She really had been a fan.
And she had probably been much more serious about it than he had imagined.
The tips of Pei Tinglan's ears gradually grew hot.
It was a very strange feeling.
It wasn't just embarrassment.
There was also a trace of unspeakable bewilderment, as if he had been gently bumped by his past self from long ago.
Pei Tinglan lowered his eyes, his right hand unconsciously tightening its grip on the wheelchair's armrest.
His face grew warmer and warmer.
A faint blush surfaced on his pale, delicate face, softening the cold, aloof demeanor he usually maintained to keep others at a distance.
He was naturally exquisite with fair skin, so the blush was impossible to hide. Even his eyes, which were usually cold, now seemed somewhat at a loss.
At this moment, he actually looked a bit soft, like a beautiful hedgehog that had suddenly been flipped onto its back, too startled to even bristle its quills.
Zhu Lingxi finally realized, albeit a bit late, that she seemed to have said the wrong thing.
Watching Cen Yao look as if her soul had left her body, wishing she could vanish on the spot, and seeing the flush on the tips of Pei Tinglan's ears, she slowly shut her mouth.
Then, she quietly shuffled half a step toward the wall, trying her best to minimize her presence.
But the room was only so big.
No matter how much she shrank, she was still a living, breathing person.
What was more, they still had to go downstairs.
And they still had to eat sweet and sour pork.
The silence lasted for too long.
In the end, it was Pei Tinglan who raised his right hand, curled it into a fist against his lips, and coughed twice in a mock attempt to clear his throat.
“Ahem.”
Cen Yao seemed to be jolted out of her petrified state by those two coughs.
She blinked slowly.
Pei Tinglan tried his best to make his voice sound as cold and indifferent as usual.
If one ignored his obviously drifting gaze, they might actually believe he had moved past the embarrassment.
“Um.”
“Shall we go out?”
Cen Yao took a deep breath, dragging her soul back bit by bit from where it had drifted off into outer space.
“Sure.”
“Just a moment. I'll take you out right away.”
She uttered those words almost entirely on instinct, then turned and walked toward the coat hanger.
Back in the real world, she naturally didn't need to keep wearing her witch's robe.
That loose purple robe served as defense, concealment, and power in the dungeons, but at home, it was just too cumbersome.
Cen Yao raised her hand to untie the drawstring at her collar.
The mysterious purple fabric slid down her shoulders.
She casually hung the witch's robe on the hanger, then raised her hand to smooth out her messy hair.
“Let's go.”
She turned around, only to find that neither Zhu Lingxi nor Pei Tinglan had moved.
Not only had they not moved, but their eyes were also wide open.
Zhu Lingxi's finger was still frozen in midair, as if she had wanted to say something but suddenly forgot.
Pei Tinglan was staring at her with an expression so complex it was almost beyond words.
Cen Yao looked down at herself.
Her clothes weren't inside out, and her shoes hadn't fallen off.
There was nothing on her face either.
“What's wrong with you guys?” she asked, bewildered.
No one answered.
Cen Yao grew even more confused.
“Is there something on my face?”
She raised her hand to touch her face.
There wasn't.
“Or is my outfit crooked?”
Zhu Lingxi's lips parted.
“Xiao Yao, you...”
She stopped, seemingly at a loss for words.
Pei Tinglan's brow twitched.
Looking at Cen Yao's completely oblivious expression, he felt a deep sense of helplessness wash over him once more.
She was so clever in the dungeons.
She was terrifyingly calm when drawing magic arrays.
She even knew to immediately extract herself when facing those guild executives.
How could she be this dazed the moment she returned to the real world?
Just as Cen Yao was about to step forward and nudge them, the orb in her consciousness space finally couldn't hold it in any longer.
“Host.”
Cen Yao paused.
“What's wrong?”
The orb tried its best not to sound too gleeful.
However, the little flower on its head was shaking so hard its petals were about to fall off.
“Did you forget?”
“The witch's robe has a function that blocks outside gazes.”
“When you wear the witch's robe, others can only see an outline obscured by magic. They can't see your actual appearance clearly.”
“So...”
It paused.
“This is the first time Pei Tinglan and Zhu Lingxi are seeing what you actually look like.”
It really couldn't hold it in anymore. It was afraid that if it kept holding it, it would burst.
How could a host who was so smart and calm in the dungeons be so delightfully slow-witted in the real world? Hahahahahahaha!
Cen Yao: “...”
Her raised hand froze in midair.
Witch's robe, blocking gazes, real appearance.
The terms spun around in her head.
Cen Yao's expression gradually fractured.
She was doomed.
She had forgotten.
She had truly forgotten this time.
In the dungeons, she had always worn her witch's robe.
The wide brim of the hood and the magic attached to the robe automatically blurred others' vision. People could tell she was a young girl, but they couldn't clearly see her facial features.
She had grown completely accustomed to wearing it.
So accustomed that she instinctively put it on every time she entered a dungeon, and casually took it off upon returning home.
Her head was packed with too many things today.
She had just gone through the dungeon settlement, got blocked at the exit by the four major guilds, and then taken the two to a dessert shop, added them as friends, formed a team, and invited them to her home.
Her mind was filled with thoughts of treating Zhu Lingxi to sweet and sour pork.
Her mind was filled with thoughts of not making her mother wait too long.
Who would remember the concealing effect of the witch's robe under those circumstances?
Cen Yao slowly covered her forehead.
This was truly a whole new level of ridiculous.
Beyond ridiculous.
She, Cen Yao.
The future greatest Witch of the entire universe.
So, her future teammates—friends who would go through life and death with her, companions she could trust with her life—were seeing her true face for the very first time today.
Cen Yao fell silent for a long time.
In the end, she only wanted to ask the orb one question.
“Why didn't you remind me earlier?”
The orb whispered, “Host's attention was completely on the four major guilds at the time.”
“And I thought you did it on purpose.”
Cen Yao: “Do I look like the kind of person who would do this on purpose?”
The orb thought about it.
“...Yes.”
“Orb!”
The orb shrank its non-existent neck and quickly tried to placate her. “I was wrong, Host!”
“And you were so calm back then, completely confident, so calm and profound.”
“I thought you had already planned everything out.”
Cen Yao gnashed her teeth.
“No kidding! How could I not act imposing in front of outsiders?! Otherwise, how would I earn shock points?!”
The little flower on top of the orb's head wilted.
“I'm sorry.”
Cen Yao sighed.
Forget it.
What's done was done.
She couldn't very well put the witch's robe back on and pretend nothing had happened.
That would only make things look even weirder.
“You...”
Pei Tinglan finally spoke.
He looked at Cen Yao in front of him.
Without the concealment of the witch's robe, the girl's face was completely exposed to the soft afternoon light.
Her skin was very fair, her soft black hair fell over her shoulders, and her delicate facial features didn't look sharp at all.
Her eyes were especially bright. When hidden beneath the wide brim of her hood, they had seemed mysterious and elusive. Now, without any obstruction, they radiated a vibrant liveliness that was completely different from how she appeared in the dungeons.
Pei Tinglan suddenly understood why he had found it so hard to believe when she said she was eighteen.
When she wore her witch's robe, held her magic wand, and drew those complex, eerie arrays, she possessed a level of composure that far exceeded her age.
But now, standing in her own room, so embarrassed she wished she could sink into the floor, she finally looked like a young girl who had just reached adulthood.
“...Xiao Yao.”
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