Crush's Cold Senior Sister is Actually Childhood Sweetheart - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: But He Still Managed to Abduct People Home.

She still managed to trick the person into coming home with her.

The girl didn’t expect the woman in black to turn and leave after saying that. She simply left a very nonchalant retreating figure.

The girl stood there stunned, her body rigid, unsure of what to do.

So when Yuan Shunhua reached out to pull her, the girl stood rooted to the spot, not moving at all.

Seeing that the girl was unwilling to follow her, Yuan Shunhua frowned in confusion. She then realized she hadn’t introduced herself yet:

“My name is Yuan Shunhua. It’s the ‘Shunhua’ from hibiscus flowers. You can also call me Xiao Jin.”

After introducing herself, she gently shook the girl’s hand, her tone almost like she was pleading, “Just come with me. Trust me, I’ll be extra nice to you.”

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the girl’s wariness deepened. She pulled her hand away and took a step back.

It wasn’t a big step, as the girl was new to the Upper Realm and was afraid that if she walked too much, she would fall from the clouds.

But the way she took that step back made Yuan Shunhua feel an unprecedented sense of defeat. She pouted and tried to tempt the girl again: “If you come with me, I’ll give you all my toys, and my senior sister makes delicious little cakes!”

The girl hesitated.

But her hesitation wasn’t because she was tempted by toys or cakes. She just thought the girl in front of her didn’t seem very smart.

A person with this kind of intelligence… couldn’t be a bad person, could they?

Feeling the girl’s attitude soften, Yuan Shunhua became even more determined. “Carefree Island isn’t just mine; there are also many older sisters who are bigger than me.”

Her intention was to tell the girl that if she felt she couldn’t play with someone so young, she wasn’t the only person on Carefree Island.

The girl, however, understood it as a threat: if she didn’t come now, the other girl would send her older sisters to kidnap her.

She was a very sensible person. Since the other girl had already resorted to threats, refusing again probably wouldn’t change anything.

The girl finally nodded.

Standing nearby, having witnessed the entire process, Ling Qi couldn’t help but laugh.

Yuan Shunhua, who was not yet nine years old, had used a tone of voice meant for a three-year-old to coax an older girl whose face was practically screaming “keep away from strangers.” Their thought processes never aligned, yet she still managed to successfully trick the person into coming home with her.

It was nothing short of a miracle.

Upon seeing the girl nod, Yuan Shunhua’s eyes instantly lit up. They were clear, and a sparkle of light shone from within.

The girl, however, pursed her lips and turned her head away.

The wind gently rustled her hair, and the sunlight slanted down, casting a long shadow.

They ran on the clouds.

The floating clouds beneath their feet were like soft, fluffy cotton. When they stepped on them, the clouds would give way slightly but then hold them steady. The girl was actually a little afraid, but she didn’t want to show it, so she pretended to be very calm.

The cold sweat on her palms, however, betrayed her.

“Faster!” Yuan Shunhua pulled her hand and ran forward, occasionally looking back, her eyes curved into crescents. The girl pursed her lips and followed silently behind her.

The endless abyss below the clouds had become very blurry. All she could hear was the rushing wind and a thumping heartbeat.

It must be because she was running too fast.

But no matter how fast they ran, they were still just two young children.

Ling Qi, following behind, could catch up in just a few quick steps.

But she didn’t follow too closely. She still maintained a long distance, watching them from afar.

If someone were to stand next to Ling Qi at that moment, they would notice that besides the nostalgia and reluctance that was almost overflowing from her eyes, there was also a deep sense of internal conflict and pain.

“Are you… not afraid?”

Seeing the person in front speed up again, the girl couldn’t help but ask.

“Of course not!” Yuan Shunhua said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “I’ve been playing here since I was little.”

Her tone was so confident and her attitude so carefree that the girl believed her instantly. Though she didn’t say it out loud, she secretly admired her.

This caused her to overlook the slight tremor in the other girl’s voice and the fact that she had never once looked down at the path.

“This is it.”

Yuan Shunhua stopped on the floating cloud and proudly pointed, “Isn’t it beautiful!”

The floating island hung above the clouds. A few thin wisps of cloud drifted past but didn’t linger, quickly floating away. The island appeared and disappeared under the cover of the thin clouds, and several vines dangled from the edge of the island, swaying gently.

Everything on the island seemed to have slowed down. The apple trees were in no hurry to bear fruit, and the hibiscus flowers were in no hurry to bloom. Even the spirit beast leopard on the island seemed to be hunting at the pace of a post-dinner stroll.

The antelope it was chasing ran for a while and then stopped to wait for it. The leopard got tired after chasing for a few hundred meters and lay down on the grass, not moving. Seeing this, the antelope turned back and gently nudged it with its horns.

The leopard was slightly annoyed by the nudging and pounced on the antelope’s back, but quietly retracted its claws. Then, the two spirit beasts rolled on the grass together.

Everything on the island was so new to the girl. Her wrist was still held by Yuan Shunhua, and they walked all the way to a treehouse.

The treehouse was hidden in a thick槐树- a type of locust tree. The twisting wooden steps led from the treehouse all the way down to the grassy ground. Under the tree was a round stone table with several stone stools of similar size around it.

A woman in purple, with a cool expression, was sitting on a stone stool reading a book, occasionally making notes on the side of the page. She looked to be around the same age as the girl. A head was resting on her leg, and that person was sitting on the grass, holding a book and looking sleepy.

A very strong beam of light shone down, and the person on the ground squinted slightly. The woman in purple’s eyes were still on her book, yet she reached out a hand to shield the light from her.

The eyes that were about to close suddenly opened wide when they saw the girl. The person sitting on the grass was no longer sleepy. She jumped up and quickly walked over to them:

“Welcome, welcome. Someone’s Upper Realm renovation plan finally has a new victim. This is truly a cause for celebration, a cause for celebration.”

She ignored Yuan Shunhua and reached out her hand to the girl. “My name is Ying Huixu. The one reading the book behind me is my sister, Baizang.”

The woman in purple behind her waved to the girl and then went back to reading her book.

The girl was about to reach out her hand when she was interrupted by Yuan Shunhua. The girl held her head high, looking very unhappy. “The Jiu Yang Palace weather system was just an accident! When I successfully developed it, why didn’t I ever hear you praise me?”

“Successfully developed?”

Ying Huixu said in an exaggerated tone, “Are you referring to the communicator that freezes sixty times a second, or the face recognition door that can’t even recognize a face?”

“…It’s only a little over fifty times.”

Not quite sixty times.

But her tone was also a little guilty.

“There’s already long-distance sound transmission, but you just had to invent a communicator.” Ying Huixu said, turning to her sister for validation. “Sister, aren’t her inventions useless?”

Ying Baizang’s eyes remained on her book. “I think the spiritual stone for testing immortal roots is pretty good. When I ascend to godhood, I can use it to help me find a disciple.”

Yuan Shunhua smiled with satisfaction upon hearing this, while Ying Huixu, beside her, puffed up her cheeks in anger, like an angry pufferfish. Without another word, she lunged at Yuan Shunhua, and the two of them rolled around on the grass, pushing and shoving each other.

The girl watched them, and the more she watched, the more familiar it seemed.

…It was just like the leopard and antelope that had been rolling around together earlier.

On the grass, neither of them was willing to let go first. The girl didn’t know if she should go and break up the fight, but Ying Baizang on the side was already used to it. She put down her book and started cracking sunflower seeds that she had grabbed from who-knows-where.

In a place the girl couldn’t see, Ling Qi was also sitting on one of the stone stools, watching the show with great interest.

Finally, the two of them were tired from fighting. They held onto each other’s clothes, neither willing to let go first. Just then, a baking tray suddenly appeared from the sky—

“Who wants to try my new strawberry mini-cakes?”

The girl followed the hand holding the baking tray and saw a gentle, smiling face. The person’s features were soft without any sharp edges, and the upturned corners of her mouth radiated warmth. Her face was extremely kind.

The mini-cakes on the tray were steaming. The two people who had been rolling on the grass let go of each other at the same time and reached for the tray in unison.

In the next second, the baking tray rotated 180 degrees and was offered to the girl.

“Newcomer’s special, you can have two.”

The girl was stunned. She hadn’t expected to get any herself.

Seeing that she wasn’t moving, the drooling Ying Huixu beside her couldn’t help but say, “Sister Xihe’s cakes are delicious, don’t worry, they’re much more reliable than Yuan Shunhua’s inventions.”

Then the two of them almost started fighting again.

Yuan Xihe was always smiling.

Under her gentle smile, the girl felt too embarrassed to refuse. She took two cakes and gave one to Yuan Shunhua, who was sitting on the ground.

“Really?” Yuan Shunhua’s expression was conflicted. She held the cake in her hand, but was hesitant. “Why don’t you take a bite first? Take a bite and then decide.”

The girl: “?”

Was it that dramatic?

Under Yuan Shunhua’s expectant gaze, the girl took a bite and her expression froze.

“…It’s fine. You eat it.”

The difference from before was that this time her tone held some unsaid words, and a hint of almost imperceptible heartache.

On the stone stool in the distance, Ling Qi watched them with a smile, occasionally glancing into the distance.

Sure enough, just as she expected, a woman in a plain robe was walking towards them from not far from the treehouse. The group gathered around the baking tray, happily eating mini-cakes, had not noticed her at all.

“Emperor, all well?” Although she knew no one could hear, Ling Qi whispered.

The woman in the plain robe suddenly stopped, her gaze passing directly through the group and landing precisely on the stone table, on Ling Qi.

Ling Qi was startled, thinking the other person had heard her. She was a little nervous. Her hand subconsciously went to cover the two small characters for “Chong Guang” embroidered on the cuff of her sleeve, not wanting the other person to see them.

The next second, the woman in the plain robe withdrew her gaze and continued to walk towards Yuan Shunhua and the others.

Ling Qi finally let out a sigh of relief.

At that moment, a transparent mirror suddenly appeared behind her, exactly like the one she had passed through to enter.

The white light around the mirror flashed, a silent催促- a silent urging.

On the grass, Ying Huixu was pouting and complaining to Emperor Qingyuan. Yuan Shunhua, with a mini-cake in each hand, was eating happily and had no time to pay her any mind.

The girl, who was a newcomer, still looked a little uncomfortable. Just then, Emperor Qingyuan bent down and said something to her that made everyone around them laugh.

Yuan Xihe laughed so hard she fell onto Ying Baizang’s shoulder, and then, not sitting steady, slid onto Ying Baizang’s lap. This position was surprisingly comfortable, so she decided to just stay there, lying lazily.

Ying Baizang’s gaze remained on her book, as if the person lying on her lap didn’t exist. However, in a place no one could see, she was slowly twirling Yuan Xihe’s long hair with her fingers, over and over again.

Ling Qi stood up and took one last look around the entire Carefree Island.

The laughter and joy were still there, but they no longer belonged to her.

“We will come back.”

Her voice was very soft, yet exceptionally firm.

Ling Qi said word by word, “Don’t worry, I will definitely bring Xiao Jin back.”

It was a promise to the distant Emperor Qingyuan, and also a promise to herself.

As soon as she finished speaking, she gently closed her eyes, letting the white light of the mirror behind her slowly engulf her.

In a corner where no one noticed, the woman in the plain robe turned her head and stared at the place where she had disappeared for a long time.

…

Back at the desk, the painting she hadn’t finished before going to the Void of Wu Xu was still there. The two small trees stood upright. Her ink, brush, and paper were all on the desk just as they had been, untouched for a long time.

Ling Qi quietly looked at it for a moment, picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote half a poem. The ink slowly spread on the rice paper.

Suddenly, the chamber door was violently thrown open. Ling Qi’s wrist trembled, and the final stroke of the character was dragged into a very noticeable ink stain.

The corner of her mouth was tight, and her brow twitched.

And when she saw who it was, her frown deepened even more.