Chapter 83: Wang Hui's Love, Part One (Qixi Festival Special)

Feng Tianlin was busy building up the newly conquered Spirit City. This was nothing like Tianjing City; Tianjing was little more than a sprawling ruin, with no one quite sure what disaster had befallen it. But here, everything remained almost perfectly intact.

More than a thousand people had yet to evacuate the city, including unsupervised prisoners, some hospital patients, and a number of residents from care homes and similar welfare institutions. Some simply hadn’t managed to leave in time; others were resigned to fate or too indifferent to bother escaping; and a few even intended to stay behind and fight the strange, monstrous beings.

Feng Tianlin could only sigh: “The bigger the forest, the more kinds of birds you’ll find.”

Of course, every one of them had ended up in the Terror Emotion Factory, providing a constant supply of fear and dread for Feng Tianlin and his fellow uncanny entities.

Now, it was time to visit the altar Cheng Lian had mentioned, a prospect that intrigued him—he was quite curious about the so-called awakening of the ancient uncanny.

At that moment, Long Mengting ran over, phone in hand. “Look! I’ve got a video call through to Ruan Miao!”

Ever since arriving in Spirit City, Long Mengting’s phone had signal—6G, the latest tech—which delighted her to no end. She clung to her phone day and night, reading romance novels under the pretense of “studying human emotions.”

They’d just fought a battle—not a difficult one, but tiring enough, especially with all the ongoing work—so Feng Tianlin had left Long Mengting to her reading.

“You got Ruan Miao on a video call?” Feng Tianlin smiled, stepping over to look at the screen.

The technology here was much like Earth’s, perhaps a few years ahead in some respects, though in certain areas it lagged behind since most resources were devoted to medical advancements. Yet mobile video calls were cutting-edge: the people appeared as three-dimensional projections.

On screen, Ruan Miao was dressed in the standard brown trench coat of a Spirit Warden, the garment accentuating her curves and lending her an air of poise and sophistication.

“Doll Boss, what have you been up to lately?” Ruan Miao greeted him with enthusiastic warmth.

Feng Tianlin smiled back. “Nothing much—just took over two cities, passing the time.”

Ruan Miao snorted. “Hah! Who in the whole country doesn’t know about that? I was just being polite, you’re supposed to say ‘not much.’”

“Oh, then—nothing much,” Feng Tianlin nodded.

“So what does ‘nothing much’ actually mean?” Ruan Miao’s eyes sparkled mischievously.

Feng Tianlin was speechless. What kind of logic was this? Only his ex-girlfriends from his last life ever spoke in such roundabout ways.

“All right, enough teasing. Tell me, what have you been doing since joining the Spirit Wardens?” he asked seriously.

“I reported to headquarters and was immediately transferred to the capital for training. Turns out, I can control over a dozen uncanny creatures at once! The higher-ups were shocked. Now they’re giving me special training—calling me the Beacon of Humanity.”

“Damn, that’s impressive.” Feng Tianlin was genuinely surprised. He’d thought she would quietly keep a low profile.

“You bet! I’ve got all sorts of big shots backing me up now. I may only be rank E, but even A-ranks have to give way to me!” Ruan Miao boasted.

“You’ve only just joined and you’re already E-rank?” Feng Tianlin was even more astonished.

“It’s all right. The state’s giving me the best resources. I’m about to break through to D-rank. You’d better start working harder.”

“That's truly... remarkable...” Feng Tianlin was at a loss for words.

“Oh, by the way, Wang Hui’s doing great too! I saw him at the Uncanny Exchange Conference recently—he was there as the rising star of the Daoist Alliance. I’ll forward you his profile.”

“Wang Hui? I heard about him recently—he really is doing well...”

After chatting for a while, Ruan Miao said she had things to do and hung up, forwarding Wang Hui’s profile as promised.

Long Mengting immediately added him as a friend. He accepted in a split second, probably because her avatar was a cute girl and her profile marked her as female. He instantly sent over two flirtatious stickers.

“Hey beautiful, why’d you add me?”

A mischievous smile played on Feng Tianlin’s lips. Using his Mimic ability, he imitated a sweet girl’s voice and sent a voice message.

“Big brother, I’m feeling lonely...”

Hearing this, Wang Hui was practically electrified, replying at once, “Don’t worry if you’re lonely—your big brother will keep you company.” He even added a dog-faced emoji.

“This kid’s got game,” Feng Tianlin chuckled, intent on continuing the chat.

But Long Mengting stopped him. “Boss, let me handle this. I’m a pro at romance.”

Feng Tianlin looked at her in confusion, then remembered she’d read far more romance novels than he had—she was, in fact, an expert. “Fine. You tell me what to say, and I’ll send the voice messages.”

Long Mengting grinned wickedly and began her performance.

Long Mengting: “What do you do for work? (shy)”

Wang Hui: “I’m a Daoist of the Daoist Alliance—and one of their top prospects! (proud)”

Long Mengting: “Wow, that’s amazing. But honestly, you don’t seem like a Daoist to me—you’re more like a professional... (shy)”

Wang Hui: “What profession? (confused)”

Long Mengting: “A thief. You stole my heart. (shy) x3”

At that, Wang Hui squirmed on his bed like a worm, his face flushed, only managing to reply after a long pause: “You’re terrible! (covering face)”

Feng Tianlin was stunned—these were the oldest tricks in the book back on Earth, but they were still this effective here?

He licked his lips, intrigued. “Interesting. Let me have another turn.”

Long Mengting pouted. “Let’s take turns, then.”

Feng Tianlin nodded. “Can you guess which side my heart is on?”

Wang Hui: “No idea.”

Feng Tianlin: “It’s on your side.”

Wang Hui: “(shy emoji)”

Long Mengting: “You’re practically perfect, but you do have one flaw.”

Wang Hui: “What flaw? (confused)”

Long Mengting: “You’re missing me. (shy)”

“...”

And so, the doll-faced trickster and the little loli took turns, thoroughly enchanting Wang Hui, the innocent young man, until he was rolling around on his bed, his cheeks burning as he tasted the sweetness of first love.

Feng Tianlin/Long Mengting: “Would you like to video chat?”

A video chat?

The message sent Wang Hui’s heart racing. He scrambled for a mirror, checking his reflection anxiously, worried he wasn’t handsome enough. Only after two or three minutes did he reply:

“Wait a minute, the lighting here is bad—let me find a better spot.”

He sent the message, then dashed out of the room and knocked on a nearby door. “Li Ren, Junior Sister, open up! I need your help!”

After a moment, the door opened to reveal a petite girl about 1.6 meters tall in pajamas, looking a little younger than Wang Hui.

“What do you want? I was sleeping,” she grumbled. This little girl was Si Liren, another Daoist Alliance prodigy, rubbing her eyes in annoyance.

“Help me with my makeup—quick!” Wang Hui urged.

“Why? Are you meeting a girl?” Jealousy flickered in Si Liren’s eyes.

“Oh, don’t ask—just help me! It’s an emergency!” Wang Hui pleaded.

He knew nothing about makeup and had no choice but to ask Si Liren for help.

She pouted in irritation, thinking, “Here I am, a great beauty right next to you, and you go chasing after those ordinary girls outside?” But then a mischievous thought crossed her mind.

“Hmph, this time I’ll really mess with you.”