A Baffling Trust

In any case, the matter of contacting the young girl was resolved in a rather baffling manner. Xiang Qi hadn’t even stated her purpose, yet Xiang Ran displayed an attitude of unconditional support, showing no curiosity about the reason, nor any intention of discovering why someone would do this.

This left Xiang Qi, who had initially prepared to silence her, feeling rather awkward. ‘Miss, aren’t you being a bit too cooperative? I just kidnapped you, after all.’

It was quite rare; even Xiang Qi’s famously thick skin couldn’t withstand this, and she actually felt a faint pang of guilt.

‘Could this child be foolish?’

“So, you mean Big Sister currently has no identity information, no place to live, and hasn’t even left any records in this world?” The girl nodded earnestly, her bright, sparkling eyes fixed on Xiang Qi. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of all that.”

“For now, Big Sister can stay with me.”

Was this child simply naive, or did she have an ulterior motive? Xiang Qi, who always tended to assume the worst of others, felt that this development was unsettling, deviating from her original plan.

This was incredibly irritating, profoundly so.

“Uh, aren’t you going to ask what my purpose is for being here?”

Xiang Qi’s eyes narrowed, making her thoughts inscrutable, and her tone involuntarily grew several degrees colder.

“No need. If Big Sister wants to tell me, she will naturally do so. If she doesn’t, no amount of asking will help.” Xiang Ran remained unchanged, a stark contrast to the flustered girl she had been moments before. “Besides, I trust Big Sister. She would never harm me.”

Unbelievable. What was with this doting sister act? She had just been kidnapped, yet she showed absolutely no signs of it now.

Xiang Qi fell silent, her mind somewhat muddled by the situation, unsure of her next move.

“Does Big Sister not trust me?” Seeing Xiang Qi’s lack of reaction, the girl’s expression turned deeply wounded.

What a sight it was: a remarkably beautiful girl looking at you with a sorrowful, wronged, and melancholic expression, tears welling in her eyes, as if she might burst into tears at any moment. It was truly a test of one’s composure.

This was truly… fine, fine. She would trust her for now. Perhaps this was her father’s arrangement.

Despite her thoughts, Xiang Qi still needed one final confirmation, an extra layer of security. If she could have previously exploited this identity with a clear conscience, now, even if she followed her original plan, she wouldn’t dare. Who knew what other pitfalls awaited her? This identity undoubtedly hid something more complex than she had imagined.

“Bow your head.”

At her command, Xiang Ran obediently lowered her head. Then, a fair hand rested upon her scalp. The girl’s body visibly stiffened for a moment before slowly relaxing, almost appearing to enjoy the touch.

‘No danger.’ A purple gleam flashed in Xiang Qi’s eyes, and she thoughtfully lifted her hand. Since her Talent detected no abnormalities, this girl could tentatively be considered trustworthy. Furthermore, there should be nothing around her that could influence Xiang Qi; otherwise, she wouldn’t have remained unaffected by Xiang Qi’s Talent.

Speaking of which, using her Talent in the real world felt like it consumed more energy than in the game. Xiang Qi had activated her Talent for no more than five seconds, merely using it to confirm any potential dangers, yet the consumption was comparable to when she had killed Shu Xun.

It was merely an all-nighter; Xiang Qi could still endure it. Although the consumption was similar, her current state was far from what it was in the game, and she still maintained considerable energy. In fact, she had come prepared, knowing that a danger scan was essential regardless of any unexpected events, serving as a relatively reliable safeguard.

After confirming that the girl could be temporarily trusted, Xiang Qi relaxed slightly, deciding to voice her biggest question.

“You… why do you trust me so much?”

She considered herself far from a good person, and her chosen method of meeting was enough to kill off most goodwill from the start. Yet, this girl trusted her so implicitly, making it impossible not to gravitate towards conspiracy theories.

Most people in such a situation wouldn’t even offer a pleasant expression, let alone trust.

It couldn’t simply be because they shared the same face.

As it turned out, while the details were off, the general direction was indeed correct: it was all because of that face.

“Because… Big Sister is Big Sister. Does trusting Big Sister need any other reason?”

Faced with the girl’s counter-question, Xiang Qi was understandably silent. She could feel the sincerity in the words, and suddenly found herself at a loss for what to say.

Those who had not truly experienced it could never understand the thoughts in another’s heart, nor could they know the sorrow hidden beneath a seemingly calm exterior.

“Father said Big Sister would come, so I’ve been waiting…”

Xiang Qi roughly understood the situation now. It was indeed a mess left by her wretched father.

That was about six years ago.

“Chen Zishu, do you want a younger sister? Having a thoughtful and lovely sister might be a very happy thing…”

At the time, Xiang Qi had thought it was just another one of that scoundrel’s pranks, crossing her arms and intending to ignore him.

Poppy had pulled another despicable stunt that required Xiang Qi to quietly clean up. She couldn’t spare any energy in the short term, and given her consistent understanding of him, that scoundrel of a father truly seemed incapable of doing anything other than causing her trouble.

In Xiang Qi’s eyes, he was merely a cold, unfeeling money-making machine.

Moreover, during that period, Poppy was indeed reckless. She was the type to kill without burying, never bothering to conceal unless absolutely necessary, leaving Xiang Qi with many messes to clean up.

Though Xiang Qi handled all the aftermath, she was never caught for these incidents, not even Chen Xuan noticed them.

It had to be said, Poppy was a tsundere. Xiang Qi was well aware of her own capabilities, knowing her limits, so the remaining matters must have been handled by Poppy.

On the surface, he only caused trouble, eliminating anyone close to Xiang Qi or who might threaten her, adopting an attitude of killing without burying. Afterward, however, he would quietly clean up the loose ends himself, leaving Xiang Qi opportunities to practice and improve her skills.

Xiang Qi only realized this later, but by then, Poppy was already gone.

‘I, Xiang Qi, despise Poppy the most!’

Cough, cough, off-topic… The real key was the latter part of what Chen Xuan said.

We still don’t know what the pangolin said that day, because Xiang Qi couldn’t recall it.