Chapter 20: The Woman’s Current Crime

Unaware that she was being watched, Lin Xiaojue was quickly picked up by her companions. They were on the way to the Budokan.

Xia Yao and Gu Xue sat in the front, while Su Yaqing sat to the side. Everyone wore a different expression, each lost in her own thoughts.

“I’m saying, is Xia feeling unwell?”

Lin Xiaojue looked at Xia Yao’s unpleasant expression and truly could not figure out what had happened.

Gu Xue was the same.

She looked constipated.

“Um, predecessor…”

After a long silence, Xia Yao pressed her lips together. Light flickered in her eyes, as if she had made up her mind. She spoke cautiously.

“Does the predecessor have someone she likes right now?”

“Someone I like? Not yet.”

Lin Xiaojue answered casually, ignoring the icy gaze Su Yaqing shot at her from the side, and replied almost without hesitation.

Xia Yao let out a breath of relief.

‘Thank goodness. Not yet.’

She had received wonderful news. The predecessor did not have someone she liked yet, which meant she still had a chance.

But—

Xia Yao looked again at Su Yaqing, the wealthy, beautiful blonde, a noble and reserved great lady.

‘If Su Yaqing also likes the predecessor, then I will definitely be facing a huge challenge.’

She had to confirm it. But how should she put it?

Xia Yao unconsciously twirled a strand of her hair, winding it around again and again, before quietly asking, “Then… does Senior Yaqing have a partner right now?”

The question was shocking.

Su Yaqing’s eyes widened abruptly. She opened her mouth, her gaze darting around, and then her restless shoulder was firmly pressed down by a small hand.

“Ahem… no. Not right now. Maybe in the future.”

“So that means Senior Yaqing is single right now?”

Su Yaqing’s eyes widened even further. Her expression slipped for a moment. She turned her head to face the window and said helplessly, “Yes.”

‘So cold, Xiaojue. We have clearly already done things together, yet you still refuse to admit I am your partner.’

“Yes, Yaqing doesn’t have a partner right now. She probably won’t in the future either. After all, she’s a great lady with very high standards.”

Lin Xiaojue’s faintly threatening sarcasm rang in her ears. Su Yaqing opened her mouth but could not bring herself to say anything.

“Actually…”

The pressure on her shoulder increased again, and she had no choice but to swallow her words.

“Haha, actually, I haven’t really thought about dating either. Come to think of it, the two of us are kind of old already. At this age, no one wants us anymore, right?”

As she spoke, Lin Xiaojue withdrew her hand. A bright, springlike smile still hung on her face.

“We’re almost at the Budokan. What do you think Mundi is like? I haven’t even heard their songs.”

A forced change of topic.

There was no other way. Unable to think of a solution, Lin Xiaojue could only use this move. She had noticed for a while now that Gu Xue’s expression was terrible.

Her face was dark and gloomy, as if she had swallowed a fly.

‘Did she read minds?’

‘No way. Gu Xue promised she would not use mind reading outside of combat. That ability was meant to help everyone coordinate better, not to pry into privacy.’

‘Exposure?’

Lin Xiaojue also believed Gu Xue was not that kind of person.

But—

No one responded to the topic she threw out.

***

In the end, Su Yaqing awkwardly laughed it off and picked up the conversation, saying things that even she herself had never seen, clearly just reading off her phone.

This girl had no idea what Lacrima Mundi actually did. She was basically reciting straight from her screen.

Still, Lin Xiaojue managed to catch some useful information.

The five members who formed the metal band Lacrima Mundi all seemed to have unusual backgrounds.

Online speculation claimed the vocalist was an idol from some entertainment company, the drummer was a famous internet celebrity, and the keyboardist was even more outrageous.

Someone had actually linked her to the magical girl Scarlet, claiming she had a serious voyeurism habit.

‘What a joke. Xiao Yu is pure, okay? How could anyone say she likes peeping?’

Lin Xiaojue felt anger surge in her chest. She even wanted to puff out her cheeks and wave her fists to properly warn whoever said that.

But Sakuragawa Iku sometimes really did act like that.

For no apparent reason, she would hide inside mirrors and stare at people without moving. That gaze always made others uneasy, as if she might devour them the next second.

As her ability improved, she gradually learned how to reduce her presence, managing to go unnoticed for several days unless she completely ran out of stamina.

Thinking of this, Lin Xiaojue could not help turning her head to look out the window.

The Budokan was just ahead. For some reason, there were a lot of red lights today.

‘I wonder if we will make it in time…’

She took out her phone and sent a message in the group chat. Murong Qiuyu replied quickly. They still had not found Sakuragawa Iku.

Xiao Yu had always acted alone, and lately she did not even reply to messages. No one knew what she was doing.

Lin Xiaojue softened into a heap, slumping like a sticky rice dumpling against the car door.

The heating in the car made her feel a bit warm. Subconsciously, she pressed her cheek closer to the window, feeling its coolness.

The seat was overly comfortable, and with still quite a distance left to the Budokan, the fatigue from working all night made her close her eyes.

Sluurp.

A moist, soft sensation brushed her face, carrying warmth. Lin Xiaojue frowned, her lips drooping. Her tender face scrunched up like a little bun.

‘You jerk, Su Yaqing!’

She kicked Su Yaqing hard. There was no real impact and Su Yaqing dodged it, but Lin Xiaojue knew that after this, she would not be harassed again.

‘Come to think of it, isn’t today friend’s day? Does Su Yaqing have no self-awareness at all?’

‘Endure it and it feels even worse. Take a step back and the more you think, the angrier you get.’

‘Yesterday, I even endured almost being forcibly hugged. After all, I was partly at fault.’

‘But today is different!’

‘Today is friend’s day. Why are you still like this? The juniors are right here watching. Is Su Yaqing lovesick or what?’

Filled with anger, Lin Xiaojue opened her eyes and shot Su Yaqing a sideways glare. What she got in return was only a puzzled look.

“Hm?”

Su Yaqing let out a confused “hm,” which only made Lin Xiaojue angrier.

“It wasn’t you?”

“Me… do what?”

Su Yaqing looked baffled. She had not done anything just now.

“If it wasn’t you, then who else?”

Lin Xiaojue stared at her stubbornly. Su Yaqing waved her hands, indicating she really had done nothing.

“Really?”

Lin Xiaojue confirmed again. The only response was a shake of the head.

“Tch.”

Forget it. Just being licked once. At worst, her face got a bit of saliva. She could just wash it later.

Thinking that, Lin Xiaojue relaxed and lay back down again.

The comfort of the seat lulled her into closing her eyes once more.

Perhaps because she was too tired, it did not take long before her breathing became even.

“Sigh, what is Xiaojue even thinking?”

Su Yaqing glanced at the two people sleeping in front, then helplessly covered Lin Xiaojue with a blanket.

After adjusting it, a thought suddenly crossed her mind.

‘Could it be that Xiaojue has accepted me?’

Haha. No way, no way.

“Ah…”

Yawning, Su Yaqing also felt sleepy. She narrowed her eyes and slowly drifted off against the seat.

A moment later, Gu Xue opened her eyes.

There was no movement.

She looked toward the predecessor.

‘What should I do to make the predecessor choose me?’

“Sluurp.”

“Pop, chirp.”

An untimely sound came from the car window as she was thinking.

What was that?

Gu Xue frowned and carefully shifted her body, trying not to wake the others.

When she moved to the door, she saw an unbelievable scene. She did not know if her eyes were playing tricks on her.

A pink tongue was actually sticking out of the car window.

‘This can’t be real, right?’

Unease rose in her heart. Gu Xue immediately activated her mind reading ability. With a radius of five meters, she should be able to find the culprit.

Noisy voices flooded her mind. Gu Xue skillfully distinguished them one by one, yet she did not find the perpetrator from just now.

‘Did I see it wrong?’

She rubbed her eyes and looked carefully again. The tongue was indeed gone.

So she must have imagined it.

Lately, she had been too focused on the predecessor and had not rested properly. Maybe that was why the predecessor had not fallen for her.

‘Seriously.’

Abandoning the turbulent thoughts in her head, Gu Xue gave Lin Xiaojue one last glance and fell into a deep sleep.

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“Who would have thought, who would have thought, who would have thought!”

A sinister, muffled voice came from the car window, extremely quiet, unheard by anyone.

Buzzing like a fly.

Crack, crack.

Fine sounds came from the window. The intruder had extremely precise control, keeping every noise at the threshold of audibility.

Soon, a long, slender hand reached in through the car window, while another hand emerged from the phone screen between Lin Xiaojue’s legs.

“But even like this, I can still have you. Not bad.”