Before she knew it, Xueji was already feeling lightheaded from lack of oxygen when Ling Xiaoxiao finally released her. Ling Xiaoxiao looked at Xueji—her hair and clothes thoroughly disheveled—and only then did the anger in her heart dissipate. She headed to the bathroom to freshen up.
Left alone on the bed in complete disarray, Xueji lifted her head and made a horrifying discovery—the door to the room was still open!
Given how her mother usually was, if Xueji had been taking this long to wake Ling Xiaoxiao up, she would’ve definitely come to check on them herself. Which meant… her mother must have seen what they were doing on the bed just now.
At this realization, Xueji’s entire world darkened. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how she was supposed to walk out of this room. But if she couldn’t think of a way, then she just wouldn’t. Xueji decided to shamelessly stay sprawled on Ling Xiaoxiao’s bed, refusing to get up.
After washing up, Ling Xiaoxiao looked at Xueji, still lying on the bed, with confusion.
“You’re not seriously planning to sleep here, are you? And you were the one who came to wake me up?”
The more Xueji thought about it, the angrier she got. She glared at Ling Xiaoxiao, puffing up her cheeks. “This is all your fault! My mom definitely saw what you just did to me. Now I can’t even leave this room. It’s all because of you!”
Ling Xiaoxiao, completely unbothered, strode confidently out of the room and even peeked into the living room. Xueji was stunned by her audacity. How could she just… push someone else’s daughter down in their own house and then casually walk out to check people’s reactions like nothing happened?!
“Your parents aren’t home. How long are you planning to lie there?” Ling Xiaoxiao’s voice came from the living room.
With no other choice, Xueji reluctantly got up, straightened her messy clothes and hair, and trudged back to the living room with a bitter expression.
Seeing her like this, Ling Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but laugh. “What, do you want me to take responsibility? Should I formally propose to you, or kneel and admit I took advantage of you?”
“There was nothing going on in the first place! Why are you making it sound so weird?” Xueji quickly retorted, flustered by her attitude.
“If you say nothing happened, then stop acting so guilty. If you keep this up, even if there really was nothing, your mom’s going to start overthinking things.”
Xueji wanted to argue back, but Ling Xiaoxiao had a point. She opened her mouth but couldn’t find the words. Even so, she still felt irritated. But why was she so upset? Ever since becoming a girl, she’d been way too sensitive about things.
“Speaking of which, Xueji, I haven’t even settled the score with you for what you did last night.”
“What did I do? I didn’t do anything!” Xueji remembered the resentment Ling Xiaoxiao had shown earlier that morning, and though a pang of guilt crept into her heart, she still had to stand her ground.
So Ling Xiaoxiao began listing Xueji’s misdeeds from the night before—biting, groping, pinning her down in her sleep—each accusation making Xueji’s face grow paler. As she recalled the dream she’d had last night, any will to defend herself evaporated.
Because… she had actually done all those things.
Of course, the awkward tension between them couldn’t last all day. Suddenly, Xueji remembered—wasn’t she the one in the right here? It wasn’t her who had insisted on sharing the bed, so why was she being scolded for not sleeping properly?
Bolstered by this thought, she retorted confidently, “You were the one who came over to sleep, weren’t you? Why does this suddenly make me the one getting lectured?”
But Ling Xiaoxiao, seeing that Xueji had caught on, simply transformed into her fat bird form and flew out the window—denying Xueji any chance to retaliate.
This morning had been quite fruitful for Ling Xiaoxiao. Xueji’s mother didn’t seem to disapprove of their relationship, which meant she was now in the perfect position to act. And as for Xueji, that mischievous “moon hidden among the clouds”? She would claim her—in a way Xueji could accept.
…
After three days of rest, Xueji received a mission from the Vanguard the previous night.
[Mission: Explore the southern primal forest and collect tissue samples from giant wolves.]
[Rewards: 200 Contribution Points, 100,000 in bonus pay. Additional value based on sample quality.]
The Vanguard was similar to the kingdom-level adventurers Xueji had known in the other world—tasked with handling dangerous and mysterious incidents. As an adventurer, Xueji had been undeniably exceptional. She had once exposed a disguised priest in a remote village as a servant of an evil god and, through a year-long journey, became the first to discover that the Demon King had awoken a year ahead of schedule. In truth, her achievements as an adventurer were no less impressive than her accomplishments in magic.
Since returning half a month ago, she had rarely been able to act as freely as before. Today’s mission even filled her with anticipation. It seemed that roles like the Vanguard—better suited for lone wolves like her—were truly her calling.
She quickly put on a black face mask, tied her hair into a sleek high ponytail, and donned a beige baseball cap tilted slightly to the side. Paired with her dark athletic wear, the look was both lively and composed.
When she arrived at the forest’s edge, she was, unsurprisingly, stopped by guards.
“Kid, this isn’t a place for you,” a burly soldier said, blocking the entrance—which, Xueji realized with amusement, looked very familiar.
Wasn’t this the path I blasted open with my Wind Cannon when I first got here?!
Without wasting time, Xueji pulled out the specialized phone she’d been issued.
Only then did the guard realize who she was.
“Ah, so you’re an awakened from Third High.”
“How’d you know I’m from Third High?”
“You look like a student, and all the qualified awakened from your school were already brought here by the military for training. Didn’t you know?”
Xueji didn’t answer immediately. Unlocking the phone with her iris scan, she opened the Awakened Center’s app. The silver-and-black interface displayed her ID card, its details encrypted and hidden.
At first, the guard had assumed Xueji was just another qualified awakened from Third High. But to his surprise, her file was completely classified—no accessible information, requiring manual verification. This was something he’d never encountered before.
Scanning her ID with his communicator, the first thing he saw wasn’t “Independent Awakened” or “Special Forces,” but a title he’d only heard of in rumors—Provisional Vanguard.
“You’re actually with the Vanguard? Never judge a book by its cover!” The guard’s demeanor instantly became far more respectful.
Xueji nodded, shaking his hand before asking, “What did you mean earlier by ‘qualified awakened’?”
The guard was puzzled. As an elite among the awakened—a Vanguard personally recruited by the state—how could she not know this? Of course, he had no way of knowing that Xueji had spent the past few days investigating the flying creature that had interfered during the battle against the Tuskfiend Alpha—all while disguised as the Gray-Robed Sage. She hadn’t even glanced at the flood of notifications on her phone.
“After you guys wiped out all those rats the other day, every student’s performance was recorded. Only those who actually fought back in the face of danger were deemed ‘qualified awakened’ and allowed to undergo further training with the Special Forces. The ones who froze up—no matter how strong their abilities—were all marked as unqualified.”
Hearing this, Xueji thought of He Zhixin, the student with the A-rank ability. It seemed he’d been labeled unqualified. But in a way, that might have been for the best—freeing him from the burden his ability had placed on him.