Chapter 34: Four-Way Grand Stage, Come If You Have Love (Not)
Before starting to read the update, Li Li had already guessed that she would appear in this chapter.
She still remembered when “Li” first appeared, the mangaka deliberately edited it to portray “Li” as a cold-faced cool guy.
This time, with “Li Baige” making an appearance, how would the mangaka handle the scene where she met Yiming?
In the previous chapter of the manga, Yiming and his group were threatened by bounty hunters.
While evading pursuit, the younger twin and Tang got separated from the three boys, and soon after, the older twin also got separated from Yiming’s group.
So, when Li Li ran into Yiming, only Yu Xiao was by his side.
Li Li climbed out of bed to pour herself a glass of water, moistening her throat while greeting her roommate: “Not sleeping yet?”
Her roommate’s head was practically buried in the computer: “Waiting to finish this PPT!”
“Keep it up, treasure.” Speaking of which, she also had a paper to grind out recently.
Leisurely vacation time was always fleeting.
After midterms, a flood of busy coursework followed.
Li Li’s major was mathematics, with a steady stream of problem sets, papers, and presentations.
Talking about assignments was always a headache. Li Li thought for a moment: “The haunted house tickets are for tomorrow, right?”
After seeing that disguised “Li” in the manga world, she felt she would soon formally meet An Heyu, An Huyu’s older brother.
She had already learned from Yue Qing how the nobles came to know of “Heige’s” identity.
It wasn’t leaked by the Former Ability Guild but came from An Heyu’s ability, which allowed him to learn of “Heige’s” existence through the dead.
In that SSS-rank bounty dossier, “Heige” was only a name and an illusionist identity—no photo, no other personal information.
It was as if they were a ghost that appeared out of nowhere.
But when she decided to use the “Heige” identity, all those meant to die were already dead.
So, if the dead could reveal the name “Heige,” did that mean spirits could still witness events after death?
Otherwise, there was no explaining how An Heyu knew the name “Heige.”
The moment Li Li considered this possibility, she felt the air grow colder, a chill creeping up her spine.
Could there really have been a ghost watching her back then?
To reiterate, she was genuinely afraid of ghosts.
Because of this, after seeing the fake “Li,” she noticed a contradiction.
The nobles didn’t seem to think “Li” and “Heige” were the same person; otherwise, they would have included that information in the bounty.
What exactly had An Heyu seen, and how much was he hiding?
He would come for her, Li Li thought.
So, she really needed to steel herself before meeting An Heyu, or she’d feel like invisible spirits were hovering around him.
“It’s tomorrow, after 3 p.m. We’ll head over right after class,” her roommate said, not lifting her head from the computer, staring intently at the PPT slides.
“Got it. I’m heading up. Don’t stay up too late.” Li Li set down her glass, said goodnight to her roommate, and climbed into bed.
Then she opened her phone to read the manga.
This time, the manga’s color page featured the twin siblings, along with updated profiles for both.
The older twin was named Youyou, and the younger was Momo. They were typical commoners.
In the color page, Youyou and Momo held hands, both wearing white round-collared long shirts that reached their knees.
Youyou smiled at the camera, while Momo did the same, though her eyes were squinted into curved lines.
Because Momo couldn’t see—she was blind.
---
They all had gray hair, and Youyou’s eyes were round, brown orbs.
Their abilities had already been revealed in the manga during their confrontation with the bounty hunters.
Youyou was a mimicry-type, capable of enhancing himself, while Momo was special. Also a mimicry-type, her ability was called [Puppet].
She could control living beings marked by her, as if threads from her hands were connected to the joints of a puppet.
When Momo used her ability to help others, the bounty hunters learned of it and completely fixated on the girl.
Li Li flipped open the manga, where the story began with Yiming and Yu Xiao teaming up to deal with the bounty hunters.
They lured the three bounty hunters chasing them into an alley.
Yu Xiao’s ability sealed the exit, and Yiming pulled out his own hair to use as blades.
In the extremely confined space, the bounty hunters couldn’t dodge and were ultimately defeated by Yiming and Yu Xiao.
[How long has it been since we saw Flipping Fish actually do something? I’m so touched!]
[Shedding Corgi, how much fur did Little Corgi lose today?]
[I counted, one hundred thirty-two strands.]
[Is Yiming doomed to go bald?]
[I got bald, but I got stronger (Little Corgi version).]
Li Li turned the page, thinking to herself that a shonen manga wouldn’t really let the protagonist go bald.
At worst, there were wigs.
If he truly went bald, the ability world had plenty of healing methods.
Tang’s healing might save Yiming’s scalp follicles.
If it came to it, she’d help him manifest a head of real hair from illusion.
After that, the two boys went back to look for the others.
The previous day, the twins had taken them around Four-Way City, so they figured the twins would wait at a place they all knew.
The scene then shifted to Tang and Momo’s perspective.
Li Li looked at Tang in the panel.
The little girl was tougher than when they first met, no longer showing the fragility from when Li Li had made her cry.
It was Tang who led Momo to escape first, shaking off the bounty hunters’ pursuit.
Momo followed Tang the whole time, unable to see the path clearly.
The bounty hunters had gone after Yiming and the others.
After Tang confirmed this, she led Momo to the place they’d all visited the previous day—the plaza at night.
Because when they passed through the plaza yesterday, Momo had said the white doves there were beautiful, flying around every day but always returning.
Tang believed Yiming would recall that comment.
“They weren’t there at night,” Li Li sighed lightly, already knowing the outcome.
Something had definitely happened afterward.
She flipped forward, and sure enough, on the next page, a man in a coat with a somewhat disheveled sweater underneath walked past the two girls crouching at the edge of the plaza.
Tang, who had her head lowered, suddenly looked up.
She saw the man’s stubble, blinked her large, cat-like eyes, and said: “The uncle from next door!”
In the next panel, the man stopped and turned his head.
He walked over, carefully examining Tang’s face, then pushed up his black-framed glasses: “Tang Zeng’s daughter?”
[Running into an acquaintance around the corner, Four-Way City is so small.]
[Known: Four-Way City has Yiming, Heige, Tang, and now Tang’s childhood next-door uncle.]
[Who is Tang’s dad, anyway? I’m getting more curious.]
Li Li recalled that this “next-door uncle” in Tang’s words was probably the one who brought candy to kids.
She hadn’t expected they’d run into him in Four-Way City.
As expected, the next part of the story had this “next-door uncle” inviting Tang and Momo to his home to hang out and meet Tang’s childhood playmate.
He also revealed his name: “Little Tang was probably too young back then to remember my name. I’m called Yue Shan. Just call me Uncle Yue.”
The manga included pinyin to avoid ambiguity.
Li Li stared at the pinyin for a moment, then turned the page.
The scene shifted back to Yiming.
He and Yu Xiao had searched all day without finding Tang, Momo, or Youyou.
They had already checked the plaza, but at night, they returned because Yiming felt it was the most likely place to run into them.
“Oh, right, today’s the Reunion Festival,” Yu Xiao said, looking at the Four-Way City citizens preparing for the celebration after arriving again.
“Reunion Festival?” Yiming lowered his head to calculate the date. “I forgot.”
In the next panel, he fell into a memory.
His foster father had celebrated this festival with him when he was young.
His foster father, Shuang Buyan’s face, as usual, showed only his mouth; the manga artist didn’t draw his eyes.
“At this time, families reunite and celebrate surviving another year successfully,” Shuang Buyan had said.
While he was lost in memory, the crowd grew larger, and Yiming accidentally got caught in the throng.
He couldn’t see Yu Xiao and struggled to push through the surging crowd.
When he finally broke free, he looked up.
The panel showed two figures in profile, their eyes meeting.
It was the day Li Li, under the identity of Li Baige, met Yiming.
In the manga artist’s depiction, the suddenly appearing youth had a cold expression, his eyes dark without a trace of light.
A pendant hung by his ear, and he wore the black hooded coat typical of bounty hunters, clean and sharp.
The youth’s aura was like a frigid polar iceberg or a still water surface undisturbed by the wind.
Li Li paused here, comparing the appearances of her three personas.
When playing “Li,” she used her own face.
A woman’s features were naturally softer and more delicate, but her sharp brows and eyes gave a cold, cool vibe.
When crafting “Heige,” she amplified that sharpness, erasing the softness, making him look more mature and fiercely intense.
For “Li Baige,” she toned down the sharpness, kept some softness, and adjusted it to look more masculine, like the extreme calm after a frenzy.
The appearances of the three identities were completely different.
She had deliberately altered the shapes and positions of her facial features when crafting them, and the treatment of her bangs varied as well.
In the manga, these were three entirely distinct individuals.
In Li Li’s view, ‘Li Baige’ and ‘Li’ bore no resemblance whatsoever.
The subsequent plot unfolded just as Li Li had experienced.
This time, the manga artist didn’t edit or conceal anything, perfectly replicating the events of that day.
Just when Li Li thought the manga artist had changed their ways and stopped stirring trouble, she turned to the next page.
Yiming saw An Huyu calling out ‘Baige’ and approaching Li Li, but the manga artist had changed ‘Baige’ to ‘Baige’ (Big Brother Bai).
Li Li: ...
Though she had chosen the name with a mischievous intent to take advantage, she hadn’t expected to gain this advantage in the manga world and then have it carry over outside the manga world.
By the time she finished reading this update and opened the forum, it was already around 12:40 a.m.
At this hour, readers were still active.
Li Li browsed for a bit.
Though she had only made a brief appearance, as expected, she found posts discussing her.
[Let’s discuss rationally: Who did Yiming think of when he saw this ‘Big Brother Bai’?]
Li Li: Sigh.
She predicted that for quite a while, she’d be called ‘Big Brother.’
Author’s Note:
Let’s discuss rationally.
From now on, updates will be at midnight! Little angels who can’t stay up can check in the morning!
Think about it—waking up to a new update, isn’t that great?
Heartfelt thanks to the subscribing little angels!
The comment section is full of delicious food and Heige x Li shipping, hehe.
Two more chapters added to the bonus updates. I’ll try for a double update tomorrow and do my best!