Chapter 110, the One Hundred and Tenth Incident: Substituting One Thing for Another
Shen Mi first borrowed Qingcu's internal network. The screen light shone on her face as she typed the name into Luofu's political database. The moment her fingertips touched the keys, she could almost hear her heart pounding in her ears.
The few seconds of waiting felt like an eternity until the page flashed and the cold data suddenly appeared—the department, the specific position, the daily get off work hours, and even the schedule of routine meetings and travel records were all clearly marked.
Qingcu's authority over Luofu's government was far greater than Shen Mi had imagined, and she couldn't help but feel fortunate.
Fortunately, the advantage lies with me.
Shen Mi quickly jotted down the key information on her phone, learning the specific department and entry/exit patterns of the target. Seeing the approaching end of the workday, Shen Mi had an idea. She decided to skip work early, leaving herself almost no room for hesitation, and rushed over without stopping.
The wind whistled past her ears, but she couldn't stop. Fortunately, her efforts paid off, and she finally caught up with the man just as he walked out of the department entrance.
She held her breath, her gaze fixed intently on the other person. Although her suspicions had not been confirmed, she decided to sacrifice her rest time and relentlessly pursue the target, keeping a comprehensive surveillance of him, believing that "better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free."
As someone who knows the future plot, Shen Mi can't say she knows everything about the game, but she remembers the key characters in the main storyline very clearly—especially the culprit who brought disaster to Luofu in the game.
Now, Shen Mi only had one worry: she was afraid of misjudging the situation. After all, the main plot had never clearly stated when this person had started the substitution. If her excessive suspicion led to a misunderstanding, the consequences would be equally unbearable.
Therefore, she not only had to observe carefully, but also had to be cautious in hiding herself.
Shen Mi casually put her hands in her pockets, walking through the crowd as if it were nothing, but her eyes followed the figure in front of her intently. She deliberately maintained a distance from her target, like an ordinary person strolling down the street.
Perhaps it was the experience she gained from tracking on the desolate planet that made her act so skillfully, giving her the illusion that she was born to do this kind of thing.
One by one, the streetlights lit up, and the streets gradually became lively, with vendors' shouts and the chatter of the crowd mingling together. But Chen Mi's attention was completely focused on that person, and even the air seemed to freeze because of her concentration.
She told herself: Don't rush today, find out where they live first. Only by knowing their whereabouts can you make your move at the crucial moment.
She took out her phone and quickly sent Danheng a message: "I'll be back later."
Danheng didn't ask any further questions, simply replied "okay," and then said nothing more.
Shen Mi stared at the message, her heart trembling slightly, as if pricked by a fine needle. But she didn't let the bittersweet feeling linger for long, forcefully pulling her attention back. At this moment, she had no time to wonder if Dan Heng would misunderstand her words; all her thoughts were focused on the goal before her.
A breeze blew by, bringing a touch of coolness to the night, but Chen Mi felt her blood flowing hot through her body, her heart pounding as if being struck by a drum.
She quietly followed her target through the bustling streets, eventually arriving at Chang Le Tian. She saw him enter a restaurant with practiced ease, sit by the window, and order several dishes with a relaxed expression.
Chen Mi avoided the light, hiding in the shadows of the stairs, watching quietly. As dish after dish was served, her heart tightened slightly—those were the dishes she was familiar with, and the person sitting there happened to be where she often sat. What made her even more uneasy was the way the person chatted and laughed with the waiter, as naturally and warmly as if they were a regular customer.
Her fingers tightened, and a chill ran through her heart. Although these things alone were not enough to explain anything, the various details pierced her heart like needles, making her think even more.
Confirming that her target wouldn't be leaving anytime soon, Shen Mi suppressed her surging emotions and turned to sit down at a dessert stall across the street. She chose a spot with a clear view of the second-floor window, which would allow her to observe the area easily while blending into the crowd unnoticed.
The shopkeeper served her matcha red bean shaved ice. She lowered her head, scooped up a spoonful, and slowly put it in her mouth. The cool sweetness melted on her tongue, but it couldn't ease the anxiety in her heart. Her eyes remained fixed on the restaurant window, as if afraid of missing any detail.
Sure enough, not long after, the target finished eating and drinking, put down his chopsticks, and slowly stood up.
Shen Mi stood across the street, watching the figure from afar. The person slowly walked out of the restaurant, her steps as leisurely as someone taking a casual stroll in the evening breeze. She walked along the main road, and Shen Mi followed silently, her steps always tense, not daring to get too close.
When the man reached the entrance of a residential complex, Chen Mi's heart clenched suddenly. She knew that place all too well—it was Jing Yuan's property in Chang Le Tian, the place where she had always lived.
She saw the other person pause briefly at the gate, quietly greeting the old woman selling snacks there. The old woman looked up and smiled, her tone warm and her demeanor natural, as if exchanging a casual greeting with an old neighbor.
A chill ran down Shen Mi's spine. If only one thing about everything tonight was the same, it could be called a coincidence. But if even the old woman at the door could exchange pleasantries with her so easily, then it meant that the other person wasn't just a passerby, but someone who had lived here for a very long time.
Shen Mi stood frozen in place, his back drenched in cold sweat. His initial fervor had turned into chilling fear.
Her mind was a jumbled mess, countless guesses surging like a tide, colliding and scattering, each one chaotic and disorganized, like a piece of writing without beginning or end. The fragmented thoughts alone were enough to make her heart race, her body tense, and her heart pound with fear.
If, she was just hypothesizing, if...
Is she spying on something? Or...?
Shen Mi's throat tightened, and she suddenly felt an eerie stillness around her. The streetlights were still on, casting long shadows of her on the ground, but there was no one beyond those shadows, as if the whole world had been suddenly emptied out, leaving her standing alone. The old lady who had been chatting with her at the entrance of the residential area had disappeared without a trace, her stall packed up neatly, as if she had never been there.
Shen Mi dared not linger here any longer.
At this moment, all she wanted was to go back as soon as possible, back to that familiar room, and lock herself inside, as if shrinking into a thin shell, to shut out the increasingly intense chill and unease.
She walked to the Star Chariot stop almost absentmindedly and mechanically swiped her card to board. The last train was already nearly empty, and the surrounding conversations sounded like a muffled buzzing through several layers of water. Chen Mi kept her head down, her fingers gripping the hem of her clothes tightly, sweat seeping from her palms.
The starship slowly set sail, leaving the city lights behind. She stared at the blurry, flowing lights outside the window, her thoughts drifting further and further away—if she were still living in that house, would she one day actually run into her target? What would happen then?
Based on the other party's personality and way of doing things, Shen Mi could even conjure up a terrifying image in his mind: that person might have been watching them for a long time, secretly observing and collecting intelligence, weaving an invisible trap little by little, waiting for them to step into it themselves.
Others might think she's overthinking things, that she's paranoid, but Chen Mi has no way out—she can't help but worry.
That's no ordinary person, that's the Great Lord of Annihilation! It's Huanlong, who created a physical body and imitated the words and actions of others for the "Destruction" plan, and successfully infiltrated the enemy for hundreds of years!
Even her close friends didn't notice the slightest flaw. How could such a person not be terrified?
Just thinking about it made Chen Mi break out in a cold sweat.
She needs to go back and reconsider.
——
Shen Mi's conjecture was correct.
The fox-girl named Tingyun, who disguised herself as the chief representative of the "Minghuo" merchant group of the Tianbo Bureau, was none other than Huanlong, the Great Lord of Annihilation under the "Destruction" throne.
A month ago, when Tingyun went to sea for business negotiations, they encountered a small wave of attacks from the antimatter legion. This was a normal event, because "Destruction" adheres to the principle of all things returning to entropy. They spread the will of destruction throughout the galaxy, sparing no effort to bring death to everyone.
After dealing with the trouble caused by that small group of legions, Tingyun's commander and his colleagues resumed the original planned sailing route.
Halfway through their journey, she ordered the merchant fleet to make a brief stop on a planet—both to allow the fleet to rest and replenish supplies for the rest of the voyage. After all, they faced a journey of about three to four days ahead.
But no one expected that everything would change during that one night of rest.
No one would attack a merchant caravan that had no supplies and was simply negotiating cooperation with a remote star system. This was not only Tingyun's opinion, but also the opinion of everyone else in the caravan. Therefore, they did not bring many people with them when they set off. With the capabilities of the Cloud Cavalry, they were more than capable of dealing with the small fry in the universe.
That night, as everyone, exhausted from their long journey, drifted into sweet dreams, Huanlong's plan began.
She transformed back into her original form—the ancient and formless "Suiyang." After a full day of lurking, she knew everything about Tingyun's close colleagues. So, at some point late at night, she gently knocked on her door, saying she had something important to discuss with her, thus luring the unsuspecting Tingyun into a dark corner.
Under the terrified gaze of the other party, Huanlong successfully became a parasite. She enjoyed the food called "fear" while absorbing and experiencing the emotions and memories of others, immersing herself in that unique sense of satisfaction.
Once memories were consumed by cravings, fear ultimately became nourishment. Huanlong licked her lips, pulling away from the withered body before her. Flames engulfed the humanoid figure, its outline twisting and trembling in the flames, as if every nerve was screaming. Her gaze swept across the firelight, and she spoke coldly and slowly: "So, what you longed for most... was to be with that fox-person named 'Yukong' forever."
The heat of the flames and the remnants of the body coalesced into a small, fragmented piece before her. Huanlong raised the corners of her lips, her voice like a ghost hidden in the night, coldly piercing through the last cry of the victim: "Your wish, I will grant it for you."
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Author's Note: Hahaha [shy][shy][shy][shy][shy]
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