Help! I transmigrated to a Beast World-Chapter 87: [DING!] Host’s Hair is a Disaster!

Xin Yi sat on a cushion in her room, stress-eating honey cakes like her life depended on it.

"Another one?" Ài Yún asked, watching with wide eyes.

"Yes," Xin Yi said around a mouthful. "Another one."

[DING! (⊙_⊙)]

[Host has consumed 7 honey cakes in 10 minutes]

[New record!]

[Emotional eating detected! ☆]

"Shut up, System," she muttered.

Ài Yún exchanged a glance with Měi Lán, who had also been summoned to help prepare Xin Yi for the hunting ceremony.

"Are you....okay?" Měi Lán asked gently.

"I am FINE," Xin Yi said, reaching for another cake. "Perfectly fine. Absolutely fine. Why would I not be fine?"

"Because you just had a screaming match with the Alpha?" Ài Yún suggested.

"It was NOT a screaming match. It was a.....spirited discussion."

"The entire settlement heard you."

"That is an exaggeration."

"Zhao Li asked if you and Uncle Sha Chen were fighting because you wanted different flavors of soup."

Xin Yi groaned and shoved another honey cake into her mouth.

[DING! (¬‿¬)]

[Host’s coping mechanism: SUGAR]

[Very healthy! ☆]

"I hate him," Xin Yi mumbled. "He is so CONTROLLING. So ARROGANT. So—"

"Handsome?" Měi Lán supplied.

"NO! Well—yes—but that is NOT THE POINT!"

The door burst open. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"PRETTY LADY!"

Zhao Li came running in, her little face bright with excitement. "Mama said I get to help make you pretty for the ceremony!"

Xin Yi’s expression softened immediately. "Hello, baby."

"Are you eating ALL the honey cakes?" Zhao Li’s eyes went wide. "Can I have one?"

"Of course." Xin Yi handed her one. "Here."

Zhao Li took a big bite, then climbed into Xin Yi’s lap. "Mama says you are sad because Uncle Sha Chen made you angry."

"He did not make me angry. He made me......frustrated."

"What is frus-tay-ted?"

"It means he is being a stubborn wolf who will not listen."

"Oh!" Zhao Li nodded sagely. "Like when Papa will not let me have dessert before dinner!"

"Exactly like that."

[DING! (◕‿◕)]

[Zhao Li understands perfectly!]

[Child wisdom! ☆]

Ài Yún clapped her hands together. "Okay! Enough moping! We need to get you ready! The ceremony starts in two hours!"

"Two hours?!" Xin Yi looked down at herself. She was still in her simple day dress. Hair unbrushed. Face unwashed. "I thought I had more time!"

"You were too busy arguing with the Alpha and then stress-eating," Měi Lán pointed out.

"Fair."

"Come!" Ài Yún pulled her to her feet. "We need to bathe you, dress you, do your hair—"

"I can do my own hair—"

"NO!" Zhao Li jumped up. "I want to do Pretty Lady’s hair! Please please please!"

Xin Yi looked at the little girl’s eager face.

Then at Ài Yún’s worried expression.

Then at Měi Lán, who was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Um," Xin Yi said. "Maybe—"

"PLEASE!" Zhao Li’s eyes went wide. Pleading. "I have been practicing! Mama taught me! I am very good now!"

[DING! (...)]

[Warning: Zhao Li’s hair styling skills are.....questionable]

[Proceed with caution! ☆]

"System says this is a bad idea," Xin Yi muttered.

"What is System?" Zhao Li asked.

"Nothing! I will let you do my hair, baby."

"YAY!"

Ài Yún looked like she wanted to protest. But Zhao Li was already dragging Xin Yi toward the bathing area with surprising strength for a five-year-old.

~

Thirty minutes later, Xin Yi was clean, dressed in a beautiful deep blue silk dress that Měi Lán had brought, and sitting very still while Zhao Li "styled" her hair.

"Hold still, Pretty Lady!" Zhao Li said, tugging at a section of hair.

"OW! Gentle, Zhao Li!"

"Sorry!" Zhao Li tugged again. "Your hair is very long! And very black! Like Mama’s!"

"Thank you—OW!"

[DING! (≧▽≦)]

[Zhao Li’s hair styling technique: AGGRESSIVE]

[Host’s pain tolerance: TESTED]

[This is hilarious! ☆]

Ài Yún was watching with barely concealed horror. "Zhao Li, maybe let Mama help—"

"NO! I can do it!" Zhao Li stuck her tongue out in concentration. She was braiding. Or trying to braid. It was hard to tell.

"What are you making?" Xin Yi asked nervously.

"A DRAGON!" Zhao Li announced proudly.

"A......dragon?"

"Yes! With the braids as the body and these flowers as the scales!" She started shoving small white flowers into the braid. Lots of them. Too many of them.

"Oh no," Měi Lán whispered.

"Oh YES!" Zhao Li disagreed.

Fifteen minutes later, she stepped back. "DONE!"

Xin Yi reached up to feel her hair.

It was......lumpy. Very lumpy. The braid was uneven. The flowers were sticking out at odd angles. And there seemed to be some kind of loop situation happening on the left side.

"It is beautiful, Zhao Li," Xin Yi lied.

[DING! (¬‿¬)]

[Lie detected!]

[Host’s hair looks like a bird’s nest]

[With flowers! ☆]

Ài Yún handed her a mirror.

Xin Yi looked.

And tried very hard not to cry.

Her hair was a DISASTER. The "dragon braid" looked more like a lumpy rope that had been attacked by a garden. Flowers were falling out. One section was significantly higher than the other. And somehow, SOMEHOW, there was a knot near her ear.

"Do you like it?!" Zhao Li asked eagerly.

Xin Yi looked at her big, hopeful eyes.

"I love it," she said. "It is very.....creative."

"YAY!" Zhao Li clapped. "Uncle Sha Chen will think you are SO pretty!"

"I do not care what Uncle Sha Chen thinks."

"But he is your mate!"

"He is NOT my mate. He is my......my jailer."

"What is a jay-ler?"

"Someone who keeps you somewhere you do not want to be."

Zhao Li frowned. "But Uncle Sha Chen is nice! He gives me sweets! And he let me ride on his back in wolf form once!"

"He is nice to YOU. He is mean to ME."

"Why?"

"Because..." Xin Yi sighed. "Because we had a fight."

"About soup?"

"No, not about soup. About.....about going to a temple."

"The Temple of Mán Shū?" Zhao Li’s eyes went wide.

Xin Yi blinked. "You know about that temple?"

"Everyone knows! It is where the goddess lives!"

"The goddess does not LIVE there," Ài Yún corrected gently. "It is just an old temple. Abandoned."

"But Papa says the goddess watches from there!" Zhao Li insisted. "He says she brought the Great Mother and Great Father here! And maybe she will bring more people!"

Xin Yi’s heart skipped a beat. "Did..... did your papa say anything else about the goddess? About Mán Shū?"

"Hmm....." Zhao Li scrunched up her face, thinking. "He said she is very powerful! And very old! And she has a special mark!"

"A mark?" Xin Yi leaned forward. "What kind of mark?"

"A snake and a flower!" Zhao Li traced a pattern in the air. "Like this! Curly curly, and then petals!"

The serpent and lotus.

[DING! (⊙_⊙)]

[IMPORTANT INFORMATION!]

[Mán Shū’s symbol = The Mark]

[Connection confirmed! ☆]