After the Black Moonlight’s "Death Escape" Failed [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 36

Chapter 36: The Wolf and the Whip-bearer

 

◎ “You won’t be needing the wheelchair anymore.” ◎

 

Jiao Qingyin had planned to heal Al’s legs the very next day to avoid any further complications, but plans often fail to keep pace with change.

 

Early that morning, just as Jiao Qingyin finished breakfast, a loud explosion rocked the rear of the manor, as if something had detonated.

 

The violent commotion caused the sensitive ears of the little wolf pup to stand on end. With incredible speed, she leapt in front of Jiao Qingyin, baring her teeth and lowering her stance in a defensive guard.

 

Jiao Qingyin was also startled. Her instinct was to protect Al, but she hadn’t expected the little one to beat her to it.

 

However, Al was tiny. Even with her fur puffed out like a white cotton ball, she couldn’t possibly shield Jiao Qingyin. The sight merely pulled the latter back from her state of alert, eliciting a helpless and moved expression.

 

“It’s alright, it’s far away,” Jiao Qingyin said softly, pulling Al into her arms.

 

Al’s ear tips twitched. She listened for a moment, and once she was certain no suspicious sounds were approaching, she slowly relaxed.

 

Jiao Qingyin watched the entire process of Al shrinking back from an inflated marshmallow into a little wolf.

 

She kissed the top of the wolf’s head.

 

Al didn’t pull away; her tail immediately began to wag furiously. When Jiao Qingyin tried to let her go, Al proactively reached out with her paws, clutching Jiao Qingyin’s chin and licking it twice.

 

Jiao Qingyin chuckled. “Quite proactive today.”

 

Having gotten her way, Al let out a sweet “awoo.”

 

At that moment, Meg, who had gone to investigate the sound, sent a magical message to Jiao Qingyin. Seeing that Al also looked curious, Jiao Qingyin amplified the voice.

 

“Your Highness, someone cast a large-scale Fireball spell in the courtyard. Initial assessment suggests it was at least a Third-Tier spell. No suspects have been found at the scene.”

 

Jiao Qingyin frowned. Who would dare set a fire in a Princess’s backyard?

 

“No witnesses?” she asked.

 

“None found yet, but…” Meg hesitated halfway through, which was rare for her.

 

Jiao Qingyin sensed the issue, her tone turning cold. “Speak plainly.”

 

“Your Highness, the manor is protected by arrays left by the Court Mages. To use a Third-Tier spell in the backyard without being attacked by the defensive array… only…”

 

Meg couldn’t voice the rest of the suspicion, but she didn’t need to. Jiao Qingyin already knew the answer.

 

Only someone with a blood relation to Ottilia Hughes, or someone registered on the array’s whitelist, could use high-level offensive magic within her manor.

 

And whichever of those two it was, they were inevitably sent by her sister—the Emperor.

 

Was this a warning for her recent public disrespect toward the Emperor? Jiao Qingyin couldn’t help but laugh at the Emperor’s timid and petty nature.

 

If it were her, she would either force the offender’s mouth open and shove the fireball inside, or do the deed so flawlessly that no one could ever link it back to her.

 

The Emperor’s approach… it offended her to the core without doing any actual damage, serving only as a hollow threat. Truly foolish.

 

Jiao Qingyin wasn’t angry; she simply added the Emperor to her “grudge list.”

 

Al, curled up in Jiao Qingyin’s arms, looked like an entirely harmless puppy. But secretly, she added a name to her own long death list.

 

“Let’s go take a look,” Jiao Qingyin said, pinching Al’s ear.

 

However, the wolf pup rolled over in her arms, whimpering and refusing to move.

 

She had been acting spoiled quite often lately, so Jiao Qingyin was used to it and instinctively thought the wolf wanted a kiss.

 

But after a quick peck, while the wolf remained well-behaved, she closed her eyes the next second and let out a little snore.

 

Jiao Qingyin: “…”

 

Disbelieving, she felt the wolf’s belly and tugged at her paws, but the wolf continued to sleep soundly.

 

While it was true that growing bodies needed sleep, this was a bit much…

 

“Your Highness.” A familiar voice sounded from behind. Jiao Qingyin didn’t even have to look back to know who it was.

 

Since their relationship had improved, she had revoked the rule strictly forbidding Al from leaving the bedroom.

 

Jiao Qingyin rubbed her forehead. When she woke up this morning, Al was still asleep, and she had finally spent her first morning in two weeks without the girl, only to find…

 

“Why did Your Highness leave me behind?” Al’s tone sounded somewhat aggrieved.

 

With that, she walked straight to the dining table. The butler, who was standing by with his head bowed, instinctively moved to stop her, but Jiao Qingyin waved him off.

 

The butler always prepared a lot of food. Jiao Qingyin was already seventy percent full and had no appetite for the rest. It was only her habit from the apocalypse that made her want to clear the plate before leaving, which was why she was still sitting at the table.

 

Estimating that Al hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, Jiao Qingyin was about to ask the butler for another serving when she saw the other naturally pick up a piece of white bread from her plate and take a bite.

 

Jiao Qingyin bit her tongue but eventually spoke up: “…I already ate from that.”

 

Al tilted her head and smiled. Just as she was about to speak, Jiao Qingyin realized something. She picked up a piece of bacon with a fork and, with quick eyes and hands, stuffed it into the other’s mouth.

 

While she didn’t know what Al was going to say, it surely wasn’t anything good. If she let her say it, the System’s blood pressure would probably skyrocket.

 

“Mmph…” Unable to speak, Al did indeed look much more behaved.

 

Once she finally finished chewing, under Jiao Qingyin’s dangerous gaze, she wisely retracted what she had intended to say and changed the subject. “Your Highness, are you going to the backyard to look? Can I go with you?”

 

Jiao Qingyin was silent for a moment, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Al cast her a pitiful gaze, looking as if she had much more to say.

 

Under that puppy-like stare, Jiao Qingyin found it hard to resist. She turned her head and whispered, “We’ll see after you finish eating.”

 

Al nodded cheerfully.

 

Jiao Qingyin lowered her eyes and picked up a napkin, pretentiously wiping her knuckles which were perfectly clean.

 

The butler soon brought a fresh meal, but since Jiao Qingyin hadn’t been fast enough to stop her, Al had already finished off most of the leftovers.

 

Fortunately, Jiao Qingyin didn’t have the habit of putting food back down after taking a bite, so Al was eating whole pieces. However…

 

Sharing a meal from the same plate was, in Jiao Qingyin’s view, something only very, very close people did.

 

In the apocalypse, people might sleep with someone they just met, but they wouldn’t share food with someone they had known for years.

 

Food equaled the chance to survive. When a person was willing to share food with someone, it was equivalent to… being willing to share their life.

 

Even though she knew Al didn’t mean it that way, Jiao Qingyin couldn’t help but wipe her knuckles once more.

 

She had to find something to do to distract herself.

 

Al noticed Jiao Qingyin’s odd behavior but didn’t think much of it. After all, when she was a wolf pup, she had finished off the other’s leftovers countless times.

 

Al’s appetite was far larger than Jiao Qingyin imagined. Especially after experiencing two full moons, she felt as if there were a bottomless pit inside her, constantly lacking energy. No matter how much she ate, she couldn’t feel full.

 

She didn’t feel constant hunger, she just never felt stuffed.

 

Given her usual eating habits, she would normally clear the entire table at a whirlwind pace. But with Jiao Qingyin beside her, Al’s movements instinctively slowed down.

 

She actually wanted to show some elegance, but unfortunately, she had never received an education in such matters. Even though she tried her best to mimic how Jiao Qingyin held her cutlery, it still looked a bit strange.

 

Jiao Qingyin didn’t notice at first. But when Al tried to cut a sausage with the precision of a surgical procedure—looking as if she were in a life-or-death struggle with the food—she realized Al might not know how to use formal utensils.

 

The girl had almost never eaten in a formal setting. On the only day she had, the Royal Banquet, she had eaten food that Jiao Qingyin had personally plated for her. Thus, the latter had never discovered Al’s clumsy side.

 

Jiao Qingyin put down her napkin and, just as Al was becoming embarrassed and the tips of her ears were turning red, she reached out toward her.

 

“No need…” Al said softly. “I can do it.”

 

Her expression was normal, but Jiao Qingyin sensed a stubborn persistence in her.

 

Jiao Qingyin instinctively felt that if she insisted on helping, Al’s pride might be wounded.

 

So, her outstretched hand paused in mid-air and then retracted.

 

A moment later, sensing a shadow falling over her head, Al instinctively looked up. She saw Jiao Qingyin walk behind her, opening her arms and encircling her.

 

Al: “!!”

 

Smelling the faint scent of soap coming from Jiao Qingyin, Al’s brain went “buzz.” All her thoughts were cleared away instantly. She felt as if she were standing in a pile of soft cotton; no matter where she stepped, it was light and airy with no solid ground.

 

“Why are your hands shaking?”

 

Jiao Qingyin’s voice sounded extremely close. Her warm breath hit the side of Al’s face, causing the latter’s breathing to hitch.

 

What’s going on? Why did she start shaking even harder after I said that? Jiao Qingyin frowned.

 

Seeing that Al was completely out of it, she spoke again, her tone sounding a bit like a teacher facing a troublesome student: “Grip it tight.”

 

Only then did Al realize that Jiao Qingyin wasn’t hugging her for no reason; she wanted to teach her how to use the knife and fork.

 

She tightened her fingers, increased her strength, and did as Jiao Qingyin instructed.

 

Seeing this stubborn student finally being obedient, Jiao Qingyin breathed a sigh of relief and personally adjusted Al’s grip.

 

Changing the grip wasn’t hard; teaching it through words alone was the difficult part. Once she got her hands on her, it took Jiao Qingyin only two seconds to adjust Al’s hand position.

 

She released Al and stepped back. “Try it.”

 

Feeling Jiao Qingyin’s warmth leave her and the faint scent drift away, Al felt a sense of loss. Her movements instinctively reverted to how they were before the correction.

 

The posture didn’t look like she was about to eat breakfast; it looked like she was about to carve up an enemy with silver cutlery.

 

Jiao Qingyin encircled her again, adjusting her back to the correct posture.

 

Within two seconds, Al relapsed into her old ways.

 

A vein popped on Jiao Qingyin’s forehead. She felt the other was doing it on purpose.

 

She knew how smart Al was; it was impossible for her to take several tries just to learn how to hold a fork. Combined with the fact that the girl had been finding all sorts of reasons to get close to her lately, it was hard for Jiao Qingyin not to think—of the foolish, dazed look the other was showing right now, perhaps only one percent of it was genuine.

 

Seeing that Al still dared to cast an expectant look at her, Jiao Qingyin laughed out of exasperation. She sat back down in her seat and said grumpily, “If you can’t learn it, just use your hands.”

 

Sure enough, as soon as she said that, Al automatically adjusted her hand position with incredible speed.

 

This fellow… Jiao Qingyin couldn’t help but flick Al on the forehead.

 

“Ouch.”

 

Al covered her head, putting on a very painful expression.

 

“Keep acting and I’ll send you back to your room.”

 

Al, who had just put on a pitiful face: !

 

She completely surrendered and lowered her head to eat rapidly. However, the slight upward curve of her lips couldn’t be suppressed no matter what.

 

Jiao Qingyin slowly turned her head away, but her peripheral vision remained fixed on Al, unmoving.

 

When Jiao Qingyin and Al arrived in the courtyard, they happened to see Lottis kneeling in front of the large patch of empty ground leveled by the Fireball spell, wailing in total collapse.

 

She appeared to be in so much pain, her screams so heart-wrenching and sincere, that Jiao Qingyin’s footsteps even paused.

 

As she drew closer, she heard what Lottis was shouting.

 

“My vegetable patch—the Variant Spinach No. 1 that I worked so hard to grow—the High-Yield Potato No. 4 I just successfully improved—”

 

She was reciting the names of the crops that had met an untimely end as if reading from a menu. She had even given each plant its own name. Her series of shouts were more sorrowful than those of someone at a funeral.

 

I didn’t expect Lottis to love farming so much… Jiao Qingyin thought, deciding that even if just for her manor’s healer, she had to give the Emperor a bigger lesson.

 

Lottis’s grief-stricken voice was right by her ear. Jiao Qingyin couldn’t help but cast a few more glances at the large crater where the vegetable patch had been. Now it was just a patch of grey and black with not a single sprout left, exuding an aura of death.

 

Someone noticed Jiao Qingyin and immediately looked panicked, trying to pull Lottis up from the ground.

 

However, Lottis was still immersed in her own world, face-down and wailing, “How am I going to explain this to Her Highness—! I’ll definitely be punished severely—”

 

“I won’t punish you,” Jiao Qingyin said, standing behind Lottis. “Get up.”

 

Lottis’s wail was cut short as if someone had choked her. She let out a strange cracking sound. Her whole body trembled, but she didn’t dare turn around to look at Jiao Qingyin, who was right behind her.

 

Jiao Qingyin was used to her fear. She looked around the area and saw that the place hit by the fireball was indeed devoid of life. She spoke up: “If they’re gone, then don’t plant them.”

 

In any case, the farming had originally been started just to create jobs for the slaves in the manor.

 

Lottis shivered and slowly turned her body around. “Y-Your Highness…”

 

Jiao Qingyin saw her face covered in tears and snot, yet she seemed a bit braver than usual. She raised an eyebrow. “What do you want to say?”

 

“This crater… what should we do?” Lottis looked up tremblingly, daring to look directly at Jiao Qingyin’s… chin for the first time, her face full of hope. “If you permit… can I find people to fill it in and then try to use magic to restore the land’s vitality?”

 

She truly didn’t like farming, but she couldn’t bear to just give up on the crops she had planted all winter and was finally about to harvest out of season!

 

She was just one step away from ensuring the improved traits were preserved through heredity!

 

Before Jiao Qingyin could answer, Al spoke up for the first time in front of outsiders. “No need to go to all that trouble. You can just turn the top layer of soil and let the burnt crops serve as fertilizer for the next batch.”

 

Hearing this, Lottis’s eyes instantly lit up. She was completely back in her element. “Right, why didn’t I think of that? It is indeed feasible… but there might be residual fire elements in the soil, we’ll need to test it… such a large patch of land, how can we test every part…”

 

As she muttered to herself, she actually forgot that the person she feared most was still standing in front of her.

 

Hearing her say “testing every part is difficult,” Al, who had just used her perception to check the entire crater in a single second, opened her mouth but didn’t make a sound.

 

Only Jiao Qingyin noticed Al’s subtle movement. On the way back, she asked as if in passing:

 

“You know how to farm too?”

 

With the Chinese genes in her body and having experienced famine herself, Jiao Qingyin had a natural fondness for people who knew how to farm.

 

Al was stunned for a moment before replying: “Yes, I planted things when I was a child.”

 

At that time, she was following a group of refugees. They had finally found a relatively stable area just as the local city lord was distributing seeds.

 

The tiny Al, whose height reached only an adult’s waist, also received a small bag of vegetable seeds.

 

She secretly learned small farming tips from the older refugees, diligently watering and fertilizing. Every day after coming back from scavenging, she would rush straight back to her little vegetable patch outside the city walls. She would squat in front of the small pits where she had buried the seeds, anticipating the day they would break through the soil.

 

But after she finally saw the sprouts emerging from the barren earth, her joy didn’t last long before a foot crushed those few tender green plants into the dirt.

 

“I’ve been seeing this little freak acting suspiciously lately. She’s actually farming here.”

 

“Tch, I thought I could get something out of her.”

 

“Hahaha, look at her expression. Truly disgusting—”

 

Al had never understood why, being humans and even fellow refugees, these people always enjoyed releasing malice toward their own kind.

 

If they hated the injustice of fate, why didn’t they make enemies of the nobles who oppressed them, instead of reaching out toward someone even weaker than themselves?

 

She couldn’t understand it, but she was very angry.

 

Before the lead refugee child could spit out more insults, Al pounced.

 

Although Al was good at fighting, she was far too thin and small. Facing three refugee children who were at least a head taller than her, she inevitably suffered many injuries.

 

But in the end, she won.

 

With three broken ribs, Al pinned down the strongest child and smashed a stone into his head again and again. Blood splattered across her face. The other two were so terrified by her life-risking manner that their legs went weak. They scrambled away, leaving their companion behind and running off crying.

 

Only when the person she was hitting was on the verge of death did Al lose all her strength and collapse to the side.

 

After resting, she pulled out a piece of uneaten black bread from the refugee child’s body.

 

Al sat in front of her ruined vegetable patch, watching the sunset. Amidst the intense pain from swallowing, she ate every bit of that dry bread.

 

After that, she never planted anything again. But she learned to snatch—the wealth and food from thieves and robbers allowed her to grow taller day by day.

 

However, Al didn’t tell Jiao Qingyin this latter half of the story. she only wanted the other to know her better side.

 

Hearing Al mention her childhood experiences, Jiao Qingyin couldn’t help but feel curious and instinctively started to say: “When you were a child…”

 

Jiao Qingyin stopped herself in time. She shouldn’t have excessive curiosity about Al.

 

Al, however, steered her wheelchair forward and reached out to hook her finger around Jiao Qingyin’s, gently shaking it. “What do you want to know?”

 

“…I don’t want to know.”

 

Al laughed. “Then what should I do if I want to tell you?”

 

The sun was bright at that moment, and the budding leaves on both sides of the path showed signs of spring, casting a warm glow over Al’s expression.

 

Jiao Qingyin thought the sun was too strong; the heat was making the tips of her ears burn.

 

So, on the way back, she listened as Al narrated her experience of growing up alone as an orphan in a relaxed tone, as if telling a story.

 

Jiao Qingyin had initially set her mind to interrupt Al, lest her feelings become even harder to control as she learned more about her. But after hearing just the beginning, she couldn’t help but be immersed in it.

 

Al’s tone was casual, glossing over the hardships she had faced. Every time, she emphasized things Jiao Qingyin might be interested in—the demi-human tribes in the southern continent, the poets wandering the streets every night, the people at the Creator’s Temple who would go to worship together on the full moon…

 

Except during this time, Al also slipped in some personal interests, inventing stories of lovers finally getting together and making some subtle metaphors. Jiao Qingyin felt something was off as she listened, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

 

Hearing Al talk about seeing a couple swear their vows before the statue of the Creator, saying they would be loyal to each other for life, only for one party to cheat later and be struck dead by a giant bolt of lightning from the heavens, Jiao Qingyin couldn’t help but ask: “I heard… one cannot lie before the Creator. Why is that?”

 

Al paused. Although Jiao Qingyin hadn’t said it, her thoughts synchronized with the other as they both thought of the stained glass window under the full moon.

 

She hadn’t expected Jiao Qingyin not to know this common knowledge, but she answered anyway: “It’s not that there’s a specific reason. This is one of the powers left behind by the Creator.”

 

Jiao Qingyin’s movements stiffened. “What?”

 

Al explained: “Legend has it that when the Creator was first born, the main divine offices He held were the Moon and Truth. So after His fall, only this part of His power remained.”

 

She paused for a moment and added: “It’s usually fine, but on the night of a full moon, those standing under His statue cannot speak any lies.”

 

Al’s tone was casual, devoid of the reverence a believer has for a deity. Jiao Qingyin couldn’t tell if the other believed in the Creator or not. She was more focused on recalling her own words and actions that night.

 

That mysterious hooded person had asked her several questions, and she… seemed to have indeed spoken the truth.

 

Realizing this, Jiao Qingyin felt a chill down her spine.

 

If the other had asked more at that time, she might have unknowingly revealed things she shouldn’t have said. If that had happened… it might have led to a disaster.

 

No wonder the other emphasized “today is the full moon” at the end. What was the true identity of that hooded person…

 

The hooded person herself, seeing Jiao Qingyin’s unpleasant expression, skipped over the topic somewhat guiltily and moved on to something else. “I heard that among the Mermaid race, there is a type of pearl that can bring the dead back to life…”

 

They made their way all the way to the manor’s only remaining garden. After sitting down in the pavilion where Jiao Qingyin often had afternoon tea, Al stopped her narration. Jiao Qingyin was still somewhat unsatisfied and instinctively said: “I’ve never heard you say so much in one breath.”

 

Not just Jiao Qingyin, even Al herself had never heard herself speak so much at once. She licked her dry lips, feeling a bit incredulous.

 

It felt like as long as she was facing Jiao Qingyin, she had endless things to say.

 

But she didn’t forget her initial purpose. “What about you? How were things… in your past?”

 

Had she been bullied by Ottilia Hughes? Was she often unhappy? And…

 

But before Al’s question could come out, it was blocked by a cup of tea from Jiao Qingyin. The latter held the cup of black tea to Al’s lips. “Drink.”

 

Realizing her behavior of pouring tea for someone didn’t quite fit her persona, Jiao Qingyin added in a weary tone, “I’m tired of listening. I’m done.”

 

She tapped her finger on the table, no longer meeting Al’s eyes. She only used her peripheral vision to look at Al’s lips moistened by the tea, making her attitude of not wanting to communicate further very clear.

 

Al sensed her avoidance. The frustration that had been accumulating daily grew even larger. She stared at Jiao Qingyin’s side profile and spoke in a low voice after a long time: “I already have a plan. Just wait a little longer and I’ll be able to solve… that trouble for you.”

 

She emphasized the word “trouble,” speaking with double meaning.

 

Jiao Qingyin’s temple throbbed. She had a bad premonition. But when she turned to look, she only saw Al smiling at her with an obedient face.

 

“…” Jiao Qingyin voiced a warning, “Don’t do anything reckless.”

 

Al’s expression was innocent. “I won’t do anything reckless.” On such an important matter, she would only act once she had absolute certainty.

 

Despite receiving her promise, Jiao Qingyin wasn’t relieved at all. The more harmless Al appeared, the more she felt the other was about to cause trouble.

 

So she immediately left an instruction to the System in her mind and stood up. “Come. We’re going to heal your legs right now.”

 

Al was startled. “Now?”

 

Before she could ask for details, she was swept up into Jiao Qingyin’s arms.

 

The long-lost feeling of being suspended in mid-air made Al panic. She instinctively looked at the wheelchair left to the side. “Your Highness, I can do it myself—”

 

But Jiao Qingyin turned a deaf ear. she only adjusted her posture, her left arm passing under Al’s armpit and her right hand supporting the crook of the other’s legs, so she wouldn’t feel too insecure.

 

Al almost immediately remembered that Jiao Qingyin had held her like this once before. But that time… she had resisted fiercely and even injured the other.

 

Lost in thought for just a moment, Al realized Jiao Qingyin was about to carry her out of the pavilion.

 

As she strode along, Jiao Qingyin thought to herself: since she knew Al was about to cause trouble, she certainly couldn’t leave the wheelchair with her. Healing the legs would take several days, and by then, the other should have lost interest in her plans.

 

“Your Highness, the wheelchair—!”

 

Hearing Al call her, Jiao Qingyin didn’t lower her eyes to meet her gaze, but walked even faster.

 

She looked straight ahead and kicked the wheelchair to the side, her tone flat.

 

“You won’t be needing it anymore.”

 

Al’s pupils dilated slightly.

 

The chilly spring breeze brushed their faces. Their hair was blown up, the black and white strands intertwining for a moment before parting once again.