Chapter 67: Blue Enchantress

Chapter 67: Blue Enchantress

On the wall-mounted internet television, a currently popular palace drama was playing. Roland propped her legs up on the coffee table, shaking her half-on, half-off slippers, and scoffed, "What absolute nonsense! A palace maid sleeps with the emperor once and instantly transforms from a sparrow into a phoenix? What kind of garbage is this? Wake up, screenwriter! In real life, a maid is just a maid—even after serving the emperor in bed, there's practically no hope..."

Her mother walked over, bending down to pick up the potato chip bags and drink bottles from the coffee table, tossing them into a trash bag. "Mengli, you haven't stepped out of the house for a whole week. All you do every day is watch TV at home; you're going to suffocate yourself if you keep this up."

"I know... Hey! Don't take that mirror away! Oh, stop cleaning up, I'll clean it up myself in a minute." Roland snatched the mirror back, placed it on the coffee table at the right angle, and tore open another bag of potato chips.

"Sigh—" Her mother sighed, about to say something when a knock on the door sounded. Walking over to open it, she called out toward the outside, "Mengling, did you forget your keys again?"

Upon pulling the door open, a look of astonishment crossed her face. "Mengling, how did you end up in such a state?"

"Mom!" Li Mengling rushed forward, burying herself in her mother's arms, and sobbed, "I thought I'd never see you again..."

"What's wrong? What on earth happened?" Her mother gently patted her back.

Roland glanced sideways at the mother and daughter pair and went back to watching TV. A few seconds later, it registered, and she instantly whipped her head back toward the doorway. The chip she had just chewed and was about to swallow suddenly got stuck in her throat.

"Cough, cough... cough!" Choking, Roland coughed a few times, hurriedly unscrewed a bottle of cola to take a few gulps, and then asked with suppressed laughter, "How on earth did you manage to look just like Zhang Fei?"

"Zhang Fei! Thank goodness for Zhang Fei! If he hadn't let out that roar, I reckon I wouldn't even be alive right now!" Li Mengling's hair was a complete bird's nest, her entire body was covered in mud, and she exuded the distinct odor of a sewer. "It's all your fault! That mobile phone you gave us—the navigation was completely inaccurate!"

"If the navigation is inaccurate, ask the app; what does that have to do with the phone?" Roland grinned. Ever since moving into this household, she had never been this happy. "Mom, you really don't mind Mengling at all? Hurry up and let her take a bath, she stinks to high heaven."

In the mirror, Li Mengli's expression was completely different from Roland's as she asked worriedly, "Mengling, what on earth happened?"

Sensing a stark difference in tone between Mengli's previous and current sentences, her mother instinctively turned her head back, only to see a look of genuine concern resting on Roland's face.

"Sigh—you child, where have you been running wild?" Her mother looked back at Li Mengling, feeling somewhat mentally exhausted. Neither of these children was ever easy to deal with. "Go take a shower in the bathroom, and just strip off your clothes and shove them in the washing machine."

"Oh..." Li Mengling shuffled toward the bathroom, looking aggrieved, and halfway there turned her head to say to the mirror on the coffee table, "Sis, I'll tell you all about it when I come out."

Abandoning the TV entirely, Roland rushed over to the bathroom door, knocking on it. "What actually happened? Tell me right now, I can't wait to hear it."

"I'm not telling you!" The sound of the shower spraying water came from inside as Li Mengling shouted, "You just want to make fun of me!"

"You telling me is the same as telling your sister." Roland said, her voice shaking with laughter. "Besides, how could I be making fun of you? If I'm not worried, surely I'd be worried about Sister Fang, right?" With that, she gave the door a few rapid raps. "Xiaoling, don't let her control the body anymore, hurry up and tell me what's going on!"

"Oh, you're driving me crazy! Fine, I'll tell you, okay?!" Li Mengling scratched at the lather covering her head and said, "To put it simply, I went to look for Zheng Zhe, and on the way, I ran into a massive wolfhound. I barely managed to escape, but that road was so dark I wasn't paying attention and walked right into a stinking drainage ditch. Happy now?!"

"Hahahaha... A wolfhound? Hahahaha... A ditch?" Roland laughed so hard she slapped her thigh. "Your summary is way too brief; where are the details? Why on earth did you run into a wolfhound? Wasn't it on a leash?"

"Sister Xiaoling! She's bullying me too much, I don't want to talk to her anymore, you tell her!" With that, Fang Xiaoling handed Li Mengling back to spectator mode and began taking control of her body. However, before she could even say a single word, she burst out laughing as well, bending over within the cascade of the shower spray. "Sister Roland, let me tell you... Hahahaha..."

Seeing her laugh like that, Roland suddenly stopped laughing. She straightened up outside the bathroom, stared expressionlessly at her mother as she emerged from the kitchen, and pointed toward the bathroom behind her, asking, "Mom, look at Mengling. Has she lost her mind?"

"I think both of you have lost your minds!" Her mother shook her head, holding a bouquet of blue flowers. "Stop playing those role-playing games so much, you've both gone bewitched. For the past few days, I keep hearing you mumbling about Sister Roland and Sister Xiaoling—who on earth are they?"

"Oh, role-playing, of course it's roles! Characters from a novel." Roland pulled out a rose dyed blue. "A Blue Enchantress? Who sent this? I didn't even notice, when did you bring it back?"

"Don't touch it!" Her mother snatched it back from her hands, carefully tucking it back into the bouquet. "It's a gift from a friend of mine."

"A boyfriend, I presume?" Roland raised an eyebrow, half-jokingly saying, "Mom, you move pretty fast, huh? No wonder you've been sneaking out every few days, acting like you were afraid I'd find out. So that's how it is."

"Stop talking nonsense!" Her mother glared at her, clutching the bouquet and hurrying back to her bedroom.

"So easily embarrassed?" Roland laughed and shook her head.

At that moment, the bathroom door cracked open an inch. The sound of running water was too loud to catch what had been said outside, so Fang Xiaoling, wrapped in a bath towel, asked, "What were you two talking about?"

"Nothing. Keep going, what actually happened?"

"Oh, well, Mengling went to look for Zheng Zhe. When she reached the road where she had previously ambushed and kissed him, I wanted to avoid any awkwardness, so I pulled all my consciousness back into the Starlight Realm. Later, I felt an inexplicable sense of panic—I figured Mengling must be in danger, so I went back to the real world to check, and she was being chased by a big wolfhound. I sent out a spiritual entity to scare the dog away, and then I gave the body back to Mengling. Not long after that, she walked right into the drainage ditch."

"Zheng Zhe's house is in the old district. Didn't I tell you right away after I finished scouting it out earlier? The old district has constantly been undergoing redevelopment, so the map might not be accurate, which is why I sent you to stake him out on his mandatory route home." Roland crossed her arms, leaning against the wall. "Why did you guys go all the way to his house?"

"Hey! Here's the thing, I'm not done washing yet, come inside and I'll tell you." Fang Xiaoling pulled Roland into the bathroom and, while washing up, recounted the events that had taken place after school.

***

[Author's Note on Publication]

I honestly didn't want to say much. To tell the truth, I'm so excited I'm afraid that if I talk too much, I won't sound like a deeply shrewd author, but rather like a kid dancing around in pure joy over a piece of candy—plus, who knows if this candy will even taste sweet.

Every author knows that the flavor of this depends entirely on the mood of the readers.

Yet I am an exceptionally fortunate person. From childhood onward, whether it was school exams, getting hired for a job, falling in love, or making friends, I've always been immensely lucky, making others green with envy. (Annoying, right?)

Just kidding, not really. The truth is I'm just barely keeping up this outward appearance, and I'm on the verge of not being able to sustain it anymore (tt), which is why I wanted to write stories to make money...

Let me tell you all, when I first started writing this piece, I was aiming straight for that one million prize in the Goddess Writing Contest. Aren't I bold?

I just wanted to strike it rich overnight and make a comeback as a salted fish!

Hahahaha, joking aside. Thank you to my editor, Little Welfare, for patiently offering guidance and advice, helping me revise the opening, and giving me encouragement and support during my slump.

Thank you to the readers who have stuck with it all the way here. The female protagonist was so unlikable in the beginning and yet you still managed to read this far—it's almost enough to make me shed tears (not really).

Reaching this point is your good fortune!

Every single one of you has discovered a treasure!

From this day forward, I officially bestow upon you the title: People of Discerning Eyes! (Meaning those who can recognize a pearl amongst stones... ugh... how foolish and rustic, but I love it haha!)

"We love it too!"

Alright then! Since that's the case, you must cheer for me like crazy! From now on, wherever I have meat to eat, you'll have a bowl to wash! Be good little leeks and wait to be harvested! Support me with your money and let me get rich first all by myself!

That's it, meeting adjourned!