Chapter 81: Suspicious System

Chapter 81: Chapter 81: Suspicious System

"Why are there two creatures here?"

The young apprentice’s question made Xi Yunxui’s heart tighten.

She stared at him, trying to understand what exactly he had noticed. His gaze moved between King C and Biyu before eventually settling on Hui, and for several seconds, his brows remained furrowed as though he were trying to piece together a memory that refused to make sense.

Then he shook his head.

"Perhaps I saw wrongly."

Xi Yunxui quietly released the breath she had been holding.

The apprentice rubbed his forehead, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Everything happened so quickly earlier. I was startled when I saw that tiger-like creature, and perhaps I confused what I saw afterward."

"That must be it," Xi Yunxui replied with a natural smile, carefully keeping her expression relaxed.

The apprentice nodded, apparently accepting the explanation, although his eyes lingered on Hui for another moment before he finally returned to the counter.

Xi Yunxui wasn’t entirely convinced.

She had just begun wondering whether Biyu’s illusion had actually worked when the sound of footsteps came from the inner room. The door opened, and Huo Patriarch walked out with the elderly shop owner following behind him. Their conversation appeared to have ended, but neither man looked particularly relaxed.

Huo Patriarch’s gaze swept across the shop before landing on Xi Yunxui and the three creatures. His eyes paused briefly on Hui.

The elderly man noticed her as well.

He studied the little girl for several seconds, his brows gradually drawing together.

"Strange," he muttered. "There seems to be something different about her."

Xi Yunxui’s fingers tightened slightly.

The Huo Patriarch also looked at Hui again before giving a slow nod. "I felt it too."

Neither man sounded suspicious enough to question her, however. Their expressions suggested that they sensed something unusual about Hui but simply couldn’t determine what it was.

Xi Yunxui quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Before either man could examine the matter further, Huo Patriarch turned toward her.

"Xi Yunxui, you should return home."

She blinked in surprise.

"Now?"

"Yes." His tone was firm but not unkind. "Take your three pets and go back first."

Xi Yunxui couldn’t help feeling confused.

She had assumed there was a reason he had brought her to the antique shop in the first place. Yet now, after spending all this time there, he was suddenly asking her to leave without giving her any explanation.

Then why did you bring me here?

She wanted to ask, but one glance at the Huo Patriarch and the elderly man told her that whatever they had discussed inside was probably something they didn’t intend to share with her.

"Understood."

Xi Yunxui nodded and gathered the three creatures.

King C followed reluctantly, still glancing back at the apprentice as though he suspected the young man had discovered something. Biyu flew down from the cabinet and settled on Xi Yunxui’s shoulder, while Hui quietly held onto the edge of Xi Yunxui’s clothes as they made their way toward the door.

After bidding the two elders goodbye, Xi Yunxui left the antique shop with the three creatures.

The moment the door closed behind them, the elderly man’s expression changed.

He stared at the closed door for a long while before lowering his voice.

"It’s truly the revered Phoenix."

His eyes widened as the implications settled over him.

The Huo Patriarch remained silent.

The elderly man turned toward him, his expression growing increasingly serious. "If that really was the revered Phoenix, then it is possible the old clans have already become aware of her existence."

After a long pause, Huo Patriarch slowly nodded.

"Yes."

He released a heavy sigh, his gaze still fixed on the door.

The elderly man fell silent.

Neither of them needed to say anything more.

Huo Patriarch finally muttered, "Things are about to become hectic."

---

Meanwhile, Xi Yunxui had no idea what the two old men were discussing.

She sat in the back seat of the car with Hui beside her, while King C occupied the other side and Biyu rested quietly nearby. For the first few minutes, the journey was completely uneventful.

Then the illusion Biyu had cast began to weaken.

The faint green energy surrounding Hui gradually became thinner until it was almost impossible to detect. Xi Yunxui didn’t notice the change because she had never been affected by the illusion in the first place, but the driver had no reason to know that anything was happening.

He casually glanced at the rearview mirror.

His eyes passed over Xi Yunxui, King C, and Biyu before stopping on Hui.

The driver’s expression changed instantly.

"Ah!"

His foot slammed down on the brake.

The car jolted violently to a stop, throwing Xi Yunxui forward against the seat. King C let out a startled bleat while Biyu flapped its wings in alarm, and Hui instinctively grabbed Xi Yunxui’s clothes.

"What happened?"

Xi Yunxui steadied herself and immediately looked toward the driver.

The man’s breathing was heavy, and both hands were gripping the steering wheel. He pointed shakily toward the back seat.

"Who... who is that?"

Xi Yunxui’s heart sank.

She glanced at Hui before calmly turning back to him.

"Who are you talking about?"

"The little girl!"

The driver’s voice rose as he pointed toward Hui. "There was a little girl sitting there!"

Xi Yunxui deliberately looked around the car as though she couldn’t understand what he meant.

"There is only me and my three creatures in the car."

The driver stared at her.

Then he looked into the rearview mirror again.

This time, there was no little girl.

Only Xi Yunxui, King C, Biyu, and the strangely quiet Hui.

The driver’s face became pale.

He swallowed nervously and rubbed his eyes before looking again.

Still nothing.

Perhaps he really had been mistaken.

The sudden appearance of a little girl in the back seat where there should have been nothing but animals was too strange to explain otherwise.

"I... I’m sorry, Miss," he finally stammered. "I must have seen wrongly."

Xi Yunxui gave him a calm nod.

"It’s fine. Just drive carefully."

"Yes."

The driver quickly started the car and continued down the road, although he kept glancing nervously at the rearview mirror every few moments.

Xi Yunxui noticed.

She also noticed that the illusion around Hui seemed weaker than before.

Her gaze lowered to the little girl beside her, and an uneasy feeling settled in her chest.

If the illusion was already fading, how long would it be before someone else saw Hui’s true appearance?

Before Xi Yunxui could think any further, the familiar mechanical voice suddenly sounded in her mind.

[Congratulations, Host. Mission completed.]

Xi Yunxui froze.

For several seconds, she wondered if she had heard wrongly.

"What?"

[Mission successfully completed. Reward has been issued.]

Xi Yunxui’s expression slowly changed.

"Completed?"

She looked down at Hui, who was still sitting beside her in the form of a little girl. The faint traces of Biyu’s illusion were already weakening, and the driver had nearly seen through it moments ago.

"Hui is still a little girl!" Xi Yunxui whispered incredulously. "The illusion is already wearing off, and she could be seen by anyone at any moment. How can you possibly say the mission is completed?"

The system’s response came without the slightest hesitation.

[The mission requirement has been fulfilled.]

"That isn’t an answer."

Xi Yunxui’s eyes narrowed.

"What exactly was the requirement?"

There was a brief pause.

Then the system calmly replied,

[The Huo Patriarch, the elderly man, and the young apprentice must not discover that the little girl is Hui.]

Xi Yunxui’s mouth twitched.

She stared ahead for several seconds before slowly turning her gaze toward Hui.

"So... you’re saying I only needed to prevent those three people from discovering her identity?"

[Correct.]

"And everyone else?"

[The mission did not specify that Host must prevent every individual from seeing Hui in her human form.]

Xi Yunxui’s expression became increasingly strange.

"That wasn’t what I understood from the mission."

[Host’s understanding is not the mission’s written requirement.]

She fell silent.

That sentence was technically correct.

And somehow, that made it even more irritating.

Xi Yunxui could almost hear the smugness in the system’s mechanical voice.

She clenched her teeth.

"I was supposed to successfully conceal Hui’s identity from everyone who had seen her tiger-like form."

Silence.

This time, the silence lasted noticeably longer.

Xi Yunxui’s eyes narrowed.

"System?"

Nothing.

She waited.

Still nothing.

"Why are you suddenly quiet?"

After several seconds, the system finally responded.

[Host appears to have remembered incorrectly.]

Xi Yunxui’s mouth twitched again.

"Really?"

[Yes.]

"You’re certain?"

[Affirmative.]

Xi Yunxui stared at the empty space in front of her.

She had known the system for long enough to recognize when something felt wrong.

It had never made a mission unnecessarily easy for her. If anything, every mission seemed designed to make her suffer before handing over the reward. Yet this time, after putting her through all that panic, it was suddenly telling her that she had already completed the mission despite Hui still being capable of revealing herself.

It was far too convenient.

Something is wrong.

The system remained suspiciously silent.

Then, as though it hadn’t noticed her growing suspicion at all, it continued.

[Mission reward is now being granted.]

Xi Yunxui’s attention shifted immediately.

[Congratulations, Host. The Spiritual Mountain ownership document has been deposited in your bank safe.]

[Current System Progress has increased to 38%.]

[Current Affection Points: 14.]

Her eyes widened.

"Wait. How did my system progress—"

[System upgrade is about to commence.]

Xi Yunxui frowned.

"Upgrade?"

[During the upgrade, the system will be temporarily unable to respond to Host.]

"Hold on."

She immediately became alert.

"What exactly are you upgrading? And why are you suddenly upgrading now? Also, about the mission—"

[Upgrade commencing.]

"Wait!"

The system went silent.

Xi Yunxui sat frozen in the back seat.

She waited.

Nothing.

"System?"

Silence.

She narrowed her eyes.

"System?"

Still nothing.

Xi Yunxui slowly leaned back against the seat.

The timing was too perfect.

The moment she had started questioning the mission’s strange wording, the system had conveniently upgraded itself and become unavailable.

Her eyes narrowed further.

"...You’re definitely hiding something."