Suddenly, Rulu sensed that someone nearby was watching him. He turned to look, and found that a young woman with long orange hair had appeared beside him at some point and was staring intently at his face. Rulu looked her over carefully and realized, to his surprise, that he actually knew her — it was Shari, a former cssmate of his from school.

  "Oh, it really is you, Rulu." After staring at him for a moment, Shari's face broke into an expression of undisguised delight. She walked briskly over to him and sat down in the seat beside him.

  "Shari." Rulu's expression was perfectly calm. He wasn't particurly surprised to see her, because he had quietly arranged for Shari to be included in the Sanctuary tour group himself.

  "Rulu, you've gotten so tan, and you're wearing such big gsses — I almost didn't recognize you. Are these your friends?" Shari said, gncing around at the others as she spoke.

  "Shari, it's been a while," Nana said with a smile. Shari studied Nana carefully for a moment before her eyes went wide with surprise. "Nana, you're here too! The way you've dressed yourself up, I didn't even recognize you. How did you all end up here?"

  Rulu said, "Shari, let me introduce everyone. This is my sister, Qin La. My name is Qin Lulu. And these two are Xixi and Kallen."

  "Rulu, what are you pying at? Since when did you all change your names?" Shari said loudly, looking thoroughly confused.

  Nana's expression grew uneasy. "Shari, please keep your voice down. If someone overhears us, we'll be in trouble."

  "Trouble? What kind of trouble?" Shari blinked. Rulu's expression turned serious. "Shari, don't tell anyone our real identities. If you do, we could all end up getting arrested."

  At that, Shari seemed to grasp the situation. "Don't tell me... don't tell me you all snuck in under someone else's identities. You're so bold — if someone finds out..."

  "Shari —" Rulu shot her a reproachful look. Shari caught herself and quickly cpped a hand over her own mouth. She gnced around to make sure no one had noticed, then lowered her voice. "Rulu, what are you all trying to do? Why would you take such a huge risk to sneak in here?"

  Rulu said, "Isn't it obvious? Everyone here is part of the Sanctuary tour group. We're here because we want to visit the Sanctuary."

  "You're going to visit the Sanctuary?!" Shari's eyes lit up. She grabbed Rulu's hand and said, "In that case, we can travel together! That way none of us will feel lonely or bored along the way."

  Rulu smiled and said, "That could work, but I have a lot of other things to take care of, and I need to look after Nana — I'm afraid I won't have much time to spend with you, Shari."

  Shari said, "That's fine, I can just join your group! You wouldn't turn me away, would you?"

  Rulu was just about to reply when C.C. suddenly slid her seat over next to his and fixed Shari with a steady gaze. "If you want to join us, you'd better ask me first."

  Shari looked at C.C. with a puzzled expression. "You're Xixi, right? Are you a friend of Rulu's?"

  C.C. looped her arm through Rulu's and turned to Shari with a strange smile. "Oh, more than that. I've made a promise with Rulu to be together for life. Our retionship is on a whole different level from yours."

  Shari's expression shifted. She turned to Rulu and said, "What exactly is your retionship with this Miss Xixi? How come you've never mentioned her to me before?"

  Rulu scratched his head, visibly uncomfortable. "Shari, can you please not pry into things between her and me."

  "Why shouldn't I ask? Don't tell me... don't tell me what she just said is actually true?" Shari stared hard at Rulu, her expression growing tense.

  Rulu said, "Shari, don't let your imagination run away with you. She's someone very important to me — that's all I can tell you."

  C.C. cut in at that point. "And besides me, Kallen and Nana are also very important to Rulu. So, Miss Shari, there's simply no pce left for you here. Do you understand?"

  Shari's face flushed red. Looking as though she had been personally insulted, she turned on Rulu with barely contained fury. "What on earth is going on? Since when do you have so many girls around you — and you're all going to visit the Sanctuary together? Why have you never told me any of this?!"

  "Shari, it's not what you think..."

  "Not what I think? Then what is it?"

  C.C. said, "Miss Shari, there's no need to get so upset. If you absolutely insist on joining us, I can accept that. But you'd only be fourth in line — Rulu already has the three of us."

  "Rulu, you... you've gone too far!" Tears welled up in Shari's eyes; she was so angry she was on the verge of crying.

  Rulu felt a headache coming on. He said, "Shari, could you please give us some space for now? Once I've had a chance to sort through this, I'll expin everything to you."

  "Of course. I'm only getting in the way here. Fine, I'll go." Shari dabbed at the corner of her eye, rose from her seat, and slowly walked away.

  "How did it come to this? Rulu, go after her and apologize to Shari!" Nana hadn't expected things to unfold this way, and she turned to Rulu with a look of anxious urgency.

  "No. There's no need." Rulu remained seated, perfectly composed. "We cannot afford any mistakes on this mission. If Shari stays close to us, she could easily blow our cover. I know this will hurt her, but keeping Shari at a distance is the right call. Once this is all over, I'll personally go and make it up to her."