“I-I know… I’ll tell the truth…”
Due to the saliva in her mouth, Shiye’s speech was still a bit slurred. She took a moment to compose herself before speaking.
“It… it was the teacher who told me…”
This wasn’t exactly a lie. After all, both Shiye and Xueli were her; she could naturally tell herself.
“The teacher? You mean Teacher Shiye?”
Huang Xiaoyi raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing her. Then, as if suddenly realizing something, her brows knitted together slightly.
“…Wait. Assuming you’re telling the truth, for the teacher to give you such important information… doesn’t that mean…”
“Are you on very good terms with her?”
Her tone was exceptionally cold. The killing intent that had surfaced when the two of them first spoke last night flared up once more.
Huang Xiaoyi already had a bad impression of Shiye. Adding to that the incident from earlier that afternoon, she was full of hostility toward her. Anyone associated with the teacher would be viewed as an enemy.
If Xueli and Shiye were close…
Her gaze swept over the cute, delicate face. The chill in her eyes made Shiye shiver.
‘Then I’ll have to punish her thoroughly…’
The surrounding tentacles grew restless, like a pack of wolves catching the scent of blood.
Huang Xiaoyi was a perfectionist; she didn’t allow anyone else’s traces to remain on her materials or her works.
If it were any ordinary material, she would just discard it. But Xueli was a rare find. She couldn’t give up on her. In that case, she had to completely erase every trace of Shiye from her body…
“Ugh…”
Although she didn’t know what Huang Xiaoyi was thinking, Shiye could tell by her eyes that if she didn’t say something soon, she would be finely minced into meat. Thus, she immediately distanced herself from “Shiye.”
“I’m not! Me and Shiye… Me and that person…”
“— We’re enemies!”
‘I’m sorry, other me. To survive, I have to cut ties with you.’
Also, even though she referred to the teacher as “that person,” Xueli was actually a good student. Really.
As expected, those words had an effect. Huang Xiaoyi snapped out of her terrifying state. She stopped the tentacle that had been hovering behind Shiye’s neck.
“Oh?”
“That’s right! That person and I are irreconcilable!”
Shiye repeated herself to clarify her stance. Then, she began to recount the lie she had woven in just two seconds.
“…Actually, Shiye and I knew each other before. At first, she pretended to be gentle and kind. I was fooled by her disguise and became her student. But I never expected…”
As if remembering something terrifying, the little cherry dragon hunched her shoulders and began to tremble.
“I never expected that Shiye would quickly stop acting! She’s actually a total super-sadist! She gets so much pleasure from seeing others submit and beg for mercy, and I was one of her targets! Ugh…!”
‘Actor’s self-cultivation, activate!’
A single tear rolled down the corner of her eye.
“She always made such excessive demands of me. If I didn’t comply, I’d suffer terrible punishments, just like Susu! I wanted to run away, but I couldn’t. I could only pretend to be obedient while secretly looking for a way to resist that monster! So…”
“So you found us after hearing that news.”
Huang Xiaoyi finished the sentence. Even though Shiye hadn’t finished, she already understood everything.
This was the tragic, stirring story of a poor little cherry dragon being targeted by a demonic teacher and constantly fighting back. Now, the story had reached a turning point.
The little cherry dragon had finally found teammates in the darkness who shared her plight, along with a powerful ally—Huang Xiaoyi.
Meaning, herself.
“T-that’s right.” The little cherry dragon sniffled. “Um… can you let me down before we talk more? My head is dizzy, and my tail is really sore…”
‘I’m about to lose the battle to keep my panties covered…’
Huang Xiaoyi nodded and snapped her fingers. The world finally stopped being anti-gravity. With a soft *thud*, Shiye landed in a chair constructed of tentacles.
The tentacles were very soft, like falling onto a waterbed. Shiye tried to scramble out by grabbing the sides, but the entire chair was shaped like a funnel—much like a Venus flytrap. Both sides were incredibly slick, leaving her with no leverage at all.
In the end, the girl could only remain seated with her bottom sunk into the deepest part and her two small, pale-white feet—wrapped in jade-white silk stockings—pointed high in the air. She looked quite disheveled… and a bit suggestive.
Shiye knew this was a sign that Huang Xiaoyi was still wary of her. She was leaving her nowhere to run; if there were any loopholes in her story, the girl could be restrained again instantly.
Of course, it was also possible she was just being a creep.
“Speak.”
Huang Xiaoyi leaned against the bookshelf, looking her up and down as if admiring a piece of art. She made no attempt to hide the desire for possession in her eyes.
‘She’s definitely just being a creep.’
Shiye took two more mouthfuls of her noodles and said softly, “It’s as you said, Xiaoyi. Once I heard the news, I felt it was an opportunity. I searched everywhere for your whereabouts, which is why that ‘chance encounter’ at the arcade happened.”
Huang Xiaoyi rested her chin on her hand.
‘As I thought, that meeting wasn’t an accident. Xueli approached us with a purpose. It’s exactly as I suspected.’
Everything clicked. Everything lined up.
‘Hmph, as expected of me…’
With her suspicions confirmed, Huang Xiaoyi was in a good mood. She gave a slight nod, signaling for Shiye to continue.
Shiye clutched the hem of her skirt with both hands, pulling her uniform skirt down to cover her knees.
“I asked the teacher about the Elder Sign after that. She still trusts me well enough, so she told me directly… Simply put, that Elder Sign only works on you, Susu, and your kin. It has no effect on other races.”
“I see…”
Huang Xiaoyi recalled the beautiful white-haired woman who had suddenly appeared in her class yesterday. That woman hadn’t been affected at all. This served as evidence for Xueli’s words; she wasn’t lying.
At this point, she basically believed Xueli. She spread her hands and asked, “Then how did you steal the Elder Sign?”
Shiye lifted her small face, looking quite proud.
“That was easy! After all, she doesn’t keep the Elder Sign on her person at all times.”
That was a lie.
“So I swiped it while she was eating. A student named Tu Xiaoyan happened to be visiting at the time. If she suspects anyone, the teacher will only suspect that suspicious student who suddenly showed up. She won’t suspect me, since I’ve always been so submissive. Hmph!”
The little girl put her hands on her hips, her expression practically screaming, “How’s that? Aren’t I amazing? Hurry up and praise me!”
“Well done.”
Huang Xiaoyi knew Tu Xiaoyan; they didn’t get along. She was more than happy to see Tu Xiaoyan and Shiye at odds.
To show her approval, she reached out and patted Xueli’s head. The little cherry dragon obediently nuzzled her palm.
However, when her fingertips drifted near the dragon horns, Xueli pulled her neck back and moved her head away from the girl’s hand.
“Hmm…?”
Huang Xiaoyi’s hand remained suspended in midair. Her triangular pupils fixed on the girl, and the corners of her mouth dipped slightly.
Shiye covered her horns with both hands and quickly explained, “It’s because my horns are still developing, so they’re very sensitive. It feels really uncomfortable when people touch them…”
“Has Shiye touched them?” Huang Xiaoyi pressed.
“Huh? N-no…” Shiye responded weakly.
Her tone and the way she instinctively averted her gaze led the blonde girl to believe the little cherry dragon was lying.
She was quite confident in her own judgment and didn’t think she could be wrong.
‘I see. So Shiye has touched them…’
‘As I thought…’
Even though Xueli’s heart was with her, traces of that woman still remained on her body.
‘I have to erase every single one of them.’
‘Only then, Xueli, can you become…’
‘— The perfect material.’