第二十二章

Youyou had just put away her phone when she looked up and realized everyone else was far ahead. Glancing at the unfamiliar faces around her, she hurried to catch up.

"What's going on? What are you guys doing?" She found A Xu and Fatty lurking suspiciously behind a table in the corner.

A Xu turned, saw Youyou, and pulled her over. Pointing ahead, he whispered, "Sister Youyou, look! Isn't that He Mei, the one we caught the other day?"

Youyou followed his gaze. Sure enough, a glamorous woman in a bright red dress stood there, chatting and laughing with a group. She bore an eighty percent resemblance to the He Mei they had seen before. But with her changed makeup and hairstyle, and since they hadn't gotten a good look at her face last time, Youyou wasn't entirely sure.

"It can't be, right? Wasn't she captured?" Youyou bit her finger, speaking uncertainly.

A Xu shook his head. "I think it's her, though she does look different now." The three exchanged glances, a shiver running down their spines. Just then, Little Wu and Xiao Ai crept over. Youyou pulled Xiao Ai closer and pointed. "Xiao Ai, look. Is that woman He Mei?"

Xiao Ai stared intently. "Holy crap, what's she doing here? Where's Su Heng? Su—" Once confirmed, Xiao Ai flew into a rage. Without a second thought, she charged off to find Su Heng. Youyou, deeply regretting her failure to hold her back, had no choice but to follow.

Su Heng was sitting at a long table, accompanied by several young masters dressed in opulent finery. Xiao Ai's sudden intrusion clearly displeased them; one frowned and was about to reprimand her. Su Heng suddenly stood, stopped the man, and bowed to Xiao Ai with a smile. "Miss Xiao Ai, what seems to be the matter? Has someone upset you?"

Xiao Ai had stormed over, her eyes fixed on Su Heng. Hearing his words, she suddenly grinned. Seeing her smile, Youyou inwardly groaned, 'Oh no.'

"Brother Su Heng," Xiao Ai began, displaying an uncharacteristically sweet and almost adorable smile. "The other day, we helped you capture a female Aberrant on your commission. What happened to her afterwards?" Su Heng answered somewhat apprehensively, "Ah, that matter. Well, typically, after we capture Aberrants, we refine and reform them. This ensures they won't harm people in the future, and we can also put them to use for our purposes."

"So, the one standing over there... is that He Mei, right?" For some reason, Xiao Ai's smile sent a chill down Su Heng's spine.

"Y-yes, that's right! Probably!" Su Heng's tongue felt tied without him realizing it.

"Heh heh heh heh~" Xiao Ai let out a sudden, cold laugh, clenched her fists, and was about to leap over to grab He Mei. Fortunately, A Xu and Fatty had followed. Seeing her expression change, the quick-witted duo swiftly grabbed and held her back, while Youyou immediately covered her mouth.

The three offered Su Heng an apologetic smile, then hurriedly dragged Xiao Ai away. The whole scene left the people beside Su Heng utterly bewildered, all looking at him with questions in their eyes. Su Heng himself didn't understand what had happened either; he shrugged and made an excuse to leave.

Su Heng then went to find Jing Yuan and Xu Haoyue to inquire about the incident.

"Pardon me, but does Miss Xiao Ai suffer from some... hidden ailment?"

"Hidden ailment? What's that?" Jing Yuan looked at him blankly. "No, wait, what do you mean by that question?"

Seeing their confused expressions, Su Heng had no choice but to recount Xiao Ai's bizarre behavior and express his puzzlement. To his surprise, as soon as they heard it, the two hurriedly ran off. Left with no other option, Su Heng followed them.

The three over there were still desperately trying to hold Xiao Ai down. Upon seeing this, Xu Haoyue and Jing Yuan rushed over. Jing Yuan crouched down, placed his hands on Xiao Ai's shoulders, and urged, "Xiao Ai, calm down, calm down. Think about your brother; he's still in the mountains waiting for us to save him."

"Right, right, right. We're at the Imperial Banquet. If you cause a scene like this, what if the Emperor decides to chop our heads off? Even if their spells don't work on us, we can't fight off a crowd with just our fists," Youyou chimed in, seizing the opportunity to persuade her.

Unfortunately, these words couldn't penetrate Xiao Ai's ears at all. She continued to struggle desperately, making muffled sounds through the hand covering her mouth. After watching for a moment, Xu Haoyue gritted his teeth and said, "Alright, Xiao Xiao'ai, if you promise not to cause trouble today, I'll buy you tickets to that... whoever's concert."

A Xu and Little Wu both gave Xu Haoyue a silent thumbs-up, praising him without words: "Haoyue-ge, so generous."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Ai indeed stopped struggling. She moved away from Youyou's hand and asked softly, "Really?"

Xu Haoyue nodded, a pained expression on his face. "Really."

"Lay Zhang's concert, okay!"

"Mm."

"Fatty, Little Wu, Haoyue-ge, you have no idea—that vile woman nearly shot my butt clean off." Having gotten her way, Xiao Ai was now playing the victim, still lying on the ground and continuing her tearful complaint. Although Xu Haoyue's heart ached at the promised expense, hearing that Xiao Ai's butt had nearly been shot made him glance at Jing Yuan, silently asking why he hadn't mentioned this. Jing Yuan looked back at him apologetically and quickly assured Xiao Ai, "Don't worry, your brother here will get revenge for you."

"Mm." Xiao Ai pouted and nodded, finally abandoning the idea she'd just had of charging over to make a huge scene. With that settled, the seven of them turned back in unison to stare at Su Heng. Su Heng froze for a moment, then hurriedly waved his hands and said, "I didn't hear anything. Didn't hear a thing." After speaking, he turned and quickly left. As he departed, he could still hear their seven cold laughs, which sent an involuntary shiver down his spine.