Chapter 84: Tears

"This ability increases the target's reproductive desire," Chen Nian said. "And once they engage in the act, that desire continues to accumulate. Once it hits a certain threshold, they might fall into a state of hollow euphoria."

"Then this is it."

Old Master Liu opened his eyes, slapped the table, and looked at Yan Jing. "What do you think, kid?"

To Old Master Liu's surprise, Yan Jing didn't answer immediately. He pondered for a few seconds before looking up with a smile.

"Yeah, it should be this one."

"So that means the killer is among the group from Dandelion Manor."

Old Liu murmured, "But who should we share this clue with, and how do we make them believe us..."

"That's why the only thing we lack right now is evidence."

Yan Jing reached out with his chopsticks and grabbed some shredded potatoes. "As for how we get that evidence, we might just have to wait."

At those words, Old Master Liu's and Chen Nian's eyes flickered.

Wait.

It was already perfectly clear what they were waiting for—

The next explosion to echo through the Tower.

"Let's eat, let's eat."

Old Master Liu picked up his chopsticks while fishing two pieces of paper from his pocket and tossing them in front of Yan Jing.

"Right, here's what you asked for, kid."

"You got it already?"

Yan Jing's eyes lit up as he picked up the papers.

They were densely covered in a list of names.

"I asked Madam Gu for it."

Old Master Liu picked up a few slices of braised beef. "Just like you said, the Tower is tallying up the VIPs and preparing to assign human bodyguards to them."

"During a special period like this, only human players are guaranteed to have completely clean backgrounds."

"But there's a limited number of humans, so they can only assign them to the most important VIPs first."

Yan Jing nodded, speaking casually as he scanned the list.

"Will Madam Gu be assigned a human bodyguard as well?"

Old Master Liu looked rather smug at the question.

"No, Madam Gu decided to keep this old man right here as her bodyguard!"

"Don't tell me Madam Gu took a fancy to you, old man," Chen Nian remarked flatly from the side.

"Took a fancy to me?"

Old Master Liu paused in surprise, then stroked his beard. "I suppose it's not entirely impossible..."

"That makes things a bit difficult. I already have a wife..."

"..."

Chen Nian took a bite of cucumber, completely expressionless.

He sometimes felt this old man was his natural counter; sarcasm was completely useless against him.

Yan Jing was completely focused on the list in his hands, oblivious to their exchange.

The names on this list were all leading figures from major factions.

They were mainly leaders from Sleepland and Dandelion Manor.

For instance, Yu Mu, the woman who had led the Dandelion Manor group the other day, and the man beside her, Yu Mo, were both on it.

Below them was the name Yu Xiran.

There was a noticeably wide gap between these three names and the rest, seemingly indicating the difference in status between them and the others.

And on the list for Sleepland, the very first name was Meng Shuangsheng.

That was likely the name of the man wearing the star and moon pajamas.

Yan Jing's gaze continued downward. He tried his best to cross-reference the names on the list with the customer profiles in his memory, hoping to find a match.

But very few actually lined up.

For one thing, the customer profiles in his head were strictly regulars of the Sun-Swallowing Tower. Furthermore, he mostly only knew their physical characteristics; very few had names attached.

But just when he thought it would likely be impossible to predict the assignments in advance this time...

An incredibly familiar name suddenly caught his eye.

An Ze (Order Management Bureau Rotten Vegetable Village Branch, attending on behalf of the Bureau's Deputy Director)

Yan Jing hadn't expected to see An Ze's name here. After all, given An Ze's standing, he shouldn't have had enough weight to warrant a VIP seat.

Aside from An Ze, there was another name directly above his.

Lu Miao (Order Management Bureau Rotten Vegetable Village Branch, attending on behalf of the Bureau Director)

Staring at the name, Yan Jing pictured the woman who always wore an icy expression.

After a brief moment of thought, he put the papers away.

A short while later, the group finished the remaining food on the table and prepared to disband.

Before they parted ways, Yan Jing once again emphasized the precautions for avoiding the bombings, though with a few changes from before.

The rule to avoid important figures entirely had been updated: they were now to maintain a safe distance while paying close attention to the crowds around those figures, in hopes of catching a few more clues.

Tiger, who was standing to the side, took the opportunity to hand Old Master Liu and the others the meeting minutes he had taken.

Old Master Liu looked over the notes—which were detailed enough to include every single word he had said—and nodded in satisfaction. He then pulled Tiger aside and whispered a few words into his ear.

Whatever he said made Tiger's eyes light up considerably, a look of joy spreading across his face.

"What did you say to Mr. Tiger?" Yan Jing asked, blinking in surprise.

"That's a secret, a secret..."

Old Master Liu shook his head playfully as he walked away.

The others left one after another, until only Mantou and Yan Jing remained in the shop.

"What's wrong, Mantou?"

Yan Jing asked with a smile, looking at the girl who lingered behind.

Ever since she heard the story Old Master Liu told earlier, he had noticed that Mantou seemed downcast, her eyes rimmed with red.

Suddenly, something completely unexpected happened.

Mantou seemed to make up her mind and squeezed her eyes shut.

She took a step forward and suddenly threw herself into his arms, wrapping her hands tightly around his waist.

"Y-Yan... I... I... one day... if... if I die... will you... will you remember me...?"

Mantou's already slurred voice was even more muffled now, as if she were using all her strength just to force the words out, regardless of whether he could hear her clearly.

Every word was thick with emotion, her voice trembling and choked with sobs.

It was incredibly sudden.

This girl who always wore a naive smile on ordinary days, the girl who would just keep smiling even when people called her "Garbage Lady," had actually shed tears after hearing a story.

Before Yan Jing could answer, Mantou continued, "I... I... I'm scared... that when I die... you... you won't remember... won't remember... me..."

"Y-Yan... I'm scared... that if I die... it'll be just like... like Grandpa said... nobody... will remember me... Will you... will you remember me...?"

"Y-Yan... I've... I've seen... so many people... die... suddenly... die..."

"Y-Yan... I... I might suddenly... die one day too..."

"I... I'm not scared... of dying..."

"But... I... I'm scared... scared that you... won't remember me..."

"Y-Yan... if you... don't remember me... then nobody in the world... will remember me... anymore..."

"Y-Yan... will you... remember... me...?"

"Will you...?"

Feeling the fabric at his chest slowly growing wet, Yan Jing rested his already raised hand on Mantou's head. Pulling the girl into his embrace, he said softly, "Mantou isn't going to die."

"And I'm never going to forget you, Mantou."

"No matter where you are."

"And no matter what I become."

[favorability +5]

Beside his ear, the narrator's voice suddenly became incredibly high and ethereal, as if it had broken out of Yan Jing's mind entirely and turned into a surround-sound echo that even he couldn't hear:

[In the man's memories across two lifetimes, this seemed to be the first time a girl had ever cried so heart-wrenchingly for him.]

[He didn't know what he should say, nor did he know how to resolve the situation.]

[So, despicable as he was, he resorted to doing what he did best.]

[Lying.]

[Perhaps only lies could slow the spread of sorrow, making it crawl just a little bit slower.]

[So that the uncertain future might seem just a tiny bit more hopeful.]

[Even if only by the tiniest amount.]