Chapter 175 – Sisterly Bonds

“A new move?” Yang Tongtong murmured. “Is the Alliance really planning to investigate this all the way and drag Lin Xi into the light?”

“Yes, Miss,” Liya said. “The Alliance has assembled a four-person investigation team to get to the bottom of the matter.”

Two members had been killed without warning, and the Dark Realm Alliance considered it an enormous provocation…

“An investigation team, huh? All right, I understand. Liya, let’s go wipe them out together.”

“What?” Liya stared at her in confusion. “Miss, even if our loyalty doesn’t lie with the Alliance, we’re still members. Are you doing this for Lin Xi? Do you…”

“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Yang Tongtong said. “I’m not doing this to protect Lin Xi. Fine, technically speaking, I will be protecting her-but that isn’t my goal.”

“I simply refuse to let the Alliance destroy her, because I’m the one who’s going to break her in the end.”

A little devil’s smile spread across Yang Tongtong’s face.

“My ultimate goal is to break Lin Xi and awaken Sis’s Queen of Lust form.”

“If the Alliance’s investigation team gets rid of Lin Xi, how am I supposed to keep playing with her?”

“Even so…” Liya said. “If we secretly eliminate an investigation team sent by the Alliance, this could become a major incident. What if…”

“There is no what-if,” Yang Tongtong said. “We can erase them without leaving a trace. And even if the truth somehow comes out, what can the Alliance do to me?”

“My Sis is one of the Seven Monarchs of Desire. As long as she’s here, no one can hurt me.”

“With the Queen protecting us, there truly is no reason to fear the Alliance,” Liya said.

“But, Miss, if the Queen discovers that you’re planning to steal Lin Xi away from her, she’ll be furious, won’t she?”

Yang Tongtong: “…”

“Well, um… Sis will never find out about that.”

“Even if she does, I’m only doing this for her own good.”

“We can’t let her stay trapped by Lin Xi forever. You understand, don’t you, Liya?”

Liya nodded despite understanding nothing. All she needed to do was obey Yang Tongtong’s orders.

Yang Tongtong’s plan to “break Lin Xi” began today.

She regarded the entire plan as a game.

It was a difficult game too. Her opening move that day had already gone badly.

Lin Xi had actually rejected her after she’d thrown herself at her…

“I underestimated her. If she managed to captivate Sis, I suppose she must have something going for her…”

…

“I underestimated Little Sister Tongtong…” The moment Lin Xi escaped the love hotel, she felt considerably lighter.

Remembering what had happened in that room made her blush.

Her friend’s little sister was far too bold!

As expected of someone trained in combat!… Wait, whether she had combat training had absolutely nothing to do with this, did it?

“Whatever happens, I can’t lay a hand on my friend’s little sister!”

To avoid becoming complete human garbage, Lin Xi silently swore that she would never make a move on Yang Tongtong, no matter what.

How could she possibly face Yang Shanshan otherwise?

More than that, she would have to teach Yang Tongtong a healthier view of love from now on.

She hurried back to school.

Before she even reached the classroom, she received a message from Yang Shanshan.

Shanshan wanted to know why Lin Xi had missed the previous class.

Lin Xi had promised Yang Tongtong not to tell Yang Shanshan what had happened between them, so she made up an excuse about a teacher needing her and managed to fool Shanshan.

Once she returned to class, Lin Xi dropped several vague hints that Yang Shanshan ought to pay more attention to her little sister’s physical and emotional development.

Lin Xi meant well. Yang Shanshan had no idea what she was talking about…

After school, they went to the band activity room together.

The school anniversary was almost here, and they would be performing onstage. Until the official performance, they needed to rehearse in the activity room every day.

Yet the approaching performance had done nothing to make the atmosphere in the band tense.

Once they arrived, and while they were still waiting for everyone else, it was time for tea.

The room was not only their rehearsal space but also somewhere they could drink tea and chat.

Teacher Huang Haiyao had stocked it with fine tea and all kinds of snacks.

Lin Xi loved this relaxed feeling.

Now this was what a girl band should be like.

The Sun Goddess Band would never get tangled up in messy girl-girl relationships and turn the atmosphere stifling and miserable!

“Here, Shanshan. Your black tea.” Lin Xi brewed a cup for Yang Shanshan.

Lin Xi, Yang Shanshan, and Su Xiangxue had already arrived.

Huang Haiyao was not there yet. With the school anniversary drawing near, the homeroom teacher had extra matters to take care of.

But she had sent a message saying she would be there soon.

“Thank you.” Yang Shanshan smiled sweetly.

Su Xiangxue immediately noticed something unusual. “Did you two get even closer?”

“You’re already calling each other by your names?”

“That’s right,” Yang Shanshan said. “If you don’t mind, Miss Su Xiangxue, why don’t we call each other by our names too?”

Lin Xi nodded, and the two of them looked at Su Xiangxue together.

Su Xiangxue smiled. “Sure. You two are my best friends at school.”

“We’ll stay in a band together for the rest of our lives!”

Lin Xi: “…”

Yang Shanshan happily agreed. “Yes! We’ll stay in a band for the rest of our lives!”

Lin Xi had no choice but to echo them. Then she steered the conversation toward relationships between sisters.

Su Xiangxue had an older sister. Yang Shanshan had a younger sister. Lin Xi… had a younger sister too. That made her curious enough to discuss sisterly relationships.

“My sister is very good to me,” Su Xiangxue said. “She takes care of me in every way. She’s perfect.”

One sentence was all Su Xiangxue needed.

“My little sister is very good to me,” Yang Shanshan said. “She takes care of me in every way. She’s perfect.”

One sentence was all Yang Shanshan needed too.

Su Xiangxue and Lin Xi both turned to stare at Yang Shanshan. She looked back, bewildered. “Wh-What is it?”

“Isn’t the older sister supposed to take care of the younger one?” Lin Xi asked. “How did you manage to reverse the natural order?”

Yang Shanshan: “…”

“A useless older sister like me is such an embarrassment to Tongtong…” Yang Shanshan apologized to her absent little sister, leaving both Lin Xi and Su Xiangxue speechless.

Lin Xi thought she was beginning to understand. Perhaps Yang Shanshan’s air of helplessness was why Little Sister Tongtong did not want to discuss her romantic problems with her.

She must have believed her sister could not help…

In that case, an older sister truly could not afford to be too useless. It might make her little sister lose all faith in her… Lin Xi could not help thinking about herself.

Could her own little sister have hated her enough to shoot her because Lin Xi had been too useless-or too awful-as an older sister?

Well, that was…

Even if Lin Xi had been a hopeless older sister, wasn’t her little sister taking things too far by going straight for the kill?

Shouldn’t she have taken care of her useless older sister, the way Little Sister Tongtong took care of hers?

Er… Was that nothing more than wishful thinking?

As the saying went:

Scummy older sisters were everywhere, but devoted little sisters were rare…

Lin Xi decided to pay closer attention to the relationship between Su Xiangxue and her older sister, as well as the one between Yang Shanshan and her little sister.

Perhaps she could learn from them. If her own sister ever came back to kill her again, Lin Xi might be able to talk her way out of it before the gun went off.

Why not kill her little sister first?

Excellent question.

What kind of older sister could bring herself to kill her own little sister?