Volume 1 Chapter 26: The Lonely Girl
The night had grown deep.
After finishing her shower, a trace of tiredness appeared on Qin Xiyao’s pretty face. Steam drifting out from the bathroom covered the mirror with a thin layer of mist.
Qin Xiyao raised her hand and wiped the fog away. At once, the mirror reflected her delicate features, slightly red from the hot water.
She slowly walked out of the bathroom and gave a soft sigh.
As expected, the room was filled with darkness and silence.
Her room was already spacious enough to feel uncomfortable on normal days, but tonight it seemed several times larger, making it feel especially empty.
It seemed that only loneliness and cold silence were left to keep her company.
Qin Xiyao turned on the light.
At this moment, she wore only a thin silk nightgown. It could not hide the soft and attractive curves of the girl’s body, stretching from her full chest down to her flat stomach. Beneath the light, her fair skin shone like white jade.
Her slim legs carried a soft pink glow. The warm light in the living room fell over her bare feet, as if covering them in gentle golden color.
After drying her wet long hair and returning to her room, Qin Xiyao did not do what she usually did.
Normally, she would go straight to her desk, read the poetry books or essays she liked, take notes, and improve her literary knowledge.
But tonight, she picked up the phone on her desk instead, checking whether someone had sent her a message.
“They said a disaster beast appeared in Wutong District? I’m so worried... Xiao Xue, are you okay?”
“Xiao Xue... It’s already been an hour. It seems the disaster beast was defeated by a newly appeared magical girl. If you’re safe, can you reply to me?”
“Xiao Xue... I was too impatient back then. I was wrong. I should not have forced you to make a decision. I’m sorry, truly sorry.”
“I won’t say things like that again in the future. We’re still best friends, right? Please reply to me... just once...”
Ever since hearing that a disaster beast had appeared in the district where Bai Muxue lived, Qin Xiyao had been worried about her safety and kept sending message after message.
But...
She waited for a very long time.
The messages she sent disappeared like stones sinking into the sea, with no reply at all.
Was it because the disaster beast caused bad phone signal?
Or had Xiao Xue run into danger?
Or...
Had she already become tired of me, hated me, and simply did not want to answer...?
If one of those two things had to happen, Xiao Xue being in danger, or Xiao Xue not wanting to reply, then maybe the second one was better...
Her small hand slowly tightened into a fist. Countless complicated emotions passed through her dark eyes.
She gently put down her phone and opened her notebook.
Looking at the blank white page, the girl wanted to focus on studying...
But her mind was completely empty, as if all thoughts and inspiration had quietly been erased.
Qin Xiyao simply sat there in a daze, letting her thoughts drift far away, not knowing where they would go.
Suddenly, the phone she had tossed aside rang.
It was a call!
She called me!
Qin Xiyao happily grabbed the phone and answered without even checking.
“Hello! Xiao Xue! I’m really sorry, I—eh?”
“It’s Mom...”
The smile that had just risen on the girl’s lips slowly faded again.
Still, she forced herself to adjust her mood and asked with concern.
“By the way, your business trip should be ending soon, right? Shouldn’t you be coming back in a few days... eh?”
“Because there are also signs of strange monster activity there, the business trip may need to continue... I see.”
The hand holding the phone trembled slightly.
The smile she had worked so hard to show slowly disappeared again, leaving only lips pressed into a straight line.
But Mom...
You’ve already been away on a business trip for almost a year.
Is this really okay?
Qin Xiyao said those words silently in her heart.
“Mm, it can’t be helped. Mom, you also have to be careful there. Those monsters are very cunning and scary.”
No matter what the girl was truly thinking inside, her mother on the other end of the phone could only hear her cheerful voice full of concern.
“Mm-hmm, it’s okay. Work is important after all. Usually Xiao Xue is with me too, so I’m not lonely at all...”
“You don’t need to worry about me. I’m perfectly fine staying home alone...”
While casually saying caring words, Qin Xiyao felt her vision becoming more and more blurry. A sharp pain and sour sadness rose in her heart.
But she never showed those hard-to-describe feelings to her mother, not even until the call ended.
If she truly broke down crying and told her mother that she was tired and lonely, then her mother would definitely leave work immediately, take a plane back to Wangdu, and return to her side.
Qin Xiyao knew that very clearly.
But she could not do that.
Because her mother, along with the coworkers in the Special Investigation Department, had chosen this job in order to protect everyone in the world.
If she told her mother such things on the phone, it would only trouble her mother and all those uncles and aunties in the department.
She could not be that selfish, sacrificing other people’s happiness for her own.
Yes...
Even for the sake of other people’s happiness, she should not make her mother worry. She had to be a good daughter worthy of praise.
Qin Xiyao wiped the corners of her eyes and slowly stood up. Her beautiful feet, as delicate as artwork, stepped onto the floor. The tops of her feet looked like flawless white jade, carrying a faint pink color.
Feeling deeply tired, she returned to the sofa in the living room and turned on the television.
“This afternoon, the disaster beast that appeared in Wutong District has been defeated by a magical girl. The exact number of injuries and damage is still being confirmed. Citizens are advised to stay safe, follow official instructions, and avoid dangerous areas...”
“According to staff from the Special Investigation Department, this black magical girl was not previously recorded and may be a newly appeared magical girl...”
Seeing the terrible scene in Wutong District on TV made the already troubled Qin Xiyao feel even more uneasy. She quickly picked up the remote and changed the channel.
“Recently, a series of child disappearance cases in different areas of Wangdu has drawn public attention. Parents should strengthen supervision of their children and improve children’s awareness of self-protection. Relevant departments are still investigating...”
“Why don’t you love me?! Why?!”
“Welcome to today’s Xiao Ming Kitchen. Today’s—”
She kept switching channels again and again.
Qin Xiyao did not care what was actually playing on TV.
She only wanted some sound.
As if that way, this lonely house could gain a little warmth.
Just when her eyelids were becoming heavier and heavier, as if she would fall asleep the next second, the phone she had left in her room rang with a message sound again.
“Eh...?”
Half asleep, Qin Xiyao opened her eyes, swayed into her room, and picked up the phone.
The next moment, her eyes widened in disbelief.
All the sleepiness that had surrounded her vanished instantly.
This time it was not a phone call.
It was a message from someone.
—“Sorry, Xiyao. Too many things happened just now, so I didn’t have time to reply. How are you now? Are you okay?”
“Typing feels a bit inconvenient. Are you free now?”
Along with it came a video call request.
A video call request from Bai Muxue.