Carrying the sleeping Senti to the second floor bedroom has become a daily routine for Aleph. She would usually spend her time on the dojo, teach the new "recruits", play around, then go home.
If it weren't for Hua's supervision, she might have gone and allowed her scamming tendencies to thrive in Xianzhou. All that was missing was a pair of circular glasses.
"You might want to check on her during noon. You're going to have a very interesting reaction."
"Hm?"
His words elicited a nod from her.
After that…
The two came to an awkward silence.
Hua was not as bold as the others when it came to making her moves. That was how it was before. Even now—with all the thousand years' worth of memories—she was still at a loss on how to proceed.
Just like now, Aleph was the one who took the initiative.
He was sitting on the bedside when he pulled Hua to sit in front of him. What followed next was a series of cuddling.
Aleph's attention was on Hua's fair hands. He could not help but play around with them.
"If I manage to find a way back to Earth, I will leave you two here." He suddenly said. "Things might become dangerous on the way back. I'll bring you after I clear the path ahead."
"...Do you have any plans in this world? You can leave your arrangements with us."
Hua was startled when she received a peck on her neck. Her tension shot through the roof. She nearly forgot what she was talking about.
"I will make an artifact. It will have my Door authority. You can use that to travel to other places." He paused as he recalled something, "There are a few Pathstriders in my Path who are exceptional. You can help them when the time comes."
"Um."
Aleph's grasp over Hua tightened. He caught her in an embrace as he initiated a direct kiss.
Hua's body shook in his arms several times.
'This ambience…'
The night's glow.
The strange silence.
The room's darkness.
Each one of them fueled his desires to go further. His self-control was the one who prevented him from doing irrational things. Hua's emotions come first in Aleph's mind. He would not force something while she is still uncomfortable.
It did not stop him from appreciating Hua, however.
'They don't lie. It's different up close…'
Whenever they are inside the house, Hua wears a random t-shirt and a pair of shorts. It was in sharp contrast when she wore full-body clothing when going outside. Senti inherited this habit, thus there were two Huas with different personalities whenever Aleph returned home.
Out of all her features, her legs stood out. Pair it well with stockings and Aleph's self-control might be broken.
'They're not on the thick side. Medium is the apt word…'
His thoughts were random and scattered, though it did not prevent him from acting intimate.
Just as he felt her tongue boldly entering his mouth, a piercing gaze was sent to his back.
'...'
Aleph did not need to see to know it was Senti.
He was ready for a chaotic night.
Surprisingly, she did not act up.
'...I owe her one.'
Without any interruptions, Aleph continued letting Hua take the initiative.
*****
"Heh. Things can't get any better than this."
A girl with a short stature skipped steps with a smile. Her beige hair was tied with two black ribbons, forming a low twintail. An additional white ribbon was tied on her left twintail—a gift from her parents after becoming a highschooler.
She placed her school bag atop her shoulder as she headed for a new establishment in the residential district—Taixuan School.
The first person that greeted her was a lazy-looking white-haired girl. She sat in front of the door with a dazed look.
"Oh. You're finally here!"
The girl who slightly looked like Xianzhou's Marshal earned attention due to her appearance alone. Although, what made her truly famous was her ruthless martial arts.
Her popularity on the network was enough to warrant countless students sending an application to her newly-opened martial arts school.
The sheer amount of volume forced the girl to choose a limited number of students every day, however.
"What about the class?"
The school girl, Qingque, asked.
"I scheduled it for later."
The lazy-looking girl, Senti, tapped at the wooden briefcase beside her chair. She proceeded to carry both the wooden chair and the briefcase to a wooden table. Another chair was prepared for Qingque, which was evident with the latter sitting down immediately.
Their interaction appeared suspicious at first glance.
Bam.
Everything was answered by the mahjong set inside the briefcase.
"Come to think of it, I haven't asked where this came from. Celestial Jade has been missing up until now."
"Someone gave it to me as a gift."
Celestial Jade was a game made in Xianzhou a long time ago. It has been lost on records. Only a few interested souls could recognize it.
Nobody could describe Qingque's surprise when she saw the mahjong set.
What she did not know was that it wasn't the same game at all..!
Mahjong and Celestial Jade are two different games made from two different worlds. They have quite a lot of rule differences. Though, Qingque was destined not to be able to know about these.
The thing that matters the most was her enjoyment—and playing Mahjong with Senti became an enjoyable time.
"Looks like I am lucky today!"
Bam-!
Qingque placed down her 'hand' (i.e., tiles) with a grin.
"Tch. My luck has been bad the past few days."
Senti accepted her defeat and helped Qingque clean up the board.
"Two… no, four rounds. Watch me win the next three rounds!"
"If you say so."
The five rounds ended up with Senti only winning two. Qingque relished another victory with a smug grin.
"One more round?" She asked the decadent Senti. "You might win this time."
"Tsk. This won't work on me. Come on, let's start your classes."
Senti had just stood up from her seat when she saw Hua staring at her from the dojo's gates.
'Thankfully, I didn't go for another round…'
It seems like her luck worked for the better today. If Hua happened to see her slacking and delaying class hours due to mahjong, it would become a huge scolding, no doubt.
Qingque followed Senti's gaze and saw a familiar white-haired woman. She and Senti looked extremely alike, with their differences lying on the ends of their hair:
Hua has red while Senti has black.
"Isn't that your sister?"
"Yes, yes. Hurry up. She might teach today."
Hearing that their strict instructor might be up, Qingque did as she was told.
Only when the two hurried inside did Hua start walking.
'If she is slacking off, I need to remind her…'
Unfortunately for Senti, she was completely seen through.