“No worries. I can cut the deposit down a bit.”
“Thanks for the kindness, big sis Coco… Um, this should be enough. Big sis is waiting for me over there. Bye, big brothers and sisters.”
I wasn’t sure if Mu Ying had come on too strong, but the girl wouldn’t even look him in the eye. She hurriedly packed up her stall, waved to the crowd, and darted off.
“You said something to her? Why does it look like that little miss is scared of you?” Qing Yu shot him a weird look, like he was the creepy uncle trying to lure a loli with candy.
“I just told her I’m the guild’s vice president.” Mu Ying watched the tiny figure vanish into the distance. “Her sister probably warned her not to mess with guilds—run if you spot one, that kind of thing.”
“Why?”
“Think about it. Why go out of her way to rent consumables like that?” Mu Ying hinted.
“Could it be… a hidden quest?” Qing Yu latched on immediately.
Mu Ying shook his head. “Close, but quests eat up the materials you submit. No point renting and wasting rent money—that’s just extra hassle. Since it’s a rental, those glowstone lanterns won’t get consumed… or they’ll get replenished quick.”
His eyes gleamed with a spark of interest, and he smiled faintly. “Gotta say, I’m pretty curious what little secret that girl’s hiding.”
“In that case, should we tail her quietly?” Qing Yu’s curiosity was piqued now too.
“I already sent Knife and the others.” He’d pinged the guild’s thieves earlier. They were already on her tail.
In fact, he wasn’t the only one with that idea. Mu Ying had spotted a few figures slipping away from the dispersing crowd in the same direction as the little miss.
But he hadn’t expected the girl beside him to get so worked up about it.
“Hey, you forgetting your girlfriend’s a thief? Leave it to me.”
“You’re just dying to stalk a loli, aren’t you?” Mu Ying called it straight.
Qing Yu’s face flushed with guilt, and she looked away.
But Mu Ying was fine with ditching the pointless shopping. He patted her shoulder, dead serious. “Be careful. Don’t get hauled in by the cops.”
Ugh—
A male victim’s pained yelp echoed down a side street.
Skills were mostly disabled in town, so everyone was on even footing for tailing.
But thieves were still way better at it than other classes. Stealth was a huge edge, sure, but it also tied into their everyday job—
They were either stealing asses or on their way to stealing asses.
Qing Yu kept within ten yards of the target without getting spotted. That said it all.
“This feels kinda thrilling,” she thought, eyeing the petite figure ahead.
It was like secretly buying a tailing doujin—super exciting. And if her parents found out, she could just say she snagged it from her little sister’s bed. Easy escape.
Especially with a cute loli as the target, it amplified everything tenfold.
Imagine trailing behind, admiring that adorable face and those slender, delicate legs. Getting closer, close enough to catch the sweet milky scent and the sugary aroma from her hair.
Then, in some deserted corner, popping out suddenly. Watching her scared, vulnerable expression. Slowly closing in, pinning that tiny body in your arms for a gentle embrace. Feeling an even better touch than before.
Pfft—
Qing Yu got completely sunk by her own fantasies, covering her half-excited, half-blushing cheeks.
Maybe what that guy said earlier wasn’t totally off-base.
But right then, a faint sound snapped her out of it. She glanced over—a fellow tailer had made a slip-up.
Even so, the girl up front didn’t react at all.
Qing Yu shook her head inwardly.
She even figured the reason she’d gotten this close without issue was mostly because the little one had zero vigilance.
Or maybe it was just a kid’s innocent nature—she hadn’t imagined adults could have such dirty thoughts.
Qing Yu mentally scolded herself. From now on, she’d stop blaming her sister for the doujins and just stuff them under her bed as a gift. After reading them, of course.
She’d assumed the little one would head straight to meet her “big sis.” But instead, she turned onto another street in Naldun and set up her stall again.
Probably hasn’t collected enough yet, Qing Yu figured.
With that cute getup, the girl had no trouble renting a bunch more glowstone lanterns from players. When asked, she just recycled the same excuse as before.
But things didn’t stay smooth for long.
“Shadow Poetry and Winter Night people?”
Some players with guild tags overhead appeared. Qing Yu was surprised but not shocked.
The Gloom City Ruins were opening soon. Big guilds were definitely sending teams. Plus, with the situation over there, it was hard not to notice.
Just like Mu Ying had said, the moment she ran into these big guilds, the little one tensed up. Especially when a few tried probing her—she immediately started packing up, same as before.
But the folks who’d caught on weren’t about to let it go.
“More tails.” Qing Yu pursed her lips.
Some of the earlier followers had lost patience and bailed. Others stuck with it like her. Now with this new batch, they could probably fill a mid-sized dungeon raid.
If nothing comes of it in the end, that’d be hilarious, she thought. Though it didn’t matter much to her either way.
Just as she was debating whether to widen the gap from the others, someone tapped her shoulder from behind.
“Qing Yu sis, it really is you.”
“Huh? Bebe, what are you doing here?”
Qing Yu turned and saw a girl she knew—not from her guild, but from Paradise Lost, the one allied with Aurora. She handled intel gathering. They’d crossed paths a dozen times and gotten familiar.