When Shen Mo came back, the first thing that caught his eye was the bright red roses lying conspicuously across the courtyard tiles. He frowned and looked toward the house —

Bai Youwei, as usual, was wearing her little apron, bustling about at the dining table. Setting aside the question of whether she could actually cook, the apron did look rather good on her.

“Where did the roses come from?” Shen Mo asked as he stepped inside.

Bai Youwei immediately put on an aggrieved face and shuffled over to him with quick little steps to report the injustice: “Some man came by — I don’t even know him. He barely said a few words before tossing those flowers over and insisting I go on a date with him! I even told him I was married, and he said he didn’t care — he said the thrill of stealing someone else’s partner was exactly the point~”

Ada exclaimed, “What shameless nerve!”

Shen Mo’s expression darkened. He looked Bai Youwei over with concern, asking, “Are you alright?”

Bai Youwei puffed out her cheeks and shook her head, muttering, “For now I’m fine — but the next time you all go out, something might actually happen. He said he’s coming back!”

Shen Mo’s expression grew even grimmer.

Yuri also furrowed his brow deeply. “I assumed the security would be better in the villa district.”

Natasha said, “When someone has ulterior motives, no amount of good security can keep them out. The competitive district is short on women — I was targeted myself when I first arrived. Had to take out a few before they finally left me alone.”

“Oh — does it really come to killing people?” Bai Youwei’s wide, guileless eyes blinked with alarm. “I couldn’t possibly…”

She looked toward Shen Mo with a pitiful expression, reaching out to take his hand — she tugged twice, swayed it three times, “Honey~ take me along next time you go into a dungeon, okay? I’m so scared all by myself at home.”

The moment those words left her lips, the entire room went quiet.

No one said a thing.

Bai Youwei knew they didn’t agree. She pursed her lips, let go of Shen Mo’s hand, and said, “Fine, suit yourselves. Hmph~ Of course breaking the record is more important than your wife’s safety.”

Shen Mo had been holding down his irritation over the incident, but hearing her mutter and grumble like this, he couldn’t help but feel a wave of helpless exasperation wash over him.

“You’re obviously more important than any record,” Shen Mo said. Then he asked, “Who was the man? Do you know his name or what he looks like?”

“Right,” Ada chimed in. “If we know who he is, we can go deal with him right now and solve the problem once and for all.”

Of course Bai Youwei knew who it was.

— His name was Nick. He looked to be in his mid-twenties and was not bad-looking, though that goatee of his was terribly distracting. She also knew that this man called Nick lived at No. 23 Glen Avenue.

But there was no need to tell them that. If he never posed a real threat, how would she ever justify joining the team in a legitimate way?

“I don’t know,” Bai Youwei answered with deliberate vagueness. “Why don’t you go ask him yourself the next time he comes by?”

The people in the living room exchanged looks.

They were racing against time to break the record score — who had time to sit around at home waiting for the man to show up?

“Take her with you,” Yuri said. “If she stays home alone, Shen Mo will have his mind half on her while we’re in the dungeon.”

Natasha was quiet for a moment, then also gave a nod: “We have ample weapons and gear. Having Weiwei along should be manageable.”

Ada said, “Mo Ge is the main attacker — there’s no way he can keep an eye on the rear all the time without slowing things down. So… Yuri, could you cover that?”

Yuri nodded. “No problem on my end. Besides, the tricky parts of Queen’s Nest have already been worked out. Going back a second time, the danger level isn’t that high.”

Everyone had agreed — only Shen Mo hadn’t weighed in yet.

But Bai Youwei wasn’t in any hurry. After all, she had all the time in the world to wear him down.

She looked at Yuri with curiosity: “From the sound of it, today’s run went quite smoothly?”

Everyone’s faces relaxed into easy smiles.

Ada asked Bai Youwei with a mischievous grin: “Guess what score we got?”

Bai Youwei thought it over. “Did you… break the record on the very first try? Did you go over 887?”

Natasha smiled and said, “No — but we’re close. This time was just an exploratory run. We didn’t go all out, and even so, we scored 867.”

—