“I know you hate me. These years, you’ve been all alone, suffering too much. You wonder why you were abandoned, you have so much resentment, and I am the source of your pain…”
I won’t defend myself.”
Ah Fu just stood at the doorway, not stepping closer.
She raised her hand, wanting to hug the girl on the bed, but then sadly lowered it.
She knew she had already lost the right to touch her.
Awkwardly standing there for a long while,
she silently slipped out of the room.
“I have many things to say to you too, but I know you don’t want to hear them.”
Ah Fu turned away, her back facing Wu Xiaomi.
“I’m leaving. I’m a wanted fugitive; I can’t stay here long.”
A long sigh drifted away with the wind.
Ah Fu took a step forward.
But suddenly, her lower back tightened.
“Don’t go…”
Wu Xiaomi pressed her head tightly against the woman’s back.
She lifted her head with a wronged expression, whispering softly:
“Don’t go… I want to listen. Please tell me.”
Ah Fu turned around and gently ruffled the girl’s hair.
“Next time. We will meet again. Somewhere higher up, next time.”
She slowly moved the girl’s hand away.
But no matter how many times she pulled her hand away, the girl’s small hand would instantly snap back to her waist, as if magnetized.
“I’m sorry…”
Ah Fu clenched her teeth, eyes reddened, then turned and slipped away.
“…”
Wu Xiaomi didn’t call out to her, only slightly parting her small mouth as she slumped to the floor, watching her figure fade into the distance.
Tears also spilled down Ah Fu’s cheeks.
In the end, that silhouette was impossible to hold onto, disappearing beyond Wu Xiaomi’s sight.
……
Wu Xiaomi sat dazed and blank all day long.
“It’s not that I want to ruin the mood, but if you keep pretending to be a vegetative state, the time for the Sequence Potion will expire soon. Are you sure you want to just zone out here instead of using your last Mirror Shadow to do something?”
The Witch casually toyed with some vines.
“…Hmm…”
Wu Xiaomi stood up.
She had been thinking.
Thinking all day—she was not dumb.
“Have you figured it out?”
“I have.”
The sweet smile returned to the girl’s cheeks.
“Avoidance doesn’t solve problems.” She tidied her somewhat messy long hair. “I thought that as long as I didn’t touch the issue, I could pretend not to care and escape all the troubles. But I was wrong.”
“Oh?” The Witch looked at her in surprise.
She was somewhat shocked that after all this, the girl had not been broken.
Instead, she was clearer and more rational than ever.
“I can’t avoid fate; it’s everywhere. My identity, my life, everything is intertwined with it… They keep reminding me, forcing me to face reality.
So, I won’t run anymore.”
“Make sure you really mean it,” the Witch said casually, “Avoidance is shameful, but useful. Facing reality requires more than just courage; sometimes the price is… cruel.”
“But it still has to be faced,” Wu Xiaomi said. “Xiao Zhi’s family hates me, so I’ll find out why and change their minds.
Ah Fu is wanted, so I’ll repay her debt and help her regain freedom.
Even when Earth was bombed, we didn’t give up. What could be harder than that?”
This time, the Witch made no comment.
She just stared at the girl, noticing how her smile gradually returned to its carefree sunshine.
“I’m Wu Xiaomi, after all!”
The number one little spicy pepper under heaven~
“Great,” the vines next to the Witch clapped enthusiastically, “So, what now?”
“Of course, I’ll go find Xiao Zhi and say my final goodbye to her as her Brother.”
“Oh—————” The Witch dragged out the sound.
Especially, especially long.
“?” Wu Xiaomi was confused.
“—————Hoo.”
After that super long “oh hoo,” the Witch’s mouth curled up slyly again:
“Time’s up.”
“What time?”
“The duration of the Sequence Potion.”
Nest!
Nest nest nest!!!
Wu Xiaomi was dumbfounded.
Damn Witch, you’re impossible!!!
“Can you extend it a little?!”
Wu Xiaomi watched helplessly as the light and shadow flickered beside her, then quickly vanished and retreated.
No matter how hard she called out, the surrounding air no longer responded.
Damn it!
“Please extend it a little! Just ten minutes!”
Wu Xiaomi was about to cry, her eyes catching the empty Sequence Potion bottle she used before, and hurriedly she ran over to grab it.
Pour.
Pour.
Not a single drop left!!!
“C… can I borrow some more?” Wu Xiaomi pouted, shaking the Witch’s arm pitifully, “Just a little…”
“No, our deal is done.”
“Then I’ll trade again! I’ll give my soul this time, okay?”
“Don’t always sell your soul…”
The Witch sighed helplessly.
She’d never met such a reckless little chive who didn’t take her soul seriously.
“I’ll give you my soul, please lend me some more…”
Since it was serious, Wu Xiaomi had no choice but to pout and act cute.
“No way. Don’t even think about it. The potion only works once per person.” The Witch said, “You’ve already used the Sequence 72 potion; it can’t take effect again.”
“Then for other sequences, isn’t there anything like Mirror Shadow?”
“Nope.” The Witch answered decisively.
Spirit-hunting instincts fully activated!
Her little brain desperately searched for a solution.
“Can you teach me Sequence 72? I should be able to learn it, right?” Wu Xiaomi looked up hopefully with starry eyes, trying to hit the Witch with her adorable charm.
“Sequence 72 isn’t included in the Witch Sequence. I don’t know it. It’s very rare.”
“Then who does?”
“Lost to time. What you just used was the last bottle.”
Wu Xiaomi was genuinely stunned now.
She had clearly made a promise to herself to win this battle brilliantly and come back alive.
But now, with the potion expired, the Brother-version of Wu Xiaomi completely vanished from the world.
The only explanation she had left was—he died, deep in the heart of Mount Askle.
Never to return.
This completely betrayed her original intention.
She only wanted to put on a show, so Xiao Zhi could see her strongest Brother and then safely let ‘Brother’ go on an adventure.
But now, it had turned into a funeral feast for Xiao Zhi.
What to do, what to do, what to do???
Xiao Zhi would cry herself to death.
She might even fall into despair from now on, get mentally twisted, and maybe eventually lose all faith in men, becoming a true yandere yuri girl!
That was definitely not the outcome she wanted!
Is there really no other way?
No other way at all?!
Boohoo—”
Wu Xiaomi bit the corner of the Witch’s blanket hard, tears streaming down her face.
Left brain thinking, right brain thinking, Wu Xiaomi wracked her brains but couldn’t come up with a reliable solution.
Either she could ask the Witch to deliver a letter, saying she left first, making up some excuse, and disappear without notice?
That would be too suspicious, too heartless, and it would break her promise.
Given the circumstances, Xiao Zhi would still verify whether she was dead or not.
In the end, no body, no corpse—she would definitely suspect death and still be heartbroken…
“Xiaomi? You’re here.”
Speak of the devil.
Wu Xiaomi was still in a panic with no clue what to do.
Xiao Zhi had arrived at the shop.