The walls, doors, and windows of the villa were overgrown with thick vines, blocking out the sunlight and leaving the interior in deep twilight.
Since the electricity and water had been cut off, Shen Xiao and Lu Qingyue were forced to use flashlights.
However, something was strange.
While the outside looked like a total mess, the inside was remarkably clean.
There wasn't an inch of dust as Shen Xiao had expected.
The living room furniture looked polished, as if it had just been cleaned yesterday.
"Does the bank clean this place regularly?" Shen Xiao asked.
Lu Qingyue shook her head quickly.
"No. After it was seized six months ago, they only cleaned it once. After the strange incidents began, they were too terrified to come back."
Six months without dust?
And the six previous teams must have ransacked this place.
It was impossible for everything to end up this spotless.
"Don't wander away from me. Stay within a five-meter radius," Shen Xiao ordered as he began inspecting the first floor.
Everything seemed normal, the kitchen, dining room, bathroom, all were sparkling clean yet empty.
The only trace Shen Xiao found was a single strand of black hair in the corner of a bed. Not human hair, but animal fur.
"Qingyue."
"Ah!" Lu Qingyue jolted in surprise, her flashlight swaying wildly.
"Sorry... I'm a bit tense."
Seeing Qingyue's anxiety, Shen Xiao tried to lighten the mood.
He gripped her left arm, a small gesture that, for some reason, instantly made the girl feel much calmer.
"This second floor is quite nice," Shen Xiao remarked as they headed upstairs.
"Two bedrooms, a study, and a balcony. When I retire, I'd want a mountain villa like this. Qingyue, where do you want to live in the future?"
The question gave Qingyue pause.
She had never thought about a beautiful future.
"I... I don't know. To me, it doesn't matter where I live, as long as I'm with my family."
"Family, huh? How many people are in your family?"
"I have a younger brother. He just turned 12. Unlike me, he's very smart and always tops his class. He's very mature for his age, sometimes he's the one who comforts me when I feel like a failure as an older sister," Qingyue shared.
Qingyue's face softened as she spoke about her brother.
Shen Xiao listened in silence, he now began to understand why, in his previous life, under that specific name, she had become so ruthless after her brother's death.
That little brother was the only light in Qingyue's dark life since her father passed away two years ago, leaving behind massive business debts.
"Sorry... I ended up rambling on," Qingyue said shyly after realizing they had finished checking the second floor.
"It's okay, I enjoy hearing it."
Ding!
[Gained Lu Qingyue's favorability, Fate Ticket +100]
They then climbed to the third floor, the final level.
Shen Xiao asked again, "Then, what is your own dream? Besides taking care of your brother? Marrying a rich, handsome man, perhaps?"
Qingyue shook her head weakly.
"My dream right now is just to see my brother through university and pay off the family debt. That would be enough."
"Is the debt that large? If you need to, don't hesitate to borrow from me. I have some savings."
"Thank you, Shen Xiao. But the bank already gave me a contract concession because I'm a practitioner. I'll pay it off in installments once I start working. This hole will surely be filled one day," Qingyue replied resiliently.
Shen Xiao nodded, but he had already made up his mind to settle that debt secretly later.
What's the point of having a system and thousands of tickets if I let my girl suffer every day over money?
As they reached the last room on the third floor, Shen Xiao stopped in front of the door.
He saw tiny fragments of dried ivy leaves on the floor.
Very few, almost invisible.
Strange.
If every other room was sparkling clean without dust, why was there leaf debris here?
It was as if something had recently entered or exited through this door not long ago.
"Is something wrong, Shen Xiao?" Qingyue asked when she saw Shen Xiao crouching near the door.
"This door seems to have been opened recently. Let's check the outdoor balcony."
...
The open balcony was quite spacious, a dozen people could hold a barbecue party here without feeling crowded.
From here, the view was expansive, stretching far toward the apartments down below. However, as he looked toward the backyard, Shen Xiao frowned.
There, near a man-made hill, stood two people who seemed to have absolutely no sense of mission responsibility.
Lu Zihao and Su Qiao appeared to be busy enjoying each other's company.
Do they even have a sense of duty?
Seeing their behavior, Shen Xiao briefly considered throwing a small fireball to set the leaves under their feet ablaze as a warning.
But he thought better of it, the dried leaves here were very thick, the whole house might burn down.
Shen Xiao felt displeased.
Slacking off during a mission was normal, but this was blatant dereliction of duty.
At the very least, if you're going to pretend, do it convincingly, like him.
At least he was accompanying Lu Qingyue, analyzing suspicious points.
He looked like he was working hard, even though he just wanted to stall for time.
He planned to stay the night here.
When else would he get the chance to sleep under the same roof as the Empress in a suspenseful atmosphere?
This was a golden moment to harvest lottery tickets.
The other reason was efficiency.
If he finished this mission in just one day after the previous mission was also completed so quickly, the Ability Association would definitely suspect him.
To "look normal," he had to stretch the mission time to three or four days to stay in line with other geniuses.
Having great power but having to hold back, having clue cards but not being allowed to use them immediately...
It's so hard for me, Shen Xiao thought as he picked up a dried leaf and stared at its veins with an intensely serious expression, as if he were researching an ancient artifact.
On the other hand, Lu Qingyue had searched the entire balcony but found nothing.
She felt incredibly incompetent.
If Shen Xiao hadn't pointed out the hair trace on the first floor or the leaf debris in front of the door, she would have missed it all.
She turned to Shen Xiao, who was still fixated on the leaf in his hand.
Qingyue's heart warmed.
'Shen Xiao is so meticulous... he even examines every fallen leaf with such care. Meanwhile, me? I'm truly careless.'
Qingyue felt she had to work harder.
How could she slack off while Shen Xiao was so dedicated to helping her?
Ding!
[Gained Lu Qingyue's favorability, Fate Ticket +100]
Shen Xiao: "?"
'What happened?'
'I didn't do anything, I'm just twirling this dried leaf because I'm sleepy, why did she give me a ticket?'
Qingyue continued searching, then she glanced at the yard below.
She saw Su Qiao and Lu Zihao... kissing!
"Shameless," Qingyue muttered, embarrassed for them.
She looked back at Shen Xiao, who was still "seriously" researching the leaf.
Shen Xiao is so good.
Without him, I definitely wouldn't be able to finish this evaluation.
He's sacrificed so much for me...
Ding!
[Gained Lu Qingyue's favorability, Fate Ticket +100]
Shen Xiao: "??"
'This was the second time in a few minutes.'
Shen Xiao started to panic.
'Did I do something wrong? Is she giving me tickets because she knows I'm slacking? Is this a 'sarcastic' ticket?'
He looked at Qingyue, who seemed deeply moved while staring at him.
Shen Xiao immediately tossed the leaf in his hand and began to put on an even more serious face.
He didn't want Qingyue to think he didn't care about her evaluation.
Ding!
[Gained Lu Qingyue's favorability, Fate Ticket +100]
Again?!
It looks like I really have to finish this mission today instead of feeling guilty constantly.
But if I finish today, the Association will be suspicious...
Sigh, Empress, please understand my position.
Shen Xiao finally decided to stop staring at leaves and started... thinking.
How to keep slacking off... but look very, very serious.