“I got a bit curious about that little miss’s moves.”
Bebe glanced ahead, a touch embarrassed. Qing Yu caught on right away—she must’ve spotted something too. But admitting to tailing a loli wasn’t exactly the classiest thing.
Qing Yu was right there in the crime with her, though, and zero guilt. “Don’t sweat it. We’re just quietly watching over the wholesome growth of minors from the shadows—”
You think the cops would buy that load of crap? The girl choked on Qing Yu’s “reassurance.”
Qing Yu and Bebe chatted for a bit. When they saw the target pulling ahead, they picked up the pace. With more people around, everyone instinctively spread out to avoid detection.
Qing Yu didn’t think the naturally airheaded little one up front would notice the swarm of “caring adults” trailing her for her wholesome development.
With a full squad of tails in tow, the little one finally linked up with her sister.
Watching the sister pat that adorable head like some kind of reward, Qing Yu felt a stab of envy toward the fire mage who looked no older than a high schooler.
She’d once had a cute little sister like that too. Now it was just a kid stashing doujins under the bed.
Half of which she’d planted herself, but that wasn’t the point.
“Bebe, you notice?”
Bebe nodded. She could tell the fire mage had her own crowd of tails, though fewer.
“Azure Coast, Fallen Angels, and Sirens are in the mix.”
As expected from an intel pro—sharp eyes. Qing Yu was impressed. Without the tip, she wouldn’t have picked up on so many guilds.
“This is blowing up. Got so many guilds paying attention.”
That was nearly half the guilds who’d rolled into Naldun.
Qing Yu had no clue about the fire mage’s side, but she knew the little one had drawn the whole street’s eyes earlier. Cute looks helped, sure, but the glowstone lanterns—strategic must-haves for the Gloom City Ruins—were the real hype machine.
The little sister’s a kid, fine. But didn’t the big sister have the sense to keep a low profile?
Qing Yu frowned at the thought.
Just as she was writing the fire mage off as clueless, the woman seemed to sense something. She sent her sister ahead, then ducked into a side alley.
Definitely something going on.
Qing Yu dropped her doubts and followed with Bebe, extra cautious. She even slipped in a breath-hiding skill during the stealth gaps.
Unseen currents stirred the air. Invisible, but the other tails were clearly keeping step.
Five minutes later, the fire mage finally poked out of the alley. Figuring all the zigzagging had shaken any followers, she headed down the street in a set direction.
Her vigilance was solid, but her anti-tail game was weak. Instead of ditching them, it just locked in everyone’s suspicions. They trailed the target straight to their destination—
Naldun’s commercial plaza.
Qing Yu remembered hitting this spot with Mu Ying when they first got here—strong vibes.
Mostly natives hawking wares: gear, materials, handicrafts. A few native chambers had set up permanent shops, like specialty outlets.
Players loved wandering in for quirky trinkets or native-crafted stuff.
But the target clearly wasn’t here to browse. She scanned the area, saw no eyes on her, then made for a corner of the plaza.
Qing Yu and the others followed and found the fire mage stopping by a quiet, neglected shop.
The sign out front marked it as a temp stall for some chamber of commerce.
Big chambers usually had dedicated stores in towns. This one must’ve been on the smaller side. But the setup and stock had more appeal than some plaza stalls. The quiet was mostly the bad location.
But in Qing Yu and the others’ eyes, that out-of-the-way spot screamed opportunity—classic sign of hidden quests or rare items.
And the target’s next move sealed their shared hunches—
The fire mage handed over every rented glowstone lantern to the stall clerk.
Either a hidden quest, or some special setup.
The thought hit them all at once.
Those were rented lanterns. Failing to return them meant a fat penalty fee. For the fire mage to dump them so boldly after all that effort, she had to be banking on getting even more back—or enough profit to cover the hit.
The fire mage didn’t stick around. She left the stall quick. But as she did, the vibe turned electric.
The other tails itched to check it out, but they knew rivals were thick on the ground.
In short, no one wanted to be the first idiot.
Qing Yu, though, didn’t give a damn about that. She hated being hemmed in by petty rules. She grabbed Bebe and stepped right into the stall.
The others hesitated, then trickled in after. The once-dead stall suddenly hummed with life.
Inside, Qing Yu and the crew were already grilling the clerk.
“Hi, you guys acquiring glowstone lanterns here?” Qing Yu traded a look with Bebe and asked. From the fire mage’s moves, it was a safe bet.
The clerk’s reply nailed it. “Yes. Our Rhine Chamber’s head recently wants to stock up on a batch of glowstone lanterns.”
Qing Yu and Bebe shared a thrilled glance, eyes lighting up with visions of fat rewards. But before they could spin their fantasies, the clerk’s price hit them like a brick wall.
Not just them—every tailer in the place froze, stunned by that insane number.
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