Ever since that hospital visit, Mu Ming’s behavior had grown increasingly brazen.
She was no longer content with merely peeking out from the shadows or playing the occasional prank.
Sometimes, while Mu Xi was preparing breakfast in the kitchen, a cool weight would suddenly press against her back without warning.
Mu Ming, like a lazy koala, would wrap her arms around Mu Xi’s neck, resting her chin on her shoulder, draping all her weight over her.
“Morning~”
That nasal, mischievous voice—so similar to her own, yet even more irreverent—rang out by her ear.
Mu Xi could feel her warm breath brushing past her earlobe.
At times, Mu Ming would hold that position, letting out a few inexplicable giggles, as if lost in her own world.
What irritated Mu Xi even more was how things at home began to mysteriously go missing.
Sometimes it was a few pieces of her favorite clothing, only to be found the next day in some unexpected place.
Other times, it was some trivial little item: a hairclip, a bookmark, even a piece of fruit candy.
The most hair-raising incident for Mu Xi came one morning when she picked up her toothbrush and found the bristles wet—with an unfamiliar, faint yet inescapable scent that was definitely not her own!
It had to be that other her!
Just what was she after?
Was she trying to erode her will with these incessant invasions?
To tempt her, waiting for the chance to replace her?
Was it all, in the end, for the Prophecy of Ruin?
Mu Xi leaned against the cold window frame, staring out at the Moon that radiated an eerie blue glow, the cold moonlight spilling over her expressionless face.
Her thoughts were a tangled mess.
Forget it…
I don’t want to think about it.
Just sleep.
Mu Xi threw herself onto the soft bed, pulled up the quilt, and tried to block out all these troubles with sleep.
She had no idea how long she’d been asleep.
Her consciousness struggled at the edge of chaos.
A strange sensation gradually grew clear—a warm, rhythmic breath was softly and steadily brushing her cheek.
Like a feather’s tickle, yet impossible to ignore.
Mu Xi’s eyes flew open!
In the darkness, a pair of eyes gleaming with a bewitching ruby-red light hovered just inches away!
They did not blink, predatory and greedy as a beast’s eyes peering out from the abyss, locking firmly onto her!
Her again!
Mu Xi was suddenly overwhelmed by a deep sense of powerlessness and annoyance.
This little troublemaker… will she ever stop?!
“Good morning~”
Like a serpent’s slippery whisper, the voice echoed in the silent room.
Those cool arms once again wound around her like vines, clutching Mu Xi’s waist tightly.
Almost by reflex, Mu Xi summoned her strength, imagining, as always, scattering this bothersome phantom with a wave of her hand!
Yet—
Pa!
A crisp, real-sounding snap!
Her palm hadn’t passed through empty air, but had landed squarely on a patch of warm, supple skin!
It was Mu Ming’s arm!
She had materialized?!
The thought had barely flashed across Mu Xi’s mind.
A slightly cool finger, with an irresistible touch of mischief, gently lifted her chin with pinpoint precision.
Forcing her gaze to meet those dangerously glowing crimson eyes, so close.
“What do you want?”
Mu Xi’s voice was as cold and sharp as a blade, squeezed out from between clenched teeth.
“Just waking you up~”
Mu Ming’s voice was syrupy sweet, deliberately drawn out, those red eyes brimming with mockery.
“Get off…”
Mu Xi commanded icily, her body tensing instantly as she tried to break free.
At this moment, Mu Ming was straddling Mu Xi’s waist in an extremely ambiguous and aggressive posture!
Her long black hair fell like a waterfall, brushing over Mu Xi’s arm.
“Why are you so cold to me~”
Mu Ming bent down slightly, the distance between them so close they could feel each other’s breath.
“I haven’t done anything so unforgivable, have I?”
“Liar!”
Pain and anger flickered in Mu Xi’s eyes, suppressed and sharp. “You killed—”
“That was all your doing, dear ‘me’~”
Mu Ming’s smile suddenly widened, like a viper baring its fangs—sweet and deadly.
“Back then… I hadn’t even ‘been born’ yet. How could I have bewitched you… into killing your own Teammate?”
Her words stabbed into Mu Xi’s deepest wounds like the sharpest needles.
“In order to keep them from turning into hideous Witches…”
“In order to preserve their ‘pure and spotless’ names in the eyes of the world…”
“So… you had no choice but to do it yourself…”
Mu Ming’s voice, like the devil’s whisper, was cruelly gentle.
“…To stain yourself with your Teammates’ Blood.”
“Truly… how resolute you were…”
Her fingertip gently traced the tense line of Mu Xi’s jaw.
“And after that…”
Mu Ming’s red eyes locked tightly onto the pain swirling in Mu Xi’s gaze, “you wanted to use that bloodstained Sword… to end your own life and ‘atone’, didn’t you?”
“But…”
She chuckled softly, with a hint of pride.
“At that moment… it was I who stopped you.”
“You’re still running away…”
Mu Ming’s voice suddenly turned sharp.
“You want to use death to escape! You want to hide in this little corner, claim to ‘retire’, and escape! Escape from that stench of Blood that can never be washed away! Escape from the Sin you brewed with your own hands!”
“No! It’s not! I…”
Mu Xi’s voice trembled almost imperceptibly, wanting to retort, but the pain gripped her throat tight.
“You’re not strong at all!”
Mu Ming’s tone was merciless, as if tearing off layer after layer of disguise.
“You are… someone unbearably fragile inside! You can’t bear that ever-present guilt! You’re only lying to yourself!”
“Shut up!”
Mu Xi jerked her head aside, her voice hoarse, on the verge of breaking.
“What’s so bad about facing your own heart?”
Mu Ming’s voice suddenly softened, seductive as her fingers gently caressed Mu Xi’s chin.
“Admit your weakness. Admit your pain…”
“No…”
Mu Xi’s voice grew quieter, touched with a hint of desperate resistance.
“Mhm, it’s all right…”
Suddenly, Mu Ming bent down, pressing her cheek to Mu Xi’s cold face, nuzzling gently, her motions intimate as a lover’s.
“I’ll stay with you, dear ‘me’…”
“I’ll always… stay with you.”
She wrapped her arms around the rigid body beneath her, holding her tight.
“Let go of… that unnecessary guilt…”
“What is it that you really want!”
Mu Xi’s muffled voice came from the crook of her neck, laced with the last shred of sober questioning.
“I’m trying to comfort you… and you still don’t trust me?”
Mu Ming lifted her head, a trace of hurt and grievance flashing in those red eyes.
“Comfort won’t let me emerge from the shadows…”
Mu Xi’s voice was cold and clear.
“And you… are the one who dragged me into the darkness!”
“How mean…”
Mu Ming pouted, like a scolded child. “I really hoped… you’d be a bit nicer to me.”
“That’s impossible.”
Mu Xi said with absolute certainty.
“Want to know my goal?”
A sly glint flashed in Mu Ming’s red eyes as she tilted her head, that dangerous, tempting smile returning to her lips.
“Heh… promise me one thing… and I’ll tell you~”
“Do you take me for a child?”
Mu Xi sneered, full of disdain.
“There’s no way I’d agree to your—”
“Come shopping with me!”
Mu Ming suddenly sat up straight, planting her hands on either side of Mu Xi, her red eyes sparkling with childlike excitement and anticipation, as if the previous heaviness and painful confrontation had never happened at all.
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