In the Bag!

As the bell tolled from the academic building, students who had finished their afternoon classes filed out in droves. Some opened high-end umbrellas with gold, fox-head handles; some drove away directly in sports cars; others were clad in lavish, fashionable winter attire. Even this winter—the first Jialesi had experienced in a millennium—became a stage for students to flaunt and show off. Walking amid the bustling throng of students, Yaxiu and Sonia drew no one's attention. With the mind miracle Daedalose had cast upon them, so long as they remained silent, even Sanctuary sorcerers would subconsciously overlook their presence. Yaxiu looked at the light screen and suddenly asked, "Are there any fun places in your hometown?" "Huh?" Sonia looked at him as if he were an idiot. "Did you forget my childhood was spent watching dramas?" Yaxiu scratched his head. "Then... what do you think we should buy to bring along?" Sonia took a sip of milk tea. "It's best if we don't go at all." "If I want something, I'll say so. You don't need to guess around trying to please me." She curled her lip. "If we hadn't happened to come to Jialesi, I actually wouldn't have thought about coming back to Sword Flower either." "But didn't you want to receive the blessings of your friends and family?" Yaxiu said. "Anyway, a round trip wouldn't take much time..." "Where did you hear that I wanted blessings?" "In a dream." The moment the words left his mouth, Yaxiu knew he was done for. Tilting her head, Sonia stared at him with a half-smile, a glint flashing through her ruby eyes. "You remembered details from the dream?" Confessing that he remembered the dream with Sonia wouldn't have been a big deal, but doing so would mean Yaxiu also had to confess his dreams with the other operators—and in that case, he would rather charge into the starry sky right now to fight the Divine Lord of Stars to the death. "I remembered," Yaxiu said decisively, gesturing with his fingers, "but only a tiny bit!" Sonia narrowed her eyes, the corners of her mouth curving up faintly, her gaze as dangerous as a hunting leopardess. Her stare made Yaxiu break into a cold sweat, yet his eyes subconsciously drifted down to focus on her lips biting the straw. Noticing what he was looking at, Sonia blushed. The tense atmosphere vanished in an instant, and she huffed, "If you say so, then whatever." Yaxiu exhaled a puff of white mist and quickly changed the subject. "After all, if I'm going to abduct Auntie's daughter, I should at least say hello, right?" "I wasn't abducted by you," Sonia said categorically. "I just think that staying with you gives me a better chance of attaining the Divine Lord rank! I don't want to become an angel. Since the Kingdom of Stars has no room left for me to rise, I don't want to stay here anymore either. Even without you, I would still leave. Remember this—I will never be an accessory to anyone! Not to a Divine Lord, and not to you!" "Mm-hmm, yes, yes." Yaxiu reached out and brushed a snowflake off the tip of her nose. "That's why I'll take you with me no matter what. I won't leave you behind." "Stop fooling around." Sonia shot him a glare and swatted his hand away. "Besides... not meeting Mom might actually be better for her. "She's definitely under heavy surveillance. The more importance I show toward her, the more dangerous it becomes for her. Keeping this distance—neither too close nor too far—is just right. Seeing her would only make her worry. "Besides, I've said before: I'm going to return to that town with great fanfare!" Sonia lifted her chin proudly. "What would sneaking back right now amount to? "When I return, everyone except Mom will have to kneel before me!" As expected of the fiercely grudge-bearing Sword Princess... Yaxiu nodded. "Then let's not go for now. Still, I won't let our exile drag on for too long." He looked teasingly at the Sword Princess. "One day, you'll still have to introduce me to your mother. There's no escaping it." Caught... Sonia blinked. Introducing a boyfriend to friends versus introducing him to family were two entirely different concepts. Introducing him to friends brought blessings and envy, but introducing him to Mom would bring tearful exhortations of joy and nagging about having babies. Just imagining the scene made Sonia cringe so hard her toes could have dug out a three-bedroom apartment. Naturally, she would never admit that. "Forget blessings from family—you haven't even gotten blessings from my friends yet." "What!" Yaxiu was shocked. "I even bought them milk tea, and they still won't put in a good word for me?" "Did you think I was lying when I said they're hard to get along with?" Sonia curled her lip, then suddenly called his name in a solemn, loud voice: "Yaxiu!" "What is it?" Yaxiu's body jerked. Thinking something had gone wrong, he immediately snapped into combat readiness. "Nothing. I just felt like calling your name." Sonia held her milk tea contentedly and walked forward with brisk steps, her sheepskin boots practically bounding over the slippery snow like a frolicking fawn. Watching that high red ponytail swinging back and forth, Yaxiu felt his spirits sway along with it. The corner of his mouth curved up, and he softly exhaled a breath of white mist. He had never forgotten that he owed the Sword Princess a date. Returning to Sword Flower this time was a plan he had prepared for a long time; just convincing the Witch, Silver Lantern, and Weixi not to tag along had taken considerable effort. He admitted he was being a bit partial this time, but he had always wanted to stroll through the Sword Princess's favorite campus... take in the scenery she knew so well... as though doing so would allow them to trade each other's pasts. Yaxiu wasn't someone who enjoyed sightseeing; let alone reality, he didn't even care for the sights of the Void Realm. Yet walking through Sword Flower brought him genuine joy, not merely because the Sword Princess was by his side, but because he had long fallen in love with this place. Back in the mist-shrouded Knowledge Sea, the red-haired girl's endless chatter had been the only solace the cult leader could find beneath the looming dread of Shattered Lake Prison and the Blood Moon Trial. Back then, neither of them understood their feelings, nor did they foresee how their fates would intertwine. Yet simply because this was Sonia's second home, it had become a sanctuary for Yaxiu's soul as well. Jialesi's first winter in a millennium was bitterly cold, with ceaseless wind and snow. It wasn't a season Yaxiu favored, but because of the Sword Princess, he had come to love Jialesi—and so he now loved winter as well. Yaxiu hurried to catch up and took the Sword Princess's free left hand. Sonia glanced at him, slid her fingers between his until their hands were tightly interlaced, and walked forward with light, brisk steps. Under the shade of the trees sat a luxury silver sedan, its windshield lightly dusted with frost and snow, completely empty inside. "Where's Felix?" Sonia looked down at the ground, but with so many pedestrians having walked along this road, the footprints were already a muddle. Yaxiu ventured a guess, "She probably went to say goodbye?" The two of them had ridden in Felix's car to enter Sword Flower University. It hadn't actually been necessary; they had simply wanted to give Felix a chance to visit as well. Now that she wasn't in the car, she had probably gone to see old friends. Sonia had also discreetly asked Felix if she wanted to leave the Four Pillar Cult, since her name wasn't on the suspect list, but Felix had merely shaken her head and silently remained with the group. Sonia took the miracle bracelet off Yaxiu's wrist and dialed the contact. After a moment, she shook her head. "No answer. She's on Do Not Disturb." "Let's look for her together," Yaxiu said. "Though she'll probably be back in a bit." "Let's split up. I'll go this way, you go that way," Sonia replied, shaking her head. "Searching together is too inefficient." Yaxiu gave their clasped hands a gentle swing. "I meant we could stroll a bit longer and wait for her to come back on her own..." "What if something happened? She's not like us, nor is she the type to suddenly become unreachable." Sonia still shook her head, muttering, "If only the Witch were here..." Wanting the Witch to provide information services at a moment's notice while not wanting her to interrupt their date—there was no such free lunch. Speaking of which, it was rather awkward: Yaxiu's miracles covered healing, defense, offense, and mobility, while Sonia focused purely on offense. Both were quintessential combat sorcerers, so whenever it came to non-combat, everyday matters like prophecies, mental arts, or soul tracking, the two of them were completely out of their depth. Still, Sonia had a point. Yaxiu began to feel concerned as well, and the two promptly split up to search for traces of Felix. Despite this minor hiccup, it couldn't dampen Yaxiu's joy. After all, besides the date, he had more than accomplished Dead Frenzy's side quest: "Don't let them get angry." Setting the others aside for now, not only had he kept the Sword Princess from getting angry, but he had also maxed out her happiness meter. If this were truly a game, he'd probably have unlocked a special CG by now! Now the Sword Princess definitely wouldn't drift toward Dead Frenzy. It was in the bag!