SES Chapter 138 Part 1

Chapter 138

After another two days of waiting, it wasn’t just Mu Dai—everyone had started to worry.

Cao Yanhua seemed to have vanished. Even if his family had locked him up, he could’ve at least found a way to send a message through them to keep his friends from worrying.

Yi Wansan couldn’t help thinking the worst. “In the fourth water image,” he said, “there was a wedding procession. And isn’t Cao Yanhua’s cousin getting married right now? What if the two things are connected?”

Mu Dai shook her head. “The time period doesn’t match. Those scenes with the dog—those must have happened at least a hundred years ago.”
But whether it matched or not, their trip to Caojiatun now felt inevitable.

They agreed to leave the next day. Yan Hongsha still had unfinished business to handle, but promised to wrap things up quickly and head to Chongqing as soon as possible.

That night, Mu Dai packed her bags and told Huo Zihong she was going away for a few days.
“For another one of those mysterious, unexplainable things?” Huo Zihong asked.

When the fishing-line puppet murder happened, Huo Zihong had known there was something strange behind it, but she’d never pressed. Whenever it came up, she’d just call it “one of your weird cases.”

Mu Dai actually appreciated that—Huo Zihong had that rare kind of “wise ignorance,” the sort that understood more than it let on.

Yi Wansan, meanwhile, went to tell Uncle Zhang. He was ready to be yelled at, but Uncle Zhang didn’t even look up.
“Oh. Got it,” he said flatly.

Yi Wansan figured Uncle Zhang had simply given up on him.

Before bed, Mu Dai got a call from Luo Ren. He went over their departure time, reminded her of a few things to pack—everything sounded normal, smooth.

The surprise came the next morning. As she and Yi Wansan got into Luo Ren’s car at dawn, carrying their luggage, Luo Ren said quietly,
“I’ll take you to the airport.”

Yi Wansan blinked. “Wait, what? We’re flying now?”

“No,” Luo Ren said, “I’ve got an urgent matter to deal with. I can’t go with you, so I bought you both plane tickets.”

For a moment, the car went silent.

Then Mu Dai said softly, “That’s fine. You go handle what you need to. Once things settle down, you can meet us there.”

They said little else on the way. Luo Ren dropped them off at the departure terminal, but didn’t get out—just watched them walk inside.

After a few steps, Mu Dai turned back. Luo Ren leaned slightly toward the window and rolled it down.

She stood framed by the car window, like she was on a TV screen.
“Whatever you’re going to do, be careful,” she said. “A few days ago, I dreamed something bad about you—you fell, like off a ledge. Wherever you go, just… watch your step.”

Luo Ren smiled faintly. “You didn’t even ask me what I’m busy with.”

Mu Dai smiled back. “You wouldn’t tell me anyway.”

Then she turned and left, catching up with Yi Wansan, who muttered, “What’s Luo Ren’s big emergency?”

“I don’t know.”

Yi Wansan gawked. “You don’t know?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“And you didn’t ask?”

“Everyone has their own things to take care of. If he doesn’t want to say, why should I force him?”

Yi Wansan sucked in a breath. “That’s not just anyone—that’s your boyfriend!”
Then, muttering under his breath, “Are you two even actually dating?”

Mu Dai tilted her head. “Do we look like we are?”

Yi Wansan hesitated. “You want the truth?”

He thought for a moment. Relationships, he figured, depended on what people wanted out of them. A man and a woman could hold hands, kiss, look every bit like a couple—but only they knew whether they were walking through clouds or wading through mud.

“Look, Boss Lady, I’m not gonna lie—I’ve had more girlfriends than I can count.”

Through the glass of the terminal, blue sky and drifting clouds reflected faintly, a plane lifting off as another descended.

Mu Dai asked, “And you fell in love every time?”

Yi Wansan shrugged. “Of course not.”

“Sometimes it’s loneliness. Sometimes it’s ego. Sometimes a buddy says, ‘Hey, this girl wants to meet you,’ and she’s cute, so you give it a shot. You go out for a day, it feels nice, so you go out again. Do that long enough, and one day it’s a lifetime.”

Mu Dai laughed.

Then Yi Wansan sighed. “But once… once it was real. That one was different.”

She remembered him mentioning something like that before—a girl he’d met on the road. She’d gone back home, met someone new, got married, and had kids.

“Can you imagine?” he said quietly. “Sometimes I still sneak onto her profile just to look. Every time I do, my heart still races.”

Mu Dai didn’t reply. She just turned her head slightly to study his face.

Funny, she thought. She’d hated him at first—found him loud, obnoxious, impossible to stand—but now they could sit together like this, talking about things that actually mattered.

“So,” Yi Wansan said, “about Luo Ren—how do I put it… he’s got this calm control over you.”

He thought for a moment. “Like, it didn’t take much for him to win you over. Has he ever been nervous around you? Blushed? Lost sleep over you?”

Mu Dai smiled. “You’re talking about me, aren’t you?”
Then she sighed. “Honestly, I can’t picture Luo Ren blushing or getting flustered.”

“Exactly,” Yi Wansan said. “That’s why I was worried for you. Usually, the person being ‘handled so easily’ ends up caring more. And the one who cares more…” He didn’t finish. “Well, they’re the ones who get hurt.”

“So how would you describe us now?” she asked.

He thought. “Drifting.”

“Drifting?”

“Yeah. Everything looks fine—peaceful even. You two don’t fight. But something’s… off. Like it’s all floating just above the ground, not quite touching reality.”