The Queen of Masks

Chapter 20: A Bond of Blood

At the 281 bus stop, a tall girl wearing a slightly worn school uniform had a black backpack casually slung over her left shoulder. Her skin was exceptionally fair, standing out in the crowd with a delicate pinkish hue, reminiscent of peach blossoms in March—tender and vibrant.

The girl furrowed her brows, her eyelids slightly lowered, exuding an air of coolness. The people waiting for the bus occasionally stole glances at her but dared not approach.

A black sedan slowly pulled up to the curb. The person inside pressed the horn, and the window rolled down smoothly, revealing Luke Bai's smiling handsome face.

"Nancy, where are you headed? I can give you a ride," he offered.

Nancy Gu glanced at Mason Fu in the back seat. From her angle, she could only see his two long legs curled up; his hands rested on his thighs as he slowly turned a string of prayer beads with his pale hands.

Does he believe in Buddhism?

Recalling their conversation from last night sparked Nancy's curiosity. Mason looked no older than twenty-four or twenty-five, yet he carried an unusually mature aura about him—like an elderly man wearing a youthful mask.

Thinking about her trip to the dry cleaners, she realized it was a good opportunity to return his clothes.

So she opened the door and got in.

Once inside, Nancy glanced at the man beside her. He had his eyes half-closed; his thick curled eyelashes resembled two feather fans. His straight nose and thin lips gave him a somewhat stern appearance.

Bathed in the golden glow of sunset, light enveloped his face, highlighting his translucent complexion that hinted at fine soft hair. His breathing was shallow as he turned slightly to reveal an exquisite profile akin to that of the most noble king.

She sensed a powerful magnetic field around him. Unfortunately, her energy felt too weak; if she regained her previous abilities, she would be able to gauge just how high Mason's aura truly was.

Normal human energy typically hovers around two hundred units. Energy sources are essentially conversions of cosmic energy fields; human bodies act like receivers constantly absorbing universal energy. However, each person's capacity for receiving energy varies—those with higher intelligence tend to have stronger energy sources. Thus ancient practitioners often possessed far greater energy than ordinary humans.

She speculated that Mason definitely exceeded average levels.

While Nancy was lost in thought, Mason suddenly opened his eyes.

"Where are we going?"

Caught red-handed staring at him, Nancy paused momentarily before quickly regaining composure. "To the Tong G Dry Cleaners on Huai'an Road."

Luke set up the navigation and cheerfully turned back to look at Nancy. "Did everything get resolved?"

"Yes," she replied. "Yan Cai has been released."

"That little chubby guy actually got let out?" Luke seemed surprised. By rights, this should have been treated as a criminal case; as long as Nancy didn't back down, that kid should have spent at least several months behind bars.

Mason instantly understood what had happened. "You chose reconciliation?"

That didn’t seem to fit her personality well.

Nancy shook her head: "To be precise, my guardian chose reconciliation."

Mason silently stared at her; although she appeared indifferent on the surface, it was evident from how she referred to her father that their relationship wasn't good.

He recalled seeing Gu Tingjun publicly berate her outside Hilton Hotel—it would be hard to believe they were biological father and daughter without having obtained some background information beforehand.