Xue Ji took Eva to register with the Special Abilities Unit. Since Eva was only willing to stay with her, Xue Ji officially gained yet another identity as a guardian.
When they got home, her parents, Thalia, and Lilith—who had just woken up—all crowded around Xue Ji. All the attention made Eva cling to her even tighter. Xue Ji tried to soothe her while telling the others not to swarm around them.
“Alright, alright, don’t block the way. Eva’s a bit shy around strangers.” Xue Ji shielded Eva behind her and waved for everyone to step back.
Xue Ji’s mother stared at her daughter with a skeptical look. “Every time you go on a mission, you bring someone back, huh? Are you secretly a human trafficker planted in the Special Abilities Unit? And you always seem to target these cute little girls.”
“Mom, what are you talking about! Who says that about their own kid?” Xue Ji was exasperated by her mother’s wild imagination, her face darkening.
Hearing Xue Ma’s words, Thalia decided to join in.
Stare~
Lilith looked left and right. Since she had nothing better to do, she figured she might as well poke fun and joined the group too.
Stare~ Stare~ Stare~
Xue Ji was getting annoyed and decided to play along. “Yes, yes, that’s right. I’m a human trafficker who specifically targets cute girls. You two won’t escape my grasp either, hehehe.”
Xue Ji put on a deliberately sleazy act, making Thalia and the others laugh.
But Eva reacted differently. She let go of Xue Ji’s hand, silently retreated to a corner, crouched down, and covered her head.
“Loser Sage, this is all your fault. You scared her,” Lilith said, covering her mouth but clearly relishing the chaos.
Even with her face hidden, Xue Ji could easily picture that cheeky, bratty grin.
“Yeah, Ah Ji, you went too far,” Thalia added, twisting the knife.
Xue Ji pointed at herself, her gaze sweeping across their faces.
“Me?”
Even though Xue Ma found Xue Ji’s reaction amusing, now wasn’t the time to tease her further.
“Alright, alright, Xiao Ji, take Eva over to the sofa and sit down. We can talk later.”
Xue Ji walked over to Eva, extended her hand, and said softly, “It’s okay. Come here. I won’t hurt you. Come, I’ll give you some candy.”
‘That’s exactly how you lure little girls, you know. You don’t actually have some shady business going on, do you?’ The voice of the Ruqun-clad girl echoed in Xue Ji’s mind.
‘Sister Ji, if you want to keep living here, you’d better knock it off.’
‘You’re so mean~’
It was hard to believe that this was what her past self had been like.
Xue Ji’s mouth twitched involuntarily. She led Eva by the hand and sat down on the sofa.
“Here, eat this.” Xue Ji handed Eva a piece of chocolate.
Eva shook her head and just sat quietly, pressed close to Xue Ji.
Seeing that she couldn’t change the situation for now, Xue Ji resigned herself to letting Eva cling to her.
“So, Xiao Ji, where will Eva sleep tonight?” Xue Ma asked.
“Hold on, Mom. Let me ask her.”
Xue Ji turned to look at Eva. Sensing Xue Ji’s gaze, the girl lifted her head to meet her eyes. Her eyes were like sapphires—crystal clear and translucent—making Xue Ji pause for a moment.
“Can you sleep by yourself?”
Eva nodded, but Xue Ji felt her grip tighten ever so slightly. She decided to ask differently.
“Do you want to sleep with me?”
Eva nodded and immediately wrapped her arms around Xue Ji’s arm.
Xue Ji sighed and turned back to her mother. “Mom, don’t worry about setting up the other room. She wants to sleep with me.”
“Fine. But don’t you dare bully her.” Xue Ma came over and flicked Xue Ji lightly on the forehead as a warning.
At dinnertime, Xue Ji recounted some of the details about Eva’s situation.
From Xue Ma’s perspective, Eva was a pitiable child. Though she didn’t speak much, she was very well-behaved.
Xue Ji introduced everyone to Eva one by one. Eva mimicked their gestures, waving her hand in greeting.
Xue Ma doted on Eva especially, worried she wasn’t eating enough, and kept piling food onto her plate.
“Eva, this is your home from now on,” Xue Ji told her.
Eva’s lips quivered slightly, but she still couldn’t manage to say anything.
What was surprising was that Eva didn’t need anyone to help her bathe. After Xue Ji showed her once how everything in the bathroom worked, she went in to wash up on her own.
Taking advantage of the free moment, Xue Ji opened her phone to chat with Ling Xiaoxiao about the mission.
Ling Xiaoxiao, upon learning that Xue Ji had brought yet another person home, was at a loss for words.
“The great Sage is certainly popular with beautiful young girls. (Sarcastic laugh)”
“Yep, I’m the dream of millions of girls. (Smug)”
“Anyone who dreams about you is just unlucky. (Eye roll)”
“What, are you jealous? (Hand over mouth laughing)”
“No! Goodbye!”
The conversation ended as quickly as it began. Back in her villa, Ling Xiaoxiao was both angry and annoyed. She was angry at Xue Ji’s apparent fickleness, yet annoyed at herself for shutting the conversation down so abruptly.
“Ugh, maybe I should just lock Xue Ji in a cage! So infuriating!” Ling Xiaoxiao rolled back and forth on her bed. Lately, she had been forced into seclusion to stabilize her own soul state.
To avoid triggering the Devil God Seed inside both of them, she had been refusing all in-person meetings.
She tossed and turned, unable to resist making a phone call.
“Hello? What are the Young Miss’s orders?” Xia Jin’s somewhat weary voice came through the receiver.
“Xue Ji brought someone back again. She’s already staying at the house.”
Hearing the jealous undertone in Ling Xiaoxiao’s voice, Xia Jin smiled.
“Should I go over on some pretext and check out the situation?” Xia Jin’s eyes shifted as an idea struck her. “Or, Young Miss, wouldn’t it be better to just ask Xue Ji directly?”
“I… I’m too embarrassed to ask…” Ling Xiaoxiao stammered, her awkwardness palpable.
Xia Jin was silent for a moment on the other end of the line. “Then just own up to being jealous. Don’t be tsundere about it. Make her take the initiative to comfort you.”
“I’ll try… I’ll try a video call with her.”
After hanging up, Ling Xiaoxiao stared at her phone, thought it over, and finally dialed for a video call.
Xue Ji had just finished blow-drying Eva’s hair and was sitting on the bed playing a ninja game. She’d started several matches, only to get utterly dominated each time.
Just as she was about to finally win one, Ling Xiaoxiao’s video call popped up.
“Ah, c-come on!” Xue Ji was so frustrated she wanted to throw her phone.
She answered with a sour expression, but in her irritation, she failed to notice a crucial detail: Eva was right beside her, watching.
The moment Ling Xiaoxiao saw Xue Ji’s grim face, her heart sank halfway. Then she spotted a flash of blue near Xue Ji, and her whole body felt like it had been plunged into an ice cave.
But strangely, seeing those clear, crystalline eyes looking at her, Ling Xiaoxiao couldn’t find any anger.
Xia Jin had come into the room and sat down beside her, whispering advice.
“Be jealous. Tell her you’re jealous.”
Ling Xiaoxiao’s mind was a mess, and she could barely speak properly.
For some unknown reason, she blurted out, “The food today had too much vinegar in it. It’s a bit sour.”
Xia Jin facepalmed, looking at Ling Xiaoxiao in utter disbelief.
“Senior, what are you doing, Senior!”
On the other end of the call, Xue Ji was completely disarmed by this random, nonsensical remark and laughed.
“What do you want to eat? I’ll bring it over tomorrow.” She still hadn’t grasped the difference between this video call and their usual ones.
“Sure,” Ling Xiaoxiao said, her smile stiff. “So, who’s that next to you? Is she sleeping with you tonight?”
“Next to me? There’s someone next to m—” She hadn’t finished speaking when she turned her head and saw Eva leaning in to join the video call.
“She… she’s Eva. I brought her out from the Border Monument. I’m her guardian now, more or less.”
Eva proactively waved at Ling Xiaoxiao in greeting. Her gaze was pure—cleaner than anything Ling Xiaoxiao had ever seen, like flawless jade.
Eva watched Ling Xiaoxiao with immense curiosity and made a small smile.
This sight shocked Xue Ji more than anything. The first person to get a reaction out of Eva… was actually Ling Xiaoxiao?
“Mm. Don’t bully her.”
“Huh? I know.”
Eva didn’t give Ling Xiaoxiao a bad feeling at all. In fact, she felt a surge of tenderness and affection, so thoughts of jealousy or competition didn’t even cross her mind.
After listening to the whole exchange, Xia Jin was dumbfounded. What on earth are these two doing every single day? She just couldn’t understand them at all
