Volume 1 Chapter 22: Miss Shen Is Actually Straight as Steel
Facing the teasing of a certain young lady, Shen Jingyi curled her lips but did not say much. Thinking about it, now that she had signed that kind of agreement with Bai Muxue, even if she was not locked in a little dark room by her, things probably would not be much better.
She glanced at the collar around her neck, closed her eyes, laughed at herself silently, and softly asked,
“So, where are you taking me?”
“I clearly sensed that person’s magic power just now... so why has it disappeared again?”
Hearing what sounded like the girl quietly talking to herself, Shen Jingyi was stunned for a moment.
“Did you just say something?”
“Ah.” Kaguya raised her head when she heard that and casually replied, “Nothing.”
“It’s not like I wanted to go anywhere special. Just flying around for fun.”
As Kaguya spoke, she slowly landed from the sky inside a small pavilion.
“Let’s sit there for a while.”
After Kaguya placed her on a stone bench and casually leaned against a nearby stone pillar, Shen Jingyi secretly let out a sigh of relief... What had just happened was truly too exciting. She really did not want to go through it a second time.
Shen Jingyi played with her fingers, feeling her restless emotions slowly calm down. Although she looked absent-minded, she was secretly observing Kaguya’s reaction.
She truly had many questions she wanted to ask Kaguya.
For example, why was this girl so afraid of Tang Xingwan? And how had she become a magical girl?
But even if she asked, what would be the point?
With Bai Muxue’s personality, even if she asked, the girl would not answer.
Thinking carefully... although there were many magical girls in this world, this was the first time she had personally met another “kindred spirit” like herself.
Sadly, this so-called “same kind” was actually Bai Muxue, the person she hated most, the one who had turned her life into a complete mess!
The drama of fate was probably nothing more than this.
The two of them simply looked at each other in silence. Kaguya did not seem interested in speaking, and Shen Jingyi was not a warm or talkative person either. Somehow, a strange atmosphere spread around them.
“It’s really quiet.”
This silence lasted until Kaguya lazily stretched and finally spoke first.
She looked at the green scenery outside the pavilion, supported her fair chin with one hand, and softly said,
“It would be nice if it rained.”
Shen Jingyi froze when she heard that and frowned instinctively.
“Didn’t it just rain at noon?”
“Oh? I guess it did.”
Kaguya smiled carelessly, but her voice suddenly carried a trace of emotion.
“But thinking about it... I remember I often came here alone in secret before.”
“Here?”
A look of surprise appeared on Shen Jingyi’s pretty face. A place this close to the outskirts of the city was usually visited only by people who liked morning exercise, or those who came with family and friends for camping or picnics...
With Miss Bai’s personality, she actually came to a place like this alone in secret?
“Yes. Back then, I did badly on a monthly exam and did not dare go home, so I wandered outside. And when I got here, it just started raining.”
Kaguya’s voice became distant, as if remembering something from long ago.
“At first, I wanted to find somewhere to hide from the rain. But the rain just kept falling and falling. It rained for so long and never stopped.”
“...And then?”
“And then?” The girl spread her hands and gave a helpless smile. “Then I got lost.”
“By then it was already dark, and it was raining. Everything around me was completely black. I could not find the way back at all.”
“I ran through the rain the whole time. I had no idea where I was... and I even fell down once. I just kept crying and crying there.”
Shen Jingyi had thought the girl was only remembering her childhood, but when she heard that, her expression stiffened slightly.
“Then... how did you get home in the end?”
At night, the outskirts had no streetlights at all, and it was raining. For a little girl, that was truly dangerous... especially for someone like Miss Bai, who had been pampered since childhood.
When Kaguya heard that, she slowly turned around, looked at Shen Jingyi, and raised the corner of her lips into a hard-to-read smile.
“Speaking of that, Teacher Shen, don’t say you don’t believe me... Back then, I ran while crying and shouted my family’s names, but no one answered me.”
“As I kept running, I even fell down once.”
“I fell flat onto the ground. It felt like the whole world had no light left at all. I was so scared, so scared.”
It had to be said that Kaguya was a very good storyteller.
The vivid way she spoke, together with the emotional look on her pretty face, pulled at Shen Jingyi’s heart little by little. Even someone as naturally cold as her began to feel concern inside and wanted to know what happened next.
“And then, I don’t know how long I cried...”
As if not noticing Shen Jingyi’s changing expression, Kaguya continued speaking on her own.
“Until I was tired from crying, and my vision had become blurry… Suddenly, a light appeared.”
“A light?”
Shen Jingyi frowned, surprise showing in her eyes.
“That’s right, a light. It wasn’t bright at all. It was very gentle, like it was softly touching my hair.”
Kaguya raised her head, looked at the last sunlight in the distance, narrowed her eyes, and continued,
“In my dazed state, I seemed to hear that light speak to me. It said, ‘Don’t cry anymore. Just walk in the direction where the red iris flowers are blooming, and you’ll be able to go home...’”
“When I looked up, the empty road on both sides was really covered with red iris flowers.”
“I followed the guidance of that light alone and quietly walked forward with the flowers on both sides... Strangely enough, even though it was still raining at that time, not a single drop fell on me.”
“In the end, I followed those flowers and walked out of the outskirts all by myself!”
The girl’s voice carried a little excitement. She reached out her hand, as if wanting to touch the last rays of the setting sun. Shen Jingyi sat beside her and listened quietly.
What Kaguya described sounded far too much like a fairy tale, like a dream a little girl had before waking up. Under normal circumstances, probably no one would believe it.
But in this age, where disaster beasts and strange monsters often appeared, meeting some flower spirit did not sound especially impossible.
And yet... hearing the deep nostalgia in Kaguya’s voice made Shen Jingyi’s heart stir faintly, as if she had crossed time itself and saw the young Bai Muxue crying alone in the rain.
It truly was a strange feeling...
If I had been there back then, I definitely would not have stood by and watched her cry.
I definitely would have taken her home.
For some reason, such a thought appeared in Shen Jingyi’s heart.
But... moved as she was, the more Shen Jingyi thought about the girl’s words, the stranger it seemed. Her brows furrowed even deeper.
After hesitating for a moment, Shen Jingyi spoke in a serious tone.
“If... what you said was not an illusion, then what you met back then might have been a disaster beast or some kind of monster. The fact that you got home safely only means you were lucky.”
Uh...
Hearing that, Kaguya’s mouth twitched, and dark lines almost appeared on her forehead.
I was clearly telling you a warm and romantic memory, yet you seriously tell me that some ugly disaster beast or monster might have been behind it?
Miss Shen Jingyi, when it comes to ruining the mood, no one can compare to her!