"Thank you, sir."

Lu Anning paid the fare, then pushed open the car door and turned her head to thank him.

"You’re welcome, young lady. Don’t forget your umbrella in the trunk."

The driver smiled and nodded at Lu Anning. He glanced up at the sky; it was clear for miles, without a single cloud. It didn’t look like it was going to rain at all.

And since it was still nighttime, there was even less need for sun protection. The driver couldn’t quite figure out why this young girl would bring an umbrella out with her.

The umbrella’s shape was unusual. Its body was especially long, and the tip wasn’t round but more of a diamond shape, looking incredibly sharp.

He didn’t ask any more questions, though.

After all, an umbrella wasn’t exactly a novelty.

He’d had female passengers bring vibrators into his car before, some even leaving pink panties behind for him to find later.

’Ahem. Of course, those were just the Master’s trials. I would never actually get involved with those female passengers.’

While the driver was lost in these random thoughts,

Lu Anning had already slammed the trunk shut with a THUD. Holding a pink umbrella in her right hand, she walked gracefully to the driver’s side window, gave a small wave, then turned and headed toward Wealth Plaza.

"What a nice girl. Why is my daughter such a tomboy... Sigh!"

The driver watched Lu Anning’s retreating figure and sighed with emotion before slamming on the gas and shooting away with a WHOOSH.

Su Xing was leaning against a stone pillar by themself, eating octopus balls, their gaze fixed on the girl in the distance.

The moment Lu Anning appeared at Wealth Plaza, Su Xing’s attention was drawn to her. It was hard to miss Lu Anning, carrying a large, pink umbrella all by herself.

Su Xing swallowed the last octopus ball, casually tossed the container into a nearby trash can, and started following her.

Lu Anning walked toward the mall, her head down as she typed. The screen of her phone glowed, a rapid-fire exchange of messages scrolling back and forth with the person on the other end.

They were trying to figure out where to meet.

Soon, Lu Anning entered the mall and took a deep breath, savoring the cool air. Even though it was nighttime, it was still the height of summer, and the heat had made her break a sweat.

Suddenly, a familiar female voice came from the side.

"Ningning, long time no see."

Lu Anning turned her head and saw Liu Shiyu. The tension that had been gripping her heart suddenly eased, and she pouted, a little upset.

"You’re the one who just disappeared."

"If I hadn’t asked Coach Su, I never would have known you’d left the country."

The moment Liu Shiyu appeared in the flesh, all of Lu Anning’s suspicions vanished. ’She’s standing right here,’ she thought. ’There’s no way she could be a fake.’

Hidden in the shadows, Su Xing watched Liu Shiyu and sighed inwardly.

’She’s a perfect copy.’

A copy, yes. A dead ringer—almost a ninety percent match for the Liu Shiyu in Su Xing’s memory.

If Su Xing hadn’t smelled the scent of Sequence Energy on her, they might have started to think they were hallucinating.

’Sequence Energy... I wonder what Sequence this one is.’

Su Xing thought silently.

Meanwhile, when Liu Shiyu heard Lu Anning mention Coach Su, a vicious glint flashed in her eyes before she quickly returned to normal. She just said apologetically,

"I’m sorry."

"It was all so sudden, I didn’t have time to tell you. But I’m back now, aren’t I?"

Liu Shiyu took Lu Anning’s hand and swayed it back and forth. Seeing no reaction from Lu Anning, she put her hands on her hips and said magnanimously,

"Don’t be upset. How about this? Everything Ningning buys today is on me, Miss Liu!"

"Yay!"

The time two girls spend shopping together is an eternity.

Several hours passed in the blink of an eye.

During those few hours, Liu Shiyu and Lu Anning really did just chat and shop. The imposter Liu Shiyu didn’t show the slightest sign of anything being wrong.

Su Xing tailed them the entire time, suddenly getting the distinct feeling of being forced to accompany girls on a shopping trip. They complained silently,

’Is this fake Liu Shiyu not going to make a move?!’

The mall was about to close.

The two of them were finally about to end their shopping trip.

All the shops in the mall were preparing to close. As for other people, there was no one left besides Lu Anning and Liu Shiyu.

Lu Anning and Liu Shiyu stood on the second floor, leaning against the railing and looking down at the first floor, seemingly chatting about something.

"Days like this are pretty nice."

Liu Shiyu said suddenly, watching the shops on the first floor go dark one by one.

"Your tone... you sound like my dad when he talks."

Lu Anning gave Liu Shiyu a strange look and said with a smile.

"Maybe I really am getting old."

"Liu Shiyu... in the end, this is just a borrowed life. It’s time to carry out the mission."

The moment she said "borrowed life," even though Lu Anning couldn’t fully comprehend what she meant, a baseless fear surged into her heart.

In an instant, without a moment’s hesitation, Lu Anning swung the pink umbrella, slashing directly at Liu Shiyu.

The slash was vicious, but Lu Anning was still worried and ultimately avoided Liu Shiyu’s vital points, striking her on the shoulder instead.

An ear-piercing SCREECH rang out as sparks instantly flew.

This made Lu Anning’s eyelids twitch.

In her decade-plus of life, she had never heard of anyone whose body could create sparks when struck by metal.

’Can this still be considered a normal person?’

The thought flashed through Lu Anning’s mind. She immediately took a step back, putting some distance between herself and Liu Shiyu. Aiming the pink umbrella at her, she asked with a hesitant voice,

"Are you a ghost?"

Lu Anning was a model student, so she knew very little about things like web novels. To her, for something to be able to replace her best friend and possess power far beyond that of a normal person—if it wasn’t a ghost, what could it be?

"Sigh. Don’t be so agitated. For now, at least, I’m still Liu Shiyu."

The imposter "Liu Shiyu" seemed to possess a portion of the memories and emotions of whomever she impersonated, which was why she had been reluctant to attack Lu Anning directly. With just a wave of her right hand, all the surveillance cameras in the mall instantly turned to dust, exploding with a BANG.

This scene caused all the shopkeepers in the mall to walk out of their stores, completely bewildered.

Then, in unison, they witnessed a grotesque scene. The skin on "Liu Shiyu’s" face began to peel away like a snake shedding its skin, revealing the true form underneath—nothing but flesh and bone.

"Holy shit!"

It’s unclear which shopkeeper shouted it first, but countless others followed with screams of terror before stampeding toward the emergency exits.

Liu Shiyu seemed to delight in the fear of these mortals. A smile touched her lips as she stood there quietly, waiting until everyone had fled from sight. Only then did she slowly turn to Lu Anning and say,

"Now it’s just the two of us."