Illusion Report

"Are you sure?"

As he walked Mai Mingle to the door, her uneven gait, leaning on a cane, made Tian Xi give her a second look.

Tian Xi had well-defined features, with thick, dark hair and brows. He betrayed no unnecessary emotion and spoke no superfluous words. But he didn’t need to say anything; Mai Mingle still understood his meaning.

If she couldn’t even take care of herself, she couldn’t expect anyone to help her when danger struck. Once inside a Nest, life and death were left to fate, especially when surrounded by a team of strangers.

"Don’t worry," Mai Mingle said with a smile, hoping he wouldn’t notice how forced it was. "I know what I’m doing."

’Of course she knew. She was basically asking to be killed.’

’If it was just her own life she was throwing away, that would be one thing...’

"Well then, I’ll see you tomorrow morning," Tian Xi said with a nod. "I look forward to entering a Nest with a Hunter who managed to revert from being a resident."

Mai Mingle was well aware that as a Hunter, she had practically no qualifications to speak of.

To pass the initial screening, she had picked through her limited experience and shared everything she could. It was only when she mentioned she had briefly become a "resident" that she saw one of Tian Xi’s long, dark eyebrows arch. In that moment, she knew she’d made the cut.

"...See you tomorrow morning," Mai Mingle said, finding the words difficult.

Several times during the interview, she had almost blurted out the truth.

Tian Xi didn’t seem like a bad person, which created a tempting thought: if she just reasoned with him, he might return the lipstick to her.

But if there was one lesson Mai Mingle had learned in her life, it was that you could never expect people to do the right thing just because it was the right thing. Not even people who seemed good.

Besides, what was "right" varied from person to person.

She had to stick to the original plan.

No matter how long a person lived, moments like this still arose—times when she couldn’t tell which decision was right and which was wrong.

The thought of how today’s decision would shape the path of her future was enough to make anyone apprehensive for their entire life, and Mai Mingle was no exception.

She really didn’t want to enter the Nest with Tian Xi and his group.

It wasn’t just because she would be in danger, but because she was a prime target for many of the Nest’s residents. Would the team traveling with her suffer as collateral damage?

Tian Xi didn’t know this, but Mai Mingle couldn’t pretend it wasn’t a fact.

Of course, Hunters were never short on danger, even without her. The Nests and their residents wanted nothing more than to kill any living person they found.

But what if her presence turned a five-point danger into an eight-point one? What if people who would have otherwise survived ended up dead? What would she do then?

But if she didn’t enter the Nest, was there any other way for her to get into the Kai Family’s estate and take back her lipstick?

It was all for the Time Illusion... She still wanted to see the world nine months from now. She didn’t want to leave yet.

Lost in her tangled mess of thoughts, the two of them had already reached the front door.

"Sha Xue?"

Tian Xi called out, and a head immediately popped out from a doorway to the right of the first-floor hall. It was the same girl who had led Mai Mingle in earlier.

"I’m here! Is it over?"

The girl named Sha Xue looked to be in her early twenties, so young she seemed to glow naturally.

Her appearance and demeanor were both gentle and calm. It might sound strange, but the impression she gave was that of a thick blanket of snow.

Smooth and pristine, because the heavy snow had already filled in and smoothed over all the rough patches and cracks on the ground.

’Ahem, maybe I’m just overthinking things again.’

Sometimes, all it took was a glance and a few words for Mai Mingle to form a vague, indistinct understanding of a person. Of course, most of the time, people just passed her by without any deeper connection, so she never had the chance to find out if her understanding was right.

"Yes. Please see her out," Tian Xi said. "What time is the next appointment?"

After emerging from the hallway, the front door was actually only seven or eight steps away from Mai Mingle. She didn’t need anyone to show her the way at all.

’Rather than asking Sha Xue to "show her the way," it was more like Tian Xi was politely saying, "Get her out of here, and don’t let her linger."’

’As expected of a major Hunter Family Faction, they’re pretty strict about security...’

Mai Mingle gently stroked her cane as an idea formed in her mind.

’If I can get the lipstick before entering the Nest, then I won’t have to worry about others getting hurt because of me, right?’

Sha Xue checked her phone and replied, "The next one is scheduled for three-thirty. We still have twenty minutes."

After Tian Xi and Mai Mingle exchanged thanks and goodbyes, he turned and left. Mai Mingle immediately straightened her back, putting her full weight on both feet. In front of Sha Xue, she tried her best to make every step seem steady and normal.

Sha Xue walked ahead, turning back to smile at her. "Did you drive here?" she asked.

’My driver’s license expired twenty or thirty years ago.’

"Excuse me," Mai Mingle said with an embarrassed smile, stopping in her tracks. "May I please use the restroom? It’s just... I was too embarrassed to ask Tian Xi earlier..."

Sha Xue understood immediately.

"I’ll take you."

She pushed open a set of double doors on the right side of the hall, led Mai Mingle through a side room, and entered another corridor. "There’s a box in the restroom with all the necessary feminine products. Go on, I’ll wait for you at the door. This place is so big, I’m worried you’ll get lost."

’Worrying that I’ll get lost definitely isn’t the main reason,’ Mai Mingle thought, ’but it’s true that this place is huge.’

After waiting for what seemed like a necessary amount of time, Mai Mingle came out of the restroom. Just as she expected, Sha Xue was standing guard right at the door, not having moved an inch.