Chapter 53: Chapter 48: One Year_2
“Long time no see, Miss Elsa,” Xu Mo took a seat opposite Elsa and placed a glass of wine in front of her.
Elsa had changed a lot; within a year, she had already lost the arrogance and nobility of the past, even her innocence was gone, and she had matured greatly.
Clearly, she had been through a lot this year.
“Xu Mo, how come you’re here?” Elsa’s voice was low, seemingly suppressing her emotions, and she was genuinely happy to encounter Xu Mo here.
A year ago, her life had fallen from heaven to hell.
All was bleak.
“After that incident, I fled here,” Xu Mo responded, not asking Elsa any questions.
Secretary Jin was the former Councilman’s secretary; before the Councilman stepped down, he had sent someone to kill Xu Mo, but after stepping down, his power must have been purged, allowing Elsa and the others to live in peace, perhaps.
However, without Secretary Jin’s protection, one could imagine the fate of Elsa and her daughter.
“What about Mia, is she here?” Elsa asked, glancing around as if searching for Mia’s figure.
“No, we got separated while fleeing. I was hoping to ask you if you had seen Miss Mia,” Xu Mo said, sounding somewhat disappointed.
After that turmoil, he had quietly focused on cultivation for a long time.
Later, he came to the main urban area, busy earning money while searching for Mia and the others, but had not found them.
The bar had been open for a few months now; he hadn’t expected to meet Elsa here.
“Don’t worry, Xu Mo, we’ll find her sooner or later,” Elsa comforted him upon hearing his words, but then she seemed to realize that Xu Mo had grown up.
This year, Xu Mo had grown a lot taller and had matured a lot.
“Mhm,” Xu Mo nodded.
A silence followed.
After all, it seemed they weren’t that close.
“Xu Mo, do you work here?” Elsa glanced around their surroundings and inquired.
“Yes, I learned bartending. The pay is okay,” Xu Mo replied.
“Congratulations,” Elsa smiled and said, “But with your talent, you could probably find a better job.”
Xu Mo knew Elsa was referring to music, but that was not his talent.
Elsa raised her glass to Xu Mo, and they clinked their glasses lightly, after which Elsa took a gulp of the wine.
“Cough, cough…” Right after taking a drink, Elsa started coughing violently; clearly, she wasn’t used to drinking alcohol.
“It’s a bit bitter,” Elsa said, looking a bit embarrassed.
Xu Mo gently nodded, realizing that Elsa had likely come to drink deliberately, perhaps to numb herself.
They didn’t talk, and Elsa silently drank.
With one glass down, her cheeks were a bit red, her head a little dizzy, but she still retained her wits.
“So, drinking doesn’t help,” Elsa murmured, as if mocking herself.
“Miss Elsa, you should go back early,” Xu Mo said.
“Mhm,” Elsa nodded, looked at Xu Mo with hesitation, and finally mustered the courage to say, “Xu Mo, can you walk me home?”
Seeing Xu Mo not responding immediately, Elsa added, “I live not far from here.”
She seemed very afraid of Xu Mo saying no.
Xu Mo saw a slight expectancy in Elsa’s tipsy eyes, hesitated for a moment, and then gently nodded; he could see she was very vulnerable at the moment.
Although Elsa’s father was his enemy, the images of Elsa and Yaoer playing together came to his mind, and he found it impossible to harbor any feelings of hatred towards Elsa.
She was a pitiable person too.
Xu Mo went back to the bar and spoke to Sister Butterfly, “Sister Butterfly, I’m going out for a bit.”
Ye Qingdie nodded her head.
As Xu Mo approached Elsa, she had already risen to her feet and was waiting for him. A hint of joy gleamed in her eyes as the two left the tavern together.
“Sister Butterfly, you can tolerate this?” Xiao Qi teased from the side.
Ye Qingdie glared at him.
“Xu Mo is such a flirt, almost becoming every woman’s buddy,” Xiao Qi muttered.
Yet, he was very envious.
He looked at himself in the mirror, wondering where he fell short…
Xu Mo and Elsa walked on the dimly lit bar street. Elsa walked slowly, kicking the stones beneath her feet. She whispered, “Xu Mo, did you know? My father is dead.”
Xu Mo knew, of course. He said softly, “My condolences.”
“My father was a bad man. He did a lot of wrong things, and it seems like he got what he deserved,” Elsa said calmly, as if she were narrating someone else’s story.
“But I don’t hate him at all. My father truly loved my mother and me. All the wrong things he did were for us. He said we could move, and that I could go to the music academy.”
“Later on, I learned that the move he spoke of was to the world above. He always wanted to send me up there. You know, the Underworld is not really a world at all,” Elsa looked at Xu Mo.
“I know a little,” Xu Mo nodded. Elsa looked a bit surprised and said, “Right, you’ve always been smart. I could tell when you came to the main city last time. Tell me, if it wasn’t for me, would my father not have done those bad things?”
Xu Mo didn’t respond.
Elsa lowered her head, seemingly pondering the question seriously, as if it had confused her for a long time.
“Later on, we ran into some difficulties,” continued Elsa, her eyes reddening a bit as she spoke softly, “Mother remarried, to protect me.”
Xu Mo sighed in his heart; Elsa and her mother were both beautiful. Living alone in the Underworld was indeed very dangerous.
“They all did it for me, but what can I do? I can’t do anything.” Elsa was lost in her emotions, tears brimming in her eyes.
Xu Mo quietly listened, accompanying her along the road.
“I’m sorry, Xu Mo, for telling you all this,” Elsa said, wiping away her tears, forcing a smile. She was in so much pain internally that she wanted to escape.
“It’s okay,” Xu Mo responded softly, and they walked in silence.
Unconsciously, the two arrived at a private villa area.
Elsa stood outside the courtyard gate, turned to look at Xu Mo, and said with a smile, “Thank you, Xu Mo.”
Xu Mo smiled and nodded.
“I’ll come to see you when I have the chance,” Elsa whispered.
“Alright,” Xu Mo nodded. Elsa entered the courtyard. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, turned to look at Xu Mo, and appeared to be struggling internally.
But in the end, she said nothing, just smiled and added, “Goodbye.”
What could Xu Mo do?
In this Underworld, he was just a common person at the very bottom. Just being able to see her had already made him happy.
“Goodbye,” Xu Mo turned and left. As he sensed, after Elsa entered the courtyard, her body trembled continuously, filled with fear.
From the upstairs window of the villa in the courtyard, a pair of eyes watched her, filled with a hint of greed, those of a fifty-year-old man.
He watched Xu Mo’s departing figure, his eyes cold.
Despite turning his back, Xu Mo still sensed everything behind him: the old man’s gaze and the exposed body in the house, along with the scars on it.
That was Elsa’s mother.
Was she remarried, or just a mistress?
Xu Mo walked back. Before long, someone followed him, his hand already reaching for the gun holster, intending to commit murder in broad daylight.
Xu Mo was not surprised; nothing in the Underworld would shock him.
Just as the man behind tried to draw his gun, Xu Mo suddenly turned and gave him a look. He froze, only to see a pair of terrifying eyes, within which a strange light seemed to flow. The next moment, the streetlight above his head exploded, and a current of electricity struck him directly. The current grew stronger, causing his body to convulse violently as he fell down, his body charred black.
Xu Mo put on his hat and left quietly as if nothing had happened. Passersby looked at the streetlight above the man and lamented his bad luck, struck dead by electricity.