Chapter 1539: Sister Lingzhi’s Duplicity

Chapter 1539: Chapter 1539: Sister Lingzhi’s Duplicity

Xie Lingzhi had both hands in her pockets, leaning against the wall, one foot lazily kicking at the floor like she was bored out of her mind. Only when Ji You appeared did all that cold indifference vanish in an instant. She lifted her eyes, looked at Ji You’s utterly bored face, and suddenly forced out a tiny smile.

Ji You hurried over. "Sister Lingzhi, were you waiting for me?"

Xie Lingzhi put away the smile on her face, raised a brow, and asked, "Why are you coming out this late?"

Ji You checked the time, puzzled. "It’s not late, there’s still an hour before class." As she spoke, she couldn’t help asking, "Sister Lingzhi, what did you want with me?"

"Ahem..." Xie Lingzhi straightened her expression, cleared her throat, and said, "You called me, I didn’t pick up. I wanted to ask what you were calling me about."

On the first day back at school, Ji You had called Xie Lingzhi, Xie Chuanqiong, Lea, Senior Shi Ya, Senior He Bi, and the others, and in the end only Senior Shi Ya took the initiative to come pick her up.

The others never replied.

In the following days, there were still no answers, which did make Ji You a bit worried. Brother Qiong and Sister Liya had gone out on a mission last semester, and they still hadn’t returned to school, only occasionally sending a message or two. Once Ji You had confirmed that both were safe, she stopped worrying.

As for Xie Lingzhi?

Ji You knew Sister Lingzhi had been at school the whole time, just holed up in the lab and never coming out. There definitely wouldn’t be any safety issues at school, so Ji You actually wasn’t worried.

She called them mainly to tell them she was back, so they wouldn’t worry.

So.

As soon as Ji You heard Xie Lingzhi’s question, she immediately curled her lips up, chuckled, "It’s because I missed Sister Lingzhi, that’s why I called you."

Xie Lingzhi was slightly speechless. She rolled her eyes coldly and said, "Can you maybe cut down on the cheesy lines? I feel like I could puke up yesterday’s dinner."

Her words had barely landed when, all of a sudden, Ji You’s whole body toppled toward Xie Lingzhi...

"Hey..." In that instant, Xie Lingzhi instinctively reached out and grabbed Ji You, and then, the very next second, Ji You latched onto her like an octopus, wrapping her up and—smack—planting a kiss right on Xie Lingzhi’s cold face.

Xie Lingzhi’s entire body went rigid. It felt like all the blood in her organs ran backwards in that moment. Her mouth fell open. "What...the...fuck!!!"

"You!!!"

"Are you tired of living?" Xie Lingzhi’s face was blazing red, like a ripe apple about to fall off the branch. Panicking, she shoved at Ji You, only to find she couldn’t push off this sticky leech at all. Furious, Xie Lingzhi raised a hand and scrubbed hard at the cheek that had been kissed.

"Hahaha..."

"That’s what cheesy really is, you know?" Ji You hugged her, laughing so hard she almost doubled over. "Sister Lingzhi, stop rubbing, stop rubbing. There are tons of people out there begging me to give them a kiss and they can’t even get one."

Xie Lingzhi rolled up her sleeves, her teeth grinding audibly. "You really are itching for a beating, huh? Don’t think just because you took fourth place in the interschool league that I don’t dare smack you!"

Ji You heard this and shamelessly pushed her fair little face closer. "Sister Lingzhi, in this world no one dares hit my face—except you. I’d gladly offer it up to you."

With a sharp "pa," Xie Lingzhi smacked her hard on the head, straightened her face, and said sternly, "That’s enough! Let go of me, now."

Only then did Ji You release her.

Xie Lingzhi quietly let out a breath.

Damn it!

It’d only been a short while since they’d last met—how had this brat Ji You turned so utterly shameless? Xie Lingzhi had no idea what had happened, why Ji You’s personality had changed so much.

Did life do something to her?

Or is it that the scariest teacher in the Combat Department—Mu Jianling—is just that terrifying? Able to turn someone that obedient and timid into this?

But then Xie Lingzhi remembered that even before Ji You came to study at Lanyue Star, she’d already been this shameless, so it wasn’t all that surprising.

Inside the enclosed mental space.

Xiao You clutched her chest, sounding a bit incredulous: [Sis, you... you actually dared to kiss Sister Lingzhi? She... she... she’s so scary.]

The girl’s tone made it sound like Ji You had done something absolutely unbelievable. Ji You almost wanted to laugh when she heard it. "She’s just an old tsundere, what’s so scary about that? Don’t be afraid of her. The more someone bares their claws on the outside, the more of a kitten they are on the inside, totally harmless. Look, I kissed her and she didn’t hit me or even curse me out, did she?"

[I-it’s not that simple. Sister Lingzhi is r-really super fierce.] Xiao You held both hands over her chest, mouth slightly open. [She used to scold me all the time, whatever I did I’d get yelled at... She... she... is that kind of very fierce person. Whatever I do, she always seems easy to upset.]

Ji You listened, eyes resting on Xie Lingzhi, who was in the corner desperately scrubbing at her face, her cheeks flushed red, the color climbing from the base of her neck all the way up to the tips of her ears...

This?

Where’s the scary part?

Ji You told Xiao You, "Don’t be scared of her. If she dares yell at you again, I’ll beat her up for you! I’ll beat her until she cries!"

When Xiao You heard that, she quickly shook her head. [N-no need! Actually, besides scolding me, Sister Lingzhi never really did anything bad to me. Back when my uncle’s family still lived in our house, once my cousin bullied me, and Sister Lingzhi took me to beat up my cousin. Even though Sister Lingzhi was smaller and shorter than her, she still made my cousin cry.]

Thinking of that scene, Xiao You couldn’t help but let out a little snort of laughter.

Sister Lingzhi was one of the few companions in Xiao You’s childhood. Even though Sister Lingzhi was very fierce, she never once hit her...

Xiao You knew she was all sharp tongue and soft heart.

As long as Ji You was willing to spend spiritual power, Xiao You could actually hear sounds from the outside world. But the spiritual power consumption was huge, and afterwards Ji You had to use some Candy Beans to recover her spiritual power. So the two of them had agreed that under normal circumstances, they would cut off Xiao You’s perception of the outside.

This time, Xiao You hadn’t asked, but Ji You proactively spent spiritual power so Xiao You could hear Xie Lingzhi’s voice.

Xiao You couldn’t communicate with the outside world. Just by listening to Xie Lingzhi’s voice like this, she already felt ridiculously happy, listening with serious, greedy attention, afraid of missing even a single word.

Just from the sound alone, Xiao You could picture Sister Lingzhi’s current frantic expression.

For a moment, Xiao You laughed again.

Ji You couldn’t help laughing too.

Xie Lingzhi finished wiping her face and turned her head, only to see that sneaky grin on Ji You’s face. She folded her arms, clearly annoyed. "If you pull that stunt again, I really will beat you up!"

"Don’t think I really don’t dare." She muttered this under her breath, then lifted her gaze to Ji You and suddenly said seriously, "I came here to tell you something."