“A new blend. It's for you.”
Shen Tan reached into her dress pocket with her other hand, pulled out a frosted glass perfume vial, and placed it in Bai Ci's hand. Inside, a pale gold liquid shimmered faintly.
The vial bore her signature label, featuring a brand-new name: “Withered Flower.”
Shen Tan's voice came soft and gentle through her sheer veil, carrying a rare trace of liveliness. It was the relaxed state she only ever slipped into when discussing her craft.
“Thank you. What made you suddenly decide to give me this?” Bai Ci smiled in delight as she accepted the vial.
Shen Tan seemed about to answer, but before she could speak, someone cut into their conversation.
“Miss Shen, Bai Ci.”
Qu Ling walked over with slow steps, her expression perfectly composed and polite.
She had taken the initiative to greet them, hoping to naturally ease into the conversation and sniff out a few clues.
Shen Tan's veil shifted slightly, but she completely ignored Qu Ling's greeting as if she were nothing more than an irrelevant breeze. Her eyes remained fixed entirely on Bai Ci, whose wrist she still held.
An awkward silence descended upon them.
Qu Ling stood frozen in her greeting posture, the smile stiffening on her lips.
She patiently waited a moment, but Shen Tan still gave no response. The tension in the air grew increasingly palpable.
“Qu Ling, come over here for a second. Let's go over the details one more time.”
Just then, the team leader's voice drifted over, calling out to her.
This timely call rescued Qu Ling from her embarrassment. Suppressing her frustration, she cast a glance at Shen Tan, then at Bai Ci, before calling out an acknowledgment and turning to leave.
Once Qu Ling was entirely out of earshot and the surroundings fell quiet again, Bai Ci took the opportunity to ask in a low voice.
“Shen Tan, why didn't you answer her just now?”
Without waiting for Shen Tan's reply, she followed up, keeping Sang Lan's strange reaction from yesterday in mind. “Is there some kind of smell on Qu Ling? Do you not like it?”
Of course, this second question was the real focus of Bai Ci's inquiry.
She hadn't smelled anything on Qu Ling herself, but she couldn't ignore what Sang Lan had said yesterday. Her only option was to seek help from Shen Tan, who had been set up with an incredibly sharp sense of smell.
Hearing this, Shen Tan tilted her head slightly with an air of pure innocence, as if puzzled by why Bai Ci would suddenly ask such a thing.
After a brief pause, she spoke slowly.
“The smell.”
She repeated the words, as if savoring the faint trace lingering in the air.
“It is the scent of raw honey.”
“I can't believe she actually went to the apiary.”
Actually?
The inclusion of that word naturally carried a wealth of unspoken meaning.
Using such a word implied that the apiary was by no means an ordinary location in the village. It wasn't a place just anyone could wander into, especially outsiders like their production crew.
In that case, did the nauseating smell Sang Lan mentioned also refer to the scent of the apiary that Qu Ling had tracking on her?
From the looks of it, there was a very high probability that this was the case.
If so, Qu Ling might have truly unearthed an incredible clue, but she had left behind a glaring trail in the process.
Moreover, it was a scent she herself likely couldn't detect, but was blindingly obvious to the olfactory senses of whatever entities were replacing people.
Sang Lan found the smell of raw honey disgusting.
Could this imply that carrying the scent of raw honey could actually prevent someone from being replaced by those unknown entities?
Ah, she understood. It was like a liquid or gaseous version of an Elder Sign.
Bai Ci wanted to strike while the iron was hot and ask more about the apiary.
But before she could utter a single syllable, a cheerful male voice drifted past them, cutting their conversation short.
“Ci-mei'er.”
Sang Lan walked over with a light step, holding a small white porcelain fruit plate. On it were bright red, plump strawberries, freshly bought from the market yesterday.
He walked straight up to Bai Ci, picked up a strawberry, and naturally fed it to her lips.
“Here, say ah—”
Bai Ci took a bite, reaching out to take the remaining half from Sang Lan's fingers.
Sang Lan leaned in slightly and whispered in her ear with a quick wink, “Just for you. Don't let the team leader catch us.”
Once he saw Bai Ci quickly devour the evidence, he stood back up, strolled past them, and returned to his work.
It seemed he had only dropped by to feed his girlfriend a quick snack.
Yet in those few short seconds when Sang Lan had approached, lingered, and walked away, Bai Ci felt the hand around her wrist—Shen Tan's hand—suddenly tighten.
Only after Sang Lan's figure had completely vanished back into the church did Shen Tan slowly speak.
“Is that... the boyfriend you mentioned?”
“Yes, that's Sang Lan,” Bai Ci confirmed with a nod, not hesitating for a second.
Upon receiving her confirmation, Shen Tan fell silent for a brief moment. Then, she raised her eyes once more, staring straight at Bai Ci through the hazy veil.
A second later, the girl's soft, uninhibited voice drifted out, repeating yesterday's absurd invitation.
“In that case, you can come be my baby's father now.”
Bai Ci had no choice but to recycle yesterday's excuse. “I can't, Shen Tan. Didn't you just see him? I have a boyfriend, and we're very stable.”
But Shen Tan didn't care in the slightest. Her tone was flat, yet it carried an almost absolute sense of prophecy.
“It doesn't matter. He won't like you much longer anyway.”
Bai Ci froze.
Why would Shen Tan say that?
First, Shen Tan's sense of smell was far superior to that of ordinary people, allowing her to catch subtle scents that went entirely unnoticed by others.
For instance, she could detect the trace of perfume on Bai Ci from a distance.
And just now, she had precisely identified the scent of raw honey on Qu Ling.
Second, Sang Lan himself was fundamentally problematic. He wasn't a normal human, so it wouldn't be surprising for him to carry some strange scent.
Putting these two points together, her train of thought became clear.
The moment Sang Lan had drawn near, Shen Tan must have caught some abnormal scent on him. That was why she was so absolutely certain that this "Sang Lan" would soon lose his affection for her.
Was it the scent of whatever left behind the replacement marks?
A flurry of doubts began to stir in Bai Ci's mind.
Just as she was about to press for answers, a familiar voice suddenly returned, cutting in with a mix of deliberate grievance and possessiveness.
“How could I ever stop liking Ci-mei'er?”
Sang Lan had doubled back. He naturally threw an arm over Bai Ci's shoulder, pulling her close to his side in an obvious display of ownership.
Having already put away the things he was holding, he was now free to stride right back over to her side.
He looked down at Shen Tan, a sharp edge creeping into his gaze.
“What kind of nonsense are you whispering to my girl? I will always love her. That will never change.”
Facing Sang Lan's resolute declaration, Shen Tan suddenly let out a low chuckle.
The amusement in her voice was incredibly faint, laced with unmistakable mockery and ridicule.
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