Saying this, she pushed open the doors of the Civil Affairs Bureau. "If you don’t go through with the divorce today, you’re not a man."
Provoked by Tan You’s challenge, a freshly-issued divorce certificate was in her hands in less than half an hour. Tan You tucked the certificate away safely. "I’m off. I wish you two happiness."
She couldn’t stand Lu Mofeng’s behavior, but she had no intention of staying entangled with him. They were divorced now. It was time for them to go their separate ways, with no need for any further involvement.
As for the epic romance between Lu Mofeng and Shen Mo, she wasn’t about to get involved. She was sure that without his ex-wife, Zhu Sha, standing in the way, the two of them would have a very smooth relationship.
Lu Mofeng glanced at Tan You, then at his car. "Want a ride?"
"No need. It’s inconvenient," Tan You said with particular coldness. "Remember what I told you yesterday. From now on, if we see each other, we’ll act like strangers. I’ll move my things out today. After this, we go our separate ways."
Lu Mofeng watched Tan You walk off into the distance, small handbag in tow, and lowered his gaze. He remained that way until a graceful figure appeared by his side. "Mofeng, what’s wrong? Is Sasha mad at you? Do you want me to go explain things to her?"
"There’s no need," Lu Mofeng said, snapping back to the present. "I doubt we’ll have a chance to see her again. Let’s go. Has Lu Chenling been behaving?"
The smile in Shen Mo’s eyes deepened considerably. "He’s quieted down now. He probably didn’t sleep well last night. I don’t know what it is he’s looking for."
Lu Mofeng fell silent for a moment. "Let’s go back to Xiangxi Garden tonight. Lu Chenling is probably just used to living there. It’s only natural he’s having trouble adapting after we suddenly changed his surroundings yesterday."
Shen Mo nodded. "Okay. We’ll do what you say."
Tan You, of course, couldn’t be bothered with the couple’s tender moment. She was busy directing a moving company. As for where she was moving to, it was another property owned by the body’s original owner, Zhu Sha.
Speaking of which, Lu Mofeng had been very generous with the original Zhu Sha financially. He had given her houses and cars, and the alimony from the divorce was also quite substantial. He just hadn’t given Zhu Sha the one thing she wanted most—love. It was all rather ironic.
’Forget love,’ Tan You thought. ’Just talk to me about money.’
That evening, Tan You lay on the sofa in her new home. She had even cooked a meal to celebrate, a small housewarming for one. Meanwhile, Lu Mofeng, Shen Mo, and Lu Chenling arrived at the house in Xiangxi Garden.
The moment they stepped inside, both Lu Mofeng and Lu Chenling froze. Their most immediate impression was that the house was empty, as if devoid of any human presence.
Lu Chenling pattered over to the photo wall in the living room. It was a complete blank. The wall, once covered wall-to-wall with pictures, now didn’t have a single photo on it. Only a few traces of adhesive backing remained stuck to the surface.
He stared at the blank wall for a moment, then turned and ran to his room. Lu Mofeng hurried after him, finding him staring blankly while clutching an iPad. Seeing his father enter, the boy pouted. "It’s gone."
Lu Mofeng’s brow furrowed. "What’s gone?"
Lu Chenling looked down, his fingers tapping at the iPad. "The stories she recorded for me... they’re all gone."
With that, he tossed the iPad aside and began to rummage through the nightstand drawer.
Lu Mofeng’s eyelid twitched. "Are you saying the stories you listen to every night before bed are all gone?"
Lu Chenling fell silent, simply pacing around the room like a caged animal. "Gone. It’s all gone. My clay dolls, my toys, and my chess set... they’re all gone."
Shen Mo leaned against the doorframe, looking bewildered. "If they’re gone, we can just buy more. Mommy will buy you new ones."
"Chenchchen, you like stories, don’t you? From now on, Mommy will tell you a story every day, alright?"
Lu Chenling stared at her for a moment before sitting down off to the side, hugging the iPad and refusing to say a word. He was completely ignoring Shen Mo, his biological mother. Shen Mo’s expression stiffened, and she instinctively turned to Lu Mofeng for help. "Mofeng..."
Lu Mofeng felt a headache coming on. "Chenchchen’s autism has only recently started to improve. Let’s not push him too hard. We should go downstairs and give him some time alone."
The two of them went downstairs, leaving Lu Chenling alone in his room. He clutched the tablet, his fingers swiping back and forth across the screen, but the stories he knew by heart were gone, and he could no longer listen to them.
Lu Mofeng did a walkthrough of the villa and had to admit that Tan You had been incredibly thorough. There wasn’t a single trace of her left in the entire house. She had even packed up all of her toiletries.
Anyone else would be unable to tell that a female owner had ever lived in this house.
Shen Mo, on the other hand, was delighted. She was glad Lu Mofeng’s ex-wife had been sensible enough to leave so cleanly. Still, the fact that Zhu Sha had occupied the position of Lu Mofeng’s wife for several years was a thorn in her side, and the thought of it left her feeling resentful.
Therefore, when she went to the bathroom, Shen Mo tapped on a glowing screen that appeared before her. "System, I want Zhu Sha’s luck value."
"Affirmative. Plunder System at your service." A rigid, electronic voice rang out. Shen Mo didn’t show the slightest hint of surprise. Instead, she simply touched up her makeup in the mirror before leaving the bathroom.
Just as Tan You was enjoying her blissful solitude in the living room, a silvery-white, octopus-like tentacle suddenly materialized out of thin air, lunging with clear intent toward her.
Tan You’s hand froze. The Beauty System yelped in shock, ’What the hell is that?’
It instinctively opened its mouth, but no sound came out. The little pup’s almond-shaped eyes widened as it slowly turned to look at Tan You. But Tan You didn’t spare the small system a glance. Just as the sucker at the tip of the tentacle was about to touch her shoulder, she simply reached out with her right hand.
She calmly grabbed the sucker, which was invisible to others, and with a vicious squeeze and a sharp tug, she ripped the massive appendage that had appeared from the void clean off at its root.
The Beauty System thought it heard a scream from the other side, and its little body shivered in a very human-like way. It didn’t have time to wonder how Tan You possessed such power. Instead, it scurried over to her. "Host, what... what was that?"
Having severed the connection to whatever was on the other side, Tan You now knew what she was dealing with. "System, you need to be careful in this world. If you get caught, there’s nothing I can do to save you."
The Beauty System was horrified. ’There’s another system here?’
"Uh-huh." Tan You crumpled the massive, limb-like stream of data into a ball and tossed it to the Beauty System. "You’d better stick close to me. If you get targeted by another system..."
The Beauty System swallowed the ball of data in a single gulp, then bounded over to Tan You, its four little paws a blur. "I’m not scared! My host will protect me! You’re the strongest, Host!"
’This little thing is certainly optimistic,’ Tan You thought.
"Don’t worry. As long as you behave, I’ll definitely protect you. I won’t let you get swallowed up by another system," Tan You promised with a soft laugh. ’I never expected I’d learn so much from following the Dark God.’