Chapter 727 - 440: The Magma Volcano That Triggers the Beast Tide

Chapter 727: Chapter 440: The Magma Volcano That Triggers the Beast Tide

It was getting late. Everyone had to open their shops for business the next day, so they couldn’t stay out too long. Feeling it was about time, they all decided to leave.

"We had a lot of fun today. Let’s get together again sometime..." the organizer of the gathering said with a cheerful laugh.

"Sounds good! Autumn is just around the corner, and business will be entering the slow season.

We’ll have more free time then, so we can meet up more often and swap trade secrets..." a cheerful, energetic girl replied. The others quickly voiced their agreement. 𝖋𝙧ⅇ

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, everyone went their separate ways.

An empty taxi approached from a distance and stopped in front of Su Yue and Wang Ling.

Su Yue reached out, opened the car door, and said to Wang Ling, "Get in!"

"*Hiccup!* You take it. I’ll wait for the next one," Wang Ling said.

She’d had several drinks tonight. While not exactly drunk, her cheeks were slightly flushed.

"Get in, silly. Don’t be so polite with me. Besides, you live farther away!" Su Yue said with a smile, then gently pushed the still-hiccuping Wang Ling into the taxi.

"Alright, I’m heading off then!" Pushed into the taxi by Su Yue, Wang Ling rolled down the window to speak to her friend.

"Mhm." Su Yue nodded with a smile. She watched as Wang Ling gave the driver her address, then saw the taxi off as it drove away.

Only when the taxi carrying Wang Ling had disappeared at the end of the street did Su Yue look away.

It was already past nine-thirty at night. The temperature had dropped considerably, and a gentle breeze swept through the street, making the strands of hair by Su Yue’s ear flutter back.

She lifted her slender, fair right hand and tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ear. After neatening it, she reached into her purse for her phone.

Su Yue took out her phone. Just as she was about to call Lin Li and ask where he was, a flashy sports car pulled up in front of her.

The window slid down slowly, revealing a handsome man looking at Su Yue in feigned surprise. His voice was filled with a mix of shock and delight.

"Su Yue, what a coincidence! Fancy running into you here."

Just as she was about to call Lin Li, Su Yue heard a somewhat familiar voice. She looked up. "Zhang Xiaohao."

"Are you out shopping?" Zhang Xiaohao asked. He knew perfectly well that Su Yue had gone into the pub behind them with a group of people, obviously for a get-together, but he feigned ignorance.

"No, I was with a friend at a get-together. It just ended, and I’m heading home now," Su Yue explained casually.

"You’re heading home? Perfect, it’s on my way. Let me give you a ride!" Zhang Xiaohao offered eagerly.

Su Yue shook her head, declining his offer. "Thanks, but my friend is already on their way to pick me up. You can go ahead."

Zhang Xiaohao fell silent. He’d just come from a dinner with his own friends at a hotel and had even turned down their plans for after-dinner entertainment.

He’d been waiting here, staking out the place where Su Yue’s party was, for quite some time. After all that waiting, this was the response he got? The smile on his face instantly froze.

An image of a young man immediately surfaced in Zhang Xiaohao’s mind.

’The friend Su Yue mentioned... it can’t be that loser Lin Li again, can it?’

Just as Zhang Xiaohao was about to press his case, the phone in Su Yue’s hand suddenly rang.

RING RING RING...

Su Yue glanced down at her phone, and a radiant, captivating smile blossomed on her pretty face.

When Zhang Xiaohao saw a smile on Su Yue’s face that she had never once shown him, his heart sank. He had a feeling his guess from a moment ago was right.

"Lin Li, where are you?" Su Yue asked after answering the call. The moment she said Lin Li’s name, Zhang Xiaohao’s expression, sitting inside his flashy sports car, turned frighteningly grim.

Driving his silver-white van, Lin Li listened to the sweet, melodious voice on the phone. He looked at the beautiful figure on the sidewalk answering her call and said, "I’m here. Look to your left."

Su Yue turned her head and immediately spotted a familiar silver-white van in the distance, heading her way.

SCREECH.

Lin Li parked his van behind the flashy sports car. He watched Su Yue say something to the driver of the luxury car before she turned and walked toward him.

CLICK.

She opened the door and got in, and a familiar, faint fragrance greeted him.

"You didn’t drink much tonight. That’s a rare sight..." Lin Li said with a smile, watching as Su Yue settled into the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt.

"The way you say that makes me sound like an alcoholic..." Su Yue, her seatbelt now fastened, turned and shot Lin Li a glare.

"Well, who’s the one who’s gotten drunk so many times?" Lin Li retorted. He started the van and drove away from the lively bar street.

Inside the flashy sports car, Zhang Xiaohao sat in the driver’s seat, his expression grim as he watched the plain, tacky silver-white van drive away.

"Damn it..."

After a long silence, he angrily raised his right fist and slammed it against the steering wheel.

This was the second time. The second time he’d watched Su Yue get picked up by that disgusting, worthless loser. A sense of humiliating fury welled up inside him.

...

WHOOSH...

The window was down, and wind poured into the van, whipping Su Yue’s silky hair about wildly.

"You should tie your hair back up!" Lin Li said, glancing over at Su Yue, who had just let her hair down.

"I know, I know!" Su Yue answered with a giggle. She gathered her scattered hair and tied it back up.

"Did you have fun at the get-together tonight?" Lin Li asked, looking at Su Yue now that her hair was tied up.

"It was nice. I heard a lot of interesting little stories," Su Yue said, her smile as radiant as a blooming flower as she recalled the anecdotes shared by the other small flower shop owners at the party.

The two of them chatted and laughed, and before they knew it, the van had arrived at the entrance to the Happiness Garden District.

"Well, I’m heading in. Drive safe..." Su Yue said as she grabbed her purse, opened the door, and got out.

"Oh, right! I forgot to tell you. Those pastries you gave me this morning? I brought them to the office and shared them with my colleagues. Everyone couldn’t stop raving about them."

Lin Li smiled and nodded. He started the van again and drove off toward home.

’The Mid-Autumn Festival is almost here. Maybe I should try making some mooncakes myself!’ Su Yue muttered to herself as she watched Lin Li drive away.

An image involuntarily popped into her mind: she, giving Lin Li mooncakes she had made with her own hands, and him, full of praise after tasting them. A happy smile graced her pretty face.

Only when Lin Li’s van had disappeared around the corner did Su Yue look away. She walked into the residential complex, her mind already occupied with thoughts of making mooncakes.

...

The dim yellow streetlights on both sides of the road merged into a continuous glow. Occasionally, young couples would stroll along the sidewalk, arms linked and huddled close, whispering to each other as they walked.

Having just made a trip to the supermarket to buy several cases of bottled water, Lin Li turned the corner in his van.

’It’s so late, why aren’t they home? What are they even doing wandering around out here?’ he muttered under his breath, glancing at a lovey-dovey couple on the side of the road.

Then, he lightly pressed the accelerator and sped past them.

It was almost ten o’clock, and this district, home to several residential complexes, was growing quiet.

Many residents had children who needed to wake up early for school the next day, so it was about time for lights to go out in those households.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, Zhu Daqi had a cigarette dangling from his lips, his eyes flicking to the phone in his hand from time to time.

’The target’s back.’

Watching the small red dot representing the target move steadily across the tracking software on his phone—getting closer and closer—Zhu Daqi felt a flicker of nervousness.

...

PS: Thank you to "Yu Qing" for the 1,000-point reward.