Lurking in the Shadows


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    My tone came off as clearly dismissive.


    As pinched my cheek. "Seems like you''re trying to get rid of me. You''re a wild girl, aren''t you?"


    I smirked. "Come on, you said you had something to take care of. I can''t just tag along and bother you, right?"


    When he heard me say that, he had no choice but to let go. "I''ll make sure toe back for dinner with everyone."


    He looked at me affectionately and raised an eyebrow before turning and leaving.


    I cursed under my breath, "Can''t he tone it down? There''s so many people around."


    As soon as he left, I turned to Anya, bending down to get her attention. "You''re the tour guide. Let''s go get some fresh air."


    Sure enough, she wiped her tears and smiled. "Okay."


    I couldn''t just stay cooped up in the room. The beach didn''t appeal to me much, and although the seaside here wasn''t as tranquil as in Foswood, it was better than doing nothing.


    Plus, I needed to keep Anya upied so she wouldn''t dwell on those tragic memories.


    Hana asked Anya about fun ces to visit. She immediately brightened up and rubbed at her face, shaking off the gloom from earlier.


    "Where do you want to go, Mrs. Chloe?" Anya asked.


    I thought for a moment. "Let''s go somewhere you think is beautiful. Or we can go somewhere you want to go."


    After all, this was Anya''s hometown, and she knew it well. I was sure anywhere she liked would be a good ce.


    "Let''s just walk around, then." She nced at me, thought momentarily, then smiled brightly. "I''ll take you to buy some of our local clothes."


    I agreed. That sounded fun. Besides, it might help conceal my identity.


    She grew excited when she saw my eager eptance.


    As we stepped out, As sent another man over. He clearly didn''t trust me to go out alone.


    Arton had silently trailed behind me, never leaving my side.


    Outside the hotel, the bustling crowd consisted mostly of tourists. It was easy to tell at a nce. The were busy selling all sorts of


    souvenirs, while the ones


    through the souvenirs were


    set


    Qu


    definitely tourists.


    to


    S


    At this moment, I saw that this ce existed solely because of tourism. The locals survived on this model, which was the main economic feature here. So when Anya said that she had been doing this business since she was young, I totally got it.


    The zing sun outside made me feel lethargic.


    The intense activity I was involved in as soon as I arrived had left me a bit tired. I felt sluggish and sleepy now.


    But everything here was so captivating. After all, it was my ''first time'' abroad, since I had no memories of anything before.


    Anya stayed by my side, telling me about everything. I was very interested in watching the street vendors sell all sorts of things, including fruits.


    Anya was definitely savvy and drove away some deceitful vendors fiercely.


    Today, Anya was wearing light pink sportswear, and her waist-length hair was tied up high in a ponytail. Living in Eoswood these past few months had made her skin more radiant, a far cry from when I first met her. She seemed like apletely different person. This content ? N?v/elDr(a)m/a.Org.


    Hana, on the other hand, was gentle and serene, and obediently followed me on my other side, with Arnold and Arton behind her.


    The other man As sent was dressed very much like a local today. He didn''t stick close to us, but trailed us from a distance. You wouldn''t know he was with us if you didn''t pay attention.


    I understood that this was all for security reasons.


    As we strolled along, admiring the exotic sights and checking out interesting trinkets, I felt content. I As were here, I was sure he


    wouldn''t have brought me to


    n


    a ce


    like this, since it was crowded and chaotic.


    Arnold waspletely different from As. He loved the hustle and bustle. Despite his upper-ss background, he was down-to-earth and not pretentious at all.


    It was clear he had a soft spot for Hana. His casual but sincere care definitely came from the heart. Hana looked interested in Arnold too, so they might hit it off.


    Since we had Anya, we managed to avoid a lot of fake and badly-made items.


    At first, those people were resentful, but Anya knew her stuff. They gradually realized we had an expert among us and stopped bothering us. But for some reason, I couldn''t shake the feeling that something was off, as if there were eyes watching us.