Commission (Part 1)

“Excuse me, you…”

“Ah~ hello! The little Daoist who calls himself Li Miaosheng…”

The young girl in front of him, upon being asked, could only respond softly and shyly.

“???”

“Um… do we know each other?”

Li Miaosheng hesitated, his gaze scanning her up and down.

“Mm~! We… we do!”

“Not long ago, benefactor, you helped me. I… I’m the one who was harassed…”

As she spoke, her face grew redder and redder, her eyes not knowing where to look…

Although the place was noisy and her voice was low, he could still catch parts of it.

Only then did he realize why the girl looked so familiar—

she was that girl from before…

The protagonist thought to himself and immediately sat down.

“Emmm… I remember now. So it’s you, miss. Did those hooligans come back again? Don’t worry, just tell me—”

“I’ll help you deal with them again for free!”

He placed both hands on the table and stared at her seriously.

But the girl kept shaking her head, quickly denying:

“N-no, it’s not that. I came this time to thank you…”

“Ah~ right… I have…”

She turned toward her bag and took out a clean, freshly washed Daoist robe.

“Here! This is the clothing you lent me last time. I… I’ve washed it…”

“And… also, this is a box of cookies. If you don’t mind, please accept it as a thank-you gift…”

The girl suddenly bent forward, offering a heart-shaped box of cookies with both hands.

But Li Miaosheng was startled by the gesture, instinctively leaning back—

and accidentally fell off his stool.

………………

Silence lingered for a while. Realizing her benefactor had fallen, she quickly set down the cookies

and helped the dust-covered protagonist up.

As he was being helped…

a sharp pain shot through his waist. He frowned, clutching his back:

“Ow—my waist! My waist…!!”

Unexpectedly, this made the girl apologize repeatedly:

“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry! It’s my fault for getting too excited and scaring you…”

She kept bowing, and if Li Miaosheng hadn’t stopped her in time,

who knows how long she would’ve continued.

An inexplicable feeling lingered between them…

Until both of them stood there awkwardly, unsure how to ease the situation.

Meanwhile, Bai Ze—currently in girl form—spoke up:

“Hey! Is there any more? The noodles are gone. This barely filled the gaps in my teeth…”

After saying that, she noticed the dark-colored box of cookies on the table and was about to sneak one—

but Li Miaosheng stopped her.

“Bai Ze… no, my dear little sister! These cookies belong to this young lady. Taking them without permission would…”

He put on a troubled expression, hoping Bai Ze would get the hint and stop herself.

“Tch!” she clicked her tongue, expressionless.

“Didn’t she say she gave them to you? Right, Lin Tong?”

“Mm! Yes, I already gave the cookies to…”

“Huh??” The girl named Lin Tong was startled.

“How do you know my name? You…”

The moment she said that, Li Miaosheng froze—his heart pounding wildly.

His mind raced, trying to think of an explanation…

But Bai Ze remained unusually calm, her amber, almost eerie eyes wide open:

“Well, when you took your things out, your ID fell on the ground…”

She pointed to the girl’s feet. A white-and-blue ID card lay there.

“And—can I eat now?”

As she said this, she took advantage of the girl bending down, walked up to Li Miaosheng,

and stared at him expressionlessly with her big eyes.

He could only awkwardly smile at Lin Tong:

“Since the young lady agrees, I’ll accept it without hesitation. And please forgive my sister—she’s quite mischievous!”

But in his heart: Hey! Bai Ze, what was that just now?! You almost scared me to death! Don’t think knowing everything means you can do whatever you want… you…

Well… she pretended not to hear him, grabbed a cookie, and started munching on it—

then turned and walked away.

After Bai Ze left, Lin Tong adjusted her glasses:

“I-it’s fine! Actually, your sister helped me…”

“Ahaha! Is that so? Sorry about that—she’s always been spoiled since childhood…”

Li Miaosheng scratched his head awkwardly.

But in that moment, he caught a strange scent from the girl—

a fox-like odor…

Different from Miss Immortal Fox—this was the aura of a demon.

It was faint, but to him, it was somewhat pungent.

He stared at the girl, thinking deeply…

“What’s wrong? Is there something on my face?” Lin Tong asked, her sweet voice reaching his ears.

“Not your face… but your body…”

“Hmm? My body?”

She tilted her head and checked her clothes, but found nothing unusual.

Watching her, Li Miaosheng snapped back to his senses.

“Oh! It’s nothing—I must’ve been mistaken…”

“Emm… Miss Lin Tong, do you have anything else? I still need to run my business, so…”

He glanced at the bustling crowd, speaking hesitantly.

But hearing this, the girl’s expression instantly fell.

Seeing this, Li Miaosheng quickly raised his hands:

“N-no, that’s not what I meant! I just… I just…”

“Mm! To be honest, benefactor, I actually came because of something…”

She paused.

“I haven’t told anyone about it. First, because it feels too strange. Second… it’s not something easy to talk about. So I could only explain it to you, since you’re a Daoist…”

“Mm, mm! …Huh??”

The protagonist looked utterly shocked, as if he had seen a ghost.

But soon, he calmed down and listened carefully.

She pulled out a stool, sat across from him, and slowly said:

“Actually, it’s like this. About a month ago, my roommate bought a set of cosmetics online. At first, nothing unusual happened when she used them…”

“But then… after about half a month, her skin changed dramatically. Her face, which used to be full of acne, gradually became as smooth and fair as a newborn’s…”

“Even the uneven scars and blemishes completely disappeared…”

“Oh~ oh~! Isn’t that a good thing? Why would you still—”

“Yes, it was good at first… but in the second half of the month…”