Chapter 303

The thirty-fourth chapter: Mingtangyuan Wuki Does Not Recognize Her Own Heart

Lei keenly sensed the loneliness in the student council president’s heart at that moment. The previous Wuki Mingtangyuan was transformed into a Desert Beast by the Desert Apostle’s officer due to her identity dilemma and her fondness for cute things.

Having experienced this incident before, Lei immediately recognized she was forcing herself again.

They also understood the responsibilities Wuki bore. The eldest son suitable for inheriting the legacy was unable to take it on due to illness, so Wuki volunteered at age five to undergo training, just to replace her brother one day and continue the lineage.

Regarding such a student council president, Rei admired her sense of responsibility, though she pitied her having to hide her true feelings.

How could she help her…? Ah!

Remembering the matter that Ash had asked her about not long ago, Rei came up with a plan.

“Wuki, do you still have the dress design we made together before?”

Indeed, the suggestion Rei and Erika previously gave Ash was: “Cute” things will touch every woman’s heart.

It must be the same for Wuki as well. Only by facing the challenge head-on can she make a choice about her own heart.

“It’s here.” Wuki pulled out the drafts from her bag. She had fought an incredible battle to obtain these, even being touched…

Seeing the darling light yellow dress sketched on the paper, Rei’s face lit up with a brilliant smile.

“At the time when Wuki and the fashion club made clothes according to the designs, it should have been a lot of fun, right?”

“Yes… yes, indeed.”

Wuki turned her head slightly, feeling a bit shy. Even if she wanted to be tough, she couldn’t lie to her friends like Ash would.

“Tada! I actually brought that dress along!”

Erika, who always came up with crucial assistances, held up Thumbs Up to her friend with a genuine smile.

“Oh no, I can’t!”

Rarely having proper female attire experience, Wuki, who disguised herself as a boy since childhood, instinctively refused at the unfamiliarity.

Anyway, although such dresses are cute, they certainly aren’t meant for me!

“Wow!”

Looking in the mirror at the short-haired beauty dressed in a yellow dress, as if a different person, every gesture now exuded cuteness; her face even wore an expression of cuteness unseen before.

Is this really… me?

Lifting the hem of the dress and twirling around in front of the mirror, Wuki felt a sweet feeling rise in her heart.

“Wow, you look really beautiful!”

Rei and Erika also cheered her on, first time seeing a student council president switch from their impressive demeanor to such a cute form, equally amazed.

“It suits you.”

“Brother!”

The man standing in the doorway was indeed Wuki’s sickly older brother. With flowing long hair and always speaking in gentle tones, Gao was even more the personification of beauty than Wuki.

“Wuki, I think this is who you really are.”

It was very gratifying for the older brother to finally see his sister truly enthusiastic about the things she liked.

“No, Brother!” Unexpectedly, the words of Gao Mingtangyuan stirred Wuki’s emotions, and instantly, pulling at her collar, she became agitated. “This is just for play. I… I…”

Cuteness…

It just isn’t for me!

“Wuki!”

Wuki ran off, leaving behind Lei and Erika. As Gao Mingtangyuan, the brother, wanted to chase after her, he suddenly coughed uncontrollably with burning lungs just from a few steps.

“Are you alright?”

“Cough, cough… Thank you, but it’s nothing new.”

Recalling the events recently occurred within the dojo, the man sitting on the ground sighed deeply.

“Not long ago, an expelled disciple returned to kick up a fuss, having used forbidden means. Wuki took the lead in defense despite originally not losing. But for some reason, she got distracted that time and lost to her opponent.”

Sneezing several times during the excitement, he scared the two girls.

“She must feel she let the Mingtangyuan style down, which is why she changed this way…”

Recalling this, Gao felt more guilt. He knew his sister took those responsibilities to protect him willingly, something that caused him much anguish, as he should bear them himself.

With a grasp of the situation, Lei looked worriedly at the girl’s retreating figure.

“Wuki…”

In a secluded shack within the dojo, where they worked together, the dresses they made were piled up. Dressing in martial outfit, Wuki threw punches and kicks into thin air, pouring out sweat.

“Hah! Huh!”

Focusing intensely, she visualized and battled an imaginary opponent, exhausting her energy to clear her mind, hoping this crude method might empty her scattered thoughts.

“Gyah!”

Right, I don’t need these… I’ll help my brother. For the Mingtangyuan school, I’d rather place my heart after this!

Punching repeatedly towards her imagined “masked person”, Wuki abandoned her defenses, continuously attacking her imaginary opponent.

‘Do you truly love the martial disciplines you practice?’

‘I see no love in your eyes, only the numbness of routine.’

Was my failure before because I couldn’t face myself?

Wuki’s advancing steps suddenly halted. Immediately her imaginary adversary counterattacked, claws slashing like a male lion causing Wuki to dodge sideways once again. But this time, worse than last, the phantom hand passed through her throat, and in a real fight, she would’ve died.

“No more!”

Back-stepping twice, cold sweat poured down her back from previous mistakes.

Now the more she thinks about this, the more confused she gets. The more she resists, the more preoccupied she becomes.

I can’t calm down!

The masked person blocking her high kick with an arm swept her legs off the ground.

“Aaaa— I…”

What am I, exactly, going to do now?

“What’s wrong, give up this easily?”

“No way…”

Grabbing Ash’s extended hand, Wuki sat up from the floor.

“I need to work even harder…”

Wait!

Could I have been lifted by the imagined person?

Wuki clenched her hand towards the void, clearly it had just felt a grip.

“Mhmm, I noticed your gestures in the air and figured you might want a hands-on session, so I joined in.”

“You!”

Wuki’s face was full of fear, shaking fingers pointing at the smiling man as she retreated backward step-by-step.

“I’m not a delusion.”

“It’s real, really.”