Chapter 19: Turned Into a Scumbag, Meow?

An Unexpected Accusation

Xiao Xi quickly changed the subject, though she was genuinely curious about this question. Ye Xinglan hadn’t given a clear answer last time.

Logically, an ordinary person wouldn’t hate someone without reason, right? Especially someone like Eternal Star, who had protected so many people.

That made Xiao Xi wonder—aside from sociopaths, the only ones who’d hate Eternal Star would be villains or monsters, right?

At that thought, Xiao Xi couldn’t help but size Ye Xinglan up.

Oh no. Ye Xinglan tensed. During their time living together, her open dislike for Eternal Star might have been a bit too obvious. If she didn’t come up with a convincing excuse, her identity could be suspected.

“Well, of course…” Ye Xinglan stalled, “It’s, uh… personal reasons, you know…”

Personal reasons! A spark lit in her mind.

If she made up some unverifiable personal story involving Eternal Star, that should work, right? Xiao Xi wasn’t Eternal Star, so she couldn’t call her out on it.

As long as she acted convincing, she could probably bluff her way through.

“Sigh…”

Ye Xinglan let out a long, dramatic sigh, slipping into performance mode.

“Fine, I’ll tell you. The truth is, [Eternal Star] is, uh… a scumbag! Yeah, a total scumbag!”

Xiao Xi: “?”

“We’ve met many times before, but always in secret, with no one else around.”

‘Well, every meeting was on a battlefield, so no one else being there makes sense,’ Ye Xinglan added mentally.

“Every time we met, she… hurt me deeply, left me battered all over.”

True enough—she’d taken plenty of injuries fighting Eternal Star, who’d even stabbed her clean through in their last battle.

“I barely escaped… from home, I mean. When I tried to find her again, she’d vanished. That’s why I’m so obsessed with tracking her down.”

This was the honest truth. Since escaping Bone Vault, she hadn’t stopped searching for Eternal Star.

“In short… ugh, let’s just say I hate her guts.”

Ye Xinglan spoke through gritted teeth, her genuine emotions slipping out.

Silence fell between them. Xiao Xi’s eyes widened, her stare making Ye Xinglan uneasy.

“W-What? Why are you staring at me?”

“You’re sure everything you just said is true?”

“Absolutely. I know it’s hard to believe and impossible to verify, but I swear it’s all true!”

Ye Xinglan felt a twinge of guilt but reassured herself her acting was flawless. Her raw emotion should be convincing enough.

They locked eyes, the air growing tense, almost confrontational. Ye Xinglan even wondered if she should strike first if her lie was exposed.

Xiao Xi frowned, tempted to ask, ‘Why don’t I know about any of this? Did I lose my memory?’

Actually, that was a real possibility.

If Ye Xinglan was telling the truth, she’d only met Eternal Star in her transformed state. Otherwise, she’d have recognized Xiao Xi as Eternal Star by now.

If it was her transformed self… then it wasn’t impossible.

A Hidden Form

It wasn’t a secret that Eternal Star had multiple forms, but there was one thing Xiao Xi had never told anyone: not all of her forms were under her control.

There was one form she couldn’t activate at will and didn’t even know the name of. Whenever she transformed into it, she lost consciousness.

She’d experienced this uncontrolled form a few times in battle. By the time she came to, the fight was over, and everything around her was scorched earth—clearly her doing.

Her memory held only fragmented images. That form’s personality seemed vile, fighting without a magical girl’s restraint, as if determined to destroy everything.

There’d even been times when chunks of her memory vanished entirely, giving her the eerie sense of a second personality.

Xiao Xi had wondered if that form could also control all of Eternal Star’s other forms—without her knowledge.

Now that she thought about it, if it was that version of herself, it wasn’t impossible for her to have done something so awful.

Neither spoke, but both felt a similar pang of guilt.

‘Did I really act like such a scumbag during a memory lapse?’ Xiao Xi thought, shocked.

Her quick belief stemmed from Ye Xinglan’s convincing performance.

That raw, teeth-gritting hatred wasn’t an act. Ye Xinglan had clearly experienced something to react like that!

To be safe, Xiao Xi wanted to confirm, but an ordinary person shouldn’t know about Eternal Star’s hidden form. She chose her words carefully.

“You’ve met her so many times. You must’ve seen a lot of [Eternal Star]’s forms, right?”

“Definitely,” Ye Xinglan nodded. “I’ve probably seen all of them, even the ones she rarely uses.”

After all, she’d fought Eternal Star to the death countless times. She’d faced every form, so of course she’d seen them all.

Xiao Xi’s heart sank.

“And I saw one rare form of hers—hot-tempered and nasty.”

“That’s probably her true self. Tch, I told you her public image is all fake.”

Ye Xinglan pouted, lost in memory. As the Blood Moon Witch, her consciousness blurred during transformation—a control mechanism of the Divine Assembly.

But one fight stood out. She’d cornered Eternal Star, nearly finishing her, when she suddenly powered up.

That was the toughest battle. That form of Eternal Star fought like she had a death wish—probably her hidden trump card.

“Hey, Xiao Xi, why’re you frozen? You okay?”

“I’m fine, haha…”

Xiao Xi was sweating bullets.

It’s over! Ye Xinglan’s story was too accurate—she must have really seen it to describe it like that!

She’d really turned into a scumbag!