Sundering Nature

Original and most updated translations are from volare. Please don’t read elsewhere and stop supporting theft.

TL: Zhao

Editing: Krisaia

Chen Jiawang stood behind the counter, peeking at his cell phone from time to time anxiously. After Tian Yan and Li Huaibei’s visit, he had attempted multiple times to get into contact with Li Yiming. The sense of urgency was accentuated after recalling how Li Hueibei talked about the drawing he had made.

Just as Chen Jiawang’s heart burned with nervousness, another guest came to the tea shop. It was Wu Yun, who wore his greasy factory worker’s outfit. After ordering a cup of green tea, he sat down at a quiet corner in the shop and began sipping his tea slowly.

Although Wu Yun seemed like nothing more than an ordinary blue-collar worker, he possessed a magnetic charisma. Just as Chen Jiawang discreetly scrutinized him, another guest arrived. It was a very skinny man who had a friendly smile. He ordered the most expensive item on the menu after chit-chatting for a small while with Chen Jiawang.

Just as Chen Jiawang was about to serve the red tea to the skinny man, the latter noticed Wu Yun’s sitting in the corner and instantly grew uneasy.

Chen Jiawang noticed his change of countenance and even thought he saw the man’s nose change shape. The next second, however, the nose looked perfectly normal, making Chen Jiawang wonder whether he might have been hallucinating. He returned to the counter to prepare the red tea, but he was now curious as ever.

As the skinny man sank into a long silence, Wu Yun continued to drink his tea and pretended that nothing happened. It was not before long before yet another person entered the tea shop, and only at that point did Chen Jiawang realize what was going on.

In fact, he instantly recognized the new guest, With an abnormally pale countenance and eyeglasses with a golden frame, it was obvious to him that he was Li Yiming’s teammate, Eyeglasses. When Li Yiming introduced the members of team Dissonance to him, he had taken special pleasure in describing each one’s appearance in detail.

"You’re...!" Chen Jiawang said gleefully, expecting to befriend a guardian.

"A cup of water, please." Eyeglasses interrupted Chen Jiawang as he sat down. He nodded toward Chen Jiawang in a friendly manner, but something suggested that he was not interested in talking.

"You..."

"A cup of water, please." Eyeglasses interrupted Chen Jiawang again, the latter finally understood the message this time.

"Please wait a moment," Chen Jiawang said as he glanced at the two other guests and turned around to prepare the cup of water.

Eyeglasses did not know any of the people who were already in the tea shop, but he could tell that at least the skinny man and the young woman were guardians. What perplexed him, even more, was that he could not detect anything abnormal with Wu Yun, despite the Heart Trial enhancing his perception. It was as if Wu Yun was a normal factory worker, but Eyeglasses was aware that this was not the case.

Eyeglasses was not so concerned with Chen Jiawang, since he had received an invitation from Li Yiming to come to the tea shop, meaning that Chen Jiawang had to be an ally. However, even the skinny man was a cause for concern, as Eyeglasses had done his research thoroughly, and yet still failed to recognize him.

Because he had been personally invited by Li Yiming himself, he had to take extra precautions during his visit, as even a single mistake could lead to his demise.

After bringing a cup of water to Eyeglasses, Chen Jiawang pretended to play on his cell phone and only occasionally glanced at his three guests. The tea shop was silent but the atmosphere was so tense that Chen Jiawang could not help but feel nervous.

The skinny man was, in fact, Qian Man. He had been trailing Li Huaibei, since he was an important asset to Stargaze. However, he did not expect to cross paths with Wu Yun, who was the last person he wanted to meet, as the latter was rumored to be on the lookout for Stargaze, seeking a duel with her.

Qian Mian’s anxiousness grew as he thought about ways to leave the shop at once without arousing Wu Yun’s attention. Just as he took out his cell phone to pretend at answering a call, Ying Mei, who was dressed in an office suit, opened the door to the shop.

"Where’s Li Yiming?"

"I’m sorry, he’s not here." Chen Jiawang shook his head. Under normal circumstances, he would have tried to start a conversation with a beauty like Ying Mei, but now was clearly not a good time.

"I’ll wait for him then." Ying Mei threw a glance at Eyeglasses before sitting down on the sofa right next to Qian Mian.

"You don’t mind sharing, do you?" Ying Mei asked only after sitting down.

"It’s okay, I’ll be leaving soon." Qian Mian put down his cell phone. However, he began to wonder whether he needed to stay in the shop, as figuring out Li Yiming’s connection to Yun Yiyuan was a top priority.

"Red tea, thank you." Ying Mei ordered a cup of tea to her liking as she stared at Chen Jiawang, making it clear that she was not going to leave until she was able to speak with Li Yiming. However, despite her adamant stance, she was clearly bitter at having to pay Li Yiming a visit after figuring out his true strength to assess the situation, according to the plan she and Yun Yiyuan had come up with.

"One moment please..." Chen Jiawang nodded in frustration before picking up the tea kettle and approaching Ying Mei. He had tried to contact Li Yiming many times already, but to no avail.

While pretending to stare at his computer screen, Eyeglasses was scrutinizing Ying Mei. Being well aware of the enmity between Ying Mei and Li Yiming, he was beginning to think that he had understood Li Yiming wrong when the latter requested a personal meeting. He turned the camera on his computer, trusting Qing Linglong to make the appropriate preparations upon receiving the footage.

"You’re using metal tea sets?" Ying Mei looked at the golden cup in front of her and joked.

"I’m sorry, my mistake." Chen Jiawang scratched his head in embarrassment.

Wu Yun turned his head upon hearing their conversation, and Ying Mei suddenly froze in place as soon as she caught a glimpse of his face. ’What? He... He’s here! They’re colluding with each other after all...’