plumnovel Chapter 40 : Mobilization
Chapter 40 : Mobilization
MobilizationAlthough it was still early in the morning, the July heat was already starting to show its signs. The moment Gu Yanxi stepped out of the stairwell, brilliant and dazzling sunlight shone directly onto her face, causing her to squint slightly.
Just like yesterday, today's weather was bad as well.
Sighing about having gone out without sunscreen, Gu Yanxi walked into the scorching daylight. After a minute or two, she arrived at the side gate of the apartment complex. There were a lot of small restaurants here that served both breakfast and lunch. The prices were affordable—a dozen yuan was enough for an adult to eat their fill.
As for the taste... well, that was another matter.
On a normal day, Gu Yanxi would never have left home to buy breakfast at a place like this.
Her mother was an excellent cook—she could turn even the simplest homestyle dishes into culinary delights. She would always tell Gu Yanxi that restaurants outside were dirty and only home-cooked meals were truly clean.
Unfortunately, while Gu Yanxi inherited her mother's beauty, she clearly didn't inherit her mother's culinary skills. She'd tried her hand at cooking a few times before—almost setting the kitchen on fire or ending up with a pot of charcoal. Last night's dinner was already considered an above-average attempt.
And even so, her little pet at home still didn't seem satisfied, especially judging by that deathly pale face and tightly furrowed brows as she chewed. It made Gu Yanxi's heart ache just seeing it.
She'd meant to craft the image of a virtuous wife and loving mother. Now... Forget it. She'd never try home-cooking again.
Thinking this, Gu Yanxi went into a breakfast shop she often frequented. The owner was on good terms with her mother, and sometimes they'd meet up to play mahjong.
When she was younger, after her mother stayed up all night playing mahjong and had no energy to cook, she'd give Gu Yanxi a hundred or two yuan to come here for breakfast. Compared with other small restaurants, the hygiene here was, at worst, passable.
"Xiao Xi, your mom's still not back?"
As soon as she entered, the owner auntie—busy wiping down a table—stood up and greeted her warmly.
"Morning, auntie. My mom said... she'll be home in a couple more days."
Gu Yanxi smiled wryly, then glanced at the menu posted on the wall, pondered for a bit, and said, "One order of soup dumplings, one bowl of millet porridge, and a cup of soy milk—all to go, please."
"Alright, you can sit here for a bit. Auntie will get that ready right away."
"Okay."
Gu Yanxi randomly found a bench to sit on. She took out her phone, didn't unlock the screen, just fiddled with it absentmindedly.
She wondered how Anna, her little sister, was doing at home. Was she misbehaving again, sneaking off to take a bath like yesterday?
Just thinking of the little one at home, Gu Yanxi felt as if she were dreaming.
Are there really gods, vampires, other worlds, and magic in this world? Could someone actually turn a bona fide boy into such a frail, pitiful, vulnerable-looking shape?
If someone had told her this before, Gu Yanxi would never have believed it. She would've thought the person had a screw loose.
But now, faced with cold hard reality, the worldview she'd painstakingly built up for over a decade had been shattered to pieces in an instant.
Would Chen Zixuan really disappear forever? Gu Yanxi still didn't know. But that she now had a little sister named Gu Anna—that, at least, was an indisputable fact.
"A little sister... I have a little sister now... hehe..."
For no particular reason, Gu Yanxi's lips curled slightly.
......
Seven or eight minutes later, Gu Yanxi left the shop carrying a few plastic bags and returned to the apartment complex.
The soup dumplings and soy milk were for herself, while the stomach-soothing millet porridge was for her little pet at home. It had been tough enough on her to finish all of last night's dinner.
Lost in her thoughts, Gu Yanxi reached her front door, shifted all the breakfast bags to her left hand, took the key out of her dress pocket, and inserted it into the security door's lock.
Click—
The door opened.
Using her old trick, she opened the inner door as well. The first thing in sight was the cramped living room she'd been coming home to for over a decade.
Though the apartment was old, most furniture was replaced every two or three years; every kind of home appliance was present. In some ways, her mother was also someone who deeply valued quality of life.
Had nothing out of the ordinary happened, she would have lived here alone with her mother for a long time. But a few days ago, a stone was suddenly thrown into her tranquil life, setting off never-ending ripples.
A girl with long, silver hair was sitting cross-legged obediently on the sofa, wearing one of Gu Yanxi's old discarded pajamas. Her complexion was deathly pale, her pink cherry lips completely bloodless, and her light blue eyes half-lidded—as if she'd just woken up. Fragile and delicate, she inspired the instinct to cherish and care for her.
Blood loss and lack of sugar left Cecilia's vision going dark—she felt she could faint at any moment.
World boss? Angel of the Apocalypse? All she cared about right now was eating.
At a glance, Cecilia looked like a snowy little fluffy animal, and Gu Yanxi felt her heart melt at the sight.
Shutting the door and rehearsing countless greetings in her head, Gu Yanxi finally spoke softly, "... I'm back."
Cecilia turned to look at Gu Yanxi, giving her a bleary-eyed glance, eyes lowered. She muttered in a quiet, slightly complaining tone, "So slow..."
After two days of living together, the cuckoos-laying-eggs-in-another's-nest Cecilia finally dropped the pretense and started complaining to her dutiful caretaker.
Though Cecilia's voice was barely audible, Gu Yanxi caught it. In that instant, a strange feeling welled up in her heart.
How should she describe it?
It felt warm. Just like real sisters.
It should have been something to be happy about, but for some reason, all Gu Yanxi felt next was a surge of intense emptiness that dragged her mood down.
Gu Yanxi felt lost.
Could their relationship only ever amount to "sisters"?
No, women are greedy creatures—Gu Yanxi was no exception.
It shouldn't be like this.
She wanted to take it one step further.
......
Half an hour later, after finishing a small bowl of millet porridge, Cecilia finally regained a bit of energy. Enduring the trial of Gu Yanxi's "dark cuisine," even a plain bowl of unsweetened porridge had become a gourmet delight in her eyes.
If not for her stomach's tiny capacity, she thought she could have eaten two more bowls.
Lying down right after eating was hard on the body. Cecilia herself wasn't particular about such things, but at Gu Yanxi's strong request, she reluctantly let go of the idea of jumping into the game and instead wandered around the modest living room for some post-meal exercise.
Whether or not this would help her constitution, Cecilia wasn't sure, but she did know she probably looked pretty dumb right now.
Gu Yanxi didn't idle either. She went back to her room, changed into a set of loose workout clothes, then brought a rolled yoga mat into the living room. Seeing Cecilia pacing with a blank face, Gu Yanxi felt a mix of amusement and pity, then suddenly asked, "Want me to teach you yoga?"
Then, realizing Cecilia might not be interested, Gu Yanxi added, "It shapes your body, refines your bearing, very good for girls, you know."
"Are you trying to make me hemorrhage on the spot?"
Cecilia shot her a glare.
Even a few steps felt like enough to make her bleed out—her body in this state doing yoga was just asking for trouble.
"True."
Gu Yanxi gave an awkward smile, spread the yoga mat on the floor, and began to warm up.
As expected, over the next dozen or so minutes, Cecilia stole more than one glance at her.
At 8:40, Gu Yanxi finished her workout and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. Cecilia originally wanted to go home, but, at Gu Yanxi's insistence, ended up staying.
After blow-drying their hair, Gu Yanxi and Cecilia squeezed onto the same narrow bed, hand in hand, as they entered the world of Legend of Kaloran together.
Light flickered before their eyes. After a dizzy spell, warm sunlight bathed them, and the bustling din of a market filled the air around them.
South-Central Plaza—the largest player gathering spot in the Main City of the national server, and also the default resurrection point. However, recent spikes in arena activity meant fewer players crowded the plaza, as more people preferred the thrill of magic and melee combat.
Upon spawning into the game, before attracting too much attention, Cecilia quickly grabbed Gu Yanxi's hand and hurried them into a nearby inn.
Once inside their room, Cecilia began explaining today's agenda to Gu Yanxi while opening her private messages and sending notes to Dawn's Light and Yuewu.
Hearing that Cecilia had finally decided to go after the D-ranked world boss they'd put off for so long, both Dawn's Light and Yuewu were thrilled. No matter how important the tasks at hand, they dropped them and rushed to the agreed inn.
With Cecilia, Gu Yanxi, Yuewu and Dawn's Light, their combat strength was more than sufficient. But with only four people, the team still needed one more for a full party. Closing their chats, Cecilia suddenly noticed that one more ID in her friends list was online.
[Little Persimmon Puppy], the priest who'd called herself a [Merchant] last night.
Remembering the gold coins she still owed, Cecilia sighed quietly.
It wasn't a lot—nearly negligible—but she hated owing others favors, especially in their current situation. It almost felt like accepting the lady merchant's charity.
Forget it, one more person wouldn't hurt. She'd count her in for this boss fight.
......