The show was halfway over; it was too late to back out now.
Aside from biting the bullet and seeing the "holess" act through to the end, there was no other option...
Mai Mingle replayed her recent words and actions in her head. She didn’t think she had done anything to give herself away.
For one thing, her wretched, filthy appearance wasn’t sothing that could be faked on short notice. Besides, she had carefully considered what to say and what not to say, and she was confident she hadn’t slipped up.
’The Morgan Family wouldn’t get suspicious of so holess person for no reason, would they?’
’Other than what I’ve already told them, I’ll just say ’I don’t know’ to anything else they ask. It’s not like they can read minds, right?’
There was just one thing: she absolutely could not let them discover the Illusion on her person.
That was what Mai Mingle was worried about now.
Sitting in the back seat, she was constantly afraid the hem of her clothes would curl up or cling to her skin, revealing a trace of the "Snake Belt" Illusion. So, she kept having to adjust her posture and tug at her clothes.
Her constant fidgeting was making the two people in the front increasingly uneasy.
"Are you itchy?" The woman glanced at Mai Mingle in the rearview mirror before inching her seat forward. "Our company has a shower. You can take a good wash when we get there."
It sounded like Fu Tailan was an important figure. They clearly didn’t want to bring him soone crawling with fleas.
’A shower is out of the question. I can wash my feet at most. I wouldn’t take my clothes off even if I were drenched in blood.’ Of course, Mai Mingle didn’t say this out loud.
"Why would a company have a shower?" she asked, feigning casual curiosity.
The man at the wheel muttered, "...Nosy, aren’t you?"
Mai Mingle had assud they were just calling a mansion a "company" because they didn’t want to say "Family Faction." A shower in a mansion would make perfect sense, right?
But to her surprise, the car eventually pulled into the underground garage of an actual office building. And not just any office building—it was a modern high-rise with comprehensive security and state-of-the-art facilities. The man and woman even had to swipe their badges to activate the elevator’s ’up’ button.
When the elevator doors opened, Mai Mingle was led into a bright, clean, cream-colored reception area.
Several sofas were scattered across a circular rug. In the corner stood a potted plant, its clusters of large, waxy green leaves reaching for the ceiling. A screen on one wall played a promotional video. Behind the reception desk, the company na was displayed in a clean, simple font: "Morgan & Morgan."
What surprised Mai Mingle most was the line of small text printed below the company na: Financial Consulting & Real Estate Managent.
’What is going on?’
’Isn’t the Morgan Family a Hunter Family Faction?’
’My side hustle is begging, and their side hustle is financial consulting?’
A young woman at the front desk saw them exit the elevator, imdiately bent down to grab a paper bag, and hurried over. "Sister Longzhen, I just bought the items. They’re all in here."
The woman, Longzhen, didn’t even glance at the bag. She motioned for Mai Mingle to take it, then said to the receptionist, "Take her to get cleaned up."
It was a brown paper bag with "ZARA" printed on it. Mai Mingle thought she recognized the brand. She opened it curiously and found a set of clothes and a pair of shoes inside.
She had figured as much when they’d asked for her shoe size earlier. She couldn’t help but marvel at how thorough the Morgan Family was. ’Of course, no matter how thorough they are, they’re not getting my Illusion.’
"This brand na is kinda unusual," she said after thanking them, feeling the bag. "Is it expensive? You really shouldn’t have spent so much on ."
The others glanced at her, but no one said a word.
"Um, Sister Longzhen..."
The receptionist didn’t move. Instead, she gestured for the man and Longzhen to step aside with her. She then whispered sothing to them. Faintly, Mai Mingle thought she heard the na "Fu Tailan" ntioned.
Mai Mingle pretended to inspect the clothes, but she was all ears.
"...What?"
Longzhen’s voice was also hushed, and Mai Mingle could only catch a few words that were emphasized by emotion. "...about to... at such a critical mont... who gave him..."
’Great,’ she thought. ’Not a single useful word in the bunch.’
The receptionist whispered sothing else, and Longzhen fell silent.
After a few seconds, Longzhen let out a resigned sigh and spoke at a normal volu. "In any case, take her to get cleaned up. Fu Tailan just said he wants to question her, but he can’t see her like this... honestly. No wonder he insisted I bring soone so filthy."
’What’s going on? What does this have to do with ?’
Hearing only bits and pieces made Mai Mingle even more nervous. But she knew that even if she asked, no one would take her seriously, so for the ti being, she had no choice but to feign ignorance and follow the young receptionist.
A financial services and real estate managent company actually had a shower room.
The shower was a single-person unit, divided into two sections: an inner shower stall and an outer changing room.
Mai Mingle placed the bag on a chair in the changing room and pushed open the door to the shower stall. The next second, she staggered back half a step as if she’d been punched.
The overpowering stench of sodium hypochlorite disinfectant almost made her think she was back in a hospital. No, it was even stronger.
Standing in the shower stall, Mai Mingle understood.
She turned her head, as if she could see a blood-soaked Hunter walking in and turning on the shower. Sli, ichor, blood... all sorts of indescribable filth brought back from a Nest, gushing down the drain and back into the human world.
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