Chapter 93: Unaware
Boarding the last subway of the evening, the Line 4 carriage, which was packed to the brim during the daytime, was still crowded.
Even on the last train, there were six or seven people including me. This was already considered a lot, and judging by their expressions, they looked even worse off than I did. And this was after I had been fighting for several consecutive times today. Despite all that, these people still seemed more tired than me. This was fatigue accumulated over many years, and sleep alone couldn’t relieve it.
I really worried about their futures… Speaking of which, taking this train was quite ominous, as it was the subway to the City of the Living.
To go underground, one had to take this Line 4 subway, and when reaching the final station, tear the ticket in half, and then tear it in half again to meet the conditions for entering the underground world.
However, the train I was on now was the last one, and it would pass midnight before reaching the final station. After twelve o’clock, the entrance to the underground would shift to Subway Line 13. So, even if I took Line 4 to the end, I wouldn’t go to the underground City of the Living.
This was also to prevent some overworked salarymen from accidentally taking the train to the final station in a daze while their consciousness was unclear, triggering the conditions and mistakenly entering the underground world.
For someone like me who had seen it before, it was fine. But for an ordinary person, reaching there would not be a pleasant experience.
They might even be turned into companions by various undead before they could even approach the city.
In any case, this time I wasn’t going to see my mother, and there was no need to go to Li Nai’s place to reach the final station.
Since there were other people in the subway carriage besides me, although these people were too tired to even open their eyes, Xiao An had transformed into light… still, I could feel her weight.
Why did she still have mass even after transforming into light? Shouldn’t she have become weightless, like a certain ghost called Izayoi Sakuya?
Was this not a true transformation into light, but merely optical camouflage?
Well, Xiao An was still on my back, and I didn’t dare to lean back, so I had to maintain a proper posture.
After a while, I felt a lightness behind me. Had Xiao An left me? Or had she truly ‘transformed into light’ this time? Just as I thought that, I felt something ‘added’ to my thigh…
Alright, it seemed she didn’t want to be squeezed and rubbed between me and the seat, so she voluntarily moved to sit on my thigh.
Then Lan also sat beside me, affectionately hugging my arm and resting her head on my shoulder, looking like a devoted wife.
Seen this way, it looked like a young couple with their daughter, a family of three going out.
Of course, this was how it looked in my eyes. In the eyes of others, I was just a suspicious single person going out in the middle of the night.
Getting off at the subway station near Li Nai’s house, it was only about a five-minute walk, very fast.
Before leaving, I had called Li Nai and sent several messages, but the call didn’t connect, Li Nai didn’t reply to my messages, and she didn’t even read them.
Perhaps she had fallen asleep… I hoped so.
When I arrived at Li Nai’s doorstep, I knocked on the door, but there was still no response.
“That’s strange. Even if she’s asleep, she should hear the knocking.”
“I knew something like this would happen. Your luck is currently at its lowest.”
“The lowest… Did my luck become E? Since no one is opening the door, I’ll have to force my way in.”
“So how are you going to get in? I can help you burn the lock.”
“No, that would be too forceful.”
It would cause a fire.
At this, Lan stood by the side with her hands on her hips, boasting.
“Hmph, it’s time to show my real skills! No matter what kind of lock it is, just hand it over to me, and I’ll do it in ten seconds…”
“No need, I have the key.”
“Eh, eh, eh?! Lan can’t be used? She has no presence at all, can’t she seize an opportunity to show her presence? I really want to be the one who ‘inserts’ for once~”
“Everything you say turns vulgar… Why are you called Lanhua? Shouldn’t you be called Huanghua instead?”
“Because generally, blue signifies a tsundere trait, right?”
“But you’re clearly not a tsundere, you’re a deredere. 10 = ”
“Oh, you like it~ Whether I’m tsundere or not, Juncheng, you know it best~ Hahahaha~”
This conversation is untraceable. I think you should just keep barking.
Using the ‘affair key’ (as she called it) that Li Nai gave me, I opened Li Nai’s door. The lights were on, so there were indeed people inside.
But after searching around, I found the aura of people, but the key person was not there.
What’s going on?
Everyone playing hide-and-seek?
You guys definitely planned this.
Returning to the living room, I sat on the sofa in confusion, staring blankly at the chandelier.
“It seems like no one is home?”
…When we parted ways, Li Nai had indeed taken Lou Ling home, saying she needed to take care of the unconscious Lou Ling and also advise her.
So, by rights, she shouldn’t have gone out again. Did she still go out with Lou Ling?
No, she was already home, why would she go somewhere else?
Could it be that Lou Ling’s condition was very serious, and they had gone to the hospital?
“Look at this, Juncheng.”
“Huh? What? Shoes?”
“Yes, Li Nai’s shoes are still by the entrance, so she shouldn’t have gone out.”
“But she’s not here… Could she have been abducted? But there are no signs of a struggle or damage, not even footprints.”
…It’s too clean. She couldn’t have just disappeared into thin air, right?”
After saying that, I denied it myself in my head.
…No, you can’t be sure. After all, there was a case of someone disappearing on the spot once.
Instead of immediately resorting to the most suspicious explanation, it’s better to think more realistically. I really think Li Nai took Lou Ling to the hospital.
“Xiao An, you stay here and mind the house. Lan and I will go look for them at the nearby hospital.”
“I’ll go too.”
“No, Xiao An, you stay here. It’s possible that Li Nai might return. If Li Nai and the others come back before us, Xiao An, you call me, and Lan and I will rush back immediately.”
“I remember Li Nai’s house also has a game console, and plenty of snacks. If you get bored waiting, Xiao An, go play games.”
“Okay, we’re leaving then.”
“Wait.”
“What is it?”
“One more thing. Be careful of ‘white hair’.”
“White hair… I understand. I will keep it in mind.”
White hair… Does this mean the person who will put me in danger this time has white hair? Among the people with white hair around me, there are only Xue Qing and Miss Shirley, but the possibility of these two harming me is infinitely low.
In any case, being careful is never wrong.
Going downstairs and out the door, before even leaving the yard, I heard someone call my name.
“Juncheng An.”
A ethereal voice came from all directions, making it impossible to tell which direction. Since there was no one in front, I could only turn back and look.
The person who called me was indeed her. No, it should be ‘it’.
The surroundings became empty again. This phenomenon only happened when ‘it’ appeared.
“Lou Ling—no, World?”
World has appeared, so Lou Ling must be with Li Nai. Where is Li Nai?
“Juncheng An, your current state is very dangerous.”
“I know, but it’s not something I can control.”
“I cannot hand over ‘World’ to you in your current state.”
I was about to speak but held back because the ‘blue fox’ had been causing trouble all along. With all sorts of antics and flirtation, my attention was completely diverted.
“But what?”
“Uh, that is…”
“Heehee~”
“Hoo~”
“What—it’s a band-aid?!”
As expected, she’s a bandage-type girl. Does she not wear underwear and just use a band-aid as a substitute… But what happens when she goes to the bathroom? Won’t it hurt a lot to tear it off?
…Is it because she’s a Byakko that she doesn’t care? Perhaps it’s more painful, so it feels good too?
But band-aids lose their stickiness when wet…
No, no, no! What am I even thinking! It’s all Lan’s fault, I can’t have a proper conversation!
Then, in front of both of us, Lan did
a terrifying thing.
She first kissed me, then ran to Lou Ling and kissed Lou Ling, mouth to mouth.
I was dumbfounded, looking at Lan, unable to even scold her to stop. She thought I had no idea what she was up to.
And World-chan still had a blank expression, only the atmosphere became even colder than before. She said to me:
“Juncheng An, I’m telling you something very important. Can you stop causing trouble?”
Huh?
Me, causing trouble?
No, but what did I do…
Although I was indirectly kissed through Lan, the focus shouldn’t be on me, right?
This reaction is really strange.
“Hahaha, as expected, this has proven it.”
Proven what? I looked in Lan’s direction, and at this moment, World asked me:
“What are you looking at? Is there something over there?”
Unbelievable…
I didn’t expect this. I didn’t expect it at all, because I thought it was normal for anyone not to see her. After all, even Xiao An, who is a god, couldn’t see Lan. But with World in front of me, she should definitely be able to see Lan… After all, it was World who banished Lan from the world.
Lan condescendingly patted Lou Ling’s cheek, provocatively rubbed her chest, and toyed with her body as if playing with a figurine.
“This girl who calls herself “World” can’t sense my existence at all~ Hahahaha~”
…
“Juncheng An, stop messing around and be serious.”
“Yes, okay, Teacher! I understand!”
I can’t expose Lan’s existence…
But she’s not World… Why can’t she see Lan?
This is too strange.
There are two possible explanations. One is that Lan is no longer within World’s scope, so World can’t see her, but this logic feels odd and unconvincing.
There is another possibility, which is—
She’s not World at all.
