Transformed into a heartthrob's simp, every day is a battleground.

Chapter 333 The Landlady

Levi noticed his subtle movements, but he remained leaning against the window without approaching. "You know me?"

He asked Liam's older brother.

"You seem to have heard of me before."

Liam's older brother didn't dare turn around, but just twisted his hands and lowered his head, saying, "I've heard Liam talk about you."

"What did you say about me?"

“He said you live alone on a farm outside the city, where you live all by yourself.”

"Is that why you're so nervous?" Levi asked.

“I’m just not used to talking to strangers,” Liam’s older brother said.

Levy wasn't sure if he believed her or not. "Didn't Liam tell you about his job?"

“He never said that!” he said immediately.

"He never told you what kind of feed he was transporting?" Levy asked.

Liam's older brother shook his head violently—Yan Xun immediately knew that he knew what the feed was—his head-shaking was not a rebuttal, but an indication that he knew nothing and begged Levi to let him go.

This made Yan Xun a little curious. In Liam's account, what kind of person was Levy?

Koy's interactions with him were relatively normal, but from Liam's older brother's reaction, it was not hard to see that Liam himself seemed extremely wary of Levy.

"Don't get so excited," Levi said immediately when he saw his brother Liam's actions. "I'm just a little curious."

Liam's mother looked at them. Although she didn't know what "feed" meant, she knew a little about her son's job. After realizing what this seemingly harmless man did, she became somewhat wary.

Seeing this, Yan Xun could only reassure them, "Don't worry, he means you no harm."

"But this matter involves his farm?"

"His farm?" Liam's mother asked, puzzled. "Why does Liam's disappearance involve his farm?"

“I heard that Koi is also delivering goods.”

“That’s not it,” Yan Xun said. “It’s related to the Holy Embryo.”

"Holy Embryo?"

“Those who receive revelation call the child in their womb this.” As Yan Xun spoke, his gaze remained fixed on Liam, noticing that he kept his head down and didn’t look up even when he heard such a key word. This made him even more certain that Liam had received revelation and knew about the Holy Embryo.

His mother seemed to understand, but nodded nonetheless.

"Four weeks ago, Levy found a body outside the farm. His stomach had been opened and something was crawling out."

This opening, reminiscent of a horror movie, immediately captured the attention of Liam and his mother.

"His stomach was opened up?" Liam's mother looked at Yan Xun. "Is this revenge?"

But she quickly dismissed her guess, "Could it be made by that thing in my belly...?"

“At first, Levy also thought it was revenge,” Yan Xun said. “But soon, more bodies appeared outside the farm.”

"They were both men and women, and they had only one thing in common: their stomachs had been opened."

As he said this, he noticed Liam's older brother looking up, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Yan Xun pretended not to see his reaction and continued, "Since there were three of us, we went to the forest outside the farm together before sunset yesterday."

“In the forest, we found tents, most of which were empty.”

“But we still heard cries for help from one of the tents.” He kept looking at Liam’s older brother as he spoke. “We opened the tent and saw a truly horrific scene.”

"Something crawled out of his stomach; it was a fleshy ball."

"He died immediately after the fleshy ball crawled out, and the fleshy ball didn't live long either, dying a few dozen seconds later."

Yan Xun looked at the two of them and said, "We suspect that the Holy Embryo is these fleshy spheres."

"Holy fetus? A ball of flesh?" Liam's mother's face showed not only panic but also confusion. She subconsciously looked at her son's stomach, as if she didn't understand what was brewing there.

"What kind of fleshy ball?" Liam's older brother asked hurriedly.

The meatballs found on the farm were placed in the truck bed. Koy said he had to report to his boss first, so they could only be left at the factory and couldn't be taken away for the time being.

Yan Xun explained his reasons, and Liam's older brother quickly calmed down, "I want to see those things first."

His hand was always intentionally or unintentionally placed in front of his lower abdomen, a subconscious protective action.

Yan Xun sensed the hidden intention in his actions and did not ignore it. Instead, she chose to get straight to the point and expose his thoughts, "You think we're lying?"

"Am I deceiving you?"

Liam's mother immediately became anxious and wanted to argue, but was stopped by Liam's older brother.

“This is a little hard for me to accept,” Liam said calmly. “I’ve only just accepted that I’m pregnant…”

He paused for a moment, then said, "But now you're saying it might be a monster."

"It might even kill me, crawl out of my stomach." He looked at Yan Xun. "Is this some kind of horror movie?"

“Although I don’t think I’m carrying some kind of sacred fetus, I still can’t believe what you’re saying.” He looked at Yan Xun. “Unless I can see those fleshy spheres.”

"In fact, so far, only you have discovered those corpses with their stomachs cut open."

“In the city…” He paused again, as if organizing his thoughts, “I haven’t heard of any corpses like this in the city.”

“Just like you said, there are some pregnant women in the Coe factory, including those in the slaughterhouse,” he told Yan Xun. “I have never heard of anyone in the factory having their stomach opened up and meatballs coming out of their bellies.”

Yan Xun was not angered by the questioning; Liam's reaction was within his expectations—given that the other party had concealed the Holy Embryo and the revelation in the dream, his reaction was not surprising at all.

"I'm just offering a possibility," Yan Xun said calmly. He leaned back in his office; it was already afternoon, and the sunlight streaming through the window shone on all of them.

He reached out to touch the sunlight before saying to Liam's older brother, "It's just a well-intentioned suggestion."

"You should take a look at your stomach."

"Thank you, I'll be careful," he said somewhat awkwardly.

The atmosphere in the room was somewhat tense. Liam's mother also sensed the uneasy atmosphere. She stood up to say goodbye and thanked Yan Xun for the information. Then she patted her son on the shoulder, signaling him to leave with her.

Liam's older brother stood up as well, and the two of them greeted Yan Xun and Levi goodbye. As they reached the door, she suddenly asked—

Can I tell anyone else about this?

"Which matter?" Yan Xun asked.

She glanced at her son's lower abdomen.

“Okay,” Yan Xun said.

“You can talk about this with anyone you know.”

She smiled sheepishly, "I don't know that many people, and I don't plan to tell too many people about this..."

"I only want to talk to your landlord."

“I remember Milo was pregnant too.”

She was referring to the landlady's pet.

“Yes,” Yan Xun said, looking up at the ceiling before turning to Liam’s mother and saying, “I will let you know if there is any new information.”

She thanked them again before leaving with her son.

Only after the sound of footsteps going down the stairs faded away did Yan Xun look at Levi by the window and ask, "What do you think he's hiding?"

“Those who receive revelations may all have the same thoughts,” Levy said. “Perhaps the revelations in different people’s dreams are also different.”

Yan Xun gave him an inquiring look.

“My colleagues at the slaughterhouse, the newsboy downstairs, and Liam’s older brother—the information they all provided was the same…” Levy spoke slowly, beginning to say, “They all said the chance to make a fortune was in the south.”

“I guess that’s the information he received in his dream as well,” Levy said. “That’s why he doesn’t want you to stop him from exposing this.”

Yan Xun pondered for a moment, "You mean, the revelations in the dream reflect their most pressing needs at this moment?"

Whether it's the slaughterhouse workers, the newsboy downstairs, or the Liam family, their lives are far from comfortable; making money and getting a windfall are what they most urgently want.

The man they found in the tent came from a relatively well-off family. If it were just a chance to make money, he wouldn't have risked going to the unknown south. It's highly likely that the revelation he received in his dream had nothing to do with money.

Yan Xun still remembered the group photo they found. Levi had also met the woman in the photo before. If all went well, they could find some clues through her.

"Can you get Koi's boss to help you?" Yan Xun asked.

This matter seemed to have nothing to do with finding Liam, and Yan Xun felt that if he directly asked the other party for help, his boss would not pay any attention to him.

Levy nodded.

"But this has nothing to do with finding Liam."

Of course I know, but this is related to my main mission, Yan Xun thought to himself. On the surface, he still told Levi, "I think there must be some connection between these two things."

“Liam’s unusual behavior all occurred after these strange things were discovered in the city.”

Levi was unsure whether to believe him or not, but outwardly he maintained a facade of trusting Yan Xun's words, saying, "What you said makes some sense."

“I will try to communicate with him.”

"Do you need someone to follow Liam's older brother?" he asked again.

“There’s not much need for that,” Yan Xun said. “He probably just doesn’t want people to know that he’s received some kind of revelation.”

But then Yan Xun remembered that Liam shared a room with his older brother, and maybe the other brother knew some information but kept it from him due to certain circumstances.

"We can find someone to keep an eye on him," he changed his story again.

Levy didn't ask why, he just nodded.

Not long after, the landlady heard that Yan Xun had returned and carried Milo upstairs.

She immediately noticed Levi, who had appeared in the room, and Lily, who was lying on the floor.

Milo was curious about Lily and struggled to get down, but the landlady had no intention of doing so.

"Is he your friend?" she asked, "or your guest?"

"Yes, they are all," Yan Xun said vaguely.

She didn't mean to pry, she just wanted to remind Yan Xun, "You should pay your rent."

Yan Xun glanced at Levi.

Levy stepped forward. "May I ask about the specific amount?"

The landlady sized him up, then looked at Yan Xun, her gaze shifting back and forth between the two—until Yan Xun was drenched in sweat, she finally looked away and said to Levi, "Are you going to pay his rent?"

“It’s just a debt transfer,” Levy said.

The landlord looked at Levy inquisitively. "I've never seen you before."

"I heard you're the farm owner who delivers goods to Liam?"

Yan Xun knew without even thinking who had given him this information.

"Are you sure he's a good person?" the landlady suddenly asked Yan Xun.

The overly direct words made Yan Xun subconsciously glance at Levi. Levi didn't seem angry; he looked calm and didn't seem to care at all about what the landlady said.

"Right, it should be," Yan Xun said.

"He should be trustworthy."

That doesn't sound convincing at all, Yan Xun thought.

Whether the landlady believed Yan Xun's story or was just asking out of habit, seeing that neither party objected, she then gave Levi a specific number.

He asked Levy to go downstairs with him.

Levi gestured for Lily to stay in the room and then followed the landlady downstairs.

Lily, who had been abandoned, was a little uneasy. She rested her head on her front paws and sighed from time to time.

About 15 minutes later, Levy came upstairs. "The rent here is a bit more expensive than I thought."

"She said I could stay here temporarily."

"But don't make too much of a commotion."

Yan Xun looked at Levi with a puzzled expression upon hearing this, "What does that mean?"

“It’s probably the literal meaning.” He walked over, sat on the chair where Yan Xun was entertaining guests, and patted his thigh to signal Lily to come over.

Only after Lily rested her head on his lap did he say to Yan Xun, "Perhaps he's worried about Lily."

"Or perhaps she thinks I came here to investigate something."

“She knows what Liam’s organization does,” he told Yan Xun. “This whole street is her property.”

Yan Xun hadn't expected that the entire street was lined with landlady's houses. He looked at Levi with some surprise, "You seem to know a lot about this?"

He remembered Coy saying that Levy lived on a country farm and was completely out of touch with everything in the city.

“I lived here for a while too,” he told Yan Xun.

I've met her a few times.

When was that?

"Maybe more than ten years ago?" Levy recalled uncertainly.

"My memory has been a bit bad since we moved to the farm."

When Yan Xun heard the other person mention the farm, he remembered an important question: "What about the animals on the farm?"

"I remember you lived alone."

There was no one else around.

“Someone will help me take care of them,” Levy said gently.

Upon hearing this, Yan Xun had no intention of delving deeper, as he was not curious about Levi's friendships.

“I want to take Lily out for a walk,” he said to Yan Xun.

Yan Xun sat back in his office chair, leaning back as he looked at Levi. "Anything is fine."

"Remember to come back before the landlady locks the door."