Chapter 180: The Cannon Fodder Who Can’t Survive Three Chapters (23)
Bei Xing and Chu Yinxi met again at a cafe near the north gate of the school.
The aroma of milk and coffee mingled in the air.
Chu Yinxi seemed calm, as if she had anticipated this meeting, her decision already made.
As she sat down, she ordered a lemon water, then, after the waiter left, she unclasped the thin chain holding the transparent bead around her neck. “I assume you’re here for this,” she said, placing the bead on the table.
Bei Xing, startled, put down her coffee cup. Despite knowing that the bead was a dragon’s inner core, she was still surprised by Chu Yinxi’s casual demeanor. “What would I do with this? It’s your protective amulet.”
Chu Yinxi paused,
Then glanced at Bei Xing’s wrist, not seeing the jiao. So Bei Xing was alone. A faint smile touched her lips. “I thought you would come together.”
“I’m the one who asked to meet, not her,” Bei Xing smiled back.
Chu Yinxi sighed, her gaze complex, then asked: “Alright, then what do you want to know?”
Since sitting down, Bei Xing had noticed Chu Yinxi’s unusual demeanor, the usually vibrant and cheerful girl now looking pale and wilted, like a dying flower.
“I just wanted to know… how you’ve been,” she said.
She had planned to ease into the conversation, but seeing Chu Yinxi’s fragile state, she decided to be direct.
Bei Xing knew that her current carefree life was thanks to Su Mingxiu.
But she also knew that this was a dangerous world.
Chu Yinxi was her first real friend, and she wanted to help.
Chu Yinxi, remembering her awkward performance at the cafeteria, trying to meet Su Mingxiu alone,
Hesitated, then said: “Let me… tell you a story.”
“I should have ordered wine,” Bei Xing chuckled, gesturing for her to continue.
“In ancient times, besides those born as dragons, snakes and jiao had to endure great tribulations to ascend to dragonhood. And the final transformation, the thunder tribulation, was so powerful that they had to use rivers and oceans to disperse its energy. So, their transformations often brought disasters to the human world.”
“A hundred years ago, a great demon, who had cultivated from a snake, had a human friend. But before the tribulation, it failed to overcome its inner demons and accidentally killed its friend, then, during the tribulation, it flooded the friend’s village—”
“It became the last dragon in the world, but the world’s spiritual energy dwindled, and its power weakened, its soul fragmenting, its form reverting back to a small black snake.”
Chu Yinxi paused.
“And miraculously, one of its soul fragments, the heavenly soul, was reborn into the Chu family.” She looked at Bei Xing. “And that friend… also had the surname Chu.”
But Bei Xing understood the implications.
She finally understood why Su Mingxiu was a supporting character. Because of this connection, this shared history, even their souls… intertwined.
A classic yuri trope.
“You… are the reincarnation of her heavenly soul,” she said.
Chu Yinxi lowered her eyes, neither confirming nor denying, then continued: “The Chu family has powerful diviners, and they saw the newborn’s karmic debt, her connection to the black dragon, and to prevent its return, they placed a curse on her soul.”
“The infant’s soul was too weak, almost dying from the curse, but the scattered dragon pearl, sensing the heavenly soul’s weakening, came to her, using its remaining power to protect her.”
“The curse: if the black dragon’s three souls reunite, it will be dragged into the Asura Realm, to suffer eternal torment.”
Bei Xing’s coffee suddenly lost its appeal.
She hadn’t expected such a story.
Even though she had been prepared… she was still moved by the hidden pain and resentment.
For a moment, she even wondered, if she hadn’t appeared, would Su Mingxiu, after merging with Su Jin and learning the truth, have chosen to stay with Chu Yinxi, to atone, to protect her, to lift the curse?
Based on the usual tropes, Chu Yinxi’s fate was intertwined with the black dragon’s, such a deep connection, her destined partner could only be Su Mingxiu, right?
Her rationality told her not to focus on the romance, but her emotions were in turmoil. “Why… why are you telling me this?” she asked, as if reminding Chu Yinxi, and herself.
If Chu Yinxi hadn’t said anything, Su Mingxiu, in her pursuit of power, would have unknowingly merged with her, and the Chu family’s plan would have succeeded.
“I don’t know,” Chu Yinxi said, looking at her, “perhaps… seeing her trapped in the barrier last night, not attacking anyone, made me think… she’s not the monster from the stories.”
Or perhaps…
Because she had never seen Su Mingxiu harm anyone, even as a ghost, as a demon.
So she, having grown up in a peaceful world, her heart softening, had betrayed her family, revealing the truth.
Others were drawn to Chu Yinxi’s innocent beauty, but she knew she wasn’t so pure, she carried the black dragon’s karmic debt, she was tainted, the best solution being to merge with the dragon, to atone… but she was reluctant.
She couldn’t explain her reluctance.
“Chu Chu,” Bei Xing suddenly said, and as Chu Yinxi looked up, she continued, her voice serious: “Do you know that dragons don’t need spiritual energy?”
Mortals, far removed from the world of cultivation, could only speculate based on ancient texts.
The age of dragons and phoenixes was long gone. They didn’t know that a dragon’s power was immense, capable of creating its own world, its own laws.
The dwindling spiritual energy wasn’t the black dragon’s fault.
Bei Xing shouldn’t have known this, but she had an all-knowing master. All her questions about the cultivation world were answered by Su Mingxiu.
“But…” Chu Yinxi, surprised, thinking Bei Xing was challenging her family’s beliefs, “the black dragon did perish.”
If not because of the lack of spiritual energy, then what?
No cultivator in this age had the power to kill a dragon.
“Perhaps,” Bei Xing licked the foam from her lips, “it simply… didn’t want to be a dragon anymore.”
What kind of answer is that?
Chu Yinxi was confused. Bei Xing, seeing her conflicted expression, asked: “If you don’t believe me, I can ask Su Mingxiu to come here, you can ask her yourself, okay?”
“Why are you willing to let me see her alone now?” Chu Yinxi asked, remembering Bei Xing’s earlier protectiveness.
“Because I know now… you’re still my friend,” Bei Xing said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
A small stone, kicked by Bei Xing’s shoe, landed in the grass. Standing under a tree outside the cafe, she was reviewing her notes when she heard the chime of the door, and Chu Yinxi emerged, her long, blue dress swaying in the breeze,
Her beauty captivating.
“Susu,” Bei Xing waved, and as Su Mingxiu approached, before she could speak, Su Mingxiu pinched her ear. “What’s with that gesture? Calling a dog?”
Her voice, laced with amusement, held a hint of danger.
Bei Xing stuck out her tongue, pretending innocence, and looked around. “Why so fast?”
“Fast? Someone was so impatient that they almost summoned their contract,” Su Mingxiu teased.
“Nonsense,” Bei Xing, taking her hand, led her towards home, having arranged for a car to pick them up. As they reached a quiet side street, she intertwined their fingers. “What did you talk about?”
“Can’t wait any longer?”
“Tell me!” Bei Xing pushed her against a wall, playfully mimicking a bully. “Or I’ll have to… extract the information.”
Su Mingxiu, after a moment of thought, looked at her expectantly. “Then, proceed with your interrogation.”
Bei Xing started tickling her.
But Su Mingxiu wasn’t ticklish, and Bei Xing, now trapped in Su Mingxiu’s arms, was being tickled mercilessly, gasping for air, tears welling up, her face flushed.
“Give up?” Su Mingxiu asked, her arm around Bei Xing’s waist.
“Yes, yes, I was wrong,” Bei Xing, having learned her lesson from their earlier encounters, quickly surrendered.
When the car arrived, taking them back to the villa complex, Bei Xing, seeing the newly planted flowers, wanted to get out and admire them. Su Mingxiu could only indulge her.
Su Mingxiu, remembering Bei Xing’s earlier question, said: “We didn’t talk about anything much, I just told her that I’m not interested in becoming a dragon and facing another tribulation, so she can stop worrying about that soul fragment.”
“The heavenly soul represents wisdom, it must be progressing quickly in its cultivation, right?” Bei Xing asked, still admiring the flowers.
Su Mingxiu, fixing Bei Xing’s hair, “Your knowledge is improving.”
So there were no coincidences.
Bei Xing thought, Perhaps the black dragon had planned for its heavenly soul to be reborn into the Chu family. A dragon repaying its debt.
Amused by her own thoughts, she finished admiring the flowers, then, seeing that the sun was setting, and that they were alone, she jumped onto Su Mingxiu’s back. “I want a piggyback ride, like last time.”
Su Mingxiu, holding her steady, “Later.”
But Bei Xing knew that “later” could mean… something else. She clung to Su Mingxiu’s back, her eyes twinkling. “I’m so lucky to have such a beautiful and kind girlfriend, did I save the galaxy in my past life?”
“Not quite,” Su Mingxiu replied casually, “just accumulated merit for a few lifetimes.”
Bei Xing: “…”
Since when did you become so narcissistic?!
Changing the subject, “Girlfriend, do you want… a title?” she asked, then realized that she actually liked the idea.
“After waiting for so long, finally having a change of heart?” Su Mingxiu, turning her head slightly, asked, her voice a playful taunt.
“I had a dream last night, you were Chu Chu’s girlfriend,” Bei Xing said, half-truth, half-lie, her hand on Su Mingxiu’s shoulder, trying to see her expression.
“Yes, a nightmare,” Su Mingxiu replied seriously.
Bei Xing: “…” She had wanted to gauge Su Mingxiu’s reaction to the original plot, but she had been outmaneuvered.
After a moment, Su Mingxiu, enjoying her silence, suddenly lifted Bei Xing higher, catching her as she yelped, then, as Bei Xing clung to her neck, startled, she whispered, her gaze meeting Bei Xing’s: “Don’t worry.”
“I’ll only be your girlfriend.”
“Now and forever.”
There was only room for one person on her horns.
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