Chu Youtong’s startled exclamation didn’t break the silence.
Qing He quietly stood up, groping her way to Su Qianqian’s side, patting her head, kneading her cheeks, tracing along her neck…
“Hey, hey, hey, just where are you planning to touch next!”
Chu Youtong called out as she pulled Su Qianqian away, making Qing He pause for a moment, but then Qing He unexpectedly covered her mouth and let out a gentle laugh:
“It seems something unexpected happened during your rebirth, but I’m glad. You succeeded, and you kept your promise and came back.”
“……”
Su Qianqian fell silent again.
As expected, her relationship with Qing He was anything but ordinary.
She actually knew about Su Qianqian’s Secret Rebirth Method in her previous life—though, thinking about it, that was only normal.
According to the memories she had, the method to achieve rebirth was found in this very place.
If Qing He was important, it made sense she would know.
But… what was the promise? She only ended up here because she was being hunted down!
“Why are you so quiet? Did you… forget?” Although Qing He couldn’t see, her other senses were all the more acute.
She could pick up more emotions than most from the words around her.
From those vacant eyes, Su Qianqian sensed disappointment, and apologized with a hint of guilt: “Sorry, actually, after I left the Forbidden Zone, my memories were sealed, and everything about this place is a blur…”
“If you don’t remember, then why did you come back? What do you still recall?”
Even Su Qianqian could hear the expectation in Qing He’s voice.
Without thinking much, Su Qianqian uttered what might be a well-intentioned lie: “Because I vaguely remember that there was someone important waiting for me here, and the Secret Rebirth Method was also something I got from here. There might be other important things, so I came back.”
Strictly speaking, this wasn’t a lie; both things Su Qianqian said were true, and she did care about them.
It’s just that, under normal circumstances, she would never have risked the Forbidden Zone for them.
Qing He seemed fairly satisfied with the answer, and didn’t hear any obvious trace of a lie in Su Qianqian’s words, so her mood clearly improved, though she was still a little downcast as she said:
“If you forgot, you forgot. It’s not that important. What matters is that you’re back.”
As she spoke, Qing He reached out again, this time her hand landing on a tense face, cheeks puffed out as if sulking…
“By the way, I forgot to ask, you are…” Qing He let go of the puffed-up face in confusion.
Chu Youtong, arms folded across her chest, looked angrily at the woman who had been ignoring her this whole time and snapped, “Ha, finally remembered me? I thought we weren’t even in the same world.”
“Good child, don’t be mad. I’ll find you some candy. Su Ling, why did you bring such a little one here too?”
Qing He seemed to take Chu Youtong for a real child, patting her head to comfort her, thinking herself rather good with kids.
But obviously, Chu Youtong wasn’t having it: “Who wants candy! And! Stop patting my head!!”
Chu Youtong, truly exasperated, swatted Qing He’s hand away. This woman was really infuriating!
“Sorry, little one. I don’t really know what kids from outside like.”
“So, Su Ling, why did you bring this little girl here?”
“Um…” Su Qianqian glanced away nervously.
Since she had lied and not said she came here fleeing pursuit, how was she supposed to explain Chu Youtong?
She couldn’t think of anything for the moment.
“I’m her daughter, Luo Siqian. Nice to meet you.” Chu Youtong cut in directly.
Su Qianqian was instantly stunned, just about to speak when Chu Youtong clamped a hand over her mouth.
Judging by her expression now, she was truly angry; the witch’s true nature could barely be contained.
“You’re… her daughter…” Qing He seemed to lose all strength and slumped directly to the floor as she said this.
Su Qianqian hadn’t been sure before, but now it seemed this important relationship wasn’t just friendship after all…
“Is it another one of my romantic debts? But I really don’t remember! Why did I cause so much trouble in my past life? I never even thought about these things!”
Su Qianqian couldn’t help but complain inwardly, while at that moment, Chu Youtong was still not finished venting:
“Geez, why were you leaning so close to my mom just now? Dad will get upset~”
“I… I’m sorry…”
Looking at Qing He’s increasingly pale face, as if she might faint any second, Su Qianqian tried hard to speak, but Chu Youtong’s bizarre enthusiasm made it impossible to break free.
“Oh, all right, I’ll forgive you this time. I know you’re just happy to see your ‘Friend’, but my mom is already ‘Married’, so it’s best you be careful.”
Chu Youtong said sarcastically, deliberately stressing the words “Friend” and “Married”, making Qing He, who was sitting on the floor, dig her fingers forcefully into the ground, leaving scratches on the surface.
Still, Chu Youtong wasn’t satisfied and was about to keep going, but this time Su Qianqian tackled her and clamped her hand over her mouth!
“That’s enough, don’t take it too far!”
“Tsk—”
After subduing the increasingly wild Chu Youtong, Su Qianqian quickly shouted at Qing He: “Don’t listen to her nonsense, she’s not my daughter at all! This one has a terrible personality and just wants to get a rise out of you!”
“Is that so? Ah, yes, when I touched her face just now, it didn’t feel the same. Honestly, I was a bit too hasty and didn’t realize it. This little one really is a troublemaker.”
“Hmph.” Chu Youtong was still dissatisfied, but under Su Qianqian’s dangerous gaze, she didn’t say anything more.
“My apologies, I accidentally fell over just now. It happens often, since I can’t see.”
Qing He dusted off her clothes and stood up again, as if it really was just a minor accident.
Of course, everyone present knew the real reason.
Su Qianqian let go of Chu Youtong. Chu Youtong turned away, arms folded, but didn’t provoke Qing He further, and Qing He pretended nothing had happened, sipping her tea.
The atmosphere calmed for a moment, and Su Qianqian finally breathed a sigh of relief.
As expected, once Chu Youtong’s mouth “opened up,” her destructive power was overwhelming. She really couldn’t afford to let her guard down.
Taking a seat at the table, Qing He poured a cup of tea each for Su Qianqian and Chu Youtong. Su Qianqian picked it up and drank naturally, but Chu Youtong hesitated.
After all, Qing He had just been driven to the brink of fainting by her—what if she put poison in the tea?
After hesitating a while, Chu Youtong sniffed it. It didn’t seem particularly appetizing, and just as she was about to decide, Qing He suddenly spoke:
“Sorry, I forgot that children probably don’t like this flavor. I’ll make you some Honey Tea.”
“You woman—!”
This time Su Qianqian quickly stopped the furious Chu Youtong, while Qing He continued sipping her tea as if she hadn’t noticed Chu Youtong’s anger. Only the corners of her mouth, hidden behind the cup, curled up slightly.
The recent commotion seemed to have passed, but deep in the world unseen by the powerless Su Qianqian and Chu Youtong, a Desire Shadow had just begun to take form, only to gradually dissipate…
“So, what exactly is this little girl’s identity…”
Chu Youtong glanced at the threatening look on Su Qianqian’s face, gave her a reassuring gesture, and then declared solemnly: “All right, actually, I’m her… Pet!”
“Pfft—!” Su Qianqian spat out her tea in shock!
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