The Crude Warrior

Before long, Lin Mo and the others came down the escalator.

“Sorry to keep you two waiting.” A faint curve tugged at the corners of Lin Mo’s lips.

Fang Jun immediately understood the teasing in Lin Mo’s expression.

If they hadn’t encountered anything unusual, Fang Jun, with his personality, would definitely have made a few sarcastic remarks.

But now, he didn’t dare.

Lin Mo’s expression was calm as he casually said, “There’s really nothing special about this place. There’s no need to come here again.”

That single sentence was a direct reminder to the three of them.

An Yuexin nodded like a chick pecking at grain. “Yeah. Now that the truth has been uncovered, there’s really nothing interesting here. We might as well go wander around Tianjing Road instead.”

His obvious guilty conscience failed to attract Fang Jun’s attention.

Fang Jun and Luo Ruiyu nodded repeatedly as well. “There’s no reason to come back. Let’s go, let’s go.”

It was safe to say that Fang Jun and Luo Ruiyu’s fear and loathing of this place had reached their absolute limit.

However, they didn’t dare show it too clearly in front of the others.

They could only pretend to be unconcerned and quicken their pace toward the mall’s exit.

The three of them were thoroughly guided by their survival instincts.

Xie Yuling knew everything, of course, but she remained silent and followed along with the others.

She had actually witnessed some of what happened just now.

A mass of black energy had enveloped Fang Jun and Luo Ruiyu.

It wasn’t ordinary smoke, but a conscious entity.

Like a living creature, it had coiled around them, spreading upward from their ankles, crawling along their spines, and finally sinking into the tops of their heads.

In Xie Yuling’s perception, the thing radiated a rotten, chilling aura, like resentment that had accumulated over a very long time.

Then the two of them had walked into the elevator of their own accord.

Everything had appeared normal, but within Xie Yuling’s spiritual sense, the two of them had been corrupted by the black energy.

At the time, she had instinctively looked toward Lin Mo. Lin Mo had looked back at her and nodded.

His gaze had contained an absolute sense of control, as though everything had been within his expectations.

The next moment, Lin Mo had made his move. Once the black energy was driven out, Fang Jun and the others had arrived on the first floor.

The entire process had taken only a brief moment.

As for what they had experienced in between, it had merely been an illusion on the level of the soul.

Although it was an illusion, the fear and despair it inspired had been completely real to those involved.

The impact endured by the soul would not be lessened simply because it had not happened in reality.

If they had been killed inside that illusion, then they would have truly died on the soul level.

That was why Fang Jun and Luo Ruiyu had seemed so obviously different after coming out.

After all, on the soul level, they had spent a long time running. That alone was a form of exhaustion.

Of course, it was only mental fatigue.

After leaving Lిలin Plaza, Lin Mo cast a Mind-Clearing Art on the three of them.

It was a Daoist technique he had borrowed from the Dragon-Tiger Daoist Temple. After all, he had learned it from his Invincible Cultivation System.

Its primary function was to dispel abnormal conditions.

Clearly, the hearts of the three were still wrapped in fear.

Lin Mo wasn’t in a hurry to comfort them aloud, though. The Mind-Clearing Art was enough to settle their emotions and prevent them from continuing to feel afraid because of what had happened.

With the support of the Daoist technique, Fang Jun and the other two quickly recovered.

Fang Jun was the first to liven up. He patted his cheeks as if trying to shake the lingering chill out of his bones.

An Yuexin habitually took several deep breaths, and his eyes gradually regained their clarity.

Although Luo Ruiyu’s face was still a little pale, her trembling hands had relaxed considerably.

The group then continued shopping and eating as if nothing had happened inside the mall.

Fang Jun even dragged An Yuexin over to the claw machines to compete. The two of them spent more than thirty yuan going back and forth, only to come away with a single Pikachu with a crooked mouth.

Luo Ruiyu pointed at the crooked-mouthed Pikachu Fang Jun had given her, laughing until her eyes curved into crescents.

At last, afternoon arrived, and everyone began preparing to head home.

Lin Mo looked at Chu Miaomiao and Xie Yuling and said directly, “Tonight, we’re going to Yunlu’s house for dinner.”

Although Xie Yuling and Chu Miaomiao were somewhat curious, they still nodded.

Chu Miaomiao didn’t particularly mind. She was happy enough to follow Lin Mo wherever he went.

Jiang Yunlu herself, however, was more than a little confused.

Wait, you’re coming to my house for dinner? How come I didn’t know about it?

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but when she saw Lin Mo’s completely matter-of-fact expression, she swallowed her words.

It wasn’t impossible, after all. Her house was spacious. A few extra pairs of chopsticks were no trouble.

Under Lin Mo’s arrangements, Chu Miaomiao’s bodyguards drove Fang Jun and the others home, while Lin Mo and the girls rode in Uncle Zhao’s car.

Uncle Zhao was the Jiang family’s longtime driver. He drove steadily and quietly, and never asked a single unnecessary question.

Once they got into the car, the three girls did not immediately ask what had happened.

The interior fell silent for a moment. The only sound was the faint hum of the heater vent.

Lin Mo took out his phone and sent separate messages to Fang Jun and An Yuexin.

“Don’t worry about what happened today. I’ll give each of you a protective talisman later. That way, you’ll be able to avoid running into anything supernatural.”

Less than ten seconds after the messages were sent, Fang Jun’s reply popped up. His words were full of relief at having survived a disaster.

“That’s great! Old Mo, how do you know about this stuff?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

Lin Mo brushed Fang Jun off without hesitation. After all, the more people knew, the easier it was for them to run into trouble.

For ordinary people, ignorance was sometimes a form of protection.

They only needed to know that Lin Mo could deal with such problems. There was no need for them to come into contact with anything deeper.

An Yuexin did not have nearly as many questions. He simply sent a thank-you along with a few stickers.

As for Luo Ruiyu, Fang Jun would tell her himself.

After Fang Jun handed his phone to Luo Ruiyu and let her read the messages, she finally breathed a sigh of relief as well.

Although the fear in her heart had diminished, memories could not simply be erased.

Unable to stop herself, Luo Ruiyu reached out and took Fang Jun’s hand.

Fang Jun did not pull away. The two sat in the back seat with their hands clasped tightly together.

With his other hand, Fang Jun gently patted the back of Luo Ruiyu’s hand, soothing her emotions.

If one had to describe it, they looked like two small beasts licking each other’s wounds.

Unfortunately, An Yuexin, sitting in the passenger seat, saw none of this.

He was wearing earphones, listening to music with his head resting against the car window as he watched the cityscape slide past outside. He had no idea that the two people in the back were holding hands and comforting each other.

Meanwhile, Lin Mo put away his phone and let out a soft breath.

“What do you think? Should I make them forget what happened at the mall today?”

The question left the car silent for a brief moment.

Jiang Yunlu still looked completely bewildered.

“Huh? What happened? Did something happen at all?”

She looked from one person to another, her face filled with confusion, as if asking what she had missed.

Xie Yuling glanced at Jiang Yunlu.

From Xie Yuling’s eyes, Jiang Yunlu could clearly read a single sentence:

What an uncultured brute!

Earlier today, I went out to eat with some friends. One of their cars was doored in the parking lot while we happened to be sitting inside and chatting. We called the police on the spot, then went to the police station afterward to collect the incident report receipt.

Actually, this was my first time visiting a police station. I wasn’t nervous, exactly—I’d just never been inside one before. All those police-station scenes I’d written in the past were based purely on years of watching movies and TV dramas, along with my own imagination.

As it turned out, what I saw today was completely different from what I’d imagined.

Next time I come across a scene like that, I’ll know how to write it.