115: Has Chapter 115 been "whitewashed"?

"So, he just let you go like that? And hid himself inside the tombstone?"

In a private room at the Come Back Next Time tavern, Tuaner was eating fries while asking Mia for every detail of her experience in the [Nightmare Cathedral].

"It sounds like a yandere CEO from a cheesy romance novel..." Luo Xiaoya, a girl who had just come of age, remarked while biting on her straw—she was drinking a non-alcoholic mojito that her sister, Loran, had ordered for her.

"Why do I feel like you didn't gain anything? Just the title of owner of the [Nightmare Cathedral]? Everything else is the same? Uh, right, it's not completely without gain, at least you won't be targeted anymore. No more beatings after every dungeon." Ryan spoke before he had even swallowed the fried chicken in his mouth, eager to voice his opinion.

"Alright, when we get back to the real world, I'll contact my colleagues at the university. There are a few authoritative professors in psychology; I'll make an appointment for Mia to receive some intervention..." Loran was already busy arranging Mia's schedule.

"Stop!" Tuaner hurriedly blocked her, "My Mia's face will cause medical malpractice—men will fall for her, women will get depressed, and in the end, the doctors will all need to register for psychiatry." (Just kidding, if she's cured, how am I supposed to romance "Milky Blade"?)

"So, the Original Owner, uh no, Luo Yu, right? He was forcibly "whitewashed" by Tuaner?" Ryan asked, a bit hesitant. He glanced sideways at Loran and Luo Xiaoya, muttering to himself, "Are people with the surname Luo really that common?"

"Actually, apart from the times he tortured Sister Mia where we couldn't see, everything he did seemed to be beneficial to us. Plus, hearing you talk about this "torture," it sounds like Sister Mia requested it subconsciously..." Luo Xiaoya whispered in defense.

"You're all wrong." She drained her Long Island Iced Tea in one gulp, "He wasn't whitewashed..." Sunlight cut diagonally across her eyelashes, casting pale golden spots onto her slightly flushed cheeks. Mia hesitated, wanting to say more but stopping herself.

Ryan bit on his straw, making a loud "hiss" sound; his cola was already at the bottom of the glass. "If you ask me, this whole thing is spooky. That Luo Yu clearly tortured you for so long, yet in the end, he acted like..." He drew a circle in the air with his thick finger, "Like a guardian angel."

"That's the problem." Mia's voice suddenly deepened. Her fingers unconsciously brushed the inside of her left wrist, where there used to be a scar so faint it was almost invisible—a mark left by shackles when she was tricked into having her decisiveness and ruthlessness drained away. Now, this mark was disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye, like footprints on a beach being smoothed out by waves during an outgoing tide.

Tuaner suddenly grabbed her slender fingers, her warm palm pressing against Mia's cold skin. She was surprised to find that Mia's body temperature was no longer much lower than a normal person's as it had been before, but instead carried a reassuring warmth. "Your hand..."

"I know." Mia gently pulled her hand back; the psychological trauma caused by Luo Yu was slowly healing. "Or rather... it's that I've finally dared to face myself." The corners of her mouth lifted in a very faint arc, "Luo Yu is the part of myself that I refused to accept."

Loran keenly sensed this change and pushed up her glasses: "So what is your current state with him... sharing a soul or sharing a body?"

"Why not share a bike while you're at it!" Tuaner retorted crossly, "Mia is for me to enjoy alone!"

"It's more like a puzzle finally finding its last piece." Mia looked out the window. The electronic screen of the Paradise Lost auction house was scrolling through today's auction items: [Skill: Hazy Moonlit Night], starting bid 12,000 points, flashing as it passed by. Their loot was rapidly being converted into new combat power.

"I have a question." Luo Xiaoya suddenly leaned closer to Mia, her long hair draping over the rim of the iced tea glass, "If Luo Yu is the self you refuse to accept... and now he's in the tombstone, aren't you..."

"He will always be there," Mia said softly, her fingertips gently tracing the patterns on the glass, "Just like light and shadow forever coexist on a stained-glass window. When we need it..." She looked up, sunlight refracting mysterious ripples in her heterochromatic eyes, "You will see a complete me."

"My business is done. Sister Loran, what do you think about Luo Xiaoya's class change?" Mia shifted the topic, turning her body toward Loran to ask about the serious matter.

"I still don't really agree with you taking risks with your own body. This item looks very spooky." Loran replied with a frown.

Tuaner even felt that Loran doted on Mia more than her own daughter. This strange world, this young lady still doesn't quite understand it. (The survival maintenance system might understand, but it wouldn't tell you, Jiang—Tuan—er.)

"［Witch's Grudge］ and ［Missing the Deceased Wife］ should be two linked items. If we're lucky, we should be able to resolve them both at once. If we're unlucky, we might have to make two trips." Mia still insisted on her own view.

"Also, we might need to participate in the "Fatal Frame" series of dungeons later, because the camera film can't be bought at the Paradise Lost auction house or the trading center." Ryan interjected, but before he could finish, he was glared back by Tuaner.

"Is that the legendary "Fatal Frame" series where 'I can always overcome either being lecherous or being cowardly'?" Luo Xiaoya asked with a look of anticipation, "I remember the heroines in that series were all super cute, but if Sister Mia goes, her looks should be able to crush them."

"I heard that the person who said they could overcome one of them ended up quitting being "cowardly" and insisted on clearing the work, and then..."

"And then what happened?" Luo Xiaoya pressed.

"Then he went to the hospital for seven days of nutrient injections. It's not appropriate for children to ask about these things." Ryan waved his large hand to end the topic.

No one noticed that Mia had already picked up the two items: ［Witch's Grudge］ and ［Missing the Deceased Wife］.

［Detected two special items belonging to the same story scenario—Visit of the Mountain Shrine Maiden］

［Activate this special scenario? Limit of 1 person.］

"Yes!!"

The starlight dissipated, and Tuaner, grabbing for Mia's hand, only managed to catch a little bit of stardust. She stomped her feet in anger.

Firing Pin brought the drinks to their table, set them down one by one, and comforted Tuaner, "You're so useless, if you went, you'd just be holding her back..." Tuaner became even angrier.

Ryan's eyes widened, finally understanding why every time they came here, Firing Pin was the victim—either being extorted or on the way to being extorted. This true, steel-straight man was truly something else.