After very resignedly wearing the mask, Yan Lidong stepped out of the maintenance room. He didn't bother searching for a mirror, lest his heart break further.
Instead, he made his way towards the platform. Only, after patting his pockets, he belatedly recalled something he had overlooked—the Warden mentioned that he would need a transit pass. He suppressed a groan. Had he known earlier, he would have waited a bit longer before putting the mask on; as it was, he couldn't even seduce anyone into sneaking him on board.
With no other options, he left the train station, only to find He Jiuyu and Botany still fretting about outside.
…urgent business, they said? Still, he wasn't too fond of prying, so he started walking past them, only for He Jiuyu to stop him.
"Sir! Excuse me, you came from the station, right? Did you happen to see an abnormally good-looking man in there? He's probably about your height."
Goodness, he sure can speak, Yan Lidong mused. He had always been aware of his looks, but hearing confirmation from others still flattered him.
"He probably looked very frightened, naively wandering around. Almost like a lost child? An easy target for kidnappers?" He Jiuyu continued.
He sure can speak, alright. Yan Lidong maintained his smile, though; it was a good thing that they didn't suspect anything with his act. "I think I did see someone like that. Why do you ask?"
"Did you happen to see where he went?"
Yan Lidong froze. Indeed, he happened to catch a glimpse of a map, but he couldn't make sense of it even if he stared at it all day, let alone after a brief glance. There was no way he could give a plausible explanation, but no mind, he could just make something up.
"I think he was headed towards City 5," he said, after pretending to fall into thought.
"City 5?! The one that was hit by a huge zombie attack?! No wonder he was in such poor straits."
Botany narrowed her eyes. "Wait, but there are barely any people heading for City 5, and the platform is pretty out of the way. How did you know exactly where he was? Were you… following him?"
Yan Lidong shook his head sadly. "Goodness, no. I only saw him because I came from City 5—my house got wrecked during the attack. I'm currently destitute, so I hoped I could make a living here."
Though he was thankful that he had a convenient excuse, he truly wanted to stop playing the role of someone honest and kind, yet had been left penniless. Only the latter part of that description was true, which he was going to change. Not that he planned on acting kindly—he just wanted to make money.
"Oh, I see. I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm sure that the Guild has some work for you. They work directly under the Lord, so the pay should be decent," Botany suggested. "Just head down that street, take a right, and then a left after two blocks. Keep going straight and you'll get there. It should take about half an hour." She then turned to He Jiuyu. "Well, even if City 5 isn't doing too great, it's not as though we can chase him. Besides, the Lord will personally oversee the clean-up, so the kid shouldn't be in danger. Let's go."
As he watched the siblings speed off, Yan Lidong was left standing in place. His smile had not yet faded, though he internally realised that he was in deep trouble.
Regarding the directions that Botany gave him, it would take a miracle for him to follow them properly. The chances of him accidentally walking to City 5 were higher than actually making it to the Guild. Nevertheless, hearing that they worked under the Lord was far too tempting; he had quite a bit of gossip to catch up on, after all. With nothing to lose, he started walking.
The result was exactly as expected. More than an hour later, he was certain that he was lost. Not a single person was in sight, and any signs of civilisation were dwindling by the second. Deciding to cut his losses, Yan Lidong turned around, intending to go back the way he came.
"Disgusting. Don't bother trying to imitate him with that sickening expression. You're sullying his name," a chilling voice pierced through the silence.
"Hah! Even after being tricked so many times, a bigshot like you still believes every clue you find," a man replied, sneering. "Who'd think you were such a fool? After all this time, it's obvious that guy's dead."
"And it's obvious that you're desperate to die," the other spat. "Leave. I'll treat this as a warning—if I ever see you again, I won't grant you the same grace."
Yan Lidong, having nearly turned down the alleyway where the voices were coming from, immediately stepped backwards and headed in another direction. For the sake of preserving his life, there were some things that were best left alone, which very much included the murderous guy back there.
The figure in the alleyway turned to look at the direction Yan Lidong had been in. Glancing at the pest that had fallen to his knees before him, gasping for air, the figure narrowed his eyes. He clenched his hand into a fist, causing the man to collapse onto the ground. Throughout this, the figure had never physically touched him, even maintaining a large distance, yet the man felt a force tightly constricting around his throat.
"I'm—sorry—hic… my Lord…" the person choked out.
A sigh. "You really don't learn." Nevertheless, he unclenched his fist, allowing the man to desperately gulp in breaths of air.
"M-my Lord… I knew you were merciful…"
"The person who just scurried away. Did you enlist the help of another rat?"
"I d-didn't! I didn't even see anyone! It must be someone else with malicious intent—"
The Lord placed a finger to his lips. The man immediately stopped talking. "That's enough squawking. Get out."
The man frantically nodded before scrambling away. For a while, the Lord stood in place, his eyes lowered. He let out a trembling breath of air.
"Please be out there, Lidong."