After hearing Xiao Xi’s somewhat forced explanation, Ye Xinglan’s expression turned icy cold.
“Merchandise? Are you sure those kinds of things would be listed on merchandise?”
Ye Xinglan’s cold words and breath struck Xiao Xi’s face like a blow.
She flipped through the photo album and showed one photo to Xiao Xi.
It was a group photo of several magical girls standing together, and on the back of the photo was a handwritten note.
“To A Xing: We must form a magical girl team that lasts a lifetime!”
“That ‘A Xing’ must be Eternal Star, right? Why does your family have a photo of [Eternal Star] and her teammates, and why is there a signature addressed to [Eternal Star] on the back?”
Xiao Xi broke out in a cold sweat.
She was done for; it looked like she had lost the bet—Ye Xinglan had already flipped through the entire album!
She still remembered that sentence was signed by Mu Xingge.
At the time, Mu Xingge was already a somewhat famous idol.
Who would have thought that the memories between companions would eventually become evidence that exposed her identity?
Ye Xinglan fixed her sharp gaze on Xiao Xi’s fair neck.
If Xiao Xi made even the slightest move of resistance, Ye Xinglan wouldn’t hesitate to bite down and drain all the magic power from her body.
Even if Xiao Xi was really Eternal Star, she wouldn’t have the strength to resist and would be at Ye Xinglan’s mercy.
For a moment, Xiao Xi even wanted to give up arguing. It wouldn’t matter if Ye Xinglan found out she really was Eternal Star.
Although she owed Ye Xinglan a debt of gratitude in more ways than one, Xiao Xi thought that as long as she explained herself properly, Ye Xinglan would understand.
Even if she didn’t, she wouldn’t really do anything to her, right?
Ye Xinglan wasn’t some monster or demon, and they had no deep grudges.
So maybe… she should just admit it?
But in Ye Xinglan’s heart, she had already made up her mind. If Xiao Xi really was Eternal Star, then of course… she wouldn’t do anything for now. No, she wouldn’t do anything for the time being.
Ye Xinglan didn’t want to blow her own cover right then and there.
After all, the enemy was clear while she was hidden.
Xiao Xi didn’t know her identity, so once she confirmed Xiao Xi was Eternal Star, all she had to do was pretend nothing had happened.
Then, when Xiao Xi fell asleep or let her guard down, she would strike… But just killing Eternal Star outright was too easy on her.
Ye Xinglan felt she had to at least tie Xiao Xi up in the room for ten days or half a month and torture her properly before doing anything else.
Come to think of it, she hadn’t really tasted Eternal Star’s magic power yet.
Surely the strongest magical girl’s power would be somewhat special?
This time, she had to drain Xiao Xi a few times and savor it before making any moves.
Staring at Xiao Xi’s delicate collarbone, Ye Xinglan instinctively licked her lips. “Don’t worry, just tell me the truth. Even if you really are [Eternal Star], I won’t do anything to you. I’m just curious.”
“We’ve been living together for so long. Don’t you know what kind of person I am by now?”
Xiao Xi swallowed nervously. Ye Xinglan’s actions just now were really strange! It felt like if she admitted it, Ye Xinglan would drain her completely dry!
Ye Xinglan wouldn’t really be planning to have her repay the ‘Peach Blossom debt’ with her body, right?
Xiao Xi tentatively spoke, “So, should I tell the truth?”
“Mm-hmm, go ahead.”
Xiao Xi sighed and took on a helpless attitude. “Looks like I can’t hide it anymore. Actually, I’m a fan of [Eternal Star].”
In Ye Xinglan’s eyes, a flash of intolerable murderous intent flickered.
“Wait, hear me out! All those things were gifts from [Eternal Star] herself!”
“[Eternal Star] has tons of fans. Why would she give you things?”
“That’s because my fan status is kind of special—I’m her… original fan. I’ve known her for a long time!”
Xiao Xi recalled the conversation Su Ying had with her before work today and suddenly came up with a clever explanation to fool Ye Xinglan.
“I’m not a local of Xianghai City. My hometown is the neighboring Beihua City. Didn’t the rental contract have my personal information on it?”
“And [Eternal Star] first started her activities in Beihua City, you know?”
Ye Xinglan squinted. “Doesn’t that just prove you really are [Eternal Star]?”
“No, no, no. What I mean is that [Eternal Star] started out in Beihua City, and I happen to be from Beihua City. I met her very early on!”
“During the Great Chaos Period, there were often monster attacks in the city, right? My family was hit a few times, and each time, [Eternal Star] appeared to save me.”
“After she saved me several times, we got to know each other. That was when she just started her activities and didn’t have many fans, so she easily remembered me.”
“If you don’t believe me, you can look up news reports from the Great Chaos Period with my home address. You’ll find what I said matches perfectly!”
Although Ye Xinglan’s eyes were still full of suspicion, she listened patiently as Xiao Xi spoke so confidently and temporarily released her from the bed.
“Then what about those things in your cabinet?”
“They’re all gifts from [Eternal Star]. She occasionally gives me things with special meaning because I’ve been a fan for so long and we know each other. Other fans definitely don’t get that kind of treatment.”
“Xinglan, I didn’t mean to hide it from you. It’s just that you seem to really dislike [Eternal Star], so I didn’t tell you about knowing her. Sorry about that…”
Xiao Xi put on an apologetic expression, unafraid that Ye Xinglan might check.
A good lie is always half-truth and half-false so it can’t be easily exposed.
Although in reality, whenever there was a monster attack on their home, she’d just transform somewhere no one could see and come back to save the day, you can’t deny that [Eternal Star] had appeared near her home!
“Your explanation is plausible, but just because it makes sense doesn’t mean it’s true.”
Ye Xinglan crossed her arms. Xiao Xi’s logic was clear, but her own suspicion was just as logically consistent.
She couldn’t believe Xiao Xi’s words based on that alone.
“Uh…”
Xiao Xi racked her brains. What other ironclad evidence did she have to prove she wasn’t [Eternal Star]? Got it!
“Hey, Xinglan, look at this!”
A flash of inspiration hit Xiao Xi, and she immediately opened the Pineapple Novel app on her phone.
“Look, this is something I wrote before. Do you remember it?”
Ye Xinglan had seen the little royal fanfics Xiao Xi wrote before. She glanced at them and immediately recognized them.
“See? How could [Eternal Star] write something like this, right?”
“[Eternal Star] isn’t a pervert. There’s no way she’d do something so dirty as secretly writing fanfiction about her former teammates.”
Ye Xinglan nodded thoughtfully. Xiao Xi’s words made sense.
As the Blood Moon Witch, Ye Xinglan knew better than anyone the kind of people those magical girls were—always going on about love, magic, justice, and the like. Especially [Eternal Star].
It was hard to imagine someone like [Eternal Star] secretly writing fanfic about her teammates.
“True. If [Eternal Star] really did that behind everyone’s backs, that would be pretty shameless… Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you.”
“You can write whatever you want. What I mean is that if [Eternal Star] did something like that, she’d be the real pervert, you know?”
“It feels like the kind of person who pretends to be bright and righteous on the surface but is dark and twisted underneath would do something like that… Hey, Xiao Xi, why does your face suddenly look so bad?”