Chương 180: The Patrolman in the Rain

On the other side of the city, far from the abandoned school buildings, a pale purple streak of light pierced through the fine rain and quietly gathered atop a building.

Xingxian's figure appeared staggeringly from the crowd. She did not immediately return to her temporary residence, nor did she contact anyone. She simply instinctively found a corner that could barely shelter her from the wind and rain.

She leaned against the cold wall, slowly slid down, and curled herself into a small ball.

"Pat-pat, pat-pat—" Raindrops pounded on the concrete floor of the rooftop, making a monotonous and dull sound, just like her chaotic heartbeat at that moment.

Xingxian stared blankly at the spotless rooftop platform not far away, washed clean by the rain, letting the endless sound of rain fill her ears, as if trying to isolate herself from the chaotic thoughts in her heart.

A gust of wind, carrying a chill, swept past the edge of the rooftop, whipping up fine rain and pelting her head.

Xingxian subconsciously raised her right hand, which was wearing a light purple silk glove, trying to shield it from the cold rain that was being swept by the wind.

The raindrops instantly soaked the surface of her gloves, leaving dark spots, and the coolness seemed to seep into her heart as it traveled down her fingertips.

Her gaze involuntarily fell on her wet right hand, and Xingxian's expression became somewhat dazed.

The first one is this hand, which Xiaoying just let go of without hesitation.

The scenes that had just happened in the abandoned school building flashed uncontrollably through my mind, as well as Xiaoying's delicate face, filled with apology and difficulty, when she finally chose to walk towards the two juniors.

An indescribable sense of frustration and resentment welled up in her heart.

"I—I actually lost?!"

Xingxian muttered to herself in disbelief, her voice filled with obvious grievance.

"In that situation where she had to choose between two people, Xiaoying didn't choose me in the end—she chose the two newcomers instead."

"Why? On what grounds? Does she really think that I, a powerful ally who can fight alongside her, am more important than those two Stardust-level juniors who don't even know what their scheduled communication is?"

"Hmph, what's so great about those two newcomers—I'm clearly the one who can fight alongside her, that idiot—can't he see who's the more helpful choice for the overall battle?"

"Xiaoying's troubled and pleading look at the end—really, does she care that much about those two newcomers?"

"I am clearly the one who is—" The conversation ended abruptly there.

This complex emotion is the anger of pride being thwarted, the incomprehension of the outcome of the choice, and, like a child who discovers that their best friend values other playmates more, it is full of childish possessiveness and the grievance of being "betrayed".

That pride stemming from the inspector and the confidence of a genius were shattered at that moment.

Xingxian shook her head irritably, trying to dispel these inappropriate emotions from her mind. Then she slowly stood up and walked step by step out of the corner that could shelter her from the wind and rain, into the boundless rain curtain.

This time, instead of using magic to create an invisible barrier around her as before, gracefully letting the rain slide off her body, she stood quietly, letting the cold rain relentlessly beat against her.

Raindrops slid down Xingxian's pale purple hair, wetting her gorgeous combat suit and making the already well-fitting clothes cling tightly to her body, outlining the girl's exquisite curves.

She seemed to be trying to use this method to calm her head, which was burning with resentment and a little jealousy, with the chill brought by the rain.

More importantly, the cold rain seemed to effectively shield her from the untimely warm tears that were about to well up in her eyes.

Even though—no one is watching here.

"It's really... awful..."

Xingxian chuckled self-deprecatingly, raising her hand to wipe the rain and—something salty mixed in—from her face in a somewhat disheveled manner.

—If—If Xiaoying could see herself like this, could see herself crying, she would surely comfort her gently, wouldn't she?

The thought popped up uncontrollably from the bottom of her heart, causing her to catch her breath.

Xingxian could almost picture the scene: a petite girl with smooth black hair and eyes that always held a hint of helplessness and doting affection would walk briskly towards her.

Then—she gently wiped away the tears on her face with those warm little hands, and just like she had comforted herself last night, she opened her arms and hugged herself tightly, absorbing that reassuring warmth.

Then—I gently stroked my head and told myself that everything was alright.

That must be the case, right?

Thinking of this, Xingxian's heart skipped a beat.

She suddenly realized that her concern for Xiaoying might have gone beyond simply "valuing an important ally" or "having a good impression of an interesting new friend."

She longed for Xiaoying's approval, longed to be the "most special" one to her, longed for— To monopolize that tenderness.

The intense and unfamiliar emotions she had never experienced before made her feel a strange sense of panic.

"no----" She murmured almost inaudibly and gently shook her head.

In any case, she didn't want those two juniors, with whom she had just had a fierce argument, to see her in this vulnerable state.

This was not only due to the pride and self-esteem of being an inspector of the Magic Kingdom, but also because—as one of those who also admired Senior Starfrost, if I showed such a weak and helpless appearance, wouldn't that be a complete loss of face in front of those who had just been arguing fiercely with me about this topic?

As he pondered the matter more deeply, and perhaps also with the help of the cold rain, Xingxian's feverish mind gradually calmed down.

She began to calm down and try to re-examine everything that had just happened from a more objective perspective.

—After all, they were all newcomers and knew nothing about Xing Shuang's deeds. It was only natural that they would defend the "Xing Shuang" that they knew and relied on.

Moreover, the fact that they dared to "talk back" to the inspector in order to protect their senior also suggests that Xing Shuang, whom they called "senior," was unlikely to be an unqualified senior.

If her qualifications were truly that poor, Xiaoying would most likely not have chosen to cooperate with her.

"However—I still cannot agree with using the same codename as my senior!"

Xingxian silently added in her heart that this was her bottom line, which she could never back down from.

Immediately, Xingxian's thoughts returned to Jiying.

She carefully recalled every detail from her first meeting with Xiaoying last night to their parting just now, especially— Last night, I lost control of my emotions due to stress. When I held her tightly in my arms, although she initially resisted, she immediately gave up struggling after I asked if it was too much for her. She even reached out and gently stroked my back, letting me vent my emotions.

She could clearly sense that Xiaoying had made her hug her so tightly in order to comfort her, even though she herself was somewhat resistant—such a gentle and kind person couldn't possibly not know that rejecting her would cause her great harm.

Thinking of this detail, Xingxian's heart suddenly stirred, and a clear idea instantly emerged, answering all her previous resentment and confusion.

Perhaps I misunderstood the relationship between Xiaoying and those two juniors from the very beginning.

The relationship between them is probably not as she had assumed, that Xiaoying was only taking care of them because she was entrusted by her partner.

On the contrary, they are very familiar with each other, and their relationship may even be so intimate that they cannot imagine it.

If that's really the case, then the reason why Xiaoying made that choice back then is very obvious. In that situation, if she chose to leave with him, it would definitely cause great emotional harm to those two younger people.

Given Xiaoying's gentle nature, how could she possibly allow such a thing to happen in front of her?

Moreover, she was afraid that she would be sad, so she not only apologized to herself, but also carefully promised that she would come to find her in a little while. Xiaoying was really, really gentle.

Even though he was the one who acted irrationally and made mistakes out of jealousy and resentment, and had once again put Xiaoying in a difficult position, Xiaoying apologized to him.

Thinking of this, a strong sense of regret and shame welled up in Xingxian's heart.

—Firstly, I was too confident and presumptuous, which led to the ridiculous situation I just made. Not only did it put Xiaoying in a difficult position, but I also said those things that hurt the feelings of the two younger colleagues.

—Should I go and apologize?

The moment this thought popped into her head, Xingxian's cheeks flushed red, the heat almost evaporating the raindrops from her face.

He had just acted like a jealous child, making a fool of himself, and now he was sheepishly running back to apologize to them.

Would they laugh at me behind my back? Wouldn't my authority as a senior inspector be completely ruined?

Even if I lose my dignity, so be it. But—what if I embarrass Senior Xing Shuang because of this?

"No, no!"

Xingxian slapped her cheeks hard, trying to clear her mind. Knowing that she had made a mistake, but refusing to admit it because of her ridiculous pride, was truly disgracing her seniors!

"We'll definitely be fighting alongside them again in the future. If I pretend nothing happened and forget about today, what will they think of me behind my back? What will they think of Xing Shuang's admirers?"

"What will Xiaoying think of me now?"

Xingxian sighed deeply, muttering to herself dejectedly, "As expected—I still have to apologize to them—" However, even though she had made up her mind, Xingxian's legs felt like they were made of lead, and she could hardly take a step.

I feel so embarrassed!

What made her ashamed was not the act of "apologizing" itself, but rather the fact that she had been so confident and took it for granted that Xiaoying would choose her, only to be wrong about it. This was incredibly embarrassing!

She hesitated for a while before finally making a compromise.

—Let's talk about it next time we meet. As soon as lunch break is over, I'll go back to find Xiaoying and apologize to her alone.

—And, if the two of us were alone, maybe—maybe I could— The thought of having another chance to hold Jiying's petite and soft body sparked an uncontrollable longing in Xingxian's silver-gray eyes.

However, the instant this thought flashed through his mind, "buzz—" — A faint yet exceptionally clear fluctuation of magical energy suddenly emanated from the "Tear of the Star" on her chest, instantly snapping her out of her girlish reverie.

Xingxian's expression changed instantly, and he immediately took out a simple silver pocket watch with intricate engravings.

At this moment, the jewel at the center of the dial of this pocket watch, which should have been silent, was emitting a dazzling deep red light, and all the hands were spinning erratically.

Xingxian immediately immersed her mental energy into it, and a clear and complete message instantly flooded into her mind.

Her expression changed several times in just a few seconds, from initial shock to disbelief, and finally to solemnity.

The torrential rain continued relentlessly washing over the gray city.

In the endless rain, Xingxian silently raised her hand and pressed the pocket watch, which was still flashing an ominous red light, tightly against her chest, which was heaving slightly from her violently beating heart.