Did Lin Yilin tell this woman about herself, or did she truly have this strange preference?
Zheng Fan was skeptical.
Hong Yijia took out a dial-like object from her jacket pocket: "If he doesn't want to see me, then I'll just have to go find him myself." With that, she pressed the button on it.
Instantly, centered around that strange instrument, a faint black color spread outwards, covering Lin Yilin's entire office.
Countless black particles with red appeared on Toast's body, while Lin Yilin's body showed slight black and red.
Hong Yijia herself was very clean, an immaculate white, but the items she carried contained a large amount of black and red.
In the same situation, Lu Lu Shoes, curled up in a shoebox in the corner, also had nowhere to hide, and the coffee machine was no different.
As for Zheng Fan, he only felt a gentle breeze pass by, and then…
Nothing happened on his side.
Lin Yilin looked at Zheng Fan's side, then turned to Hong Yijia.
Hong Yijia was also stunned, scanning the office: "Eh? It's not working?"
She looked suspiciously at the sofa, which was where Zheng Fan should have been, her brow slightly furrowed: "Is the depth very deep then? That would be within expectations..."
Her finger slowly slid along the scale of the instrument in her hand, and the blackness spreading from the instrument layered on top of each other, gradually casting a gloomy filter over the surroundings.
Even though it was sunny outside, the interior of the office already resembled a horror movie set.
When a certain threshold was reached, the instrument began to emit a warning siren.
Hong Yijia's eyes widened as she adjusted the instrument in her hand.
Click—
Until she adjusted the instrument's influence depth to its maximum, the instrument's siren became a continuous air-raid alarm, yet the thing she wanted to see still did not appear.
It wasn't entirely without effect; at a certain depth, Zheng Fan did feel as if he was about to break through a certain barrier.
But in this situation, even a fool would know what would likely happen after breaking through the barrier. Holding onto his dislike for this woman, Zheng Fan reined himself in.
He simply didn't want to be seen on a subjective level, so the barrier that was about to break through calmed down.
Being able to avoid contact so easily made Zheng Fan murmur to himself, wishing that his will could be expressed just as easily when he wanted others to see him.
"What a joke... Xiao Lin, what on earth have you found..." Hong Yijia's shock was hard to describe with simple words; for a moment, she was at a loss.
"Stop joking around, turn off the contact instrument first." Lin Yilin glanced out the window, raising her voice slightly and speaking loudly.
Hong Yijia turned her head after coming to her senses. At this moment, outside the office window, gazes that did not belong to reality met theirs through the glass.
Hong Yijia's expression, which had been startled by Zheng Fan, quickly composed itself, and she lowered her eyelids slightly: "Scram."
The things outside the window, which were about to invade, immediately dispersed one after another.
At this point, Hong Yijia slowly adjusted the instrument in her hand back to its original state until it was completely off, and the horror movie filter finally disappeared.
Lin Yilin watched this scene and could only sigh inwardly: it was normal for her not to encounter Illusions.
A natural Pure White Factor possessor finds it difficult to go to other worlds, and also difficult to be touched by things from other worlds. If not for the large number of special tools she carried, Hong Yijia could be said to be completely insulated from Dadu's supernatural elements.
Hong Yijia didn't care about these things; she was still bothered that the Illusion Lin Yilin was hiding couldn't even be revealed.
Lin Yilin took this opportunity to go out and check, confirming that the things attracted by the contact instrument had not left any residue.
When she returned, Hong Yijia grabbed her arm: "So Xiao Lin, what exactly is that Illusion you found...? If you're kidnapped, just blink."
Lin Yilin stared straight at her.
"I already overestimated you, thinking you might bring in a high-depth Illusion, but this contact instrument of mine is specially made. Maintaining the highest depth for a period can even trigger an instantaneous black overlap. If even this can't make the other party appear... then that's no ordinary Illusion!" Hong Yijia became serious.
Lin Yilin patted her shoulder: "Just calm down first. Coffee?"
Hong Yijia's serious expression immediately broke: "Extra sugar, please."
...
In the office's reception area, Lin Yilin sat on her single sofa, Hong Yijia sat on the sofa opposite her across the coffee table, and Zheng Fan lay lazily on the long sofa in the middle.
Three steaming cups of coffee were placed on the coffee table.
Lin Yilin briefly told Hong Yijia about her situation during this period and explained that although her partner Illusion had many problems, he was actually a very intelligent and reasonable existence.
Hong Yijia was still a bit worried, but ultimately, based on their mutual understanding, she still chose to trust Lin Yilin.
Only when Lin Yilin was asked to describe Zheng Fan's appearance, her hesitant manner made Hong Yijia not quite understand.
Zheng Fan then realized that it wasn't that Lin Yilin had pre-arranged with Hong Yijia, but that Hong Yijia really had this preference.
For a good girl to like his type, that truly meant he had made it in this life.
"I see. Well, the office has become lively all of a sudden. I was very worried about you when Uncle Edman left, but at that time, I couldn't come over due to other matters... I'm sorry." Hong Yijia surveyed Lin Yilin's office again, finally let out a sigh of relief, and said to Lin Yilin with a smile.
Lin Yilin, however, said bluntly with a poker face: "At that time, I was indeed cursing all of you in my heart for not being there; not a single person came to the funeral."
Hong Yijia's smile stiffened, and cold sweat broke out on her forehead.
"However... after all, it's not the first time, or perhaps I was mentally prepared long ago. I couldn't have not noticed my foster father's health deteriorating day by day. I adjusted very quickly after the funeral, maybe it didn't even take a day." Lin Yilin lightly glossed over a topic that seemed like it shouldn't be dismissed so easily.
"You can't say that." Hong Yijia glanced at Zheng Fan, or more accurately, her vision could only see the sofa: "Is the feeling of losing a loved one really something one can get used to?"
Lin Yilin looked down at the coffee in her cup: "But I've already forgotten what my biological parents looked like."
"..."
"I'm probably a very heartless person, just as Ye-jie said." Lin Yilin said softly.
"Just take what someone as self-centered as her says with a grain of salt, don't take it to heart." Hong Yijia pouted.
Saying that, she took out a document from her seemingly expensive leather bag: "Moreover, if you're really that heartless, why are you still so fixated on the earthquake from ten years ago?"
She pushed the document, and it slid from one end of the coffee table to the other, stopping in front of Lin Yilin.
"'That earthquake was definitely not a natural phenomenon.' Those were the words you blurted out when we first met and talked about this matter."
Lin Yilin reached out and took the document: "Perhaps it's just interest."
"Again?" Hong Yijia was helpless.
"I don't know." Finally, Lin Yilin could only add in a faint voice.
Zheng Fan watched silently from the side, from Lin Yilin looking at Hong Yijia, then back to Lin Yilin again, without making a sound.