The night was deep.
The campfire’s light had dimmed, and a profound silence enveloped the world.
Yuxia quietly watched Lu Mo’s figure rise and fall, her expression gradually growing calm.
Her previously agitated heart seemed to settle in this tranquility.
She watched Lu Mo’s back, no longer making a fuss.
Not much time passed before Lu Mo had practiced enough.
She sheathed her sword, found a relatively clean patch of ground, and was about to sit down to rest.
Just as she was about to rest, she immediately heard the sound of bells again.
When she turned her head, Yuxia had already, at some point, bounced over to her side and sat down with an air of familiarity.
Should I just go back now?
Lu Mo thought.
But in the end, she didn’t leave. She just continued sitting there.
She silently wiped her sword, saying nothing.
Yuxia watched her, also saying nothing.
The two seemed to be competing over who could endure longer.
But after only a few minutes, Yuxia couldn’t hold back anymore.
“Mo, I’m sitting right next to you, can’t you say something?”
“Like, ask me how my sword is, or if my clothes today match my swordsmanship… You could even just smile!” she said, somewhat huffily.
“Hmm.”
Lu Mo turned her head to look at her and spoke up, “Then, do you think my clothes today match my swordsmanship?”
Yuxia was left speechless by Lu Mo.
Is this girl so lazy she can’t even think of her own words and just parrots what I said?
“I guess they match.”
She conceded defeat to Lu Mo, answering this time.
Lu Mo was good at everything—pretty, taller than her, with a good figure too.
So she looked good practicing swordplay in anything.
The pity was, this girl seemed to have a bit of a poker face; she simply didn’t smile.
Or rather, she only showed a smile to one specific person.
That person was Cecilia.
Yuxia sighed at this point and said, “Forget it, forget it, I won’t ask you to say anything. It’s better if you don’t talk; when you do, it just makes people more annoyed… As for smiling, you probably only smile in front of Cecilia, right?”
Over the years, Yuxia had gotten somewhat used to it.
Lu Mo was icy to everyone.
When she looked at anyone, it seemed as if a layer of ice was frozen deep in her pupils.
Those people’s figures were blurred in her eyes.
Only when Cecilia suddenly burst into her view would that layer of ice melt.
Then, the girl’s clear figure would be reflected in her eyes.
“So, what exactly is your relationship with Cecilia?” Yuxia asked, somewhat curious.
The two were just too close.
So close that Solaris had absolutely no room to intervene.
Some people liked to secretly joke and call Solaris the “Useless Hero.”
They also felt the relationship between the two seemed quite unusual.
“It’s the relationship between a knight and a saintess, and also friends,” Lu Mo answered.
“Really? I don’t believe it,” Yuxia pouted.
“I’ve known her since we were very young,” Lu Mo added.
“Then are we friends?” Yuxia asked.
“Hmm… I suppose so,” Lu Mo replied.
“Then in a way, haven’t we known each other for a long time too?” Yuxia asked again.
“I guess so.”
“Since that’s the case—you say you and Cecilia are just friends, but why are you so good to her and so cold to me? You won’t even admit what you did to me when you were sixteen!!!”
Yuxia’s voice suddenly became agitated.
The way you’re talking makes it sound like I took something very important from you when I was sixteen.
Lu Mo inwardly complained.
She quickly answered Yuxia’s question: “Because you’re different from her.”
The answer was too blunt.
Yuxia felt like she had punched cotton.
That’s just outright admitting to favoritism.
The twin-tailed girl was both angry and amused at this moment. “That sentence of yours is pretty hurtful, you know?”
“Why are you so good to her? What’s different about her compared to me?” she continued on her own. “Is it because she happens to be your type? Pure? Gentle? Or because she’s the saintess?”
“I can be pure too—look, twin tails, petite, barefoot, and it’s all legal.”
As she spoke, Yuxia grabbed her twin tails and acted cute towards Lu Mo. “Lu Mo, sis, as long as you admit you’re Mo, Yuxia will listen to whatever you say, okay?~ Whether it’s a maid, a saintess, or a succubus, Yuxia can dress up as anything for you~”
Her expression was pitiful and truly had a touch of innocence to it.
But Lu Mo knew that beneath the twin-tailed girl’s skin was actually a tyrannosaurus.
“You’re different from her, but it doesn’t have much to do with purity either…” Lu Mo murmured.
“Then why?” Yuxia let go of her tails and asked.
“Because you’re not wearing white thigh-highs,” Lu Mo casually quipped.
“???”
Yuxia was stunned.
Because she wasn’t wearing white thigh-highs?
Does this Mo girl have some strange fetish?
“Just kidding, don’t take it seriously.”
Lu Mo quickly added, “You’re different from her because you’re a genius, and Cecilia… is actually a fool.”
At this moment, a trace of genuine emotion seemed to surface in her:
“She’s someone who gets fooled very easily. She cares about others too easily, forgetting herself.
Even though she’s the one who gets hurt the most, she still worries about others first.
Even though her own fate is frighteningly heavy, she still smiles foolishly at others, wanting to make their fates better.
She’s also stubborn. Once she decides on something or someone, no matter how dangerous it is, she’ll follow them all the way to the end.
Even if she knows full well that ahead might be a dead end, an abyss.”
When talking about Cecilia, Yuxia clearly felt that Lu Mo’s words became more numerous.
Lu Mo’s expression also softened considerably.
The ice in her eyes melted a little.
During this, Yuxia didn’t interrupt her, nor did she get angry. She just listened quietly.
“Because she’s a fool, I can’t bully her.
And I can’t… let anything take her away.”
Lu Mo said finally.
Yuxia felt the firmness in Lu Mo’s tone.
And the faintly released, sword-like aura when she uttered the last sentence.
Sharp, extreme, and unyielding.
Just like the sword that struck her down when she was sixteen.
“If only I were a fool too,” she suddenly spoke up. “Then, if I wanted you to admit you’re Mo, you’d have to admit it! If I wanted you to fight me, you’d have to fight me!”
The conversation seemed to be getting stranger and stranger.
“If I wanted you to kneel at my feet and kiss the back of my foot, you’d have to—”
“Stop, stop!”
“Thank goodness you’re not a fool,” Lu Mo said.
Yuxia was momentarily stunned.
Then, she also smiled and said, “Yeah, I’m not a fool. So—that kind of sword is destined to be swung for Cecilia’s sake, right?”
And Lu Mo would never treat her the way she treated Cecilia.
Lu Mo said she was a genius, not a fool.
So, should she laugh or feel helpless?
But… she also knew Lu Mo was Mo, and Lu Mo stubbornly refused to admit it. That was still really frustrating!
It was so hard to finally see Mo at the Saint-Demon Wall and journey this far together.
Who knew if, after the Demon King War ended, Mo might suddenly run away again, to a place where she could never be found.
If that happened, wouldn’t all her chasing over these years be for nothing?
“Mo, how about this? Let’s each take a step back, okay?”
Yuxia looked at Lu Mo. “From now on, I won’t pester you every single day. But after the Demon King War is over, if we both survive, Mo, have a match with me, okay?”
Who’s going to admit they’re Mo!
And why does that sound like setting up a flag? It’s best not to set flags randomly…
Lu Mo instinctively complained in her heart.
“So, you mean… you’re not refusing?” Yuxia suddenly spoke up.
This time, it seemed Yuxia had truly found a loophole.
Before Lu Mo could react, she felt her hand being forcibly grabbed by the twin-tailed girl.
Yuxia pried open Lu Mo’s pinky finger and forcefully made a pinky promise with her.
“Pinky promise, a hundred years, no changing! Whoever goes back on their word is a puppy!”
“Wait, I haven’t—”
Before Lu Mo could finish, Yuxia had already dropped her hand and started jogging back towards the camp.
She turned her head, made a face at Lu Mo, her twin tails swaying, her expression carrying a hint of smugness.
“Trash Mo is so useless. It’s too late to back out now! Okay, I have a mission tomorrow, so I’m running ahead!”
She said this, quickly turned around, and her figure disappeared into the darkness.
Only the bells tied to her feet went ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling.
Yuxia was just that kind of impulsive girl.
Arriving like a gust of wind.
Leaving like a gust of wind.
The clear sound of bells always accompanied her, finally fading into the night.
“White thigh-highs, white thigh-highs…”
“Should I try wearing a pair next time I see Mo?”
“Does she like over-the-knee ones or pantyhose? Thin or thick?”
“Would Mo think I wore them specifically for her to see?”
“But, wouldn’t it be weird if I wore them?”
On the way back, Yuxia kept muttering to herself.
Thinking about it, she actually felt a bit shy, her little face starting to feel warm.
“Whatever, after finishing tomorrow’s business, I’ll just try it…”
Outside the camp.
“Is the name ‘Mo’ really that important to you?”
Lu Mo watched the spot where Yuxia disappeared for a while longer, then finally smiled helplessly.
No one answered her.
She spoke softly to the darkness once more:
“Anyway, I wish you success on your mission.”