I Got Together with the Goddess [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 52

After class, Jiang Yiqing turned down her classmates’ invitations to study at the library or join them for an evening self-study session. She checked her schedule and saw that classes were finished for the day, so she hurried back to the dormitory.

“Host, because you have double the time during the day, you will enter a forced sleep for at least six hours at night. This is also to ensure your physical health.”

“Just like Shui Mingsheng is now?”

“Yes. Shui Mingsheng cannot wake up during this daylight period, and you will definitely fall into a deep sleep for six hours at night.”

“…” Jiang Yiqing hadn’t expected the ‘Gate of Daylight’ to have such powerful effects, but the corresponding restrictions were also numerous. She had to start considering the situation when Shui Mingsheng woke up after she fell asleep.

According to the current circumstances, she would fall asleep at night, and Shui Mingsheng would likely wake up during the night, worried about her. Tomorrow morning, their timelines would synchronize, and they would have a full day together. They had to make the most of that daylight.

Jiang Yiqing sat at her desk and wrote a note for Shui Mingsheng. After the dormitory curfew, she locked the door from the inside and thoughtfully left some grilled cold noodles on the table, fearing Shui Mingsheng would be hungry upon waking. Of course, she also changed her appearance back to her original self.

“Yiqing?!…” Shui Mingsheng cried out, jolting awake from her dream.

Upon waking, she discovered a soft, warm body beside her. Relying on muscle memory and intuition, she reached out and touched the other’s hand. In the dim room, using the faint glow emitted by the Green Lantern Gu at her fingertips, she saw Jiang Yiqing’s face clearly.

Jiang Yiqing was lying right beside her.

A ripple of emotion stirred in Shui Mingsheng’s heart. She remembered losing consciousness after the fainting powder was scattered. She had been worried about whether they could successfully return to the dorm through the passage, but it seemed they had succeeded.

The wooden box was placed beside her, but Shui Mingsheng didn’t have time to notice it. She whispered softly, “Yiqing…?”

Jiang Yiqing did not respond. Shui Mingsheng stroked her cheek; she was like a sleeping beauty, her fair skin flushed with the glow of deep sleep, her breathing shallow, and her eyelashes soft.

Shui Mingsheng couldn’t resist leaning down and pressing a gentle kiss onto those pale red lips. Only having Jiang Yiqing by her side in this moment made her feel an incomparable sense of peace. She tucked the corner of the quilt around Jiang Yiqing and cautiously climbed out of bed.

The tempting aroma of food hit her nose. Shui Mingsheng walked to the desk and saw the grilled cold noodles kept in an insulated bag, along with a sticky note placed nearby.

She picked it up and read:

To my dear Mingsheng:

When you see this note, I should have entered my six-hour forced sleep. But don’t worry, I will wake up.

I am so looking forward to tomorrow morning, when I can do many, many things together with Mingsheng. If you’re hungry, eat the grilled cold noodles. I hope they haven’t gone cold yet.

— Yiqing [Heart]

Shui Mingsheng felt a surge of sweetness in her heart. She tucked the note into her pocket like a treasure and picked up the noodles, thinking that a snack had never tasted so delicious.

She sat by the bed, quietly waiting for the darkness to fade, gazing at Jiang Yiqing’s sleeping face with a lingering smile.

Suddenly, the sound of a doorknob turning echoed from the entrance, followed by a tentative knock.

Shui Mingsheng’s guard went up. Looking through the peephole, she saw Zhao Xiran standing outside the dorm door with a very strange expression.

After a moment’s hesitation, Shui Mingsheng opened the door. Zhao Xiran walked in, her first words being: “Jiang Yiqing, are you okay?”

Seeing Shui Mingsheng by the light from the hallway, Zhao Xiran was somewhat surprised, but she said nothing. She closed the door behind her and asked in a low voice, “Why are you still here?”

“Is something wrong?” Shui Mingsheng found Zhao Xiran quite odd, but her concern for Jiang Yiqing didn’t seem fake. Could this person be trusted?

“You’re asking me? I wanted to ask you! Why are people asking me for information about you two?” Zhao Xiran was speechless. She had spent her life dodging the people her father sent to monitor her, and she never expected her counter-surveillance skills to come in handy now. During the day, she felt someone was following her, and eventually, she cornered the person in a street alley.

That person, speaking in slurred Mandarin, asked her if she knew where Shui Mingsheng had gone. Zhao Xiran instinctively felt someone was trying to disturb a little couple, so she helped cover for them by saying: “Shui Mingsheng came to see her girlfriend, and then didn’t she head back?”

Then another person joined the first, and the two spoke quietly. Zhao Xiran strained her ears and heard Jiang Yiqing’s name. After that, they didn’t ask anything else and left in a hurry.

Fearing someone might still be following her, Zhao Xiran wandered around outside until nightfall before daring to head back to the school.

After hearing the account of the events, Shui Mingsheng said, “Thank you.”

“And then?” Zhao Xiran was puzzled. “You and Yiqing… something happened, didn’t it?”

She glanced toward the bed and saw Jiang Yiqing lying there. Given Jiang Yiqing’s personality, it was impossible for her to fall into such a deep sleep while being completely unaware of her surroundings. The current situation of the two was very strange.

“It’s for your own good; it’s better if you don’t know about this,” Shui Mingsheng said.

“Oh?” Zhao Xiran laughed. “Shui Mingsheng, I’ve looked into you too. Although outsiders don’t know about matters of the Miao region, I actually found your name on a strange website. I didn’t realize you were already the chief of such a large Miao village. Apparently, you can use Gu, is that right?”

“What website?”

Zhao Xiran took out her phone and showed the webpage to Shui Mingsheng. Shui Mingsheng discovered that the content on the site went far beyond that; various new gossip posts were cropping up one after another.

The top-ranked post was about the incident at Daobei Ridge. The number of people at the Boundary Stone was updated in real-time, analyzing everyone who might possess the King Gu. Shui Mingsheng was even a trending search term on the site.

Zhao Xiran said, “Shui Mingsheng, you’re quite famous, but I feel like these people have ill intentions.”

Zhao Xiran clicked on posts like “The Youngest Female Chief of the Miao Region,” “The Killer of the Lianye Village Chief and Elder Feng of Qingfeng Village,” and “Where is Shui Mingsheng?” to show her.

Shui Mingsheng scrolled through the information on the site and then did a quick search online. She essentially concluded that the company operating the website had connections with Li Shan.

The targeting was very deliberate. Shui Mingsheng knew that there were many pairs of eyes secretly watching her.

“Can you do me a favor?” Shui Mingsheng asked.

“You want me to help you?” Zhao Xiran seemed to have guessed Shui Mingsheng would say this. Utilizing her family’s influence, nothing would be difficult. However, she would have to ask her family, which meant swallowing her pride. She might even be forced to complete certain tasks, and she hated trouble most of all.

“Once it’s done, I will help you with a favor in return.”

“Deal!” Zhao Xiran was quite interested in the Gu of the Miao region. Having such a good opportunity to come into contact with it was something she didn’t want to pass up. “So, what is it?”

“Find a reliable hacker and shut down this website.”

“Is that all?” Zhao Xiran said. “How about I also find someone to create some new posts for you to confuse them? You can send me some photos of you and Yiqing on dates.”

“Then I would be very grateful. Also, try not to appear in N City,” Shui Mingsheng said. “The further you hide, the better. I might need to use your identity to stay in N City for a while.”

“…Fine, fine. I really give up. I feel like I’ve become your employee.”

“Again, once this is successful, both Yiqing and I will be grateful to you, Classmate Zhao Xiran,” Shui Mingsheng said seriously. Her sudden solemnity made Zhao Xiran feel embarrassed. Tossing her hair, she said, “Since you’re being so sincere, I’ll play the ‘good person’ for once.”

She gave her student ID, campus card, and other items to Shui Mingsheng, and then quietly left through a small campus gate.

At six in the morning, Jiang Yiqing woke up punctually. She felt a bit hazy. Compared to a normal person, experiencing two days and one night for the first time was a bit disorienting. However, when she saw Shui Mingsheng’s face very close to her own, she cleared her head instantly.

“Mingsheng, what are you doing?”

“Miss Sleeping Beauty, I wanted to see if I could kiss you awake,” Shui Mingsheng said with a smile.

Jiang Yiqing’s face turned slightly red as she said, “Then I woke up too early?”

“I’ll definitely kiss you awake next time,” Shui Mingsheng said. “But I did steal a kiss last night. Yiqing, you’re too cute, I couldn’t control myself.”

“…But I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

“Why?” Shui Mingsheng looked at her with innocent, puppy-like eyes, looking truly pitiful.

“During class, I was afraid someone on duty would come in to check, so I transformed you into Zhao Xiran’s appearance,” Jiang Yiqing said.

“As expected of my dear wife, we really are of one mind.” Shui Mingsheng waved Zhao Xiran’s ID in front of her and told Jiang Yiqing about Zhao Xiran’s visit and their conversation.

“So they really are looking for you,” Jiang Yiqing said. “Should we head back to the Miao region first?”

“They’re already looking, so there’s no need to rush,” Shui Mingsheng replied, indifferent to those people’s opinions. She said, “Yiqing, now that I’m pretending to be Zhao Xiran, no one will suspect me. Let’s go find Auntie Xia first. I’m also worried those people might find their way to her.”

“Okay.”

The two washed up, combed their hair, and got dressed. After grabbing a quick breakfast at the school gate, they moved to Xia Yi’s residence while no one was around.

They arrived so early they wondered if Xia Yi was still resting, but to their surprise, when they knocked, the door opened directly—it wasn’t locked at all.

Walking inside, they saw Xia Yi eating a crispy cake while flipping through documents. She looked a bit better than the last time they saw her, which relieved them both.

“Yiqing, who is this?”

Jiang Yiqing said, “She is Mingsheng. It’s just that people are looking for her, so she can’t be seen.”

“Auntie Xia, are you alright? Has anyone come looking for you?” Shui Mingsheng asked.

“…There have been some,” Xia Yi smiled, looking somewhat gentle. “But Mingsheng, I have my reasons for living here. These are all old houses, and there are many stray cats with a tendency to become Cat Gu. Unless it’s a human with a pure aura, any other stranger who comes will be attacked by swarms of feral cats. Even if they aren’t afraid of cats, the Tree Gu won’t let them off. Besides, I am an ordinary human and protected; the people of the Miao region wouldn’t dare do anything to me lightly.”

“That may be true, but to get the treasure, some desperate people might not have many scruples left,” Shui Mingsheng said. “Tree Gu, within these ten days, you must protect Auntie Xia and honor our agreement.”

“Hmph.” The Tree Gu seemed to think she was making a fuss over nothing; most Gu masters would be no match for it.

Shui Mingsheng and Jiang Yiqing exchanged a look and asked the purpose of their visit: “Auntie Xia, actually, we wanted to ask if you know about the Death Silence Gu?”

“Death Silence Gu.” Xia Yi’s expression didn’t change, and she spoke with a hint of familiarity as if talking to an old acquaintance, asking the Tree Gu: “Isn’t that an old friend of yours?”

In the uninhabited dense forests, besides various Tree Gu, there was only eternal deathly silence. These transformed branches were very familiar with this Death Silence Gu.

“Why should I tell you? So you can come back and restrain me after you fulfill the agreement?”

“Tree Gu, your thinking is wrong. Being hostile to us won’t help you achieve your wish of becoming immortal,” Jiang Yiqing said. “Have you heard a saying in the human world—’To get, one must first give’?”

“Little girl, you’re full of lies. I won’t be fooled so easily.”

“I actually think Yiqing is right,” Xia Yi said. “I am helping the two of them because I know that by helping others achieve what they want, I can get closer to my own goals.”

“…” The Tree Gu pondered that the Death Silence Gu wasn’t some massive secret, and telling them wouldn’t have much impact. Besides, very few people ever mentioned this Gu; who would want to use it?

Such a thing was neither auspicious nor lively; instead, it made people feel uncomfortable and oppressed. This was the Gu that had accompanied the Tree Gu for many years in the deep forest; it could be said that before it possessed Xia Yi, it lived a life devoid of any vitality.

If the Death Silence Gu could also be used by humans, perhaps it wouldn’t feel so silent anymore.

“The home of the Death Silence Gu is in a snowy forest beside a black river. It is deathly silent all year round; only when the snow melts and gathers into a stream does it make a bit of sound. No animal can survive there. The Death Silence Gu I encountered drifted out from there. Go find it yourselves.” The Tree Gu pointed out the location to them and then entered a state of hibernation.

Jiang Yiqing left a preset passage for the ‘Gate of Daylight’ in Xia Yi’s room as well. Should the current two passage points become unusable, the preset one could serve as a backup.