Half an hour earlier.
Upon witnessing her younger brother sneak away with Aya Tone, Li Jia’s eyes lit up.
Naturally, she wouldn’t let such a prime opportunity slip by, nor would she foolishly remain to endure the hypnotic summary meeting.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she stealthily departed, trailing closely behind the pair.
While that summary meeting might have been a treasure trove for figures of influence and renown,
to the younger generation, it was merely a gathering of old fogeys boasting about their impressive accomplishments of the year.
They droned on about their plans for the coming year, and so forth.
None of which held any relevance to them.
Aya Tone, in his normal state, was unable to deploy a wide range of perception, and thus naturally failed to detect Li Jia trailing closely behind him.
Li Huaiming, being merely a younger brother, was even less likely to notice.
For him to discover his older sister would be nothing short of a fool’s dream.
When they encountered monsters emerging from the dungeon, Li Jia’s heart lurched.
Four ominous words immediately surfaced in her mind.
‘Dungeon Rampage!?’
These two were certainly lucky, weren’t they?
She had only ever seen a single recorded instance in the guild’s archives, occurring once in Yan’an City.
She never imagined these two rascals would stumble upon such a thing just by sneaking out to play.
‘Why hadn’t she ever considered her younger brother could possess such peculiar luck?’
Li Jia grumbled inwardly.
Seeing Li Huaiming remain behind to cover their retreat made Li Jia’s eyebrows twitch furiously.
‘Does my little brother have no sense at all?’
That was a rampaging dungeon; it was impossible for only one monster to have stepped into the real world.
To stay behind and cover their retreat was an act of sheer stubbornness.
‘Have you returned all your textbook knowledge to your teachers already? But you’re still a student!’
Li Jia was absolutely fuming.
What truly left her speechless, however, was Aya Tone, who, without a second thought, simply turned tail and fled.
In that moment, Li Jia couldn’t help but question the assumption she held in her mind.
‘Was he truly that Silver-Haired Witch?’
Fortunately, her younger brother still possessed some semblance of common sense and didn’t remain stubbornly foolish.
Otherwise, as his elder sister, she would have been unable to resist revealing herself to give him a good beating, teaching him a lesson in self-awareness.
Immediately afterward came the scene of Aya Tone returning to save the day.
In that instant, Li Jia finally confirmed the conjecture in her heart.
Subsequently, she chose not to continue trailing the two.
With Aya Tone present, that rampaging dungeon wouldn’t be able to stir up any significant trouble.
Her concern now was how she might ‘capture’ Aya Tone…
****
Just as Li Jia had anticipated, the moment the teleportation array vanished, Aya Tone didn’t hesitate to make his escape.
Leveraging her mastery over nearby spatial fluctuations, Li Jia located him in the blink of an eye.
****
‘What good thing is that? May I have a look?’
Li Jia leaned casually against a nearby tree trunk, unable to suppress a chuckle as she watched Aya Tone giggling foolishly while holding a blood-red magic crystal.
‘That little expression is just too adorable.’
‘I truly wish… I could hold him close and dote on him.’
A hint of a rather perverse smile subtly crept onto Li Jia’s pretty face.
‘Li Jia!?’ Aya Tone exclaimed, startled.
However, upon second thought,
Li Jia was already in the village, so it wasn’t strange for her to follow them out after seeing them flee.
‘Your brother is over by the cave, he’s collapsed. You should go get him quickly.’
While Aya Tone distracted Li Jia with his words, his small hand discreetly clutched the magic crystal and moved it behind his back, intending to tuck it into his small pocket.
‘If Li Jia finds it, she might confiscate it for public use…’
‘It’s fine, let him continue lying there. A little more time won’t hurt.’
Li Jia, of course, noticed Aya Tone’s little scheme, but she chose not to comment further.
‘More than that, I’m curious to hear about your situation.’
She thoughtfully stroked her chin.
Shape-shifting ability users existed; the world was vast enough for such phenomena.
However, someone like Aya Tone, who completely changed his very being with a transformation,
had yet to be recorded.
‘Uh…’ Aya Tone’s small face stiffened.
‘So, in the end, I can’t escape this, can I?’
‘Hmph! When the time comes, I’ll just accuse Fire Finch of violating our agreement.’
Aya Tone thought fiercely, then spread his small hands. ‘This is just my ability. As for anything else, even if you ask me, I wouldn’t know.’
After all, the awakening of an ability wasn’t something he, a mere commoner, could control.
If he could choose, he’d rather transform into Ultraman.
Just imagine:
In the eternal night,
as alien races invaded.
He would stand on the main street, the myriad lights of homes blazing behind him.
Then, raising a Spark Lens high in his hand, he would shout, ‘Tiga!’
A body like a war god, dominating through all eternity.
‘Ya-hehehehe~’
Li Jia gazed wordlessly at Aya Tone, who had already drifted into a world of fantasy.
‘He’s off daydreaming again, who knows where.’
‘Snap out of it.’ Li Jia, seizing the opportunity, reached out and pinched the tender, pink cheek of a certain ‘human host.’
The touch was exquisitely soft and delicate, making her reluctant to let go.
She couldn’t help but become even more brazen.
‘Ow, hey! That hurts!’
Aya Tone waved his hand, knocking away the hand on his face.
His face was already red from the pinching; Li Jia, as always, showed no mercy.
‘Doesn’t she know it hurts!’
‘Wait! Li Jia has already discovered my identity. It seems there’s no need to maintain this appearance anymore.’
With that thought, Aya Tone’s figure slowly elongated, transforming back into his male appearance.
Li Jia, whose moment had been interrupted, felt a pang of regret.
‘My little darling is gone…’
‘You… never mind…’ The words on her lips, hoping Aya Tone would maintain his maidenly appearance, abruptly ceased.
At this point, anything she said would sound so hollow; it was better left unsaid.
‘Once I’m strong enough, I’ll definitely capture him and never give him a chance to turn back into a man!’
Aya Tone, oblivious to the mischievous intent hidden in Li Jia’s eyes, stretched his body and continued, ‘If there’s anything else you want to know, just ask the Guild Master; she pretty much knows everything.’
They had been out for an hour now; it was time to go retrieve Li Huaiming.
He wondered if that tedious summary meeting had finally concluded.
He was still thinking about those child-sized defensive items Fire Finch had mentioned.
‘Wait a moment, I have another question.’
Li Jia pondered for a moment before continuing, ‘Is Aya Jiu your biological child?’
Since that Silver-Haired Witch was merely Aya Tone’s ability, it meant the ‘blondie’ character had never truly existed.
This made Li Jia inevitably question Aya Jiu’s parentage.
Mother (×)
Father (√)
She had previously investigated Aya Tone when Fire Finch and Aya Tone (male) grew too close.
Among those he associated with, no female partner was found.
‘He’s a single father!’
‘Aya Jiu?’ Aya Tone first nodded, then shook his head.
‘Yes, and no, but I am undeniably Aya Jiu’s father.’
‘Then Aya Jiu’s mother…’ A flicker of expectation appeared in Li Jia’s eyes.
‘I don’t know.’ Aya Tone shrugged.
He, too, wished to know what kind of parents could be so heartless as to abandon a child in a dark alley.
Had he not lived nearby, Aya Jiu might have slept forever in that alley.
If he ever found out who they were, he would surely confront them with his magic staff,
demanding to know why they abandoned Aya Jiu in that place.
And what exactly was his own relationship to them!
Aya Tone had never forgotten that the female police officer had mentioned a blood relation between himself and Aya Jiu.
If he truly found them…
Aya Tone’s eyelids drooped.
‘Then Aya Jiu’s biological parents could also be my own kin…’
‘Come on, let’s go pick up my brother; it’s time to head back.’ Li Jia’s attention remained constantly on Aya Tone, and she naturally noticed the shift in his expression when the topic of Aya Jiu’s birth mother arose.
She immediately changed the subject.
There was still plenty of time; there was no need to rush this very moment.
Li Huaiming: ‘…Did they finally remember me?’
Well the secrets out.