Chapter 63: Confessions of Mutual Feelings

Nighttime, inside Qiu Qiqian’s Inner World…

The warm-toned lighting looked no different from the real world.

From outside the balcony came the chirping of insects, and the texture of the sofa felt incredibly familiar.

To make herself and Li Meng more comfortable, Qiu Qiqian had specifically shaped the entire Inner World to resemble Li Meng’s home as much as possible.

The only addition was nine doors leading to additional expanded spaces.

At that moment, Qiu Qiqian was sitting in the simulated living room inside her Inner World, fingers absently rubbing the necklace Li Meng had given her.

The sound of bathing drifted from the bathroom behind her, a steady stream of water that stirred the imagination.

Qiu Qiqian deliberately forced those thoughts away.

Within the Inner World, her perception was heightened to a terrifying degree.

After all, everything here originated from her own Nether Breath.

If she concentrated, she could even see every corner of the Inner World in her mind’s eye — including everything happening in the bathroom right now…

The mere thought made images begin to surface in her mind: the misty steam inside the bathroom, the pale body beneath the cascading water…

This wasn’t fantasy.

This was the real scene unfolding in the bathroom at this very moment.

Qiu Qiqian quickly shook her head and silently recited her self-created Calming Heart Mantra several times before the images in her mind gradually dissipated.

‘No, no! Qiu Qiqian, you haven’t even confirmed a relationship with her. If you actually did that, wouldn’t you be no different from a pervert!’

Eyes closed, she let out a long breath, suppressing the restlessness inside her.

Just then, the sound of water in the bathroom stopped.

After a rustle of dressing, the bathroom door slid open.

Li Meng stepped out, towel-drying her wet hair.

A moist, post-bath mist still clung to her, and droplets from the tips of her hair slid down her fair neck into her collar.

“Wow~ I never thought bathing here would feel just like bathing at home~”

Li Meng squinted comfortably, savoring the gentle breeze that blew in from the balcony — not too cold, not too hot, just the perfect temperature.

As she enjoyed the coziness, her gaze landed on the figure on the sofa, eyes closed as if meditating.

Curiously, she tiptoed over, leaned down slightly, and studied Qiu Qiqian’s serene sleeping face with her clear gray eyes.

“Is Xiao Qian…”

“Calming my mind.”

Qiu Qiqian slowly opened her eyes.

The turmoil within had mostly settled.

However, Li Meng’s leaning posture revealed a glimpse of two soft, pale mounds through her open collar.

Qiu Qiqian’s breath hitched.

She almost frantically turned her head away, letting her gaze fall back onto the necklace in her hand.

Her fingers pressed harder against the diamond, trying to cool the heat inside her with its icy touch.

“Hmm? All right.”

Li Meng didn’t press further.

Instead, her eyes followed Qiu Qiqian’s movement to the familiar necklace in her palm.

“Ah, it’s the necklace I gave Xiao Qian!”

Her eyes lit up.

She leaned in even closer, almost pressing against Qiu Qiqian’s shoulder.

“No wonder I didn’t see Xiao Qian wearing it today. So you put it in the Inner World.”

This time, she pressed even closer, her soft body fitting seamlessly against Qiu Qiqian’s back.

Warm body heat and plush, tender softness transferred through the thin fabric.

The blush on Qiu Qiqian’s face spread quickly to her ears, yet she forced herself to stay calm, keeping her voice as steady as possible.

“Ahem… after all… it’s the first gift you ever gave me. I’ll just wear it during leisure time. If I’m on a mission, I’d better keep it safely stored.”

“Mhm… Xiao Qian really is meticulous~”

Li Meng wrapped her arms around her from behind, resting her chin on Qiu Qiqian’s shoulder, and said with a smile:

“Actually, if it breaks, I’ll just buy Xiao Qian a new one~”

“If some brat hadn’t told me that gifts aren’t something to take lightly, I wouldn’t care this much…”

“Idiot.”

Qiu Qiqian muttered a light rebuke, laced with a hint of dissatisfaction.

But when she saw Li Meng’s eyes, so full of innocence and laughter, all her words caught in her throat.

In the end, all she could produce was a soft, almost inaudible “hmph.”

Hearing clearly tsundere retort, Li Meng froze for a moment, then let out a sweet, low laugh.

While Qiu Qiqian was off guard, she quietly planted a gentle kiss on her cheek.

“Ah! You little… again…”

Qiu Qiqian covered her face and sidestepped, about to scold her out of habit.

“Hey, are we going to stay in Xiao Qian’s Inner World like this all night?”

Li Meng changed the subject, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger.

“What else? Didn’t you and I go back to the Real World before you showered? It’s still raining outside.”

“Hmm, that’s true…”

Li Meng glanced at the TV that was modeled after the one at home.

Though the screen could light up, it only played blurry, meaningless images.

“It seems objects created inside Xiao Qian’s Inner World can’t handle very complex tasks…”

Li Meng stroked her chin, thinking for a moment, then suddenly made up her mind.

“In that case… Xiao Qian, can you turn the sky into a starry sky, and turn this place into a grassland?”

“I can. Why?”

“Mhm… I just… want to watch the stars.”

There was a note of yearning in Li Meng’s voice.

She rolled behind Qiu Qiqian and placed her hands on her shoulders, gently shaking them.

“Hey~ Xiao Qian, change the scenery~”

“Fine, fine, stop shaking!”

Qiu Qiqian sighed helplessly and snapped her fingers.

The entire living room space immediately began to warp, collapse, and dissolve.

Soft, moist soil emerged from the void, rapidly filling the floor space.

Tender green sprouts burst through the earth with visible speed, growing wildly and intertwining.

In the blink of an eye, they covered the entire field of vision.

Within seconds, the warm, familiar room vanished without a trace.

In its place was a vast, clean grassland shimmering faintly under starlight.

Night descended.

Countless stars dotted the sky, brilliant and dazzling.

The light they cast on the grass was faint, yet reassuring.

“It’s… such a beautiful starry sky…”

Li Meng let out a heartfelt exclamation, then lay down on the grass.

She reached out a hand and gently swept it across the sky, as if trying to catch the distant specks of light.

But unlike last time, her eyes no longer held nostalgia or regret.

Instead, they were filled with anticipation and hope.

“Yeah. It really is beautiful.”

Qiu Qiqian also lay down on the grass, sighing in admiration.

Even though she had created it with her own hands, the dual visual and spiritual shock of being under a starry sky born from her own will was still genuine.

“Ever since I became a Youxun, it’s been a long time since I’ve looked at the night sky like this.”

Li Meng stared at the stars, her voice carrying a hint of gratitude.

“Thank you, Xiao Qian…”

“There’s no need to thank me for something like this…”

Li Meng shook her head but didn’t argue aloud.

Before, every night she had to rush to deal with Guiyi.

Even after finishing, she lacked the energy or mood to appreciate the sky.

Even when she went home, facing a space where she was alone only made her feel empty.

But now, everything was different.

She had someone at home to keep her company, someone to take care of her, someone to talk to.

Even during battle, when she had to use the Void Dimension Gap to minimize losses and protect others, she no longer had to worry about another Guiyi exploiting her vulnerability.

After all, she had a support to lean on now.

“Speaking of which, I’ve told Xiao Qian a lot about myself.”

She suddenly turned her head to look at Qiu Qiqian beside her.

“But when I think about it… I don’t seem to know much about Xiao Qian yet.”

Qiu Qiqian’s movements paused.

She twisted a blade of grass between her fingers and replied softly:

“I… told you before, my past isn’t really worth mentioning.”

Li Meng shook her head again.

In the starlight, her gray eyes looked exceptionally clear.

“If Xiao Qian doesn’t want to talk about the past, that’s fine. What I really want to know is everything about Xiao Qian now… what you like, what you enjoy, what you fear, what you want.”

“I remember Xiao Qian once said that when you were human, you were a very ‘terrible’ person. Too good at being a good person, never thorough enough to be a bad person — still the same even now.”

“Yeah… pretty terrible, isn’t it?”

“But I think… Xiao Qian is wonderful like this.”

Li Meng’s tone was unusually firm.

“You give yourself for the kindness in your heart. Even if you stray down the wrong path, your conscience calls you back… Isn’t that great?”

A flicker of light passed through Qiu Qiqian’s eyes.

She turned her head to meet Li Meng’s gaze.

Her lips parted, but in the end, no words came out.

Li Meng paused, as if sinking into a distant memory.

Then she looked back up at the countless stars.

“Xiao Qian, do you know? A long time ago, when my parents were still alive, I used to lie on the grass with them, looking at the stars in the sky.”

“Back then, naively, I would ask them how the stars came to be.”

“They never gave me the correct answer. Instead, they told me that every star in the sky was someone who wanted to watch over the world, transformed into light.”

“But stars are very faint. Compared to the sun and the moon, they’re nothing. So I asked them again — since we already have the sun and the moon, why do we still need stars?”

“Because—”

Qiu Qiqian spoke up, her voice as gentle as the night breeze.

She too reached out her hand, palm facing upward, as if reaching for the sea of stars.

“In places where the sun and moon can’t reach, there are still people who fear the darkness.”

In an instant, Li Meng’s body trembled violently.

She turned her head again, and for the first time, her gray eyes showed an expression of utter disbelief, along with a gratitude that threatened to overflow.

In the calm depths of Qiu Qiqian’s eyes, she seemed to glimpse her former self — that time when she was held in her parents’ arms, gazing at the starry sky without a care in the world.

Li Meng’s lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something but didn’t know where to start.

Finally, as if having made up her mind, she took a deep breath, then raised her hand.

Starting from the back of Qiu Qiqian’s hand, she interlaced their fingers, tightly clasping the hand that had been reaching for the stars.

Feeling the warmth from Li Meng’s palm, Qiu Qiqian’s fingers twitched instinctively, but she didn’t pull away.

She looked up at the girl beside her.

In those always clear, gentle, innocent gray eyes, for the first time, a completely different emotion was burning.

Li Meng rolled over and straddled Qiu Qiqian’s waist.

She pressed Qiu Qiqian’s hands against the grass behind her back, interlocking their fingers firmly.

Her gray hair cascaded down like a waterfall, the ends brushing against Qiu Qiqian’s chest, carrying the fragrance of just having bathed and the subtle scent unique to a young girl.

Qiu Qiqian didn’t resist or push her away.

She simply gazed quietly at the girl above her, whose eyes blazed with intensity.

Something long dormant in her own chest began to resonate in response.

Li Meng bit her lip, her throat bobbing as if she were using every ounce of strength to keep her voice from trembling.

“Xiao Qian…”

“I like you.”

Even though Qiu Qiqian’s heart had rehearsed this scene many times, the moment those three words truly left Li Meng’s lips and reached her eardrums, her heart still stopped uncontrollably.

In the next second, the world seemed to slow down.

Li Meng leaned down, with determination, pouring all her feelings, courage, and hope onto Qiu Qiqian’s lips without reservation.

Qiu Qiqian’s eyes flew wide open…

She could clearly feel the softness and warmth on her lips — a tentative exploration, yet once they touched, they refused to let go.

She didn’t push away.

Her interlocked hands instinctively loosened, then tightened again, fully entwined with the other’s.

No one knew.

No one heard.

Only in a corner of the Inner World did two Qingming Flowers, still glistening with dew and slowly unfurling their petals, silently witness everything.