Chapter 55: Counter-Tailing

Lin Yun paused at the jewelry store counter.

The salesperson was enthusiastically pitching the store's merchandise to him, occasionally asking questions and trying to confirm his choices, but Lin Yun turned a deaf ear to it all.

Because his attention was entirely on Moke, who was off to the side.

At this moment, Moke was sitting brazenly on the counter in front of him, excited by the sight of all the jewelry, turning its head to glance at Lin Yun every now and then before immersing itself back in its own world.

It likely operated under the assumption that the ordinary people around it, including Lin Yun, could not see it.

It was no surprise it held this belief; after all, Lin Xiaolu and Moke still had not the slightest suspicion about Lin Yun’s status as an ordinary person, and Moke often walked around freely right before his eyes. He, meanwhile, had fully displayed the composure of an adult, remaining indifferent no matter what Moke did.

The result was that even though Moke was currently tailing him, it dared to not hide itself at all.

If Lin Yun remembered correctly, over half a month ago, when he had instructed it on how to supervise the two newcomers in their magic practice, it had been full of earnest promises and high spirits; he hadn't expected it to turn around and collude with them.

Oh well, he shouldn't have counted on it.

Sighing inwardly, Lin Yun wanted to continue ignoring its presence, but Moke was currently sprawled directly below his line of sight, completely blocking the merchandise the salesperson was introducing, which caused Lin Yun’s attention to be drawn to it involuntarily.

What to do?

He had to start thinking about this question.

After weighing it for a moment, he felt that continuing to indulge Moke like this wouldn't do; he had to scare it a little to keep it from being so arrogant. So, he reached out his finger and poked in the direction where Moke was.

"Meow!"

Startled by Lin Yun’s sudden movement, Moke let out a strange cry, scrambled to the side, and looked at Lin Yun with a nervous, uncertain expression.

"Could you take this one out for me to see?"

Lin Yun ignored it completely and instead used his finger to point at a crystal pendant in the display case: "It’s not very clear through the glass."

He didn't even know which item he was pointing at when he reached out; he just wanted to bluff Moke, so he actually had no interest in the pendant. But since he had already made the move, it was better to play the part through to the end.

This set of words and actions was quite natural, and analyzing it by motive alone, there were no flaws; it was as if he just wanted to take a look at that piece of jewelry. Thus, Moke in the distance breathed a sigh of relief, its previously tense mood instantly relaxing.

It began to believe again that it wouldn't be discovered.

Shifting its body, it returned to Lin Yun’s field of vision, sat down in a different spot, and wanted to continue its "tailing" at close range.

"Ah, excuse me—"

Lin Yun reached out toward its location again: "Please let me see this one too, thank you."

"Waaah!"

This time he didn't intend to actually poke Moke, so he just made a simple gesture, but after the previous experience, Moke’s heart tightened again, and it jumped up as a conditioned reflex.

It wasn't until it realized Lin Yun’s hand hadn't actually reached over that it understood it was just a "false alarm."

But Lin Yun didn't intend to let it off that easily.

After that, he interacted with Moke a few more times, half-real and half-fake, supplementing with various feints to disrupt any pattern so that Moke couldn't figure out what was real and what was not. On one hand, it still felt like Lin Yun couldn't see it, but on the other, it was frequently startled by Lin Yun’s abrupt movements. Eventually, it began to doubt its own luck and finally learned to behave, staying honestly in the distance instead of constantly crowding him.

This distance was just right, so Lin Yun stopped looking for trouble with it.

The man and the fairy walked through the mall in this strange relationship until, at one point, Moke boredly picked up the phone around its neck. After speaking in a business-like manner and listening for a while, it seemed to have received new instructions; it looked at Lin Yun twice more, then flapped its wings and turned to leave.

Lin Yun quickly realized that the opportunity had arrived.

He didn't know whose idea it was for Moke to tail him, but that didn't stop him from counter-tailing Moke to see what the other party was planning.

So, he briefly examined the merchandise in front of him, politely and naturally said goodbye to the salesperson, and set off in the direction Moke had left.

The shopping plaza was bustling on a Saturday, packed with people. Even in the luxury goods area, a large number of customers were wandering about, so Lin Yun didn't need to deliberately hide his tracks; he just needed to hang a bit behind Moke and slightly obscure his figure whenever it scanned the area.

He followed Moke onto the elevator and arrived at the third floor, then immediately saw Moke fly to the atrium in the center of the building to meet up with two girls waiting there.

Without a doubt, those were the two people Lin Yun had anticipated.

He could recognize at a glance that the one with a simple ponytail, wearing a short-sleeved shirt, mid-length pants, and sandals, was Lin Xiaolu; the other, with her hair naturally draped over her shoulders and wearing a T-shirt with denim overalls, was Xia Liang. Both girls were leaning against the atrium railing, seemingly looking down at something.

Seeing Moke fly over, and perhaps because there had been disagreements during their previous phone conversation, Lin Xiaolu quickly began to argue with it:

—"What is it? You said you were always worried about being bumped into when you got too close? Then stay further away."

"You might lose him if you stay too far? How could you lose a grown man?"

"How am I supposed to follow him? Watching from the atrium above is the safest way. What if I go down to tail him in person and get discovered?"

The faint sound of their conversation was right in front of Lin Yun, and because Lin Xiaolu didn't deliberately lower her volume, the content was clearly audible.

He looked down from the side of the atrium with some curiosity and found that this angle actually provided a perfect view of the luxury goods area, and he immediately understood what the two girls were doing here.

"Xiaolu."

Just then, Xia Liang spoke up with some concern: "Did you see your dad from your side?"

"Do I even need to look? He’s been wandering around those few spots for over an hour, and he’s still alone."

Lin Xiaolu drawled, leaning her hands on the railing and lifting her head: "I’m starting to wonder if he got stood up?"

"But, I don't seem to see where he is on my side," Xia Liang said with an awkward smile. "Can you find him?"

"Huh?"

Reminded by Xia Liang’s words, Lin Xiaolu hurriedly looked down, but no matter how she looked left and right, she couldn't see her father’s figure, and she was instantly dumbfounded: "No way, did I really lose him?"

The words "How could you lose a grown man" had barely left her lips two minutes ago before they were quickly proven wrong, leaving her flustered and embarrassed, her ears even turning hot.

She hurriedly opened her phone, trying to locate him again, but then remembered that Moke, who acted as the locator, had already flown back, and she could no longer lock onto Lin Yun’s position.

So Lin Xiaolu could only stand there blankly, holding her phone.

The two girls were at a loss by the atrium, and the culprit, Moke, looked completely detached from the situation; the scene was quite awkward for a moment.

Not far away, Lin Yun let out a long sigh.

Since things had reached this point, he could only go and ask what was going on.

So he stepped forward, walked slowly behind Lin Xiaolu, and then gently tapped her on the shoulder:

"What are you doing?"

"Yaah!" Lin Xiaolu was so startled she nearly jumped.