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Oh no, I forgot my disguise!

Mù Qīngyǔ, having snapped back to reality, felt a wave of relief that the attendant had fainted the instant they saw her.

Otherwise, things would have become rather troublesome.

Being a renowned figure could sometimes be quite a nuisance.

If her true appearance were to be seen by just anyone, she would genuinely have to consider employing her ‘physical memory erasure’ technique.

“Still, even if I resembled a female ghost, such an extreme reaction seems a bit much, doesn’t it?”

To be frank, Mù Qīngyǔ felt a pang of genuine sadness at being treated in such a manner.

She picked up a strand of white hair, blinking her crimson eyes.

A moment later, the unconscious attendant awoke from their dream, sitting up and clutching their head.

“I’m… wait, did I just see a ghost?!”

As they frantically looked around, the white-haired girl who had been dressed entirely in white was already gone.

In her place sat a mature woman in the corner, with black hair and golden eyes, draped simply in a white bathrobe.

Her fair, long legs were crossed, and her pearl-like toes hooked her slippers as she idly played on her phone.

Upon sensing the attendant’s gaze, Mù Qīngyǔ looked up, setting her phone down.

“Awake already?”

“Hello, where am I?”

“You fainted the moment you walked in.”

“Even if you’re afraid of blood, this is a bit much, isn’t it?”

“Huh?”

The attendant froze, their gaze falling once more on the red stain on the bedsheet.

“I promise I won’t say anything!”

“Please don’t kill me.”

“Why would I kill you?”

“I’m not some crazy serial killer.”

“Then, what’s on the bed…?”

“Cough, cough!” Mù Qīngyǔ seemed to struggle to find the words.

“It’s… that time of the month.”

“You know, that.”

As a fellow woman, the attendant immediately understood what she meant, and the tension in their expression finally eased.

“Oh, that?”

Considering the shape and location of the bloodstain, it did indeed match Mù Qīngyǔ’s explanation quite well.

“Yes, I accidentally made quite a mess.”

“For the sake of my sleep tonight, I can only trouble you to bring a new set of bedding.”

“I see.”

“Then, what about that girl from earlier…?”

“What girl?” Mù Qīngyǔ tilted her head, feigning confusion.

“Aren’t there just the two of us here?”

“You must have scared yourself.”

“I scared myself?”

The simple-minded attendant didn’t doubt her words much and quickly composed themselves, tidying up the soiled bedding.

After accepting that the ‘female ghost’ was merely a hallucination, they repeatedly begged Mù Qīngyǔ not to report the incident of them fainting at work, fearing a deduction from their wages.

Mù Qīngyǔ, of course, wouldn’t be so unkind.

After seeing the attendant off, she lay back down on the comfortable bed, her black hair fanning out around her.

‘I’m hungry.’

‘I haven’t eaten anything since morning.’

She clutched her still-uncomfortable lower abdomen, murmuring to herself.

‘What’s Xǔ Tiānlí doing right now?’

‘He’s been gone for ages, I wonder where he’s off gallivanting.’

‘Forget him,’ she thought.

Mù Qīngyǔ was starving.

After resting for a while, she got up to find something to eat outside.

Having skipped both breakfast and lunch, she decided to combine them into one meal, satisfying herself completely.

She also went to a nearby supermarket and bought some essential feminine hygiene products.

As Mù Qīngyǔ gazed at the items on the shelf, a wave of melancholy washed over her golden eyes.

‘I’ll just endure a few more years.’

‘Maybe once I mature, I can be rid of this bother.’

After returning to the hotel and settling in, Mù Qīngyǔ happily climbed into bed, turned off the air conditioning, and pulled up the covers.

Having been through so much and now feeling full, sleepiness once again crept over her.

However, this time Mù Qīngyǔ didn’t fall asleep immediately.

Instead, she shifted her shapely buttocks beneath the blanket.

How should she put it?

This was her first time wearing such a thing, and it felt incredibly uncomfortable.

Mù Qīngyǔ tried sleeping on her left and right sides, but ultimately chose to lie flat on her back, drifting into slumber without realizing it.

This time, she slept soundly and awoke naturally, feeling a hundred times more energetic.

‘Indeed, a man’s body is better.’

‘No need to be on edge every month, and I can eat whatever I want.’

Mù Qīngyǔ stretched, discovering that the sun was already setting outside.

An entire day had simply flown by.

‘It feels like a whole day passed, and I didn’t accomplish anything.’

Mù Qīngyǔ tugged at her collar, realizing she had sweated profusely in her sleep, soaking her pajamas.

She gently rubbed her lower abdomen.

The discomfort had lessened considerably, no longer tormenting her as it had that morning.

It was time to go out and do something, at least to check on Xǔ Tiānlí’s situation.

‘That kid… no, he’s older than me.’

Mù Qīngyǔ, having shed her pajamas, pouted, too lazy to dwell on it further.

After sweating in her sleep, Mù Qīngyǔ took another shower, then bought some snacks on her way out for dinner.

The sky had completely darkened, and night had fallen.

She had initially intended to go to the orphanage to find Xǔ Tiānlí, but somehow, she ended up at his house instead.

Since she was already there, Mù Qīngyǔ knocked on the door, but received no response.

‘He’s not home at this hour?’

Mù Qīngyǔ checked the time.

Normally, Xǔ Tiānlí would have finished dinner at the orphanage and returned home by now.

Perhaps he was working overtime at the orphanage today?

He was too kind-hearted.

Mù Qīngyǔ was too lazy to go anywhere else, so she decided to wait for him there.

Some time ago, Xǔ Tiānlí had given her a spare key to his house, reasoning, “I trust Master’s character, and besides, there’s nothing valuable in my house worth coveting.”

‘Trusting me is one thing, but casually giving someone your house key is being far too careless, isn’t it?’

Mù Qīngyǔ was glad she had brought the key with her when she left, or she would have had to sit by the door like a beggar.

Click.

She opened the door and stepped inside.

It was dark and quiet, indicating that no one was truly home.

Mù Qīngyǔ didn’t bother turning on the lights.

Instead, she used the moonlight to navigate to the living room and sat down on the sofa.

‘Who knows when Xǔ Tiānlí will be back?’

‘I should find something to do in the meantime.’

Thinking this, she closed her eyes, calmed her mind, and the silver key materialized in her hand.

As the key glowed, Mù Qīngyǔ’s consciousness became enveloped in mist.

When she opened her eyes again, she was back in the mysterious palace.

The girl rose from her throne and approached the bookshelf representing Xǔ Tiānlí, pulling a book from it.

The progress on modifying the Return to the Void One-Strike Decapitation, while not stagnant, was painfully slow.

‘Isn’t this taking too much time?’

She still hadn’t managed to perfect the Return to the Void One-Strike Decapitation after half a month, a technique Xǔ Tiānlí could master in mere days.

She was spending so much time on it.

‘This is the difference between one genius and another,’ Mù Qīngyǔ mused.

She opened the book and immersed herself once more in the modification task.

After an unknown number of failures and advancing the progress a bit, Mù Qīngyǔ suddenly paused.

‘What was that sound?’

She was the only one in the mysterious palace.

Unless she spoke, the place was eerily silent.

The swirling mist around her seemed to consciously envelop the area.

She had tried to explore the mist’s end once, only to crash into an invisible wall.

The seemingly boundless space was not as vast as it appeared.

The last time she had heard another sound in the mysterious palace was when she unlocked the first stone gate.

This time, the other stone gates remained still, yet she still heard that dull thud.

The drifting mist began to churn, and a massive stone tablet descended from above the palace, suspending itself over the five stone gates.

‘Has some new function been unlocked?’

Mù Qīngyǔ stared at the enormous stone tablet.

The tablet bore no text, but it emitted a light that filled it from bottom to top, like a progress bar.

The moment the light covered the entire tablet, all the light converged onto a nearby dark orb, illuminating it.

Having witnessed the entire process, Mù Qīngyǔ frowned slightly, her expression thoughtful.

When Xǔ Tiānlí dragged his weary body back home, his mood was far from pleasant.

Although he had spent an entire afternoon running around outside, beating up quite a few gangs in the process, there was still no clue about his Master’s whereabouts.

‘It shouldn’t be like this.’

‘Even if Master’s methods are better than mine, I should still be able to find news of her.’

But Xǔ Tiānlí had found nothing all afternoon, only realizing he had wasted too much time when the bright moon climbed into the sky.

Once he relaxed, fatigue spread throughout his body, forcing him to stop.

He had also returned to the orphanage to ask Director Wang and the others, but they all stated they hadn’t seen Qín Yuè.

The complete lack of clues left Xǔ Tiānlí feeling even more disheartened.

‘What if the next time I see Master, she’s already brought the culprit to justice?’

Xǔ Tiānlí, carrying his dinner, opened his front door and switched on the light.

His mind was buzzing, and he didn’t notice the pair of women’s shoes.

As he was about to place his dinner on the table, intending to shower before enjoying it, his gaze fixed on the person sitting on the sofa.

Xǔ Tiānlí was dumbfounded.

He rubbed his eyes, making sure he wasn’t mistaken.

“Master?”

A hallucination?

No, he bravely moved closer and caught a familiar scent.

‘It really is Master.’

Xǔ Tiānlí also detected the fragrance of shower gel and shampoo.

He hadn’t expected her to not only be in his house but to have also taken a bath beforehand.

Perhaps because the scent was so refreshing, Xǔ Tiānlí’s mind suddenly became a jumble.

It was at this moment that Mù Qīngyǔ opened her eyes, glancing at his disheveled appearance.

‘Why do you look like you’ve been rolling in a mud pit?’ she thought.

“Back so late?”

“Ah, something came up and delayed me.” Xǔ Tiānlí forced a smile.

“Master, why are you here?”

“Why am I here?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Mù Qīngyǔ’s lips curved into a faint smile.

“I’m waiting for you.”

‘Waiting for me.’

Xǔ Tiānlí’s brain truly crashed this time.

Coming to his house in advance to wait for him, having taken a bath, and then making such a suggestive statement—it was truly difficult not to let his imagination run wild.