Sitting on the floor, Yue Qin took a few deep breaths to reorientate herself as her trip down memory lane ended. Although the memories had given her plenty of answers, they had created new ones as well.
What happened to her mother? Was she still alive? What was the reason she left? And what secret was her Clan hiding?
Now that she looked back at the cultural lessons, she could swear that there were several fishy points about it.
Still, as much as she wanted to immerse herself in the memories she just acquired, there were still things to be done.
"Apollo! Receive the Supreme Body of Holy Light!"
In her mindscape, a golden book appeared before slowly fading into motes of light.
Yue Qin felt her consciousness blur before a gut-wrenching pain suddenly started spreading from her stomach area. She dropped to the ground in pain, curling into a fetal position. As much as she wanted to scream from the pain, the last bit of sanity she was clinging to reminded her that she absolutely could not do so. Once she screamed, someone would definitely discover her and there was no way she could explain anything.
The taste of blood slowly filled her mouth as she bit down on her lips in an attempt to prevent herself from making any noise. A foul stench filled her nostrils as the ground she was lying on became sticky with sweat and a blackish looking sludge.
After what felt like hours, the pain finally subsided and Yue Qin finally felt like she could breathe. Slowly sitting up, her whole body ached and it felt like she had run a 100km marathon. Her nose felt clogged by that disgusting stench that wafted off her entire body.
Staring in dismay at her now ruined clothes, Yue Qin could only silently swear. She had forgotten to remove her clothes before receiving the Supreme Body of Holy Light. All she wanted to do now was to get rid of her clothes and soak in a warm pool to rest her aching body. Come to think of it, that seemed like a rather good idea. She remembered that there was a hot spring in the Eastside of her Clan Compound.
Though... she couldn't exactly walk out looking and smelling like she currently did. Removing her stained school uniform, and letting it fall to the ground around her feet, Yue Qin turned on the showerhead allowing the water to gush down and wash away all the impurities that had been expelled from her body. As she scrubbed the grime away, Yue Qin couldn't help but realise that her skin seemed much whiter and softer than before. Her arms were now fair and blemish-free without a single mole or dark spot.
Instinctively, her hands shot up to her face, wondering if her face had undergone the same transformation too. After all, of all the things that mattered to a girl, the face was ranked number one! And indeed, her face now felt extremely smooth and tender and she itched to find a mirror to see how she looked now.
As she touched her face, Yue Qin noticed that her chest felt much heavier than before. No longer was she as flat as an ironing board, though she wasn't fully developed either. Instead, two small creamy balls protruded from her ribcage. Slowly, Yue Qin raised her right hand to cup her left breast, and pushed it upwards, revelling in its soft perkiness.
"Are you done touching yourself?" Apollo's voice interrupted her self-exploration causing Yue Qin to feel deeply embarrassed.
"You were staring at me!?" She growled angrily.
"Who would want to stare at a pre-pubescent little girl like you," Apollo asked mockingly. "But unfortunately, we are stuck together for the rest of eternity."
Yue Qin's face flushed in both anger and embarrassment. "Then why did you interrupt me?"
"Because I couldn't bear to see how low your IQ was."
"Why are you insulting my IQ again?!"
Yue Qin heard the System chuckle. "With such a low level of charm, do you think admiring yourself has any use?"
"Haven't you heard beauty is in the eye of the beholder? As long as I find myself pretty who cares what others think?!"
"So you don't care what others think?" That derisive voice really made Yue Qin want to punch the System. She couldn't exactly say she didn't care what others think because which female didn't wish to be pretty for the world to admire? But there was no way she was going to admit it to that conceited system.
"And what does that have to do with my IQ?!"
"Instead of admiring yourself, wouldn't it be more useful to use your skill to heal yourself? Or are you saying you feel perfectly fine now?"
"I-" And then it suddenly clicked that instead of going to the hot spring to soak, it would be more effective to use the Gold-Ranked Healing skill to heal herself. Yue Qin gnashed her teeth in annoyance, unwilling to admit defeat. "I was just about to do so okay? I just wanted to see what changes the Supreme Body of Holy Light brought!"
"By feeling yourself up? A mirror would be far more effective for that purpose you know?"
Deciding to ignore Apollo for now, Yue Qin used the skill on herself causing her entire body to glow green as the skill's effects swept across all her cells. Yue Qin couldn't help but moan in pleasure at the rejuvenating effect of the spell. Now her body felt super refreshed and all the tensions in her muscles were gone. It was almost as if she had just come out from a long session with a master masseur or had a long dip in the hot springs.
Now, there was only one thing that could make everything more perfect. Yue Qin stared glumly at her soiled clothes that laid on the floor. She really didn't wish to wear them anymore but she did not have any spare clothes.
Moreover, just the thought of walking down the streets back home like a drowned cat made her sigh. She really didn't want to do such an embarrassing thing. What if someone took a photo and it spread throughout the school? She would surely lose all her face! And how would she explain her drowned cat look to her parents once she reached home? Moreover, even though she was now able to heal herself if she caught a cold, that didn't mean she was willing to catch one in the first place.
"That's why I said you're an idiot," Apollo muttered in her mindscape.
"Why are you insulting me again?" Yue Qin snapped. "And you were listening to my thoughts?!"
"I wasn't listening to you. You were just thinking too loudly."
"That means the same thing!"
"Hehe. You have a phone for a reason you know. This is the modern world. Not some ancient world. Did you knock your head too hard while you were rolling on the ground? You can just call someone to help you get some new clothes."
"I- dammit." Yue Qin cursed instinctively reaching out to her bag to find her mobile. Then she realised that she had left her bag in the Classroom before the Ceremony.
"Its in your pocket Host..."
Horror dawned on Yue Qin as she heard Apollo's words. Immediately she turned off the water and squatted down, scrambling to find her phone from her soaked skirt. As she lifted her phone out, she prayed that her phone would be alright. Phones in a magical world should be waterproof. Right?
Thankfully, her phone could still be turned on.
As she looked through her contact list, she hesitated for a moment before deciding on who to call.
The phone rang for a few moments before the call got through.
"Hello?" A cheerful female voice sounded out.
"Bing Bing! Can you help me out a bit?"
"Qin Qin? What's wrong? Did someone bully you? Why do you sound so unusual? If anyone dared to bully you, just tell me and I'll help you beat them all up!"
"I'm fine Bing Bing, no one bullied me. But I do need some new clothes as I accidentally soiled mine. Could you bring a new set of clothes for me? I'm in the female toilet on the 2nd floor near the Art Room."
"Soil? How did you soil your clothes such that you need a whole new set?"
"Just bring me some clothes alright?" Yue Qin asked helplessly. She didn't think that much before she called Bing Bing over so she hadn't created a cover story yet.
"Alright. I'm coming! Just give me some time to find the clothes."
As the phone was cut, Yue Qin could swear that there seemed to be something bugging her at the back of her mind. Nonetheless, since she couldn't grasp what the issue was, it was better to just chuck the thought away till later.