OFTLHFRO C131

Chapter 131: The Vanished Man

“Daddy!”

That night, just as Luo Mingchen was about to wash up and go to bed, his little daughter’s voice sounded from outside the door.

He opened it in puzzlement to see Huo Xinyue bundled up like a little penguin, happily holding something out to him, with Hong Xing standing behind her.

“Yueyue.”

Luo Mingchen crouched and scooped her into his arms. “What’s this?”

Huo Xinyue wrapped one arm around his neck and pushed the object closer to his face. “It’s a fruit.”

“Huh?”

Luo Mingchen looked at the blackish-purple sphere in her hand. “What kind of fruit is this? Where did you get it?”

The last question was aimed at Hong Xing.

After all, Huo Xinyue was too young to explain clearly—asking Hong Xing was faster.

“Master Luo, the young miss picked it up in the back courtyard…”

Before she finished, Huo Xinyue squeezed the fruit. Purple-black juice oozed out.

Had her strength been greater, it might have splattered right into his face.

She grinned wide and smeared the juice across her cheeks.

“Hey!”

Luo Mingchen quickly grabbed her hand, placing the fruit down on the table. “Yueyue! You can’t smear that on your face!”

Already with one handful rubbed across her cheeks, Huo Xinyue looked at him in confusion. “Daddy, if you rub it on, it disappears!”

“Disappears?”

Suppressing a laugh, Luo Mingchen fetched a cloth and wiped her hands and face. Strangely, it was hard to get the stain off. “Yueyue, I’ll fetch some hot water. Don’t touch it again, or you’ll turn into a little calico kitten, alright?”

“Sigh…”

Huo Xinyue heaved a heavy sigh but obediently stopped smearing more juice.

Her little adult-like demeanor made Luo Mingchen chuckle. He tapped her tiny nose. “And what are you sighing for?”

Luckily, hot water worked to clean it off. There was no strange odor, and her skin showed no rash or redness, so Luo Mingchen felt reassured.

Still, he settled her on his lap, speaking earnestly: “Yueyue, you mustn’t pick up strange fruits from the ground, alright? Don’t smear them on your face, and never eat them.”

But Huo Xinyue insisted, gesturing with her little hands. “Daddy! If you put it on, it really disappears!”

Luo Mingchen froze.

Though young, she wasn’t one to make things up.

“Hong Xing, what else do you know?”

Caught off guard, Hong Xing shook her head. “I don’t, sir. The young miss said she saw someone use this fruit and disappear. I went to investigate but found no mouse holes, no traps, no tunnels.”

“Is that so?”

Still uneasy, Luo Mingchen asked, “Where exactly did she find it?”

“In a corner by the back gate.”

Hong Xing hesitated, then admitted her suspicion: “Master Luo, I found neither tree nor plant that bore such fruit there.”

Holding Huo Xinyue closer, Luo Mingchen’s unease deepened.

“Keep a closer eye on Yueyue these days. Don’t let her wander alone. I’ll check it out.”

“Yes.”

After soothing Huo Xinyue back to bed, Luo Mingchen went to the back gate corner.

To the naked eye, there was nothing unusual…

Closing his eyes, he extended his spiritual sense, sweeping across the whole courtyard and into the ground below.

There were indeed several tunnels beneath the area, but none with openings at his spot.

Vanish?

A person couldn’t just vanish into thin air.

Unless, like him, they had a space ability.

But the odds were slim.

If it had been the apocalypse, Luo Mingchen would have guessed a spatial ability-user.

But in this world…

If it were just an ordinary person, why was there no trace?

And how had they evaded so many people’s eyes and ears?

Finding nothing, Luo Mingchen returned—only to run into Huo Yan coming out to look for him.

“Back so soon?”

Huo Yan grasped his hand. “Where did that fruit on the table come from?”

Hearing the tone in his voice, Luo Mingchen grew serious. “Yueyue picked it up in the back corner. She even said smearing it on her face would make her disappear…”

At that, Huo Yan frowned slightly. Luo Mingchen blinked. “What is it?”

“Let’s talk inside.”

He drew Luo Mingchen back to their room, shutting out the howling wind.

Sitting down together, Huo Yan picked up the crushed fruit. “This is something trick performers often use. As far as I know, it’s called a Soul-Capturing Fruit. Crack it open, and it throws people into an illusion for a few breaths—just enough time to escape. Afterwards, it leaves no trace.”

“Really?”

Luo Mingchen was skeptical. “Wouldn’t we have seen it take effect?”

“This one was squeezed, but the core wasn’t broken. It hasn’t been triggered.”

Hearing that, Luo Mingchen’s eyes lit up. “Then why don’t I try planting it?”

What kind of mutation might such a fruit undergo?

“…Fine.”

Huo Yan handed it to him.

Luo Mingchen took it into his space, dug a hole, buried it, watered it, then came back out.

Still, something nagged him. “So you’re saying some trick performer lingered around here for a while, got seen by Yueyue, and left behind this fruit?”

“Perhaps.”

Huo Yan wasn’t certain either.

“Then how did he slip past Ziyuan and the others’ watch?”

Even sleight-of-hand illusions shouldn’t have fooled them entirely.

“Most likely disguise.”

“…Right.” Luo Mingchen had forgotten about that.

Whatever the case, no strangers were present in the estate now. His spiritual sweep showed nothing unusual.

It seemed the intruder had gone.

Still, vigilance was needed.

“Nothing missing from the study, right?” he asked.

If it had been an enemy spy, that would be dangerous.

“Nothing.”

Huo Yan had just come from there; he was certain.

“That’s good.”

Stretching with a yawn, Luo Mingchen said, “Let’s sleep early. We need to be outside first thing tomorrow.”

That had become their routine these days. Luo Mingchen wanted to preserve his abs, keep them from merging into one, while Huo Yan used it to test results.

Outside, the wind roared, snow threatening again.

The room was quiet.

After a while, Huo Yan murmured at his ear: “This fruit reminds me of someone.”

“Who?”

“Someone who should already be dead.”

That woke Luo Mingchen right up. “Should be?”

“He leapt from a cliff. Below was nothing but miasma. No one could see if he truly died.”

“A cliff, huh…”

Luo Mingchen chuckled. “Where I come from, there’s a saying: the Cliff-Survivor’s Law. Jumping off cliffs doesn’t kill you—instead, you stumble into some great fortune.”

Huo Yan gave a helpless smile. “Even if gravely wounded?”

“That depends on the size of his protagonist’s halo. With one big enough, even stabbed in the heart, falling off a cliff won’t stop him from surviving.”

Seeing Huo Yan lost in thought, Luo Mingchen asked, “Who was it?”

After a long silence, Luo Mingchen assumed Huo Yan didn’t want to speak and was ready to drop the subject—when Huo Yan said quietly:

“He could be considered my master.”