38 Younger Sister, is that You? (2/2)
”This is Honorable Ox-Head,” Hikari said. ”By the way, you're slightly wrong. There are four of us here.”
”Four?”
Woof!
Kankuro had just realized that the white-furred puppy on Hikari's head was now seated right across of her. He was about to comment about it, but another poof of smoke numbed his tongue.
Right in front of his eyes sat a woman with beauty so alluring that she could ruin nations with a single wink of that pair of black phoenix eyes. Her silky black hair was put up with a flower-patterned jade hairpin. Her smooth white skin looked as if it was glowing in the dark as it reflected ambient light.
Not to mention, the collar of her elaborate hanfu dress was pulled open over her shoulders, suggestively revealing more of her chest while keeping the most important part hidden from sight. The merciless teasing that left things to imagination was incomparably more seductive to the sight compared to being completely naked.
”D-Daji...? The sole master of Illusory Forest, the Empires' Bane, The Calamitous Vixen, Daji...?” Kankuro murmured.
”Why, you're more easily aroused after becoming a mortal once more, Honorable Ox-Head,” Daji chuckled. ”I wonder what Honorable Horse-Face would say if he gotten hold of this, ufufu...”
”S-spare me, please...” the black-clothed boy immediately kowtowed. No way would he let that blabbermouth Mamian knew about this! The entire nine layers of the Underworld would end up gossiping about it in a single cycle!
”...Just hearing your voice had given me goosebumps, but seeing your appearance once again feels even more unreal,” the Anbu remarked.
”That's right,” she turned her attention to the golden-haired man. ”You have known our identity. Now it's time to tell us yours.”
”...”
His hands trembled for a moment before he replied resolutely,
”My name is Youen. I have to keep my identity secret because of my work as an Anbu, so please don't tell this to anyone.”
The brown-haired girl coughed.
”I think you already know that we don't give a crap about your current identity, right...?”
Youen broke into cold sweat.
”...I'm a cultivator, like you guys. That should be enough.”
Hikari, Kankuro, and Daji stared at him with a gaze that screamed 'yeah, right'.
”Fine, I already suspected that you won't tell us,” Daji showed him a mischievous smile, the same smile that had pushed him into her traps so many times in the past.
”I have a good guess of your identity already. I'm sure that Huang'er also think the same way. Say...”
He gritted his teeth. He wouldn't fall for that venomous tongue of hers. No matter what she was going to say, he would stand firm and not react at all cost!
”...Younger sister Mei Mei, is that you?”
”Don't call me 'younger sister'!”
The Anbu suddenly slammed the table, surprising Hikari and Kankuro.
Youen, however, was already drenched whole in cold sweat.
'Damnit, I messed up!'
He had vowed never to react to that call anymore, but old habits refused to die just yet. His body had responded faster than his brain could stop it.
Seeing Daji's smile growing wider and wider just cemented the fact that he had definitely been had!
”Since when did you know...?”
”That mastery of Emei Sect's martial arts style which surpassed even Huang'er's, your affinity toward water attribute spells, those were clues that led me to you. However, the clearest proof was that moment when you slipped up and called us 'big brother' and 'big sister'. In our past lives, only one person would call us that. That's you, Mei'er~”
”I see... so that's why...”
The Anbu collapsed on his chair, finally giving up the last bit of resistance left in his heart.
”Venerable Mei...?” Kankuro mumbled, testing the water.
Was there any reason to deny it at this point? Youen just nodded at him with a defeated expression.
”So it's indeed younger sister Mei Mei!” Hikari clapped her hands.
”I told you, don't call me 'younger sister'!”
Kankuro looked back-and-forth between the three figures around him, his eyes twinkling with girth. He let out a heavy sigh, which managed to stop their aimless arguing.
”It's really a mess, huh? A heavenly spirit like me got turned into a mortal. Venerable Yao, who was a man, got reincarnated as a woman. Venerable Mei, who was a woman, got reincarnated as a man. Lady Daji even ended up as a dog...”
”Male dog, to be exact,” Daji added, making the frown on Kankuro's face deepen further.
Okay, it was no longer a mess. It was just pure, unadulterated chaos. He wondered whether the wheel of karma in this world was hurting their stomach from laughing non-stop.
He then focused his gaze toward Hikari and Daji.
”Even after getting reincarnated, the two of you still ended up together, huh...”
”It's called fate~” the seductive woman said while pulling Hikari into her embrace. Unfortunately, she quickly pouted as the latter didn't have any reaction even when she felt a pair of soft, bouncy peaks touching her back.
”Yeah, yeah, she's just a stalker,” Hikari retorted with a straight face. ”More importantly, younger sister...”
”I said, don't call me y-!”
”Fine, fine, little Mei!” Hikari coughed. ”Why did you reincarnate as well? Actually, why did you die in the first place?”
”Why not?” He narrowed his eyes. ”I mean, big sister is here.”
”Daji is a special case, don't use her as reference. She's nuts.”
Youen sighed.
”Is it so hard to believe, big brother? Everyone had decided to end our time and reincarnated with you. We were separated back then, but I was sure that everyone had arrived to the underworld more or less around the same time.”
Hikari almost jumped out of her seat if not for Daji holding her down.
”Why?!” She screamed in disbelief.
”Because we agreed with your words,” he replied with a decisive tone. ”We wanted to see the new era that we had fought so hard to achieve in a new light. We...”
His gaze turned soft as he gave her a weak smile.
”...Our souls felt so heavy, weighed down by all the blood that we had spilled. We just wanted to start over in the peaceful Yang Dynasty, away from our treacherous pasts. Is that... is that wrong...?”
Hikari couldn't retort.
Because, if she denied their cause, then she would had denied her own death. She would render everything she had done meaningless.
Thus, she could only fell into silence.
”R-right, how about we change the topic?” Kankuro nervously offered. The atmosphere had turned so heavy all of the sudden, making him worry. ”Venerable Yao, about what you've asked me earlier... you want to know why I got reincarnated, right? Also, about what had happened back then when the reincarnation pool got destroyed.”
Hikari nodded. While she was still angry about her allies' decision, her curiosity about that incident took precedence.
After all, that information could prove pivotal for her goal.
Now that he had gotten their attention, Kankuro straightened his posture as he began to talk business.
”Very well. I shall tell you...”