Chương 204: The two girls are still competing after landing

A few streets away from the Lin family's villa, in a quiet, deserted alley, a deep blue light quietly gathered, gently landing on the wet ground, transforming into the figure of Liuli embracing Jiying.

"Xiaoying, are you alright?" The moment her feet touched solid ground, Liuli reluctantly released the petite and soft body in her arms.

She gently supported Ji Ying's shoulders to steady her, her clear, icy blue eyes filled with undisguised genuine care.

"Yes, thank you, Xiao Li."

After regaining her footing, Jiying gave Liuli a gentle smile and sincerely thanked her.

"You're welcome," Liuli's lips curved into a slight smile, her voice becoming even gentler, "I can do this anytime."

The slightly burning gaze and the hidden meaning in his words made Ji Ying's heart tremble slightly. She awkwardly averted her eyes. She looked up at the sky, now completely shrouded in night, and happened to see a streak of emerald green light, tracing a crooked path...

The swaying trail, somewhat disheveled, descended towards them.

With a soft "bang," the light dissipated, revealing the figures of Yin Xue and Xing Xian.

Almost the instant she landed, Yin Xue, as if electrocuted, hastily released Xing Xian from her arms and quickly jumped back a great distance.

She held her hands protectively in front of her, looking at the other person with a wary expression, as if guarding against some kind of monstrous flood.

In stark contrast, Xingxian immediately regained her composure and elegance as an inspector after her feet landed steadily.

She calmly tidied her slightly disheveled light purple combat suit and then elegantly combed her long, matching hair, which had been ruffled by the high-altitude winds.

Then, she looked back at Yin Xue with a calm and unwavering gaze, as if the person who had just been wrestling with her in mid-air, clinging to her like a shameless koala, was not her at all.

Seeing Xingxian's indifferent expression as if nothing had happened, Yinxue's anger flared up again.

With her hands on her hips, she angrily demanded, "Hey! Are you planning to pretend nothing happened?"

Xingxian calmly looked back at Yinxue, feigning ignorance as she asked, "What just happened? Didn't you just bring me here like nothing unusual?"

"Oh? Ordinary?" Yin Xue narrowed her beautiful emerald green eyes slightly, as if she had heard a huge joke.

"Who was that person who panicked and clung tightly to my neck, shamelessly trying to rub against me with that kind of thing? Ugh, it's so hard to guess."

Hearing this undisguised accusation, even Xingxian, who was usually calm and composed, couldn't help but blush slightly. She subconsciously avoided Yinxue's aggressive gaze, looked to the side as if nothing had happened, and then defended herself, "That was just me, as a senior, testing your ability to resist interference during flight."

"As an excellent magical girl, if you cannot ignore the external factors that may affect you when flying at high speed, you can easily encounter danger in battle."

"Judging from your performance just now, this ability of yours is clearly quite inadequate."

"Oh, I see. Well, thank you for your concern!" Yin Xue retorted sarcastically.

"If you hadn't said that, I would have thought it was some self-proclaimed experienced inspector who was actually afraid of heights, doing something so embarrassing that was completely out of character for a senior official because he was afraid of falling from the sky!"

Hearing Yin Xue make such a blunt joke about his seniority and status as an inspector, Xing Xian could no longer maintain his feigned composure.

Her fair cheeks flushed instantly, and she retorted somewhat angrily, "I already told you, it's all because you let go of me without warning! Do you know how terrifying that feeling of sudden weightlessness is?!"

"That's because you put on airs earlier, acting all calm and collected when you lectured me!" Yin Xue retorted without backing down.

"If you're afraid of heights, just admit it honestly, I won't laugh at you!"

Xingxian gritted her teeth, feeling her blood pressure soaring: "I already said it wasn't a fear of heights—forget it, I guess I'll never be able to explain it to someone like you!"

"Hehehe, I can't hear you, I can't hear you~" Yin Xue playfully made a face at her and continued, "I just didn't expect that the usually aloof Inspector would show such a flustered yet adorable expression and do something so completely out of character. It's quite unexpected!"

Xingxian imitated Yinxue's previous posture, crossed her arms, slightly raised her chin, and then looked the other person up and down with a scrutinizing gaze, launching a new round of counterattack: "I didn't expect that you, who are clearly a junior who are quite good in all aspects, would be so unexpectedly concerned about things like body shape."

"What, are you jealous of me?"

"Who, who's jealous of you?!"

Hearing the topic circle back to this sensitive point that she cared about so much, Yin Xue was once again hit where it hurt. Her pretty face instantly turned bright red, but as before, on this point alone, she was unable to effectively "confront" Xing Xuan.

In the end, she could only turn her head to the side in a huff and mutter, "Ugh, so annoying! I shouldn't have brought you along in the first place!"

Seeing her discomfiture, Xingxian was in a good mood and said with a smile, "It was you who, because of some little scheme," took the initiative to pick me up and fly with me.

"Isn't it a bit too late to complain now? You're just reaping what you sowed, aren't you?"

"I didn't have any ulterior motives!" Yin Xue bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"Xing Xian, you'd better explain yourself clearly! I kindly brought you home, and you're saying I brought this on myself?!"

"Hmph," Xingxian also turned his head to the side, refusing to look at her, "Do I really have to spell it out for you? It's so obvious how you want me to have too much contact with Xiaoying."

Liuli stood quietly to the side, watching the two girls bickering fiercely like elementary school students. Instead of trying to stop them, she smiled slightly and watched them with great interest.

She could clearly sense that their argument wasn't really hostile; rather, it was more like two close friends playfully teasing each other and having a tiff.

Such an argument undoubtedly falls within the scope of "companions".

Although she had previously expressed her dislike for Xingxian because of her rude attitude towards her senior in the abandoned school building, now that Xingxian had sincerely apologized for that incident, she seemed to have no reason to continue to be hostile towards her.

Moreover—Liuli had to admit that Xingxian, who blushed at Yinxue's provocations and launched childish counterattacks out of resentment, was indeed—more approachable than the previous Xingxian who always carried the authority of an inspector and seemed somewhat aloof.

As for Yin Xue—in her mind, the other person had always been a gentle, considerate, and understanding person. Seeing her blushing and arguing fiercely with someone like this now seemed—quite interesting.

Thinking about this, Luo Bingli couldn't help but feel a little bit of anticipation for their future relationship.

In contrast, Ji Ying looked at the two girls who were still chattering in front of him with some helplessness and sighed silently in his heart.

Before, it was elementary school students fighting over toys; now, are they arguing? These two kids—they really have boundless energy!

—However—fortunately, this time, the focus of their argument wasn't on themselves, which made things a little easier.

She stepped forward, reached out and gently patted the shoulders of the two girls who were still bickering, trying to dissuade them: "Alright, alright, you two should stop talking. It's getting late, we should go back."

"Xiaoying, get out of the way!" Yin Xue, still agitated, pointed at Xingxian and said unwillingly, "I'm going to settle this with this woman today!"

Unexpectedly, after hearing Ji Ying's advice, Xing Xian immediately dropped his previous confrontational attitude.

She turned her head, gave Jiying an extremely gentle smile, and softly agreed, "Okay, I'll listen to Xiaoying and won't argue with her anymore."

Then, she gave Yin Xue a smug smile that only he could see, and turned to walk to Ji Ying's side: "Xiao Ying, let's go."

Yin Xue was initially surprised by Xing Xian's reaction, but immediately became alert.

—That cunning woman! She actually thinks she can impress Xiaoying this way?! Doesn't that make me seem unreasonable?! How utterly despicable!

So she immediately suppressed her anger, calmed herself down, and said somewhat irritably, "Alright, alright! I'm too lazy to argue with you! Let's undo our transformations here and walk back. It's getting late, and Mom and Dad must be worried."

Although Xingxian had anticipated this scene after agreeing to go home with Yinxue, she still hesitated for a moment when she heard Yinxue actually say, "Let's undo our transformation."

However, when she saw that Yin Xue and Liu Li had both unhesitatingly deactivated their transformations and returned to their everyday appearances in school uniforms, she did not hesitate any longer.

With a flash of pale purple light, the noble and elegant patrol officer Xingxian disappeared, replaced by a gentle and quiet black-haired girl dressed in simple casual clothes.

Although her face was slightly pale due to the depletion of her magic, this could not conceal her exquisite features and outstanding temperament.

Her long, straight, jet-black hair cascaded smoothly over her shoulders. She wore a simple white dress with a light gray cardigan over it and white sandals. She exuded an intellectual and elegant aura.

"Wow----" When they saw Ye Zixuan's true appearance after she deactivated her transformation, even Su Yuqing and Luo Bingli, who were of the same sex, couldn't help but show a hint of amazement in their eyes.

Looking at the scene before him, Ji Ying couldn't help but secretly admire it.

The three women's undisguised gaze made Ye Zixuan feel slightly uncomfortable. She subconsciously tucked a stray hair behind her ear and asked in a low voice, "W-what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I just feel—" Su Yuqing stepped forward, circled around Ye Zixuan, and then nodded seriously, offering her comment: "Even after the transformation is over, she's an absolute beauty."

"But—" Her gaze involuntarily moved downwards, finally landing on Ye Zixuan's alluring curves, then she let out a soft "humph," her tone filled with resentment, "How come—it's still so big?"

Hearing Su Yuqing's resentful complaint, Ye Zixuan wore a wry smile and asked helplessly, "Why are you still so concerned about this kind of thing?"

Unable to contain herself, Su Yuqing recalled the scene of him tightly embracing Ji Ying in the unfinished building. Her cheeks flushed instantly, and she immediately turned her head away guiltily, stubbornly saying, "N-nothing to you!"

Ji Ying reached out and gently tapped Su Yuqing's smooth forehead, a helpless smile on his face: "Alright, stop fooling around. We'll all be partners fighting side by side from now on, so let's get to know each other first."

Then, she began to introduce Ye Zixuan: "This is Su Yuqing, we usually call her Yuqing. This is Luo Bingli, you can just call her Xiaoli."

Ye Zixuan watched Ji Ying's extremely natural and intimate gesture towards Su Yuqing, a hint of envy flashing in her eyes. However, she hid this emotion well, nodded slightly to the two of them, and quietly introduced herself: "My name is Ye Zixuan."

"It's a very nice name," Ji Ying said with a smile.

"From now on—can we call you Zi Xuan?"

Ye Zixuan's cheeks flushed again, and she nodded gently, letting out a barely audible "Mmm".

Then, her gaze fell on Ji Ying, and she asked with some doubt, "Xiao Ying, aren't you going to turn off your transformation? Are you just going back to Yu-Yin Xue's house like this?"

Hearing that Ye Zixuan was still not used to calling her by her name, Su Yuqing pouted slightly, but didn't say anything. She just looked at Jiying with some worry, wondering how she would explain this.

Upon hearing this question, Ji Ying's expression changed slightly, but she quickly composed herself and calmly replied, "Due to certain special reasons, I am currently unable to revert to my transformation. I will explain the details to you later."

"Also, Yuqing's family doesn't actually know I exist, so I won't be going in through the front door with you later. Instead, I'll try to sneak upstairs by myself."

"I see." Ye Zixuan nodded.

Although she was puzzled by the statement that "the transformation cannot be reversed," she had an almost unconditional trust in Jiying at that moment, so she did not continue to ask questions and planned to wait until evening to hear Jiying's explanation.

Recalling the intimate gesture of Ji Ying tapping Su Yuqing's head earlier, a thought struck her. She suddenly took a step forward, a slightly weak expression on her face, and said softly, "Um—I was too exhausted during the battle just now, and I suddenly feel a bit weak. Also, I don't know her house. For the rest of the way—could you, Xiao Ying, hold my hand and walk with me?"

As she spoke, she reached out her hand to the somewhat surprised Ji Ying, her face full of anticipation.

Unsurprisingly, her outstretched hand was grabbed by Su Yuqing, who had instantly appeared before her after hearing the request.

Su Yuqing smiled sweetly and brightly, holding Ye Zixuan's hand tightly. Her voice was so gentle it seemed to drip water: "Since you're so weak, let me help you walk. I know the way around here very well."

Ye Zixuan politely returned a smile, then tried to pull her hand back, saying softly, "But I wanted Xiaoying to hold my hand, not—"

"Alright, alright, let's go!" Su Yuqing interrupted her with a grin, forcefully pulling Ye Zixuan towards the alley's exit.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of you from now on, don't worry, Zixuan~" As she spoke, Su Yuqing ignored Ye Zixuan's protests and forcibly pulled her toward the exit of the alley.

Ye Zixuan, still weak from the fierce battle with Jing Jue, could only look back at Ji Ying with reluctance before Su Yuqing dragged her away from him in an irresistible manner.

Both of them had bright smiles on their faces, and their intimate posture of holding hands would surely make passersby think they were extremely close friends.

However, the words they whispered to each other, spoken in hushed tones, were entirely different: "—I'll remember this grudge, Su Yuqing."

"Hmph, this is just the beginning, Ye Zixuan."

Watching the two figures gradually disappear into the distance, Ji Ying shook his head helplessly, a wry smile on his face.

She was about to turn around and call Luo Bingli, who was still waiting there, to go back together when she saw the other woman standing prettily in front of her, with a bright smile on her face, and extending her hand to her as well.

"Hehe, Xiaoying, let's go too~" This scene... it looks familiar...

Ji Ying sighed helplessly in her heart, but finally reached out and took the soft little hand that the other person had extended to her.

"Okay, let's go back."