The Pervert’s Guise and a Strained Relationship

After breakfast, Mo Linyu took Li Yue’s hand and headed out.

However, before they even reached the garage, the maid Dong Lu stepped forward to stop them, acting on Mo Changhong’s instructions.

“Wait, Miss, Master is right. If there truly is a pervert lurking nearby, I believe it would be safer for you to remain at home…”

Worry flickered in her brown eyes.

Mo Linyu simply replied:

“Dong Lu, you know I won’t listen to him.”

“But even if Master hadn’t said anything, I wouldn’t think it’s a good idea to go out now. Since it’s summer vacation, Miss could surely rest at home for a few days and see if that lewd scoundrel is still around…”

Dong Lu’s words were clearly born of concern, a hint of pleading in her voice, but Mo Linyu, too, harbored a hidden dilemma she couldn’t disclose.

Firstly, that ‘lewd scoundrel’ was currently standing right before her, merely in a different guise.

Secondly, Mo Linyu had no leisure to rest for days. By her reckoning, this was already the third day, yet she hadn’t even glimpsed the shadow of an otherworldly soul. Three months wouldn’t wait for anyone, and this month of summer vacation was prime time for her search…

Once school resumed, where would she find such time?

Mo Linyu merely reassured her: “Don’t worry, with Li Yue by my side, I won’t be in any danger.”

“…Miss, Miss Li herself is dangerous enough.”

“Cough, cough.”

This prompted Li Yue, who had been lurking nearby, to let out a couple of dry coughs.

“Miss Dong Lu, then we won’t ride the motorcycle today. Surely it’s fine if I leave the bike in your garage? And this too, please keep it.”

With that, she produced her motorcycle keys and handed them to Dong Lu, but a hint of distrust still lingered in the latter’s smiling eyes.

[Even so, I’m afraid…]

Even the dialogue box on her chest conveyed a hesitant, unspoken sentiment.

Li Yue asked: “Are there any other issues? I can’t exactly rent a shared bicycle and take her on a joyride, can I?”

Dong Lu seemed on the verge of speaking, but ultimately, her concern for Mo Linyu won out, and she finally asked: “Miss Li, last night you claimed to be a cultivator, and furthermore, Master’s description… the pajamas that pervert was wearing are the same as the ones Miss lent you. Could it be that…”

[Could it be that this Miss Li is actually a man?]

Glancing once more at the dialogue box on Dong Lu’s chest, a cold sweat instantly broke out on Li Yue. From Dong Lu’s perspective, the information she’d gathered was indeed more extensive than Mo Changhong’s, making her deductions entirely reasonable.

However, Mo Linyu simply stated: “Dong Lu, you needn’t inquire further. I know what’s going on.”

“Miss, but…”

Dong Lu started to speak again, but Mo Linyu raised a hand to cut her off.

“Li Yue is not a problem. I can vouch for her.”

“Sigh—”

With words already spoken, Dong Lu could only sigh.

“Very well, then I won’t ask any more questions.”

Just then, Xia Xi, who had been peeking around the fountain, finally couldn’t hold back and ran over.

“Miss!”

She immediately linked arms with Mo Linyu, her eyes seemingly sparkling, and whispered in a tone loud enough for even Li Yue, who was standing nearby, to hear.

“You… you… do you… have a boyfriend?”

“Huh?”

Not only Mo Linyu, but Li Yue also turned her head.

“The man Master saw coming out of your room… wasn’t that…”

“No.”

Mo Linyu immediately denied it and poked Xia Xi’s forehead, causing the latter to squint her eyes.

“Don’t go imagining things.”

****

Without the motorcycle, the two left the community on foot.

Little did they know that just reaching the nearest subway station would take over an hour, and there wasn’t a single shared bicycle to be seen anywhere. Such was the inconvenience of a wealthy residential community.

Although it wasn’t yet the peak of summer, the sky was cloudless, and the sunlight, growing increasingly harsh beneath the clear expanse, soon had sweat beading on Li Yue’s forehead.

Mo Linyu, by contrast, maintained her unhurried pace, though Li Yue knew it was an act; even if her clothes were drenched with heat, she would preserve her elegant facade…

‘Behold, the Demon Lord.’

“Miss Demon Lord, how do you usually get to school?” Li Yue couldn’t help but ask. “If you have to walk for half an hour every day, then being a rich young lady must be quite the hardship.”

Mo Linyu, naturally, denied it: “No, Dong Lu usually drives me to the station.”

[But given today’s situation, how could I possibly ask her?]

Li Yue glanced at the dialogue box and couldn’t help but exclaim:

“…What? You have the nerve to say that! What exactly were you doing this morning?”

After all, this morning’s farce was a direct result of Mo Linyu’s unauthorized departure from the estate, and Li Yue had suffered greatly from the early hour.

“That girl Xia Xi insisted on dragging me to the market. I figured since you were the only one home, there was nothing to worry about… Who would have known that *that person* would come rushing back to the house so early in the morning?”

‘That person’ was clearly Mo Changhong, and Li Yue once again sensed the chasm between father and daughter.

“How did your relationship as father and daughter become so strained?” she asked.

Earlier, when Xia Xi had tried to say something, Dong Lu had stopped her.

Now, she couldn’t help but ask Mo Linyu directly, but the latter merely let out a long sigh.

“Alas, it’s not actually that complicated. In my father’s eyes, there’s only his career, and then the search for my mother. He only occasionally remembers to show me some concern; that is the father I have in this lifetime.”

Li Yue recalled that Mo Linyu had mentioned her mother in this lifetime had also gone missing.

A flicker of sympathy rose within her, but it wasn’t much.

“…Hmm, my mother also went missing.”

Li Yue wiped sweat from her brow with her sleeve, her golden strands clinging to her neck.

“But your father, at least, provided you with a privileged life. You don’t necessarily have to be so harsh on him.”

The Demon Lord impatiently pursed her lips, prompting Li Yue to amend: “Ahem, well, let’s take the subway into the city first, and then head back to my place for the live stream around noon.”

Mo Linyu, however, shook her head.

“Hmm, but before that, I have something else I need to take care of.”

She deliberately kept her intentions vague, but Li Yue didn’t press the matter, having more or less figured out the Demon Lord’s temperament. She knew she would learn when the time was right.

The two trudged on for over half an hour, finally arriving at a suburban subway station. Li Yue quickly dashed into the convenience store at the entrance, buying two bottles of ice water to cool herself and Mo Linyu down.

Mo Linyu, who had followed her in, then teased: “Heh, your stamina isn’t all that great, is it?”

“Hmph, keep pretending. I can tell you’re practically on the verge of heatstroke.”

Li Yue handed a bottle of water to Mo Linyu, her gaze inadvertently sweeping over Mo Linyu’s sweat-dampened collar. The faint, alluring contours visible beneath seemed to capture her with an immense gravitational pull, making it impossible to look away.

Yet, what she saw written in the other’s dialogue box was:

[What? Are you reading my thoughts again?]

Mo Linyu was indeed becoming increasingly adept at using the dialogue box.

“Cough!”

Li Yue coughed loudly again, then asked: “Didn’t you say you had something else to take care of?”

“Mhm, it can be done right next door.”

Saying this, Mo Linyu pointed in the direction of the adjacent building. Li Yue ran out of the convenience store for a look, discovering it was a mobile phone service center—the kind of shop that offers a full range of services from buying phones to activating SIM cards.

“You’re getting a new phone?”

Mo Linyu waved her phone in front of Li Yue’s eyes.

“Of course, I don’t want to be tracked by my father’s dogs anymore.”