Chapter 967 - 729: Fu Is Jin!
Plop—
At the moment the mask fell, Shen Tang was completely stunned.
Underneath the mask, the face was nothing like she was familiar with—ordinary, unfamiliar, completely devoid of the shadow she remembered.
Her heart, which had been racing wildly earlier, suddenly sank to the bottom, and the expression on her face froze.
She was so stunned, staring blankly at the man before her, suddenly unsure how to face him.
The man looked down at her, with a bit of surprise and concern in his eyes, released his hold on her, and put her down, his tone quite caring, "Are you alright?"
Shen Tang came to her senses, shook her head, "I... I’m fine, just exhausted from the earlier exertion, thank you."
She suddenly didn’t know what to say.
It felt rather ridiculous to her; she shouldn’t have been thinking in that direction, knowing that Jin had said they would go their separate ways and he’d never come to see her again. Yet she still thought Fu might have something to do with him.
Their aura was different, build different, appearance different; she really shouldn’t have clung to unrealistic ideas.
Fu bent down to pick up the mask from the ground and put it back on.
He looked down at Shen Tang as if carefully studying her expression, paused for a moment, and then asked, "What were you thinking just now? You seem a bit... disappointed?"
His fingers at his side lifted slightly, as if wanting to touch her dimmed brows and eyes, but ultimately remained silent, lowering them again.
He just gazed at her, his eyes seemed to stick to her face, his voice was lower than before, "The way you looked at me just now was very different than usual, as if you were trying to see through me... see someone else?"
Shen Tang didn’t expect him to notice this at all, felt slightly embarrassed, pursed her lips, and decided to be honest, "Sorry, I was indeed trying to test you just now because you’re so kind to me sometimes... I always feel like you seem familiar, like you resemble someone I knew before... a friend."
Friend.
Fu remained silent for quite some time before asking another question, "Do you want to see him?"
Shen Tang lowered her eyes, unable to determine what she was feeling inside.
She recalled what Jin said before, her eyes darkened, and she shook her head, "We’ve already parted ways, saying more of this now is meaningless."
Fu’s Adam’s apple moved, but in the end, he didn’t say anything, turned his head to look at the air beside him, and changed the topic, "Now that we’re in the city, what do you plan to do next?"
Shen Tang said, "I want to find someone, but his situation is quite special. To be honest, I don’t know what to do now; I don’t know how to help him."
As she said this, her face displayed a sorrowful expression, her eyes were red, as if she could shed tears at any moment, her voice was a bit choked, as if blaming herself.
If it weren’t for her, Lu Xiao definitely wouldn’t be in the current state.
But it’s too late to say anything now; his situation is so special, even if she wants to save him, the thing inside him...
Fu watched her helpless appearance and didn’t know how to comfort her.
He lifted his hand, paused for a few seconds in the air, then gently patted her shoulder as if to reassure her, "Anyway, at least we’ve mixed into the city; let’s find a place to settle down first. Whatever you want to do next, you must have a place to settle first."
Shen Tang thought the same.
But her identity is special now, and knowing the Hand of Trauma has spies in the city, regular hotels are not advisable to stay at since it’s easy to be recognized.
Fortunately, Fu took her to a place.
It was a villa estate in the outskirts of the city, uniquely located on an independent Floating Island in the Sky.
The entire villa and the surrounding Floating Island territory belonged to the island owner.
Rumor has it that even the rulers of Sky City can’t control the place legally.
Shen Tang was filled with shock when she saw the Floating Island villa.
She remembered that buying such independently governed Floating Island villas was absurdly expensive; even though she was considered wealthy now, it was a sky-high price.
It was said that in the entire Sky City, fewer than ten people could afford such villas, all mysterious big shots, whose identities had never been disclosed.
Fu, what kind of person is he? So wealthy?!
But this also indicated that he indeed had property here and indeed had business to conduct, not just following her around; she had overthought it earlier.
However, the villa seemed to have barely been used; from the outside, it appeared luxurious, resembling a castle in the Imperial Palace, but the interior was quite simple and basic.
There was almost no trace of life, so it was quite clean, requiring hardly any cleaning.
Fu directly took her to the second floor and arranged a room for her separately.
Shen Tang felt quite grateful to him, not only for saving her but also for providing her a place to stay.
She originally didn’t want to trouble Fu too much, thinking it was enough for Xiao Xue to sleep with her in one room since the bed was particularly large, fitting three or five people without issue.
But Fu wasn’t concerned about this; there were plenty of rooms anyway, so he tidied up the adjacent room for Xiao Xue.
Xiao Xue actually wanted to live with Shen Tang, but he’s grown a bit older now, appearing around seven or eight years old, taller in stature, still with a bit of baby fat on his face, but not so plump anymore.
He also knew the difference between male and female now, realizing it’s not appropriate to live with Tangtang anymore, so he went next door.
Fu had prepared quite a few clothes for him in the wardrobe.
From young to old, there were clothes of various sizes.
Xiao Xue finally managed to change out of those shorts he had outgrown because of his rapid growth.
After settling the "mother and son," Fu seemed to have other matters to attend to, so he left first, letting them rest properly.
Late at night, Shen Tang lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. The more she thought about the events of the day, the more something seemed amiss, as if she had overlooked something.
That’s not right, the face under the mask was quite ordinary, but what if... that face was fake too?
Shen Tang’s mind suddenly lit up, feeling a jolt.
At that time, she was too disappointed to think it through; only now she realized, this world wasn’t limited to only her being able to disguise appearances and aura—at the city gate, didn’t she encounter a Beastman disguising their face?
Surely there’s stuff sold at black markets; while it might not be as good as what’s sold at the System Mall, with a high enough price, it should be possible to buy.
Thinking back to the question Fu asked her earlier—
"Do you want to see him?"
She never mentioned who that friend was, not even a bit of clue was given, it was impossible for a stranger to ask such a question.
Shen Tang abruptly sat up, leaving her room to find Fu.
Only to discover he hadn’t returned so late.
The room was unusually clean; even the new sheets hadn’t been changed, only a letter and a new Light Computer wristband were left on the desk.
She walked over, the letter contained just a few simple lines.
—"There’s money prepared for you here, along with a new identity, feel free to use it without worrying about any risk."
Shen Tang stared at those lines for several moments, picked up the wristband, and put it on.
Face scan completed, initial password required.
Her fingers trembled slightly, attempting her birth date.
The wristband unlocked.
"..."
The account had already been transferred a fortune, more than she had saved before, and the identity was verified as a risk-free ordinary person.
It was even a noble identity, enough for her to move freely around Sky City as long as no accidents occurred.
To open such backdoors, they must be top rulers of this world.
Shen Tang’s breathing was chaotic; she quickly used her spiritual power to scan the room but found no trace of Fu, unsure whether he had left or was hiding somewhere.
She bit her lip and directly summoned the System, "Fu is Jin, isn’t he? You knew this from the start, didn’t you?"
Even if outward appearance, aura, and superpower could be disguised, the System must have records, couldn’t possibly get it wrong.
The System hesitated, [Master, I, I’m not sure either...]
"I don’t know what deal you made with him, but no need to hide it anymore, I already know."
The System knelt immediately, [Host, I’m sorry! He summoned me while you slept, threatened to destroy me, I had no choice but to agree, boo hoo hooo...]
Shen Tang closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly said,
"I knew it was him, I knew I guessed correctly."
!!!
The System covered its mouth—uh-oh, got tricked.
But now the words were out, it was too late to take them back.
Ah, that dead leopard forced it to deceive the host before; now the host knows, let’s see how he’ll kneel on the washboard in the future!