205.1 – Wilting Summer Flower
So much fuss… Isn’t it just a minor injury? Although she complained in her heart, but Xue Qilin still said “okay” and suppressed her impulse to scratch the itch.
She stuck her head out, peeked in the direction of the room, lowered her voice, and asked nervously, “Where is your Big Sister Qi?”
Shui Yun’er sighed first, and then answered, worried, “Inside.”
“She didn’t sleep?”
“No. I advised Big Sister Qi several times, but to no avail.”
Seeing Shui Yun’er’s face full of distress, Xue Qilin spoke with a wry smile, “Sure enough… But you haven’t slept either, have you? There are dark circles under your eyes.”
“Oh, is it that obvious?” Shui Yun’er rubbed her eyes, “Hey, are they gone?”
Upon hearing Shui Yun’er ask playfully, Xue Qilin rolled her eyes.
“Hey, do you think that you can rub away the dark circled under the eyes? Do you think that it’s ink?”
“Young Teacher is so strict.”
Shui Yun’er’s gentle face is full of grievances, pouting. Xue Qilin knows she’s pretending. Although Shui Yun’er is earnest and gentle, but she makes naughty faces occasionally.
“Really, then you should have a nice sleep!”
Shui Yun’er’s gaze staggered, and she smiled in vexation.
“I can’t fall asleep… I suffer from insomnia ever since I was little. Young Teacher, do you think that I’m ill?”
Xue Qilin didn’t answer.
Her graze drifted in the air. Her heart is full of mixed feelings.
How could they fall asleep? Putting Gong Tianqing’s circumstances aside for the time being. Just the fact that Xue Qilin rushed into a tiger’s den by herself at night is enough to make them worry so much that they can’t fall asleep.
But at the same time, this also brings her a sense of happiness.
Although she is a little sorry for Qi Qiqi, but Xue Qilin feels a warmth in her heart. Her worries that have never stopped weighing on her seem to ease a little.
It feels really nice when people keep you in mind — Xue Qilin thought to herself.
“Young Teacher, that…”
Shui Yun’er pulled Xue Qilin’s sleeve, prompting the latter to snap out of it. Xue Qilin took a closer look and found that Shui Yun’er is looking at her with a hesitant look on her face.
“Ai, stop pulling. You want to ask about Little Qing, right?”
Xue Qilin knows what Shui Yun’er wants to ask without thinking. Unsurprisingly, Shui Yun’er nodded, then put on a helpless expression that expressed “you’ve seen through me” and said “yes”.
“Is Gong Jing really so hard to deal with?”
“Who knows.” Xue Qilin spread her hands, “I didn’t fight him.”
Shui Yun’er released a sound of surprise.
“Didn’t fight him?”
“Hey, why would I lie to you?”
“But the wound on Young Teacher’s face…” Shui Yun’er’s gaze fell on Xue Qilin’s right cheek, “Eh, Young Teacher, you wouldn’t have fallen down and hurt yourself?”
With that, Shui Yun’er covered her mouth and giggled, releasing a string of bright laughter.
“Why the hell would I fall down! That’s terrible, what do you think of me?”
Xue Qilin angrily waved her arms in protest. As a result, Shui Yun’er laughed even more.
What kind of person… Xue Qilin clasped her forehead wearily.
Soon, the laughter dissipated. As if nothing happened just now, Shui Yun’er assumed a serious expression.
“Young Teacher, what happened in the end?”
Feeling as if the cut on her face has suddenly become hot, Xue Qilin covered her right cheek and didn’t respond.
Seeing this, Shui Yun’er asked worriedly, “Young Teacher, are you okay? Does the wound hurt?”
Xue Qilin waved her hand, and then gritted her teeth and answered, “– it was Shadow.”
As if she saw the sun appear in the middle of the night, Shui Yun’er made a sound of surprise. Her shaking eyes could not conceal the unsteadiness inside them.
No wonder she is so surprised — Xue Qilin thought.
The Shadow Gate has no real will of its own.
They are only driven by money.
They doesn’t care about morality nor principles, they only care about benefit. Only when they are employed by someone or some organization, can they act.
In other words, behind Shadow, there is a backstage manipulator who employed him, and this backstage manipulator should have unimaginable power. Otherwise, it would be basically impossible for Shadow to step in personally.
“Who was the target?”
Shui Yun’er seems to have misunderstood that Shadow appeared to assassinate someone. However, who could guess that Shadow would just serve as bait to distract the three Heaven Realm masters? At least Xue Qilin wasn’t aware that the Shadow Gate not only assassinated, but also abducted people, not until the dust has settled.
“– the Shadow Gate abducted Little Qing.”
Xue Qilin, who doesn’t know where to start from the explanation, directly told Shui Yun’er the end result.
In the next moment, as if she heard a strange voice in the dark, Shui Yun’er held her breath and opened her eyes wide.
She seems to need some time to sort out her thoughts.
However, the Heaven didn’t give her time.
“– Qilin.”
An unsteady call sounded, emptying Xue Qilin’s mind.
Xue Qilin turned around stiffly.
Her gaze finally fell on a red figure. Qi Qiqi stands in front of the half open door.
After not seeing her for just one night, Qi Qiqi has undergone world-shaking changes. She is quite haggard. Her hair is messy, her face is rather pale, and even the dazzling brilliance that usually winds around her has dimmed by quite a lot. She looks like a withering summer flower.
Qi Qiqi’s unsightly appearance made Xue Qilin both aggrieved and distressed. What to do? Xue Qilin doesn’t know — really doesn’t know how to comfort her.
She suddenly found herself — who promised to bring Gong Tianqing back yet couldn’t fulfill her promise — a bit loathsome. If she brought Gong Tianqing back, Qi Qiqi would not have to shown this kind of expression.
However, no matter how she blames herself, she can’t change facts. Gong Tianqing can’t suddenly appear here and call Qi Qiqi “Big Sister Teacher”.
Fully aware that there is no way around this, Xue Qilin looked straight at Qi Qiqi, a sorrowful expression in her eyes. She couldn’t muster up the courage to go greet her. She can’t move her legs, which feel as heavy as led.
“Big Sister Qi…”
Shui Yun’er called in a distressed voice.
Under Xue Qilin’s gaze, Qi Qiqi approached them with trembling steps. She looks like only a weak shell, like a breeze is enough to knock her down.
However, when there was only a short distance between the two, Qi Qiqi burst out with incredible strength, and her pace accelerated, She rushed towards Xue Qilin and grabbed her shoulders. She used a lot of strength, as if she would crush Xue Qilin’s shoulders at any time.
“Qilin, what you said just now was joke, right? You were just fooling around, right?”
Qi Qiqi’s eyes rocked unnaturally. The expression depicted on her face is quite ugly, looking like she’s both smiling and crying.
Her present appearance entered Xue Qilin’s eyes with great impact.
Xue Qilin could only open her mouth slightly in surprise, yet no sound came out from between her lips, as if her throat was blocked by something. She has never seen Qi Qiqi show such an expression. Even when Luo Qing departed, the girl in red in front of her never showed such a suffocating expression.
