Chapter 233

Page Eighty-Eight – Going to School with Mysterious Girl A

The body of Lin Hua, possessed by Xiao Lei, exposed the disguise. The mysterious girl A (my mother), who had been pretending to be Xiao Lei, wiped her nose shyly and laughed, “Oh my! I thought I was doing a pretty good job imitating, but I didn’t expect to be found out so quickly. Xiao Lin Hua indeed cannot be underestimated!”

She had also pretended to be Xiao Lei in the dream and had even controlled a blank clone to impersonate Cherry Sauce. It seemed she was quite fond of role-playing as others… Come to think of it, her current body was also “borrowed.”

Despite being actually younger than me, she acted like an elder and patted Lin Hua’s head, then playfully asked, “So, how did you figure it out?”

“It’s because you gave yourself away.”

Lin Hua pointed at a discarded sticky note and explained lightly, “You know the effect of this sticky note, but you don’t know the actual feeling when it’s applied. The sensation of ‘eating ice cream while doing the Ice Bucket Challenge’ is something that can’t be mimicked without experiencing it personally, right?”

Wow, just hearing the description made my brain feel cold.

Mysterious Girl A smiled and replied, “I really don’t know what it feels like, but it could also be that people react differently, making the effect less noticeable? You’re really suspicious, aren’t you, to doubt me just based on that?”

Lin Hua shrugged.

“Can’t help it, it’s just my nature… So, where is Xiao Lei’s consciousness?”

“That silly girl is fine, don’t worry about her~”

I didn’t think she would do anything to Xiao Lei either. Instead of worrying, I wanted to use this opportunity to find her location.

The original location.

Based on Lin Hua’s reaction earlier, I confirmed that the hand chain’s effect was “pseudo-exchange.”

Combining Lord Hai’s theory, the mysterious girl A, who was controlling Lin Hua’s body, must be within a two-hundred-meter radius. However, that range was still quite large.

—”I’m already searching, I’ll check every space that might hide someone, so it will take some time. You need to keep her occupied and prevent her from escaping.”—

Could we open a barrier to stop her from moving after finding her?

If we could do that, we wouldn’t need to trouble Sister Zi. We could capture her ourselves.

—”Well, that might be a bit difficult… The barrier I can create is too small to go unnoticed. She would slip away before it’s completed.”—

For now, let’s observe and not alert her. If she becomes more cautious, it will make Sister Zi’s mission harder.

—”I understand. Without certainty, I won’t act rashly.”—

I looked back at the mysterious girl A and asked, “What are your plans now?”

She propped her chin up and asked, “Why can’t I come see you?”

“You’ve always been watching me! It’s just a difference between covert and overt observation.”

Even though she is my mother, her self-centered attitude is hard to appreciate.

I suggested, “Would you like to join us at school?”

This was to get her moving with us to widen the two-hundred-meter gap.

“Huh? Really?!”

Although I had my own plan, joining me at school was an interesting proposition for her.

“There’s nothing wrong with that… By the way, when are you planning to go to the Divine Court?”

Finally having a chance to communicate, I couldn’t resist asking about this. Although I couldn’t say much, I hoped to persuade her to return to the Divine Court through dialogue.

“No, I said it last time, didn’t I? I have no intention of going back. Even if I dissipate tomorrow, I won’t go there to survive. Speaking of which… has the new body for that child been prepared?”

She asked about Xiao Qian Xia’s situation.

“Yes, the senior worked overtime to finish it, but due to your presence…”

“…Don’t worry, it won’t be long.”

She interrupted me, gently touching my cheek with her finger, as if handling something precious.

“I’m sorry, please forgive my stubbornness, but I have things I must accomplish.”

Facing my long-desired mother, unable to acknowledge her, even calling her “mother” was impossible.

——————–

Xiao Hai Tang came to meet us and brought Oranges backpack. We didn’t tell her about the body swap between Lin Hua, Xiao Lei, and the mysterious girl A, but the all-rounder superhuman, Xiao Hai Tang, soon raised doubts.

“…Why does Xiao Lei seem different today?”

Lin Hua blinked and asked, “How am I different today?”

“Well, something’s missing.”

“What is it?”

“…Naivety.”

“Big sister Hai Tang hates it! I won’t be naive forever!”

Actually, Lin Hua can be naive, but only during her playful moments.

But the mysterious girl A, pretending to be Lin Hua, wasn’t suspected, perhaps because they shared similar personalities, such as… enjoying pranks.

Cherry Sauce’s line kept scanning the surroundings, but we couldn’t find the target even after leaving the village. It was well-hidden.

—”She has moved far away. To maintain contact with Lin Hua’s body, her main body will likely move soon, making her easier to spot.”—

To avoid the mysterious girl A noticing Cherry Sauce’s surveillance, I tried to distract her with conversation. “Orange, most of the wild cats in the village have gathered at the cat house, right?”

“Most have come, but some arrogant ones refuse to come. I don’t bother persuading them… Uh, it’s so cold!”

A gust of cold wind blew past, Orange shivered and tucked her neck into Xiao Hai Tang’s scarf, continuing, “Speaking of which, Xiao Xue gave me some noteworthy information. It mentioned a gray-and-white ferret recently spotted in the village.”

Xiao Xue was the skinny white cat.

I hadn’t expected it to still be serving as Orange’s informant, probably wanting some fish snacks?

Xiao Hai Tang thought for a moment and said, “Is it a yellow weasel with unusual fur? It might have come from the woods. There are a few households raising chickens in the village. If this is true, I should inform them.”

The mysterious girl A couldn’t help but comment, “It’s obvious there’s no gray-and-white weasel. It should be a badger! Though they’re rare these days, they used to be common in rural areas fifteen years ago. Their fur is indeed black and white…”

Badger? I hadn’t seen one. In my memory, they were as big as dogs.

—”I remember!”—

Just as the mysterious girl A was talking, Cherry Sauce suddenly shouted, startling me.

—”This so-called weasel should be that thing, right?!”—

Huh? Which one?

I took a few steps forward, putting some distance between us and the others.

—”Maybe I shouldn’t only search places where someone could hide. But searching everywhere would be too broad…”—

Wait, can you explain first?

—”Sigh! How could you be so stupid? Among the items bought with gold and silver coins was a pet mink!”—

Hmm? Is a mink the same as a weasel?

—”Mink, weasel, badger, and otter. Though their sizes differ, all four belong to the Mustelidae family. The Angora mink she forcibly bought is actually a type of weasel… As for the badger she mentioned, it’s probably just a distraction to steer us away from thinking about the pet mink.”—

Yes, I hadn’t realized a pet mink is also a type of weasel.

—”Mustelids usually have scent glands, although pet minks often have their scent glands removed, they still produce body odor due to other glands, similar to human sweat odor… Remember the delivery person from yesterday?”—

The image of the delivery person appeared in my mind: a hat shaped like animal ears, gray-brown mottled short hair, and a strong, pungent perfume scent.

—”The answer is clear. That suspicious delivery person, like Orange and Dog Sister, transformed from an animal. Maybe the spell’s effect was poor, so she retained more animal characteristics. Plus, the Angora mink is very clean, making it unbearable to be around its smell in human form.”—

Come to think of it… how do you know so much about pets?

Even details like cleanliness.

—”Cough, cough. I investigated during a theft case. Those little creatures are cute, but expensive. Considering your savings, I didn’t want to ask…”—

You still want to buy them?!

But what does this prove?

It couldn’t possibly be a pet mink controlling Lin Hua’s body, right?

—”Not impossible, but not certain yet. There must be some mystery behind it…”—

Seeing me walking silently, the mysterious girl A hopped over and whispered, avoiding the others, “Hey, what are you discussing with the other child? Discussing how to catch me?”

She noticed I was communicating with Cherry Sauce.

I glanced sideways and said, “You’ll just teleport away once you’re found, anyway?”

“Correct!”

I sighed and asked, “What exactly are you here for?”

“I said I came to see you! After taking a step toward becoming an adult, as your dear sister, I want to see the girl you fancy~”

“No, no, no! I haven’t taken that step yet! And what sister?”

What is she up to?

Though she did sneak back in as Qian Xia.

“Hmm? We have blood ties, right?”

“Yes.”

“Your age is older than mine, right?”

“…Yeah, sure.”

She squinted and smiled, “What do you call a girl younger than you with blood ties?”

“…Sister, no, that can’t be counted!”

Joking! How could a son call his mother “sister”?

Even my kind-hearted old father would break my leg.

Her regretful shake of the head followed my outburst. She continued, “Too bad, the other child isn’t wearing the bracelet and has shielded it, showing great suspicion towards me.”

“She’s a researcher of magic, so caution towards unknown spells is part of her profession, right?”

“Too bad, I could guide her…”

She suddenly stopped.

“Oh, I’ll stay here!”

“What’s wrong? Is something wrong with the original body?” I asked.

Old Lady raised an eyebrow.

“Sort of… Now I’ll transfer control to the silly girl. Please convey my apologies.”

With that, Lin Hua’s body collapsed towards me.