Three in One Bed

"Sword Princess isn't as clumsy as you... Not as clumsy... Clumsy..." Clang, clang, clang! Niya could practically hear the strings snapping inside her brain, one after another. Lowering her head, she gripped her hilt tightly, her shoulders shivering with rage. As she stepped forward, she unleashed the most ferocious sword strike of her life. If she had held back earlier, she was now erupting with full force, dead set on cutting this man who had crawled out of a trash can in two, riddling him with six wounds from three blades, slicing him into a thousand pieces! Yet swinging with such wide, sweeping moves only revealed more flaws. Yaxiu dodged and parried with ease, even managing to speak mid-duel: "You're still not convinced? Your lying is even worse than mine. After all, whenever I lie, Sword Princess sees right through it; whenever you lie, even I see right through it. Do the math: you're not just clumsier than Sword Princess—you're even clumsier than me." "Shut up!" "Not only are you clumsier than Sword Princess, you're shyer than her, too. On this whole journey, whenever you've had a problem, you never ask—you just mess around on your own, forcing me to keep a constant eye on you. But Sword Princess asks whenever she doesn't know something, eager to dig up every single secret I have. What about you? Do you even know what my favorite food is?" "Who doesn't know you love eating Lalafell?!" "You actually knew? Hmph." Yaxiu curled his lips. "But you never ask about me personally. You ask more about Sword Princess than you do about me. Sometimes I even wonder if you have a crush on her." "I do not—shut your mouth!" "And another thing: when someone points out a flaw in you, you never fix it. Sword Princess doesn't change either, sure, but she'll proudly declare, 'That's just how I am, and if you have a problem with it, suck it up!' You, on the other hand, just run away. Whenever you run into an issue, you curl up and pretend you can't hear. You're far more fragile than Sword Princess." "Aaargh!" Facing Niya's wild, frantic frenzy, Yaxiu remained entirely unscathed, but the alley wall suffered terribly, gouged with over a dozen deep sword marks and threatening to collapse at any moment. "That's another thing: when you get too angry, you throw tantrums regardless of time or place. I'm the one who offended you—why are you taking it out on the wall??" Yaxiu went on, "Sword Princess is different. She at least waits until we're safe before blowing up at me, although settling scores after the fact tends to carry rather heavy interest..." "Fine! I'm completely useless and no good at anything, all right?!" Niya's eyes rimmed with red as she sobbed, "I already knew I couldn't compare to Sword Princess! Can't you just shut up?!" "Inferiority complex." Yaxiu had no intention of letting her off the hook. "Even though you suffer from an inferiority complex just like Sword Princess, once she gained strength, she overcame the cowardice in her heart. But you, even with strength, still can't break free. Instead, you sink deeper and deeper into the mire of self-doubt, pitying yourself." "I'm going to... kill you. I'm going to kill you!" Driven to the absolute brink of fury, Niya threw all restraint away, bringing out every ounce of her true ability as one sword technique after another unfolded from her hands. Her months of special training had not been in vain. The high-intensity sparring sessions with Weixi and Yaxiu had made her swordsmanship increasingly fluid and refined; the movements of her blade were as light and gentle as dancing with the breeze, her petite frame looking as though it were about to take flight. She blended almost seamlessly with the raging wind and driving rain, no longer even bound by swordsmanship alone—Yaxiu's fist techniques and Weixi's kicks were all woven into her fighting style. Compared to who she was months ago, Niya had improved by leaps and bounds. But Yaxiu had improved even more! Yaxiu stomped down, splashing up water from a puddle on the ground to momentarily obscure Niya's line of sight. Seizing that fleeting opening, Yaxiu's twin swords struck the weak point in Niya's blade path, and pressing his body forward, he pinned her against the wall, thoroughly subduing her! "Sword Princess wouldn't lose to me like this, either." Locking eyes with her at close quarters, Yaxiu's lips parted to deliver the most piercing words: "I'm not talking about talent or hard work. If Sword Princess knew she could beat me fair and square, she would fight. But if she thought the odds were against her, she wouldn't bother fighting at all, or she'd concoct some scheme to make me slip up. You, on the other hand, fight even when you know you can't win, stubbornly insisting on holding out to the very last moment without giving up." Niya was at a loss for words. Her eyes brimmed with glistening moisture, and biting her lower lip, she glared fixedly at Yaxiu with an aggrieved look, refusing to let her tears fall no matter what. Realizing that while her torso was pinned, her lower legs could still move, she frantically stomped on Yaxiu's feet, letting out a little whimper with each stomp. The sound of rain gradually tapered off, as if the storm were drawing to an end. Noticing that Yaxiu neither spoke nor moved, simply letting her vent, Niya found herself unable to meet his gaze for some reason. She could only force out a few stubborn words from the corner of her lips: "Let go of me." "I didn't chase after you just to let you run," Yaxiu sighed. "I'm taking you back." "You made me sound so awful, so why do you still want to take me back?" Niya hung her head and sniffled. "I'll go turn myself in, happy now?" "I never said you were awful." Niya looked up at him without saying a word; her aggrieved expression alone was enough to indict him for how shameless he was. "I was only pointing out the differences between you and Sword Princess," Yaxiu said with a smile. "I just wanted to prove that I haven't projected my feelings for Sword Princess onto you. I see you as completely distinct individuals." "You aren't Sword Princess's shadow. You are the one and only Miss Sever." "Your clumsiness, shyness, fragile heart, temper tantrums, self-doubt, and the persistence that keeps you going even when you know you can't win... together, they make up the endearing Miss Sever." Yaxiu continued, "Perhaps those aren't all noble qualities, but together, they make up someone wonderful." "Liar," Niya said in a trembling voice. "I framed you. You must be furious with me right now, aren't you?" "A little, but not because you framed me. I'm angry that you resorted to killing for my sake." Yaxiu sighed. "I don't know what you went through in the past, but I've always hoped you wouldn't dirty your hands again." "Liar!" Niya shook her head. "Your plan to travel across the Nation of Stars was ruined. Are you telling me you don't even care about that?!" "First of all, it might not be ruined," Yaxiu said. "Second, you tried to stop the plan to protect me. Even if I were angry, my anger should be directed at the Divine Lord of Stars. It's fate—it's the Divine Lord of Stars—who forced us into this dilemma. Caught in the torrent of our times, each of us can only make the choice we believe is right." "Liar! You just want to trick me into going back! Don't think I'll believe you just because you say pretty words!" "I'm not lying to you. I've never lied to you, whether now or in the past." "That's the biggest lie of all!" Enraged, Niya shouted and seized the moment to bring her straight-bladed sword across his neck, threatening him. "The very first time we met, you lied to me! Back then, you said—" "That isn't a lie anymore." The straight blade pressed against Yaxiu's cheek, kissing it with a shallow cut of blood. Drops of crimson slid down his cheek and blended with the rainwater. Niya gazed blankly at Yaxiu. This time, she finally saw her own reflection in his eyes. She drew the blade away and slid down the wall until she was sitting on the ground. Biting her lower lip, her voice wavered with tears: "Liar..." Yaxiu squatted down, gazing at her. "Let's go back." Only after a long while did Niya give an utterly reluctant "Mm." Yaxiu stood up, only to find her still slumped on the ground. "What's wrong?" "I..." Niya sniffled hard. "I faint at the sight of blood..." Yaxiu didn't seem surprised in the least. Helping her up, he asked, "How do you cure that again?" "Ice cream." Niya grabbed the hem of his clothes and trailed behind him. "Eating ice cream makes it better." "Then let's pick up a few boxes of ice cream on the way back," Yaxiu said cheerfully. "The others worked hard pulling overtime tonight, too." "Hey, the rain stopped." Yaxiu held out his hand. "Are you serious? It waited until we were heading back to stop? Is the weather picking on us? It might as well have kept raining!" Niya looked up and saw the dark clouds parting across the sky curtain, revealing the radiant glow of the stars. The next day at the high-speed rail station, the first-class business compartment of the Jiashi Express once again welcomed the same group of passengers. "After making such a huge mess last night, we can still continue our journey?" Weixi grumbled. "I thought today's plot would be fighting our way out of the city and taking on the army." "There were two key issues to this serial murder case: whether the culprit had violent homicidal tendencies, and whether the culprit truly possessed formidable solitary combat capabilities," Rose explained. "The notion of violent homicidal tendencies collapsed on its own once all the victims turned up alive." When they heard from the case report that Niya had thrown all the victims into the river, everyone had realized something was off. Sure enough, once Rose conducted a brief investigation through the underworld network, she found the supposedly dead victims living in other cities. It turned out Niya had merely beaten them black and blue with the flat of her blade, barely drawing any blood. After threatening that they were as good as dead if they ever dared return to the city, she tossed them into the river. Naturally, the police couldn't find any bodies in the water—because no one had died in the first place. "I knew Niya hadn't killed anyone," Yaxiu sighed in relief. "She only looks fierce on the outside, but deep down, she's kind at heart." Niya bristled. "I am not!" Weixi asked, "Then why didn't you finish them off?" "I just didn't want to..." Niya cut herself off halfway, but Yaxiu immediately guessed the rest: "You didn't want me to take the blame for murder, so you left them alive to help clear my name?" Niya's lips twitched, and she turned her head away in silence. "As for solitary combat capability, that was easily handled as well," Rose said. "I coerced the victims into submitting statements claiming they didn't dare fight back with lethal force because they knew the attacker was Yaxiu Heath. That reframed the incident from 'a vigilante attacking mobsters' into 'poor folk playing along with a rich man's game.' The nature of the crime changed entirely, and the police department's assessment of Yaxiu's personal prowess was chalked up to the combined effect of his influence and his wealth." "What a pity. I really thought we could derail the plan with this," Weixi sighed theatrically. "Now we can only watch helplessly as Master goes to his death..." "If anyone else tries to stop me, I'm smacking Weixi on the head," Yaxiu said calmly, adjusting his seat into reclining mode. "If someone else stops you, why hit me?" "Because you're undermining troop morale. Right now is precisely when you, a Soul Demigod, ought to be cheering everyone on." "Fine, fine. Once Master heads back, you'll probably lose yourself in the gentle, blissful arms of Sword Princess and the Witch, completely forgetting everything about the Nation of Stars... Hey! Am I not even allowed to tell the truth? You actually smacked me?!" After giving Weixi three good smacks, Yaxiu sank back into his seat and let out a long yawn. "I didn't sleep a wink last night. I'm exhausted..." "Switching to sleep mode." Rose lowered the window shades using the control panel, and the cabin lights dimmed. "None of us got much rest last night. Let's all get some good sleep. Attendant, please bring a fleece blanket for each of us here." No one objected, and one after another, they settled into their business-class seats to sleep. Feili waited quietly for ten minutes before silently getting up. Without even slipping on her shoes, she tiptoed over to Yaxiu's seat. Right at that moment, however, she noticed Niya getting up as well. The two exchanged a look. Following a fierce wordless negotiation with their eyes, they ultimately decided to set aside their dispute and share the resource. If anyone asked later, they would just say they had gotten drowsy after going to the restroom and simply flopped down in the first spot they found. Although the business-class seat was spacious, cramming three people into it was still far too tight. Yaxiu was squeezed so hard his eyelids twitched, yet he didn't dare move a muscle. Seeing this wouldn't work, Feili pulled Yaxiu's arm around herself so she could snuggle into his embrace. Niya followed suit. With that, the three of them were finally lying comfortably enough to get a peaceful sleep. Yet while the three of them could drift off, everyone else had been awakened by their antics. Igola, Harvey, Weixi, and Rose sat up, exchanged glances, and quietly disabled the shutter sounds and flashes on their phones—ready to see who among them took the best photos.