Chapter 48: About My Brother Turning Into a Loli

Ah, Halloween—the traditional Western holiday.

Every household would decorate their homes to look the part, and people would dress up as ghosts and monsters to go trick-or-treating for candy.

That was how it worked in the West. Here with Wuming, the festive spirit wasn’t nearly as strong.

After all, Easterners didn’t really celebrate foreign holidays. 

At most they’d do something symbolic.

That was exactly Wuming’s attitude.

After Serena’s decorating spree the night before, the house had undergone a massive transformation. 

Wuming had also taken one of the jack-o’-lanterns, filled it with candy, and brought it downstairs to greet the patients.

Even though he wanted to soak in the Halloween atmosphere today, work still had to be done. He would spend the whole afternoon listening to his patients’ troubles.

Wuming was actually looking forward to it.

Because one of today’s visitors was the hostage who had been taken during the incident—the blood clan loli named Bo Qinyue.

That person had left a very strange impression on him.

She kept saying weird things like “I’m actually a guy,” yet she was clearly just a loli girl.

Wuming was extremely curious about her, which was why he was so eager. 

He had scheduled her as the last appointment of the day, so once he was finished he could head upstairs and spend time with Serena.

More accurately… he would be played with by Serena.

He still remembered the deal they had made last night: he had to serve Serena for an entire day.

She had already gotten a taste of it that morning—making him stay in bed and not get up, bringing her blood bags to drink, and basically everything short of brushing her teeth and washing her face had to be done by Wuming personally.

That was what happened when you lost, after all.

From noon until afternoon, Wuming stayed busy in his clinic, listening to one patient after another and their various problems, until finally the last one arrived.

That loli!

And then—Wuming was left dumbfounded.

Inside the clinic, two guys sat facing each other. The loli consultation scene Wuming had been imagining never happened.

Disappointing…

Why did he have to be the one who showed up?!

Wuming felt a huge wave of confusion. 

Yesterday’s messages hadn’t specified who was coming, but he had subconsciously assumed it would be that blood clan loli.

Instead it turned out to be him!

After going through something like that, she was bound to have some kind of psychological trauma, right? 

She definitely needed counseling, right?!

“Doctor Wuming?”

Lu Muzhe was the one who spoke first, pulling Wuming’s attention back.

“You look… rather disappointed. Did something happen, Doctor?”

“N-no… it’s nothing…”

Wuming scratched his head. He could hardly say he was disappointed because it wasn’t the loli who had come.

“I didn’t expect it to be you. I thought the girl would be the one coming for a session.”

“You’re very concerned about her, Doctor Wuming.”

“Of course. After something like that, it would be troublesome if she ended up with psychological scars.”

Wuming was worried she might have developed some trauma from the incident, so he wanted to see her—not just out of curiosity, but to help her process it.

“She’s a strong person. Even after something like that, she’s still the same.”

Lu Muzhe sounded completely certain. Whenever Bo Qinyue had anything bothering her, she would come to him first. He was basically her “personal psychologist.”

“Drink some alcohol, vent everything out, and the next day she’s back to being cheerful like nothing happened. That’s the Bo Qinyue I know.”

So that girl drinks just like me…

And from the way he talked, the two of them really seemed like close buddies.

“If she’s fine, then I can relax.”

Wuming looked at him. Since Bo Qinyue was all right, it was time to focus on the person in front of him—Lu Muzhe.

“So what did you want to talk about?”

“What’s on your mind?”

Wuming asked directly. 

He had no idea why this handsome guy had come to see him. It couldn’t be just a simple thank-you, right?

“My problem…”

Then Wuming watched Lu Muzhe cover his face with both hands and slump back in the chair. 

Whatever it was, it clearly troubled him a lot.

“My problem… is her.”

Wuming’s eyebrow rose. 

It wasn’t hard to guess he was talking about Bo Qinyue, but he was curious what exactly the issue was.

Could it be a romance problem?

That was the first thing that came to Wuming’s mind.

“Is it… a love issue?”

“It is, but not entirely.” 

Lu Muzhe gave a vague answer. There was a little bit of romance involved, but mostly it was…

“My problem is… how I’m supposed to live with her…”

“—?” Wuming looked at him in confusion, signaling for Lu Muzhe to continue and explain what was bothering him.

“What I’m about to say might sound unbelievable, Doctor Wuming, but it’s something that actually happened.”

“…Go on.”

At this point Wuming still didn’t realize how serious the situation was.

“She—he—was my brother. My childhood friend, the buddy I grew up playing with.”

“A year ago he died in a car accident, but a while back he suddenly reappeared in front of me looking like that. It feels like I bear some responsibility for how he ended up that way, but the real problem now is how I’m supposed to face her…”

“…”

Most people hearing something like this would jump up in shock and demand the full story.

But Wuming was already frozen in place, stunned.

Those few short sentences had completely shattered his worldview. 

He even wondered if Lu Muzhe was just joking with him.

After all, today was Halloween. Saying something so ridiculous would definitely sound like a prank, right?

“Is this… some kind of Halloween joke?”

“If that’s what you think, then go ahead and treat it as one, Doctor Wuming.”

Lu Muzhe had clearly expected this reaction. 

Something like dying and then coming back as a loli was the kind of thing no one would believe.

It was way more outrageous than anything Wuming had experienced.

“You’re… telling the truth?”

“Aren’t you a psychologist? You should be able to tell whether I’m lying or not.”

Wuming stared into Lu Muzhe’s eyes. He couldn’t detect any signs of deception. 

What he said was most likely true.

“Incredible…”

The words slipped out of Wuming’s mouth before he could stop them. 

The whole story had completely rewritten his understanding of the world.

Stay calm…

Right now he should focus on what Lu Muzhe actually wanted to consult about.

“So what exactly are you hoping to discuss…”

“What should my relationship with Bo Qinyue be like now?”

That was the question that had been tormenting Lu Muzhe lately. 

He was happy Bo Qinyue had come back, but the problem was that Bo Qinyue looked completely different from before.

He used to be a handsome young guy, a buddy he could talk to about anything. 

Now he had turned into an adorable loli who was even staying at his house. It made the distance between them feel incredibly awkward.

No matter how you looked at it, Bo Qinyue was now the opposite sex. Shouldn’t he keep some distance?

“Should I keep treating him like my old brother, or… should I treat him—her—as the opposite sex?”

“What do you think, Doctor Wuming?”

“…”

Even though the whole situation left Wuming stunned, the question Lu Muzhe asked was actually a very good one.

How to treat a brother who had become the opposite sex.

“How does Bo Qinyue see you?”

Wuming asked him.

“She still acts exactly like before, treating me the same way she did when we were brothers. At most she just jokes around using her current identity.”

“So she doesn’t have any romantic feelings or anything like wanting to be my girlfriend.”

The very image made Lu Muzhe’s skin crawl. Kissing his former best buddy or anything like that was completely impossible!

He had already tried it in practice!

“And what about you? How do you see her?”

This time Wuming asked for Lu Muzhe’s own feelings toward Bo Qinyue.

“I see her the same way she sees me. I still treat her like a brother.”

“Then it’s pretty clear.”

After listening to how each of them viewed the other, Wuming reached a conclusion. It was actually quite simple—just go with the flow.

“It’s obvious you both still see each other as brothers. If that’s the case, then just keep going like that.”

“But he’s turned into a girl now…”

“So what?” Wuming shrugged, looking completely unbothered. 

He didn’t think it affected their relationship at all.

“Does turning into a girl ruin your friendship? You two still treat each other like brothers, right?”

“So my advice is to set aside any preconceptions about the opposite sex and just keep being good brothers.”

“If one of you ever starts having different feelings or wants to change the status quo, you can come see me again then.”

“For now, just follow how you feel.”

Wuming gave what sounded like perfectly reasonable advice. 

Lu Muzhe’s current dilemma was simply how to interact with a brother who had become the opposite sex. 

The solution was straightforward.

Since neither of them had broken through that final layer, maintaining the status quo was best.

“Follow how I feel…”

Lu Muzhe looked thoughtful. 

It seemed he had taken Wuming’s words to heart and was considering how to keep getting along with Bo Qinyue.

After all, no one wanted their best buddy to end up marrying them, right?

That was impossible, right?

“I understand, Doctor Wuming. I’ll try to keep treating her the way you suggested.”

“Glad I could help…”

Wuming still really wanted to ask how exactly Bo Qinyue had ended up like that, but it was the other party’s private matter. 

He probably shouldn’t pry too deeply.

“Is there anything else I can help you with, Brother Lu Muzhe?” Wuming asked.

“That’s all. Right now this is the only thing bothering me. Everything else… we can handle.”

“This is your story, Wuming.”

Lu Muzhe suddenly said something very strange, leaving Wuming staring at him in confusion.

“—???”

“Sorry, I got a little cryptic there, Doctor Wuming.”

Lu Muzhe stood up. 

There was still plenty of time left in the session, but he clearly had no intention of staying until the end.

“You’re leaving already?”

“My issue has been resolved, Doctor Wuming. There’s no need for me to stay any longer.”

Wuming watched as Lu Muzhe reached into his pocket, pulled something out, and placed it on the table.

From the sound it made, it seemed to be a coin.

“As payment, I’d like to use this. I hope that’s all right.”

Under Wuming’s puzzled gaze, Lu Muzhe lifted his hand.

And there on the table lay a gold coin engraved with a tower, resting quietly.