Chapter 295: Who is it?

Chapter 295: Chapter 295: Who is it?

She picked up the Jade Abacus again, not immediately replying to Jingliu.

Instead, she opened another communication channel and contacted Madam Herta.

After a brief wait, the communication connected.

Baiheng lowered her voice, carrying undisguised exhaustion and a hint of seeking help:

"Master... um, Jingliu, she... has already laid it out clearly."

As soon as she finished speaking, a few leaves on the dense hydrangea tree in the corner of the small courtyard seemed to tremble unnaturally, emitting an almost inaudible "rustling" sound.

But Baiheng, whose mind was in turmoil, did not notice it at all.

On the other end of the communication, Black Herta, who was walking on a quiet street in Xianzhou, paused slightly.

She was silent for a moment before responding through the mental link, her voice calm and devoid of emotion:

"She laid her cards on the table directly? What do you think?"

Baiheng gripped the Jade Abacus tightly, her fingertips turning slightly white.

She looked at Jingliu’s message on the screen, "You are Baiheng, right?", and recalled those words, remembering everything Jingliu had endured alone...

"I..."

Baiheng’s voice was somewhat dry, "I don’t want to keep lying anymore. To her... I can’t do it."

Black Herta was silent for another moment on the other end, then a sigh came through.

"I understand."

Black Herta’s voice remained steady, "This is a matter between you and her. My opinion is... do as you see fit."

After a pause, she added another sentence, her tone carrying a hint of gentleness:

"Follow your heart, Baiheng. But remember, you are not alone now. Whatever choice you make, the consequences... we will bear them together."

The communication hung up.

Holding the slightly warm Jade Abacus, Baiheng stood in place, not moving for a long time.

Madam Herta’s last sentence was like a warm current, injected into her cold and chaotic mind, making her a little more settled.

(Follow... my heart?)

She looked again at the Jade Abacus screen, at Jingliu’s short but heavy-as-a-thousand-pounds question.

In her azure eyes, struggle, guilt, nostalgia, and determination...

All the past, emotions intertwined, eventually slowly settled into a light that carried relief and a certain determination.

She raised her finger and began to type on the screen.

Every word was typed very slowly and with great force.

[Bai Xing (About to disappear): Yes.]

[Bai Xing: I am Bai Xing.]

Click, send.

The moment the message turned to "Read" status, Baiheng felt as if she had exhausted all her strength and gently closed her eyes.

What is meant to come, will always come.

However, the new message notification she was waiting for on the Jade Abacus did not sound.

Instead, a voice so cold it seemed capable of freezing the air, a voice so familiar it made her soul tremble, came clearly from behind her—from the direction of that hydrangea tree:

"...I know."

The voice paused, every word seemingly squeezed from between teeth, carrying a storm suppressed to the extreme:

"Then can you explain..."

Baiheng’s body stiffened instantly!

It was as if her blood had frozen at this moment!

She turned her head, bit by bit, in disbelief.

Under the shadow of the hydrangea tree, a figure wearing a black blindfold had been standing there, who knows when.

The wind blew her clothes and hair, but could not blow away the biting, almost tangible chill surrounding her.

Jingliu gazed in Baiheng’s direction; the black blindfold covered her eyes, but made that cold gaze even more pressing.

She slowly raised her hand, pointing at the Jade Abacus in Baiheng’s hand that had not yet gone dark, her voice more piercing than the winter night wind:

"...Who is the ’Master’?"

Baiheng’s pupils contracted sharply.

The Jade Abacus in her hand fell onto the cold stone table with a "clatter".

The air solidified, as if ice shards could be struck from it.

Baiheng’s mind went blank; the only thought was "What do I do?"

Why is Jingliu here? Didn’t she say she was going to leave for a while?

Could it be that she never left from the beginning, and has been lurking nearby?!

My conversation with Madam Herta just now... was it all overheard?!

A huge sense of panic and shame instantly overwhelmed her, making her almost unable to breathe.

She subconsciously tried to change the subject, her voice dry and tight:

"Eh, Jing, Jingliu, didn’t you say... you would disappear for a while? How come..."

"Who is that ’Master’?"

Jingliu’s voice was colder than the chill surrounding her, mercilessly interrupting her pale excuse.

The black blindfold locked precisely onto Baiheng’s direction, every word like an ice pick, chiseling into Baiheng’s heart.

The atmosphere fell into a deeper ice cellar again.

Baiheng’s expression changed constantly, turning white then red, her eye sockets starting to sting with anxiety.

(Help me... how do I explain this? Say the Master is Madam Herta who pulled me back from the edge of death? Say I’m working for the Master now? Doesn’t that sound even more like being controlled and coerced by evil forces?!)

Watching Baiheng’s complicated, panicked expression, clearly hiding something difficult to say, Jingliu’s heart sank straight down, her face looking terrifyingly grim.

She dared not think too much, fearing that if she did, the Mara-Struck restlessness she had managed to suppress would lose control and erupt on the spot.

She needed an explanation, immediately, right now!

Baiheng felt as if she were about to be crushed by Jingliu’s invisible yet mountain-heavy aura, screaming frantically inside: Anyone! Anyone will do! Come save me!

As if in response to her inner cry—

"Oh my~ We’re back! A-Bai, that newly opened cat candy shop at the end of the alley tastes good! I even brought you some... uh?"

Light footsteps and Cipher’s lively voice came from the small courtyard gate.

The silver-haired cat-girl was carrying a small bag of snacks, bouncing inside, followed by the calm-faced System.

Cipher’s words trailed off halfway, as she keenly sensed the extremely strange atmosphere in the courtyard.

Her gaze swept over the pale, almost crying Baiheng, and then landed on Jingliu, who was radiating a "no strangers allowed" (and even more so for acquaintances) chill. Her cat ears perked up alertly, and her Tail also stopped its leisurely swaying.

(Wow... this atmosphere... it’s ten times scarier than in the teahouse!)

Although Cipher loved to play and joke around, her intuition told her that this was not the time for jokes.

She blinked her blue eyes, trying hard to pull off a somewhat natural smile, attempting to smooth things over:

"Ehehe~ Miss Jingliu is here too? What a coincidence! Um... would you like to try the new candy? It tastes very good..."

However, before she could finish her sentence—

"Clang!"

A clear but cold sword chime rang out!

Jingliu didn’t even turn around, and with a backhand, an ice sword emitting frost flowers appeared!

Although it was only composed of ice, in her hand at this moment, it radiated a biting murderous intent no less than any divine weapon!

The sword tip pointed directly at Cipher who had just entered!

The cold air spread instantly like a substance, and the air in the direction the sword tip pointed condensed into fine frost!

"Meow!"

All the fur on Cipher’s body stood on end, her blue eyes widened, and she instinctively took half a step back.

"Jingliu!"

Baiheng exclaimed, wanting to step forward, but was forcibly pinned in place by that cold sword intent and the terrifying low pressure surrounding Jingliu.

Jingliu’s hand was very steady, the sword tip not trembling in the slightest.

Her gaze still locked firmly onto Baiheng through the black blindfold, as if to see right through her and nail her in place, but the words she spoke were directed at Cipher, cold and without a trace of temperature:

"This has nothing to do with you. Stand down."

Cipher swallowed, wisely deciding to shut up for the time being, and quietly moved a little further behind System.

She could feel that Jingliu would really swing her sword without hesitation right now.

Meanwhile, data streams silently flashed through System’s eyes.

She quickly sent an emergency message to Madam Herta, who was elsewhere in Xianzhou, through the internal link:

[Lady, an emergency has occurred at Baiheng’s location. Jingliu’s emotions are extremely unstable, and she has drawn her sword. Requesting instructions.]

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