Chapter 20: Seaside Gathering, Sibling Reunion

At the entrance of the seaside villa, Xia Zili and Ke Mingqing stared blankly at each other. The siblings stood frozen in place. Bright, scorching sunlight beat down on their heads, while the overlapping sounds of cicadas and crashing waves left their Spirits in a daze.

Heimu Tong fell silent. Standing in the doorway, she quietly observed Ke Mingqing. A trace of confusion flashed across her delicate face, punctuated by a teardrop mole. After a long moment, she used the player panel to send him a message.

[Heimu Tong: So when you said your sister was a Magical Girl, did you mean Magic Girl Embers?]

An Youlu rested a hand against her chin. She looked at the utterly bewildered Xia Zili, then turned to glance at Ke Mingqing. She hadn't expected Miss Heimu's boyfriend to actually know Xia Zili; it seemed the world truly was incredibly small.

Though her expression remained blank, An Youlu lowered her head and let out a soft sigh. She sighed inwardly, wondering why this unworthy pig who had stolen their precious girl knew Elder Yu Jin. Most importantly, the pig was actually wearing Elder Yu Jin's fan T-shirt—that was the weirdest part of all. Stepping forward, she lowered her voice and asked Xia Zili, "Elder, you actually know him?"

As An Youlu spoke, her bright black eyes stared fixedly at the side of Ke Mingqing's face.

"Come on, she's my little sister. How could I not know her?" Ke Mingqing turned his head, meeting her gaze.

An Youlu ignored him, acting as if she only wanted to hear the answer straight from Xia Zili's mouth.

"Yeah, he's my brother." Xia Zili frowned and lowered her face. Turning her head away, she muttered, "It's not like I can just deny..." Her voice suddenly cut off, the last word catching deep in her throat.

Because it was only at this moment that she clearly saw exactly what kind of T-shirt Ke Mingqing was wearing. Looking as though she had seen a ghost, she silently cast a sidelong glance, fixing her eyes on the shirt. On the front of the T-shirt, the Gothic Dress Girl stood with her arms crossed, her head turned to gaze at the distant horizon. The girl's eyes were melancholic and empty, the sea breeze lifting the strands of hair by her ears.

With a sudden SMACK, Xia Zili slapped herself hard on the forehead. She shook her head, seriously suspecting that she was losing her mind, or perhaps suffering from heatstroke. That was the only explanation for seeing such a mirage-like hallucination. Why else would such a bizarre scene be unfolding before her? Why would her own brother show up at her Magical Girl colleague's home, wearing a fan T-shirt printed with her own picture?

Fortunately, a cool sea breeze blew in from the coast right then, fluttering Xia Zili's skirt and hair, and slightly dispelling the dizzying summer heat. She let out a long breath, her expression softening a little.

"I must have seen it wrong, I definitely saw it wrong..." Xia Zili thought. Taking a deep breath to brace herself, she blinked and looked forward once more.

She saw Ke Mingqing turned halfway to the side, explaining his relationship with Xia Zili to An Youlu and Heimu Tong. An Youlu listened with half-doubt, while Heimu Tong nodded repeatedly. He was facing away from Xia Zili, and in the sunlight, the design on the back of his T-shirt caught her eye. Magic Girl Embers was holding up a black umbrella with one hand and making a finger-gun gesture with the other, all while flashing a highly reluctant wink.

The design was aimed right at Xia Zili, as if Magic Girl Embers was winking at her directly, the "pistol" index finger pointed squarely at her. It felt exactly as though her past self had pulled the trigger, only for the bullet to strike her future self right between the eyes two years later.

Xia Zili was stunned. She froze in place like an ice sculpture. In one second—just one single second—her face flushed crimson from her forehead down to her chin. Even the tips of her ears turned as red as blood. At that moment, she was like a broken robot, HISS HISS sounds practically emanating from the steam billowing out of her head.

After a moment, she suddenly raised her hand and forcefully grabbed Ke Mingqing's shoulder. Exerting the exceptional physical prowess of a Magical Girl, she ruthlessly dragged him aside.

Seeing Ke Mingqing being hauled away, Heimu Tong and An Youlu exchanged a glance, their expressions a little strange.

After thinking it over, Heimu Tong whispered, "Should we go inside first and let the siblings talk?"

"All right. It's too hot out here; we can't let Miss Heimu stay outside, or she might get heatstroke." An Youlu nodded.

"Why do you look so disappointed?"

"It's nothing," An Youlu said, shaking her head. "I just never expected my best friend to be Miss Heimu's boyfriend's sister. This relationship is really giving me mixed feelings."

She now had no idea whether she should hate this boy who had kidnapped her precious Miss Heimu, or if she shouldn't hate him anymore. She had originally planned to fly a sleigh to his house one night, using her identity as Magical Girl Little Red Riding Hood to deliver a "Christmas present." It was meant to serve as a threat of force, scaring him into leaving Miss Heimu Tong. If he steadfastly refused to leave, she would have initiated Plan B—the assassination plot. As a Magical Girl, assassinating a Muggle would be a piece of cake. The only issue was that committing murder carried the risk of turning into a Witch. But for the safety and happiness of Miss Heimu, falling into depravity as a Witch wouldn't have been entirely unacceptable.

But what Little Red Riding Hood never could have anticipated was that Miss Heimu's partner was actually a family member of Elder Yu Jin. Now, all her plans had been nipped in the bud.

"It is a bit..." Heimu Tong also murmured, before turning around and walking back into the villa. The front door was left wide open for the two people out on the coastal highway, the bell at the entrance swaying gently in the sea breeze.

"What exactly do you want?" Ke Mingqing sighed helplessly, coming to a stop as he leaned against the coastal highway's railing.

Her face flushed red, Xia Zili demanded, enunciating every word, "Leaving aside why you're even here right now—what on earth are you wearing?"

"A fan T-shirt. It was really expensive, and you almost tore it."

"Take it off."

"Are you sick in the head?"

"Didn't I say you weren't allowed to buy it?" Xia Zili's voice grew cold. "I even told you that if you bought it, we'd sever our ties as siblings. Why don't you respect me at all?"

"What does it matter to you who I like?" Ke Mingqing said dismissively.

Xia Zili suddenly froze. The sea breeze blew the hair at her ears, causing it to fall against her cheeks. The fine hairs on the girl's forehead swayed in the wind like bird feathers. She lowered her eyes and then raised them again. Looking at Ke Mingqing, she stammered, "O-once you eventually find out who the person you like really is, you'll definitely regret this!"

"Then I'll just wait until then to regret it."

Neither of them spoke anymore. The sea breeze gently brushed across their cheeks as a yellow bus drove past on the coastal highway.

"Forget it... I don't care what you do anymore," Xia Zili said softly after a long time.

Ke Mingqing sighed. "You were sticking your nose where it didn't belong in the first place."

Xia Zili glared at him. She thought for a moment before saying, "Getting back on track, why are you here?"

"I came over to hang out at my girlfriend's house," Ke Mingqing answered, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Xia Zili blanked out slightly. It took her a long moment to recover her senses, raising her gaze to stare directly into Ke Mingqing's eyes.

"...Girlfriend?"