Chapter 48: A Sheep in Tiger’s Mouth
No one knew how much time had passed.
Night Star approached the Night Watcher Base with an incredibly excited heart, peering into the entrance hall and sneaking a look at the scene inside.
There were a few staff members chatting at the front desk, all unfamiliar faces to Night Lan.
“Mmm~”
Because she was pretty well acquainted with the future Night Watcher Base, Night Lan wasn’t too intimidated. She actually wanted to stir up some drama.
So Night Lan walked in confidently, took a seat at the front desk.
The staff members gazed at her, eyes full of confusion.
“Little sister, is there anything you need help with?”
Night Lan purposely cleared her throat and said solemnly, “What I’m about to say, don’t be frightened.”
The two staff members exchanged glances, saw the confusion in each other’s eyes. They both nodded towards Night Lan.
“You tell us. As professionals, no matter what you say, we won’t be scared.”
Night Lan took a deep breath.
“In fact, I’m a Night Watcher.”
Upon hearing this, the two staff members leaned back dramatically.
“What’s your name?”
“Night Lan, night as in dark, and lan as in wave.”
Then one of the staff started operating the machine in front of them, as if searching for information on Night Lan.
Night Lan tilted her head; she already guessed what he was doing.
Probably trying to find her information, but they wouldn’t find any. After all, it would take four more years before she turns into a loli. Now she must still be in college.
Searching for “Night Lan” right now would only result in a blank slate, or worse, marked as a nobody.
But Night Lan already thought of a countermeasure.
With her intelligence, these minor issues should be a piece of cake!
Right then, the staff member who was operating the screen suddenly stopped, presumably having gotten a result.
Night Lan blinked, ready for questions.
But to her surprise, the staff picked up a communications device beside her and dialed in some numbers.
“This is the Night Watcher service hall, we have found the target named 【Night Lan】, dark-haired blue-eyed, looks around fourteen years old. Confirmed to match the description.”
Night Lan: “?!”
Wait a second!
Something is off. Why does she have information here?
Night Lan was filled with question marks.
This was completely different from what she anticipated!
After putting down the communicator, the staff smiled at Night Lan.
“Night Lan, someone will come fetch you shortly. Just wait here quietly. If you’re bored, we can chat a bit, just stay put, okay?”
“Erm…?”
This is off too. Really off.
As Night Lan started to overthink things, a silver-gray short-haired man walked out from within the base.
Seeing Night Lan sitting at the front desk, his steps quickened significantly; his expression suggested excitement.
And Night Lan saw him too, a slight look of surprise on her face.
“Woah?”
She felt like she had seen this man before, yet she couldn’t place where.
The slightly mature-looking man quickly approached Night Lan, looking at the still unchanging black-haired loli and steadying his slightly trembling breath. “Are you Night Lan?”
“Huh? Oh…yes.” Night Lan nodded, somewhat puzzled.
“I’m Bai Yuan, do you remember me?”
“Huh? Uncle Bai Yuan?!”
Oh snap!
Hearing the man’s words, Night Lan’s eyes widened, extremely surprised.
She had seen younger versions of Bai Yuan—when he had just become a father and later when he had a seventeen-year-old daughter.
Those periods looked nothing like this. He’d changed a lot.
At first glance, Night Lan almost didn’t recognize him.
Hmm…could it be she just didn’t remember him too vividly?
Night Lan’s small mind began turning, gradually realizing something was wrong.
Why did Bai Yuan know her?
In a few seconds, a guess formed in her mind.
“No way…?”
Looking at Bai Yuan’s slightly excited demeanor, Night Lan couldn’t help asking, “Uncle Bai Yuan, do you remember the past?”
“That’s a long story, let’s go inside first. We can’t really talk about this here.”
“Oh…”
Night Lan walked into the base with Bai Yuan, feeling quite perplexed.
This wasn’t at all what she expected!
Inside the base, Bai Yuan led Night Lan to a guest room, offering her a glass of water.
“Mm, thanks.”
Night Lan sat awkwardly, sipping the water, seemingly trying to hide her nervousness.
Bai Yuan sat across from her, gently asking, “What do you want to know?”
“Ahh…did you remember me sending White Fish to you and Aunt Ye Qingya?”
“Yes, that’s one thing I’ll never forget.”
“Mm…I see.”
Now Night Lan finally understood.
This timeline fully carried over everything she had done in the story of White Fish.
Because everything she did had been documented in this period, there was her information in the Night Watcher Base.
Bai Yuan continued, “Ever since your mysterious disappearance, we Night Watchers searched for a long time, but could not find you. Now that you’ve appeared here by yourself, it’s truly unexpected.”
“Does this mean a sheep in a tiger’s mouth?”
“Hahaha~ We Night Watchers aren’t any dangerous organization, you can’t use that term.”
Reuniting with Night Lan, Bai Yuan felt incredibly elated.
Even though he couldn’t save his wife, the great regret was lessened. That was enough.
“Speaking of which, ever since your sudden appearance and subsequent disappearance, it left us Night Watchers with quite a riddle. We spent a lot of time searching for you, but no luck.”
Night Lan scratched her head embarrassedly.
“Hmm…”
That’s natural, coming from the future, after all. Finding her in the past would be strange.
Bai Yuan then said, “While I’m grateful for your help, I need to clarify something. Who exactly are you?”
“I’m a Night Watcher.”
“Night Watcher?”
“Um-hmm~ I came from the future, even the last time was because of my body’s Extraordinary Star.”
She should keep her star business hush-hush, not just blurt it out, but Bai Yuan, being a direct witness, qualified.
“Extraordinary Star? You mean there’s such an absurd star? It can travel through time?”
Bai Yuan’s expression was one of shock.
Night Lan understood. Knowing the truth in the future didn’t imply knowing it in the present.
In this timeline, Night Lan’s everything was still a secret.
How could he know about some extraordinary star?
Probably in Bai Yuan’s mind, Night Lan was just a very magical little loli!
What about the useless mascot?
Well, as long as she kept quiet now, nobody would know.
