After Miss Li Meng let go of her hands, Qiu Qiqian immediately bounced up from the bed and paced aimlessly around the room, as if she were inspecting the interior layout.
But in reality… Li Meng could tell she was just waiting for her mind to calm down.
“Ahem, if you ask me, the quality here isn’t bad. But honestly, if you only came for this kind of experience, you didn’t need to come at all. You could’ve just experienced it in my Inner World.”
Perhaps to hide her inner restlessness, Qiu Qiqian deliberately found a topic and even glanced at Li Meng, who was still sitting by the bed, as if seeking her opinion.
“Hmm? But don’t you think, Xiao Qian, it’s nice to occasionally go out and have fun with everyone? It’s lively, isn’t it? And… sharing a room with Xiao Qian is a pretty novel experience too.”
Li Meng smiled gently, her legs clad in white stockings still swinging back and forth, looking absolutely delighted.
‘This girl… seriously, has she forgotten that the Association originally agreed to let me stay on you so you could keep monitoring me? Now it feels like things are heading in a… weird direction.’
‘Well… it’s not like I hate this feeling…’
Knock knock knock…
The sound of knocking came from the door. Qiu Qiqian walked over and checked the person outside through the peephole.
“It’s Yao Xueyue and the others,” Qiu Qiqian said to Li Meng as she turned back, then opened the door.
Click.
“Ah, you’re here! So what are we doing now?”
Li Meng quickly rushed to the door, only to see Yao Xueyue and the others already changed into somewhat solemn black dresses, looking quite dignified.
“The funeral’s about to start. You two, hurry and change. I’ll take you there later.”
With that, Qiu Qiqian had Isana hand over the other two black dresses to her and Li Meng, then helped close the door and waited for them to finish changing.
***
After a while, in a temporary Farewell Hall set up behind the hotel, all kinds of high-profile people had gathered. Every single one of them was dressed in somber black, with only a few who felt cold adding an extra jacket.
Yao Xueyue and her group, having no relation to the deceased’s family and not being very familiar with them, naturally stayed in the outer periphery. They could only catch glimpses of the interior through gaps between people.
Wreaths, a portrait, a perfectly sealed coffin, and family members in mourning clothes.
‘Strange… I remember coffins aren’t usually sealed this quickly… shouldn’t they let the family see the deceased one last time, then read the eulogy before closing it? Am I remembering wrong? Or is it a difference in customs between worlds?’
Qiu Qiqian muttered to herself inwardly.
“Ahem, silence, please.”
The host at the center of the Farewell Hall cleared his throat, apparently about to deliver the eulogy.
“Dear friends and colleagues, today we gather with heavy hearts to bid farewell to a respected elder, Mr. Lu Luosheng. His life was one of kindness, diligence, family devotion, and enduring blessings…”
The eulogy was long and tedious—basically a summary of his life, praises of his achievements, and elevation of his status. But in such a solemn setting, even those who held grudges against the deceased had to maintain dignity.
Otherwise, they might get chopped into mincemeat by this crowd.
After the eulogy came the music and the wailing, then finally carrying the coffin to the grave. The pace… was much faster than Qiu Qiqian expected. She figured it might be due to differences between worlds.
After that, some offered condolences, others handled miscellaneous affairs. For unrelated people like Li Meng and the others, it was naturally best to leave quickly.
After all, with no familial ties, trying to force words of comfort would be awkward.
But just before leaving the Farewell Hall, since most people had already left, Qiu Qiqian could clearly see the deceased’s immediate family at the center.
One of them, a young woman with short black hair and a white streak on the side, seemed to be his granddaughter. She sat absentmindedly to the side, but her eyes kept darting toward the people present.
‘Her life force… something’s off about it.’
Qiu Qiqian frowned.
As a Guiyi, she could easily sense the state of others’ life force. The young had abundant life force, radiating an allure to Guiyi, while the middle-aged and elderly were relatively depleted, tasteless like chewed wax.
But that woman’s life force… was strange. Qiu Qiqian couldn’t quite describe it—like some kind of contaminated spring.
“What’s wrong, Xiao Qian? What are you looking at?”
Li Meng noticed Qiu Qiqian standing there dazed and followed her gaze.
Just then, the woman seemed to sense something. She looked up at them, then stood up and hurriedly left the Farewell Hall, disappearing somewhere without a trace.
“Her… I feel like something’s not right…”
“Not right?”
Yao Xueyue and the others gathered around.
“Well, her family member just passed away, and the funeral just ended. It’s normal for her to be in a bad state of mind.”
“No, I… I can perceive life force to some extent. That woman just now, her life force… was a bit strange.”
“Perceive life force? You have that kind of ability?”
Mo Ling exclaimed in surprise, feeling like there were still many secrets hidden in Qiu Qiqian.
“Hmm… but I can’t put my finger on the specifics. Maybe it’s just that her constitution is special.”
“Well… since that’s the case, let’s eat first,” Isana suggested.
***
That evening, after gorging themselves at the buffet, the five of them agreed to visit the indoor hot spring.
To be honest, Qiu Qiqian wasn’t particularly eager. After all, soaking in a hot spring with four beautiful girls… wasn’t that a bit too… exciting?
But on second thought… ‘Qiu Qiqian, you’re a Guiyi, and you’ve got such an impressive figure. You can’t lose face!’ (Actually, it was only because Li Meng was going, so she had to go.)
So, after a quick change of clothes, Qiu Qiqian and Li Meng stepped into the misty women’s hot spring room. Amid the many pools, they searched for the one Yao Xueyue and the others had already claimed.
“Over here, over here!”
In one pool, a pale arm waved, accompanied by Mo Ling’s shout.
“Nice eyesight, Mo Ling. You can see clearly through all this steam.”
Yao Xueyue leaned against the edge of the pool, eyes closed in enjoyment, her silver hair naturally draping over her shoulders.
She was wearing a white one-piece swimsuit with a halter neck—sexy yet elegant. The abdominal area was cut out, revealing her flat, smooth stomach.
The upward-reaching fabric covered most of her fair skin, but from the side, quite a bit of… the light of truth was still visible.
“Hmph, at least my eyes are open. Not like someone who’s already dozing off.”
Mo Ling, also in a one-piece swimsuit, retorted. Hers was much more conservative compared to Yao Xueyue’s, almost identical to a school swimsuit.
Because of its tight fit, this type of swimsuit also accentuated the figure… but given Mo Ling’s rather flat chest, which wasn’t even as developed as most middle schoolers’, wearing it gave off a certain… elementary school aesthetic.
The moment she finished mocking Yao Xueyue, the latter blindly pinched her thigh, making her yelp, “Ow!”
As for Isana, she was wearing a normal two-piece swimsuit—nothing special. She was currently doing backstroke in the hot spring pool…
Pat pat… Pat pat…
With the sound of approaching footsteps and the chatter of Qiu Qiqian and Li Meng, Yao Xueyue slowly opened her eyes and looked at the two figures gradually emerging through the mist and arriving at their side.
When the two appeared at the other end of the pool, Yao Xueyue and Mo Ling’s attention was first drawn to the relatively taller Qiu Qiqian.
The moment they saw Qiu Qiqian, the same two words popped into both their minds.
“Sexy!”
“Big!”
It wasn’t the kind of bloated big that was off-putting. Qiu Qiqian’s bigness was… just right, absolutely perfect. Full yet unexpectedly perky, forming a perfect teardrop shape. Paired with her golden bikini, a large expanse of skin was left exposed…
And because Qiu Qiqian usually wore that trench coat, Yao Xueyue and Mo Ling had only assumed she had a decent figure. Who would have thought it was like this…
Not to mention the people in their pool—even those in other pools couldn’t help but sneak a few glances.
“Whoa…”
Isana lifted her head slightly to look at Qiu Qiqian by the pool, letting out a calm exclamation.
“Miss Li Meng is in for a treat…”
Facing so many eyes, Qiu Qiqian was actually a bit shy, but to avoid losing face, she put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest, trying to look more confident.
In truth, the reason she had turned her clothes into this bikini… was entirely due to her lack of knowledge about women’s swimwear. Before her reincarnation, the various shows and secret videos she watched always had heroines wearing bikinis at the beach, so when she was changing in the bathroom just now, she subconsciously…
‘Grr… if I’d known, I would’ve checked Li Meng’s swimsuit first before changing…’
Qiu Qiqian regretted inwardly.
“Looks like Xiao Qian really has an amazing figure,” Li Meng praised from beside her, casting an approving glance.
Hearing Li Meng’s voice, Yao Xueyue and Mo Ling immediately turned to look at her.
She was wearing a two-piece skirted swimsuit tonight. The skirt part was made of white gauze, giving a hazy, pure beauty. Paired with Li Meng’s sweet face, their first reaction was…
Cute!
Of course, aside from being cute, Li Meng’s figure was not to be underestimated. Although her upper half wasn’t as grand as Qiu Qiqian’s, it was still quite impressive. If you looked down from above her head, you could faintly see the pale northern hemisphere. And behind… it was surprisingly perky, so full that it couldn’t be completely covered by the bikini bottom.
“Whoa… Qiu Qiqian is in for a treat too,” Isana calmly remarked again, only to have Yao Xueyue, who couldn’t take it anymore, smack her on the head.
“I said… enough with the dirty jokes, okay…”
Yao Xueyue scolded softly, then beckoned Qiu Qiqian and Li Meng to come down and join them.
The moment the hot water completely enveloped her body, it felt as if all the day’s fatigue melted away. Her body went limp, and she instinctively leaned to the side.
As for Qiu Qiqian, though her body temperature in materialized form was like that of a corpse, it steadily rose under the continuous heat of the hot spring. That way, even if Yao Xueyue or the others accidentally touched her, they wouldn’t suspect anything.
The scene was remarkably harmonious…