Chapter 76: Why Is She Here?

On the pedestrian street.

There were many people.

Between the gray brick houses, the crowd was packed with wolf-kin, dog-kin, horse-kin, and some tourists from the Federation.

A row of food stalls lined the street, with the smoke from grilled sausages drifting everywhere.

Zijiang stood in line at one of the sausage stalls.

The queue was long;

She was about seventh in line.

Her pink ponytail was tilted to one side, cat-ear headphones hanging around her neck.

She looked down at her phone, thumb swiping across the screen, probably editing a video.

The line moved forward one step, and she followed, not lifting her head.

Olivia stood outside the line.

Strands of her silver-white hair slipped out from under the brim of her hat.

She stared longingly toward the sausage stall.

On the grill, sausages sizzled on the wire rack, the casings puffing up and splitting open, oozing oil.

She swallowed.

The line was long.

The stall owner was a horse-kin woman, not quick with her movements, flipping each sausage several times.

The line crawled forward at a sluggish pace.

‘Forget it, Wolfgang’s street scene is also… nothing much to see…’

Just as she was feeling disappointed, she spotted a familiar figure.

A person walked through the crowd.

Short white hair with the ends dyed dark red.

A dark gray tactical jacket with bulging pockets.

At her waist hung a short blade, the hilt engraved with a name that had worn blurry over time.

She walked quickly, her white head bobbing through the crowd.

Then she turned into an alley.

Olivia’s cat ears perked up.

‘Wei? What’s she doing here?’

She glanced back at Zijiang.

Zijiang was still looking down, thumb swiping across the screen.

The line moved forward one step.

Zijiang followed, still not lifting her head.

Olivia headed toward the alley.

Deep in the alley was a dead end.

Walls enclosed three sides, with a few wooden crates stacked on the ground.

Chijiao sat on one of the crates.

His dark red armor had been removed, leaving him in only a dark gray shirt, his battle axe resting against the wall.

His dark red pupils stared calmly at the ground.

When footsteps approached, he looked up.

Wei stopped in front of him, both hands shoved into the pockets of her tactical jacket.

She looked down at the seated Chijiao for a moment.

Then the corner of her mouth curled upward.

“You’re not dead yet?”

Chijiao raised his head.

His dark red pupils met Wei’s.

“Yeah. Not dead.”

“Have you thought about what you want carved on your tombstone?”

Chijiao didn’t answer.

He rested his elbows on his knees and interlaced his fingers.

His dark red pupils dropped back to the ground.

“You still haven’t moved past the shadow.”

Wei’s mouth was still curved up.

“What do you think?”

“What do I rely on to keep dragging myself along until now?”

Chijiao’s fingers were still interlaced, his thumbs rubbing against each other.

“I don’t know.”

A low voice came…

“Can’t you let go of the Countess matter?”

Wei didn’t reply.

Her red pupils stared at Chijiao.

The alley was silent, save for the faint murmur of the pedestrian street in the distance and the sound of clothes rustling on the clothesline overhead.

Two seconds later.

“Let go?”

She repeated the two words.

“Hmph.”

Wei curled her lip impatiently.

“What do you take me for? One of those radical mashed-potato heads?”

Chijiao didn’t respond.

His thumbs kept rubbing.

“I don’t know.”

“I’m curious too.”

Wei took a step forward.

Her boots scraped against the stone floor with a soft sound.

“What exactly has kept you holding on all this time, working for that bunch of vampires?”

Chijiao’s fingers stopped.

His dark red pupils lifted from the ground, staring at the opposite wall.

The wall was bare—

Gray bricks with a little moss growing in the cracks.

“Family.”

Wei’s red pupils didn’t move.

“Family. Including the wolf-kin.”

“No, no, no.”

Chijiao’s voice changed slightly.

“This is the last wish the Countess left me. I have no reason to refuse.”

Wei looked at Chijiao for a while.

Then she shoved her hands back into her pockets.

“You’re really loyal. Loyal enough to follow even a fool.”

“Have it your way.”

Chijiao’s voice dropped again.

“So. What are you doing all the way out here?”