Chapter 371: Night Raid and Shared Bath
"Not going to kill her?"
As soon as they flew out of the World Tree, the Little Black Dragon immediately asked.
But before Jiang Si could respond, The Emperor tapped the Little Black Dragon on the head.
"That thing has already fused with the World Tree."
The Emperor's insight was clearly sharper than the Little Black Dragon's, immediately pointing out the key issue. "If you want to kill her, you'd have to find a way to destroy the World Tree first."
Then she let out a deep sigh. "Magical Girls don't just have to fight against the world itself, they also have to battle the very source of their own power. No wonder their lives are so hard."
"Are you complimenting yourself?"
Hearing Jiang Si's counter-question, The Emperor was taken aback. "...No? I'm not a Magical Girl."
"Heh."
Jiang Si let out a cold laugh and said nothing.
The Little Black Dragon, however, eagerly chimed in. "Dad's saying you're the perfect Magical Girl in his eyes, Mom! You're the Magical Girl he likes!"
"That's way too far-fetched. Be careful, the master might hit you." Then The Emperor pursed her lips, a small hint of sweetness curling into her smile. "Is that so... I count as a Magical Girl too?"
The Little Black Dragon watched her mother bask in the joy of being considered a Magical Girl and didn't disturb her. Instead, she asked her father, "So Dad, why don't we just smash the World Tree? You're someone who isn't recorded..."
"No, I've already been recorded."
Jiang Si cut off the Little Black Dragon's words, speaking with absolute certainty. "Smashing the World Tree now would be meaningless."
In terms of raw numbers alone, Chiba had already demonstrated that sufficiently high values could destroy the World Tree.
But without true transcendence, it served no purpose. It wouldn't affect the world's operations.
And even beings like the Beast of Eternity, which existed in the past, present, and future simultaneously through the mechanism of One Proof Eternal Proof, couldn't shake the World Tree's foundations.
For an ordinary person, this would indeed be quite troublesome.
Fortunately, in the vast history of cultivating immortality, there were countless opponents even harder to deal with than this.
He had plenty of homework to copy from... no, he had plenty of ancestors to emulate!
"Huh? Dad, you've been recorded? When did you find out?"
"From the very beginning."
From the moment he learned that being recorded by the World Tree meant losing the ability to resist, Jiang Si had already anticipated this.
The first rule of the cultivation world: never harbor thoughts of luck or fluke.
Those who always think they're special, who believe they can hide their true strength until the very end, will inevitably be played to death by those old bastards up above.
"Then why did you still..."
"Just confirming it."
The Emperor snapped back to reality from her joy, also realizing the severity of the problem.
Ever since she'd started following The Emperor, she'd never felt there was anything The Emperor couldn't handle. So most of the time, she just played the role of a quiet observer, as long as she didn't disturb him.
Being a silent companion was the greatest contribution she could make for Jiang Si.
But now, even she couldn't stay silent.
The Beast of Eternity and that Magical Girl Chiba had both surpassed Shion in certain domains.
And even they couldn't surpass the World Tree...
"So what do we do now? Once recorded, according to what that Lady Chiba said, escape is absolutely impossible..."
She couldn't help but voice the question.
Then she immediately regretted it, feeling like her worry was somehow questioning Jiang Si's ability.
As The Emperor, she naturally knew how a subordinate's doubt could make a master feel.
Fortunately, Jiang Si didn't seem bothered. He simply said:
"Let's head back first."
She let out a subtle sigh of relief, but The Emperor still whispered, "But... the soul hasn't been swapped back yet..."
"No problem. I've already found a way."
"Huh?"
The Golden Calamity Dragon King's body continued to expand, dragon wings stretching ever outward, breaching the boundaries of the world in an instant, nearly eclipsing the World Tree itself!
"Mental Landscape Expansion."
The Emperor's domain expansion spread out, precisely covering the entire new world. Then the whole world transformed into a massive, perfectly round golden sphere.
The Golden Calamity Dragon King cradled the enormous golden sphere, spread its wings, and took flight, forcibly tearing the new world away from the World Tree's branches!
With just a gentle grip, the edges of the world crumbled like sand slipping through his dragon claws. The mortals below looked up and saw that the great sun in the sky had changed, now gleaming gold.
Still dazzling, still magnificent, yet it would slowly turn from time to time!
The first rule of the cultivation world: never harbor any thoughts of getting lucky.
Using the Mental Landscape to encompass the boundless universe, then peeling the entire world away from the World Tree's branches.
And by utilizing The Emperor's probability manipulation, even after breaking away from the World Tree, the world could be maintained without collapsing for a short period.
After carrying his new world away from the World Tree, the Golden Calamity Dragon King couldn't fly any further.
Eventually, he descended, turning to face the illusory World Tree in confrontation.
"This so-called soul swap is merely the World Tree's attempt to collect the remaining remnant souls of Magical Girls."
"As long as we temporarily stay away from the World Tree, the effect will be lifted."
The Emperor couldn't help but cover her forehead, and the Little Black Dragon also sighed. "Still so simple and crude. I thought Dad would do some intricate operation like soul physicalization before swapping..."
"Isn't me directly tearing the world away from the World Tree even more of an operation?"
The intricate details of the process were not something to be shared with outsiders.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah..."
Some students simply cannot be taught.
Far inferior to Keke.
Cradling his new world, the Golden Calamity Dragon King's draconic pupils stared intently at the World Tree in the distance.
But just as Chiba had said.
The World Tree was merely a law of nature. Even when he forcibly peeled away the world, the World Tree showed no reaction at all.
It simply stood there silently, doing nothing. The peeled-away world would march toward its own destruction.
And even so, Jiang Si could sense that he was still within the World Tree's jurisdiction.
Or rather, he currently lacked the authority and ability to fly beyond the World Tree.
Only by burning away all rules and order could one see through past, present, and future, extinguishing all karma.
Right now, he couldn't even interfere with the timeline. He was far from being an existence that transcended space and time.
Fortunately, he had already mastered these two Dao Fruits.
"The Emperor."
He gazed at that towering World Tree, that Great Dao that had buried countless geniuses and civilizations throughout the ages.
Suddenly, he called out to her.
The Emperor startled slightly. Being addressed this way by Jiang Si for the first time was both surprising and pleasing. "I'm here."
"What's your name?"
"The Emperor."
"No, I mean your original name."
"I've forgotten." The Emperor murmured softly. "This is all I remember."
"Do you like this name?"
"I don't know. Do you dislike it, Master?"
"I like it very much."
"Then I like it very much too."
Prepared two sets of responses based on my answer, huh.
Jiang Si looked at The Emperor's charming smile and understood her intentions, but he had no intention of exposing her.
He simply watched the flowing golden power and said somewhat absently, "From now on, I'll be counting on you."
The Emperor finally nodded seriously. "Yes."
Then Jiang Si suddenly added, "You're a Magical Girl who saved the world. You're worthy of trust."
"In the name of The Emperor, I will never betray your trust."
"Do you prefer being The Emperor, or being a Magical Girl?"
"That's a difficult question, Master. I can only say I'm more accustomed to being The Emperor."
"Then from now on, get used to being a Magical Girl."
"Yes." The Emperor waited a moment before whispering, "For you, Master, would you prefer a Magical Girl?"
"What matters isn't the identity. It's what you do."
The Emperor let out a slightly disappointed "Mm," not understanding why Jiang Si was talking to her so much today.
In the past, Jiang Si was always busy and would never pay attention to her.
Then she shook her head. "Identity and such, only the living have the right to talk about that, right? But if I were to be resurrected, I might hopelessly fall in love with you, and then cause a whole bunch of trouble..."
Jiang Si walked toward the new world. "No matter. Later, I'll give you a new life."
The Emperor tilted her head, speaking as if joking. "Wow, is this a love confession?"
When they widened their field of vision, they realized that the radiant golden sun was actually a colossal dragon head!
"..."
Better not joke with the master.
Because his expression clearly wasn't that of someone joking...
And by utilizing The Emperor's probability manipulation, even after detaching from the World Tree, the world could be maintained without collapsing for a short period.
Magic Kingdom, Wolf Nation Capital.
"Keep your voice down!"
"It's you who's being too loud! Don't wake him up!"
"That's my line!"
In the bedroom of the Wolf Nation capital, Silver Lotus and An Shiyu crept out from beside the wall.
Lying on the bed was Jiang Keke, still fast asleep—with Jiang Si inside, that is.
She was wearing very little. Earlier, when going to sleep, because of Keke's mother, they'd changed Keke into a thinner set of pajamas, leaving most of her skin exposed. But she was covered by the blanket, so it wasn't visible.
However, both Silver Lotus and An Shiyu had intel.
Because they had already become thick as thieves with the mother, and their mission was very simple.
They'd thought Jiang Si's mother would be strict or solemn, but she was even bolder than the younger generation.
"Men are easy to chase, just sleep with them directly, hug and cuddle. Once physical distance closes, his heart will naturally hang on you. Of course, my son is different. You two need to make him take responsibility first. For example, sleep together first, wear less, then I'll bring people in the morning to catch you, and I'll use the media to stir things up. Your reputations will be ruined, people will point fingers, and he won't just stand by and do nothing..."
You really have to hand it to Mom—she's the best at sabotaging her own son.
Although An Shiyu and Silver Lotus were a bit shy at first, this was like a dark forest.
Both worried the other would sneak off first, so each could only fire the opening shot. In the end, they collided head-on.
After a bit of bickering, the two clumsily crept to the bedside. Jiang Keke's breathing was steady.
After all, Jiang Si still had too many things to deal with. Since Jiang Keke's body finally had a chance to rest, he'd simply left it here for now. If any danger arose, he could still react.
An Shiyu and Silver Lotus harbored no suspicions. Seeing that Jiang Keke didn't react, they both slipped into the bed with her.
"This should be fine, right?"
The two lay stiffly beside Jiang Keke, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Lying next to the person you like, it's a little hard to fall asleep...
"Yiyi, why do you like him so much?"
Since there was nothing else to do, An Shiyu couldn't help but whisper.
"Well, of course, because he killed my sister..."
"Huh?" An Shiyu's brain short-circuited. "What do you mean, the reason you like him is because he killed your sister?"
"It's hard to explain." Silver Lotus also realized her reply sounded a bit morbid, but it was true.
If at first it was just a slight fondness, amplified by her sister's teasing into a few more thoughts.
Then the attention on Jiang Si, the getting to know him, until finally genuine feelings—it really was a butterfly effect set off after Jiang Si killed her sister.
As for how much was from the teasing caused by that love letter, how much was Keke's instigation and encouragement, Silver Lotus herself couldn't tell anymore.
And later learning that Jiang Si was Shion, what her own sister had done—all of it had pushed this somewhat twisted affection to a certain degree. Now, trying to trace the source of her feelings, even she couldn't sort it out.
She could only simply attribute it to: Jiang Si killed her sister.
Not to mention, precisely because of that, she was saved. That was true.
So falling for Jiang Si because he killed her sister—wasn't that completely normal?
"Forget about me. Who did Jiang Si kill in your family?"
After subconsciously asking, An Shiyu immediately pouted. "No one."
"Then why do you like him?"
"...Do you have to have your family killed by Jiang Si to like him?"
"Exactly."
Is this girl even human?
An Shiyu used to think only the Magical Girls of Azure Cloud Sect were the peculiar ones.
Now she realized the people at the Disaster Control Bureau weren't any better.
She was really so ordinary...
Just as she was feeling a bit inferior, Senior Mùjǐn suddenly seized control of her body.
"Why bother wasting words with her? We finally have such a great opportunity, and it's not even a boy's body. No need to be shy. Just go for it! Let Jiang Si remember the feel of our skin first..."
"Senior, what are you doing?!" A startled An Shiyu couldn't stop Senior Mùjǐn in time.
She watched as Senior Mùjǐn directly grabbed one of Keke's arms and nuzzled it back and forth. "We don't believe he can really resist our top-tier seduction..."
Silver Lotus was also startled. Seeing how bold the other was, she hesitated for a moment, then mustered her courage and grabbed the other arm, pressing in a little closer.
Although this was how she usually interacted with Keke—they'd slept together and eaten together for a long time, and Keke had terrible sleeping posture, often clinging to her like a koala in her sleep.
Normally, it was nothing.
But now, knowing it was Jiang Si inside, Silver Lotus couldn't help her heart racing.
"Tsk, this girl is copying us. Damn it, looks like we'll have to use our ultimate move..."
"Senior, don't grope randomly... wait, Senior Mùjǐn?"
An Shiyu suddenly realized something and froze. "Why are you controlling my body... How am I back?"
Silver Lotus also suddenly reacted, looking down at her own hand. "Back? We're really back?"
Mùjǐn sneered. "So what if we're back? Doesn't stop us from getting things done."
An Shiyu was so angry she laughed, desperately grabbing her hand. "Idiot senior! If we're back, that means..."
Silver Lotus also looked down and saw that Keke had opened her eyes, staring at the two of them with a deep, penetrating gaze.
"What are you two doing? Yiyi, and Little An."
The two immediately snatched their hands back as if electrocuted, lying flat on the bed like corpses. An Shiyu quickly replied, "Nothing, nothing, just sleeping together."
"Why did you come to Teacher Shion's room to sleep?"
"Just wanted to... bond with Lady Shion a little."
"Yeah, yeah, bonding a little."
Keke looked at the two of them suspiciously, certain they were up to something, but she knew direct questioning wouldn't get anything out of them.
"Why did the body suddenly swap back?"
Silver Lotus muttered softly beside her. Keke immediately pinched her cheek. "What, what? Not happy to see me, are you? Like Teacher Shion that much? Sick of me now?"
"Aw, no, no, just curious why it suddenly swapped back."
Now that she knew it was Keke, Silver Lotus relaxed, simply hugging her and pouting. "How could I ever be sick of Keke? Come on, give me a kiss to prove my feelings..."
"Get lost, go kiss my brother."
Pinching Silver Lotus's lips, Keke laughed and scolded, then suddenly realized. "You guys should be in the Magic Kingdom, right?"
"Yeah."
Then she asked nervously, "Did you see my mom?"
Both of them nodded. "Saw her, saw her."
Then Silver Lotus remembered something important.
She immediately sat up. "I'll go tell Mom first."
"Wait, that's my mom. Why are you calling her that so affectionately?" Keke was a bit displeased, then hesitated. "My mom... how is she?"
"She's doing great. Living it up as an empress."
Also, as soon as your brother arrived, he overthrew your mom's nation.
Keke still let out a sigh of relief, then smiled happily. "Good, good. I knew Mom could be happy anywhere. What about my dad? He must be happy too, right?"
"Probably..."
"What do you mean, 'probably'?"
"Because we didn't see your dad..."
"Alright, I'll ask about it later."
An Shiyu added, "Though she's become an Incubator now, which might feel a bit weird."
"Big brother did mention that... it's fine." Then Keke took a deep breath, feeling both anticipation and a little fear.
This is what they call feeling timid when nearing home, Keke thought.
"Let me... let me get ready. I want to go see Mom, and Dad."
Silver Lotus got up, planning to warn Jiang Si's mother in advance. But An Shiyu, still lying on the other side, suddenly asked, "What was Keke doing with Shion's body before? Coming back so suddenly, won't it be inconvenient?"
Silver Lotus stopped in her tracks and nodded. "Yeah, so sudden. Won't it be inconvenient?"
"Nothing inconvenient about it."
Keke answered quite naturally. "They're all familiar faces. Just after the press conference ended, the Azure Cloud Sect Magical Girls dragged me off to the swimming pool."
"Oh, oh."
The two felt a twinge of sourness in their hearts, but since both of them had shown off their swimsuits to Jiang Si before, it wasn't a big deal.
"After playing in the pool for a while, everyone took me to wash up. We were soaking in that heavenly bathhouse, and honestly, it didn't feel much different from the pool. Soaking there was just swimming in a different spot..."
As she spoke, she noticed An Shiyu and Silver Lotus both going quiet, their expressions slowly shifting. She tilted her head. "What's wrong, you two?"
An Shiyu immediately asked, "So you're saying, before you swapped back, you were still bathing?"
"That's right."
Silver Lotus's tone became urgent. "Were you alone?"
"The true-transmissions and Sister Bingtang were all there. Why?"
An Shiyu and Silver Lotus exchanged glances, seeing the frustration in each other's eyes.
Both of them shared the same unspoken thought.
This is bad...
Then An Shiyu waved her hand, signaling Silver Lotus to go coordinate with Jiang Si's mother first, to avoid problems when Keke showed up.
Silver Lotus nodded knowingly, giving her a look to keep probing, to find out exactly what happened.
Though the road here had been full of schemes and deception, the two had formed a deep friendship and an unbreakable alliance.
By the time Silver Lotus left, An Shiyu coughed and whispered, "They didn't do anything weird to you, did they?"
Keke was speechless. "Why would they do anything weird? It was just a normal bath. They helped scrub my back. Everyone's really nice. And I was using the body of Teacher Shion, who they respect the most, so there's no way they'd dare do anything weird. If anything..."
An Shiyu. "Hmm?"
"Teacher Shion's hands are too small." Keke looked at her own hands. "Makes me feel like a grade-schooler. Everyone looks so tall, and all the Azure Cloud Sect members seem like big sisters."
Mùjǐn spoke with sarcasm. "Big sisters from Azure Cloud Sect? I'd say old aunties. The kind who sneak into rooms at night to eat children..."
"That's not true at all! The big sisters of Azure Cloud Sect are all good kids!"
Keke defended, "You're not suggesting that Azure Cloud Sect has factions, and someone's planning to assassinate Teacher Shion to seize power, are you?"
Keke ended up laughing at her own joke.
"Hard to say..."
An Shiyu muttered quietly.
That left Keke dumbfounded. "Huh? Is there really?"
"No, I mean it's hard to say whether they'd dare do anything weird to Shion..."
"Don't worry, nothing happened. Everyone was perfectly normal while I was there. Senior Dandelion kept using my lap as a pillow, though she bites in her sleep. Senior Qinghua kept taking photos of me, making me strike all sorts of fun poses and record various sounds. Sister Bingtang kept asking me what I liked and didn't like..."
Keke hadn't planned to think much of it, but when she moved to get off the bed, she suddenly realized something.
"Wait. You two came to Teacher Shion's room in the middle of the night... Were you planning to do something weird?"
An Shiyu's heart clenched, and she stammered, "No, no..."
Keke's gaze sharpened. "Are you two... plotting against Teacher Shion?"
An Shiyu, who had been tense a moment ago, blinked in confusion. "Huh? That's what this is? We, actually, didn't..."
But Keke wasn't so easily fooled. She studied the stammering An Shiyu, and everything suddenly clicked.
No wonder they'd looked so suspicious earlier.
No wonder they were so concerned about whether the Azure Cloud Sect disciples had done anything weird.
They were the ones crying thief!
Instantly understanding the situation, Keke said in a low, angry voice, "Are you two insane?! Plotting against Teacher Shion! If I hadn't come back, you'd be dead!"
An Shiyu didn't know whether to explain or not, just staring blankly at Keke.
"Forget plotting against Teacher Shion, how dare you try to frame the Azure Cloud Sect? That's absolutely hateful. You really can't do that, Little An! I'll have to talk to Yiyi later. This kind of thing deserves serious criticism!"
An Shiyu quickly got up, following behind Keke while sending a message to Silver Lotus, whispering, "What do we do, Senior Mùjǐn?"
"Don't ask us! You should be more worried about the bathhouse on the other side. Damn it, we miscalculated. We should have stayed there instead."
"That was Azure Cloud Sect's internal team-building. Not our place to crash..."
"True. Meeting the parents is the better deal."
But thinking about the situation in the bathhouse, An Shiyu could only clasp her hands together and pray.
Please, don't let something irreversible actually happen...
At the same time.
In the distant, expensive swimming facility in Beihai, within the massive bath pool.
Complete silence.
After a long moment, Shion's tired and cold voice finally rang out.
"What are you doing?"