474: Chapter 10 Coincidence (Part 3) 474: Chapter 10 Coincidence (Part 3) The strange girl seemed to act even faster than she thought.
After launching an attack, she only then seemed to consider Gongsun Ce’s words, and once again, that dumbfounded expression appeared in her eyes—just like when they had parted.
She almost had a grasp on her character.
This girl was clueless when it came to things or developments beyond her understanding…
With this thought, Gongsun Ce cursed himself.
Funny, right?
Why choose the soft designation “this girl”?
It should have been “this rude woman”!
But when he thought of the mistake he had just made, he couldn’t muster any firmness.
“Look carefully,” Gongsun Ce pulled out keys from his pocket and in front of the girl frozen in place, opened the door to his home.
“Convinced now?
This really is my house,” Gongsun said sincerely, “If you can’t accept the truth, I suggest you move quickly.
If you can’t even spend one night, find a hotel to stay in.
But Mr.
Gongsun has been living here already, and won’t change places just because you think otherwise.
Not angry yet?
Should I smack myself a couple more times?”
The grey-haired boy pointed to his own cheek, where the handprint still hadn’t subsided.
Perhaps frightened by his careless tone or maybe never having encountered such a strange person before, the girl took a step back and said in an extremely soft voice, “No…”
“Fine then, take your time figuring it out.
Goodbye.”
Gongsun Ce slipped into the house and closed the door behind him.
The black-haired girl stood alone in the hallway, staring at the key in her hand, which was as wobbly as jelly, in silence.
·
That man was powerful.
Reflecting on the battle, she easily recognized this truth.
He had used that eerie superpower to deflect all her attacks.
True, she hadn’t used her deadliest techniques, as it wasn’t a fight to the death, but he hadn’t truly attacked either, merely defending with his superpower.
Such a thing was unprecedented.
She had never encountered peers who could fight her, not even the elders were a match for her anymore.
Could it be that this person was at the same level of power as Qin Ming?
That shouldn’t be possible, she hadn’t felt the aura that sort of being should have.
Instead, there was an unsettling dissonance…
She pondered his performance and finally pinpointed the source of that dissonance.
It was his eyes.
When he made jokes, his eyes lacked any mirth; when he seemed anxious, his eyes remained calm.
He reacted to external events, but observed others and himself emotionlessly, like a bystander.
This grey-haired boy was like someone hiding inside his own body, controlling his physical movements, rather than truly living.
Like a living corpse.
She shivered slightly.
That feeling was terrifying.
His final demeanour when speaking, that attitude as though even his own life and dignity were trivial, made her feel unbearably cold.
Was this still a living human?
“Ah…”
The girl sighed softly.
In truth, while she had shouted angrily, she had never really intended to take his life, at most she wanted to teach him an unforgettable harsh lesson.
Yet in the end, she hadn’t achieved any purpose.
She had been fighting all day.
Stumbled into a crime scene.
At night, a strange man had touched her chest.
Thinking of resting back at her apartment only to end up next to that man.
This day had truly been terrible.
If the day Qin Ming left home was excluded, this was undoubtedly the worst day of her life.
A second later, the girl learned another lesson: Once misfortune begins, there is no limit.
The keys in her hand once again changed their nature, from a gel state to a liquid state like flowing water.
The liquid that had been a key slipped through her fingers and pooled on the ground as silvery white droplets.
“…”
Might as well just smash the door down.
As she was about to act on this thought, she noticed the surrounding environment, as strange as the Demon Realm.
What would she do after entering her home?
This ability could destroy everything around her, she had no idea how to control it.
Beds, floors, walls, lights, everything would be ruined by her.
How could she rest peacefully?
The girl stood head bowed in front of the door, not knowing what to do.
Everything that happened today was beyond anything she could have imagined.
She had thought she was starting a new life, but in reality, she just kept causing trouble, making a mess of everything.
And this was not her home, she could not ask anyone for help.
Nor was there anyone who would help her.
“…Hmm.”
Her heart felt as if it was being squeezed.
The pain that had been vaguely surfacing ever since her superpower awakened had suddenly intensified, as if breaking through the defenses in her heart.
Both bewildered and irritable, the pervasive sense of oppression made it hard for her to breathe.
She wanted to cry weakly, biting back her tears, but the feeling of suffocation inside her grew even more severe.
That unfamiliar power continuously surged out of her body, against her will, dragging her deeper into the mire.
It was so unbearable.
She wanted to scream.
She had been wrong from the start.
Recalling the surprised expressions she saw today, everyone thought she was strange.
The person who did not fit in with this city, with this world, was herself—
“Hi?
Can you hear me?”
She heard a somewhat familiar voice.
She opened her eyes in confusion and saw a gray-haired boy peeking out from his doorstep.
“I know I’m being nosy, but you’re a beginner who just awakened your ability, right?
Can you get inside okay?”
“…”
Not knowing how to respond, she stood awkwardly.
“I thought so,” the boy sighed, “Step aside, I’ll help you out.”
She silently took two steps back.
The gray-haired boy reached out to the door lock, and using that hard white material, made a key.
“Here.” He tossed the key to her, “Your power probably won’t damage this, but remember to change your lock once you get a handle on controlling your ability.”
She held the key and quietly said, “…Thank you.”
“You even know how to say thanks, Mr.
Gongsun, I’m quite touched,” he said while rubbing his hair.
“Gongsun?”
“Yes, yes, let me introduce myself.
My name is Gongsun Ce, ‘Ce’ as in strategy.
What about you?”
The boy’s inhuman aura gradually faded, and suddenly, he truly looked like an ordinary high school student.
“…Qin Qianbai.
‘Qian’ as in the grass, and ‘Bai’ as in the cypress tree.”
Introducing herself, she felt somewhat embarrassed.
Hearing this name, he would definitely realize her background.
Just thinking about the reaction it might provoke made her uneasy.
“Not exactly happy to meet you,” Gongsun Ce yawned, “Good night, I’m going back to sleep.”
Qin Qianbai watched the gray-haired boy in surprise and blurted out, “…My last name is Qin.”
“Oh, mine is Gongsun.”
—There was no reaction from him.
Could it be that, contrary to his astonishing abilities, he was unaware of these things?
Did Gongsun Ce have no recognition of her ancestral family…?
This speculation brought a trace of joy to the girl.
Being acknowledged not as the daughter of the Qin family of the imperial city, but as Qin Qianbai herself, brought her some happiness.
“Thank you.”
She bowed her head and sincerely thanked him, then opened the door of her home.
“—”
Qin Qianbai stopped thinking.
Nothing.
There was nothing.
No cabinets, no tables, no sofas or stools, no furniture of any kind; the only thing waiting for her after a day of troubles was a room as empty as the term suggested.
“There’s…nothing?”
Gongsun Ce turned his head, glanced into her room, and struggled to hold back his laughter, but eventually, he couldn’t resist and burst into mean laughter.
“Hahahaha!
Didn’t you check the housing contract beforehand?
You are truly and utterly a newbie!”