Chapter 768: Why Shy?

Heimu's teeth gently bit the inner side of the lips, adjusted the angle of the palm by two degrees, and continued the investigation.

It must be Laigu Shi's doing.

That scoundrel, while controlling XiaDie, must have left some residual effect on her; otherwise, why would such a normally proper person suddenly have such a bizarre thought?

Yes, it must be like that.

After finishing, Heimu will take that cube out and beat it again.

After mentally allocating the pot, Heimu felt considerably more at ease.

Heimu continued to slowly stroke the back of XiaDie's neck with the hand, the violet light at the fingertips tracing a circle along the hairline, completing the coverage of the last small data segment.

The investigation progress bar reached one hundred percent.

A green prompt popped up on the System Panel: No abnormal residue detected.

Very good.

Heimu nodded with satisfaction.

The fingers did not immediately withdraw from XiaDie's hair.

Heimu used the index finger to curl a small strand of violet hair; the deep violet at the tip spiraled half a circle around the knuckle, silky and smooth, like a short piece of dyed moonlight.

The little one's head perched here, those pale violet eyes closed, eyelashes quietly resting below, lips slightly pursed, the tips of the ears showing a translucent sheen under the light—quite cute.

Heimu thought with pleasure.

It's these ears.

The faint pink on the ear tips had deepened slightly since before, spreading from the tip to the edge of the ear lobe, like a diluted rouge bleeding onto a white petal.

Heimu stared at the slightly reddened pointed ears, the mind already replaying the earlier "withdraw the hand and cough casually" sequence, while the palm remained motionless.

Forget it, minor impact, not worth doing.

Heimu was about to retract the hand when the peripheral glance fell on XiaDie's status bar on the System Panel.

At the bottom of a row of green normal indicators, there was a line of tiny text.

Current emotional state: Shy.

Heimu's pupils dilated slightly.

Shy.

Why shy?

The answer popped up in Heimu's mind the instant the question did, because XiaDie was awake.

Heimu lowered the head and looked back at XiaDie.

Those pointed ears had reddened from tip to base, the light pink fur inside the ear rims clearly visible under the warm yellow light.

The face hidden in the arm showed no expression; a faint crimson hue rose on the pale back of the neck, spreading from the hairline down to the collar edge.

The prone posture remained, the overlapping arms still overlapped, but XiaDie's breathing rhythm was noticeably half a beat faster than before.

Heimu froze.

Heimu's right hand still hovered above XiaDie's occiput, maintaining the previous caressing pose, fingers slightly spread, the palm less than an inch from the hair.

Within that scant inch lay something that, once crossed, could not be undone, and Heimu had crossed it countless times.

Heimu slowly retracted the hand and stepped back two paces.

The boot heels tapped the stone floor twice lightly.

The Witch Hat's brim cast a shadow over Heimu's face, obscuring the expression at that moment.

The atmosphere quieted for about three seconds.

Or perhaps three years.

Heimu spoke.

The voice dropped half a tone from usual, tone maintaining calm and steadiness.

"XiaDie."

Heimu saw the other's body tremble slightly.

The head hidden in the arm rose slowly, moving as slowly as if in water.

Violet hair slipped from the shoulders, revealing a pale, delicate face, two faint crimson blushes on the cheeks spreading to the ear bases.

The light violet pupils were moist, as if just surfacing from a long dream, with a hint of watery sheen on the lashes.

Heimu sat upright, hands folded on the knees, fingertips slightly curled.

The gaze fell on the butterfly on the glove on the knee, unwilling to look at Heimu.

Heimu stared expressionlessly at XiaDie.

The brim's shadow covered the eyes, the mouth corner holding a steady straight line.

The purple‑black pupils throbed wildly in the deep shadow.

Too awkward!

When did XiaDie wake up!

How long did Heimu touch!

Was she awake from the start!

That "so soft", "so comfortable", "the feel is great" thought arose while she was awake!

What was the other's reaction when Heimu felt the head being touched!

Why keep pretending to sleep!

Because they're too embarrassed to expose it!

Or still saving her face!

During those three seconds of an inner avalanche in Heimu, the facial muscles remained completely still.

This is the strongest survival skill she acquired after crossing over to the Honkai Star Rail abbreviation world.

"Madam," XiaDie spoke first, her voice softer than usual.

"What happened earlier, those words, those actions—I don't know why I did that. That wasn't what I wanted to say. I…"

She paused, her lashes drooping, her fingertips twisting together, and said, "I made you see something very embarrassing."

Heimu came to his senses.

After hearing XiaDie's words, the heart still wildly pounding in his chest steadied a bit.

The entry's influence faded faster than she expected; XiaDie had already returned to a normal Cognition mode, recognizing the behavior while being controlled as abnormal.

That is a good thing.

So she wouldn't have to waste words explaining whose fault those ambiguous actions were.

She pushed her hat brim upward, the exposed violet‑black eyes regaining their usual steady sheen, took over the conversation, and slowed her tone to the standard pitch she uses when speaking with a normal Golden Descendant.

"It has nothing to do with you. Someone acted while you weren't paying attention; I've already dealt with it."

She paused there, tilted her head slightly to assess XiaDie's complexion, and from the still flushed face captured the lingering abnormal traces.

"How does it feel?"

XiaDie pressed her lips together.

She twisted both hands lightly on her knees, her fingertips touching each other.

After a moment of silence she spoke, her voice so light it was almost drowned out by the rustling of the flower field outside the window.

"Your hand. Very warm."

Heimu's mind experienced a blank of roughly a few tenths of a second at that instant.

She realized what the other was saying—the thing about him touching her head earlier.

XiaDie lowered her head, the red flush at the tips of her ears deepening, her pointed ears pressing back slightly before snapping back.

She lifted her hand and gently placed it on the back of her neck, over the spot that Heimu had repeatedly stroked, still warm from the lingering heat of his fingertips.

Pale, slender fingers rested on her skin, the light lavender nails catching a faint glint in the light.

"You know my body. Being touched is very difficult for me."

She withdrew the hand from her neck, gently placed it in the palm of her other hand, and as if confirming something, pressed the two together.

"No one has ever touched me like that before. Everything I touch is taken away. Anyone who touches me is bound by death. So everyone keeps their distance, stands far away, speaks from afar, smiles from afar. It's always been that way. But your touch just now... was different."