Chapter 51: You Xin

Walking into the inner venue, accompanied by the rush of cool air, came the boisterous sound of voices.

Shen Ye looked up; the ceiling was very high, making the booth facilities below seem somewhat low.

The event was being held in a large convention center, with massive banners of various games and anime hanging from the ceiling, keeping the space from feeling too empty.

“Hey!”

“Come on, look this way, 3, 2, 1—”

“The autograph session is over there, hurry!”

The noisy chatter, camera shutters, and stage singing were incessant, causing Shen Ye to furrow her delicate brows.

She took off her sunglasses slightly and blinked her golden eyes, surveying this unfamiliar world.

Strange costumes, colorful wigs, and peculiar accessories.

The people here all seemed more open and more self-expressive than when they were outside.

Xiao Meng likes coming to places like this? That does match her personality.

Shen Ye looked curiously at the novel scenes around her, and inadvertently caught sight of several characters from games that Lin Xiaomeng had once played with her.

Wow, what’s this? It feels kind of interesting.

Before she knew it, she had already followed Lin Xiangyi for quite a distance, until a deafening cheer burst by her ears.

Shen Ye quickly covered her ears, her cat ears drooping on top of her head, looking quite aggrieved.

Ugh… so loud.

My ears have way too good reception.

At that moment, amid the huge clamor, Lin Xiangyi’s clear voice came through.

“We arrived just in time.”

He pointed at the stage ahead, and following the direction of his finger, Shen Ye clearly saw the pink-haired girl standing on it.

“That’s our target this time—”

On stage, a pink-haired fox girl was holding a microphone, dancing to the music.

Her movements were fluid and full of energy, with every turn and raise of her hand landing precisely on the beat. Her long pink hair flew with her dance steps, and the fluffy fox ears nestled within her locks trembled gently along with the rhythm.

For a moment, Shen Ye felt the pressure from the venue’s many noises ease, as if the impurities in the sound had been filtered out, leaving her ears filled with the sweet, lovely singing of the girl on stage.

The audience below waved glow sticks, chanting in unison:

“You Xin! You Xin! You Xin!”

Amid the cheers, she heard the name of the person on stage.

“So this is ‘You Xin’?”

“Mm.”

Shen Ye stared at You Xin’s outfit, her eyes wide.

That pink hair, the fox ears dancing between the strands with her movements, and the big fluffy tail trailing behind her, arching up like a living thing.

This—

This looks exactly like a fox spirit being!

Beneath the wide sunglasses, Shen Ye’s brilliant golden pupils trembled violently, unable to believe what she was seeing.

Huh?

No way?

A spirit being, dancing like this in broad daylight, in front of so many people?

And the key point.

She looked around and found that not a single person showed an odd expression.

All the audience members were cheering excitedly, waving their glow sticks, as if everything on stage was just an ordinary girl performing.

No one cared that she was a spirit being.

Have I fallen behind the times?

“What’s wrong? Is something off?”

Lin Xiangyi asked.

“This…”

This was way more than just off.

I’ve never seen a spirit being this bold, not afraid of getting caught by the Association?

Shen Ye swallowed, her voice carrying a hint of unease.

“Xiangyi, is You Xin a spirit being?”

“Huh? Of course she’s human.”

Faced with Shen Ye’s sudden question, Lin Xiangyi answered very naturally.

He stared at You Xin on stage for two seconds, then, as if realizing something, it clicked.

“Oh~ you mean that.”

“The fox ears she’s wearing are fake. She’s cosplaying a fictional character. We humans usually call this cosplay.”

“See, look.”

Lin Xiangyi jerked his chin to the side, and a few girls with animal ears happened to walk past.

“Oh, I see…”

Shen Ye murmured as she watched the few girls who looked a lot like “spirit beings” walk away.

“Do you want to try removing the concealment spell? I doubt anyone would notice.”

Lin Xiangyi teased.

“No no no no no.”

Hearing this, Shen Ye frantically shook her head, her soft ears on top wobbling along, which made Lin Xiangyi’s hands itch.

“But that one on stage is really different! Those are all real!”

Others might not be able to tell, but Shen Ye’s experience told her that the “props” on that person on stage were completely different from those girls with strange getups—they were all real.

“Huh?”

As if sensing something too, Lin Xiangyi looked at the fox-eared girl leaping on stage.

After observing for a moment, he also spotted the problem and muttered:

“No way…”

He scratched his head and looked at Shen Ye.

“She’s a spirit being?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely certain.”

Hiss…

This… this shouldn’t be.

Lin Xiangyi was a bit stunned.

He had dealt with spirit beings quite a bit too. In the past, the spirit being friends his senior brother had befriended would often visit Azure Cloud Sect.

From what he knew, almost all spirit beings refused to show themselves in front of people.

Even as Shen Ye’s junior brother, he had barely exchanged words with a few spirit beings.

But this You Xin…

Lin Xiangyi’s gaze fell on the girl on stage.

Is this still the spirit being I know? She’s way too outgoing.

“You Xin’s fox ears are so cute! Every time I see them, my heart races!”

“Right, right, she’s just like a real fox girl! So adorable!”

The murmurs around them kept coming.

Shen Ye watched You Xin on stage without moving, her gem-like pupils reflecting the dancing figure above.

You Xin’s face brimmed with confident smiles, conveying every dance move and every note to the hearts of the audience below.

—A spirit being actually appearing in a place like this.

This thought kept striking Shen Ye’s mind. In all her past understanding, no spirit being had ever dared to appear among a crowd like this.

Whenever she brought up the topic of getting along with humans with her few familiar spirit being friends, all of them would shake their heads.

This had always made her believe that the day spirit beings could stand alongside humans without the slightest hesitation was still a long way off.

But the scene before her now forced her to face the truth.

At the same time, a thought welled up in her heart, only to be immediately dismissed by her.

If only all spirit beings could be like her. But how could that ever happen…

Shen Ye smiled bitterly, shook her head, and turned her gaze back to Xin Hu.

How does she manage to not care about what others think?

She looked around; people dressed in all sorts of ways were everywhere in the crowd, and plenty of youths with animal ears were mixed in among them.

Could it be because of this thing called “cosplay”?

On stage, You Xin’s singing continued, the girl’s enchanting voice reaching every person in the audience, sparking wave after wave of cheers.

An invisible influence was being conveyed through the song.