Chương 179: Everything She Left Behind

As Liuli looked in the direction Xingxian had left, the corners of her previously tense lips finally turned up slightly, revealing a smug smile.

She turned around and looked at the petite figure slowly walking towards her, saying in a light tone, "Xiaoying, I knew you would choose me—ours."

"call----" Yin Xue, who was standing to the side, also breathed a long sigh of relief, finally putting her mind at ease.

She walked over to Liuli, nudged her lightly with her elbow, and said with a teasing smile, "Hey?"

Xiao Li, you seemed really nervous just now, how come you're suddenly so confident?

Liuli's cheeks stiffened slightly, then she rolled her eyes at her friend, retorting without backing down, "How much better was your reaction than mine? You looked like you were about to cry from nervousness too."

"Hehehe, I can't hear you, I can't hear you~" Yin Xue playfully stuck out her tongue, then smiled and turned her gaze to Ji Ying, who was watching their bickering with a helpless expression. She said with a grin, "Speaking of which, Xiao Ying, you were so 'sensible' in choosing us this time, so it's really necessary to reward you a little~"

"No need!"

Ji Ying subconsciously took half a step back, looking at this clearly ill-intentioned fellow with extreme vigilance.

"Are you planning to reward me, or yourself?"

"Xiaoying, how could you think of me like that? Of course I really want to reward you!" Yinxue puffed out her cheeks, feigning anger, her tone filled with feigned grievance.

"Don't you want to hear what the reward is?"

"In no mood."

Ji Ying answered expressionlessly, his tone resolute.

Before Yin Xue could reveal the so-called "reward" that sounded absolutely ridiculous, she changed the subject, her voice tinged with helplessness: "Besides, can you two have a little more confidence in me? Under these circumstances, of course I would choose you."

Upon hearing this, Liuli shook her head slightly, looked at her with unusual seriousness, and explained softly, "No, Xiaoying, it's not that we lack confidence in you. In fact, I wouldn't have been surprised if you had chosen to leave with her just now."

After all, she was an inspector sent by the Magic Kingdom, powerful and with a special status; they would definitely need her help to deal with Mirror Lord later.

"It's one thing for us to argue with her, but if you, Xiaoying, also fall out with her, it might not be a good thing."

"Yuqing—she probably thinks the same way I do."

Liuli paused, then raised her head, her clear eyes looking directly at Jiying. Her voice unconsciously softened, filled with undisguised joy: "However—I'm really happy that you chose us."

Jiying smiled and stepped forward, gently stroking Liuli's smooth short hair. She promised in a gentle voice, "I wouldn't do that, don't worry. Leave Xingxian to me; I'll explain everything to her."

As Jiying stroked her head, Liuli squinted her eyes contentedly, like a cat being soothed by its owner.

But when she heard that Jiying wanted to explain to Xingxian, she still asked with some concern, "Will she listen? She seems very stubborn."

"Don't worry," Ji Ying said confidently, shaking his head slightly.

"Based on my understanding of her, Xingxian is not the kind of person who would disregard the bigger picture because of personal emotions. After I find an opportunity to explain the whole story to her, everything will be fine."

"Eh?"

Upon hearing this, Yin Xue immediately pouted in dissatisfaction and said irritably, "What do you mean she's not the kind of person who would disregard the bigger picture because of her emotions?" Xiao Ying, are you implying that the two of us are the kind of people who would be emotional and disregard the bigger picture?

"Disobedient Xiaoying really needs to be properly 'punished'!"

Hearing Yin Xue's clearly unreasonable words, Ji Ying interrupted her somewhat impatiently: "That's not what I meant!"

She sighed and patiently explained, "What I mean is, it seems to me that my relationship with you is clearly closer than my relationship with her."

"If I had chosen her, the harm I caused you would definitely have been greater. I made my choice based solely on that. What were you thinking?"

"Xingxian is still quite rational. As long as she understands our relationship later, I think—" She will understand my choice.

"The relationship became closer —" Upon hearing this, Yin Xue's "dissatisfaction" vanished instantly, replaced by a bright smile. She nodded in satisfaction and didn't continue teasing Ji Ying about the topic.

But then, as if remembering something, she put on a serious expression and said, "But speaking of which, Xiaoying, I feel that woman named Xingxian is dangerous."

"Be careful when you explain things to her later, and don't let her take advantage of you!"

"How dare you say such a thing?!"

Upon hearing Yin Xue's "righteous" admonition, Ji Ying instantly bristled, her voice cracking with shame and indignation: "Before Xing Xian arrived, who was taking advantage of me? And this morning in the room, who was taking advantage of me again?"

"You took advantage of my mother being at the door of my room, when I couldn't make a sound, to do that kind of thing to me—and you still have the nerve to say such shameless things!"

Hearing Jiying's tearful and bloody accusations, Yinxue, unusually embarrassed, stuck out her tongue and turned her gaze away.

Seeing Yin Xue's discomfiture, Liu Li smiled faintly.

But she quickly suppressed her smile and said softly, "However—I still don't like Xingxian, not only because of what she did to you, Xiaoying, but also because of her attitude towards Senior Xingshuang—who does she think she is?"

Upon hearing this, Yin Xue hesitated for a moment, glancing at her friend beside her, and muttered under her breath, "Xiao Li, if we're talking about being rude to Senior Xing Shuang, then before—didn't you also—?"

She didn't finish her sentence, but the meaning was already quite clear.

Liuli's cheeks flushed red instantly. She glared at her partner, who had the nerve to bring up such a sensitive topic, and retorted, "That's different! It's precisely because I've made mistakes myself that I know how excessive that behavior is. Therefore, those who still hold that kind of attitude towards their seniors are even more unforgivable!"

Ji Ying watched the two girls bickering in front of her quietly, and a smile involuntarily appeared on her face.

Soon, lunch break will be over.

After chatting with Jiying for a while about their initial plans for the next steps, Liuli and Yinxue got up to say goodbye and left the abandoned school building.

Inside the classroom, the initial silence returned, broken only by the gentle patter of rain outside the window.

Ji Ying sat quietly by the window, her gaze passing through the window frame to the distant, hazy sky, but her expression was not as relaxed as before.

She slowly closed her eyes, calling out in her heart to that familiar yet strange existence—the system.

The facts are already quite clear.

A powerful magical girl named "Starfrost" truly existed, and—within the magical kingdom, she possessed a legendary and revered reputation.

In this case, the way the "system" guided me to use the codename "Starfrost" when I first transformed becomes extremely intriguing.

She recalled the first time she met Yuexi and the strange reaction she received when she heard her code name. Although she was a little confused at the time, she didn't take it to heart.

But now, after Xingxian revealed those things, she instantly realized that it wasn't just this code name that also contained the character "Xing," but perhaps— Xingxian's method of manipulating magical threads in battle was a conscious imitation of the unique spell of Xingshuang—the Star String.

All the clues point to an unbelievable yet only possible fact.

Ji Ying took a deep breath and asked the most direct question to the entity that had been guiding him all along: "System, give me an explanation."

"What exactly is your relationship with Xing Shuang, whom Xing Xian calls a 'legend'?"

"Why did you make me use her codename?!"

【————】 This time, the system did not respond immediately as usual.

After several seconds of silence, the cold, electronic voice finally began to slowly resonate in Ji Ying's mind.

【This system ————】 [These are the traces left behind by the passing years.] >