The Holy Sword’s Temperament

“Hmm?”

Han Xiaoyu’s eyes, quite prominent on her face, fluttered open, fixing on the two faces intently staring back at her.

“Oh! What am I…?”

She then abruptly shot up from the sofa.

“Xiaoyu, you suddenly passed out.”

Mo Linyu stated with a grave expression, while Han Xiaoyu rubbed her forehead, shaking her head slightly.

“Huh? Ugh, my head really does ache a bit… What happened to me?”

Li Longkang glanced at Mo Linyu, remaining silent.

Han Xiaoyu’s current headache was, quite obviously, a direct result of Mo Linyu having just squeezed her head with considerable force.

“You might have suffered from heatstroke; it was terribly hot on our way here.”

Mo Linyu offered a convenient excuse, adding, “Li Longkang isn’t home, so perhaps we should head back for now.”

“Ah?”

Han Xiaoyu, feeling awkward, turned her gaze back to Li Longkang.

“Wait, I still don’t know this classmate’s name?”

For this very question, Li Longkang had already prepared an answer before Han Xiaoyu even awoke.

With one leg propped on the sofa and her elbow resting on her knee, she gestured to herself with a thumb.

“You can call me Li Yue. I’m Li Longkang’s cousin, and I’m staying here for the summer.”

Although Li Longkang’s name as the Hero in the other world was Moon, she had no desire to be perceived as a foreigner by Han Xiaoyu, especially given that her English grades were as abysmal as her math scores.

As for the name Li Yue, it belonged to a sister who had tragically passed away before she could even be born.

Before that irresponsible man vanished, Li Longkang’s mother had been pregnant, but the fetus ultimately couldn’t be delivered due to complications during childbirth.

Nonetheless, the name had endured.

Li Yue continued, “However, my cousin and aunt won’t be back for a while. They might be gone for quite some time.”

“Hmm? Gone for some time? How long?”

Han Xiaoyu pressed.

“…Hard to say.”

Li Yue cast a quick glance at Mo Linyu from the corner of her eye.

‘At most, Li Longkang will be gone for three months, right?’

Han Xiaoyu, however, persisted with her questions.

“Then, do you have their contact information? The numbers registered at school aren’t going through.”

‘Though her body was borrowed by an irresponsible Goddess, she herself was quite the responsible student council president.’

“No, they went somewhere very far away.”

Han Xiaoyu’s gaze fixed on Li Yue’s face.

“…Huh?!”

As if some astonishing truth was weaving itself together in her mind, her expression gradually turned solemn.

“My… my deepest condolences!”

Li Yue poked Han Xiaoyu’s forehead with her fingertip.

“What are you thinking? They’re not dead!”

****

After seeing off Han Xiaoyu and Mo Linyu, Li Longkang… no, Li Yue, returned to her solitude.

Both Mo Linyu and Li Longkang had a multitude of questions they wished to clarify with the Goddess, but the Goddess, much like an office worker caught slacking off, had hastily hung up the phone amidst a flurry of panic, her consciousness withdrawing from Han Xiaoyu’s body.

It was the first time Li Yue had witnessed her so flustered; it seemed even the esteemed Goddess had a superior.

While the Goddess had simply absconded, Li Yue and Mo Linyu were left scrambling for excuses to explain Han Xiaoyu’s memory loss during that period.

As for the Goddess’s earlier proposition, Li Yue still needed time to ponder it.

Information about her mother was undeniably enticing, yet the thought of aiding the Demon Lord stirred an inevitable reluctance within her.

Her comrades’ relics still lay enshrined in the cabinet!

Was she truly to assist the reincarnation of the Demon Lord?

While seventeen years might have elapsed for the Demon Lord, for Li Yue, it felt like only a few months had passed; how could hatred be so easily forgotten?

Yet, the Goddess had also subtly hinted that her companions’ souls, too, had reincarnated on Earth, much like the Demon Lord’s.

But if it was merely about retrieving their souls, she didn’t necessarily need to cooperate with the Demon Lord, did she?

After all, the Demon Lord herself was utterly clueless about the whereabouts of the otherworlder souls, and partnering with her offered no apparent advantage, especially since that useless Goddess only resorted to moral blackmail and provided no tangible leads.

Still, her mother’s whereabouts were equally crucial.

“Arghhh!”

Li Yue, torn by her dilemma, frantically tousled her golden hair, appearing somewhat frantic.

No, what she needed to figure out right now was how to change back.

According to the Goddess, it seemed to be related to the state of the Holy Sword.

“The Holy Sword?”

Li Yue first returned to her bedroom, where the golden metal baseball bat still lay on the bed.

The way to transform back into her male self was to calm the Holy Sword, which had awakened due to the Demon Lord’s aura.

To do this, she first had to wait for Mo Linyu to leave the Holy Sword’s detection range.

By her estimation, enough time should have passed.

After all, they wouldn’t get lost leaving the residential area, would they?

So, the next step was to calm the Holy Sword.

“Hmm, should I rinse it with cold water?”

Perhaps because the Holy Sword had been exchanged for a ‘cow-cow’ (TL Note: A Chinese slang term, ‘niú niú,’ referring to a penis, often used humorously or euphemistically.), it also possessed some of that ‘cow-cow’s’ temperament.

Or rather, this was her own ‘cow-cow’.

Li Yue picked up the Holy Sword, casually swinging it as she walked towards the bathroom.

Although it had been some time since she’d held the Holy Sword, it felt as familiar and handy as ever, and Li Yue habitually ran her hands up and down the bat’s surface.

“…………”

Though she made no outward expression, Li Yue inwardly acknowledged that her actions were somewhat… suggestive.

When she had maintained the Holy Sword as a weapon in the other world, such thoughts never crossed her mind.

An ancient saying went: “When well-fed and warm, lustful thoughts arise.”

Ease, solitude, and the absence of prying eyes tended to amplify these private urges within one’s heart.

This was a rare opportunity; perhaps there was no rush to change back?

Setting aside her experiences in the other world, even though Li Longkang was prone to fights, skipped classes, and used crude language, he was, after all, a teenage high school boy.

How could he not harbor some curiosity about the female body?

This held true even for the body she had grown accustomed to during her year in the other world.

Yet, every single day in the other world, merely surviving had demanded her utmost effort.

Especially after her companions’ sacrifices, facing the Demon Lord’s army’s relentless sieges day and night, how could she possibly have had the time or inclination to ponder such matters?

Even if she had, the pressing reality would never have permitted her to explore.

However, having finally defeated the Demon Lord, she was promptly sent back to Earth by the Goddess, truly without a chance to genuinely understand the sensations of a female body.

In that sense, perhaps she should even thank the Demon Lord for granting her this opportunity to remedy her regrets?

Since no one else would see, a little experimentation wouldn’t hurt…

Li Yue swallowed, lightly bit her lower lip, and with slender hands, gently cupped the girlish curves that were far less imposing than the Demon Lord’s.

The sensation, a blend of familiar and foreign, made her cheeks flush with heat.

Just then, her gaze fell upon the “Holy Sword” leaning nearby.

“…”

She picked up the thick, long metal bat with one hand, bracing herself against the sink basin with the other.

With legs slightly parted, as if by some mischievous impulse, she pressed the Holy Sword against the place it was “supposed to be.”

Despite its metallic touch, it seemed to radiate a curious warmth.

“Thump-thump-thump—”

The sudden knocking on the door startled her, making her body tremble.

The bat, no longer held in place, slipped from between her legs, yet she heard no metallic clatter as it hit the floor.

When she looked up again, she found that she had already transformed back into Li Longkang.

His Holy Sword (cow-cow) had shriveled from fright.