Was she supposed to say outright, "I've been tucked away in your Sea of Consciousness, quietly sharing every fulfilling day of your life"?
"Kagome, ask Li Xia for me whether he could give me that copy of me that was sent back to the cultivation chamber on Mount Penglai over two years ago... I want to use that body, which lacks complete four souls, to live another life."
"Oh, you've made up your mind?"
"Yes."
Kagome thought for a moment, then answered somewhat cautiously, "Then I'll ask Xia when I wake up!"
She then added by way of explanation and reassurance:
"Although that clone was created using your blood, it was still something the Four War Gods made fifty years ago, and now it's Xia's spoils of war! But don't worry, I'll do my best to persuade him."
"All right. Thank you."
Kikyo breathed a sigh of relief.
But a moment later, Kagome raised another question, sounding slightly suspicious:
"Wait, Kikyo. Your copy being returned to Mount Penglai was top secret. Aside from Xia and me, no outsider could possibly know. How did you find out?"
Uh, well...
Kikyo was immediately stumped.
Because Li Xia had been very sneaky.
Over two years ago, only after Mount Penglai had vanished had he smuggled himself inside, using the Life-Melting Ring and his own command of the Time Barrier sustained by the Cauldron of Resonance. Before that, he had even deliberately used the Demon Graveyard in the gap between the two worlds as a stepping stone, avoiding those tracking gazes as much as possible.
Under those circumstances, how could Kikyo be so certain the clone was on Mount Penglai?
"You've been inside me all along, haven't you?"
Kagome guessed, her eyes wide.
Kikyo immediately lowered her head in embarrassment, her gaze darting everywhere