Deep in the Living
Chapter 98 - 92 Masks

Chapter 98: Chapter 92 Masks

The next day,

Due to the excitement of seeing her best friend again last night, Anna was lying in bed scrolling through old photos and videos with Wu Wen until very late before falling asleep.

By the time she woke up, it was already nine o’clock.

Sleeping in at this stage of their lives is considered quite a sin for young people.

Although her brain was still foggy with lingering sleepiness, after a struggle, she sat up and quickly put on her oversized summer outfit that even required professional customization.

With her messy blonde hair, she walked out of the bedroom, and to her surprise, the moment she opened the door, she smelled a fragrance and heard sounds from the kitchen.

Approaching, she saw Luo Di busily working in the kitchen,

"Go wash up, we’ll have noodles shortly."

"Oh..."

By the time she came out of the bathroom, a steaming bowl of beef noodles was already on the table, and with one bite, she was instantly awake.

"Delicious! Do you usually cook for yourself here?"

"No, I went out for a morning run today and bought the ingredients on the way because I didn’t know how long you would sleep. If I had packaged the noodles directly, they would have turned mushy, so I bought some ingredients to cook on the spot."

"Thank you. Wenwen must have had some too, right?"

"Yeah, the class president likes it a lot."

"That’s great~"

Anna glanced at the mountaineering bag on the sofa, then buried her head in eating.

"Anna."

"Hm?" Anna, with a big bundle of noodles in her mouth, lifted her head from the bowl.

"I need you to accompany me to the commercial street later."

Chewing heartily and swallowing the noodles in her mouth, Anna quickly nodded, "Okay, there’s no rush in taking on the case. It’s fine if we rest for a few more days."

"No need to rest, let’s go straight to the Investigation Bureau after I get something custom-made."

"Clothes?"

"A mask."

...

Although it’s summer, the city at the northern end wasn’t too hot, with the outdoor temperature maintaining at 25°C.

Ordinary young men like Luo Di wouldn’t attract much attention walking on the street, but with Anna joining him, the rate of second glances shot up to about 90%.

Central pedestrian street,

Most of the shops here are opened by Italians, with some offering private tailoring services.

When asked about custom-making masks, the shop owners generally refused, as either they didn’t offer such services, or Luo Di’s requirements were beyond what they could meet.

After searching through no less than twenty clothing stores with no success, the time had also reached past one in the afternoon.

Just as the two were about to deal with their lunch issue, a shop hidden at the end of the street caught Luo Di’s attention.

[Cerberus’s Curiosity Room]

The windows and shelves were filled with various odd handcrafted artifacts, and an old man with mechanical goggles was gluing together a doll behind the counter.

Welcome!

As he pushed open the door,

A mechanism on the door connected to a birdcage beside it, a bird resembling a horned parrot with a clockwork mechanism imitated human speech.

The owner didn’t greet them at first but waited until he finished the work in his hands before turning his gaze,

"Feel free to choose, the price is negotiable."

"Do you make custom masks here?"

"What kind of mask?"

Luo Di handed over the design sketch he rushed to copy last night, "As hard as possible."

The old man twisted his mechanical goggles with his fingers, scrutinizing the mask on the paper, observing even the pressure of each line drawn.

Then, the old man’s eyes shifted from the mask to Luo Di’s face.

"You have a face yet you need a mask.

Not to hide, but to reveal your true self, am I right? I can make it for you, but it might be a bit pricey."

"How much."

The owner stretched out all the fingers on his right hand.

"Fifty thousand Rubles?"

"No... five hundred thousand."

"Why so expensive?" Luo Di, despite receiving a hefty compensation from the Four Middle School Incident, could afford the price, but it seemed excessively high.

The owner glanced at Luo Di and quickly averted his gaze.

"I never like to skimp on my work, your mask drawing conveys too much information, it’s extremely intricate, I can even see your emotions through the strokes.

To transfer all the details from the drawing into a real object, the energy required might exceed the rough estimate I initially gave."

I will naturally use the best materials that are most suitable for you.

If you find it too expensive, please feel free to leave."

"How much is the deposit?"

"30%."

Just as Luo Di was about to pay with his ring, Anna, who was standing next to him, stepped forward to help with the payment, but the shop owner stopped her.

"This is entirely the gentleman’s affair, and he should be responsible for the cost himself."

Luo Di nodded in agreement with the owner’s statement.

"All right! Let’s start with a facial mask mold. Leave your phone number, and I will notify you when it’s ready."

"How long will it take?"

"About ten days."

Luo Di wanted to say that it seemed a bit long, but seeing the serious look on the shop owner’s face, he didn’t say more. After all, he and Anna were going to stay in Mingwang City for a while.

The molding is complete.

After leaving the shop, Anna brought up a topic, "You really like Murderer movies, don’t you?"

"Yeah."

"I’ve seen a few before, but not many... If we have time later, we can watch some together."

"Sure."

Luo Di happily accepted the suggestion. It seemed that from a certain moment on, watching movies with others became more enjoyable than watching alone.

As the two of them chatted about movies, emerging from the alley where the shop was located, a voice suddenly sounded, speaking in Mandarin with a noticeable accent and local dialect.

"Fortune telling, guaranteed accuracy! You don’t pay if it’s not accurate."

Turning their heads to look, they saw a Huaxia young man with a bun and round-frame sunglasses setting up a stall at the corner.

In front of him was a freshly bought foldable table with the price tag still attached.

On top of the table, he had a large piece of freshly printed Bagua (Eight Trigrams) paper that wasn’t even color printed.

Next to it, there was a [Morning Star Notebook (primary school version)] and a black ballpoint pen with a retail price tag still attached.

The clothes he was wearing were not a formal Daoist robe, but rather a tailored and modified black cloth shirt that looked like it came from a trendy brand.

At a glance, the most fortune-teller-like thing about this young man were the cloth shoes on his feet.

As the two of them looked over, the young Taoist continued to speak:

"Mingwang City, oh, it’s vast and sparsely populated, where land and water intersect, truly a swamp.

Rash travelers like you can easily stumble and get trapped if not careful. Why not take a break, rest a bit~ Let me tell your fortune."

Luo Di found this suddenly appearing fortune-telling stall a bit suspicious.

"Investigation Bureau?"

The young Taoist pushed his sunglasses up, "Do I look like it? Please sit, please sit. My fortune telling is a bargain, much cheaper than anything on this street, and it’s also very useful."

Luo Di had no intention to continue the conversation and turned to leave. He never believed in these things; he only trusted himself.

Seeing that the customers he had been waiting for were about to leave, the Taoist hurriedly pulled out a wooden business card from his clothes and handed it over.

"Here’s my card, if you ever need fortune-telling advice, feel free to contact me anytime. After all, we’re from the same place."

Luo Di looked at the somewhat unique wooden card, which was carelessly engraved with only the name "Yu Ze" and a line for fortune-telling contact number: YUZE-██████.

To convince him, Yu Ze began to frisk himself, even shaking his clothes, causing a bunch of wooden business cards to fall onto the table.

"Fellow townsman, I’m not deceiving you, I really do tell fortunes.

I used to be quite active around Chinese Street, but recently there have been a series of disappearances among young people our age, causing widespread panic. I had no choice but to move out.

The rental prices out here are much more expensive than in Chinese Street, so I can only try to set up shop here, earning whatever I can.

It’s rare to meet someone from the same place on this street, and seeing that we’re about the same age, I wanted to meet you, there was no ill will.

And your girlfriend is quite eye-catching; I couldn’t have ignored you guys unless I was actually blind.

No offense, but with my skinny frame, I couldn’t think of having such a girlfriend in this lifetime. Fellow townsman, I truly admire you."

Anna, who was next to him and could understand Mandarin, shifted her body and shook her head upon catching the word "girlfriend."

Luo Di dubiously responded, "No need for fortune-telling. The situation in Chinese Street has been resolved. You can move back anytime."

"Really? That’s great news. If you ever need fortune-telling, don’t forget to call me."

Luo Di waved his hand and turned to leave, not taking the business card with him. He seemed to have no interest in fortune telling at all, leaving the card in the pile on the table.

Yu Ze could only shrug his shoulders and continue staying there.

However, the stall did not last. After waiting for about ten minutes, he began to tidy up the business cards on the table, picking out the one that Luo Di had touched.

He brought it close to his lips and blew gently.

Suddenly,

The entire business card began to burn, a kind of combustion without flames, emitting a pungent smell of sulfur.

"Sss~"

Yu Ze quickly tossed away the nearly burned-out card in his hand, watching the hellish ashes floating in the air, his eyes narrowing behind the sunglasses.

"This trip wasn’t in vain."