"Wendy, I feel like we got scammed by Instagram," Charlotte Lynch complained as she ate the Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles in front of her.
"Where’s the romantic getaway and poetic escape? This is clearly just a miniature Aven Wholesale Market!" she continued, poking weakly at the noodles in her bowl and grumbling under her breath.
"The shop on the left sells flower pastries, and the shop on the right sells the exact same thing! Walk a hundred meters ahead, and they’re still selling flower pastries!
"There are seven or eight shops selling them on this one street alone. With packaging that looks almost identical, I wouldn’t be surprised if they all share the same supplier.
"And these silver bracelets—they don’t even dare label them as sterling silver, yet they have the nerve to call it Druidic Silver!
"If you ask me, this Aethel Old Town isn’t even as good as Serenity Ancient Town, where we stayed on our first day.
"That place was tiny, but it actually had a genuine vibe."
Wendy highly agreed with Charlotte’s assessment. The Aethel Old Town before them was a far cry from what she had imagined. The streets were packed wall-to-wall with tourists. Catchy internet pop songs blared from various shops, and the air was thick with the bizarre, mixed stench of grilled sausages and stinky tofu. If it weren’t for the replica ancient architecture surrounding them, the place would be virtually indistinguishable from an ordinary pedestrian street back in the city.
As for what happened at the hot spring resort yesterday, though the outcome hadn’t been perfect, she just had to accept it. She had done her absolute best. She couldn’t let one bratty kid and a pair of irresponsible parents ruin the trip for her and her sister.
Wendy offered a comforting smile. "Alright, since we’re already here, let’s stop complaining and just try to have fun."
Charlotte let out a helpless sigh. "I guess we have no choice."
She picked up her phone again, swiping through it rapidly before pausing at something interesting. "Wendy, how about we skip wandering around here this afternoon?
"Look, Mount Aeridor Geological Park is right next to us. The pictures look gorgeous! Most importantly, there’s a cableway to take us up and down, so we won’t even have to hike it ourselves."
Seeing her sister’s renewed enthusiasm, Wendy naturally didn’t object. After finishing their meal, they headed straight for the adjacent Mount Aeridor.
They rode the long Empyrean Cableway. Below them lay overlapping layers of emerald forests, and in the distance stood majestic, mist-wreathed mountains. The ancient town and residential houses shrank beneath their feet, while Lake Cyrillian shimmered in the sunlight far away, looking like a massive blue sapphire.
As the cable car broke through the clouds, the air turned crisp and cool. The magnificent alpine scenery completely washed away their lingering frustration. The verdant ridges and swirling mist formed a stark contrast to the noisy old town below.
Stepping off the cableway, the two strolled along the mountain’s plank walkways. Breathing in the crisp air, they felt their spirits soar.
When they came down from the mountain, it was still early.
Just as they were about to hail a cab back to the hotel, the sharp-eyed Charlotte spotted a cluster of replica ancient buildings in the distance.
"Wendy! Look, what’s that? Legends Film Studios!" Charlotte’s eyes instantly lit up. She grabbed Wendy’s arm and shook it excitedly. "Come on, come on! Let’s go check it out! I saw online that film crews shoot there all the time!"
Wendy originally had no interest in this sort of artificial attraction. However, seeing her sister so eager, she couldn’t bear to rain on her parade and allowed herself to be dragged over.
A portion of the film studio was open to the public as a tourist area, and sure enough, it was bustling with activity. As soon as they entered, they spotted a production crew filming a scene. Because it was a semi-open attraction, the crew’s staff had only set up a cordon around the immediate shooting area, without stopping tourists from watching and taking pictures behind the barrier.
"All departments, attention! Ready! Action!" a director in a baseball cap yelled in a booming voice through a megaphone.
In the center of the set, several soldiers in ancient armor were soaring down from the city wall on wires, their movements fluid and sharp. Around them, the lighting, camera, and sound crews were all bustling about in a state of tense, organized chaos.
Like the rest of the tourists, Wendy and Charlotte were kept behind the cordon, watching with great interest. This was the first time they had seen a live film shoot, and the novelty was fascinating.
"Wow, doing wire stunts looks so cool!" Charlotte said, her eyes shining. "I wonder who the lead is? Do you think it’s some big celebrity?"
Wendy chatted idly with Charlotte, her gaze wandering randomly across the set. Suddenly, her eyes drifted over a group of background extras acting as human scenery. They were dressed in the same soldier costumes, clustered in twos and threes as they waited for their scene.
Most of the extras wore expressions of sheer boredom. They were either chatting in low voices, playing mobile games, or scrolling through short videos.
Only one man stuck out like a sore thumb. He leaned against the base of a wall in a corner all by himself, resting his eyes.
Because of his somewhat unusual demeanor, Wendy took a second look. The man wasn’t particularly tall, but his face was sullen, and there was a faint scar at the corner of his eye.
When the director yelled for the cameras to roll and all the extras lazily picked up their prop weapons to take their marks, the man seamlessly blended into the crowd. In the blink of an eye, he was gone, and that distinct feeling of him being out of place vanished without a trace.
Wendy didn’t pay it much mind. She just thought the guy was a little strange but didn’t dwell on it. After all, it was a big world, and it took all kinds. Maybe he was just having a bad day, or perhaps he was simply born with a face that screamed trouble.
She soon put the man out of her mind entirely.
"Wendy, do you think that actor on the wires is handsome? He looks kind of familiar to me," Charlotte said, still excitedly guessing the lead’s identity.
The sisters roamed around the entire film studio before returning to their hotel, thoroughly satisfied. As the exhaustion of the trip washed over them, they quickly settled in and relaxed.
Late at night.
Charlotte had long since fallen into a sweet slumber, hugging her pillow. Wendy, however, lay in bed unable to sleep, habitually reaching for her phone.
The screen lit up abruptly, the time turning exactly to 00:00. She skillfully opened her email app.
A new message sat quietly in her inbox.
[You have a letter from October 6, 2025]
[Just as I thought!! The most dangerous place really is the safest place!]
[A Class-A wanted fugitive couldn’t find a legitimate job, so he actually mixed in with the extras as a background actor!]
[I don’t know whether to call this fugitive arrogant or smart for pulling off such a perfect ’hiding in plain sight’ trick.]
[If he hadn’t been recognized by an off-duty cop on vacation, he probably could have stayed hidden for a long time.]
[It’s a pity that cop was too reckless, taking action right then and there without waiting for backup.]
[The fugitive was too skilled in combat, directly resulting in one death and one injury.]
[It’s the end of the month, asking for monthly tickets!]