Play when you should play, relax when you should relax.
She still had seven days to live, and she'd been running herself ragged these past two days doing off-the-books work. She deserved a good rest.
You Ling settled her main body in place—set it up in the library with headphones on watching online lectures—then poured all her focus here.
You Shuo had just said he'd buy her new clothes. She'd heard him.
Buying for who wasn't still buying? Bi Xi could get new clothes too.
"...The mall will be crowded." You Shuo was initially reluctant, preferring less populated areas. "Don't you dislike being seen by others?"
What with this being a secret, that being a secret, disappearing like a dragon whose tail could never be found, refusing to give out so much as a real name.
You Ling snapped her fan shut, slapping it into her palm, feigning surprise: "Who said that? I've always been a very magnanimous person. I don't mind others worshiping me. I deserve it."
You Shuo's expression looked like he'd bitten down on a pebble in his rice—somewhere between toothache and breakdown.
Which was why, thirty minutes later, they appeared in Jinli City's largest shopping mall.
"This piece suits you perfectly, sir!" The sales associate stood to the side with a beaming smile—clearly she didn't read the manga. All she saw were a pair of walking clothes hangers and the outfits that suited them perfectly.
You Ling turned a full circle in front of the mirror. The casual outfit the associate had put together did look great—replacing most of the black on Bi Xi with white. The tassel earring and red sunglasses that served as anchor points remained on. A modern casual coat draped over the shoulders looked supremely elegant and gentlemanly, yet when she smiled, there was something uncanny about it.
"You Shuo, pay up." You Ling picked up the hat the associate had paired and put it on, feeling nothing but satisfaction.
Handsome—earth-shatteringly handsome. On looks alone, she deserved the number-one popularity spot.
After all, other characters were all-natural. She was all-manufactured.
You Shuo sat on the sofa. Having slept for two hours, his spirits had recovered somewhat—on the surface, nothing seemed off. Given time, he could handle his emotions. He was just somewhat puzzled: "Why the sudden desire for a wardrobe change?"
You Ling extended her hand, fingertip pressing beside the corner of her mouth, and let out a clearly displeased hum: "Lately, a lot of people run away the moment they see me, like I'm some terrifying villain. I'm dressed in all black, but my heart isn't black."
Then she tossed the question back: "Do you think it's my problem or the clothes' problem?"
You Shuo's gaze drifted to the side. If he wasn't mistaken, those people were ability users who'd read the manga.
Anyone who'd read the manga would fear Bi Xi—this was purely a people problem.
You Shuo said: "The clothes' problem."
"How do I look in this?" You Ling spun another circle, the coat billowing through the air and tracing an arc.
"The very picture of righteousness." You Shuo said without a flicker of change in his expression. He pulled a card from his pocket and handed it to the sales associate. "Charge it."
Heaven was vast, the earth was vast, but the demon was vastest of all. Bi Xi's happiness was paramount.
The sales associate waved cheerfully from the doorway, bidding farewell to her two big spenders.
Stepping out of the clothing store, the head-turning rate remained sky-high. You Shuo was tense at first, worried the demon would be unhappy about it, but the demon clearly had a far loftier sense of self-worth—a textbook case of the "all living beings should bow before me" mentality. Not only was he perfectly at ease, he even waved at the astonished or awestruck passersby.
As they walked, You Shuo's hanging heart gradually settled. It was true—last time at the night market, Bi Xi hadn't done anything either. He'd just wandered around, had fun, and hadn't made any demands of You Shuo. It was as if he genuinely just needed someone to accompany him while shopping.
Shopping around in a city like this wasn't exactly difficult—yet somehow, he couldn't see through it or make sense of it.
Bi Xi walked ahead, clearly in a good mood after the outfit change, lightly tapping his arm with that fan as he strolled. Black hair trailed behind him, swaying gently with his movements.
Then his pace suddenly quickened as he walked into a shop. You Shuo looked up—a photo studio.
An enormous wave of confusion surged through his mind once again.
What was this about...?
...
You Ling had come to the mall with only one objective: get some polaroid photos.
The convention started in the afternoon. She hadn't prepared any freebies beforehand, and the fastest option right now was to take some photos to hand out as freebies.
Dragging You Shuo along was for the dual shots—leeching off his popularity!
Leech, leech shamelessly—only a fool would pass up free clout.
Staying in character, she didn't let on that she knew anything about this modern stuff: "What's that thing that prints a photo as soon as you take it?"
You Shuo came in behind her: "A polaroid camera. How many do you want?"
You Ling thought it over. She didn't know how many people would be interested—after all, she'd never been to a convention. At most she'd done some research that morning. She gave a conservative number: "A hundred prints."
"You—" You Shuo nearly blurted out 'why do you want that many,' but quickly held it in. "Excuse me, does your shop rent out polaroid cameras? We'll buy two hundred sheets of photo paper."
The staff member's voice trembled: "R-rent, yes—n-no charge."
You Shuo glanced at him. One look was all it took to identify an in-the-know ability user.
That particular blend of terror and not daring to look beside him—as if some unspeakable Lovecraftian elder god stood at his side—was far too classic.
He was on leave right now. The other person hadn't committed any crime—just an honest worker in the Surface World. He had no intention of making things difficult: "Charge it."
Then You Ling leaned in slightly, moving close to his ear: "Such an authoritative air~"
You Shuo: "...?"
Whose 'authority' was this, exactly? Did he genuinely not know or was he pretending?
You Shuo thought about his sister, thought about the mission, and let it go.
...
After they left, the ability user working at the photo studio pulled out his phone with trembling hands.
[Green-eyed Kitty! I saw the Green-eyed Kitty!]
The group members' responses were swift and full of heartfelt concern: [Need us to collect the body?]
[What kind of bullshit question is that? After encountering the Green-eyed Kitty, would there even be a body to collect?]
[Fair point. The body would become the Green-eyed Kitty.]
[?]
[This conversation is creepy as hell. Can we switch to a different nickname? I'm getting PTSD about cats, but cats are innocent. Green-eyed kittens are even more innocent!]
A more perceptive group member inquired: [Where did you see Him? What was He doing? Is He preparing some evil plan to devour the entire ability world?]
The staff member's fingers were still shaking. He didn't dare use voice input, hiding behind the counter and typing like a thief, painfully slowly: [【Yanmo】 was there too. They looked like they were on good terms!]
[Nice one, Nightwatch! Taking our taxpayer money! Off playing happy family with the Demon God!]
[【Shuttler】 is looking down at them from heaven in disappointment.]
Amid the chaos, one group member persisted: [So what did they actually do?]
The staff member typed, deleted, retyped, and finally got the most important information into the group: [They bought a polaroid camera and two hundred sheets of photo paper!]
The moment the message sent, the group fell utterly silent.
[...?]
[I see now. I've reached enlightenment. The Demon God is going to trap the entire world inside photo paper, turning us from three-dimensional beings into two-dimensional paper people!]
[As expected of Edge's number one male ghost, Edge's number one antagonist, the great Demon God—He's going to control the entire world!]
[What a terrifying conspiracy! What a horrifying Demon God!]
[Green-eyed Kitty is terrifying beyond measure!]
[Green-eyed Kitty is terrifying beyond measure!]
[Green-eyed Kitty is terrifying beyond measure!]
...
After wandering around for a while, it was nearly noon, and You Ling figured it was about time for lunch.
"What do you people normally eat?" You Ling asked outside the mall.
"When working, we just grab whatever. For get-togethers, we go for hotpot." You Shuo answered honestly.
"Let's go." You Ling made the call.
Actually, if not for the Yiluoqi situation, You Shuo would have been eating hotpot with Sui Xiao and the others this noon. Who knew plans couldn't keep up with changes—life was unpredictable, and now the one keeping him company was this demon.
When they arrived at that long-established hotpot restaurant, You Shuo did feel a pang of nostalgia.
After all—years of friendship, his closest comrades in the Hidden World. Something like this happened so suddenly. He could suppress his emotions and handle things in the moment, but after a night's sleep, returning to this memory-laden restaurant, every recollection came flooding back like a broken dam.
Acceptance took time. Adjusting his mindset took time. What You Shuo was best at was pushing emotions down, controlling himself so he wouldn't think about it. The harder he pushed, the fiercer the rebound.
He really wanted to ask—why?
While he was zoning out, the demon's green eyes enlarged before him.
You Ling tilted her head, peering up at him from below with a slight smile: "Unhappy? Then... want to invite that friend of yours, Sui Xiao, too?"
You Shuo's trip down memory lane shattered instantly. Now he wanted nothing at all: "Just the two of us is perfect." To prevent the demon from becoming unhappy, he added: "You're the most important."
After saying that, he watched the green-eyed demon hum a little tune contentedly and pour himself a cup of tea.
Strange, when he thought about it—last night he'd never imagined he'd be here at noon with Bi Xi.
Life was unpredictable. As long as his bottom line wasn't crossed, he'd grown accustomed to accepting everything else.
The hotpot base had been brought out, and through the swirling steam, Bi Xi's face appeared somewhat hazy.
You Shuo watched that blurred profile. Truthfully, it wasn't that he hated this person—he was simply afraid due to the overwhelming disparity in power, anxious about the unknown consequences, and helpless from the inability to communicate.
Deep down, he was probably grateful. Because Bi Xi had brought a miracle.
His soul or whatever—giving it away didn't matter. Being devoured like Yiluoqi would be fine too. Even now that he knew the price, he wouldn't take it back. He'd seen You Ling today. She was doing well, happy, cheerful—that was enough.
Steam spread across the table. Bi Xi leaned forward, gazing at the hotpot base. He seemed quite fond of the little white bowler hat, having only just taken it off. The demon's hair was rather long, sliding forward past his shoulders. You Shuo stood, pulled a hair tie from his pocket, walked behind the demon, gathered his hair, and tied it up.
He used to fix his little sister's hair all the time—this kind of thing was pure reflex.
By the time he realized what he'd done, Bi Xi's hair was already up in a high ponytail, and the demon himself had turned to look at him with a half-smile.
"Ahem—it's easier to eat this way." You Shuo sat back down, slightly embarrassed.
He'd been too relaxed. So relaxed that his body's reflexes had overridden his reason.
Perhaps this was the demon's power—the ability to beguile everyone into believing him, trusting him, even letting down every last guard in his presence.
"Is there anything else you want to do after this?" You Shuo changed the subject, taking a sip of tea.
Bi Xi stared at him for a good while, then tilted his head and smiled: "There are lots of interesting things around here, but the thing I most want to do right now... let me think..."
His lips parted, producing a single phrase: "A manga convention."
You Shuo sprayed out a mouthful of water.
Wait—did something just break through the fourth wall?