of embarrassment on his face...

“You—you two…”

White Lotus’s almond eyes were wide with fury. She’d planned to give this brute, Li Changluo, a thorough scolding, but the words died on her lips...

Before her, Li Changluo was holding an ice cream cone, performing...

The classic Turkish ice cream “teasing” routine.

That incorporeal spirit girl, the little Biluo, was still holding an ice cream cone, licking it happily, face full of joy...

“You—you two are eating ice cream... Who were you shouting for?”

White Lotus felt awkward, realizing she’d entirely misunderstood. But how could someone as pure as herself ever have such thoughts? It was all their fault...

“Sis, do you want to try some? It’s super tasty.”

The little girl’s hand shimmered, cold air swirling as another ice cream cone materialized in her grasp.

“It really is amazing. This taste takes me back to the popsicles in foam boxes outside my school when I was a kid…”

Li Changluo couldn’t help but lick his cone, so moved he was nearly in tears...

Two lunatics—how could eating ice cream sound so obscene...

Did the cold go straight to your heads?

White Lotus couldn’t bear to look at the two of them again. She turned away...

“By the way, why did you come back again? Is it guilt? Are you here to make up for your mistake? But...”

“Don’t get any ideas about me. If you want to make it up, just give me a lifetime pass for free food and drink at the tavern.”

Li Changluo licked his ice cream cone, looking at White Lotus with an aggrieved gaze...

Pressuring her with his eyes...

You do realize your exorcism failed, don’t you?

Look at what you’ve done.

An innocent little girl, sealed within a fruit knife by you...

Don’t you feel guilty?

But most importantly...

A handsome young man like me is now forced to take care of a little girl...

In this world of monsters, bringing along a kid is bound to hurt my “market value,” right?

“You…”

Faced with Li Changluo’s almost shameless demand, White Lotus took a deep breath, suppressed her frustration, and managed a smile: “You really are funny. I came back to tell you: Tomorrow morning, second floor of the tavern, ‘Fishing for the Moon in Water.’ Don’t forget our appointment, and remember Lin Egg’s instructions…”

With that, she gave Li Changluo a gentle smile and a wink...

Then she trotted off, disappearing down the corridor...

The whole exchange was swift and seamless, giving Li Changluo no chance to bargain.

Li Changluo was so annoyed he shoved the entire ice cream cone into his mouth. The feeling was like going in for surgery, the doctor forgetting a pair of scissors inside you, and then gently reminding you to remember to pay your bill...

Damn it, what am I supposed to do with these scissors?

Li Changluo angrily snatched another ice cream cone from Biluo’s hand.

Meanwhile, in a room on the second floor of the tavern, decorated in elegant, antique style, White Lotus looked around to make sure she was alone before quietly closing the carved wooden door...

“So tired I could die…”

White Lotus twisted her neck, stretched languidly, then picked up an exquisitely crafted jade pipe from the table...

She elegantly packed in some tobacco...

Strike!

A match appeared before White Lotus’s jade pipe, lighting the tobacco...

“Lin Egg, could you remember to knock?”

White Lotus’s gentle, charming face was wreathed in smoke, her features growing a bit unreal...

“I did knock.”

“I mean knock on your own door. Watched too much ‘Spirit Sword Mountain,’ have you? Is your brain addled?”

“Boss, I wanted to ask you something…”

“Alright, but…”

“But?”

“But… could you come down first? It’s tiring to talk like this…”

“It’s not so bad, I’m not tired…”

“But I am...”

Gone was the gentle, neighborly persona White Lotus showed outsiders. Now, smoking her pipe, her tone grew cold and commanding...

But really…

You couldn’t blame her for losing her temper…

Because…

Lin Egg was hanging upside down above White Lotus’s head, tied by a rope from his backpack to a ceiling beam...

Like Spider-Man, dangling above her, the match in his hand slowly burning out, trailing smoke...

The two of them stared at each other—one looking up, one down.

White Lotus’s snow-white neck ached even more...

“Boss, can I throw this away?”

Lin Egg sheepishly dropped from the beam, adjusted his glasses, and held out the golden, singed hair between his fingers to White Lotus...

“Toss it.”

White Lotus smiled sweetly, and blew gently at the hair Lin Egg held...

And it was gone.