Shuqi did not dare to waste time. After hastily packing up her things, she obediently followed Xitong toward home. The path down the mountain was long and especially difficult to walk. Having trudged all the way down, the child gradually began to pant, and her legs started to feel a bit wobbly.
"Let's take a break!" At some point, Xitong had moved to Shuqi's side and suggested.
Shuqi stopped, nodded, and pressed a hand to her chest as she caught her breath. After a good while, feeling much better, she raised her gaze to look at Xitong. In truth, upon careful reflection, if she had crossed paths with the System today, she probably would have been a goner.
"I'm sorry, I misunderstood you earlier," Shuqi said softly. "And truly, thank you. You're a very good System."
Xitong rolled her eyes. "......" *No, I'm not.* But she didn't say it aloud. Perhaps letting the child think that way was for the best. Pondering this for a moment, she felt something was amiss.
"Don't think a few nice words to me will get you out of paying. Don't even dream of it! Starting tomorrow, you'll begin making money to pay off your debt!"
How infuriating; she had almost fallen for it.
Yet Shuqi caught a different meaning in her words and asked, "Does that mean you'll be with me from now on?"
Xitong: "......." She didn't understand why the child was so happy about this. Still, thinking ahead, she added, "Since I'm bound to you, naturally I will be with you from now on. It's just that most of the time, it's not convenient for me to appear before others. Later on, whenever you want to see me, you can just summon me."
"Summon you?" Shuqi asked. "How do I summon you? By reciting your name in my heart?"
"I suppose so."
Actually, there were many ways to summon her, but seeing how tiny the child was, it was better not to make things difficult for her. Later on, she could just configure the central panel so that silently reciting her name would work nicely.
Having received confirmation, Shuqi's eyes lit up. She got to her feet, no longer even out of breath.
"Then let's go home now. I'm well-rested."
Xitong glanced at her and saw that the sweat on the child's face had not yet dried entirely, her little face was still flushed, and her glistening eyes shone with a resilient light. Feeling somewhat skeptical, she raised no objection, as stopping in the first place had been for the child's benefit.
Shuqi was truly happy. She knew she wouldn't have to be alone anymore. Even though the System said she couldn't show herself to people casually, she was still glad because someone would be accompanying her.
"Are you a human?" Shuqi asked. "Why did you tell me you were a System before? Are all you Systems very powerful?"
"Me? Naturally, I'm very powerful. You'll find out later. Hurry up and walk!"
Shuqi wanted to say something more, but she discovered that the System's figure had already vanished.
"Are you still there?"
"The next stretch of the path leads to the outskirts of the mountain. It will be much easier to walk and is an area where villagers frequently pass through. To avoid unnecessary trouble, I'll disappear first. Once you get home, you'll naturally be able to see me again." An ethereal, lazy voice echoed through the mountains.
"Oh, alright. See you in a bit!"
With that, Shuqi kept her pace steady as she walked down the mountain. The villagers she met along the way were few and far between. Seeing a child walking down the mountain alone, some would greet her, but most merely glanced at the basket on her back, saw that it was mostly just weeds, and directly ignored her. As a result, Shuqi returned home quite smoothly.
The moment she pushed open the courtyard gate, she had a gut feeling that something was wrong—it felt as if someone had been here before. The bamboo sieve of herbs in the courtyard showed traces of having been touched.
Just as Shuqi was feeling puzzled, the System's voice rang out: "Close the door first. I'll explain everything in detail in a moment."
After a moment of thought, Shuqi obediently shut the courtyard gate.
As she turned around, she saw a person sitting by the stone table under the pear tree in the courtyard. On the stone table sat a plate of delicate pastries, and a teacup beside it was curling with wisps of hot steam. She couldn't help but freeze. It had been so long—ever since Granny went missing, every time she came home, this thatched cottage had been completely empty.
"There's something I need to tell you," Xitong said. "Before going to Tianyu Mountain, I came here first, so you don't need to worry about whether intruders broke in. The person who came was me."
Shuqi looked puzzled.
"I was entrusted by someone to find you, and the other person gave me the address. She hoped that within my ability, I could protect you as you grow up."
Shuqi: "........." *Was it Granny?* It must have been. In this world, only Granny would care about her.
Being stared at fixedly by Shuqi, Xitong felt a bit uncomfortable. She gave a dry cough and asked, "What is it?"
"Nothing," Shuqi replied. "I'll be troubling you from now on." After a moment of thought, she asked another question, "Are you really not human?"
"Mm."
That "Mm" was very light and flat, yet it seemed to contain a multitude of emotions. Shuqi wanted to say something more, but Xitong spoke first: "It's getting late. You should tidy things up early so you can get some rest sooner."
Shuqi acutely sensed that the System's mood was low at this moment. She hurriedly nodded obediently.
After a long while—so long that Shuqi thought the System wouldn't speak again—she heard the other person say, "Also, my name is Xitong. As for the rest, you'll find out in time!"