147. Mei's Arrival
"I feel like something has changed without my knowledge..."
Sitting in his wheelchair, Xiling's gaze darted back and forth. To his left, Lemuen was smiling at him, a gentle smile seemingly concealing an emotion he couldn't decipher; to his right, Kiana, unusually, kept her head down, nervously twisting the hem of her clothes, her eyes darting around, even avoiding Lemuen's gaze.
"This girl...could she have made a mistake?" Xiling narrowed his eyes, his thoughts racing, then suddenly realized—
"Wait, could she have been exposed?"
"Well, with her intelligence, it wouldn't be surprising if she were exposed..."
He turned to look at Lemuen again. Her smile was still bright, but for some reason, Xiling felt there was a chilling undercurrent hidden beneath it.
"Xiling, do you have any plans for today?" Lemuen tilted her head slightly, asking in a light tone.
"I originally wanted to talk to Kevin in this world, but…" Xiling glanced down at the wheelchair beneath him and shrugged helplessly.
"Right now, I'd better just focus on healing."
The world had been completely altered the moment he swung that sword. Some might be temporarily lost, but they would soon find their way again and continue on their path.
But that man was different—
"I can't just take away his reason for being alive and then not even offer an explanation, can I?" Xiling thought. He had originally planned to speak with Kevin alone, about the future of this world, about their respective positions… but now, he had to postpone that plan.
Lemuen gently walked to his side, leaning slightly forward. Strands of her hair fell, and a faint fragrance wafted to Xiling's nose. She was so close that Xiling could even feel the warmth of her breath.
"Then… shall we go shopping today?" She suggested with a smile.
Kiana watched from the sidelines, her eyelids twitching, and she couldn't help but mutter to herself, "Lemuen... her skill level is too high!"
"Sure, I don't have anything else to do anyway," Xiling replied casually, then suddenly seemed to remember something and winked at Lemuen, "Come to think of it, I used to push you from behind, now it's your turn to push me."
Lemuen's smile widened, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Yeah, you used to push me forward, now... It's my turn to push you."
"I want to go too!" Kiana immediately raised her hand, afraid of being left behind.
Lemuen nodded gently, "Of course, let's go together."
On the streets of Arc City, the three walked side by side. Lemuen pushed the wheelchair, occasionally whispering something to Xiling, sometimes chuckling softly; Kiana walked beside her, trying to join in, but finding herself completely unable to keep up with their pace, and could only kick the pebbles on the road in frustration.
At that very moment, a plane slowly landed on the runway of Arc City Airport. The cabin door opened, and Raiden Mei, dragging her suitcase, stepped off the stairs. Standing in the unfamiliar city, she took a deep breath.
"Kiana… I'm here."
Since that incident, and since she and Welt Yang, the Anti-Entropy leader, awakened, Honkai events around the world had completely disappeared. There were no more abnormal fluctuations in Honkai energy. Humanity seemed to have truly ushered in peace, no longer needing to worry about that devastating catastrophe.
Mei saw her father, whom she hadn't seen in a long time. She talked a lot, about the past, about the future.
And now, she had come only for one person.
She had only taken a few steps when footsteps sounded behind her—
A white-haired, one-armed man slowly stepped off the plane, his gaze sweeping around with complex emotions.
"This world... It's changing too fast!"
Siegfried felt like everything was unreal. He'd been defeated and taken back by the World Serpent's people, then inexplicably entered a new space. Before he could struggle for long in that space, he woke up, and even the problems in his body were gone; he'd been released.
"Never mind that for now, let's find Kiana first."
Thinking this, Siegfried, holding the information provided by the Anti-Entropy, headed in one direction. He and Raiden Mei were almost one after the other, heading towards Xiling's house.
Meanwhile, on the bustling commercial street of Arc City, Xiling, sitting in his wheelchair, became the most eye-catching sight. Two strikingly different, beautiful girls flanked her, attracting frequent glances from passersby.
"Xiling~ Try this." Lemuen leaned slightly forward, her long pink hair swaying gently in the wind. The matcha ice cream in her hand emitted a faint tea aroma.
"Try mine!" Kiana pushed her way forward, her vanilla cone almost touching Xiling's nose.
Xiling looked at the two ice creams in front of him, both already bitten, then glanced down at his own chocolate cone and took a bite without expression.
"Am I part of your game too?" He thought to himself.
The next second, he flashed a standard business smile:
"Thanks, but I won't eat it."
—What a joke, who wants ice cream with someone else's saliva on it?
Kiana withdrew her hand somewhat disappointedly, but just then—
Lemuen suddenly leaned in and took a big, solid bite into Xiling's ice cream. Amidst their shocked gazes, she elegantly wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, smiling sweetly, and said, "Since you're not going to eat it, then I won't be polite~."
"Hey!" Xiling glared at the ice cream cone, now half gone, gritting his teeth, "Do you really think I'm easy to bully just because I'm crippled?"
Kiana, witnessing this, took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. She keenly sensed something amiss: why was the usually gentle and composed Lemuen acting so proactive today?
"It's a sense of crisis!" Kiana's eyes suddenly lit up with a flash of insight, "She's wary of me!" This realization brought her a sense of relief—since it wasn't an established relationship, the outcome was still uncertain.
A confident smile unconsciously crept onto the silver-haired girl's lips.
She wouldn't lose this battle. If necessary, she would use extraordinary means to ensure she was forever rooted in that person's heart, so that he would never forget her.
"Sirin… seems different." Lemuen glanced at Kiana out of the corner of her eye, who suddenly seemed full of fighting spirit, but quickly looked away dismissively—after all, the difference between them was significant.
During today's shopping trip, Xiling, sandwiched between the two, felt something was off about them.
"Thankfully, it's finally over."
The setting sun cast long shadows of the three of them. Xiling, his eyes lifeless, made a peace sign, a stark contrast to the two smiling girls beside her.
The photographer, looking at the newly taken photo, gradually shifted his envious gaze to pity—the man in the picture seemed to have lost his soul.
Meanwhile, the group was on their way home.
Across from Xiling's apartment, Raiden Mei was neatly arranging her last piece of luggage. Thanks to the convenience of the Anti-Entropy, she had easily bought the apartment directly opposite Kiana's.
The doorbell rang, but no one answered. Mei wasn't in a hurry. Back home, she brewed a pot of tea and sat in the rocking chair by the window. Amidst the fragrant steam, her gaze remained fixed on the door across the hall.
"What will your expression be when you find out I live here, Kiana…" Mei murmured softly, a gentle smile unconsciously curving her lips.
Suddenly, her smile froze.
Through the French windows, she saw the person she had been longing for skipping and hopping forward, her smile more radiant than ever before in Mei's memory—a genuine, unreserved joy.
Kiana secretly rejoiced. Lemuen had been called away by Anti-Entropy at the last minute, which meant she… Heh!
Humming a little tune, she pushed his wheelchair, completely unaware of the two pairs of eyes watching her from the shadows.
"Let me carry you inside?" As soon as the door closed, Kiana eagerly opened her arms.
"I think it's unnecessary..." Before he could finish his refusal, Xiling was lifted into the air in a princess carry.
Through the open curtains, Mei clearly saw the silver-haired girl carrying the man into the bedroom, and that figure never came out again.
The teacup slipped from her trembling hands, and Mei stood incredulously at the window frame.
"No...it can't be..." Her voice was almost inaudible, as if trying to convince herself.
The night breeze rustled through the curtains, bringing a slightly cool touch.