Chapter 48: Emptiness

Exhausted physically and mentally, she had only one feeling:

Emptiness, an emptiness so profound that she felt she needed to soak goji berries from a thermos and gnaw on ginseng like fruit.

If she could, Tunzuo really didn’t want to open her eyes.

Right now, she had only one thought: get a good night’s sleep and recharge her energy.

Whatever happened, it could wait until she woke up.

The hollow sensation of her magic being almost completely drained left Tunzuo unable to muster any enthusiasm for anything.

She lay motionless in bed, unable to move.

Her weary body felt as heavy as if it were filled with lead.

Every time she turned over, she had to take several weak breaths before she could recover.

Tunzuo originally thought that a good sleep would solve everything, but unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned.

There were always little surprises that messed up her plans.

Lying in bed with her eyes closed, Tunzuo could clearly sense two surges of magic colliding with each other nearby, stirring up chaotic magical fluctuations in the room.

This made her restless and unable to fall asleep peacefully.

Of the two surges of magic, one was as scorching as the blazing sun.

The vibrant life force it contained pulsed like a beating heart, constantly asserting its presence.

Domineering, ostentatious, possessing an unquestionable dominance—who else could it be but Olivia’s perverted Golden Dragon?

The other surge of magic was as cold as a shadow, giving Tunzuo a faint sense of familiarity.

That magic seemed to share the same origin as her own shadow magic, but it carried an additional aura of mystery and unfathomability.

Deep and dark, like an abyss at the edge of the universe, it was difficult to glimpse its entirety.

The two forces clashed and collided in the air.

Though no real conflict erupted, the escalating pressure made the atmosphere in the room increasingly tense, as if the air itself had solidified.

Tunzuo didn’t want to deal with any of it.

With her magic overused, she just wanted to rest.

So she turned over, pulled the covers over her head, and tried to completely ignore the collision of the two magics, continuing to sleep.

But unfortunately, the more Tunzuo ignored it, the more intense the clash between the two forces became, showing no signs of stopping or weakening.

Olivia’s scorching magic grew more and more volatile, as if it might explode at any moment.

Meanwhile, the icy cold magic remained incredibly steady, like a bottomless ocean abyss, absorbing all of Olivia’s impacts.

The two completely different types of magic surged back and forth across the room, gradually forming tangible shockwaves that rattled Tunzuo’s bed with a creaking sound.

“Mm…”

The noise made Tunzuo frown in irritation.

She pulled the pillow out from under her head and pressed it over her face, trying to plug her ears and pretend the interference didn’t exist.

But the clash of magic seemed to act directly on her soul, impossible to ignore.

With no other choice, utterly disturbed and with no way out, Tunzuo had to open her eyes.

The glaring light made her momentarily dazed, her vision blurry.

After a while, it gradually focused.

Tunzuo opened her mouth and spoke in a voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible, complaining about the two bad guys who wouldn’t let her sleep.

“Is it really that hard… who is it… how is it so hard to get a peaceful sleep…”

Although Tunzuo’s tone was weak, the nine parts of annoyance in her words were extremely obvious.

The moment Tunzuo’s complaint-laden words left her mouth, the two magics that had been clashing instantly disappeared, as if the conflict had been a joke.

The scorching power quickly withdrew, and the icy aura fell silent.

Tunzuo’s room finally returned to long-lost peace.

Tunzuo weakly lifted her arm and used her forearm to shield her eyes from the harsh light on the ceiling.

She let out a long, heavy sigh, thinking, ‘Finally, quiet.’

But before Tunzuo could enjoy the hard-won peace, she heard a rapid tap tap tap of footsteps.

Then, a slightly hurried voice sounded in her ears, filled with worry and anxiety.

“Little Ghost! Are you alright?!”

It was Olivia’s voice.

Tunzuo moved her arm slightly away from her eyes, half-opened one eye, and followed the sound with a tired gaze.

She saw Olivia standing by the bed, her handsome face now full of concern and tension.

Her bright golden vertical pupils stared intently at Tunzuo, scanning her from head to toe to confirm she was safe and sound.

Behind Olivia, the two little ones, Sally and Huli, also poked their heads out, looking worriedly at Tunzuo, their small faces filled with unease.

Seeing Tunzuo’s exhausted little face, Olivia unconsciously curled the corners of her mouth into a reassuring smile, exhaled, and let her tense nerves relax a little.

When she heard Tunzuo say that, Olivia was startled at first, then let out a breath.

“Still able to complain, still remember to hate me—looks like Little Ghost is fine.”

Seeing Olivia, for some reason, a wave of grievance welled up in Tunzuo’s heart.

She opened her mouth and whispered resentfully to Olivia in a weak voice:

“Olivia… you disturbed my sleep… I hate you…”

Tunzuo’s gaze didn’t linger on Olivia for long.

She slightly turned her head, her eyes passing over Olivia’s shoulder, landing on the unfamiliar figure standing beside her.

It was a skeleton gentleman wearing a sharply tailored black suit.

White and slender bones, an elegant gentlemanly air, a skull with a missing piece burning with ghostly blue flames, and two flickering points of ghost fire in the dark eye sockets.

The skeleton gentleman’s somewhat too unique appearance left Tunzuo momentarily dazed.

Tunzuo blinked, confirming that the skeleton gentleman in front of her wasn’t an illusion before speaking with confusion:

“Is this… really a unique-looking skeleton? Where did it come from? Don’t tell me Olivia brought it here to scare me? If so, I’m really getting mad!”

As soon as she said that, the atmosphere in the room became tense again.

Olivia’s just-relaxed nerves tightened once more.

She clenched her fists, gathering power, and her magic began to circulate frantically.

Her fierce gaze locked onto the skeleton gentleman beside her, ready to attack at any moment.

The fact that Tunzuo didn’t recognize the skeleton gentleman raised its danger level dramatically.

Olivia had already made up her mind: if this skeleton beside her dared to make any move, she would make it understand the fury of a dragon.

However, the skeleton gentleman didn’t show any panic at Tunzuo’s lack of recognition, clearly having expected it.

The skeleton gentleman bowed slightly, giving Tunzuo a standard gentleman’s bow, his movements elegant and composed, like a well-trained butler.

“My apologies for not greeting you sooner, Young Master. I am a familiar you summoned.”

The skeleton gentleman’s voice was low and hoarse, with a peculiar rhythmic quality when he spoke.

Though somewhat eerie, it gave Tunzuo a strange sense of reassurance.

“You may call me Yuge, your servant, always ready to serve you.”

“Yuge?”

Tunzuo frowned, trying to recall everything that had happened when she summoned her familiar.

‘No, that’s not right. I remember summoning a bunch of weird rainbow-colored bubbles and mist, didn’t I? How did it turn into a skeleton now? Who swapped my goods? Or did I misremember?’

So Tunzuo opened her mouth to ask, trying to figure out what was going on.

“But I remember I summoned…”

Before Tunzuo could finish, Yuge interrupted her, continuing in a calm voice:

“What you remember as rainbow-colored bubbles and mist were just my entrance effects, Young Master.”

There was a hint of barely concealed amusement in Yuge’s voice, as if the explanation itself was hard for him to keep a straight face.

“If you don’t believe me, you can confirm my identity through the familiar contract.”

Entrance effects?

Yuge’s explanation made Tunzuo’s lips twitch, and she launched a fierce mental tirade.

‘Not to mention the authenticity of your so-called entrance effects, but for argument’s sake, you sucked up all my magic just to put on a flashy entrance? How about considering my feelings?!’

But the priority was to confirm Yuge’s identity as a familiar, so Tunzuo temporarily chose not to get angry at him.

Tunzuo closed her eyes, sinking her consciousness into her magic circuits.

No surprise there.

When her awareness sank into the circuits, she could clearly perceive an invisible chain of magic connecting her and Yuge.

That chain was wrapped in pitch-black shadow magic, tightly linking Tunzuo and Yuge together, forming a symbiotic relationship.

After confirming that Yuge was indeed her familiar, Tunzuo opened her eyes and scratched her head awkwardly.

“Ahem, so… you really are my familiar, huh…”

Tunzuo had thought her first familiar summoning had failed, since that weird mass she saw earlier didn’t look like a normal familiar at all.

But unexpectedly, she had succeeded, and the familiar she summoned looked… pretty normal, from a magical perspective, anyway.

With Tunzuo’s confirmation, Olivia finally unclenched her fists.

Though she still had many questions—like how Tunzuo could summon a familiar of this level, and what Yuge’s origins really were—at least for now, she didn’t need to be so hostile toward him.

Having figured that out, Olivia walked over to Tunzuo and asked with concern:

“Little Ghost, how are you feeling now? Is your body okay?!”

To that, Tunzuo glanced at Olivia and said flatly:

“I was sleeping just fine, but then some bad guy kept releasing magic without restraint, really scaring this witch, and woke me up.”

The grievance in Tunzuo’s words was obvious, every syllable accusing Olivia of her crime.

Hearing this, Olivia awkwardly rubbed her nose, a sheepish smile on her face.

She admitted she had been a bit too worked up earlier.

After all, a high-threat presence suddenly appearing in her beloved’s room—who wouldn’t have a stress reaction?

Yuge, meanwhile, bowed his head slightly to Tunzuo, apologizing sincerely:

“I deeply apologize, Young Master. It was my disturbance that interrupted your rest.”

Tunzuo gave a light snort, letting Olivia and Yuge off for the moment.

Due to physical exhaustion, Tunzuo didn’t really want to deal with either of them right now.

She just wanted to sleep well and replenish the magic she’d lost.

So Tunzuo waved her hand, giving them their dismissal.

“Alright, alright, if there’s nothing else, get out. I need to rest now. I’ll settle accounts with you two tomorrow.”

Seeing that Tunzuo was mostly fine, just magically exhausted, Olivia relaxed.

She told Tunzuo to rest well, then led Sally and Huli out of the room.

Just as the three witches were turning to leave, they heard Sally mutter softly:

“Ah, what a shame about those ice cream mousse cakes. Guess we’ll have to eat them tomorrow…”

Sally’s voice wasn’t loud, but in the quiet room, it was especially clear.

The words landed precisely in the ears of Tunzuo, who was already lying down with her eyes closed.

“Hold it!”

Upon catching the phrase “ice cream mousse cakes,” Tunzuo’s eyes snapped open.

With a jolt, she flipped over and sat up in bed.

Though her voice was still weak, there was an unmistakable urgency in her tone.

Olivia, Sally, and Huli all stopped in their tracks, turning in surprise to look at Tunzuo, who had looked like she was about to breathe her last just a moment ago but was now revived.

Tunzuo wriggled her way to the edge of the bed.

Though her complexion was still poor, her dark green eyes were glowing with an unusual light.

She looked at Sally and asked urgently:

“Little Black, what did you just say?”

Sally blinked, staring at Tunzuo’s expression for a long moment.

Then, a hint of understanding dawned on her, and she deliberately teased Tunzuo:

“Ice cream mousse cakes, Tutu. Lady Olivia bought a bunch of really tasty desserts. But since you wanted to rest, we’ll just have to try them first. Don’t worry, we’ll save your share~”

Sally’s words, combined with her bright expression, made Tunzuo pause for a moment.

Then, without another word, Tunzuo suddenly stretched out her arm and shouted at Yuge, who was standing beside her:

“My loyal minister! Help your lord rise!”