At this moment, Xue Yi was seriously contemplating everything that she had done in her short life to have deserved this end. Becoming a snack for a gigantic lake monster. To be honest, she did do some questionable things before she died. BUT, it's not like she murdered or torture anyone. The most that she'd done was blackmail a couple of people and steal some top-secret information from international countries and broadcasting them publicly....Maybe she did deserve to be eaten by a lake monster.
It didn't matter what she did anyway as she was drowning. Her vision was darkening. Her head was in extreme pain from the lack of air. There was nothing she could do except float there waiting for her inevitable doom.
However, the monster went around her and bit the collar of her dress, swimming towards the surface. The monster's hold on her was very gentle, as though it was afraid to hurt her accidentally. Maybe it was trying to help her for whatever reason? At the thought that the monster was actually trying to help her, Xue Yi once again regained hope and quickly grabbed onto the unconscious Xiao Ji next to her.
With the help of the lake monster, they quickly broke through the surface, Xue Yi and Xiao Ji were lightly placed at the grass field by the edge of the lake. Xue Yi quickly gulped down the fresh air that her lungs had miss so much and painfully coughed out mouthfuls of water. Her throat burned from the miserable experience. Seeing the still unconscious Xiao Ji that was dropped to the side, she swiftly went to it and tried to press on its chest to help it push the water out. After an agonizing few minutes of panic and trying not to break its ribs accidentally, Xiao Ji slowly regained consciousness and coughed out the remaining water.
After calming down, a layer of watery mist started to cover Xiao Ji's bright pink eyes. Not long later, Xiao Ji began to wail in despair, the sound was gut-wrenching, and guilt started to form in Xue Yi's heart as it was her fault in forcing Xiao Ji to swim with her without any precaution of how deep they were underwater. She shouldn't have been too impulsive just because she wanted to get out of the small cave.
As Xue Yi reflected on her mistakes, she realized that maybe she was too rough on the little guy. Even though it was a machine, it still has a conscious and a child at heart. She had to rethink her actions regarding Xiao Ji as Xue Yi's not in her original world anymore, and maybe she can be a bit more unguarded against Xiao Ji.
During the whole event, Xiao Ji had always been a victim and was forced to follow her by her own selfishness. Not to mention, she was unbelievably unreasonable to the Afterlife HR, but she was conditioned to be defensive against other people who might want to take advantage of her or bring harm to her, even after death. It's easy to change old habits of suspecting everyone, especially a creature without a face for her to judge their expression and a terrifying hole for a mouth. The betrayal from her previous companion was still deep in her heart before she died, she could help but lash out at the first person or creature, in this case, that she saw.
"Wu wu wu….I hate you! I almost died. Wu wu wu."
The sound of Xiao Ji's cries only added to the guilt in Xue Yi's heart as she realized just how unreasonable she had been up until now. She tried to comfort Xiao Ji by putting it up and gently patting it on the head with her finger.
"I'm sorry. It was all my fault. I should've thought things through before dragging you along and almost killed both of us. I just wanted to get out of that place quickly and didn't think about the situation that we were in. I've been overwhelmed with the fact that I was killed and died in my last life that I didn't think about your circumstances and just forced you to come with me. The only thought I had at that time was to escape from the reality that I had died. I'm sorry I didn't think about your position."
Xue Yi straightforwardly apologized to Xiao Ji as she acknowledged her wrong-doings in this situation. Xiao Ji gradually calmed down and quietly listened to her. This was the first time that anyone had ever apologized to it when they wronged it, as it had always been treated as a machine back at HR. Even though due to an error, it gained consciousness, it still wouldn't be treated as an equal as a World Crossing Machine's only purpose was to transport people into different worlds for their reincarnation. It worked hard to try to show HR that even if it was an error, it was still capable and pleaded not to destroy it or get reprogrammed to be lifeless like all the others.
It was hard to keep its life and self-awareness, much less get anyone to treat it well with respect. That's why Xiao Ji didn't know what to do or how to react when Xue Yi apologized to it about causing it trouble. It's been through a lot worse before and had to endure without saying anything as the moment it showed any resistance, it would face the risk of getting erased. Xiao Ji decided to wait and observe the moment. It didn't dare trust her yet as it doesn't want to get disappointed in the end.
"Alright, I accept your apology. But that doesn't mean I forgive you yet. How are you going to make it up to me?"
Xue Yi was surprised that Xiao Ji had accepted her apology so readily. She thought surely the small child would throw more tantrums and demanded her to hand over the chip. Instead, it only asked her to compensate it with something else decided by her. Is this child naive or naive? At this moment, Xue Yi had a feeling that even if she were to answer that she would give it a piece of candy, the silly child would still accept it. However, she wouldn't be that scummy as to trick a child.
"Hmm...I'll feed you food the whole time we're together, and I can make some clothes for you."
Even though Xue Yi thought to herself not to trick the child, there was little she could do at their current situation. She couldn't just hand over the chip, she would need that for future purposes, namely exploring other random worlds and do a whole lot of traveling before reincarnating. Xue Yi still hadn't given up her goal of becoming a bystander yet.
"Really? You can cook? I've never absorbed the energy from regular food before. What does it taste like? And clothes? Why are you making clothes for me? Do we need to change? I only have this dress."
As Xiao Ji inquired more and more, Xue Yi started to feel something off. How was this tiny child treated at that weird place? It doesn't eat normal food? What did they give him? Not to mention, how long had it worn that dress for. Were they neglecting this child at the Afterlife HR? She knew that treated it as a machine to use, but that doesn't mean they can just ignore its basic needs. Xue Yi felt anger from the thought that they could neglect a mere child's need for food and clothing, she wanted to puke blood* from the idea of someone hurting this small child.
"What do you mean you've never had normal food before? And of course, everyone needs to change when their clothes get dirty. Did they not tell you this back at that shady place? You stupid child, how had you been living up til now?"
"Huh? Why are you so angry? Isn't it reasonable to only have one piece of clothing? And they've always been giving me water to absorb the energy from. Why?"
Xiao Ji was confused as to why Xue Yi was angry. From why it knew, it had always been raised in an unloving environment. It had already been used to the negligence, not being terminated was already the best treatment it could ever ask for. It was no wonder that Xiao Ji would not understand Xue Yi's anger at its home environment.
"That's definitely abuse and neglect. How could they do that to a child? I'm going to sue them. I'm going to sue them and beat those faceless a*ssholes. Xiao Ji, you are going to stay with me from now on. I will not let you return to those abusive creatures again, ok? I'll give you plenty of food and clothing and take care of you, alright?"
Xiao Ji still couldn't understand what Xue Yi meant, but it did feel that maybe Xue Yi was different from the people at the HR. It felt an unfamiliar feeling from Xue Yi as she fussed over it. Xiao Ji decided to trust her for the moment, at least she did promise it good food.
"Alright, but can you not swear so much? I feel a bit scared when we first met, and you kept saying mean words at me."
…..So cute!!! (///∇///✿)
Xue Yi couldn't help herself but poke at the adorable small child's soft cheeks. She had to stop herself from cuddling Xiao Ji as she would accidentally squeeze it to death. She didn't notice it at first as she was still stressed and unhinged from being dead, but Xiao Ji is very cute. She can't wait to make some charming outfits for it to wear. If only she had a camera with her. Sigh, the disadvantages of being dead.
"Ok, then. But I might let it slip, so make sure you cover your ears when I do."
Xiao Ji nodded several times in response, causing Xue Yi to suck in her breath from its extreme cuteness. She clenched her chest as she felt like she had been shot by Xiao Ji adorableness. Xue Yi silently swore in her heart to never let anyone hurt this precious, innocent child and to beat up those horrible creatures if she ever saw them again.
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Footnotes:
Puke blood is a common phrase for describing one's strong emotions, usually used for when someone was angered until they "puke blood".