Chapter 56: What a Great Story!
“Night Star, what am I now? I feel like I’m not human anymore…”
Lianhua placed her hand on her chest and couldn’t feel her heartbeat. Instead, she felt an overwhelming surge of energy coursing through her.
Overall, she still felt a bit uneasy about it.
After some contemplation, Night Star said, “Indeed, you’re no longer human. But don’t worry about these details. Just pretend you’re a neko girl. It’s fine.”
“Really? A neko girl? That sounds so weird.”
“Ah well, who cares about such minor details?”
Just then, a familiar female voice echoed from behind Night Star. Turning around, she noticed that the Ghost Girl had already caught up.
“Night Star! You left me behind again! Waaaah!”
However, before Eypar could get close, she saw Lianhua looking at her with a puzzled expression, which gave her a fright. She abruptly came to a halt.
“Cripes, this chick is scary!”
Everyone knows that Star Eclipses have a hierarchical system, so it’s natural for Eypar to be scared of Lianhua (surely).
Of course, the most important point was that Eypar had previously been terrified by a glance from the Puppet Master.
This left a deep psychological shadow on Eypar, causing her to fear Lianhua even more.
Night Lan sighed softly, “Don’t worry, Eypar. Lianhua has returned to normal and won’t scare you anymore.”
“Really? Really? But I still sense a terrifying aura from her, she’s still super scary.”
As soon as she spoke, Eypar suddenly noticed a slight irregularity.
Who is talking to her?
It wasn’t Night Star.
Eypar turned her gaze towards Night Lan, with her spiky hair forming a ridiculous question mark.
“?
The semi-transparent Ghost Girl drifted over to Night Lan thoughtfully, seemingly pondering something, before her expression turned dramatically surprised.
“Why are there two Night Stars!”
Night Lan rubbed her head, correcting her, “Nope, I’m Night Lan.”
“Still Night Star! Even if your hair and eyes changed, you give off the same vibe, you must be the same person!”
Eypar started circling Night Lan curiously, feeling quite elated.
After all, her curiosity was boundless, and discovering another Night Star had made her very intrigued.
“Could this be Night Star’s Star? To split into two persons—it’s simply awesome!”
Wanting to stop and explain himself, Night Lan stopped short and nodded frantically.
“Yes, yes, yes, this is my Star.”
Since Eypar found this convenient explanation, he went along with it.
“Two Night Stars…”
Lianhua’s gaze darted between Night Star and Night Lan, as if she had discovered a new world.
If Night Star has two forms, does that mean she also has a second Audience?
That would be great news.
Ah, but maybe she shouldn’t be worrying about this now.
While Night Star and Night Lan were contemplating whether all Star Eclipses can see through a dual nature, Lianhua’s worried voice interrupted their thoughts.
“Umm… Night Star, what should we do next?”
“Huh?”
Night Star turned and saw Lianhua looking guilty, as if she had done something wrong.
“I think… I did something bad. What should I do?”
Foggy though her memories were, Lianhua remembered doing something terrible that caused significant trouble for many people. This was hard for a well-behaved girl to fathom.
Hugging her puppet tightly, Lianhua felt very anxious.
Night Star pondered, “Lianhua, what do you want to do in the future?”
“I don’t know… but I still want to continue performing puppet shows.”
“Then let’s run away! I support you running away; just hide well. After all, it’s your fault.”
Lianhua is probably halfway between being a Star Eclipsed right now.
Better than pure Ghosts, but still abnormal.
So, she wouldn’t be accepted by the Night Watchers.
“Nah, Lianhua, do you know? Actually, I’m from the future.”
“What?!”
“In the future, I met you. Someone broke your puppet, and you were very sad. Your wish was to fix it, so I came back here to fulfill that wish—and now it seems like it’s working out.”
“Really?”
“Mm-hm~ Although the process was tough, everything worked out nicely in the end. I initially planned to punish you by smacking your bottom, but it seems unnecessary now. As long as you can revert back.”
Little petals opened slightly, her pupils widening.
“How amazing…”
Her heart was deeply moved.
If that’s the case, how wonderful must be the friendship across time and space be.
She really loves this kind of story.
A fantastical tale happening to her—isn’t that amazing? She wants to record it all in puppet shows and perform for many audiences on the stage.
She absolutely has to.
Right then, Night Lan’s and Night Star’s bodies began emitting faint, star-like glows.
“Eh? They’re glowing.”
Feeling that peculiar sensation of disconnection from the present, Night Lan tilted her head.
“Is this… fulfilling a wish?”
“Night Star, what’s going on?”
“Mm… feels like I might be going back. Since I come from the future, I can’t stay here forever.”
Similar to what happened in White Fish’s story. Having experienced this before, she wasn’t worried.
Night Star wasn’t worried, but Lianhua was. She grabbed her hand desperately.
“Night Star, are you leaving? But I don’t want you to go…”
“Don’t worry, we’ll meet again sometime. The next time we meet, it could be in the future.”
“Mm…”
Lianhua hung her head, filled with sadness.
Deciding resolutely, she handed over her puppet.
“So… Night Star, please take care of Little Lian.”
“Eh?”
Night Star, with a confused look, hesitated.
“Are you sure? This is probably your favorite puppet, right?”
Shaking her head, Lianhua replied, “It’s fine. Because it’s Night Star, I trust you’ll protect it well.”
“Mm… still, it’s too important to let go.”
Little Lian’s puppet possessed a terrifying Star Eclipse aura. It was basically Lianhua’s source of power.
Without it, Lianhua likely couldn’t use much Star Eclipse power.
“You can return it to me once you’re back in the future, I’m afraid I can’t protect it properly.”
Hearing this, Night Star finally took the puppet, then nodded firmly.
“Mm-hm~ I’ve got it.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the celestial light surrounding Night Star grew brighter, attracting attention from many nearby Night Watchers.
“Goodbye~”
“Uh…”
The figures of Night Star and Night Lan gradually faded into the glow.
At the last moment, Eypar’s panicked voice echoed.
“Wait, Night Star, where are you going? Don’t leave me behind! Waaah!”
A brief moment later, Night Star smiled, “If you remember, find me in Yun Chang City. Don’t play any nasty pranks when you do.”
With her words, Night Star and Night Lan’s presence completely vanished.
