Chapter 207

Chapter 207: Chu Yuanqing’s Moral Decay, Completing the Mission

This thought struck her like a bolt from the blue.

The more Chu Yuanqing thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. She was like a wife who had just done something wrong and suddenly remembered her husband’s return time incorrectly. She hurriedly rinsed her mouth after brushing her teeth and dashed back to the room, finding her phone that had been lying on the floor all night.

Pure White Witch’s little hands trembled. She looked serious and began to comfort herself. She had already said goodnight to Charlotte yesterday. The other person must have just sent an emoji, right? Not replying didn’t seem like a big deal.

The screen unlocked, and the interface still showed the other person’s message.

[10:10:23 – Hmm, are you still out shopping? Vienna has so many beautiful sights at night.]

[10:10:36 – If you have the chance, you can visit the lighthouse at Danube Park. From there, you can see the city’s night view, with the lights stretching out in a beautiful shape like a violin!]

[10:11:19 – (Restaurant recommendation link)]

[10:11:24 – (A photo during dinner) This restaurant has delicious pork chops, and the Sahne cake is also great. You should try it!]

[10:11:44 – By the way, I saw your secondary rating performance, you danced wonderfully. It felt so familiar, but sadly I wasn’t there to see it live (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄).]

The more Chu Yuanqing looked, the more scared she became. Charlotte had sent so many messages, and not only did she not reply to a single one, but at that moment she was in bed, holding Xie Qingxuan’s slender waist, feeling many things that seemed wrong.

This is simply… just too much! How can one be so morally corrupt?

The Pure White Witch felt ashamed as she pressed her lips together. It was as if she had become unclean in front of the statue, yet she, still a devoted nun, couldn’t help but pray for forgiveness, even wanting to confess all her sins to Charlotte and asking for a harsh punishment, just to ease her troubled conscience.

But… at this point, telling the truth would definitely be super bad, right?

Besides, right now, she and Charlotte barely knew each other, and confessing something like this would feel very strange, a bit too self-aware.

The Pure White Witch thought about this and tried to sort out the connections between the old and new times.

In her memories, Charlotte had good relationships with girls, treating the girls in the team like family.

Theoretically, Xie Qingxuan was a good friend of Charlotte in the old times, probably belonging to the latter. If you really think about it, could this be considered a betrayal by a close friend?

But that’s not right. If Charlotte had memories, she wouldn’t be angry knowing about this.

The background of the old times was special; the global population was less than 1% of what it used to be. The million people in Final City were gathered from all over, survivors brought together through ongoing rescue efforts, just barely reaching that number.

The world’s population is not even ten million.

Charlotte leans towards the idea that "good friends should always be together."

Because of this, when The Last Diva was created in the illusion of the Sea of Truth, she played a trick on herself to make sure she could kiss Liuli.

If that’s the case, maybe the Charlotte in the illusion has already recognized who Liuli is?

Chu Yuanqing’s mind was a mess, and she couldn’t figure out how to handle the feelings around her. She mumbled in confusion:

"This is really strange."

This complicated feeling, which was like being unfaithful but also seemed not to be, felt very wrong and sinful. It was a twisted whirlpool, far too stimulating for a pure-hearted old-fashioned person.

Chu Yuanqing shook her head, tossing away the strange thoughts. She decided not to think about it for now and started typing a reply to Charlotte.

The girl first seriously explained why she read the message but didn’t reply—she had shamefully told a lie—then she sincerely apologized and finally replied to the message Charlotte sent yesterday, word by word.

The last message from Charlotte made her heart race.

Chu Yuanqing got a Grade A rating during her secondary evaluation, and her online popularity surged all because she entered the Sea of Truth illusion on stage, where she mimicked Charlotte’s qualities and strengths as an idol, even syncing with her performance style.

In this case, even though the new Charlotte and her past self have completely different life paths, it is hard not to feel a sense of familiarity.

In response, she could only pretend to be serious and say, perhaps it’s fate.

As Chu Yuanqing typed this message, her fingertips trembled, filled with shame and despair.

Although by now, she has gotten used to singing and dancing on stage, this is all based on others not knowing her past identity, allowing her to pretend to be someone else.

But… being seen by someone she knows is a whole different story!

Not only did Charlotte, who was like a wife to her, feel this way, even Little Sakura, who was used to practicing and performing together, couldn’t help but feel embarrassed and wish she could vanish when she realized they were once familiar faces.

Back when Charlotte said she wanted to form an idol girl group, her role was supposed to be that of an audience member, but who would have thought that many years later, she would be on stage instead of in the audience?

Chu Yuanqing felt overwhelmed by memories. Seeing Charlotte in her little dress dancing on stage was truly a heavy burden. It was not just the dignity of an old father being shattered, but also the dignity of a husband being cruelly trampled.

The Pure White Witch felt the pain of double denial in just one sentence. She could not imagine how terrifying it would be for Charlotte to see her dance "Bambi" or even dance "Dangerous Party" with Xie Qingxuan.

And…

If Charlotte knew the whole story and looked at it from the other person’s perspective, it would be like watching her husband dance close with another woman on stage. Her husband even imitated her style!

The most important part was that this was not the most abstract thing; the most abstract part was that her own daughter was also dancing in it, which shattered her worldview.

Chu Yuanqing had been lost in the joy of reuniting with Charlotte until now, realizing too late how embarrassing it would be to reveal her identity and tell the truth to Charlotte.

The girl was filled with anger and shame. She wished Dream Weaver Rabbit would delete all the videos of her performances online. She felt that participating in "Dazzling Stage" was the biggest mistake of her life.

Unfortunately, it was too late, and she was destined to be a "great thinker" in her mind.

As for her actions…

The Pure White Witch was typing nervously and told Charlotte that she danced very poorly, asking her not to watch her performance.

On the other side, Bregenz.

In the early morning, Lake Constance sparkled under the sunlight of the rising sun.

A girl appeared like a fairy from a fairy tale, her blue hair dancing in the wind, with patterns in her eyes like light breaking through cracks, creating beautiful colors as her toes touched the surface of the water, moving gracefully as if weightless.

This wandering Miss Saintess seemed to admire the beauty of nature, but her gaze kept shifting back and forth on her phone, clearly sneaking a look at someone’s reply.

Well, she had completely calmed down after seeing Chu Yuanqing’s message, but out of youthful modesty, she didn’t want to respond right away, until… she saw the Pure White Witch’s seemingly self-deprecating words.

"Where did you dance poorly? It was really wonderful!"

Charlotte thought Chu Yuanqing was too insecure; as her chosen future teammate, how could she lack confidence? She decided to encourage this destined beautiful girl.

So, Miss Saintess was full of energy, showing lots of enthusiasm as she sincerely typed compliments, while also searching for Chu Yuanqing’s past performances, determined to highlight ninety-nine great things about Chu Yuanqing’s stage presence, to boost her confidence.

Chu Yuanqing truly understood Charlotte. As soon as she saw the first response, she realized something was wrong. To avoid any public embarrassment, she quickly said she needed to brush her teeth and interrupted The Last Diva’s bragging.

Charlotte felt a little unsatisfied. She sadly glanced at the enormous open-air stage in the lake, its beautiful yet captivating appearance very serious, and spoke to herself:

"So, Little Qing is the kind of girl who is very serious and strict, but surprisingly shy?"

"If that’s the case, I should wait until my performance is over to really see Little Qing’s stage, so I can be prepared to encourage her when we meet later."

Lake Constance, located at the border of Austria and several other countries, boasts the largest open-air water stage in the world. The venue is over a hundred meters from the shore and can hold nearly twenty thousand spectators. Every summer, Bregenz hosts a grand music festival here.

Currently, many visitors have gathered in the small town, coming specially for this event.

The performance Charlotte is participating in is part of the upcoming music festival being held here.

Clearly, as the gem chosen by Sacred United Country, she received extra attention in this area, and the officials were happy to let this saintess gain more "experience points" on her own.

This is also an unspoken rule within the Dazzling Stage competition.

The better the potential that the contestants show, the higher the level of the commercial performances they can participate in.

Charlotte stood alone on the stage in front of twenty thousand live audience members, which is the highest standard at this stage.

Although it could be set even higher, this level is already enough for the current saintess, and it might even be a bit too much.

Because she has just started to shine.

…

…

Hotel restaurant.

Little Sakura sleepily rubbed her eyes, took a sip of coffee to wake up, happily ate a piece of cut sausage, and looked at her teammates, encouraging them:

"The results from yesterday’s training were great! Although we don’t have the conditions like at the base, I can clearly feel that everyone is learning the dance more quickly. Let’s keep working hard today and aim to complete the outdoor performance task the day after tomorrow."

The green-eyed cat, feeling dazed, was still lost in yesterday’s "nightmare." She was shocked by her drunken behavior, comparable to her childhood social skills. For a moment, she didn’t know whether to feel proud of her past self or sad for her present self.

But soon,

Tang Liuli’s slow mind began to turn, and she remembered how she had toyed with Little Qing yesterday, secretly kissing her several times.

As the girl recalled these victorious moments, her droopy eyelids suddenly lifted. Her spirits brightened, and she took a big sip of coffee, but… she burned her tongue and cried for a minute.

But that’s okay,

The shy cat quickly brushed aside these details and picked herself up again. She was sure that she had really won yesterday!

Although she missed Mana Regeneration Day, could other bad women steal kisses from Honey Qing in front of everyone?

Haha, impossible, it couldn’t happen at all.

In other words, from now on, she, Tang Liuli, is the most powerful bad woman!

Tang Liuli felt a surge of confidence, even with the label of social anxiety on her back. She faced the challenges of her crush, a silly dog, and the Sakura girl alone, and she could handle everything to win over Honey Qing!

Xie Qingxuan’s eyelashes hung low as she stirred her coffee with a spoon, as if savoring the memories of last night when she stirred with Chu Yuanqing’s finger. Her beautifully shaped and full legs couldn’t help but rub against each other softly, and a charming smile played at the corners of her lips, showing signs of distraction.

The gift-giving plan was a great success; yesterday, she successfully made Honey Qing agree.

This was the golden retriever’s carefully thought-out plan of attack after sensing a crisis, shedding the childish and conservative Cinnamoroll outfit for an adult’s daring attire, though it was just the first step in a deeper strategy.

The most crucial part was still the strategic mindset for tackling challenges.

After careful analysis, she realized she had never progressed to a deeper emotional connection with Honey Qing because using her finger on Honey Qing could be seen as too forward and offensive; in extreme cases, it could be considered hurtful, so she needed Honey Qing’s permission.

But the situation changed when she actively held Honey Qing’s small hand and did strange things; the biggest breakthrough was within herself, not with Honey Qing.

Based on this wonderful logic of behavior, the process of heating the red wine yesterday went very smoothly, leading to a milestone breakthrough.

The only regret was that the depth of heating and stirring the red wine was not enough, leading to a somewhat superficial experience. Fortunately, the magic of their interaction made up for this shortcoming, and she still managed to make Honey Qing happily fall asleep.

Last night, Xie Qingxuan quietly practiced sitting in meditation to remember the taste of that time. She decided to use this as a side dish to satisfy herself on days when she couldn’t go out at night.

Chu Wang Shu did not know that Sister Xie beside her had taken a step into adulthood with her father last night. She yawned and looked at the green-eyed cat, saying:

"Liuli, you were amazing yesterday! You skated super fast on the field without any protective gear. We were all so worried, but you didn’t fall once. You even skated from the dips in the field into the air and landed with a backflip. It was really cool!"

Kirimi Miyuki praised, saying:

"It was indeed very cool, and there was an unexpected surprise too."

"Last night, I showed the recorded footage to assistant sister. She said that Little Qing and Liuli each met the requirements for a task, which added 10 points to the team. Now, we’re only 90 points away from reaching the 100-point requirement!"

The lovely daughter blinked her eyes and said happily:

"Yesterday was our first trip to Vienna. I guess that counts as a good start."

"By the way, what task did Liuli and Little Qing complete?"

Kirimi Miyuki flipped through her phone and read aloud:

"Liuli’s task was to catch the attention of 50 passersby with a special skill and take a commemorative photo on site."

"The sister who borrowed your roller skates yesterday not only didn’t want money, but also insisted on giving Liuli 100 euros and asked for a group photo, right? There were quite a few people in the square that day, so it was just perfect for completing the task."

"According to Little Qing, she was approached dozens of times yesterday and received flowers every time, fulfilling a very broad task condition — to show her charm as an idol in any way."

After hearing this, Chu Yuanqing felt even more heartbroken; she didn’t want such strange charm at all.

Tang Liuli’s eyes were blank; ever since she heard the words "backflip," she couldn’t hear what everyone was saying. Her mind kept replaying the moment of flipping in the air, her vision swirling as if in a whirlpool, experiencing the rush of adrenaline and her hot, quick breaths.

The girl’s mind went blank, trembling shiveringly.

Whether it was skiing, ice skating, roller skating, surfing, skydiving, flying a plane, or free fighting…

All these activities, which demanded so much athletic skill and courage, were nothing but her acting to mimic professional instructors, using a method like pretending to trick herself, relying on an unreliable sense of connection, forcing herself to synchronize her mindset through sheer effort.

In a way, Tang Liuli learned so fast partly because she was a genius, and partly because if she didn’t learn quickly, her mind would have broken down.

So, while she knew these skills well and was very good at them, she was so scared that after leaving the training camp, she really didn’t dare to use them once, treating herself like a homebody, watching comics and playing games.

Yesterday, the roller-skating show-off after drinking was just her being carefree, relying on muscle memory and having fun; if she wasn’t careful, something could really go wrong.

The more Tang Liuli thought about it, the more scared she became. She could already imagine herself breaking a leg, causing the team to fall apart and withdraw, being laughed at by Little Sakura, looked down on by the golden retriever, viewed with disappointment by her lovely daughter, and finally abandoned by Honey Qing, spending a lonely and miserable life in the hospital, forgotten by everyone.

The green-eyed cat was very sad; she was trembling and almost turned into an abstract little cat bug. If Chu Yuanqing hadn’t pulled her arm just in time, she would have probably crawled under the table and rolled around wildly.

Chu Wang Shu watched this scene and hesitated,

"…She isn’t just now realizing she should be scared, right?"

Kirimi Miyuki took a sip of her coffee and said,

"Actually, when I saw her skating so happily yesterday, I thought she would wake up feeling this way."

Xie Qingxuan poked the soft body of the cat with her finger. Looking at its half-alive appearance, she thought for a moment and commented:

"Liuli, how interesting."

The lovely daughter said seriously:

"Sister Xie, you can’t treat Liuli like a toy."

Chu Yuanqing felt a bit helpless. She tenderly pulled Tang Liuli into her arms and stroked the child’s head. Looking at Tang Liuli, who became quiet and gentle after being comforted, she couldn’t help but think for a moment.

If Liuli really was her old friend, wouldn’t she also have had a similar personality in the past?

Chu Yuanqing paused. She couldn’t imagine how many strange disaster beasts would scare Liuli into a frightened little thing in that kind of end times, and how she would slowly begin to follow her, fighting against disasters and searching for humans.

For a moment, her heart stirred with inexplicable emotions.

The Pure White Witch suppressed the strange feeling of bitterness. She looked out the large window at the clear street scene in the sunlight and whispered to herself:

"It’s all in the past."

"At least, everyone is very happy now."