22 Close contact!

"Straight to the point and on your face."

Unhelpful comment by Little Jae.

That guy had developed a habit of chirping in at unnatural times. He would speak his mind out of anything that caught his interest. Furthermore, were you sure you're on Zhi's side, Little Jae? Were you not purposely trying to down Zhi's morale?

Zhi's identity... What should Zhi tell Master? Hadn't Zhi told her situation back then when she boarded the carriage?

And it wasn't her fault that she got into trouble. Trouble seek her out - Zhi was targeted by someone who had a nasty intent. She was an innocent villager trying her luck in the big city. Sorta.

Or could it be, Master had known that there was another soul that resided in this body? Was that what she meant by identity?

"No, don't start spilling out your 'real identity'."

A chilled voice interrupted Zhi's line of thought, reminding her in an almost serious tone as if reprimanding.

"That's your secret and yours alone - never mention it to these 'outsiders'." Even if they are your trusted person...

At that moment, the eyes of a little boy glinted an obscure light. He who was inside Zhi's mind space had turned grim, a complete turn from the initial goofiness. As if mentioning the real Zhi was a taboo, once switched on he would turn appalling.

His out-of-character aura had inadvertently caused greater fear to a puny soul. That soul was shrinking by the minute she came to know the existence of another 'being' besides herself, and the soul of 'Zhi'.

Quivering in the corner of Zhi's soul space, she dared not to expose her presence. Else, she could be swallowed up and truly ceased to exist.

Sensing the girl in black's long reluctance to explain herself, the Master felt her patience thinning out. The day was exhausting to her, then there was a new case of kidnappings of young ladies, she had to confirm something with this covered-up fella, before calling it a day.

"Strip off your cover."

Master briefly said before feigning disinterested. She turned her back around to Zhi to focus back on her reading.

When the words registered itself on Zhi's mind, she was stunned to a still.

Her memory immediately worked fast and extracted a certain (one-sided) conversation...

"You won't need the barbaric costume anymore. Say bye to the old you, and hello to the new you!

This is a high-tech product - Raven outfit. It's stretchable to the user's desire, not having to worry when you gain weight and became wider. It also serves two functions; just as a visible layer as if you're wearing actual clothes or acts as a proper clothing on your body.

No one can disable the outfit except for you~ because only you know how to disable it!"

To be frank, Zhi had not gotten the exclusive information on how to disable the outfit...

One's first time reluctance was seen as a distrust, but a second one was a calculated act of concealing.

The room fell into a total silence until a drop of pin could be heard. If not for the smokes from the incense innocently rising and spreading across the room, Zhi could have thought that time had frozen.

From her back, Master appeared unbothered. But within the blink of an eye, her body vanished into thin air!

Before Zhi could grasp the situation, a low clear voice rang out by her ear.

"We'll just have to do it the hard way..."

Zhi instantly jumped and shifted her body to face towards the voice in panic.

Master's slender hands successfully locked Zhi's movements by blocking Zhi's acupuncture points. Then a fair hand latched on the front of Zhi's robe. But when she tried to pull it, Master could not undress Zhi.

"..."

"..."

"See that see that? That's how convenient 'skin' is."

Little Jae concluded his long-awaited chance at the Raven outfit skin advertisement.