Chapter 71: You Smell So Good

"Susu, I've told you the whole truth. And I promise you now—if you help me, everything I have is yours. If we actually find the Eye of Gold, the Murong Family will become your greatest backing." Murong Mengli looked straight into Su Mu's eyes, her gaze filled with determination and sincerity.

Whether out of some twisted sense of amusement or not, she still hadn't dropped the pet name.

"And if we can't find it?"

Murong Mengli smiled, though a touch of coldness crept into her expression. "Even if we don't, I won't let your efforts go to waste. All the assets under my name, Bronze Coffin, and even my own body—I'll give them all to you.

"You might think I'm cheap for saying this, but I've truly never been with a man. I'm doing this for revenge more than anything else!

"If we don't find the Eye of Gold, I'll have no choice but to follow the family's arrangement and marry Qian Zihao. But before that happens, I will absolutely find a man, and that man is you."

She picked up her glass and drained it in a single gulp, her cheeks flushing an even deeper crimson.

Su Mu raised an eyebrow. The woman was unbelievably stubborn about giving herself away. He understood her reluctance to let Qian Zihao have her for nothing, but why fixate on him?

He considered his tone for a moment before saying, "Miss Mengli, I always thought we were friends."

Murong Mengli blinked. As if intoxicated, she propped her cheek on her hand and stared fixedly at Su Mu, his flawless face reflecting

"Susu, I've told you the whole truth. And I promise you now: if you help me, everything I have is yours. If we really find the Eye of Gold, the Murong Family will become your greatest ally." Murong Mengli looked straight into Su Mu's eyes, her gaze filled with determination and sincerity.

Whether out of some twisted sense of amusement or not, she still hadn't dropped the pet name.

"And if we can't find it?"

Murong Mengli smiled, though a touch of coldness crept into her expression. "Even if we don't find it, I won't let you work for nothing. All the assets to my name, Bronze Coffin, and even my own body—I'll give them all to you.

"You might think me cheap for saying this, but I've truly never been with a man. I'm doing this for revenge more than anything else!

"If we don't find the Eye of Gold, I'll have no choice but to follow the family's arrangement and marry Qian Zihao. But before that happens, I'm going to find a man, and that man is going to be you."

She picked up her glass and drained it in a single gulp, her face flushing an even deeper crimson.

Su Mu raised an eyebrow. The woman was unbelievably stubborn about giving herself away. He understood her refusal to let Qian Zihao have her so easily, but why fixate on him?

He considered his tone for a moment before saying, "Miss Mengli, I always thought we were friends."

Murong Mengli blinked. Looking thoroughly drunk, she propped her cheek on her hand and stared straight at Su Mu, his flawless face reflecting in her pupils.

Her red lips parted slightly. "Is friendship such an inconvenient thing? What's wrong with good friends sharing a bed?"

"Heh. If you say so."

"You know... because of what happened when I was little, I really hate men. But after meeting you, I realized I just hate filthy men. You're different from them."

Murong Mengli's eyes grew increasingly unfocused as she wrinkled her delicate nose. "You smell so good. You give me this feeling... like your saliva would taste delicious."

Su Mu silently pushed up his Tinted Glasses. "Miss Mengli, you're drunk."

Afterward, Su Mu took Murong Mengli back to her company, slipped off her high heels, and tucked her in like a perfect gentleman.

Though she had been flirting shamelessly earlier, she was surprisingly quiet in her drunken state. She was already fast asleep, her brows occasionally knitting together to reveal a trace of helpless hatred that made her look rather pitiful.

Once Su Mu left, Murong Mengli silently opened her eyes in bed. Staring angrily up at the ceiling, she muttered, "Damn Susu! Not even that was enough to win you over!"

Scenes of their dinner and Su Mu's reactions kept looping in her mind. A sudden wave of shame and indignation washed over her, making her grind her teeth in frustration. Finally, she bit down on the blanket, thrashing her head from side to side and tearing at it like a petulant puppy.

Her life experiences made it profoundly difficult for her to trust anyone. Even though Su Mu had agreed to help, her instincts drove her to forge an even sturdier chain between them. And what else could a woman rely on to tie down a man?

But evidently, she had failed.

Su Mu was gone, having returned to District 13.

In truth, he had known all along that Murong Mengli was faking her sleep. He simply hadn't called her out on it, and he had even agreed to her request.

He had his own plans. Before, he thought he could use his hypnosis to carve out a path into the Upper District and track down a Transcendent Potion, but now he had changed his mind.

If an illegitimate noble daughter like Murong Mengli carried a defensive Artifact capable of resisting hypnosis, the other nobles would be even better equipped. That meant there was no way he could puppet a noble anytime soon. Unfortunately, Transcendent Potions, Artifacts, and the like were almost entirely monopolized by the nobility.

That made cooperation his best option. A noble with little real power would be much easier to control.

Three days later, at the appointed time, Su Mu gathered Yang Dongqing and set out. He didn't bring any underlings from the Poisonous Snake Gang this time. He was a Transcendent now, and ordinary people could offer him less and less help. Besides, there would be plenty of Nightmare Apostles to use for this expedition into the Abandoned District; they weren't exactly short on manpower.

When he met up with Yang Dongqing, he found the usually hot-blooded young man hanging his head in absolute despondency. His face was a picture of despair, and his eyes were devoid of any will to live—he looked exactly like a man who had just been dumped.

"Did you break up?"

Yang Dongqing remained silent, his face utterly wooden.

Su Mu didn't say anything else. He simply led Yang Dongqing out, and they set off for the Upper District.

A heavy silence stretched for a long time on the road before Yang Dongqing finally spoke. "Does love even exist in this world?"

Su Mu frowned slightly. He had no interest in playing relationship counselor, so he didn't answer. He simply marveled at the fickleness of romance. A man and a woman who had been ready to die for each other just days ago had already broken up?

Cases like this were uncommon but hardly rare. A man and a woman might fall in love on impulse, willing to risk everything. But once the passion cooled and the mundane reality of being together set in, they would realize they just weren't a match.

He even considered whether he should find Yang Dongqing another woman. Otherwise, the man might become difficult to control.

Unaware of Su Mu's thoughts, Yang Dongqing continued, "Jasmine cheated on me."

Cheated?

Su Mu's eyes flickered. This was entirely different from the simple lovers' spat he had assumed. Why would Jasmine cheat? He understood her character—she was stubborn and kind, yet highly pragmatic. A woman like her would never cheat after securing Yang Dongqing. Where else was she going to find a Transcendent boyfriend?

He suspected there was a hidden reason behind this.

"Why did Jasmine cheat? Who did she cheat with?"

Yang Dongqing lifted his head and looked at Su Mu, his eyes brimming with sorrow. The look was intense enough to make Su Mu's expression turn a little strange; he was half afraid the next word out of the guy's mouth would be, "You."

"I don't know. She refuses to tell me."

"Then how do you know she cheated?"

Yang Dongqing grew agitated. "I saw a red mark on Jasmine's neck yesterday! And she was wearing incredibly expensive new clothes. She must have met some rich guy during her singing gigs lately! I asked her where the red mark came from, and she stammered for ages without giving me a straight answer!

"That bitch! I was so wrong about her! I loved her so much, but she..."

He buried his head in his hands. Judging by the constant trembling of his shoulders, he was crying.

Su Mu faintly sensed that something was off. This simply wasn't something Jasmine would do. She had absolutely no reason to cheat. Had someone forced her?

He didn't voice his guess, however. The immediate priority was exploring the Abandoned District, not wasting time on Jasmine.