Chương 159: The Lonely Shadow Trapped in Desperation

Su Yuqing looked at Xiaoying beside her, who had chosen to bury her face deep in the soft pillow and "play dead," and a malicious smile appeared on her lips.

"Oh dear~ Xiaoying, haven't you learned your lesson yet?" Her voice was still sweet, but with an obvious hint of mockery.

"The way you're sitting right now, you've completely exposed your side to me. Aren't you afraid—I might just do something to you again?"

As she spoke, Su Yuqing stretched out her slender fingers and, through the soft cotton pajamas, gently and teasingly poked Ji Ying's side.

She didn't even put her hand inside the other person's pajamas; it was just such a slight touch.

"No—!!!"

A short, sharp scream, tinged with sobs, suddenly burst from under the pillow.

Almost the instant he was touched, Ji Ying shuddered as if electrocuted, and then suddenly sat up in bed.

She clutched her lower abdomen and sides tightly with both hands, her dark red eyes widened slightly with extreme fear, and even glistened with tears as she stared at Su Yuqing with extreme vigilance.

Looking at Ji Ying's adorable, exaggeratedly intense reaction, Su Yuqing felt as if her heart had been squeezed hard by an invisible hand.

—That look of her about to cry—isn't it so cute it's unfair?!

An overwhelming urge swept over her, causing her to almost instinctively reach out and pull Ji Ying back onto the soft bed.

She then flipped over and nimbly pinned Ji Ying down, gently clamping her legs around his slender waist while easily pressing down on his arms, which were still futilely trying to protect his waist and abdomen, and raising them high above his head.

"Xiaoying, you're so cute—" Su Yuqing's cheek was almost touching Jiying's earlobe, her warm breath gently spraying onto her sensitive earlobe, "I really—wouldn't be able to resist 'eating' you up in one bite~" Ji Ying felt her cheeks burning as Su Yuqing pressed her down in such an ambiguous position. She twisted her body, trying to break free, and protested in a nasal voice, full of shame and indignation: "Let me go—Su Yuqing! You—uh—you female hooligan!"

Luo Bingli, who had been quietly watching the two of them "fighting" with great interest, suddenly frowned slightly.

She noticed that Xiaoying tonight seemed—too "soft".

His gaze fell on Ji Ying's delicate face, which was flushed red with shame, anger, and panic, and he saw that her dark red eyes were covered with a thin layer of mist because of grievance and helplessness.

The vague sense of unease that had been lingering in her heart since earlier became clearer and stronger at this moment.

She couldn't help but recall the scene when she first met "Silent Shadow"—that mysterious being who appeared in the form of a heavily armored knight in the illusory bubble of the small park.

That overwhelming power and unparalleled aura displayed in battle; that gentle and composed demeanor, yet subtly sharp, when conversing with oneself after the battle— All of this has absolutely nothing to do with the word "weakness".

Even later, when the mysterious "Silent Shadow" was accidentally discovered by herself and Yin Xue to reveal her true appearance as a petite and adorable girl, after the initial panic and embarrassment, the inner self she displayed remained mature and composed.

She agreed to her and Yuqing's somewhat willful requests more out of consideration and tolerance for not wanting to disappoint them, rather than out of genuine weakness or vulnerability.

But—tonight's Xiaoying is clearly a little different.

Whether it was that overreaction just now, or that adorable look on the verge of tears—it all made her feel both deeply confused and a little worried, as she felt her heart melting at the sight.

When Yuqing raised a similar question before, she had a vague feeling about it, but because Xiaoying's explanation sounded reasonable, she didn't pay too much attention to it.

But now, looking at Xiaoying's adorable appearance—so different from the calm and resilient demeanor hidden beneath her petite exterior—it's almost like she's "a completely different person."

Luo Bingli was almost certain that this could not be explained by a simple statement like "I'm just being considerate of your feelings and don't want to appear too forceful and make you unhappy."

She no longer kept this strong question to herself. Instead, she looked at Jiying, who had finally managed to break free from Su Yuqing's control and was now curled up in the corner of the bed, panting heavily, covering the collar of her slightly disheveled nightgown with her hand, and staring intently at Su Yuqing with a highly wary gaze. She asked directly, "Xiaoying, I also feel that—you seem a little different tonight."

"Has something happened that we don't know about?"

Upon hearing Luo Bingli's direct question, Su Yuqing, who had already unbuttoned Ji Ying's pajamas down to just two buttons and was about to press her advantage, immediately stopped.

She turned her head abruptly, a look of deep agreement on her face, and nodded repeatedly in agreement, saying, "Yes, yes, Xiao Li, you felt it too, didn't you! I knew it, I felt something was wrong a long time ago!"

She pointed at Jiying and said with certainty, "Jiying's behavior tonight is completely unlike her usual self!"

Taking advantage of the brief moment when Su Yuqing's attention was drawn to Luo Bingli's question, Ji Ying subconsciously tried to slip away from the bed again.

However, when she heard Luo Bingli's direct question and Su Yuqing's immediate agreement, her entire body froze on the spot as if she had been frozen in place.

Her face betrayed her panic, and she didn't even fasten the buttons on her light blue pajamas properly, revealing half of her fair shoulder.

After a brief moment of shock, Ji Ying immediately shook her head reflexively, trying to cover up the truth she absolutely didn't want to be revealed: "N-nothing's different! Didn't I already explain? It's just—it's just because I care too much about your feelings that I didn't want to appear so harsh, I just wanted to make you happy—"

"The idea that it's different is definitely just your imagination, your imagination! Haha————" Su Yuqing narrowed her beautiful eyes slightly. After Xiao Li also pointed this out clearly, her doubts became even more certain.

She was almost certain that the little figure in front of her was not simply "taking care of their feelings" as she claimed, but was deliberately hiding something.

A malicious smile appeared on her face. She leaned forward slightly, like a cat that had spotted its prey, and slowly crawled toward the lonely figure who was pressed tightly against the wall in nervousness, trying to shrink into an even smaller ball.

"Xiaoying~" she said in a sickeningly sweet voice as she approached slowly, "Tell us honestly, is this pitiful and adorable look you're putting on just to please us?"

"Or perhaps—" Her voice paused slightly, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes, "you really have some—unspeakable secret?"

With her back against the cold wall, Ji Ying wished she could just walk through it and escape from this suffocating room.

She instinctively turned her head to the side, avoiding Su Yuqing's overly sharp gaze, and her voice sounded somewhat weak due to her guilty conscience: "No—absolutely nothing like that—" To her surprise, Su Yuqing nodded in agreement after hearing her denial: "Yeah, that's true. Xiaoying, you're definitely not the type to pretend to be cute in front of us, right?"

And you were quite resistant to this form before.

Luo Bingli, who was standing to the side, spoke up at the right time and added softly, "You're not the kind of person who would deliberately change your personality to please others."

Su Yuqing's face revealed a knowing smile, and she concluded with certainty: "So, after eliminating these obvious possibilities that are completely inconsistent with your personality, it seems that only one explanation remains—" —

"Xiaoying, the way you look so pitiful and weak right now is actually something you can't control, right?"

Looking at Ji Ying's slightly pale face, flushed with nervousness, and her dark red eyes that instinctively avoided their gaze, Luo Bingli gently added, "Moreover, this matter—is definitely inextricably linked to your inability to temporarily revert to your transformation, isn't it?"'

Thus, under the progressively deeper analysis of the two girls, Ji Ying was driven into a desperate situation.

Looking at Su Yuqing's smug smile that seemed to say, "I've seen through everything," and then glancing at Luo Bingli's clear eyes—calm and serene, yet seemingly capable of seeing right through people— Cold sweat seeped uncontrollably from her forehead.