One Hundred and Seven Pages – Reunion After Decades
[13:40]
[Underground Temple]
“Sakura-sensei convinced Grandma. Master, are you ready?”
After relaying this good news to everyone gathered in the living room, Master Hālìlùyà was like a student about to be visited by a teacher, rolling nervously on the carpet with a stomachache.
Then, she was stepped on by Lin Hua’s foot, making a “plop” sound.
“Grandpa, please be more mature! If we can’t pull this off, I won’t talk to you anymore!”
“Don’t say that, Little Lin Hua!”
Afraid of being abandoned, Grandpa sat up, his soft blond hair rubbing against the wool carpet, creating static electricity that stood up like a peacock’s tail.
“Cang’er, calm down.”
The professor picked up a wooden comb from the coffee table and patted the sofa.
“Come here, old man, let me comb your hair straight.”
A distorted ripple appeared in the air, and a black sphere of material fell down. This was Sakura-sensei.
It said, “Phew! Xiao Kai, let me charge up first.”
Seemingly exhausted, the black dough jumped onto my leg, squeezing out the flat Yuzu, and sprawled out like a pancake, greedily absorbing the divine power within my body.
“You treat me like a human battery as soon as you get here.”
“Anyway, you recover quickly, so let me squeeze in there too~”
I was stunned for a moment and asked, “Oh, do you want to fuse?”
“Mm-hmm, after all, I don’t want to disappear.”
The black substance integrated into my clothes, while Sakura-sensei’s soul entered my body, filling in the missing half, forming an imperfect whole… Sigh, the sense of fulfillment from fusion always makes me want to cry.
Control of my body was handed over to Sakura-sensei, who propped up her chest.
“This is the real deal. You got an SSR?!”
After a moment of reflection, she added, “Grandma’s consciousness has been sent back to the ward. Her mental state is still good. Once I catch my breath, I’ll bring her over.”
“This tone, Chairman and Sakura-senpai are fused again?”
Realizing that someone else was controlling my body, Xiao Lei moved closer and asked, “Sakura-senpai, what did Principal do at school?”
“She didn’t do much, just rested in the hut for a bit, walked around campus, checked out the boys’ dormitory on the fake mountain, oh, and she covered for your brother.”
“Wait! My brother climbed another mountain?”
Xiao Lei looked surprised when mentioning Zhao Zhao, “He’s already with Xiao Li, is there any need to spy on the girls’ school?”
“He and Li-sensei were plotting to smuggle school uniforms for extra cash, but they were caught by Grandma, and even triggered the alarm line on the mountain. They almost got arrested by the security forces. Fortunately, Grandma intervened, otherwise those two idiots would have ended up in the disciplinary office today.”
Lin Hua was also quite surprised by this outcome.
“Grandma actually covered for a boy? And especially Zhao Zhao, who became a campus legend? Kidney failure shouldn’t affect the brain!”
“Grandma is very clear-headed, but she said Dumb Big Guy is very responsible towards Li-sensei, and that they look good together. Maybe she sees potential in their relationship, so she gave them a break.”
Xiao Lei nodded, “Yeah! My brother and Li-sensei do look good together!”
Sakura-sensei glanced at Master Hālìlùyà, shrugged, and said, “When faced with danger, Old Zhao’s first instinct is to have Li-sensei escape rather than vanish… well, I think that’s the reason. Even some people would seem better than a gorilla in comparison.”
This comment was almost like pointing a finger at the master.
“I didn’t want things to turn out this way either!”
“Ah, prepare yourself then. I’ve charged up enough.”
Sakura-sensei took out a clone bookmark from her pocket, injected divine power, and gradually transformed into an unfamiliar teenage girl.
Master murmured, “Yuehua…”
This was Grandma when she was younger, it was impressive that Sakura-sensei could recreate her.
— “Ling Shaojie has a photo of Grandma when she was young.” —
Informants should not be underestimated.
Once Grandma’s clone was fully formed, the master said, “No, Yuehua’s chest isn’t that big, she and Lin Hua are about the same size—ouch!”
“Why are you still fixated on this? Grandma’s eyes must be bad to have chosen you!”
Master was stomped on again by the angry Lin Hua, although called Grandpa, she wasn’t respected by Lin Hua… Master’s family status was truly low.
With the professor’s help, we helped Grandma’s clone sit properly on the sofa, and Lin Hua put a towel over the clone’s eyes.
When asked why, she explained, “For this memorable reunion, we should give Grandma a surprise.”
A surprise?
She seemed overly optimistic.
“Ah, even if Grandma sees Grandpa, she won’t be ‘happy’… so I brought her consciousness over.”
Sakura-sensei sighed, wrapping a flower ring on the clone’s ring finger, which emitted a faint white glow despite its black color.
Under the influence of divine power, something intangible flowed into the clone.
“Ugh…”
An unconscious moan signified Grandma’s arrival.
Sakura-sensei leaned close to the clone’s ear and whispered, “Grandma, we’re already in Grandpa’s temple.”
“Xiao Kai? Or Xiao Ying?”
“It’s a combined state.”
“Huh?”
Noticing she was blindfolded, Grandma instinctively reached up to remove the towel but was held down by Lin Hua.
“Grandma, I hope you can have a calm conversation with Grandpa, so can you keep the blindfold on? Please!”
“Is this Little Lin Hua?”
Grandma grabbed Lin Hua’s wrist.
“Yes, I’m Lin Hua! It’s great that you came today!”
Feeling her height, Grandma asked, “Why have you gotten shorter?”
“I carry Grandpa’s bloodline. In this temple, I transform into different women under the influence of Heavenly Path. Sakura-sensei also changed.”
Lin Hua explained, and Grandma became even more curious about our appearances.
“Yuehua… long time no see.”
“Cang’er?”
“No, no, I’m Shi Huo Rong.”
Professor introduced himself to Grandma, but she mistook him.
“Fire Rong? Ah, weren’t you…?”
“Yes, I was supposed to die.”
The professor admitted straightforwardly.
“But Bifang saved me, though I turned into a little girl.”
“Then can’t the same method be used on me?”
It was natural to ask, but Senior Sister couldn’t do it.
Harsh heavenly punishment aside, transformation techniques only work on males, and notebooks have this restriction too, so there isn’t a single true woman in the Magic Research Institute.
“Sorry, Yuehua.”
The professor explained, “Bifang’s method doesn’t work on females. Human spells ultimately can’t match divine power.”
“What about deities?”
Although the functions of the notebook granted by Heavenly Path can’t be used on females, Sakura-sensei can. She previously used divine authority to transform Qianxia into an adult.
But it still didn’t work.
I explained, “Deities can do it, but the cost is too high. There were many deities in the world, but they all disappeared because they defied Heavenly Path.”
“Cang’er, are you afraid of disappearing?”
“Not at all!”
Master finally spoke, crawling in front of Grandma and sitting opposite her at the coffee table.
“Yuehua, I’m not afraid of death, but the altar isn’t mine. I can’t let it fall into my hands, I must pass it to Xiao Kai…”
Even the humble title used to shape her persona was abandoned.
“But I have other ways to keep you alive!”
“Oh, what are they?”
“Now I can’t tell you… you need to accept Bifang’s surgery first.”
Grandma took a deep breath.
“I know my physical condition, and I know the risks of surgery… Cang’er, it’s been nearly forty years. I’ve gone completely gray, and you never came to see me once. Now you say you want to save me? Forget it, I’ve given up on you.”
Emotionless words tortured Master’s soul, who endured the blame she deserved.
“I will save you, I really will save you! So please accept Bifang’s surgery. Only she can buy you time!”
Compared to Grandma’s calm demeanor, Master was much more agitated, even crying, but Grandma remained expressionless and asked, “Cang’er, what do you look like now?”
“Huh?”
The abrupt question left Master stunned.
“I asked what you look like now?”
“…A blonde-eyed European girl.”
“Good.”
Grandma removed the towel from her eyes, scanning everyone’s faces in the living room before settling on Master.
Then she suddenly threw a punch.
“Gwaaah—!”
Struck in the face, Master let out a fish-out-of-water scream and flew backward, hitting the back of her head squarely on the TV cabinet, rolling on the carpet like a Neimar, groaning “Eee-woo-woo-woo.”
“Gr-Grandma?”
Lin Hua was startled by Grandma’s sudden attack.
“Ah…” Dog Sister scratched her ear and approached to check Master’s injuries.
She pulled Master’s hand away from her head and said, “Your lip is slightly bruised, and your head hit hard, swelling up, but it’s fine. Everything will be healed by tomorrow.”
With a new body, these pains wouldn’t last until tomorrow.
I asked, “Grandma, why did you suddenly attack?”
Rubbing my hair, she replied, “I came here today to give her a punch and vent my emotions.”
You came all this way just to punch the master?
Sakura-sensei advised, “Grandma, I know you have many grievances with Grandpa, but you can’t get too worked up. It might affect your health at the hospital.”
“Okay, then take me back now.”
“Huh? Are we going back already?”
Grandma’s actions surprised me. It had only been a few minutes, and they hadn’t had a proper conversation yet.
“Yuehua, wait! Don’t go yet!”
Hearing Grandma was about to leave, even with a lump on her head, Master crawled over, sobbing.
Grandma threw the towel at Master’s swollen face.
“Don’t come near! I didn’t come to forgive you. I just wanted to punch you myself.”
“If that’s not enough, punch me again!”
Grandma ignored her and told Sakura-sensei, “It’s about time to take me back.”
“Grandma, are you willing to undergo the transplant surgery?”
Lin Hua timidly looked at Grandma, fearing she might refuse.
“I’ll accept… after all, I haven’t reached the point where I don’t want to live.”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but she added, “But I won’t use Bei Hai’s kidney. Of course, I don’t want any of you to donate kidneys for me. You’re all still young and shouldn’t make such sacrifices for me, an old woman.”
“But the risk of the organ bank is higher, and matching takes a long time. Grandma—”
Lin Hua worried again, but Grandma interrupted her.
She looked at Sakura-sensei and asked, “Xiao Ying, you said this clone’s functions are no different from a real person.”
“Uh, yes, although it’s made of divine power, it’s like a real person… ah! Do you plan to use the clone’s kidney?”
“Is it possible?”
I looked at Master Hālìlùyà. Grandma’s intentions were clear to her.
“…It’s possible, I’ll definitely show you!”
