Chapter Nine: He Is Not Lu Mingfei!

On the other side of the screen, Lu Mingfei was chatting with Chen Wenwen while simultaneously messaging Nono. If he were still that simple, kind-hearted puppy from before, he would likely have been wiggling with excitement just from exchanging a few words with his goddess.

And it was Chen Wenwen who had initiated the conversation.

"Mingfei, how did your interview go?"

"I passed. I just went to the Regent Hotel this morning to sign a bunch of agreements."

"That’s great. Zhao Menghua and the others haven't received any notifications, so I guess they’re out of luck. It’s just a pity that you’re going to school so far away; it’ll be hard for us friends to see each other after this."

"You could always come to the U.S. alone to find me. I’ll cover all the expenses."

"..."

In a foreign land, a lone man and a woman—how could Chen Wenwen not understand the implication? She didn't know how the sensitive boy who once loved to hover around her had turned into this, so she could only respond with silence.

Lu Mingfei never expected Chen Wenwen to actually have a lapse in judgment and agree to such a thing; he just enjoyed making wicked jokes to satisfy himself. Even if his life was finally showing signs of promise, it was already too late. In her heart, Chen Wenwen had likely already been molded into the shape of Zhao Menghua.

Literary young women might not care much about money or material things, but they certainly care about the attractive appearance, confident demeanor, and better upbringing that wealth and status bring.

Among the mythological magics Lu Mingfei had mastered, there were those meant for hypnotizing humans. At full power, he was even more potent than a protagonist using a hypnosis app in a hentai. If he wanted to sail against the wind and steal Chen Wenwen away from Zhao Menghua, it wouldn't be impossible.

It just wouldn't have any meaning.

Seeing that Chen Wenwen had gone silent, Lu Mingfei closed the chat window and continued searching on his browser. This city always gave him a faint sense of confinement. He didn't know where this feeling originated, so he could only try his luck to see if he could find any useful information online.

Actually, a better place to look would be the city library, which held older and more authentic records. But taking the bus there would take too long, and Lu Mingfei couldn't be bothered with the effort. He was leaving soon and wasn't certain he’d ever come back.

Even if some mythical creature were truly slumbering here, so what? He’d already planned to "run" to the United States. If that didn't work, he could "run" to Saturn; if that failed, he’d just "run" right out of the solar system.

Running—everything was negotiable as long as he could run.

As long as he kept Nono tied to his side and avoided a head-on collision with those Great Old Ones, surely there would be a place for him in the vastness of the universe?

As it turned out, he actually found something interesting.

"Heavy rainfall, Typhoon 'Dandelion,' a Maybach and its driver went missing on the highway?"

How could a typhoon of that magnitude possibly move a Maybach? It would be strange if there weren't something supernatural behind it.

Disappearing into thin air—was it transported to another dimension, or something akin to a Domain?

There was too little information. Even as a veteran of such matters, Lu Mingfei couldn't judge anything. He could only conclude that he needed to be more vigilant when it rained.

He closed the news interface just as Chen Wenwen sent another message:

"Lu Mingfei, tomorrow is the final gathering of the Literature Club before graduation. We’ve booked a theater to watch a movie. Are you coming?"

***

"Sure, I'll go."

"Then let's go a bit early tomorrow afternoon to buy the tickets."

"OK."

With that, Chen Wenwen's avatar turned gray; she had gone offline.

The corner of Lu Mingfei's mouth curled up, his mood noticeably improved. He had almost forgotten about those bastards from high school. If he had just left for the U.S. like that, he wouldn't have been able to sleep at night thinking about them.

***

The next day, Lu Mingfei woke up early, but Nono was up even earlier. As he opened his hotel room door, he saw the bright, stunning, long-legged beauty standing there with her arms crossed.

She was wearing the same tank top and slim-fit jeans from yesterday, but had switched into a red baseball jacket and sneakers, which accentuated her tall, slender figure.

She was quite considerate, knowing not to disturb someone's sleep early in the morning.

Lu Mingfei felt his mood improve because of it, so he offered a well-meaning reminder:

"It’s best to rest quietly for a few days after suffering a mental shock, to avoid developing any neurological issues."

The fact that she had fainted yesterday would likely become a dark chapter in her history. Nono’s mouth twitched:

"Thanks for the concern. Professor Guderian and Ye Sheng were suddenly called away for other missions. Once I’ve seen you safely enrolled, I’ll have plenty of time to rest."

That was a lie.

Although Guderian, Ye Sheng, and Jiu De Yaki had indeed left for a mission, if it wasn't for her own interest, why would a spirited "Red-Haired Witch" like her be willing to babysit a kid early in the morning?

"I have a class reunion today. It wouldn't be very appropriate for you to tag along, would it?"

"Isn't your appointment in the afternoon?"

"…Don't keep peeking at my chats with others."

Lu Mingfei was willing to share knowledge, but that didn't mean he was willing to share his privacy. He had already decided that the next time he chatted with someone, he would lace the messages with something extra. With Nono’s high sensitivity, he didn't doubt she would eventually notice.

In the end, Nono went out with Lu Mingfei anyway. She watched as he wandered around like a street urchin, eventually buying a pile of inexplicable items.

Nono complained:

"Seriously? Yellow paper, cinnabar, salt, clay pots? Are you planning to perform an exorcism?"

Lu Mingfei turned to look at her and handed her the heavier bag:

"Yeah, I’m worried they won't have this stuff in the States. I had some spare cash, so I bought extra to ship over. I don't have enough time to go back to the hotel, so you’ll have to watch them for me while I attend my reunion."

***

Nono was a good sport, taking one of the bags:

"Making a great beauty like me carry your bags—you’ve got some nerve. You’re buying me ice cream!"

Lu Mingfei didn't refuse. The two of them walked along, each holding an ice cream, looking surprisingly harmonious.

"Lu Mingfei? You got here so early?"

A soft voice, one that would have made the old Lu Mingfei’s soul linger in fascination, came from behind him. Nono, with her sharper senses, had already spotted Chen Wenwen.

She merely acted as if nothing were amiss, watching Lu Mingfei and intending to rely on her old techniques to make a judgment. If using "Profiling" didn't risk making her faint again, she would have activated it long ago.

Lu Mingfei raised an eyebrow and cut straight to the point:

"Wenwen? Let's go, let's buy the tickets."

Chen Wenwen was wearing her favorite white cotton dress, white lace ankle socks, and small leather shoes. Combined with her shoulder-length, soft hair, delicate features, and slim frame, she had a very refined temperament.

She looked at the red-haired Nono and asked in a soft, thin voice:

"And who is this?"

Nono, with her slender waist and long legs, combined with her aggressive, full-glam makeup, projected the aura of a little queen that overshadowed the literary girl.

Suddenly, she did something Lu Mingfei hadn't expected. She draped her free arm over Lu Mingfei’s shoulder, her eyes shimmering with a flirtatious charm:

"You must be Wenwen. You can call me Nono, Mingming’s girlfriend."

Her expression remained relaxed, but her heart had already tightened; she was struggling to observe every flicker of expression on Lu Mingfei’s face while pretending to be indifferent.

Lu Mingfei raised an eyebrow. Not only was he not flustered, but he also leaned back playfully against Nono’s soft body.

A massive shock exploded in the depths of Nono’s heart.

No!

He is not Lu Mingfei!

And the bigger shock was yet to come.

Lu Mingfei glanced at the feigning-calm Nono with a strange look in his eyes:

"Are we that close? You’re already defining who I am?"