Chapter 228: Running Away

"Ti Bao? Whatever."

Ge Lei Xiu nonchalantly waved the hand holding her paintbrush, her tone still carrying that chilling edge that starkly contradicts her image, "Entering another's 'Experiment Field' without permission... that's very impolite. But, considering you're a precious specimen..."

Before she could finish, suddenly, from the other end of the corridor, distant shouts and hurried footsteps rang out:

"Ge Lei Xiu—! Little Ge Lei Xiu! Don't run off! Come back quickly!"

"Ge Lei Xiu!"

It was two voices, one anxious and lively, the other low and brief.

Ti Bao followed the sound and saw a cat‑ear, cat‑tail girl and a solemn, silent boy running over from that side.

Ge Lei Xiu heard the voices; the chilling expression on her face eased considerably, though a trace of impatience remained.

She glanced at Ti Bao, then at the approaching Pa Duo and Kesi Mo, curled her lip and said, "Tsk, the troublesome ones have arrived."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she made no grand move; instead she suddenly turned, with a speed incongruous with her petite frame, "whoosh," sprinting into the shadows at the opposite end of the corridor, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

"Eh?!"

Ti Bao stared at the now‑empty space ahead, dumbfounded.

At that moment, Pa Duo and Kesi Mo also ran up close.

Pa Duo, panting, stopped, hands braced on her knees, lifted her head to continue shouting, but froze when she saw Ti Bao standing there.

"Ah! You are...?"

Pa Duo straightened, her cat ears twitching curiously, scanning Ti Bao up and down, then clapped her hands, "Oh! I remember! You're the one from the Golden Descendant! The one named Ti... Ti what? I saw it in the data last time! The cute‑looking one!"

Ti Bao shyly nodded, "I'm TirixiBiyosi; just call me Ti Bao. You're Pa Duo Fei Li Si, right? And Kesi Mo?"

She also recognized the two.

"Yes, yes, yes! That's me, Pa Duo!"

Pa Duo immediately beamed, leaning in a bit, as if a professional habit (?), "Ti Bao, right? Hello, hello! First formal meeting, huh! Are you getting used to Letu? If you need any help, just say so; I, Pa Duo, have some rather odd… uh, I mean, information channels, a bit of them!"

She promptly halted her sales‑pitch catchphrase.

Kesi Mo stood behind Pa Duo, nodded at Ti Bao as a greeting, his gaze cautiously scanning the shadow where Ge Lei Xiu vanished, brows slightly furrowed.

"Thank you."

Ti Bao smiled, then pointed toward the direction where Ge Lei Xiu disappeared, "Just now Ge Lei Xiu..."

"Ah! Right! Ge Lei Xiu!"

Pa Duo only then recalled the matter, slapped her forehead, a headache expression on her face, "Kesi Mo and I were looking for her, and in an instant she vanished! Did you see where she ran?"

"She... ran forward."

Ti Bao answered honestly, "She seemed not keen on being found."

"Sigh, that's troublesome."

Pa Duo sighed, "Mei Bi Wu Si Bo Shi's color influence can be great or slight; we must quickly retrieve her and see whether it fades naturally or needs someone to handle it."

Then Pa Duo turned her attention back to Ti Bao, asking curiously, "Ti Bao, how did you end up here? Did Heimu Lady send you?"

She recalled that Letu's entrance should be controlled (if any).

"I was curious myself, wanted to come take a look..."

Ti Bao shyly explained, "Heimu Lady mentioned Letu and the Ying Jie to me, and I... I just wanted to visit. I saw Ge Lei Xiu just now, wanted to say hello, but..."

She glanced at the direction where Ge Lei Xiu vanished, hesitated, then asked, "Ge Lei Xiu... seemed a bit different? Compared to what I heard..."

Pa Duo and Kesi Mo exchanged a helpless glance.

"Don't mention it,"

Pa Duo sighed, lowered her voice, "Little Ge Lei Xiu accidentally 'absorbed' Mei Bi Wu Si Bo Shi's 'color'; now her personality is a bit... hmm, leaning toward the doctor's side, always appearing and disappearing, speaking in that tone, quite unsettling. A Mo and I are looking for her, fearing she might run off alone or run into trouble."

"Absorbed color?"

Ti Bao seemed half‑understanding, but roughly grasped it was some special effect.

"Yes, so we must find her quickly."

Pa Duo glanced at Ti Bao, then at Kesi Mo, her eyes flicking, "How about this, Ti Bao, it's your first time in Letu, right? Let A Mo take you to the main hall first, meet some others? Eden Miss or AiLi should be there. I have to keep looking for Ge Lei Xiu; that girl runs so fast!"

Kesi Mo looked at Pa Duo, his gaze conveying, "Are you sure?"

Pa Duo gave him a reassuring gesture, "It's fine! Ti Bao looks like a good person! Besides, there's no danger in Letu right now. A Mo, you're reliable, lead the way!"

Kesi Mo was silent for a few seconds, then finally nodded, looked at Ti Bao, and said succinctly, "Follow me."

Ti Bao hurriedly thanked, "Thank you, Miss Pa Duo! Thank you, Mr Kesi Mo! And... Miss Pa Duo, be careful, find Ge Lei Xiu soon."

"Alright! See you later!"

Pa Duo waved, her figure darting toward the direction Ge Lei Xiu fled, quickly disappearing at the corridor's end.

The corridor fell quiet again, leaving only Ti Bao and the silent Kesi Mo.

Ti Bao looked at the cool‑looking, mute boy before her, blinked, and proactively spoke, trying to sound relaxed, "Um... Mr Kesi Mo, could you please... shall we go to Eden Miss first?"

Kesi Mo nodded again, turned, stepped forward with clean, decisive movements, indicating Ti Bao to follow.

Ti Bao hurriedly kept up, but couldn't help thinking:

(Letu... truly matches what's in the data, everyone is quite 'special' indeed.)

Footsteps echoed in the open space.

The guiding boy said nothing, his steps steady, staying half a step ahead.

(So quiet... Mr Kesi Mo seems not fond of talking?)

Ti Bao furtively glanced at his tranquil profile, trying to find a topic to break the silence, "Um... Mr Kesi Mo, has Letu always been this... quiet? I mean, aside from Miss Pa Duo's lively nature."

Kesi Mo kept walking, slightly turned his head to glance at her, and replied briefly, "Not entirely."

"Oh..."

Ti Bao nodded, waited a moment, found no further explanation, and continued, "Then... what do the other Ying Jie usually like to do? I heard AiLi is very enthusiastic, Eden Miss likes music, Kevin seems... rather serious?"

Hmm.

Kesi Mo replied with a sound, seeming to consider how to answer this multi‑part question using as few words as possible.

A few seconds later, he added, "AiLi sister, active. Yidian sister, playing the piano, drinking. Kevin… training, or, spacing out."

Training and spacing out?

Ti Bao blinked, feeling that this combination was a bit odd.

"…in the past." Kesi Mo added two more words, perhaps referring to Kevin's former habit, "Now, sometimes, he wears sunglasses."

Sunglasses?

Ti Bao recalled Ge Lei Xiu's strange condition earlier and vaguely felt that Letu's "daily life" might differ from what she imagined.

Hmm.

Kesi Mo seemed unwilling to delve into the sunglasses issue; perhaps he himself didn't fully understand it.

Another stretch of silence.

Ti Bao tried to think of a new topic: "Miss Pa Duo said you're looking for Ge Lei Xiu… does she often 'run away' like that? Is getting 'colored' dangerous?"

Kesi Mo's silence this time lasted a bit longer, as if he were organizing his words.

"Ge Lei Xiu, sensitive. Color… will affect her. Not dangerous, but it will be troublesome."

He paused, "Mei Bi Wu Si Bo Shi's color, especially."

"Mei Bi Wu Si Bo Shi…"

Ti Bao recalled the green‑haired, dangerously smiling scientist from the files, and formed a rough idea of Ge Lei Xiu's change.

"Then how can we help her recover?"

"Wait." Kesi Mo said succinctly, "Or find Su, or Yidian sister. They understand better."

"Mr. Su?" Ti Bao said, not having a strong impression of the name.