Xue Ji mischievously stepped on Ling Xiaoxiao’s foot. She seemed to be in a good mood, the smile at the corners of her mouth impossible to hide.
Not one to back down, Ling Xiaoxiao pulled her foot free and stomped right back onto Xue Ji’s.
The move was so quick it startled Xue Ji.
Ling Xiaoxiao’s gaze, which had been lazy and unfocused since arriving on the island, sharpened back to its usual alertness.
“Whoa, are you mad?” Xue Ji didn’t take it seriously and kept teasing her.
“Not at all.” Ling Xiaoxiao pretended to be composed. “I’m not as childish as you.”
But even as she said that, her foot was quietly wrestling with Xue Ji’s beneath them.
The two went back and forth—pull and stomp, stomp and pull—trading over a dozen moves in no time.
Xue Ji wasn’t as quick as Ling Xiaoxiao. Every time she tried to step on her, Ling Xiaoxiao would counter and turn the tables, which started to get on Xue Ji’s nerves.
She held her breath, and without realizing it, her cheeks puffed out like a hamster’s.
Seeing her like that, Ling Xiaoxiao froze for a moment, genuinely thinking she’d actually upset her, and quickly stopped.
The moment Ling Xiaoxiao paused, Xue Ji’s eyes lit up, and she seized the opening.
And just like that, Ling Xiaoxiao let her opponent’s light foot land on top of hers.
Before they knew it, the two had risen from their lounge chairs. All for the sake of this utterly meaningless contest.
Xue Ji had won, and she was overjoyed.
“Ha, I’ve never lost at these little games.”
She reached out and gently tapped Ling Xiaoxiao on the forehead, snapping the other girl back to reality.
“You scared me…” Ling Xiaoxiao had been worried she’d done something wrong again.
Xue Ji could sense the careful, almost timid way Ling Xiaoxiao carried herself, and it tugged at her heart.
“Before the others get here, let’s go for a swim.”
“Mm, okay…” Ling Xiaoxiao agreed, but didn’t move.
Xue Ji didn’t call her out on it. Instead, she took the initiative and grabbed Ling Xiaoxiao’s hand.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you like the sea?”
“I really don’t. Actually, coming here this time, I even had a nightmare.” Ling Xiaoxiao’s grip tightened as she spoke.
“What did you dream about?” Xue Ji was curious—could even a cultivator have nightmares?
“It’s nothing. Let’s go.”
Ling Xiaoxiao quickened her pace, and now she was the one pulling Xue Ji along.
Their footprints trailing across the sand stretched all the way to the water’s edge, where the waves washed them away.
The seawater rose past Xue Ji’s knees, and Ling Xiaoxiao stopped.
“Even without the nightmare, I hate the sea,” Ling Xiaoxiao said.
“Why?”
“A thousand years ago, this island was a lot bigger than it is now.”
She paused, then turned to gaze at the lighthouse on the island.
Xue Ji followed her line of sight and saw the tower, heavily eroded by time and tide.
“Whenever I stayed in the mortal world, watching people live and die, I sometimes felt the urge to run away. And when I wanted to escape, I’d come back here and be alone.”
“But even so, I never really got away.”
“You can flee the mundane world, but you can’t escape the rising and falling of the tides, or the waxing and waning of the moon.”
“Not only that, but this sea is slowly swallowing my little paradise whole. How could I ever love it?”
When Xue Ji didn’t respond, Ling Xiaoxiao let out a resigned sigh.
‘Well, it’s all in the past now…’
“Then let’s go look for it—the traces left behind over those thousand years,” Xue Ji said, her curiosity now piqued.
“Huh?”
“Trees have rings that record their age, and modern technology can date things using carbon. There has to be something out there that, like you, has witnessed all that time.”
“Really… is there?”
Xue Ji’s words sent a subtle tremor through Ling Xiaoxiao’s heart.
An indescribable emotion flickered to life within her, along with a hope she couldn’t control.
Just then, a figure in heavy diving gear came charging straight toward them.
“What the heck is that?” Xue Ji rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
It looked like a heavily armored knight barreling right at them. Ling Xiaoxiao’s eyes sharpened. With a flick of her finger, a burst of sword qi carved a massive gash across the sand.
In an instant, sand and wind erupted everywhere. The two people who’d been watching from the drink stand quickly slammed their door shut—any later and everything inside would’ve been ruined.
“Hey, it’s me, don’t attack!” Shaya’s shrieking voice came from within the swirling dust.
“I think that’s Shaya,” Xue Ji said, quietly pressing down on Ling Xiaoxiao’s hand, which was already poised to fire off another sword qi.
“I know.”
But Ling Xiaoxiao sent out another slash anyway.
“She’s an eyesore, though. Can’t blame me for teaching her a little lesson, right?” She gave Xue Ji an innocent look.
“Eeeeya!” Shaya, still in her heavy diving gear, somersaulted out of the sandstorm and launched into a textbook-perfect flying kick straight at Ling Xiaoxiao.
Xue Ji blurted out without thinking, “A—a Rider Kick? And the form is flawless!”
But flawless form didn’t matter. Ling Xiaoxiao simply flicked her finger, and the incoming Shaya was sent flying straight into the sea.
“Stupid bird, I’m not done with you!”
Splash! Shaya sent up a massive spray of water.
“Hehehe, I knew that idiot was out of her mind.” Lilith’s voice came from behind Xue Ji.
She was wearing a black lace-trimmed bikini, with her hair tied up in cat-ear style, looking a lot like Kuroneko from Oreimo.
“So? How is it? Are all you little fish totally captivated by Lady Lilith’s figure?” She planted her hands on her hips, chin held high, radiating smugness.
“Kitty Lilith, you’re adorable!” Xue Ji pinched her cheek and laughed.
To her surprise, Lilith squirmed away, stepped back, and puffed out her chest, looking down at Xue Ji with disdain.
Xue Ji glanced at Lilith’s chest, then looked down at her own, and a puzzled expression crossed her face.
Faced with a size that Lilith’s own hands couldn’t even fully cover, Xue Ji fell silent.
‘Wait… can puppet bodies even develop further?’
“Loser Sage, from now on, I’m the big sister, and you get to be the little sister.” Lilith even deliberately bumped into Xue Ji, utterly insufferable.
Ling Xiaoxiao had had enough. She walked over to Lilith, casually reached out, and suddenly two padded inserts appeared in her hand.
She shoved the pads into Xue Ji’s hands and vanished from sight in an instant.
Lilith didn’t even realize what had happened and was still basking in her own glory.
“Um…” Xue Ji tried to warn her.
“Call me big sister, my dear little Sage sister～”
With that, she patted her own chest—and her smug expression froze solid.
When she saw the two pads in Xue Ji’s hands, her face turned beet red in an instant.
“AHHHHHHH!” Lilith’s scream echoed across the entire beach.
Her eyes welled up with tears, and she fought desperately not to cry. At this point, it was impossible to tell whether her face was red from holding back tears or from sheer mortification.
Xue Ji tried to comfort her: “It’s okay, Lilith. We’re in the same boat.”
To make her point, Xue Ji even gestured at herself for comparison.
But to her surprise, her own chest had lately been showing signs of heading in a whole other direction.
At that sight, Lilith finally broke down and started sobbing.
“Boo hoo hoo, big sister, you’re bullying me～”
“I didn’t, it wasn’t me, it was Ling Xiaoxiao—” Xue Ji scrambled to defend herself.
“Xiao Ji had a part in it too.” Ling Xiaoxiao strolled back over and stuffed the sea-soaked pads into Xue Ji’s hands once more.
“You… I…”
Before Xue Ji could explain, Shaya, still in her heavy diving suit, crawled out of the ocean with a roar and lunged at Ling Xiaoxiao.
Ling Xiaoxiao, without missing a beat, ducked behind Xue Ji.
“EEEEH!!!”
