Listening to Xu Xiaoyou’s words by her ear, Chichu Chun took quite a while before giving a response.
"So you actually know just how bad your reputation is now, huh?"
Xu Xiaoyou didn’t respond.
Finding it boring, Chichu Chun lay down on the grass with her arms around her head, looking up at the sky.
The massive celestial body seed to co from another world; looking up from below, those strangely huge impact craters were clearly visible. They were traces left by teorites on its surface over countless ages, silently narrating a long, long span of ti.
A layer of hazy violet cosmic dust hovered over the surface of the celestial body, drifting close and far, adding a bit of secrecy to this already ethereal sphere.
Chichu Chun reached her hand toward the sky:
"Do you know why I brought you here?"
This was on the outskirts of Dragonfly Town. If you walked farther out, you’d see the stretching E Peak Mountain range. Looking down from above, this tiny town survived in the crevice between two towering gacities, and the corridor extending outward seed to be the only road leading away from here.
"When I first ca to Dragonfly Town, this was the farthest place I’d ever been from my family ho."
"I tried all sorts of ways—having classmates secretly buy a train ticket to the North Sea, sneaking into the trunk of a Mountain Crow family mber’s car, or hiding in the sewers for a few days, thinking I’d wait until they were in total chaos looking for , then seize a chance to slip away."
"Without exception, either I got intercepted at the station, or I’d be found by the inspection team doing routine checks before the armored car entered the tunnel. In short, not a single attempt worked."
"Later, after so serious reflection, I decided to bring enough luggage, sneak into the mountains alone, cross the mountains on foot, find a way to slip into another city, and sohow sneak onto a train heading for the North Sea."
"Do you have so kind of obsession with the North Sea?" Xu Xiaoyou asked.
"In spring, the flower fields there are really beautiful, and the sea is blue. That’s what I heard. That’s all." Chichu Chun shrugged.
"Every ti I slipped out here, those Mountain Crow family people would show up like NPCs on fixed respawn tirs and surround completely."
"Back then I’d start thinking." Chichu Chun stared blankly at that celestial body in the sky. "Maybe only if I ran all the way to the moon would they finally not be able to find ."
"Over ti, I just gave up on the idea of running away from ho. Looking back now it was pretty childish. Like throwing a tantrum with the adults, with no real plan for the future, just taking things one step at a ti."
The chilly evening breeze brushed past the two girls’ cheeks, bringing a dry, pleasant coolness. Because of its geographic location, Dragonfly Town hadn’t seen snow this winter; once spring ca next year, there would be no more of this dry, refreshing wind.
"The scenery here is good." Chichu Chun said, "Whenever I’m in a bad mood, I co here alone to look around."
Their quiet ti together flowed by bit by bit. Chichu Chun turned over, her long hair spilling across her cheeks, strands lying ssily on the girl’s shoulders, the tips curling upward. She reached out her pinky finger and hooked Xu Xiaoyou’s hand, letting out a soft chuckle.
"Let’s make a promise, like in gas or ani. Anything’s fine. There might not be chances like this in the future."
Xu Xiaoyou thought for a mont, turned slightly, and calmly hooked the girl’s finger.
"If one day, I have to travel to many unknown tilines, searching for many, many different possibilities..."
"If I end up lost in those tilines, unable to find my way, will you pull back?"
Chichu Chun, unusually, fell silent. Before the movie started, she’d thought about sothing similar.
"Pull you back?" A mont later, the corners of her lips slowly lifted. "Doing that doesn’t suit my style at all, you know?"
"I’d put a bullet in you and make you snap out of it properly."
There was a hint of flamboyance in Chichu Chun’s serious expression; her dark red eyes glowed under the night sky.
"Since you’re saying it like that, I’ll make an exception for you this once."
"When that ti cos, no matter where you are, I’ll find you."
"When I do, don’t you dare act ungrateful."
...
New Era Calendar, January 1st, 534.
Silence spread like thick ink, slowly diffusing through the air. Xu Xiaoyou walked into the hall step by step, the sound of her boots striking the floor clearly echoing beneath the high do.
At the very center of the great hall, an empty throne stood tall. Five figures quietly stood guard beside it. They looked as if they had been waiting here long enough, their scrutinizing gazes fixed on the girl walking toward them.
"Mm." Xu Xiaoyou looked up, eting the five scrutinizing gazes without the slightest hint of avoidance. "Such a big lineup—anyone who didn’t know better would think you weren’t planning to let leave."
"You jest, Queen of Hearts." The young man to the right of the throne chuckled softly.
"It’s better to call you Chairman Xu here."
The young man still looked just as he had when Xu Xiaoyou first saw him at the Star of Art: gentle, approachable deanor, a polite smile always at the corner of his lips, soone who would disappear into a crowd at a glance. You’d never guess his true identity was the lord of Daylight City—that city adrift outside the world, existing within the currents of ti and space.
—"Witch God Continent"
"Calling here an hour before the finals start makes it really hard not to doubt your motives." Xu Xiaoyou glanced around.
Azure light poured down from the do. Massive stone pillars, several people thick, rose straight from the ground, each one towering upward, extending infinitely into the distance. Darkness spread in from every direction, encasing this ring-shaped area bathed in blue light.
"But you still ca as requested." Jian Liu said. "That proves you still have enough trust in your comrades, Queen of Hearts."
"This is my first ti seeing her in person, actually."
A slightly light-hearted voice sounded as a petite girl cast a curious look over. She held a staff hung with a dicinal gourd, the big gourd towering over her head. Her erald-green hair shone under the blue light, and the id "dical Immortal Yaoyao" above her head marked out the girl’s identity.
"Evergreen Ivy, Tiger Tail Orchid."
Xu Xiaoyou looked at God of Killing Changqing, then at Madman Lan standing beside the burly man, and finally at the girl wearing a beret, her gaze evasive.
"Don’t look at like that, I’m just here to make up the numbers. It’s all because that Ever guy had no ti to co." Amy muttered.
Xu Xiaoyou let out a soft laugh.
In outsiders’ eyes, the Queen’s Armant was a mysterious and overwhelmingly powerful unit, but seeing them now, she realized that among the five mbers, she actually knew four.
She understood better than anyone how crucial this tournant was, and how important it was to gather intel on one’s opponents. Yet up to now, the Queen’s Armant had practically never appeared as a full team, and had never shown themselves before the public.
You could say it had basically been Evergreen Ivy’s solo show—most of the ti, it was her dragging along four random nobodies she’d picked up from who-knows-where as accessories, steamrolling her way through the matches and forcing her way into the finals.
What surprised Xu Xiaoyou even more was the Queen’s Armant’s roster.
Every mber was Prism Tier.
Reviews
All reviews (0)