Wuming returned home after buying groceries, and as soon as he entered the door, he saw Serena staring intently at the anime on TV.
He had thought Serena wouldn’t be interested in anime, but unexpectedly, she liked watching this kind of thing too.
A spark lit in Wuming’s heart, as if he had found a kindred spirit.
But at the moment, Wuming’s focus wasn’t on that, but on Serena’s current situation.
“Um… Miss Serena.”
Serena turned her head at the sound, shifting her gaze from the screen to Wuming.
“About your current situation… I’ve roughly looked into it.”
Wuming tried to make his tone sound calm.
Upon hearing this, Serena unconsciously held her breath, her teeth lightly clacking together, and her eyes subconsciously avoiding Wuming’s.
“What… do you know?”
Her voice carried a hint of barely noticeable tension.
“You’re a high-bounty target, right?” Wuming cut straight to the core, his gaze locked on her.
“In that so-called ‘Scarlet Night.'”
Hearing Wuming say this, Serena’s small feet unconsciously rubbed against each other, she bit her lower lip, feeling surprised and tense that Wuming had pointed out her situation so bluntly.
“…How do you know?”
She didn’t deny it, but wanted to know how Wuming had learned this information.
“So it really is like that…”
Wuming held his forehead with one hand, his tone carrying a bit of helplessness.
“A friend of mine told me; I asked her to inquire.”
He paused and added, “But don’t worry, I didn’t mention a word about you to her.”
“…Really?”
Serena’s tone was half-believing, half-doubting, her eyes meeting Wuming’s.
“Yeah,” Wuming nodded affirmatively.
“I just wanted to know if sheltering you would be dangerous, Miss Serena.”
His tone was very sincere.
“And that person, she won’t harm me—you can rest assured.”
Wuming casually pulled over a stool from the side and sat down.
“Tell me about it, that night… besides the people chasing you, there weren’t any others, right?”
He confirmed again, though his intuition told him it was probably just those people, but he still needed final confirmation.
“Please tell me honestly, Miss Serena.”
“There shouldn’t be,” Serena tried hard to recall that chaotic night.
“I was running the whole time, I don’t know how many pursuers were behind me… but within my line of sight, it might really just be the few you saw.”
She unconsciously clenched her fist, trying to recall some details.
“Yeah, it shouldn’t be wrong.”
“If that’s really the case…”
Wuming’s tense nerves relaxed a bit. “Then at least… we’re safe for now.”
Probably no one knew Serena was hiding here.
“By the way,” Wuming followed up by asking her, “why did you become a high-bounty target, Miss Serena?”
“Could it be that you’re… an experimental subject of ‘Scarlet’?”
“I…” Wuming’s question seemed to hit Serena’s sore spot, an indescribable bitterness instantly gripping her heart, leaving her momentarily speechless.
“More precisely, they’re in a cooperative relationship,” Serena opened her mouth with difficulty to explain, her voice a bit lower.
“They commissioned ‘Scarlet’ to capture me. Because they knew I had escaped to this city…”
So that’s how it was…
Wuming had figured out some clues, but there was still one question that always troubled him.
Who were those higher-ups?
But no matter what, at least they were safe for now.
Though the shadow of the future still loomed heavy.
Since things had come to this…
“Let’s eat first.”
Wuming stood up, breaking the brief silence. “Since no one knows your whereabouts, that’s good.”
“Remember, just don’t appear in front of outsiders.” Wuming reminded her, then turned and headed to the kitchen.
“…” Serena watched his back, her lips moving silently, but in the end, she just lowered her head without responding.
The air seemed to still linger with the heavy atmosphere from their earlier conversation.
***
Another afternoon passed, and Wuming’s work finally ended; at the moment, he was lying on the sofa resting.
“Ahh—~”
So tiring.
Though it was just opening and closing his mouth, this was still a brain-draining job—even if his body wasn’t tired, his mind was already exhausted.
Wuming recalled that patient who pursued the goddess had come again, telling him about his subsequent experiences.
No more naked burly men, no onlookers; he had his first face-to-face conversation with the goddess.
And then…
“【You want to date me… but…】”
According to the patient, he saw a stain he could never forget in his life.
“【What I pulled out is much bigger than yours!】”
That’s how he recounted it verbatim, and later it turned out those two naked men he saw last time were with him.
Really… always with the bizarre stuff.
Being a psychologist can even drop your sanity value.
Nearby, Serena was playing with Wuming’s phone; ever since she got hooked on games last night, Serena couldn’t put it down.
Helping Wuming with daily cleanups and such had also become one of her tasks.
“Hey hey, Wuming.”
Serena opened the gacha interface and showed it to Wuming.
“How about I draw for you? You’ve got 12k stones—drawing a few should be fine, right?”
“Let me draw, how about it?”
“No way.” Wuming sternly refused Serena.
“Only this game is off-limits; I don’t need this character anyway, why waste stones.”
These were stones he had painstakingly gathered by running maps; he couldn’t let Serena squander them like that.
Gacha only has a start and an end; it’s impossible to quit.
Draw ten and nothing comes out, then think maybe luck will strike with another ten; after twenty, think forty should be no problem; at forty, think since it’s come to this, might as well pad to the guarantee; and finally, since it’s come to this, might as well draw it out.
Anyway, he could always save more later.
Wuming knew this routine all too well.
“Just ten! Just ten, come on, Wuming.”
“I promise just ten!”
Serena promised Wuming, ten draws and stop, no matter if anything came out or not.
In short, the gacha addiction had kicked in.
“…”
“Pleeease~~~”
Serena put on a cute expression, looking at Wuming expectantly, requesting his agreement.
“…”
Awsl~~~
Lolis really are so healing.
“Just ten, not one more.”
Seeing Serena so expectant, Wuming had no choice but to agree, but he would stay right beside Serena watching, in case she got carried away or something.
He didn’t believe she could get double gold in ten! If she gets gold, I’ll wash my hair upside down!
“Yay—!”
Serena eagerly tapped the ten-pull.
After one ten-pull.
“…”
“…”
“Hey, Wuming.”
“…Yeah.”
“I got gold, huh.”
“Yeah, I saw.”
“You haven’t padded this pool before, right?”
“Right.”
“Then… what’s the probability of getting gold in a ten-pull like this?”
“Probably not even 1%.”
“Then… how do I count this?”
Looking at the screen full of 8 golds, with the last one being a dupe character, Wuming silently stared at the phone and Serena.
This has already left the realm of humanity!
Supreme invincible luck god, that’s what this is!
Gacha queen, that’s what this is!
Drawing like this will shorten your life, you know!
“Wuming, say something, Wuming.”
Serena was also shocked; she had just drawn casually—how could she get this result!?
“L-Luck… just good luck…”
This is yang-sucking gacha!
Just good luck, he didn’t believe Serena could be this lucky again; he just wouldn’t believe it!
“Um… how about trying another game?”
“Oh…”
Tomorrow’s Jade Foot, launch—!
Then…
Looking at the screen full of limited 6-stars, Wuming once again fell into deep thought.
They say people’s constitutions aren’t comparable, but this is way too cheating!
Is this something a person can do!?
“Hey, Wuming.” Serena looked at Wuming with a smug face.
“You try a ten-pull and let me see.”
“…”
“Better not; with your drawing style, it’s easy to shorten life.”
“I still want to live a few more years.”
Wuming decisively refused; it definitely wasn’t because his hand luck was bad that he wouldn’t draw—key was he cherished his life!
“Tch, what shortening life or not.”
“I think you’re just jealous!”
Serena, dissatisfied with Wuming’s words, continued happily playing the game, while Wuming silently turned on the TV to a live stream.
He was very curious about Crosti’s live content, to see what she was streaming.
Through the message she sent before, Wuming found her live room.
“Welcome, everyone, to Ji Bai’s live room!”
“Likes over 10k and I’ll perform a talent!”
As soon as he entered, a wave of Nanning accent hit him, paired with Crosti’s somewhat revealing but not quite outfit, making Wuming doubt for a moment if he had entered the wrong room.
But it was indeed her in there, no mistake, which confirmed to Wuming that he was in the right live room.
Why is the gap between online and offline so big!?
It was like an offline big-sis type who seemed calm and elegant, but online it was the shock of selling on P-site.
But it was okay; Crosti didn’t seem like that kind of person.
At this moment, Wuming suddenly remembered that last time when they went to buy blood, it was Crosti who paid, so Wuming thought why not just repay her directly in the live room.
So Wuming took Serena’s phone, which she was playing excitedly on, smoothly topped up 1000 bucks on it, then handed the phone back to Serena.
Then Wuming directly selected the most expensive gift for Crosti and sent it.
“So Wuming, you like this kind, huh.”
Serena looked at Wuming’s actions with a hint of disdain. “How about I wear something like that for you to see, and it won’t cost money.”
“Cut it out,” Wuming told her. “She’s the blood clan I told you about, the one who helped buy your blood.”
“I’m gifting her because this is money I owe her; last time’s payment was from her.”
“Oh…” Serena had a sudden realization expression, looking at Crosti on the screen.
“Ji Bai…”
“What a weird name.”
“So Wuming, you have zero interest in her outfit, huh?”
“…” Wuming turned his head away. “None.”
“…”
Even Serena didn’t believe those words.
“Ah! Thanks to Wuming for the super big diamond! Thank you, Brother Wuming!”
Crosti saw the gift from Wuming and was very surprised; as for how she knew it was from Wuming…
Who would use their own name as a username?
“For Brother Wuming, Ji Bai has to show a special talent just for you!”
Wuming glanced at the comments and saw the screen full of 【Boss generous】, 【Boss good health】, 【Wish boss eternal life】, 【Welcome boss to the undead clan】, and so on.
As the highlight, Wuming also enjoyed a hot dance from Crosti.
“Thanks again to Wuming for the gift.”
“Remember our agreement between us, Mr. Wuming.”
This guy…
Referring to coming to the clinic for “treatment,” right.
Though both knew what the agreement was, the viewers were full of question marks, with the comments all spamming question marks.
【Could it be Ji Bai has someone she likes!?】
【Who is this Wuming!?】
【Could it be Ji Bai’s boyfriend!?】
Now this is big trouble…
Facing the netizens’ doubts and questions, Wuming wanted to post a comment to clarify his relationship with Crosti, but it was completely buried in the overwhelming flood of replies.
“Don’t be so tense, everyone.”
Crosti had a smiling face, seeming like she wanted to explain that her relationship with Wuming wasn’t what they thought.
This let Wuming relax.
“Me and Wuming…”
“To me, he’s a very important person.”
“…” Wuming immediately left the live room.
The misunderstanding got even bigger—!
He had thought Crosti would say he was a psychologist and incidentally promote him, but she actually said that!
Wuming could already imagine what the live room was like; he was already on death’s door.
They might even have thought about where to bury him.
“—? Why aren’t you watching anymore, Wuming?”
Serena beside him hadn’t realized the severity yet, lifting her head to ask Wuming in confusion.
“…Just don’t want to watch anymore.”
Wuming switched the TV to the game console, picked up the controller, and sat back down next to Serena.
“How about we play some video games together?”
Hearing Wuming say this, Serena happily turned off her phone and went to grab a controller.
“Yay! Playing video games with Wuming!”
“Watch me crush you again this time!”
After that, the two played video games together like an old married couple until late into the night.