Chapter 261 Anything
Xuefeng already started getting angry at the lady, no matter who she was and continued, "And what do you mean by, stay away from this? You are literally inside of my Spirit, trying to break mine and Ling's connection. Do you think I will allow this?!" Even if she was the same Little Ming, it didn't matter to him. As long as she hurts anyone he cared about, she wouldn't find a way to his heart in the future.
Hearing no further responses from her, Xuefeng got even more annoyed as her silence confirmed his thoughts. He quickly walked up to Little Ming, trying to stop her from continuing but just as he was a step away from her, his body froze.
He heard a sigh from her as she finally stopped what she was doing and turned around, facing him. Just as Xuefeng thought, it was Little Ming but in a more mature version. Her white hair was much longer now, reaching down to her waist and her facial features matured as well. With her curvy body and full chest, she was no longer a cute little sister but rather a successful elder sister.
Little Ming caressed Xuefeng's cheek and went straight to the point, shooting bullets towards Ling, "She didn't connect with you when there was time. Obviously, she didn't want to be with you and planned to run away. Don't you understand that? You were just a tool which she was planning to use to save her Thunder Goddess and reunite with her later."
"It doesn't matter now. She knows her mistake and we both reached an agreement already. We will still connect with each other so no one can separate us anymore." Xuefeng stared at Little Ming's eyes trying to find something but there was nothing he could use.
Little Ming looked at him surprised, but then suddenly smirked, questioning him, "Oh, really? Does she want to connect half of your Spirit's together? Did she tell you what will happen to you as well if you do it? It's true that it will work similarly to the previous connection, but it will also constrict you as well. Just as you will be able to use her abilities, she would be able to use yours too. It wouldn't be a surprise if she tried to take control over you as well."
"She wouldn't do anything to hurt me. There is something called trust and there is no way two people can be in a relationship without it." Xuefeng quickly shook his head, not believing that Ling would do so for even a second.
"You are a huge optimist. Wake up. People are selfish. They will do anything to achieve their goals and Ling is such a person—" Little Ming smiled as she looked at him with pity and tried to make him understand the truth when Xuefeng interrupted her with a shout, "Shut up! The only selfish person here is you! Earlier I thought you were someone I could trust but I guess I was wrong."
Xuefeng continued to glare at Little Ming but she didn't react as he anticipated and instead did the exact opposite. Her smooth hand grasped Xuefeng's cheeks and she pulled him closer to her, saying while continuing to gently smile at him, "I'm sorry boy but such speech won't work on me. I'm too old for you to influence me like that. Maybe if it was my little sister then maybe you would sway her, but she also understands that we need to have you sooner or later. The moment you appeared in our space, you already became our target. Your body is too perfect to be wasted to a small Fate Fragment."
Xuefeng wanted to bash her more but when he heard her, he quickly squinted his eyes and said, "You are not Little Ming!" Xuefeng was confused earlier finding the current Little Ming quite different even though her body matured, but now he understood why. It wasn't her in the first place!
The mature Ming let of his face and flipped her hand as if it was nothing, admitting the truth, "Well, technically, I am her and she is me. We are two sides of a single coin. Of course, I'm more powerful than her. She was only out because I was sleeping. I let her play around a bit and I am still surprised she actually found such a nice boy for me."
With the way she said it, Xuefeng suddenly felt like a snack instead of a human and couldn't help but ask, "...What do you plan to do with me…?"
If what she said was true, he wouldn't have much chance to fight back against her as she was a completely different person. He tried to convince her based on the fact that they were friends before but that obviously wouldn't work on her now.
"Oh, well, as long as you behave nicely, I can tell you." The mature Ming said as she finally released him from the bindings so he could still move and asked while patting Xuefeng on the head, "Are you going to be a good boy?"
Knowing that he doesn't have another choice rather than listening to learn more of her plans, Xuefeng nodded, but it was clear that he wasn't happy with the current situation as the smile wasn't seen on his face since the moment he entered into his spirit.
Unfortunately, the mature Ming didn't mind that as she obviously didn't care about Xuefeng's feelings and said while pointing at the bracelet on Xuefeng's wrist which followed him everywhere, "The bracelet you have on your arm, it's mine. You shouldn't have gotten it but I guess I didn't explain it to her properly so that can be counted as my bad. The bracelet is too strong to control without a holder and this is the reason I hid it within the Wisdom Tree."
Glancing at Xuefeng's wrist with a sigh, she added, "After I felt that my other self couldn't handle it anymore, I woke up and tried to take the bracelet away, but it was too late already. It already rooted itself within your body and unless I kill you, there is no way I can get it back. That was my original plan but my younger sister didn't let me, begging me to leave you alive. It's still my other self so I had to respect her request. It only cost her some time of confinement but she was happy with that deal."
The mature lady brushed her white hair gently as she shrugged, actually happy with such an outcome. She was able to leave, forcing her little sister to be closed inside of her and now she was the only one deciding what to do.
"Little Ming…" Xuefeng muttered, deep inside happy that he wasn't mistaken about her character. It wasn't Little Ming who was trying to hurt them but the lady in front of him.
With that said, mature Ming smiled as she grazed her fingers on Xuefeng's cheeks and neck while continuing by answering his worries, "She is alright. When I am bored, I might let her out a bit so I can sleep but I doubt that will happen in the near future.
"She made a mess that I need to clean afterwards so she deserves punishment. My only choice now is to connect with you and become your Fate Spirit. If I don't do that, your body will soon be consumed by the bracelet, so you should rather be thanking me for saving you instead of bashing me."
After understanding the turns on events, Xuefeng calmed down a bit, but that still didn't change the fact that the mature Ming didn't talk with him before she decided everything by herself. Another issue was losing Ling which wasn't even in question if he agreed or not as he already expressed his opinion about this and it didn't change.
Catching her hands, Xuefeng looked sharply at her and asked, "What about Ling?" Xuefeng definitely didn't plan to let go of that issue.
"Hoho, you still have some temper left in you." Mature Ming laughed a bit at his reaction and asked him with a playful smile, "What about her? Didn't we already discuss her fate? I will cancel your bond and replace her. She is not needed. After that, I will probably absorb her abilities and make them mine. Do you have anything you want to tell me before I continue?"
Knowing that Xuefeng couldn't convince her with kindness or threats, there was one more strategy he didn't try yet. He quickly nodded his head and decided to play on her ego, "Yes, I disagree. If you are so powerful, how come you can't just make it so that you two co-exist with each other? Is that too much for you? I thought you are the mother to all Fate Fragments but it seems like you can't do everything."
Xuefeng's attempt caused him to receive a quick glare from the mature Ming but he didn't mind that as he knew it was at least working. Staring at him for a while she called out, trying to act indifferent, "It's not that I can't. I just don't want to bother and bring more trouble. Why would I choose the hardest solution instead of the easiest one?"
"Because I ask you to. You said you wanted to be my Fate Spirit but how are we going to cooperate if I start hating you? That's going to happen if you hurt Ling. How about you treat it as a welcome gift to me?" Xuefeng proposed, hoping to make her give in but she quickly shook her head, saying it with a flat rejection, "No. Why would I do something that brings me no benefit? Even if you hate me, I don't mind. Pleasing you is not my goal."
"What do you want for leaving Ling alone?" Xuefeng asked seriously, which actually caused the white-haired lady to let out a grin, already knowing what she wanted but still said, "What can you give me?"
Thinking about Ling, imagining her sweet smile inside of her mind, Xuefeng didn't hesitate to make a decision, "Anything."