Chapter 70
Hearing Yan Huan call her "Shiyu sis," An Le froze for a mont and studied the tall girl standing beside the table. Shiyu sis?
A stunning older girl—except her expression sent a little chill down the spine.
On An Le's shoulder, Xiao Muzi flicked a glance at Ye Shiyu and muttered, "She looks familiar. Think I saw her in L502 this morning."
An Le was rely puzzled; Xiao Muzi was curious.
Yan Huan, however, felt his heart leap into his throat.
Thanks to Perfect Expression Managent, nothing showed on his face.
Keeping his composure, he offered Ye Shiyu a polite smile. "Shiyu sis, have you had lunch? If not, join us."
Ye Shiyu looked at him, silent for several seconds, then said, "...Fine."
"Welco!" A waiter erged carrying the curry pork-cutlet bowls Yan Huan and An Le had ordered. Spotting Ye Shiyu, he greeted her as well.
She slid into the seat beside Yan Huan. The fragrant rice and golden cutlet were set down; Ye Shiyu rely skimd the nu, scanned the table's QR code with her phone, and chose a random dessert. After placing the order she set the phone face-down and turned to An Le.
Before she could speak, Yan Huan—spoon stirring curry—jumped in. "Shiyu sis, this is An Le. We're in the sa year; I've known her since we were kids in South District."
"H-hello," An Le whispered, nodding shyly.
Yan Huan continued, "This is Ye Shiyu. She only moved to Linn recently—I usually call her Shiyu sis."
Noting An Le's confusion about their relationship, Yan Huan added a quick explanation: Ye Shiyu's mother Ye Lan had been his own mother's closest friend. An Le's eyes widened in understanding.
Ye Shiyu glanced at Yan Huan—so virtuously open—then at the blushing An Le. "...Hello."
"Ah, h-hello, Shiyu sis," An Le said, borrowing Yan Huan's form of address to show friendliness.
Buzz.
The mont the words left her lips, Ye Shiyu's gaze on An Le turned distinctly inhuman.
In her mind a scene unfolded: Yan Huan bringing his future wife to et the family.
"Shiyu sis, this is An Le. An Le, this is Ye Shiyu—my mom's best friend's daughter."
"Oh, Senior Ye, nice to et you."
"Still calling Senior? We'll be one family soon—call Shiyu sis."
Not... the worst? After all, being treated as family, as an older sister, proved how close he felt to her.
Yet the craving inside her—no, her truest thought—was whether she saw Xiao Huan as family... or as sothing that belonged solely to her.
If he were family, there should be distance. Even parents and children need space.
But they were already so close that the very idea of space terrified her.
Xiao Huan's kindness had simply been that of a relative—right?
He showed the sa warmth to friends, elders, childhood sweethearts... and to lovers.
Reason whispered that monopolizing every drop of his affection was wrong.
Desire whispered back: It's fine—you have the APP. Such thoughts are natural.
Expressionless, Ye Shiyu glanced at An Le and said softly, "Call Senior."
"Eh? O-okay, sorry, Senior Ye."
An Le gave an awkward laugh and buried her face in her food, pretending to be busy. Yan Huan shot Ye Shiyu a look and added, "Shiyu sis isn't great with people, but she's easy to get along with once you know her. No need to be so formal, An Le."
Heaven help him—he was now parroting exactly what Aunt Ye Lan used to say. Aunt Ye probably believed it, blinded by motherly filters. He, on the other hand, knew exactly how dangerous Ye Shiyu could be; his words were pure damage control.
"R-right..." An Le forced a smile. Ye Shiyu, at least, softened her expression a fraction at Yan Huan's reassurance.
Xiao Muzi, bristling at the open hostility, flicked its tongue and thumped An Le's shoulder. "What's with the arrogance? Those eyes could kill. Let's use the Modifier and see how obedient she gets!"
"Maybe she's just naturally aloof... and it really was impolite of to copy Xiao Huan's nickna without knowing her."
"Forget polite! She saw you holding hands with Xiao Huan and got jealous!"
"R-really?"
Xiao Muzi snorted—answer enough. As the smartest little finger in existence, its sixth sense was rarely wrong. No hard proof, but experience said its hunches were gold.
"One test will tell. Bring up so childhood intimacy."
"Inti—intimate things?"
An Le had no wish to make an enemy, yet Xiao Muzi's words nagged at her. Did Senior Ye see Xiao Huan the sa way? Gathering courage, she spoke just as Yan Huan tried to change the subject.
"S-Senior Ye, since you just arrived in Linn... you must have been in Longguo before?"
Ye Shiyu nodded once. "Mm."
"Which city?"
"Pengcheng."
Yan Huan glanced at her—he hadn't known either.
An Le wet her lips. "I ca back to Linn from Yongzhou, but I was born here. When we were little, Xiao Huan and I played every day... I even used to invite him to sleep over at my house..."
Yan Huan's heart gave a soft crack. Calmly he added, "That was ages ago."
Ye Shiyu's expression didn't change, yet her eyes fixed on An Le like twin lasers. Yan Huan's disclair had done nothing; An Le's probe had hit its mark.
Two facts.
An Le also called him "Xiao Huan."
And when they were tiny, Xiao Huan had slept in the sa bed with her?
Feeling that terrifying stare, An Le began to believe Xiao Muzi's warning. This Senior Ye really—
"See? SEE? Told you! Those eyes—those eyes! Am I right or am I right? Hmph! One little Modifier and that love rival folds like paper—"
Before it could finish, Xiao Muzi noticed Ye Shiyu's phone light up on the table.
To everyone else it looked like an ordinary lock-screen triggered by movent.
To Xiao Muzi the screen was a swirling violet vortex, spinning faster, faster—until it beca a gaping maw lunging to swallow it whole.
"Sssss—!"
Xiao Muzi seed to recognize sothing unspeakably terrifying. Its cocky little face froze; its whole body snapped rigid with fright.
It darted behind An Le and clamped its fangs onto her collar, shrieking,
"Run! An Le, run! Don't eat anything—just run!"
"Huh? Wh-what's wrong?"
An Le stared at the suddenly terrified snake, baffled by its outburst.
Xiao Muzi stared back, equally lost for words.
That Ye Shiyu...
"Ugh, never mind! I—I don't feel well! Just—just go!"
"You don't feel well?"
Though Xiao Muzi teased her daily, An Le had co to treat the chatty serpent that had arrived with her super-power as a true friend.
And An Le cared deeply about her friends.
She shot a nervous glance at Yan Huan and Ye Shiyu. "Um, Xiao Huan, Ye sis, I—I need to take care of sothing."
Yan Huan blinked, feeling a two-ton boulder slide off his heart.
He'd been hunting for any excuse to end the al early. Ye Shiyu was ticking like a bomb, and An Le carried a Modifier too—if the two hosts started a divine brawl, the only casualty would be him, the hapless bystander.
Perfect. An Le wanted to leave, so Yan Huan could happily ride that exit.
He studied her anxious face; she looked genuinely pressed. "All right, see you later."
"Okay, bye." An Le stood and left. Yan Huan let out a breath he hoped no one noticed, while Ye Shiyu's hand, halfway to her phone, paused.
She watched An Le's retreating back, thoughts unreadable.
"Your dessert, miss."
The waiter arrived with the order, scattering Ye Shiyu's musings.
"Thanks." She picked up her spoon.
An Le hurried into the forest park beside the comrcial strip, Xiao Muzi clinging to her shoulder. The park sprawled around a man-made lake and was usually quiet. Technically part of Yuanyue Academy, it had public entrances; few locals used them.
Finding a secluded spot, An Le crouched and gently set the serpent on the ground.
"Xiao Muzi, are you okay? You scared ."
Once away from Ye Shiyu, the serpent's shivers eased, but fear lingered.
It glanced at An Le, then fell silent, unsure how to explain.
Should it tell her about the other fingers, the competition?
The goddess had warned: only when the host discovers the other fragnts may the companion speak.
The other fingers had no such trouble—most couldn't even talk to their hosts.
Each finger had received an extra gift beyond its core Modifier effect.
Xiao Muzi's was supre intellect and the power to shatter resistances.
Brains beat brawn, it told itself. So think, genius!
Because on Ye Shiyu... the terrifying Index was present.
Xiao Muzi looked up. "Say, An Le, could we maybe stop liking Yan Huan? Pick soone else?"
The once-fearless serpent had turned into a craven white noodle.
Predictably, An Le hesitated, then shook her head.
Not because of Ye Shiyu's looks or talent—
She lowered her eyes, recalling a childhood alone, only Xiao Huan ever choosing to stand by her.
From Linn to Longguo and back, she'd always been timid, even Spencer sotis annoyed.
Only Xiao Huan accepted her, gentle eyes never wavering.
"Xiao Muzi, I—"
The serpent didn't need the rest; the answer was written all over her.
"Oh goddess, we're dood."
Fighting that broken-tier monster was impossible.
Index probably hadn't even been used; level one, yet the pressure was crushing.
And the goddess's gift to Index...
Modifier versus Modifier—hopeless. Host versus host?
Xiao Muzi sneaked a look at the timid girl before it and despaired.
See Ye Shiyu—ready to devour the world, swaggering "I'm first, heaven second." Index had found its queen.
Now look at An Le...
Ga over. FF at fifteen.
"So... what exactly hurts, Xiao Muzi? You said you felt sick."
"My heart," it groaned, flopping onto the grass. It glanced at An Le's worried face. "It aches."
Back on the busy street, Yan Huan and Ye Shiyu strolled after lunch.
"So you were asking her about Seo-mun's bullying?" Ye Shiyu asked, blinking.
The crowds gave Yan Huan courage; Ye Shiyu's hypnosis worked on one target at a ti. As long as he wasn't alone and didn't look at her glowing phone, her Modifier lost its teeth.
He smiled. "Exactly, sis. The Spencer girl—rember the one at the aquarium?"
Ye Shiyu recalled the golden-maned terror and her tirades. Disgust mingled with new understanding.
That Spencer, standing beside Xiao Huan, made her nauseous.
And such a person was friends with An Le? Birds of a feather.
"Yeah, she was weird enough to rember. Didn't expect to run into her again."
With that explanation, he'd weather the storm—he hoped.
Yan Huan kept smiling, but the rock in his gut refused to settle.
His stunt at Ye Lan's place had wounded Ye Shiyu's Modifier, yet solved nothing long-term.
He'd cranked her fondness too high; now the fuse was shorter.
She was a live bomb. No matter how careful he was, sooner or later another rogue Modifier would pop up in front of him. One conversation had been enough pressure; if she ever caught a "lewd" Modifier active on him...
She'd detonate.
Dark days ahead. He needed a plan.
He glanced sideways; Ye Shiyu's expression had leveled out. No solution yet, but one conviction hardened:
Never let Ye Shiyu use her Modifier on him again. A CG flag would trigger for sure.
"Oh, Xiao Huan."
Her voice, soft as a devil's whisper, drifted over.
"The student council sent this club email. I don't get it—could you look?"
He kept smiling, eyes locked forward, refusing to look at her phone screen.
Was the screen showing a real email—or a violet vortex? Yan Huan didn't guess.
"Probably because Spencer caused a scene this morning. So students still haven't joined clubs, so they're calling a second eting."
"That makes sense."
Ye Shiyu nodded and withdrew the phone she'd been holding out.
Yan Huan exhaled in relief, then looked ahead. "Shiyu sis, how about we grab so bubble tea to take back? The manual arts class doesn't have much going on this afternoon—they'll probably just lecture us on theory or sothing."
"Mmm."
Shiyu blinked, then seed to notice sothing and pointed beside Yan Huan. "Xiao Huan, look at that TV—doesn't whatever's on it look super cute?"
"What?"
TV?
Yan Huan blinked, turning to glance at the small promo screen set outside a nearby shop. It was clearly playing an ad for the ga "Angry Pigs," but the instant Yan Huan looked over, the screen filled with phantom static. The image then morphed—right before his eyes—into a swirling purple vortex.
What the hell?!
It can do that?!
The mont the vortex appeared, instinct scread at him to look away. Too late. A familiar tingling wave—laced with sheer disbelief—flooded his body. The light in his eyes guttered out; his expression slackened until he looked as blank and wooden as a puppet.
Behind him, sothing in Shiyu's otherwise unreadable face seed to provide the answer to this anomaly.
[Modifier Level 1 → 2]
[App Effect: Individual Hypnosis, three uses per week, twenty minutes each]
[While your phone has power, you can use any electronic screen within a five-ter radius as the casting dium.]
[When the app is triggered this way, everyone except the target will perceive the screen as unchanged.]
[App Activated]
[Effect: Individual Hypnosis]
[Duration: 20 minutes]
[Tir: Start]
Seriously, sis?
Of all the possibilities Yan Huan had calculated, he never imagined Ye Shiyu's cursed hypnosis app would level up at the worst possible mont—right under his nose.
Seeing him freeze, Shiyu's previously neutral face lit with a flicker of excitent. She glanced around, then leaned in and whispered, "Xiao Huan, let's go sowhere no one else is."
From deep within that tingling haze, obedience surged.
"Yes."
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