Chapter 195: Sleeping Under the Same Quilt

By the time they returned from the underground factory, almost everyone in the inn was already asleep.

Jiang Si put his mask away and, with a light hop from the backyard, landed on the fourth-floor balcony, preparing to enter the room from there.

Coming to South China with Keke, his main mission was to find Xilan.

The other was to get his hands on the witch reagent.

He needed not only a ton of finished witch reagent for immediate use, but also the method of manufacturing it.

He had to break free from being choked by the Witch Association headquarters.

But continuing like this wasn’t a solution. If he couldn’t find the Witch Association headquarters, many things couldn’t be acquired from them,

for example, the method to manufacture the Calamity Egg.

He had once obtained it from Chilian in Jiangming City, but that was only a memory fragment.

Once the egg was produced, that memory fragment would disappear, and he wouldn’t be able to keep manufacturing Calamity Eggs.

The Witch Association’s memory-control patent was indeed effective: it could decentralize technology without fear of leakage.

Each city’s Witch Association director could exchange contributions and money for these techniques, generating revenue and ensuring sufficient funds...

So for Jiang Si, finding the Witch Association headquarters was paramount.

Permanent Calamity Egg manufacturing technology, research data on Grief Seeds, and various development records on witches and Magical Girls

were all valuable upgrades for him.

To get to the headquarters, winning the vice president seat was crucial.

Only a vice president is eligible to enter the Witch Association headquarters.

For Jiang Si, who had experience founding two massive organizations — Azure Cloud Sect and Saint Hall — building his own faction inside the Witch Association and competing with Jialan for the vice president spot was a walk in the park.

The first time is new, the second time familiar, the third time effortless.

After all, how many organizations has an old-timer like Jialan actually built?

In terms of Jialan’s level of cunning, she could probably produce a captain; on a scale of zero to one hundred, she’d get a hundred.

But that’s at best a hundred.

A mortal’s realm.

And what about Jiang Si’s own wisdom level?

One hundred twenty? One hundred eighty? No matter how you pump up the score, it still cannot capture the true weight of superlative intellect!

Moreover, when you add leadership, operations, talent recognition and utilization, strategic vision, even potential for immortal path cultivation, even if he weren’t a supremely brilliant man, he wouldn’t score less than three thousand.

In conclusion, Jialan’s experience was still too raw, not comparable to a commander who’d led two major organizations.

So he had no real concern about grabbing the vice president seat, especially now that he had plenty of money.

Commanding subordinates comes down to shock and reward; he didn’t lack strength or funds. Who in the Witch Association could stop him?

Taking the president’s seat wouldn’t be out of the question either...

Seize the entire Witch Association, and the money would double back in.

While scheming for the future, he entered the room, flipped on the light, stripped, and prepared to sleep.

He saw two girls already lying on the bed.

Silver Lotus lay there like a stiff mannequin, rigid and closed-eyed; her eyelashes were trembling as if she were forcing her eyes shut.

Keke, beside her, slept soundly, hugging his pillow and smiling in her sleep as if dreaming of something pleasant.

But calling it a bed was generous. This inn’s floor was made of a type of cedar, and what they called beds were directly laid-out floor mattresses — a huge mat that covered the whole room like a carpet. It was the inn’s selling point in South China: the so-called millennium cedar regulated the body and guaranteed sleep,

even increasing luck and inducing sweet dreams.

Everyone knew merchants would say anything for advertising; if one plank did all that, hospitals would be out of business...

Millennium cedar, huh? After all his years in Beihai, he’d never seen a thousand-year cedar.

That showed how rare it was. Did the store ever touch real millennium cedar before making such claims?

To get real millennium wood, you had to go to Dragon Ridge labyrinths, Worm Valleys, Earth-Immortal Villages, the Kunlun Divine Palace, and snatch it from the hands of some millennium boar with Old Hu!

Leaning against the wall, he had to admit the wood’s warmth was pleasant.

Not cold, not oppressively hot.

A refreshing cool warmth.

He could get some for the cave dwelling back home. As Azure Cloud Sect developed, the cave dwelling was due for an upgrade.

A sect’s image couldn’t be neglected. If other sects came visiting and saw a shabby cave dwelling, they’d surely belittle them.

If a small inn could use millennium cedar, Azure Cloud Sect should use the best.

Ten-thousand-year camphor wood!

Camphor tables, camphor chairs, camphor spirit halls, camphor spirit tablets, camphor screens, camphor lamps and so on.

As for how to obtain ten-thousand-year camphor, Bingtang could handle that.

“Why are you sleeping in my room?” Jiang Si didn’t bother to wake Keke, who was already asleep.

The girl was used to sleeping on the floor at home; here, the inn fit her habits perfectly. She’d have no trouble falling asleep.

Silver Lotus took a deep breath with her eyelids tightly shut, finally opening her eyes.

When she glanced over, she saw Jiang Si without a shirt on, which made her slam her eyes shut again.

Then she peeked one eye at him.

Jiang Si was not tall, but his muscles were prominent — a compact, absurdly robust appearance.

He looked clean, clearly someone who bathed frequently, though his skin wasn’t very fair.

Even without an aura, his visual presence radiated heat; she almost thought she could smell sweat,

yet there was none: Jiang Si wasn’t sweating, and the warm wood scent in the room shouldn’t carry that smell so far.

Silver Lotus’s heart fluttered as she groped for adjectives.

Hormones?

Dopamine? Serotonin? Or some kind of masculine aura...

She couldn’t figure it out. She’d read fewer romance comics than Keke and couldn’t find the right descriptor.

She lay rigid on the floor and tried to tug Keke awake to share the moment.

But Keke only turned over and slept on.

You said we’d come to talk to him, yet you just fell asleep and left me alone!

Stupid Keke!

“I, I’m— I’m asleep now…”

What was she even saying?!

Jiang Si rose and was about to pick the two girls up and toss them out.

Silver Lotus sat up with a “pop,” “I’m awake!”

She nearly pressed against Jiang Si when she shot upright, and then his scent could finally be clearly perceived.

There was no sweat smell, no hormone stench; instead, there was a hint of factory machine oil and steel.

It actually smelled nice...

She instinctively scooted back and almost leaned against Keke. Looking down at the crouching Jiang Si, she said, “We... we just wanted to come chat with you.”

“About what?”

“Keke said she wanted you to watch her match, to see her strength...”

As her tone eased, Silver Lotus noticed Jiang Si’s neck.

The Miracle Seed necklace that had hung there earlier was gone.

“After all, Miss Shion taught her a lot. We wanted to show you the results.”

Jiang Si said “Oh” and didn’t comment further.

He was indeed curious about Keke’s current strength.

It was hard to tell how much she’d improved compared to tussles with Yumo; this would be a good opportunity.

Besides, all the posters, screen ads, and the city’s heated discussions about the event since they arrived in South China had him wondering whether a spiritual treasure, a celestial spirit, or some heavenly artifact might be born from this chance.

“Keke’s been worried you’d be missing again, so she wanted to sleep here. I was also a bit worried — maybe you and Shion went somewhere dangerous.”

“No.”

Seeing Silver Lotus getting ready to keep talking, Jiang Si decided to lie down instead — the floor mattress was already prepared. He turned off the light, pulled the quilt over himself, and let her ramble on; it posed no threat.

Silver Lotus’s voice was soft and lulling, perfect as a sleep aid.

After their last battle, Jiang Si had placed her in the low-danger category.

Silver Lotus specialized in large-scale responses to Disaster Beasts and favored prolonged engagements.

Her single-target burst was lacking; she wasn’t very technical. Now that she and Keke were separated, the “Absolute Demon-Hunting Battle Royale” competition obviously couldn’t make Keke’s life difficult.

If any coming participant posed a real threat, it would likely be An Shiyu. With Mujin substituting, Keke might not be a match. Mujin, using An Shiyu’s body, had become increasingly fluent with spatial magic and had decent combat experience.

Not many in Azure Cloud Sect could handle that easily.

Fortunately, Mujin herself has a mental landscape, and An Shiyu hasn’t even reached Seedling yet, so there’s no need to contend for a mental landscape seat.

Among the Beihai Magical Girls participating in this operation, few posed real danger; it came down to who South China would field.

Although this is a new map and overall strength had increased, Keke can use both the yin and yang paths. If she unleashed the full power of her Holy Light magic collapse, she might not be guaranteed champion — higher power levels can cause misplays because real combat experience is limited.

But a top-three finish seemed very likely.

Silver Lotus carefully wriggled closer and settled beside Jiang Si.

Though nervous, she kept imagining her sister’s image in her head. The anxiety melted away.

Sisters were the best calming agent, especially when facing Jiang Si.

“Jiang Si...”

“Mm?”

“I don’t want to avenge my sister, nor do I want to be enemies with Shion.”

“Mm.”

“My parents say I’m heartless,” Silver Lotus curled up and hooked her toes nervously into Jiang Si’s quilt, “an ungrateful ingrate, so I’ve been trying hard to prove I’m not. I tell myself: even if my sister did wrong, she used to be good to me. Others can hate her, but I can’t.”

“But I can’t do it. For the person who killed my sister, I don’t feel hatred at all. I don’t want revenge; I even want to be close to her.”

Silver Lotus clasped her hands to her mouth. “I really hate myself...”

The room fell silent.

Silver Lotus wanted to reach out to touch Jiang Si, but the dark made her feel as though she were speaking into air.

She feared no one was listening, yet she lacked the courage to reach out.

Always like this.

Half-hearted in anything she did.

Lovingly confused, hating with timid timidity.

Testing others’ opinions without daring to ask directly.

“When someone agrees with you, admits it, you fall into your own gloom,” Jiang Si said from beside her, which made Silver Lotus open her eyes wider. “You said you hated your sister when you regained Magical Girl power.”

In the quiet room, moonlight spilled down. Silver Lotus, on her side, muttered, “So you heard that at the time.”

And he even remembered it.

“You shouted pretty loud.”

“Ah ha ha.”

“You were very scared?”

“Mm.”

“Scared of what?”

Scared of being hated.

Scared of being judged an ungrateful beast, feared being deemed heartless, being seen as cold.

Other people’s light and judgment were terrifying, and Jiang Si’s opinion made Silver Lotus care more than anyone’s.

“Would you hate me for that?”

Silver Lotus straightened, propping herself up slightly. The moonlight was dimmed by passing clouds, plunging the room into darkness. “Even for Shion, who killed my sister, I can’t hate her. I want to be her friend. We didn’t spend much time together, but I gradually feel that she’s more important to me than my sister. Do you think I’m disgusting?”

This was her first frank confession — no careful probing, just a clear question.

She waited, holding her breath as if awaiting a verdict.

A rare insect chirred outside the window, the noise piercing her ears; her hands on the cool wooden floor trembled.

“Dead people aren’t people,” Jiang Si replied.

For a moment, the strength drained from her hands; she went numb and lay down.

Pale moonlight peeking from the cloud rim framed the boy’s features.

Silver Lotus peeked one eye from the floor and curved her mouth like a crescent. “I see.”

Everything cleared for her; something quietly lifted from her heart, and she sighed with relief.

“Jiang Si.”

“Mm.”

“I like Shion.”

“Oh.”

“I really like her. I want to take her surname.”

So she wanted to adopt a sister.

He’d heard of adop-adopt-systems in web novels where people adopted fathers or masters for benefits — ask a master to help in fights, to cultivate, to lend their name for enlightenment.

Silver Lotus was thinking similarly — adopt a sister to help fight.

Even Black Dragon had adopted a mother once.

Too bad; with Keke as a little sister, Jiang Si had his hands full and didn’t want another.

If she’d said “Li Li” perhaps he’d consider siphoning some ancestral fate, but she didn’t say that.

So with nothing more to say, he intended to sleep.

Some time later — an hour? Two? Silver Lotus lost track.

She cupped her face, staring at that cold, hard boy under the moonlight like a plaster statue.

All was silent except her thudding heartbeat.

Moonlight painted his lips, sharp and neither wet nor dry.

She gently pressed her palm to her chest, afraid her loud heart would wake anyone.

“I want to—”

Before she finished speaking, a pretty face suddenly appeared before her, blocking her view of Jiang Si.

Silver Lotus blinked, staring at the exquisitely composed cheek that momentarily stunned her.

“That’s enough. If you move any closer, it’s a foul.”

An Shiyu smiled like a little demon. “We won’t allow fouls.”

Silver Lotus snorted and was about to complain when the door suddenly went “pop.”

The tightly closed door had been opened by accident.

Peony and Susan tumbled into the room.

“Ah, I told you not to push! Now look, you’re on top of me!”

“You were the one who wanted to see him!”

The two girls scrambled up, pointing fingers at each other. Silver Lotus covered her face. “Why are you here too!”

“Just passing by,” Susan said expressionlessly. “Heard a noise.”

“I just came because I saw Susan,” Peony immediately deflected.

As An Shiyu prepared to retort, Jiang Si had already sat up.

His cold words made the four girls shiver:

“You all not sleepy?”

“Yes — we have a match tomorrow,” Peony quickly said. “Nervous, so we can’t sleep. Right?”

An Shiyu, Silver Lotus, and Susan nodded in tacit agreement.

“Convenient,” Jiang Si said as he put his shirt on. “I know a little hypnosis. I’ll help you out.”

An Shiyu, who was closest, didn’t even react before a chop struck the back of her neck and she fell into instant sleep.

Looking at the three remaining girls, Jiang Si said lightly:

“Good night, everyone.”

“Wai—”

“Don’t—”

“Can I lie on my back instead?”

Three seconds later, the room sank into the proper stillness of night.

Keke turned over and draped one leg over a pile of extra pillows.

...

Early in the morning, a maid began cleaning the third floor.

Many guests had left early to sightsee, so housekeeping started sooner so she could finish and catch the livestream of the competition.

When cleaning the fourth floor, she noticed the door of room 404 — the second from the end — open. A primary school girl staggered out and wobbled into the adjacent room.

The maid froze and glanced back at 404.

Wasn’t that room occupied by a teenage boy? Her memory was good; 404 was a young man, with a decent appearance.

Could he be preying on primary school girls? The thought horrified her.

She was about to call the cops but before she searched her phone she saw two more girls stagger out of that room.

Also very cute, both looking awful from lack of sleep.

“I told you not to call me! It’s your fault, Susan!”

“You couldn’t hold back yourself.”

The pair looked exhausted as if they’d been kept up all night.

Shared-sleep under one quilt!

The worldly maid immediately judged:

Holy crap, he looks normal but plays like a pro?

She was about to check what that young man was doing inside when another pretty girl emerged, smiling and talking to herself.

“Anyway, I slept next to Jiang Si.”

“Not bad.”

“Hmph, I even stole a kiss on his cheek.”

“Mujin senior is so sly!”

Had the boy PUA’d them into multiple personality disorder?

The maid, a little numb, watched the girl leave, then stared at room 404 as if it were a den of demons.

Not long after, the young man finally came out with a girl beside him.

The maid had registered them and knew their relationship.

Her face went pale with shock.

This guy — did he even make a move on his own sister?!

Early in the morning, Keke had already gotten up to wash and then jogged around the courtyard with her big brother.

Since the family trip accident, the siblings had rarely traveled together.

On this long-awaited outing, Keke felt refreshed, and her brother hadn’t run off anywhere either. He’d told her he’d visited a friend late at night and returned in the middle of the night.

When she woke, Jiang Si was beside her; she’d even hugged him like a koala.

Earlier, she’d brought Yiyi to his room to foster a connection between them, hoping they’d end up cuddled together. But in the end she took the best spot.

Yiyi, perhaps out of shyness, went back to her own room.

She grumbled that people never act as hoped, but she’d still slept well on his left side; there was an empty spot on the right, no need to worry.

She teased her timid friend before warming up with her brother and heading back to the inn.

On the way, the maid on the first floor cast an unfriendly look at the boy.

Upstairs, An Shiyu, Silver Lotus, Susan, and Peony had just woken up. They looked groggy and sore, rubbing their necks as if they had stiffened overnight.

“You ladies are too fragile; you can sleep and wake up with a stiff neck,” Keke boasted smugly after a good night’s sleep. “Look at me — slept great all night. That’s the benefit of frequently sleeping on the floor. Don’t hold me back in the match later!”

The girls could only smile wryly. Peony kept muttering, “I’m an innocent spectator...”

After breakfast, they followed the South China Disaster Control Bureau’s Magical Girls to the competition site.

Because of the large scale and many participants, the event used a battle royale format.

Teams of three fought in a vast forest designated by the bureau. There would be a safe zone that progressively shrank. Any Magical Girl leaving the safe zone who failed to return within ten seconds would be eliminated.

The last three remaining in the safe zone would win and earn a slot for the mental landscape trial.

There were also points; the final three winners would be ranked by score, with the first-place team receiving a special prize.

Teams weren’t fixed. If teammates were eliminated, survivors could regroup with other lone members.

The rules were simple.

While Keke, Li Yi, and Susan registered, An Shiyu stayed beside Jiang Si, observing the surrounding Magical Girls.

In the open field before the forest, there were countless Magical Girls, each strong.

To An Shiyu, they were all seniors.

The weakest were at Seedling; there wasn’t a single Sprout.

“Everyone’s so strong.” An Shiyu couldn’t help exclaiming. “Are Keke and the others going to be okay?”

“Don’t worry. Among these Magical Girls, at most mid-Blooming, sixth rotation. Our little sister is at Peak Blooming!”

“It’s actually Seedling Peak Perfection, but she can reverse into Blooming.”

“Oh...”

Regarding the recent reforms by the Disaster Control Bureau for realm classifications, Mujin accepted them fastest.

Perhaps influenced by the minor Taoist leader from Azure Cloud Sect earlier on realms, she had no barrier accepting the latest fashionable classifications in theory.

Her discernment still needed work; senility might still be this late Great Emperor’s biggest enemy.

Jiang Si agreed with her.

Though lots of Magical Girls were present, few actually posed a threat to Keke.

Keke waved brightly at him from the registration area, lips moving; he could tell she was saying:

“Watch me closely, big brother!”

Jiang Si snorted with disdain.

In such a fishbowl, failing would be embarrassing. If she didn’t perform, he’d make Shion train her mercilessly.

“Jiang Si, Jiang Si, what do you think? What place will our sister get?”

“Need I say? Of course—”

He cut off, standing up abruptly.

An Shiyu sprang to her feet too, following his gaze.

Mujin looked puzzled, but An Shiyu recognized the Magical Girl Jiang Si was staring at in an instant.

“Oh? It’s Miss Bai Mei!”

Jiang Si sat back down, looking at his senior apprentice, took a breath, and rubbed his forehead.

Dammit...

So you came to net the fish too?