Xyrin Empire-Chapter 721 Qianqian Ah Qianqian

The carnival was over, and although many people were still not ready to let go, not even the festive fireworks show could keep the holiday from leaving. At last, with the most spectacular fireworks lighting up the sky over Shadow City like daylight, a column of light representing the end of the celebration rose from the main avenue of the assembly area, directing the visitors to leave.

Sandora gave a brief speech filled with the Empire’s characteristics at the closing ceremony, lasting no more than fifteen seconds. In the end, Big Sister had to step in and add a couple more sentences herself so that the Heroic Spirit Honor Guard, who were about to leave the stage before even getting into position, could exit the podium with dignity. I sat below the stage, enjoying the special service from the Mercury Lamp—don’t get the wrong idea, she was just sitting on my shoulder and wiping my face.

My head suffered two Double Kicks, my hand launched a Sky Bomb, and my face caught the full blast of fireworks from Sandora’s mouth. On this nationally celebrated day, I didn’t know what bad karma I’d accumulated to be sharing a Luck Value nearly with the Gunmen. But then again, if I could enjoy the rare gentle care from my Little Light, it seemed like a pretty good deal.

"Click!"

Just as I was feeling sentimental, I got a solid chomp on the head that left me stunned: "Girl, what on earth are you doing!"

"Habit."

Mercury Lamp said indifferently, then picked up the cloth and rubbed hard across my head, bringing me nearly to tears: I know you like cleanliness, but do you really have to spit and rub like shining shoes? Besides, is it not very annoying that a doll like you developed salivation as a feature?

Gently, with more affection than blame, I tapped on the Mercury Lamp’s head and suddenly realized there was a gaze fixed on me. I turned and spoke out, "Qianqian, what are you looking at? It’s just a cannon blast. I’m not hurt."

"I know, but I am thinking about something very important," Qianqian said, propping her head up with her hands while sitting across from me, her eyes having been fixedly staring at me since just now, "Hmm, indeed, a very important matter."

How terrifying Qianqian could be when she was thinking about serious matters was known to all. For the sake of my worldview, I immediately decided against further discussion on this subject. Lin Xue gave me a sidelong glance and then boredly lay on the table: "Ah ah, you silly Wood, the carnival ended just like that, I haven’t had nearly enough fun... The next celebration isn’t for another five years, by then Little Baobao will have learned to fetch soy sauce!"

"You’re underestimating Little Baobao," I said, unsatisfied with Lin Xue’s low estimation of Little Baobao’s intelligence. I immediately pushed Little Princess in front of me and casually took out a bottle of soy sauce from my Personal Space, "Here, fetch the soy sauce."

Little Baobao was really smart. She immediately took the soy sauce bottle from my hand and threw it to the ground with a smack, instantly releasing the fragrance of soy.

I proudly proclaimed, "You see, she can fetch it already!"

Lin Xue: "...Could you be any more boring?"

Alright, I admit I really overdid it with the boredom. Such a carefully prepared grand event had just ended, and yet I had spent half the time dealing with Atlantis matters in another world, leaving me feeling a bit hollow now. The excited crowds of visitors would be leaving soon, and the citizens from various worlds would be returning to their own homes. Shadow City would quickly return to its usual solemnity and quiet; feeling what might be called "post-holiday blues" was very normal. Anyway, knowing that from tomorrow Shadow City would begin sending home the guests batch by batch made me feel incredibly bored.

If I felt empty, then Qianqian even more so; though she seemed extraordinarily thick-skinned, my Qianqian was actually a very lonely and separation-fearing sensitive girl. She could easily grow fond of the lively atmosphere and was even more reluctant to part with friends. When she was still a Little Loli, she had cried at the alley entrance over separating from the neighbor’s Dahuang, remaining depressed all day until she reunited with Dahuang after school and her smiles returned—though I think she might have been making a fuss about having to go to school.

Oh heavens, I’m rambling again. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

Watching Qianqian thoughtfully staring ahead, I guessed she might be struggling with just this issue. However, this girl’s mood swings came quickly and faded even faster. Just when I was about to comfort my sister, she had already forgotten about it, which was rather awkward.

************************

The night was deep—and I really loved that phrase because it was closely related to "sleeping," the most heartless affair. Having been away from home for several days, I was really missing my own room and bed, hence why I was currently rolling around on the bed.

"I can’t sleep, not for any other reason, but because I just finished reading today’s fairy tale to Cui Xingshi. Even though that little doll seemed fine, chattering non-stop as usual, collaborating with Mercury Lamp to grab my hair, I still can’t help but think about something: After playing outside for so many days, it’s time for Mercury Lamp’s little sisters to go home.

This issue is quite melancholy, but I have no reason to prevent Cui Xingshi and the others from going home just because I’m not in the mood, so within the very first second after midnight, I began thinking about a plan to send someone to assassinate Sakurada Jun.

"If you were really capable of doing that, you wouldn’t be a stupid human," a cold voice tinged with a hint of tsundere suddenly came from beside me. Following that, a small figure wriggled into the blankets, poked around for a bit, and then emerged by my head. I could feel a pair of tiny arms embracing my own large hand, tugging and pulling vigorously at all five fingers.

"I have no problem with sleeping while hugging arms, but please spare my hand: I had enough bad luck with fireworks today."

I freed my other hand and rubbed Mercury Lamp’s little head, thinking to myself that I had just lost focus again. Was my recent tendency to daydream getting a bit better?

The tiny Gothic girl didn’t speak, but continued to burrow around in the warm cocoon of blankets, much like a mischievous little girl. She rolled sideway, poked upright, stretched her arms, kicked her legs, did the Divine Dragon Tail, Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, Mount Tai Eighteen Disks, heaving and hoeing until she gathered all the blankets around herself, then with a thump fell onto the floor, leaving me out in the chilly air.

I vaguely recalled the last time I encountered this situation was over ten years ago, a time of innocuous childhood days. Whenever Qianqian came over to my place, she’d sleep in the same room as me. In the first half of the night we’d both be in bed, but by the second half, I’d be shivering above while Qianqian, wrapped in the blanket, was under the bed—back then, the floor of my room was always particularly clean, although washing the quilt cover was a bit of trouble. I wonder if Qianqian’s sleeping habits have improved now.

After reminiscing about the bits and pieces of Qianqian’s and my childhood, I quietly waited for a few more minutes. Still not seeing Mercury Lamp climb back up, I had to poke my head out over the bedside, only to see the little doll rolling around on the floor wrapped in the thick blanket, much like a big bug. So I asked in confusion, "What exactly is the symbolic meaning behind your actions?"

With only her head peeking out, Mercury Lamp’s gem-like big eyes looked at me filled with resentment, "I suddenly remembered I hadn’t taken off my shoes—how did it even come to this?"

I burst out, indignant, "You climbed up with shoes on again!"

"Well, I don’t usually walk on the ground anyway."

...I almost forgot that on regular days, this girl has a mount.

Here I was, a grown man, face to face with a 92.3 cm doll girl at the dead of night, neither of us sleeping, one in a tank top and shorts, the other wrapped up like a steamed bun. Ten seconds later, I felt an ache that I can’t really explain. So I reached out and hauled up this unfortunate egg who had tried to take off her shoes under the blanket but ended up trapping herself, and then the two of us fumbled around to change the quilt cover—although Anwina always cleaned the floor cleaner than my face, regretfully, Big Sister had forcibly given her a vacation these past two days. Meanwhile, my room housed a group of dolls perfectly capable of turning the place into a pigsty within three hours (primarily referring to the often hysterically happy Cui Xingshi and Chu Mei, who liked to sit on the floor to snack), and as a result, Mercury Lamp’s mischievous behavior led to a very troublesome aftermath.

"I think turning the quilt cover inside out and then putting it back on is unsanitary," came Mercury Lamp’s muffled voice from under the covers, "Even though the floor really isn’t that dirty."

"That’s what I always did in high school." I lay on top of the covers, continuing my effort.

"Idiot! If you keep doing this, I won’t let you hug me to sleep anymore!"

"Tsk, you really want me to find Anwina to wash the quilt cover in the middle of the night? Just make do, a doll shouldn’t be so fastidious."

Mercury Lamp continued to wriggle under the covers; clearly, she had no idea how adorable her actions were. However, after burrowing around for quite a while without coming out, I grew puzzled, "Little Light, what are you doing? Come help!"

"I... I got stuck while trying to get out of the quilt cover!"

Me: "..."

As previously mentioned, the two of us are really dunces when it comes to the highly technical task of changing a duvet cover.

I began to frantically search for the opening on the duvet cover, while Mercury Lamp grumbled discontentedly inside the enormous fabric bag.

"They’re going back tomorrow."

"I know, Zhenhong told me about it this morning. She’s a bit homesick."

"This place is so nice, why do they have to leave?"

I was surprised to see a giant lump forming on the duvet where Mercury Lamp was, "That doesn’t sound like you at all!"

The normal version of Mercury Lamp should always be sarcastic, ready to pick a fight at any time, and wouldn’t say anything nice about me even if she was dying. Why is she so straightforward now?

"Idiot!" was all Mercury Lamp replied to my query, succinctly and significantly.

"Well, you’re used to living here," I knocked on Mercury Lamp’s head through the duvet, "but they have spent more time living in another world. The ten or so days they’ve spent here were indeed joyful, but they couldn’t develop a sense of belonging that feels like home. It’s not comparable."

I didn’t articulate everything very clearly, but Mercury Lamp could probably understand. She and Zhenhong were different. Mercury Lamp, who had been alone for hundreds of years, spent them in solitude, with little sense of belonging to her own world. Suddenly, she arrived in a bustling, warm family, surrounded by people who cared and loved her, where even a doll couldn’t be differentiated from a regular human being, and the yogurt was given the same importance as to the youngest daughter at home... cough, in short, such a transformation of the environment is easily entrapping, and Mercury Lamp was indeed enveloped in it for a month or two. However, for Zhenhong and the others, those lucky ones already had a place like a "home" of their own, they enjoyed this world, but mentally it was more like visiting their big sister’s home, without the transformative impact of a drastic change. Plus, given the short duration, it would be overly fanciful to think that those little girls would give up their hometown just because of a few days of fun.

Mercury Lamp, trapped in the duvet, was silent for a while, then asked full of hope, "They can still come and visit often, right?"

"Of course, this is your home," I patted the duvet, my expression becoming subtle, "uhh, I have a feeling that your whole gang of little sisters is likely to visit often..."

With the convenient world travel system, and with Cui Xingshi being the Little Princess in the Imperial High Level, it was really quite simple for them to come to Shadow City to play. Speaking of this kind of separation, it’s like they’re living next door. Why am I even fussing over this with the little doll in the duvet?

Speaking of which, does the Time-Space Administration have a monthly pass?" Mercury Lamp rolled around inside the duvet and then suddenly asked as if struck by a thought, "Get Zhenhong and the others a monthly pass so they can come to play every morning and go back home in the afternoon!"

I was stunned: "You can have a subscription for traveling between worlds?"

"Of course, aren’t you the one who sets the rules?"

Unknown to many, the influential and effective policies that standardized transmigrators’ daily work and life across countless worlds in the future, which made numerous ticket scalpers gnash their teeth in frustration—monthly travel subscriptions, swipe card traveling, circuit (world) line traveling, booking travel online 15 days in advance—such ingenious travel systems all originated from this very conversation.

After tremendous effort, I finally freed Mercury Lamp from the duvet. This was a story even more nonsensically true than the legend of sewing oneself into a quilt. Considering the complexion of the little doll, I didn’t go into detail. I agreed to her request to get her sisters the free travel monthly pass, and declared that Zhenhong and the others could visit whenever they wanted, even if it meant coming in the morning and returning in the afternoon daily, which left the little doll utterly content and relieved me of my frustration over the Rose Maidens’ departure (truth be told, I was indeed overthinking it just now).

After wishing me goodnight, Mercury Lamp hopped off the bed. She carefully stacked the boxes belonging to her five sisters together, then weighed them down with a large pile of books before diving back into her own box to sleep.

Who on earth did she learn this from!

A while later, just as I was getting drowsy and about to fall asleep, the door to the room suddenly made a soft sound. Stealthy footsteps moved from the doorway to the side of the bed. I cracked open my eyes slightly and saw Qianqian bend over like a wandering spirit, looking in this direction with a grin on her face.

"Ah Jun, you’re not asleep," Qianqian scratched the tip of my nose laughing merrily, "You’ve always been like this, you know, your lower eyelid twitches when you pretend to sleep!"

"You’ve got me beat," I said, opening my eyes reluctantly and pulling the girl, who was wandering around in her pajamas, close to me, "Why aren’t you asleep?"

As I said this, I was already muttering to myself: What on earth was Qianqian up to today? A night raid?!

The word ’night raid’ popped into my head and I couldn’t suppress it, because it made me think of Qianqian’s behavior pattern—completely unpredictable. What did that mean? It meant anything was possible!

Could it be... could it be that spring has come?

"In fact, I’ve been thinking for two months," Qianqian wriggled in my arms, just as restless as when she was little, "and something just doesn’t feel right."

"Doesn’t feel right?" I asked cautiously. The soft and delicate body of the girl was no longer like the Little Loli whose flat terrain I remembered from years past. I could barely hold out any longer—it had been so long since I had the chance to be alone with Sandora.

"Yeah, something’s off, Ah Jun, you and Sandora have already... well, why did I get left out?"

I suddenly felt completely detached from Qianqian’s line of thought. The moonlight revealed a slight blush on the girl’s face, and while I had nearly grasped what Qianqian meant, what was up with her way of speaking that didn’t follow any logic? Now is when you start to ponder this... no, was it two months ago that you first realized, and only now you found out that you realized it?

I mean, who could see the logic at a glance with that last sentence without drawing a flowchart? Qianqian’s thought process was impregnable. And she had brought up Sandora right off the bat; I was under immense pressure.

"So... heh heh..." Qianqian suddenly licked my face without warning. I saw her face holding an embarrassed smile, but in her eyes was a very serious look, "Ah Jun, tonight is all about me."

"Uh, girl, you’re not just getting carried away, are you?" I stifled the joy in my heart and seriously held Qianqian’s face, asking her. It was impossible to grasp this girl’s thoughts, so I felt cautiousness was best: I simply couldn’t bear to see Qianqian hurt.

"Of course not, I’ve been thinking for two whole months," Qianqian forcefully pushed away my hand, "Two months ago I thought about whether it was time to take things further with Ah Jun, then I forgot. Watching the fireworks tonight, I saw someone setting off Starry Sky and remembered it again. Worried I’d forget by tomorrow, I came right over after using the bathroom..."

At that moment, my worldview completely collapsed; I could hardly believe what situation had led to the writing of this Chapter.

I shouldn’t even try to understand Qianqian’s mode of thinking, but I knew that she is not just any girl. The reason for her wonderfully odd logic is nothing more than one thing: our relationship had long approached something like kinship.

The transition from romantic love to something like kinship is an amazing process, and even more elusive is the middle state. In Qianqian’s heart, she had already cast me into the role of family. Perhaps she simply overlooked the hesitation a normal girl would have in this situation: I mean, isn’t it quite normal for a husband?

Of course, only a rare flower like Qianqian could consider it this way, please let no other human attempt to imitate.

I laughed and kissed the girl beside me, not expecting that I, of all people, would end up being secretly visited by Qianqian at night... However, the first thing that needed to be done was to ensure safety: for instance, getting up to carefully lock the bedside lamp in the cabinet, moving a stack of boxes under the window, blocking off the sensing of the Angel’s Ring in the hand of Little Qijing, making sure the daft cat in the Spirit Sea was sleeping soundly... I then realized how extraordinary my life had become. Have you ever seen a man who needed to go through an anti-espionage routine before sleeping with his wife?

(Who would’ve thought Qianqian would be ’eaten up’ under such circumstances? I sure didn’t expect it!) (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please head to Qidian.com to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel