The moment she stepped onto the second floor, Baiheng belatedly realized a serious problem.
The motion-sensor lights in the hallway illuminated one after another with their footsteps, casting a soft glow on the simple corridor—a wall on one side, and three doors lined up on the other.
She counted them in a daze: one was "her own" bedroom door, one was System's room door, and the other… was a locked storage room.
The guest room was on the first floor, given to Jingliu.
There was no way Bai Lu could share a bed with that chilling former Sword Master, could she?
Just imagining the scene made Baiheng feel like her fox fur was standing on end.
That left only two choices: Bai Lu either slept with her, or… slept with System.
Baiheng instantly felt a headache coming on.
She stopped, looking at Bai Lu beside her, who was curiously examining the holographic star map on the corridor wall, then looked at System, who was ahead of them, already stopped at her own door, about to open it.
(I should ask Miss System first… What if she agrees?)
Holding onto a faint hope, she gently tugged on System's sleeve, signaling with her eyes to speak privately.
System stopped her action, her face still impassive, but she seemed to understand Baiheng's gesture. She turned and followed her a few steps down the corridor, moving slightly away from Bai Lu, who was tiptoeing, trying to touch a virtual planet in the star map.
"Um… Miss System,"
Baiheng lowered her voice, a ingratiating smile on her face, "Can we discuss something? You see, Miss Bai Lu is staying tonight, and Jingliu is in the downstairs guest room, so… could she perhaps make do with you for a night?"
She asked cautiously, not really holding much hope, but she had to try.
System shook her head almost immediately, her movement swift and decisive, without any hesitation.
"Why not?"
Baiheng became a little anxious, her voice involuntarily rising slightly before she quickly suppressed it again, "Your room… it should be quite spacious, right?"
She recalled the supplementary settings in her mind about "Sister System's reclusive but particular personality."
System didn't answer directly. Instead, she looked at Baiheng with her calm, unruffled eyes, asking in a slightly probing tone, "Why don't you want her to sleep with you?"
"I…"
Baiheng choked on the question, unsure how to answer for a moment.
Yes, why?
She subconsciously resisted that option.
It wasn't that she disliked Bai Lu—quite the opposite. From the first time she "picked up" this little Medicine-Carrying Dragon Girl who had run away, she felt a strange, inexplicable sense of familiarity.
It felt like a forgotten corner of her heart had been gently touched, warm and a little bittersweet.
It was precisely because of this indescribable feeling that she had "meddled" repeatedly to help cover for her, even bringing her home today.
But it was also this overly strong sense of familiarity that made her subtly uneasy.
She was now Bai Heng, an ordinary traveling merchant, a commoner who, in theory, should maintain an appropriate distance from the esteemed Medicine-Carrying Dragon Girl.
Would excessive closeness and acceptance arouse suspicion?
More importantly… deep down, she seemed to have an instinctive… fear of spending the entire night with this little Medicine-Carrying Dragon Girl?
As if afraid that something deeply buried might quietly awaken in the silent night.
"I… I can't explain it."
Baiheng finally ruffled her smooth white long hair a bit in frustration, making it messy, "I just feel… it's not quite appropriate. After all, she's the Dragon Girl, and my place here… is simple."
Even she found the excuse far-fetched.
System looked at her quietly for a few seconds, her gaze so calm it seemed to penetrate all disguises.
Then, in a tone stating a fact, she slowly said, "It concerns you."
"What concerns me?" Baiheng was startled.
"Your 'inexplicable sense of familiarity' with her."
System's tone was still flat, yet it was like a small stone thrown into Baiheng's heart, "And your subconscious resistance. Both have the same origin, related to your past, and her 'essence'."
Baiheng's heart skipped a beat: "Wh-what essence? Miss System, what exactly do you know?"
She pressed, but then saw System's expression suddenly freeze for a moment, and subtle streams of light seemed to flash quickly through her calm eyes.
System raised a hand and gently pressed her temple.
A few seconds later, she lowered her hand, looked at Baiheng, and said in an unruffled tone, "No time to explain for now. I will communicate with you later."
Baiheng: "…Huh?"
She felt like a puppet suspended in mid-air, its strings held by someone else, swaying back and forth without landing.
"No… Miss System! It's tormenting to leave a sentence unfinished!"
She couldn't help but complain, though she dared not speak too loudly, "What kind of relationship is it exactly? At least give me a hint!"
System did not answer her question. Instead, she walked straight back to her own door, while making an undeniable arrangement: "Tonight, Bai Lu will stay with you."
"Eh? But…"
"Reasons as follows."
System interrupted her, her hand already on her doorknob.
She turned her head, looked at Baiheng with those calm eyes, and then—gently pushed the door open just a crack.
It was truly just a crack, about ten centimeters wide.
Baiheng subconsciously peered through the crack.
Then, she was dumbfounded.
Inside the door, there was no floor, no walls, no furniture, nothing that she imagined a "room" should have.
Only a pure, uniform, boundless "white."
It had no texture, no depth, and even gave a visual sense of weightlessness.
Standing at the door crack and looking in was like gazing at an endless blank canvas, or… a yet-to-be-defined world framework.
A familiar sense of déjà vu suddenly struck Baiheng.
This scene, this feeling… she had definitely "seen" it somewhere!
A term almost uncontrollably leaped from the depths of her memory, slipping out: "System Space?!"
System by the door nodded, a very small but definite movement.
Baiheng's mouth hung open, not closing for a long time.
Her mind was a mess; many small inconsistencies now suddenly connected—why were memories of this "home" only "unlocked" as needed? Why did the furniture style have a subtle "patchwork" feel? Why did she "know" some details yet feel them to be blurry?
Just as she was about to get closer to the door crack to see more clearly and ponder it, light footsteps and a curious inquiry suddenly came from behind her:
"Miss Bai Heng? Sister System? What are you doing? Can't this door be opened?"
Bai Lu, having finished her "interstellar exploration" at some point, skipped over, her small head trying hard to peer through the gap between Baiheng and System.
Baiheng was scared out of her wits, almost instinctively spinning around and slamming the door shut with her back with a "bang"!
The force was so great that even the doorframe trembled slightly.
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