Chapter 80: Chapter 79: Sister Su’s Daydreams and the Side of Truth
"GRUMBLE..."
When Su Su woke up, it was already nighttime. The rumbling of her own hungry stomach had roused her.
She found herself on an unfamiliar bed and shot up in alarm.
She checked her clothes and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw they were all intact.
A faint, stabbing pain still lingered in her head, jogging Su Su’s memory of what had happened.
Right, she had entered the Dawn Secret Place, a Secret Place within the Mysterious Secret Realm, and had fainted from overexerting herself with divination.
Looking at the surrounding furniture, she figured she must still be inside the Secret Realm.
’So whose room is this? A lounge?’
Curiosity piqued, she glanced around. Okay, the pair of underwear draped over the headboard told her this was a man’s room.
The bed wasn’t particularly soft, but it was comfortable enough. The blanket was old and plain but very warm, and it carried a faint masculine scent.
"Hehehe~"
Su Su suddenly giggled foolishly, then quickly clamped a hand over her mouth and furtively scanned her surroundings, afraid someone might be there.
She could be quite sharp sometimes.
She already knew whose bedroom it was. Hanging on a rack was the very jacket Qin Xiaoxia often wore.
’I’m actually sleeping in Mr. Qin’s—no, my Mentor’s—bed~~’
For some reason, scenes from certain... adult... movies she’d seen before popped into her head.
’Ahhh! Su Su, you can’t think like that, you can’t! That’s my Mentor! Get these impure thoughts out of my head!’
Su Su cupped her cheeks in her hands and shook her head back and forth.
"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK~"
The knocking startled Su Su.
"Su Su, are you awake? Come on down and eat. You need to get your strength back."
’Ahhh! What do I do, what do I do? It’s my Mentor!’
Right now, Su Su looked exactly like Doudou caught red-handed by Qin Xiaoxia. Well, perhaps with a slight difference—fear was replaced by shyness.
Ever since he learned Su Su was sleeping in his room, Qin Xiaoxia had been using his control over the Secret Realm to keep an eye on things. He sensed the moment she woke up.
He had expected her to come downstairs immediately, but the silly girl was just dawdling in the room, showing no intention of leaving or even getting out of bed.
Left with no choice, he had to come up and get her himself.
As for Doudou, he was currently in a slump and didn’t even want to move.
There was no response from the room for a long while, not even a single sound.
"Su Su, what are you doing? Are you not coming out?"
Only when Qin Xiaoxia called out a second time did Su Su snap out of it, quickly shaking all the miscellaneous thoughts from her head.
"Ah! Oh! Coming!!"
She put on her shoes, got off the bed, went to the door, and opened it.
Qin Xiaoxia gave Su Su a baffled look. Why was the girl blushing so furiously? ’Did the blanket make her too hot?’
"Let’s go downstairs. We have a big dinner waiting."
...
Downstairs, South Wind’s group of three and Doudou, who had been waiting for a while, finally saw Qin Xiaoxia come down with Su Su trailing closely behind him.
This was Su Su’s first time in the void hall. She had wanted to see this place for a long time.
Thanks to the special material of the Statue of Comir, the sculpting area was completely free of dust, so there were naturally no concerns about hygiene while eating.
At that moment, the three great Artisans were sitting on one side, while a listless Doudou sat opposite them.
The three Artisans looked completely different from what Su Su had imagined. She hadn’t expected them to be so young; she wouldn’t have been surprised if they were old men or even dwarves who had popped out of nowhere.
As for Doudou... uh, this was the first time Su Su had ever seen him looking so dejected at the dinner table.
"Mentor~ what’s wrong with Doudou?"
Su Su asked in a hushed voice as she followed Qin Xiaoxia and took a seat next to Doudou.
"Heh, it’s nothing serious. I just disposed of the dozens of pounds of snacks he’d been stashing in his room since who-knows-when."
Dozens of pounds...
South Wind, Gu Hao, and Zhang Ruliang finally understood where the snacks Mr. Qin had shared with them that afternoon came from. They must have been part of those dozens of pounds.
Hearing this, Doudou’s whole body twitched, and he let out a sigh.
He was a super glutton, so it hadn’t been easy for him to save all that up. And before he could even enjoy it, his big cousin had confiscated it all.
If there was anything in this world that could crush Doudou’s spirit, this was definitely one of the most fatal blows. The other, of course, was the bath he had just endured.
On the small, round table, the so-called "big dinner" was almost entirely store-bought cooked food. Nothing was homemade; Qin Xiaoxia wasn’t a bad cook, but he was incredibly lazy.
"Everyone’s here. Let’s eat. You’ve all been working hard lately."
Qin Xiaoxia specifically thanked South Wind’s trio. The statue was nearly finished in just over half a month, a speed that was beyond imagination.
"Wait! There’s one more dish!"
Hearing his big cousin announce the start of the meal, Doudou suddenly seemed to remember something, his spirits instantly lifting.
He jumped off the table and PITTER-PATTERED into the kitchen.
The corner of Qin Xiaoxia’s mouth twitched. He already guessed what the little guy was up to.
On the other hand, South Wind’s group and Su Su were rather looking forward to seeing what dish Doudou was bringing.
Sure enough, less than a minute later, Doudou returned in a flurry, carrying a basin.
When the basin, filled with a black, sticky, gooey substance, was placed in the center of the table, silence fell for a good few seconds.
"Well? Shocked, aren’t you! This is my, the great Doudou’s, latest masterpiece! An invincible delicacy!"
"Be honored to become the first taste-testers, ha~~"
’This... this has to be poisonous, right...’
Aside from Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou, the other four all had the exact same thought.
"If you eat it first and don’t die within one minute, I’ll have a bite with you."
Qin Xiaoxia said calmly to Doudou, picking up a roasted chicken leg.
"How can a chef sneak a taste of his own cooking! Big cousin, you’re wrong to say that. Even though I, Doudou, am a glutton, I still have professional ethics. Hmm, how about Su Su eats first!!"
’So you know yourself that eating this stuff would be a problem!’
Naturally, no one tried the dark cuisine. Doudou’s "enthusiasm" earned him a lump on his forehead.
Just like a real child, Doudou was back to his energetic self not long after the meal began.
Su Su watched the whole exchange and, for the first time, felt that her Mentor and Doudou were so heartwarming together.
...
「Late at night.」
For the first time in over two weeks, South Wind’s trio were able to get a good night’s sleep together, because Mr. Qin had said he would complete the remaining steps himself.
As for Su Su, although she was reluctant to leave, she couldn’t find an excuse to stay. Besides, a room hadn’t been prepared for her.
Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou stood before the statue, which, despite its different appearance, bore a striking spiritual resemblance to the Red Demoness.
It was barefoot, clad in a long robe, with vibrant red hair cascading down to its waist. Its delicate face had its eyes half-closed.
One arm hung at its side, while the other was crossed over its chest.
It looked like a gentle, beautiful Goddess, unconcerned with the mortal world.
Even with their minor talents, South Wind and his companions clearly could not have achieved this level of artistry.
Though he had no experience with such things, his intuition told him this Statue of Comir was anything but ordinary.
PS: Thank you to reader Crown Min for the 1000 coin donation, thank you to reader Wang Zijian for the 500 coin donation, and thank you to readers Blood Race Night Blade and 20180203162525760 for the 100 coin donations~~
This is the second Chapter!
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