Chapter 273
Chapter 273 Conflict of Emotions
After returning to the organization, Ling Mo and the chubby guy conducted a peaceful and friendly interrogation of the bald man overnight.
Although Xia Xinyan could have directly charmed him into confessing the embarrassing details of his bedwetting as a child, Ling Mo decided against it this time—yes, it was Ling Mo who took the initiative to use normal methods for the negotiation.
To be precise, it was about completing something without Xia Xinyan’s assistance.
Xia Xinyan had no particular reaction to this.
Ling Mo being willing to act independently was a good thing for her; after all, if one day she wasn’t by his side, he couldn’t just be incapable of handling anything.
Moreover, from the results, Ling Mo’s talent was quite impressive—before dawn, he already had the interrogation results.
According to the chubby guy, the rumors that Ling Mo was a “soft rice man” were not just plain slander; they had a deeper implication—making everyone aware of this develop contempt or even malice toward Ling Mo, and then redirect that hostility toward his organization. In other words, it was a scheme to isolate them.
As for who was behind it, the bald man didn’t know. He only knew that the power behind this was immense, something they absolutely couldn’t provoke. Even a small fry sent to deal with them was a powerhouse they couldn’t handle. Plus, when that person came, they conveniently offered them a tiny bit of benefit, which made the bald man immediately side with them without a second thought.
In fact, what the powerful force wanted them to do was quite simple—just to pass on the fact that Ling Mo was a “soft rice man” to their subordinates, subtly implying that the higher-ups were displeased with Ling Mo, and then giving a vague suggestion that if they performed well, they would earn recognition from above, leading them, of course, to reach the pinnacle of life, blah blah blah.
The bald man didn’t even doubt that he was being used as a pawn—it had a lot to do with his total ignorance of Ling Mo. After all, Ling Mo was probably someone he would never come into contact with in his lifetime; slandering him seemed like no loss to himself. If spreading rumors could earn money, why not?
Maybe that’s how internet trolls come about.
As for the incident in the bar narrow alley, it was indeed his people, but the information came from the same powerful person he had dealt with, who had hinted at teaching that group a lesson, and they just followed through.
However, when Ling Mo tried to ask the bald man about the person he interacted with, the bald man had no recollection at all, couldn’t even tell if the person was male or female, clearly indicating that some memory manipulation had occurred.
Thus, after determining there was no value in further interrogation, Ling Mo gave the bald man a quick end.
He didn’t let Xia Xinyan observe the entire process, so she had no idea how Ling Mo managed to have a peaceful chat with the bald man.
But she could roughly guess that it wasn’t a scene suitable for children.
Even when returning home with Ling Mo, she could still smell the faint scent of blood on him.
This didn’t disgust her; it simply made her realize that, unconsciously, Ling Mo had grown to a level akin to her previous life.
To put it simply, he had finally reached his full potential.
In the past, Xia Xinyan would have thought this was a good thing, but now, she wasn’t so sure.
For some reason, there was an inexplicable feeling in her heart.
What kind of feeling it was, she couldn’t quite describe.
Ling Mo, meanwhile, didn’t notice Xia Xinyan’s odd behavior. On their way back, he chatted with her like usual: “The Fire Cloud Cult is nothing but a bunch of scattered sand without their leader. Zhang Dari hasn’t activated his abilities yet, but with his current methods, subduing scattered sand shouldn’t be a big issue, and we probably won’t need to interfere further after that.”
After a pause, he continued, “Xinyan, who do you think might be targeting me from behind?”
Xia Xinyan snapped back to reality and shook her head, “I don’t know…”
She genuinely didn’t know.
This kind of thing had never happened in her past life. In this life, it might be because they revealed their strength too early, attracting unnecessary hostility, but who could possibly be so petty as to use this method to bother them? Xia Xinyan really had no one in mind.
If pushed to say someone, it would be Summer Jincang—but that made no sense at all. Summer Jincang knew her parents had already accepted Ling Mo; even if he was unsatisfied, a brotherly complex to that extent wouldn’t lead him to resort to such childish antics as slandering Ling Mo. Besides, slandering Ling Mo would also negatively impact Xia Xinyan, so Summer Jincang wouldn’t do something so stupid.
In any case, Xia Xinyan had immediately ruled him out.
Or rather, she had never suspected him at all.
After all, human hearts grow flesh. Even if there were many conflicts in the past, being treated so… kindly by Summer Jincang for the past half a year, it would certainly be false to say she hadn’t changed her perception of him at all.
If she were to give an answer, she would probably consider Summer Jincang as one of her own now.
An ally she didn’t feel very eager to be around.
Seeing her react this way, Ling Mo paused for a moment and suddenly took her hand, “Don’t blame yourself.”
Then he continued, “No matter who it is, no matter how deep they hide, we will root them out. If they dare to bother us again, we’ll strike back without mercy—like I said, I’ll prove to everyone that I deserve you.”
He was never a soft rice man.
Not only that, but he also aimed to become someone who could protect Xia Xinyan, to rise to a height even above hers, and then… completely envelop her in his embrace.
Xia Xinyan was silent for a moment before nodding, “Mm.”
She naturally didn’t know Ling Mo’s inner thoughts, but her own feelings were somewhat complicated.
She could feel it; Ling Mo was serious about this relationship.
A one-sided affection.
Did she have feelings for Ling Mo? Of course, she did. After all, she had to rely on Ling Mo’s help to survive, and Ling Mo, as her past self, had a bond with her that was inseparable.
But for now, her feelings for Ling Mo were definitely not romantic love.
She couldn’t possibly fall in love with her former self… right? Even though Ling Mo had matured and evolved into his full potential, even stronger than she had been in her past life, in her heart, Ling Mo still remained the past version of herself… if one had to describe it, it was like an adult looking at their younger brother just starting middle school; no matter how mature he seemed, it was hard to view him as a fully-fledged adult.
Xia Xinyan was currently in this conflicting mindset.
Moreover, most importantly, she wasn’t really a little sister…
So feeling Ling Mo’s unreserved emotions, her mood was extremely complicated.
Ling Mo was becoming more and more entrenched, while she still hadn’t found a way to extricate herself, which probably wasn’t a good thing for both of them.
So should she… consider telling him the truth?
Xia Xinyan felt conflicted.
