Sha Ya never expected Ling Xiaoxiao to dodge, let alone use Xue Ji as a human shield.
By the time she realized what was happening, it was already too late.
“Ah Ji, move!”
Sha Ya panicked and lost control of her own momentum, flailing her arms and legs in a way that looked utterly ridiculous.
The next second, just as she was bracing for disaster, she watched Xue Ji vanish from where she stood. Sha Ya herself went crashing straight toward Ling Xiaoxiao instead.
Ling Xiaoxiao reached out, caught Sha Ya, and smoothly absorbed the impact—then promptly flipped her upside down and planted her headfirst into the sand.
Dusting off her hands, Ling Xiaoxiao turned her gaze toward the blue-haired girl clinging to Xue Ji.
Her expression was noticeably annoyed, as if she were complaining that Eva had ruined her fun.
Xue Ji had been busy using wind magic to control the swirling sand and hadn’t noticed Eva’s move.
Eva frowned slightly and stepped in front of Xue Ji.
“Don’t make jokes like that.” Eva’s voice was still as flat as ever, but her face was finally showing some expression.
She stared at Ling Xiaoxiao with a slight frown, barely betraying her displeasure—but her shoulder-length aqua hair tied into twin tails and that cute ruffled swimsuit made her look far too adorable for anyone to take her seriously.
Being stared at like that somehow made you feel like you’d done something wrong. Ling Xiaoxiao sighed and averted her gaze. “Alright, alright. I went too far today. I won’t do it again.”
The moment those words left her mouth, Ling Xiaoxiao suddenly stepped back.
The very next second, Sha Ya—now wearing only an ordinary diving suit—burst up from underground.
“Really? I don’t believe you!”
After being slammed into the sand, she’d had a flash of inspiration: ditch the heavy diving gear and dig a tunnel to ambush Ling Xiaoxiao from below.
And yet, this time too, she came up empty-handed.
Ling Xiaoxiao stared at Sha Ya in silence, slowly clenching her fist. The crackling of her knuckles sent a chill down everyone’s spine.
Sha Ya’s danger sense kicked in once again, and she scrambled behind Xue Ji without a second thought.
Xue Ji stopped the wind and sand, looking helplessly at the girls around her.
“Alright, enough messing around.”
Ever since Ling Xiaoxiao’s disguise had been exposed, opportunities for all of them to stand together and talk peacefully had been practically nonexistent.
“Hmph, I don’t argue with old people,” Sha Ya muttered under her breath.
Lilith was still sniffling slightly, clinging to Xue Ji’s arm along with Eva on the other side.
Hearing that, Xue Ji couldn’t help but feel a pang of worry for Sha Ya. Once they got back, Ling Xiaoxiao was definitely going to give her some “intensive combat training.” Hopefully this time Sha Ya wouldn’t end up in tears.
“Let’s go play in the water first.”
They’d originally planned to play beach volleyball, but with tensions running this high, it was better to postpone that for a bit. No point letting a friendly game turn into an all-out brawl.
“Big sis, hold my hand.”
“Ah Ji, I don’t wanna walk.”
“Carry me…”
“Okay, okay.”
Xue Ji trudged toward the sea, dragging three people along with her.
After a few steps, she turned back and saw Ling Xiaoxiao still standing there.
Ling Xiaoxiao spread her hands wide, then clenched them into fists.
“Seriously? I don’t have any free hands right now.”
“That’s your problem, not mine. You said yourself you wanted to treat all of us equally. Can’t even manage that much?”
Ling Xiaoxiao’s words put Sha Ya and Lilith on high alert, and they too grew curious about how Xue Ji would handle this.
“Ugh, fine. You win. Then get over here.”
A faint glimmer flickered in Xue Ji’s eyes, and an invisible force pulled Ling Xiaoxiao toward her.
“In that case, we have no choice but to combine!” Xue Ji declared with a perfectly straight face.
“Combine?” they all said in unison, utterly baffled.
But Xue Ji gave them no time to react and used telekinesis to lift them all into the air.
This development caught Ling Xiaoxiao completely off guard, and she quickly asked, “What are you planning?!”
“I see! Ah Ji, you’re a genius! I’ll form the head!”
Sha Ya was the first to catch on, swimming through the air with exaggerated limb movements to reach the highest spot.
“Xiaoxiao, here it comes!” Xue Ji’s tone was dead serious, as if she meant every word.
Though Ling Xiaoxiao had no idea what Xue Ji was up to, she instinctively braced herself.
Xue Ji grabbed Lilith and Eva and leaped toward Ling Xiaoxiao.
“Turn around.”
Ling Xiaoxiao obeyed—and immediately regretted it.
Xue Ji perched on Ling Xiaoxiao’s shoulders, holding Lilith and Eva on each arm, while Sha Ya, acting as the head, sat atop Xue Ji’s shoulders.
The sheer absurdity of this setup was too much for Ling Xiaoxiao’s brain to process, and she completely short-circuited.
Sha Ya, however, was ecstatic and shouted at the top of her lungs: “Pioneer Robo, combine successful!”
This utterly surreal scene was also witnessed by Xia Jin and Shen Dai, who were watching from the small shop. The two of them doubled over laughing, completely unable to stop.
“G-genius, hahahahaha!” Xia Jin laughed so hard she could barely stand, leaning against the counter and slapping the table repeatedly.
“I can’t—I can’t breathe—hahahaha!” Shen Dai lay sprawled across the table, clutching her stomach, occasionally banging her head on the surface.
Lilith, as one of the participants, was struggling to hold back her laughter, while Eva had no clue what was even happening.
“Xiaoxiao, we’re taking off.”
Ling Xiaoxiao was jolted back to reality by Xue Ji’s voice, and was immediately hit by an emotion she hadn’t experienced in over a thousand years.
“Why… why is this so humiliating?!”
Her toes curled into the sand, wishing she could dig a tunnel straight through the entire island.
“Well? Did I take care of everyone or not?” Xue Ji said, feeling quite pleased with herself.
“So this is the Sage’s legendary wisdom? How utterly embarrassing…” Ling Xiaoxiao’s entire demeanor dimmed. “Whatever. Fine.”
With an attitude of total surrender, Ling Xiaoxiao charged into the sea with everyone on board.
Pioneer Robo, traveling at such breakneck speed, inevitably fell apart upon impact with the water.
The girls floated on the surface, sunlight bathing them in a warm, beautiful glow.
“I’ve never felt such peace before,” Ling Xiaoxiao mused, gazing at the cloudless sky. “A thousand years’ worth of dignity, all gone today.”
“Don’t worry, a thousand years of face must be pretty thick anyway. Better to shed it,” Lilith said.
“Yeah. If you hadn’t, you wouldn’t have opened up to us like this. I wasn’t about to let you stay alone on the shore,” Xue Ji added.
“Glub glub glub.” Sha Ya was face-down, blowing bubbles into the water.
“The price is too high—aaaaaah!”
For once, Ling Xiaoxiao showed this warmer, more human side to the group—even if the process was painfully awkward.
“Come catch me, Xiaoxiao,” Xue Ji said lazily.
“Oh, you’re on. Don’t you dare let me catch you—I’m going to make you pay!” Ling Xiaoxiao didn’t know whether to laugh or be angry.
Her previously gloomy mood had been completely thrown into chaos by Xue Ji.
She rolled over, casually flipped the still-bubble-blowing Sha Ya upright, and gave chase toward Xue Ji.
The moment Ling Xiaoxiao came after her, Xue Ji dove deep underwater.
Ling Xiaoxiao grabbed at nothing but water, quickly formed a hand seal with her right hand, and plunged in after her.
As the seawater enveloped her completely, an inexplicable restlessness stirred in Ling Xiaoxiao’s chest. She brushed it off as leftover irritation from earlier and swam after Xue Ji without a second thought.
