Volume 1 Chapter 126: Reunion in a Dream
Bai Muxue naturally did not notice Shen Jingyi's little action at all. She only felt a warm and soft touch on her lips, but before she could think about it, the warmth disappeared as quickly as a dragonfly touching the surface of water.
In her hazy state, Bai Muxue felt as if she had returned to the bathtub in the hotel bathroom.
Steam filled the air. Water overflowed from the edge of the bathtub, and the girl's small body was completely surrounded by warm water. The comforting heat seemed ready to melt away all her thoughts.
"Ah, you really get what you pay for... This is nothing like those cheap hotels I stayed in during business trips before..."
Bai Muxue smiled comfortably and slowly closed her eyes. She picked up the eye mask beside her, leaned against the edge of the bathtub, and quietly enjoyed the massage function of the tub.
A bright white flash streaked across the sky, followed by a loud clap of thunder. The brightly lit bathroom instantly fell into darkness.
But with the eye mask on and her mind drifting, Bai Muxue noticed nothing.
The girl gently shook her head. Drops of water fell from the ends of her hair, and her thoughts slowly drifted away.
"Sigh, it's good to enjoy myself once in a while. After all, I just..."
"Huh?"
As if she suddenly realized something was wrong, her thoughts paused.
What had she done tonight?
Why had she come to a hotel?
Wasn't the bathtub at home good enough?
And hadn't she already taken a bath?
Boom!
As if answering her doubts, another deafening clap of thunder sounded outside the window, forcefully pulling Bai Muxue's wandering thoughts back.
A strong sense of unease rose in her heart. Like the water in the tub that was becoming colder and colder, it slowly wrapped around her and swallowed her up.
Cold?
Only then did Bai Muxue realize that the water temperature seemed to be... gradually dropping.
Her fingertips moved through the water. The feeling was no longer warm. The water flowing from the outlet was cold water that had not been heated at all.
An indescribable chill spread across her entire body. Bai Muxue quickly pulled off the eye mask, but when she opened her eyes, everything before her was still completely dark.
The entire bathroom had lost its lights and was pitch black.
A power outage?
Did the thunder cause the electricity to trip?
The girl's eyes narrowed slightly as a strong sense of alertness suddenly rose within her.
"This is..."
A bright flash of lightning streaked past the window, causing Bai Muxue to squint instinctively.
But in this darkness where she could barely see her hand in front of her face, those occasional flashes were the only source of light.
Bai Muxue gently patted her flat chest. Biting her lower lip, she carefully stood up from the bathtub.
With the darkness around her and the slippery floor beneath her feet, she did not dare make any sudden movements, afraid that she might fall.
She picked up a towel nearby and dried herself. Then she felt around the clothes rack, found the underwear she had taken off earlier, and carefully put it back on.
Putting on underwear stained with sweat was not comfortable, but this was clearly not the time to wrap herself in a towel and go to sleep peacefully.
After getting dressed, Bai Muxue cautiously walked to the bathroom door. She turned the handle and carefully stepped out barefoot.
The window in the room, which had originally been closed, was now open. A strong wind blew in from outside, carrying a sharp chill that made Bai Muxue instinctively step back.
Without the window blocking it, the wild rain was slowly blown into the hotel room by the strong wind, landing on the girl's black hair.
She raised her head in the darkness and looked outside through the wind and rain. Lightning filled the sky, and the dark horizon was lit only by flashes of electricity.
"Wait, it's supposed to be summer right now, isn't it?"
Even during a heavy storm, the temperature shouldn't be this low, right?
"In weather like this, I wouldn't have come to a hotel by myself. And I should have come here with someone... who was it again?"
Bai Muxue tried hard to remember that person's name, but those three words seemed to have been forcefully erased from her memory. No matter how hard she tried, she could not remember them.
Just as the girl leaned against the window that had already been completely soaked by the rain, resting her hands on her head and frowning while thinking hard, that familiar soft and moist feeling suddenly appeared on her lips again.
It was as if someone had secretly kissed her when she was not paying attention.
That warm touch was like a key, directly unlocking the memories that had been sealed away.
"It was Shen... Teacher Shen? Where's Shen Jingyi?"
I had clearly finished my bath and gone to sleep while hugging that little girl, Shen Jingyi!
Finally remembering, Bai Muxue quickly turned around and looked toward the dark bedside.
But the bed was completely empty. There was no sign of the familiar girl.
The moment the words "Shen Jingyi" left her mouth, the sound of rain outside the window and the rumbling thunder suddenly stopped, as if someone had pressed the stop button on a piece of music.
It was not only the sounds that stopped. The lightning in the sky, the falling raindrops, and the splashing water all froze in place.
It was as if everything in the world had stopped at that very moment.
Well, now she knew who was behind all this...
Bai Muxue let out a small sigh. She walked to the bedside and sat down, then casually said in a soft voice,
"Come out, Sylvia. I see you."
As soon as she finished speaking, a familiar gentle laugh sounded beside her ears.
"Young Lady, you can't fool me this time. You clearly didn't see me."
Bai Muxue followed the voice and looked toward the window. There stood the familiar silver-haired girl, smiling at her with her usual graceful elegance.
It was definitely Sylvia herself, but...
Bai Muxue's eyebrows slowly furrowed. The corner of her mouth twitched slightly as she asked,
"...What are you wearing?"
The Sylvia before her was no longer dressed in her usual black dress. Instead, she wore a dark purple princess-style dress that hugged her waist. Several black leather bows decorated the skirt. Her slender legs were covered by black lace stockings with open patterns, and on her feet were shiny black shoes with heels nearly seven or eight centimeters high.
Her waist-length silver hair had also been braided into two long twin-tails, and two bat-shaped hair clips sat on top of her head.
After only a few days apart, Sylvia had gone from an elegant and noble princess to... a girl dressed like she had just returned from an anime convention.
"Ah, I looked up more information afterward. I heard this style is very popular among girls around your age."
Sylvia clasped her hands together. A hint of reserved pride appeared on her beautiful, flawless face.
To be fair, beautiful girls look good in anything.
But this outfit, which was meant to show a girl's cuteness and lively charm, looked strangely out of place on the quiet and elegant Sylvia.
Bai Muxue could not help but feel speechless.
The sight reminded her of a certain girl at home who used to constantly battle with her over what clothes she was allowed to wear.
Thinking back, Xingwan really had liked this kind of fashion for a while.
Though Bai Muxue had quickly put a stop to it…