Chapter 2651: Chapter 872: Arrangements (Part 2)
If it weren’t for Xiao Xiao’s last reminder, Zheng Qing really planned to find Jiang Yu halfway.
In his view, if Jiang Yu is willing to take in these sprites, it would naturally be more suitable than leaving them at Greenhill Mansion.
On one hand, Su Shijun’s status is somewhat sensitive—this sensitivity purely refers to the relationship between men and women—although Zheng Qing now lacks the courage to truly cut ties with that Upper Senator, avoiding Qingqiu Mansion to ask for help from Jiang Yu makes him feel a strange self-awareness of being rather "scummy".
Especially when the three Great Elves are cheerfully shouting "scum" in his ear.
On the other hand, it’s also because Jiang Yu has been helping Zheng Qing coordinate things since the beginning of the sprites’ treatment. Whether it was visiting Doctor Du Zemu in Beta Town initially, or later providing pretty paper houses for the sprites, she has always cared about these little ones and offered a lot of assistance. Now that they’ve successfully transformed, he really wants to share this surprise with her.
Besides, Zheng Qing has a bit of a selfish reason.
The sprites have strong supportive abilities in daily life. He figured that after becoming Great Elves, they would be even better. Jiang Yu has thirty classes a week this semester, and if these sprites could help her daily, they would certainly save her a lot of effort. Plus, she recently gave him a Wool Dragon Bracelet, so in a way, giving her these sprites could be considered a return gift.
Although he thought of many things,
out of respect for the Team Diviner of the Atonement Hunting Team and due to time constraints, Zheng Qing ultimately didn’t go to the girls’ dormitory. Instead, he went straight out of the school and headed to Greenhill Mansion.
Luckily he did.
When Zheng Qing arrived at Greenhill Mansion, Su Shijun wasn’t home, and it was Su Ya who answered the door. Zheng Qing didn’t see any sign of Poseidon, but he noticed Furry Bean wagging its tail at him from the small garden behind the fence, leading him to guess that the Little Fox was probably out there chasing Flower Sprites or Grass Spirits.
Crossing the little stream in front of the door,
Zheng Qing immediately removed the Invisibility Talismans hanging on several of the Great Elves’ bodies.
Before he could speak, Su Ya’s two furry ears suddenly popped from her hair, and at the same time, her big tail slipped out from under her skirt.
"You’ve had three more babies with the young lady? And they’re already transformed?" she exclaimed, completely ignoring how many gossiping eyes her outburst instantly attracted between the porch and the windowsill.
Zheng Qing was left dizzy and disoriented by these two rhetorical questions.
"What nonsense are you spouting? I warn you not to speak so carelessly!"
He looked at the Fox Maid in exasperation, then looked around somewhat in a panic: "Don’t listen to her nonsense...it’s slander! She’s slandering me!"
What the other maids in the mansion thought, Zheng Qing had no way of knowing, but the tilt-headed expression of Furry Bean, previously wagging its tail, made Zheng Qing feel a bit heavy-hearted.
At that moment, Poseidon, wearing a pretty little dress, suddenly dashed out from the garden with a screaming Flower Sprite perched on her head and some dried leaves stuck to her tail, and excitedly rushed towards the Great Elves.
"Not with the young lady?"
Su Ya immediately grasped the reason for the warlock’s refutation, then filled in a logical answer with her walnut-sized brain: "...then with some other foxy lady? You’ve betrayed the young lady!"
She leapt back, her ears bristling, righteously pointing at the guest still standing at the door.
Whoosh!
A white figure leapt swiftly past the Fox Maid.
Poseidon collided with a "thud" into Zheng Qing’s chest, making his already burdened heart feel even more clogged, while the Little Fox was oblivious, squeakily tapping its paw on his chest and cheerfully greeting the Great Elves beside Zheng Qing, looking every bit like a big sister figure.
The three Great Elves clung to the corners of Zheng Qing’s clothes, gazing with curiosity and timidity at the beautiful garden, the attractive Fox Maid in front of them, and the Little Fox greeting them, feeling an inexplicable sense of kinship.
The sprites, who had accompanied them and were originally clinging to their bodies in groups, were startled by Poseidon’s sudden action, fluttered into the sky, hovered for a few laps, and only landed back again, but hiding even more cautiously.
"Scumbag!" Su Ya’s tone grew more severe.
Her accusation seemed to shock the Great Elves.
The three Great Elves instinctively stepped back, clinging more tightly to Zheng Qing’s hand, while simultaneously chanting the nickname that Zheng Qing loathed deeply—
"Scum!"
"Scum~~hug!"
"Hug hug, scum~!"
Su Ya looked at Zheng Qing with disdain, as if she had obtained some ironclad proof.
Zheng Qing caught sight of Poseidon nestled in his arms, looking off to the sides with excitement and suddenly felt extremely weary.
"I’ve told you so many times, don’t call me ’scum’, call me ’Brother Qing’ or ’Brother Zheng’." He looked tiredly at the three Great Elves hiding behind him, feeling that all the reminders along the way were in vain.
Then he looked back at Su Ya, firmly denying: "And you, stop with the nonsense..."
"Actually, she’s not entirely making it up."
A familiar voice suddenly sounded in his ear, and simultaneously, all around him, including Su Ya, the mansion’s maids bowed to welcome the return of the mansion’s owner. Furry Bean instantly disappeared without a trace, Poseidon’s expression of excitement froze, and lowering its head, it burrowed into the crook of Zheng Qing’s arm as if it hadn’t heard Su Shijun’s voice.
Only the Flower Sprite perched on its head trembled as if suffocating, seemingly ready to faint at any moment.
Zheng Qing turned in surprise to look at Su Shijun.
The owner of Greenhill Mansion had somehow materialized beside him, gently stroking one of the Great Elves’ heads, and, as though sensing the warlock’s confusion, said nonchalantly, "Don’t you think they resemble me just a little? It’s not entirely Su Ya’s mistake to see it that way."
Zheng Qing’s mouth closed slowly, his gaze wavering between the Great Elves and Su Shijun.
Then his mouth gradually opened again, bit by bit.
Initially, he just thought these Great Elves were beautiful, a familiar kind of beauty—in his view, everyone had their own kind of ugliness while beautiful people all shared the same beauty, which was not something to dwell upon—but at this moment, upon closer comparison, he suddenly realized that the sense of familiarity stemmed from the undeniable similarity in the features between them and Su Shijun.
Even the aura around the Great Elves faintly bore traces of the Qingqiu Maids.
Originally, when they were sprites, their faces were only the size of thumbnails, indistinct in appearance, but after they grew up, their facial features became distinct, revealing their similarities.
"This is not possible..." the warlock’s voice strained slightly.
"Why is it not possible?" Su Shijun glanced at him, not reproachfully but with a hint of curiosity. "Have you really forgotten the origin of these sprites?"
