Chapter 151: Awakening

Bai Hang: "……"

She tightened the fingers gripping the energy bow, almost unable to restrain herself from slamming the words "You're lying, you ghost" straight onto the other's expressionless face.

Who would ask a kettle to be silently placed by the bedside, then reach out to take someone else's Eye Mask?!

This excuse is so perfunctory that even a three‑year‑old wouldn't believe it!

But, we can't tear the façade.

Bai Hang inhaled deeply, forcing herself to calm down.

A smile of "Ah, I see", "So that's it", "You should have said so earlier" quickly formed on her face, and the energy bow in her hand silently dissipated into specks of light.

"Oh dear! Look at my memory!"

She slapped her forehead, "I forgot to prepare drinking water in your room, my fault, my fault! Come, come, I'll take you to the kitchen right now; we have hot and cold water!"

As she spoke, she turned sideways naturally, made a "please" gesture, as if the earlier bow duel had merely been a friendly exercise.

Jing Liu gave a slight nod, turned obediently, and followed Bai Xing out of the room.

In the kitchen, Bai Xing attentively fetched a clean cup, filled it with suitably warm drinking water, and handed it to Jing Liu with both hands.

The whole process was affable and smooth, like the most considerate innkeeper.

Jing Liu took the cup but did not drink.

She only stared at the gently rippling surface of the water, silent for a moment.

"Your skill," she suddenly said, her voice unusually clear in the silent kitchen, "is excellent."

Bai Xing felt a tightening in his heart, but his smile remained: "Hey, doing interstellar trade, the road's unsafe, you have to learn a bit of Three‑Legged Cat technique for self‑defense! Sorry to make you laugh!"

"Three‑Legged Cat?"

Jing Liu repeated the term evenly, "There aren't many 'Three‑Legged Cats' that can instantly slip away under my hand."

Bai Xing forced a dry laugh twice, "Luck, it's purely luck! At the time I just… just suddenly felt something was off, got startled, and my body moved on its own! Really!"

Jing Liu said nothing further.

She lifted the cup, took a symbolic sip, then gently set the cup on the countertop.

"Thank you."

After speaking, she turned and left the kitchen, the hem of her black nightgown sweeping the threshold, silently merging into the hallway's darkness.

Bai Hang stood in the kitchen until she confirmed the cold pressure had completely receded, then she abruptly leaned against the icy metal countertop and exhaled a long breath she had held for a long time.

(That was close…)

She raised her hand and brushed the Eye Mask pressed against her skin.

It was a special device the Master left her, capable of shape‑shifting and shielding many scans, one of the cores of her disguise as Bai Xing.

If it had been taken off just now…

The consequences would be unimaginable.

She walked back to the room, gently closed the door, and watched Bai Lu still sound asleep on the bed, oblivious to the recent undercurrents, while the string in her heart tightened further.

(Jing Liu… has she already suspected this much?)

Xing awoke from an unusually exhilarating, even somewhat tiring, "dream."

She swung the bat with full abandon, and at the end seemed to smash an iceberg with one swing, feeling very exhilarated.

So when she opened her eyes, she felt refreshed and energetic, as if she had just finished a high‑quality cardio workout.

She stretched lazily, sat up, her ash‑colored hair slightly ruffled from sleep.

Her golden eyes habitually scanned the tidy room.

Then her gaze halted.

On the floor beside the bed lay a person.

Pink hair, familiar clothes, lying face‑down, motionless.

"... San Yue?"

Xing blinked, thinking she hadn't fully woken.

She smoothly rolled out of bed, crouched beside the person, and gently prodded the shoulder, "San Yue? San Yue Qi? Why are you sleeping here?"

No response.

Xing applied a little force and turned the person over.

Indeed it was San Yue Qi's face, eyes tightly shut, brows slightly furrowed, looking as if she was… uh, or rather deeply unconscious.

"Hey, wake up! It's cold on the floor!" Xing shook San Yue Qi's shoulder.

"... Hmm..."

San Yue Qi let out a vague groan, her long lashes fluttered a few times, and she slowly opened her eyes.

They were eyes with obvious bewilderment, but soon the confusion faded, replaced by clarity.

Jizi instinctively scanned the surroundings quickly, confirmed safety, then focused on the curious Xing before her.

"What I have is..."

Jizi spoke, her voice crisp like San Yue Qi's, but her tone was Jizi's steady.

She tried to sit up, and as soon as she moved, she gasped sharply, "Sss—!"

She raised her hand to the back of her head, her fingertips finding a distinct, swollen lump; pressing it caused her to grit her teeth in pain.

"It hurts so much!"

Xing leaned in, tilting her head toward San Yue Qi's occiput, golden eyes full of astonishment: "Whoa! San Yue, why do you have such a huge lump here?"

She even gestured with a finger, "It's like the mysterious lump that appeared on my head when I used to sleep in the hallway, but yours… is in a slightly more off‑center spot."

Jizi endured the pain and slowly propped herself up from the floor.

She ignored Xing's recollection about the "hall‑sleep lump" (there really were some paranormal incidents on the train then), and fell into thought.

Last night… she swapped bodies with Walther and the robot "Shut Up (Cocktail Technique)", and she ended up in San Yue Qi's body.

After returning to the room, because it was dark, she groped around trying to turn on the light, and then…

Memory here has a fracture.

Is that the sound of footsteps?

Then a pain struck the back of her head, her vision went black, and she knew nothing else.

Who attacked "San Yue Qi"?

No, it attacked "her".

On the Star Rail, in their own room?

What was the purpose?

"Xing," Jizi began, her voice hoarse from pain and confusion, "help me up."

"Oh, okay!"

Xing quickly reached out, supporting San Yue Qi's arm, and helped her sit on the bedside.

Xing himself then plopped down beside her, continuing to curiously examine the big lump, his eyes full of interest.

"What on earth happened to you? Did you hit a door frame? Or did you secretly try on some new clothes last night and fall?"

Jizi gently massaged the back of her head, and upon hearing that, glanced at Xing.

This kid is still so… straightforward.

She didn't answer Xing's question, but retorted, "Xing, how did you sleep last night…? Did you hear any unusual sounds?"

"Me?"

Xing pointed at himself, "I slept okay! I even had a particularly exciting dream! In the dream I fought people, and it was so thrilling!"

She swung her fist, mimicking a drumstick motion, "Bang bang bang! Super stress‑relieving!"

Jizi watched her full of vigor, and fell silent for a moment.

(Dreamt of fighting… it was so thrilling…)

She rubbed the back of her head again, the vaguely painful, mysterious lump, and an unfounded association, like a shadow beneath water, slowly rose.

(Could it be…?)

But she immediately dismissed that overly absurd speculation.

Although Xing sometimes acts erratically and is strong, there is no reason for him to deliver a blunt blow to the back of her head in the middle of the night.

But if it wasn't Xing, who on the train could silently slip into the room, knock out San Yue Qi, take nothing, damage nothing, and only leave a swollen lump?

Dan Heng? Impossible.

Walther? Even more impossible.

Pam? Pam wouldn't do that.

Could it be… a prank left by the self‑proclaimed San Yue Qi sister, "Chang Ye Yue"?

Or perhaps this bizarre "Soul Swap" itself harbors unknown risks?

Jizi fell into deeper contemplation, her brows tightly knit, her expression a seriousness rarely seen on San Yue Qi's face.

Xing watched from beside, finding it increasingly strange.

(San Yue today… why so quiet?)

(Got hit once and all the liveliness was knocked out?)

(And this expression… a bit like Aunt Jizi's when she ponders a problem? Is it an illusion?)