“No outsiders here,” I heard Xing Chuan"s stern voice say.
I stood up and turned to look at him with a confused look, replying, “Why? You don"t recognize me anymore?”
He was stunned. He blinked as he looked at me blankly. Then with a surprised look, he said, “You took a shower?”
“It seems like I was too dirty!” I couldn"t help but laugh. I had been so dirty that Xing Chuan couldn"t recognize me after I cleaned myself up. No wonder everyone misunderstood and thought I had become despondent on the other island. I looked like I had gone through such a tough time that I didn"t wash my face or comb my hair.
I lifted my hand to tuck my long hair behind my ears. Xing Chuan instantly blushed. “I"m sorry. I"m not complaining that you were dirty, nor did I pay attention to whether you took showers. No, no, no. I- I wasn"t thinking about you taking a shower. Oh no, oh no. I am not thinking about you taking a shower. I…” The more he spoke, the messier it became. He had hardly ever been in a situation where he spoke incoherently, because he had always been calm and steady.
In the end, he realized that he was going in circles repeating the word “shower”. So he paused and turned around to take a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.
“Luo Bing!” Just then, some people saw me. They walked towards me happily. There were some old professors, middle-aged men, and younger people together.
I realized that they looked more vigorous recently. They hadn"t looked that way when they were living comfortably.
Vigor was a particular way of living. In the past, time seemed to be ticking slower in their lives. Now, their clocks seemed to be ticking faster.
With all conditions, there were pros and cons.
When time moved slowly, it was possible to calm oneself down, to have more time to reflect and think through things. It would also allow one to heal gradually.
When time moved faster, however, it would fill one with excitement. One would feel as though there was never enough time, and always more things to do.
The old professors seemed to have become younger.
“Luo Bing, you came back! We thought you were angry at us!” A middle-aged man said jokingly. “I"m sorry. You worried us when you were all alone.”
“No, no, no,” I replied, waving it off. “I saw that there were s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps, so I thought of going home sooner.”
“You are leaving?!” The guys looked at me in shock, and they looked unwilling to part ways. “Don"t go! Stay back. We need you to discipline us!”
“She has a home. Of course she has to leave,” the old professors sighed. “We have to learn to protect ourselves. When this kid came, we knew she wasn"t a simple girl. She has a greater mission. If we were to force her to stay, we would be selfish.”
“We thought she would marry Chuan,” the middle-aged man said as he looked at the awkward Xing Chuan. “You couldn"t keep her?”
Xing Chuan blushed in embarra.s.sment, “Uncle Morgan, don"t joke like that."
Everyone chuckled playfully. They were obviously making fun of him, but Xing Chuan"s expression became awkward and solemn. They didn"t know that the Xing Chuan outside was my enemy.
“Oh yeah, Luo Bing, the Ghost Eclipser was saying that there was another Highness Xing Chuan in the outside world. What"s going on? Do you know him too?” As expected, they noticed what the Ghost Eclipser had said, but it had been too chaotic then for them to respond in time.
Xing Chuan creased his eyebrows and lowered his head. I looked at everyone and said, “They only share the same name.”
“That"s not right…” The uncles were suspicious, sounding like detectives. “The Ghost Eclipser said that our Chuan looks exactly the same as that Xing Chuan…” All of them were technicians, and nothing could escape their observation.
“Maybe similar. It is normal that people look similar,” the old professors suddenly said. “There are many things that have yet to be done. Don"t waste time on things that don"t matter to us. Let us repair the opening - we will only be out of danger then. Quit slacking around here!” The old professors dismissed everyone and glanced at Xing Chuan. They seemed to be signaling for him to leave.
“Let"s go,” Xing Chuan quickly pushed my cart for me. The old professors seemed to know the truth.
“Luo Bing, you are forever our G.o.ddess,” the guys suddenly shouted simultaneously as though they had arranged it ahead of time. Everyone smiled.
I could only nod at them. Then, I turned back and walked onward.
After we left the foundation, the air outside was so refres.h.i.+ng.
The roads that had been destroyed by the Ghost Eclipers were repaired. There were many robots cleaning up. The roads in Hagrid Island were as s.h.i.+ny as crystal.
“You… did you have many admirers back then?” Xing Chuan asked as he pushed the hovering cart.
There were people on Hagrid Island smiling at us on both sides.
“Yup,” I admitted without hesitation. “There are very few girls in the outside world. So, the girls are very much favored.”
“I remember you saying that you once disguised yourself as a guy in Silver Moon City. Even then, were there admirers? Girls like Xing Ya?” It seemed that the brother was worried about his sister"s s.e.xuality.
“Not only girls, but guys also.”
“Cough…” He suddenly coughed.
“There are very few girls in the outside world. So, there are many guys who date other guys. I have a friend who stays in a place called the Honeycomb. The place is filled with beautiful guys who provide services for other men,” I said as I looked at Xing Chuan and blinked coquettishly.
His expression stiffened and I continued, “That is why the Ghost Eclipsers didn"t kill anyone when they entered Hagrid Island. The guys here look good. You have such fair and smooth skin that they could bring you back and use you as women.”
Then, he was no longer stunned but disgusted.
“Oh, and I forgot to tell you - there are some unique metahumans who might not die even if you shoot them in the head. So you must make sure their heads explode.”
“A headshot wouldn"t kill?!” Xing Chuan looked at me in surprise. The golden sunset painted his face with a charming glow.
“Mm,” I turned to look into the distance, “My Harry is a metahuman like that. If he were to be shot in the brain, he could heal himself very quickly…”
“Just like Lemmy the other day?” Xing Chuan asked closely.
“No, that is healing others. There are many healers out there. The weaker ones can only heal external wounds, while the stronger ones can heal internal wounds. Some can even resurrect others. However, they are rarely seen. I never thought Ghostie would be one.” Ghostie"s superpower shocked me. Although I treated him normally, I admired him.
“There are many kinds of self-healing. I have seen superpowers that are only activated when the users die. In the end, the safest way is to blow their heads off completely.” I looked at Xing Chuan solemnly.
He sighed and chuckled lightly, saying, “It seems we have to make the emitters on our guns bigger to completely blow their heads off.” He smiled, and his smile was warm in the sunset.