Inside the safe house, Hong Yeqiu had already been gone for a while. Only Yi Shiyue remained, resting her chin in her hands as she sat by the bedside, staring blankly at the young girl on the bed.
‘Is she truly Ye Xingyao?’
This question lingered in her mind, refusing to dissipate.
However, it was best to help her change out of those tattered remains first. They could hardly be called clothes anymore. In her current state of undress, she was more exposed than the young girls in the red-light district who couldn’t afford clothing.
Peeling away the garments one by one, the girl’s snowy-white body was gradually revealed in its entirety. Yi Shiyue silently tossed the shredded fabric into the trash and covered the girl with a blanket.
She was indeed a girl…
She recalled what that ethereal, emotionless voice had said.
‘Ritual complete. The remnant of a Half-Elf, Midnight-level magic concentration, Moon Elf magic attribute, extreme emotion, resentment.’
A ritual… something related to the Star Elf Stone.
The remnant of a Half-Elf—right, Xingyao’s mother was an Elf.
The Midnight-level magic concentration likely came from the monster Hong Yeqiu killed, combined with the Magic Power Hong Yeqiu herself released.
Then there was her magic attribute and the even more cryptic “extreme emotion.” Everything that had happened tonight had once again exceeded the boundaries of her understanding.
It had left her covered in dust and grime, feeling uncomfortable all over.
‘I should take a shower.’
For some reason, Yi Shiyue felt a sense of stability now.
Even though it wasn’t certain that the girl was Xingyao, there was a vague, persistent feeling that ‘this girl is Ye Xingyao.’
How strange.
Turning on the showerhead in the bathroom, she felt the warm stream of water flow from her head down her body. Her long white hair clung limply to her fair skin. Her pretty face, flushed a soft crimson from the heat, stared blankly at her reflection in the mirror.
After spending so much time in her form with black hair and black eyes, she had almost forgotten that she was a Moon Elf, a race extremely rare even among Elves.
Pointed ears and violet eyes—she hadn’t seen them for a long, long time.
A feeling both familiar and foreign.
‘What kind of appearance actually belongs to Yi Shiyue? Which one is the real me?’
She couldn’t help but wonder.
A soft sigh escaped her slightly red lips.
Perhaps the appearance didn’t matter, but thinking back to tonight, a single sentence from that so-called Forest Elf remained stuck in her heart like a thorn.
She was indeed a stray who had never received an Elven education. Her so-called magic was nothing more than low-level Elven magic learned from her grandmother, with perhaps a few spells added to help an Elf integrate better into human society.
She was too weak. They were lucky to have the Star Elf Stone to help them this time, but what about next time? The Star Elf Stone was gone. As for Ye Xingyao’s current state, even if one didn’t say his life or death was uncertain, things didn’t look good from her perspective.
The sound of the water gradually weakened. Yi Shiyue turned off the shower, picked up a towel from the nearby rack to dry herself, and then found a bath towel to wrap loosely around her body. She began rummaging through the small cabinet under the sink for a hairdryer.
While drying her hair, the girl’s peripheral vision suddenly caught something interesting.
‘This looks like… a woman’s perfume.’
Picking up a small, pale purple bottle, she opened the cap and took a sniff. It was undoubtedly a woman’s perfume. However… why would there be this kind of perfume in the safe house where Xingyao often stayed? And who was using it?
Yi Shiyue’s first thought was Hong Yeqiu.
But from her observations, this light fragrance didn’t match that sharp and aggressive woman. It didn’t seem like the type of scent Hong Yeqiu would use.
‘Could it be… Xingyao knows some other girl?’
That was unlikely. If a girl used this place, there would be many more items needed than just this.
Furthermore, Xingyao had definitely been a normal male before. As his boss, how could Hong Yeqiu not know his gender?
Yi Shiyue realized where the suspicion lay.
Since Hong Yeqiu knew Ye Xingyao was male, seeing this girl, it was impossible for her to simply accept that “she” was the Hunter working under her without any reaction.
What if she was a bit bolder with her theory? Was it possible that the “Xingyao” Hong Yeqiu knew was a “female”? Or rather, when Xingyao was active in front of Hong Yeqiu, he appeared in a form almost identical to how he looked now!
Yi Shiyue felt as if a light had suddenly been switched on in the dark spaces of her mind.
Tiptoeing out of the bathroom, she glanced at the sleeping girl and then turned her gaze toward the wardrobe not far away.
Her slender hand gently rested on the cabinet door. Yi Shiyue hesitated. Inside might lie a shocking secret her childhood friend had been hiding, or it might just be some ordinary clothes. However, sneaking a look at these things while she was sleeping felt a bit immoral.
‘…Just one peek, just one! This is for the sake of Xingyao’s mental and physical health!’
After a short while, Yi Shiyue convinced herself.
Because of her circumstances, Yi Shiyue, who had always acted as a well-educated “good girl” even at school, took her first heavy step into the world of voyeurism.
Whether it was because she feared waking the sleeping girl or because she was doing something “bad,” Yi Shiyue carefully pulled open the wardrobe door…
What met her eyes were several sets of clothes arranged neatly. Half were men’s clothing, and half were women’s. Sniffing carefully, she could still smell that same woman’s perfume. Without a doubt, the owner of these clothes and the owner of this safe house were highly likely the same person.
Yi Shiyue looked at the girl on the bed with a complex expression. As luck would have it, the latter let out a soft snore, startling Yi Shiyue so much that she hurriedly closed the wardrobe. She tiptoed to the bedside and sat down obediently. Only when the girl settled into a peaceful sleep without further noise did her racing heart calm down, and she let out a long sigh of relief.
At that moment, her phone suddenly chimed with a notification. Yi Shiyue quickly pulled out her phone and glanced again at the girl who was likely Ye Xingyao. Seeing no movement, she turned her attention back to the screen.
“Xingling”: “Sister Shiyue, are you and Brother okay? Monsters appeared near Satellite Park. The house we were living in seems to have been destroyed.”
Yi Shiyue’s expression changed. Only then did she remember there was still a younger sister involved.
“We are fine. Xingyao and I went quite far away and found a hotel nearby to stay at. Sorry for making you worry. Are you okay on your end?”
“Xingling”: “I’m fine… As long as you are both safe. Um… Sister Shiyue, go for it! Win over my brother! Goodnight!”
‘That should… be enough, right?’
But it seemed Xingling had misunderstood something.
Looking at the girl’s sleeping face, Yi Shiyue also felt a bit drowsy. Gradually, she leaned down and rested her head by the bedside. Before long, she fell into a deep sleep.