Himeko didn't even have time to react. She only felt a short, sharp, dull pain in the back of her head. Instantly, stars exploded before her eyes, and all sounds and light seemed to be rapidly drawn away!
"Ugh...!"
She only managed a short, muffled groan before her body softly tilted forward, falling to the ground with a "thud," completely losing consciousness.
In the darkness, the figure of the "perpetrator" appeared.
It was Stelle.
Her eyes were tightly closed, her breathing steady, even a slight snore escaping her, clearly still in a state of deep sleep.
In her hand, she tightly clutched the baseball bat she never parted with. That precise and powerful blow to the head was clearly its "masterpiece."
At this moment, she seemed completely unaware that she had "knocked down" her target. Still with closed eyes, she unconsciously swung the bat in small arcs, muttering dreamily:
"...Again...*hic*...the bat...is...the truth..."
In the room, only Stelle's sleepwalking bat swings and even snores remained, along with March 7th, who had been accidentally knocked unconscious on the floor.
Xianzhou Luofu · Street Corner
As night deepened, the streetlights grew even brighter.
Baiheng felt like she was falling apart, not physically, but mentally.
She had accompanied the energetic Bailu, running and jumping, exploring half the market. Then, she had to constantly keep an eye on the eccentric "landlord," System, who could say something shocking at any moment.
This duo, one innocent and naive, the other "unfathomable," left her utterly exhausted.
Bailu, on the other hand, had played until her little face was flushed, her dragon tail wagging happily. Her hands were full of newly bought snacks and toys, and her eyes sparkled like stars: "Miss Bai Xing! Today was so much fun! Much more interesting than at the Alchemy Commission!"
"Yes, yes..."
Baiheng forced a tired smile, glanced at the sky, and decided it was time to end this "adventure." "Miss Bailu, it's getting late. Shouldn't you... go back? Everyone at the Alchemy Commission must be worried."
More importantly, there was a former Sword Master sitting at her home!
If she returned late, who knew what that person would think.
As soon as she heard about going back, the excitement on Bailu's face immediately fell, and her small mouth pouted high: "Ah... do I have to go back so soon...?"
She reluctantly tugged at Baiheng's sleeve, her big eyes blinking, clearly showing she "still wanted to play."
Suddenly, her eyes rolled, as if she had thought of a brilliant idea. She abruptly looked up, tugged hard at Baiheng's clothes, her voice sweet and soft, with a hint of coquetry:
"Miss Bai Xing! Um... can I go with you?"
"Go with me?"
Baiheng didn't react for a moment. "Go... go where?"
"To your home!"
Bailu said it confidently, as if it were the most natural suggestion. "Just for tonight! I promise to be good! I... I can help you entertain guests! I can also tell many stories from the Xianzhou! Take me back, please, pretty please~"
Baiheng was instantly dumbfounded.
"Wait! Miss Bailu, you... you are the esteemed Medicine-Carrying Dragon Girl!"
The thought of Jingliu's cold face and Bailu's lively personality sharing a room made her feel dizzy. The scene was too "beautiful" to imagine.
Baiheng quickly waved her hands, trying to make her understand the impropriety. "This... this isn't appropriate! And my home... uh, it's small, and there's nothing fun there, really!"
She was already screaming internally:
(There's already a Jingliu at home! Now add an escaped Dragon Girl? If the Cloud Knights or the Alchemy Commission found out, I wouldn't be able to explain it even with a hundred mouths! And if these two met... who knows what kind of scene that would be!)
However, Bailu clearly understood the art of "dealing with soft-hearted adults."
She immediately let go of the snacks and instead tightly hugged Baiheng's arm with both small hands, clinging to her like a koala, and began to pester her:
"Please, please, Miss Bai Xing~ You're the best!"
"I'll only stay for a little while, just look around and leave, I promise not to cause trouble!"
"The Alchemy Commission is so boring, the smell of those herbs makes my head spin..."
"Look how cute I am, can you bear to send me away?"
She even tried hard to blink her large, watery eyes, attempting to squeeze out two non-existent tears, putting on a pitiful act.
Baiheng was dizzied by the shaking. Seeing Bailu's "if you don't agree, I'll cry" stance, she was torn internally.
To refuse, seeing the child's longing for freedom, was truly unbearable; to agree, the consequences were simply unimaginable... Just as she was in a dilemma, gritting her teeth and preparing to cruelly refuse—
"You can."
A calm, unperturbed voice came from the side.
Baiheng and Bailu turned their heads simultaneously, only to see System, who had been quietly blending into the background, walk over at some point.
Her face still held that placid expression, but her tone carried a certainty of "this matter is settled":
"This Dragon Girl guest wants to stay overnight, and I agree. I am the landlord, what I say goes."
"Yay! Thank you, Sister Xi Tong!"
Bailu instantly brightened, cheered, let go of Baiheng, and happily bounced on the spot.
"Wait! Sister Xi Tong!"
Baiheng, however, grew anxious. She pulled System a few steps away to a corner, lowering her voice, her tone full of disbelief, "What are you doing?! There's already one 'big trouble' at home! Now another one, and a Dragon Girl at that! If... if this gets exposed, or something unexpected happens, how will we deal with it?!"
System calmly met her anxious gaze and, in a volume only the two of them could hear, flatly uttered four words:
"The Lady's decree."
"…"
All of Baiheng's words were stuck in her throat.
She opened her mouth, looked at System's unwavering gaze, and finally, like a deflated ball, her shoulders slumped, and a helpless, almost tearful bitter smile appeared on her face.
(The Lady's decree... Alright, what you say goes.)
She sighed silently in her heart, feeling that the difficulty coefficient of her "Luofu Undercover Journal" was skyrocketing exponentially.
Living with a former Sword Master and an escaped Dragon Girl?
She didn't even dare to imagine this plot development.
In stark contrast to the bustling market, the living room was silent.
Jingliu sat alone on a hard wooden chair, her posture upright, not relaxed like a typical guest.
She hadn't lit any lamps, simply letting the sparse starlight from the window and the faint glow of the distant market illuminate her, casting subtle shadows on her cold profile.
Suddenly, she slightly tilted her head, as if listening to a distant sound.
A moment later, she spoke softly in her clear, cold voice to the empty room:
"I know."
She paused, seemingly responding to an unheard reminder.
"No need to worry."
After a few more seconds, she slowly added the last sentence, her voice as light as a sigh, yet carrying an unshakeable certainty: "The time... has not yet come."
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