Chapter 46
Chapter 46
Three guards watched the Diamond Factory’s main entrance. The rear entrance, by contrast, had only a single guard booth.
Xiao Huai immediately decided to enter through the back.
He and Lu Yuanshi took a wide detour around the factory.
They were about to slip through a blind spot in the guard’s field of view when Xiao Huai thought of something and called Lu Yuanshi back.
“Wait.”
He bought two bottles of low-alcohol wine from the System Shop and handed one to Lu Yuanshi.
Lu Yuanshi raised a brow at him.
Xiao Huai bit the cap off his bottle. “Take a sip, then pour the rest over yourself.”
Amusement flickered through Lu Yuanshi’s eyes.
“You want to mask our scent,” he said quietly.
Lu Yuanshi truly did seem able to follow Xiao Huai’s thoughts.
Xiao Huai nodded. “I don’t know if it’ll work, but it’s better than nothing.”
If his theory was correct, the native residents of this game could smell something distinctive on players.
As far as they knew, only players became diamond fiends.
They might look no different from ordinary humans, but if regular NPCs could identify them as players by scent, that was very bad news.
Xiao Huai took a swallow, then poured the rest over himself. The wine soaked through his coat and drenched the shirt underneath. The thin fabric clinging to his skin was distinctly uncomfortable.
He could only hope the smell of wine would cover at least some of his scent as a player.
Though the wine was weak, it still left a faint flush across Xiao Huai’s cheeks and the roots of his ears, while his lips glistened beneath the streetlamp.
For a moment, he looked remarkably like an innocent white rabbit.
Then Xiao Huai raised his eyes to Lu Yuanshi. The instant Lu Yuanshi met those bewitching, foxlike crimson eyes, the corner of his mouth curved faintly.
Both men wore black coats, but Lu Yuanshi’s was lighter, and the wine left faintly visible stains across it.
After their high-speed motorcycle ride, Xiao Huai’s hair looked like a bird’s nest. Lu Yuanshi, however, remained remarkably well groomed.
With a face like that, he could have stepped onto a runway at any moment.
Xiao Huai reached out and vigorously ruffled his hair until it was even messier than his own.
Lu Yuanshi froze, his eyes widening slightly.
Xiao Huai could not suppress a laugh. “Messy looks more convincing for someone who’s just been to a tavern.”
Admittedly, making Lu Yuanshi’s hair worse than his own had involved the tiniest bit of selfish satisfaction.
Xiao Huai withdrew his hand and headed toward the guard’s blind spot. Before moving on, he murmured to Lu Yuanshi, “Remember, we’re NPCs who just got drunk at a tavern.”
* * *
The two men crept single file through the snow.
The guard in the booth yawned, peering drowsily ahead. A cold gust swept in, making him shudder.
“This damned snow! The weather is atrocious, and I still have to work. Unbelievable!” he grumbled.
He rose, walked to the coal pile, and picked up a pair of tongs to add two lumps to the stove. When he lifted his head, he spotted two furtive figures in a dark corner.
The guard’s eyes flew open. He dropped the tongs with a clatter, rushed through the door, and strode outside.
“Well, well! I’ve caught two…” He broke off when he saw their faces.
Beneath the dim streetlamp, both men were so beautiful they scarcely seemed real, like figures who had stepped out of a painting.
The reek of alcohol hit him. The guard waved a hand before his nose and finished uncertainly, “Two drunks?”
Xiao Huai could not believe their rotten luck. They had been only a few steps from slipping into the Diamond Factory when that cursed gust made the guard get up for more coal.
Had he remained seated, he would never have noticed them.
Xiao Huai drew a deep breath inwardly. Whatever came, he would deal with it.
He took a bottle of red wine gifted by a god from Gift Storage. It had a high alcohol content and appeared to be an expensive vintage.
Xiao Huai let out a drunken belch and threw an arm around the guard’s shoulders. “Come on, friend. How can you call us drunks? We’re friends of Mr. Jack and Miss Rose. We only stopped at a tavern for a little drink.”
The guard frowned at him. “You’re friends with Jack and Rose?”
“That’s right. We’re here to find them… No, I mean visit them.” Xiao Huai deliberately corrected himself to *visit*.
Someone from the Diamond Factory had personally collected Jack and Rose. Were they now in quarantine, or had nothing happened and they had simply returned to work?
Either way, a person could *visit* a friend or a quarantined patient.
The guard might have been stunned by Xiao Huai’s appearance, but he was not foolish enough to believe everything a stranger told him.
He sniffed lightly. “Why do you smell like a diamond fiend? It’s faint, but it’s definitely there.”
Xiao Huai’s pupils contracted. Just as he had suspected…
Yet he did not panic. Anger immediately entered his eyes, and he strode indignantly to Lu Yuanshi’s side.
“My good man, how can you accuse us of carrying a diamond fiend’s stink? That’s an insult! Do you see the wine stains on my friend’s clothes?”
Xiao Huai thundered with righteous outrage. Clearly overwhelmed by his force of personality, the guard blinked and replied in a small voice, “I see them. So what?”
Xiao Huai clicked his tongue disdainfully. “You know how the Count hired another group of temporary workers? Well, who could have imagined that one of those diamond fiends would go cause a scene at the tavern? The bastard even spilled wine all over my friend! That must be when the damned stench stuck to us.”
When he finished, Xiao Huai glanced at Lu Yuanshi, who nodded in complete agreement.
A nearly imperceptible smile hid in the corners of Lu Yuanshi’s eyes.
Xiao Huai’s face had been so animated throughout the story that it was impossible to look away.
The longer the guard listened, the more convinced (and indignant on their behalf) he became.
“Damned diamond fiends! Every one of them should go to hell. What you said makes sense, though. Diamond fiends always act alone. Since there are two of you, you probably did pick up that foul stench from the wretched thing.”
Xiao Huai suppressed the upward curl of his lips.
A lone diamond fiend’s scent was stronger than the combined scent of two supposed diamond fiends.
That confirmed his theory.
“So you really are here to visit Jack and Rose? They’re still in quarantine,” the guard said.
A sly gleam flashed through Xiao Huai’s eyes. This was working.
He nodded and feigned sorrow.
“We’re all working men. It’s miserable that they have to be locked up because of those diamond fiends. My brother likes his wine, so I brought him a few bottles. You’ve been working hard too, sir. Why don’t you accept this bottle as a gift?”
The guard narrowed his eyes at the bottle. The moment he saw its ornate packaging, his gaze changed, greed surfacing within it.
He frowned in false reluctance. “Oh, I couldn’t. That looks expensive.”
Xiao Huai laughed inwardly. He caught the guard’s hand with one of his own and pressed the wine into it with the other. “Come now. We’re all brothers here.”
It looked exactly like the ritual refusal of a red envelope during the Lunar New Year. Everyone knew the recipient would accept it in the end.
The guard took the wine, and the way he looked at them immediately warmed, as though they truly were old friends.
He grinned and patted Xiao Huai’s shoulder. “Jack is a good friend of mine too. He and Rose are quarantined in the underground laboratory. Remember to give them my regards.”
“Of course.” Xiao Huai gave him a false smile.
With everything settled, he looked at Lu Yuanshi and gestured for them to go.
But just as they were about to enter the Diamond Factory, the guard called them back.
“Wait.”
Xiao Huai had a sinking feeling.