Chapter: 15. Venue (5K)
In the early morning, Miss Xue Fei was extremely irritable.
She wasn’t usually this irritable; typically, her mornings involved friendly exchanges with the big fish by the lake, tending to every flower and plant like a happy and kind little angel.
But this morning… she was quite furious!!
The silver-haired girl concentrated a Magic Power Orb in her hand, running around the lakeside while her magic bombarded the lake surface, creating tens of meters of splashing water intermixed with the leaping, frightened big fish.
At this moment, Xue Fei epitomized the term “Powerless Rage” to the fullest!
“Ahhh, I refuse to accept this! I was so close… just a step away! Why am I the one to get dizzy first? It was supposed to be a straightforward win with an alcohol buzz! They said fortunes turn, and I was meant to make a spectacular comeback! Fairy tales really are all lies, ahhh!”
Xiya sat calmly on the balcony, crossing one elegant leg over the other, savoring warm black tea from her delicately carved teacup, listening to the lovely squeaks from outside the window.
She gracefully stood up, causing a ripple in her chest akin to the lake’s surface.
She only stood up to refill her tea—she wasn’t there to persuade Xue Fei to spare the big fish in the lake.
Let her throw her tantrum.
Xiya knew all too well that Xue Fei genuinely needed a way to vent her anger.
Last night’s “battle,” fueled by the effects of alcohol, had indeed been quite intense for Xue Fei.
The momentum of not backing down until she gained the upper hand had caught Xiya off guard, giving her the impression that she might actually be overwhelmed by Xue Fei that night.
But the facts of the matter indicated… that seemed unrealistic.
Yes, Xue Fei had a lot of drive.
But then what?
Some things can’t be sustained just by passion alone.
As Xue Fei was overwhelming Xiya, Xiya was quietly doing the same to her; such things were always mutual. When emotions ran high, it turned into a test of whose endurance was stronger.
The outcome was obvious.
The Undefeated Miss Xue Fei had once again fallen.
Xiya could only say that heaven was indeed fair.
As strong as Xue Fei was during the day, when night fell, and the lights were turned off, she became equally “fragile.”
As long as she gained no advantage in the first round of confrontation, Xue Fei would lose the entire battle.
Perhaps even Xue Fei herself couldn’t control it; when her mental focus reached its limit, her eight wings would spread instinctively. Even if she instinctively wanted to retract her wings, Xiya wouldn’t give her that chance.
And as soon as Xiya suddenly grabbed her wings, Miss Xue Fei could only let out a muffled cry, feeling devastated, her whole body turning as soft as a ripe persimmon, which was not only reddened but also full of moisture.
By the time Xiya had played with her until dawn, Xue Fei had actually cried out of anger.
It wasn’t because of Xiya’s unreasonable onslaught; it was because her body had proven to be so useless!
At this rate, when would she ever achieve the great counterattack!?
Even though she was crying, Xue Fei’s strongest trait was her stubbornness; she maintained her pride and shouted without holding back.
“Haven’t you eaten! Haven’t you drunk water! Did you just eat a grain of rice? No energy! Totally no energy! Wuwu!”
“Is this it? Can you be more ruthless?!”
“Not… not that impressive!! As long as I’m not dizzy yet! You haven’t won! Even if I get dizzy, it doesn’t count as your victory!”
Every time she shouted these words, she unknowingly fueled Xiya’s potential, making her more and more courageous.
Seeing Xue Fei trembling, curled up, and crying loudly, how could Xiya not feel pity…
Out of her unconditional pampering for Xue Fei, Xiya chose to clasp her hands over her chest and simply lie flat.
That closed-eyed fearless smile seemed to convey: it’s okay, Xue Fei can express herself however she wants now, sister won’t fight back?
Originally, Xiya thought this concession would make Xue Fei happy and relieved…
But Xue Fei actually cried even louder!!
Wuwu, what a disgrace!
To preserve her dwindling dignity, Xue Fei simply followed Xiya’s lead and lay flat, throwing the power of this “creative play” back to Xiya, letting her bear this humiliation!
How to say…? If I use this method, Xiya, you must think it’s a disgrace, and cannot fight back, right?
Oh oh…!
Thank you for coming at me, Xue Fei, being so sincere, then sister won’t hold back!
So before dawn broke, Xue Fei’s gaze gradually lost its focus, her eyes blankly staring at the faint light outside the window.
Ah… the sun has risen.
But Xiya was still moving wildly.
Too terrifying.
This was truly, too terrifying!
After a brief rest to regain her energy in the morning, Xue Fei once again used her healing magic and threw a harsh word at Xiya.
“I…I’ve discovered your weakness! Next time… I will shatter it!”
“Okay, okay, sister will be waiting for you? Xue Fei, since you say it like this, why not just start ‘the next time’ now…?”
“Forget it! Damn it, you remember this! I will definitely win back everything! I absolutely mean it!”
After throwing down those harsh words, Xue Fei rushed outside to unleash her Powerless Rage on the fish, which is her current state.
Xiya could say she was thoroughly satisfied, or perhaps still craving more, anyway, she was very much looking forward to Xue Fei’s “next time.”
Oh no… this kind of thing is really addictive.
But it’s not my fault~ If you want to blame someone, blame Xue Fei’s soft and fluffy state, it’s simply too cute to be allowed!
The Holy Sword hanging on the wall flickered with a soft glow.
Xial’s complaining soft voice came from within.
“Hero, you slept with our mother again and even made her cry, you really should die.”
“Uh… Xial, is it good to curse me so early in the morning?”
“I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but I’m not happy because yesterday I was thrown into the flower bushes again.”
“Hah… there’s nothing I can do. I suggest you avoid it next time; otherwise, we might throw you too far.”
“Wuwu… what a pity, I didn’t get to see Miss Xue Fei’s dazed expression!”
“Of course, we can’t let you see that, right?!”
You keep saying that it’s your respected “mother,” but your thoughts are quite rebellious every day!
Xiya felt that Xial’s attitude towards Xue Fei was becoming increasingly strange… She clearly didn’t have such bizarre thoughts in the beginning; lately, she was becoming more and more whimsical.
But Xial didn’t have this opportunity.
As soon as night duty began, the first thing Xue Fei did was throw the Holy Sword into the flower bushes outside the villa.
Throwing is one thing, but forgetting to pick it up the next day caused Xial much distress.
No time to continue chatting here.
Xiya looked up at the time on the clock and placed her teacup gently on the edge of the table.
She pushed open the window.
The mist rising from the sprawling lake and the splashes of the big fish nearby greeted her.
Big Fish: So? Are you done with your tea? Isn’t it time to deal with that demon creature over there?
Forming her hands like a trumpet in front of her mouth, Xiya called for Xue Fei to return.
“Xue Fei! Stop messing around and come back; we have serious business to attend to!”
“What?!” The fish-splashing Xue Fei turned back with an incredulous expression, “Xiya, do you still have humanity?! It’s only been a few hours?! And you want to attend to serious business?!”
“The serious business I’m talking about is real business…”
Well… although that kind of thing certainly counts as business.
But what Xiya wanted to say now was a serious matter in a broad sense, with no twisted meanings involved.
Didn’t Princess Livra say she would come in the morning to interact with the Demon Princess?
The urgent task at hand was to create a suitable venue as Xue Fei Harte’s “Sealing Place.”
Even if it was acting, it had to resemble reality, right?
……………………………….
By the villa, along the lakeshore, on the path leading to the mountains, there was a very inconspicuous tree hole.
If you didn’t pay special attention, it seemed just like the thousands of trees standing there, nothing special.
Xiya sliced through the dense vines before the tree hole with her sword, doing it cleanly and neatly.
Xue Fei peeked into the tree hole.
Soon she discovered—there seemed to be something on the ground inside the tree hole.
Because there was a stone slab made of a giant rock at the bottom of the tree hole, making the tree hole appear quite conspicuous; it was clearly a man-made object.
Xiya stepped into the tree hole, exerting her strength to lift the slab, revealing a hidden world beneath.
With the weak sunlight slanting into the tree hole, one could see that curved stone stairs led down into darkness.
It was bottomless and dark inside.
“Let’s go, Xue Fei.”
“Whoa! Adventure, adventure!”
“Wuwu… I’m afraid of the dark.” Xial, hidden in the Holy Sword, honestly admitted her fear of the dark.
Unlike Xue Fei, who trembled even with her fingers but still tried to act proud with her practically nonexistent chest.
“Hmph…! What a coward, what’s there to be afraid of in the dark? Mature people are not afraid of darkness! Xiya, hold my hand; I’m afraid you’ll get lost.”
“……”
Xiya silently took Xue Fei’s small hand, stepping first onto the staircase, while gathering magic particles with her other hand.
【Light Magic】
The light that appeared out of thin air gathered in Xiya’s palm like fireflies, illuminating the surrounding space much brighter.
Xue Fei was having the same thought.
At the same time Xiya released her Light Magic, Xue Fei was also casting her magic!
【Light Magic · Improved Version】
Xiya’s light suddenly dimmed.
Actually, it wasn’t that her light didn’t shine; rather, the surrounding light was just too bright!
What had just been pitch black, Xue Fei seemed to have cast some magic that turned the underground connected to the tree hole into a temporary small sun, illuminating the entire space to a brightness even brighter than outside.
Xiya turned back in speechless astonishment.
Xue Fei was now extremely arrogant and no longer afraid of the dark.
“Xue Fei… you just said adventure, yet you released such a magic… doesn’t it kill the mystery instantly?”
“You’re saying that, but were we here for an adventure? No, we’re here for serious business, seeking efficiency! You’re just trying to play; that won’t do, Xiya!”
“?”
So it’s my fault now, is it?!
Who was the cute little one shouting about adventure just a moment ago?! Huh?!
Alright, the brightness is good too; Xiya didn’t want Xue Fei to feel scared.
Even if she didn’t cast this spell, Xiya was already brewing a larger illumination spell, so this actually saved her some effort.
With the light enhancing, they could clearly see the entire underground space’s layout.
It turned out, it wasn’t as bottomless as it seemed at first glance. The stone stairs were only a few dozen steps tall, not too high.
Compared to the height, it was the breadth of this underground space that surprised Xue Fei even more.
Surrounded by stone pillars, you couldn’t see the ends at a glance.
The ground was littered with weathered broken swords and armor, spider webs covering the stone crevices, which seemed to indicate that this space had been frequented by people long ago.
“Hey… I didn’t know there was such a large area underground?”
“Yeah, a hundred years ago, this was an underground city for adventurers, sort of a treasure hunting place. Later, all the magical beasts and treasures here were excavated, leaving it abandoned. Eventually, a villa was built above here, which is where we live now.”
“Wow, it’s actually a historical site; impressive, impressive.”
Xiya knew about this place’s existence, but an abandoned underground city wasn’t of much use.
She hadn’t expected Princess Livra to suddenly want to visit; this place was just perfect for its repurposing.
Xue Fei nodded rarely in appreciation of Xiya’s arrangement and raised her hand to ask.
“Alright, alright, the venue chosen is indeed quite good. So what should we do now?”
“What to do…?” Xiya tilted her head in confusion, her eyes filled with “wisdom,” “Now that we have this place… we just need to wait for Princess Livra to arrive, and Xue Fei can talk to her here… ah, ouch!”
“I seriously suspect that your brain, Xiya, is hollow. You can think of everything but can’t seem to think at all.”
“I don’t have a hollow brain…! Wuwu… what’s wrong all of a sudden?”
Xue Fei jumped on the spot and lightly struck her head; that was considered mild.
Finding the right location was fine, but how could you think that after choosing a good spot, you wouldn’t need to worry about anything else?!
Just look at the surrounding environment!
Ruined walls, dilapidated conditions, dense spider webs, and not even a proper stone platform; at first glance, it doesn’t look like a key secret location meant for sealing important enemies!
To make it more intuitive for Xiya, Xue Fei spread her wings, angrily hugging a large stone like a koala.
Then Xue Fei turned and patted the stone, saying to Xiya, who had a wooden head, “So this is how you seal the Demon Princess? Just let her hug a big stone, and that’s it for sealing?”
“Ah… I understand now! Xue Fei, you mean we should arrange the venue and make it look decent!”
“Okay, looks like there’s still hope.”
Xiya wasn’t as silly as Xue Fei said.
She had obviously thought about the venue’s arrangement, but she had been too absorbed in Xue Fei’s cuteness that morning… and didn’t manage to get up in time to prepare the venue.
“I feel like there’s not much time left… Anyway, Xue Fei, come with me; I’ll show you a place.”
“What place? Is there something else fun here?”
Xue Fei followed behind Xiya as they walked forward.
Passing through several layers of stone forests, the surroundings grew increasingly spacious.
Until they reached the innermost part… and saw the entire space’s layout, Xue Fei’s violet eyes suddenly brightened.
“Wow… this place is high! Better than where we just were!”
“Yeah, this is the core area of the original underground city.”
From the ground rising several dozen meters to the top of the rock walls, sharp rocks surrounded them with a strong oppressive feeling.
The most crucial part was a stone platform standing like an altar not far in front, towering several meters high.
The four corners of the stone platform were adorned with four candlesticks; although the flames on the candlesticks had long been extinguished and the candlesticks were rusted, the platform was still largely intact and usable.
Xiya looked up at the top of the stone platform, surveying the surrounding terrain.
“Is this place okay? This was where the leader of the underground city was located. After the high-level magical beast was successfully hunted, this stone platform was well-preserved. When Princess Livra arrives, Xue Fei, you can lie on it, and with your wings spread out, it will definitely have a presence!”
“I’m lying on you? Can’t I just stand?”
“Lying on me… I have no objections.”
“Fine, pretend I didn’t say that.”
Even so, Xue Fei had to appreciate that this place that Xiya found was indeed quite good.
Xue Fei let purple magical energy flow from her fingertips.
In an instant, the four candlesticks on the ten-meter-high platform unexpectedly ignited with ominous purple flames simultaneously.
Xue Fei spread her wings and flew up to the stone platform while using 【Visual Magic】 to conceal her eight wings into six.
The purple flames flickered; she stood among them with a slight smile, and the flames illuminated her profile, matching the dark Gothic serious outfit she wore today, giving off an aura of the 【Calamity Witch】—if one could ignore her playful stance with her hands on her hips.
“How about it, Xiya! Don’t I look super fierce right now?!”
“Pfft… I don’t know; to me, Xue Fei always looks quite adorable, no matter what?”
“How dare you not cooperate with me…! Hey, when Livra arrives, don’t say that! Otherwise, won’t it expose me?”
“I know.”
With a flick of her small hand, Xue Fei cast a “Black Flame Prison” that actually had no blocking effect around the stone platform, creating an illusion of being trapped inside.
This should be about right.
Livra, don’t blame me for scaring you later.
Though you may be naïve, we’re not close enough to have no secrets from each other.
Livra’s friend is “Shaya,” not “Xue Fei.”
Our positions are different, meaning we can’t fully trust each other.
You’re the princess of the human race, and I’m the Demon Princess; if we don’t act this out, we won’t be able to justify it to our respective nations’ citizens.
If this play is performed well, we both win.
If not, I’ll just beat you.
Moreover, Xue Fei was actually quite curious…
What kind of arguments would Livra use to persuade me, this remorseless 【Calamity Witch】?
Pfft.
Livra really is somewhat interesting.
