Travels · Magic City Arc (Seventeen): To the New World (Three)

"What a perfect performance, don't you think, Hajipiao?"

"I think so too, but please pronounce my name correctly. I haven't allowed you to give me a nickname yet."

Do you have a name?

"Doesn't 'Rover' sound like a name? Why don't you give me one?"

"You really want me to name her? How about I name you Jiaxin?"

"If you insist on making fun of me, my sword is not without its merits."

Backstage at the concert, the Rover and Xiao Ling started bickering as usual, perhaps still Hajipiao of Xiao Ling's behavior of taking advantage of his family.

Aemeath was waiting in the wings, couldn't help but laugh awkwardly when she saw her husband and godmother looking at each other like this.

"Hey, Little Ai, has this always been how they get along?" Tarokiki couldn't help but gossip.

"Uh... sort of, since there are a few things they can't agree on right now," Aemeath nodded. "But that doesn't affect their relationship."

Just then, the Solar5 girl group members, who had just finished their performance, walked into the backstage dressing room, chatting and laughing.

"Hmm? You're pretty quick. I saw you changed as soon as I got back." Dania straightened Xiao Ling's clothes as she saw him already in his performance costume.

"Didn't you make a fool of yourself?" Xiao Ling teased with a light laugh.

"You're such a smooth talker! You're just hoping I'll embarrass myself..." Dania playfully punched his chest.

"Sister Nia danced so well on stage just now! The audience was absolutely thrilled!" Lynae excitedly reported to Xiao Ling.

(A great roc spreading its wings should appear here.)

"Judging by this, you guys are next!" Iuno said with an elegant smile. "Perform well; as our leaders, you can't let us down!"

"Of course! If I mess up on stage, you'll laugh at me from the beginning of the year to the end."

"If you really make a fool of yourself on stage, it will be a stain on my reputation as your teacher for life." The Rover gave Hajiling a cold glance.

"Don't worry, Sister Piao, I promise you won't be disappointed." Xiao Ling mimicked Lynae's OK sign.

"Huh?! Xiao Ling, you actually copied me!" Lynae said angrily.

"What will happen if we learn it?" Xiao Ling and the Rover couldn't resist being cheeky as they passed by the group of girls, pinching Lynae's puffed-up cheeks twice with their large hands.

Ignoring Lynae's subsequent reaction, Xiao Ling and the Rover walked side by side to the rising platform, ready to perform on stage with the lead singer.

To be honest, looking back on his life, his stage performances were mostly concentrated in elementary school: nursery rhymes in second grade, youth training manual in fourth grade, and Yanzi's mission to Chu in sixth grade. Although each performance was immature and clumsy, he still enjoyed it.

But after that, he never performed on stage again. Now that he thinks about it, perhaps it was because he realized that no matter how well he performed, not many people would cheer for him, which was similar to his reason for not participating in the sports meet in the first place.

However, the fact that she was back on stage after so long was on such a large stage made even someone as socially awkward as Xiao Ling quite nervous.

"Rover, are you nervous?" Xiao Ling suddenly asked the Rover beside her.

"I don't feel anything." The Rover sensed something in his seemingly ordinary question and teased him with a mischievous smile, "What? Is someone also thinking of running away at the last minute like Xiao Ya?"

(The wife leads and the husband follows.)

"I want to escape, but I can't," Xiao Ling said helplessly. "Things have come to this point, I can't just back down now, can I?"

"That's for the best, like a man," the Rover said.

"I'm a man!" Xiao Ling said, puffing out his chest.

"Alright, alright, you're a man," the Rover said with a helpless laugh. "Get ready, it's our turn to go on stage."

"Alright! Let me show you the results of these three days of training!"

"Don't give me that!"

To be honest, Xiao Ling hadn't expected to be on the cast list, so when he suddenly learned of this, he could only humbly seek help from Hajipiao.

The Rover was naturally happy to help, but on the other hand, the conditions she proposed in exchange were somewhat unacceptable to Hajiling.

"Want me to teach you swordsmanship? Sure," the Rover nodded. "However, learning swordsmanship requires a clear mind; if your mind is distracted, you won't master it..."

"Let's get straight to the point, Rover," Xiao Ling interrupted. "What do you need me to do?"

"It's simple. If you don't touch Little Ai for the next month, I'll teach you," the Rover stated his condition.

To be honest, when these conditions were presented to him, he almost immediately decided to retreat without a second thought.

Sexual desire is the primary driving force for humanity, and sexual desire with Little Ai will generate even more driving force for him. If Rover were to experience this, he would experience withdrawal symptoms within three days.

"That's too cruel, Sister Piao... You know, even if I can resist Little Ai might not be able to..."

"I don't care, this kind of behavior is ultimately harmful to her physical and mental health," the Rover said righteously.

(So whose physical and mental health is actually harmed?)

"I'm sorry, I can't do that. I'll go ask Little Ai to teach me instead." Xiao Ling refused the Rover's offer and turned to leave.

Actually, if it's just for the sake of performing, there's not much difference between asking Little Ai to teach you and asking the Rover to teach you. It's just that Little Ai Hajiling is embarrassed to bother Xiao Ai because she also has performances to do.

Moreover, he already has some basic swordsmanship, so he'll learn much faster. He could learn most of it in three days, which would be enough to handle the concert performance.

"Wait a minute!" the Rover called out to the other.

Sure enough, the mere mention of Little Ai's Rover evokes a sense of crisis.

Putting aside how much Xiao Ling could learn from Xiao Ai Little Ai, are you sure the two of them, a man and a woman alone in a room, can seriously learn swordsmanship? They'll probably have to put their learning into practice and delve into the true essence of swordsmanship after only a short time.

"Ha..." the Rover sighed helplessly, "Come here, I'll teach you a move or two."

Back to the present.

As the prelude to "Resonance of Tidal Sounds" began, under the rhythm of the accompaniment and the spotlight, Xiao Ling and the Rover simultaneously began to wield their swords.

What they had to do was much simpler than Aemeath and Solar5 did; they just needed to perfectly replicate the heroic figures of the Rover fighting against the Tacet Discord in the game.

It must be said that with his original swordsmanship foundation, Xiao Ling's stance was incredibly skillful and well-proportioned. Because of his striking resemblance to the male Rover, the audience below the stage gasped in amazement.

"Holy crap, what's going on here? The Rover have all arrived?!"

"The Rover himself performed a performance of beating Tacet Discord two elephants at a concert! Really?!"

"You can actually do something like that? Old Kuro is amazing!"

Although Xiao Ling and the Rover's performance was much easier than the previous two, they were still covered in sweat when the song ended.

The enthusiastic applause from the audience was the best reward for their performance, and the roaring cheers were their invisible medals.

"Phew, I didn't embarrass the girls. I can finally go back looking beautiful and report back~" Xiao Ling chuckled to herself.