Chapter 25: The Troubles of Maiden Bai Ling?
The McLaren roars down the road.
Some say, as long as you’ve got your hands on the steering wheel, you’ll never lose direction.
Yuan Xiaoling sneaked a glance at Bai Ling who was driving with utmost focus.
Xiaoling couldn’t help but recall the message the System sent her this morning—
[Ding dong, Weekly Task Refreshed. Task Name: Life Mentor.
Task Description: As time passes, everything grows calm. Yet, our heroine burdened by blood-soaked vengeance stands on this peaceful road, lost in confusion.
There’s a saying—A hero without a demon king is meaningless, just like a fine bow after all arrows have been shot.
Thus, to elevate your value as the Villainess, help the heroine find her way out of confusion and be an excellent mentor.
Task Requirements: Same as above.]
As usual, the task description can be glanced over… But this one feels unusually abstract.
Yuan Xiaoling turned her head, trying to read something from Bai Ling’s refined profile.
Confused?
“What’s up?” Bai Ling noticed the blonde-haired maiden’s gaze.
“Nothing, I’m just curious,” Yuan Xiaoling said, “weren’t you super confused during this period in the last timeline?”
Bai Ling snorted coldly, “Why would I be confused?”
Does she look like someone who gets confused?
Yuan Xiaoling quietly rolled her eyes, thinking to herself that she definitely was confused in the last timeline—it’s even recorded in the system text.
“Do you feel confused now?”
“What confusion could I possibly have?” Bai Ling asked bewilderedly, “Why are you suddenly bringing this up?”
Could it be that the big-breasted maiden is also having some random thoughts?
“I’m just asking.”
Yuan Xiaoling calmed herself and pulled up the system information from this morning:
[Task Reward: Fifth-Stage Breakthrough Fragment (1/5), Unlock Fifth Tier New Rank: White Dragon Lady.]
Pretty generous rewards.
Though she doesn’t know what the White Dragon Lady is, if the title changes, it must signify a major transformation.
Anyway, there’s still a week, so there’s plenty of time to figure things out.
Half an hour later, they arrived.
Bai Ling went to park the car while Yuan Xiaoling stepped out first, standing on the wide platform outside their base, looking around.
The nearby streets, which used to be for who-knows-what purpose, judging from the architectural style, might have been office spaces or business districts. The buildings weren’t densely packed and were only a few stories tall. From an aerial view, the circular cluster of buildings resembled a fortress.
Unknowingly, her influence has grown so large.
Ever since returning to Tianhai City, under various circumstances, her own forces had gradually formed. Initially, she merely gathered Luo Boss’ group and took over part of the Chamber of Commerce’s people. Then, to stabilize the situation in Tianhai City, she had no choice but to continue expanding.
Looking back, Tianhai City is practically her territory now.
“Miss Yuan? Miss Yuan!”
The guards at the entrance spotted her and greeted her enthusiastically.
“Miss Yuan, this is your first visit to the Central District Base.”
“Does Miss Yuan have any instructions?”
Yuan Xiaoling waved her hands hurriedly, “Nope, just came here for a casual stroll. Carry on with your duties.”
Of course, being a blonde-haired beauty with impressive assets, not only the national goddess but also the top boss, everyone couldn’t help but take a few extra glances.
Fortunately, Bai Ling returned, leading her inside.
“Miss Yuan is beautiful, well-endowed, powerful, and well-endowed—truly wonderful.”
“Indeed, indeed.”
That’s the objective evaluation from the subordinates.
Fang Hui knew they were coming and had already come downstairs to greet them. Bai Ling introduced her accordingly.
“This is Fang Hui, the person who helped me find clues. She knows the families involved. Also…”
Bai Ling thought for a moment before recalling the other party’s reported identity: “She says she’s our school’s psychology teacher.”
Then Bai Ling introduced Yuan Xiaoling to Fang Hui: “This is…”
“I know, the Water Dragon Lady of Tianhai City,” Fang Hui said proactively, “I’m deeply honored.”
“…Just call my name, and soon enough, the title will change.”
Although Water Dragon Lady was a title she made up in the game, being called it offline felt like meeting someone online and being addressed by your username.
They’re here for serious business. After a brief introduction, they prepared to get into the car to go find people.
Before leaving, Bai Ling paused and inquired, “How’s Ding Shumei today?”
She occasionally cared about collaborators, a trick she learned from Xiaoling.
“Still okay, just give her more time to cool down.”
Bai Ling nodded slightly and then pressed the accelerator.
Yuan Xiaoling rested her cheek on her hand, sitting in the passenger seat listening to their conversation. She knew about Ding Shumei; Bai Ling mentioned her two days ago—she was a victim related to the Four Squares Academy incident.
She was surprised because Bai Ling actually cared about these kinds of things now. Just a few months ago, when going to the Nameless Bar to gather information, Bai Ling wouldn’t even say thank you, and Xiaoling had to do it for her.
“The location is…”
Their destination this time was slightly away from the city center, not far in absolute distance, but the street names were so obscure that even the phone navigation didn’t show them.
Fortunately, Fang Hui had done her homework. With manual guidance, turning left and right, they successfully arrived on a small road paved with bluestone.
Compared to where Ding Shumei lived, this place was even worse—almost the entire alley was filled with abandoned buildings, without any guarantee of water or electricity. It was hard to tell whether anyone lived in any of the houses.
Bai Ling glanced inside for a moment, pondered for a bit, and said to Yuan Xiaoling, “I’ll go check it out, you stay here.”
Yuan Xiaoling understood her meaning. Fang Hui looked like she had no combat ability, so if anything happened, she could help protect her.
After Bai Ling got out of the car, Yuan Xiaoling looked at Fang Hui in the backseat and suddenly remembered something, “Are you really our school’s psychology teacher?”
Hmm, she looks about thirty, indeed like a psychological counselor, but something felt off.
Fang Hui smiled, “More or less, but I don’t work much.”
Yuan Xiaoling thought, rarely working yet still getting paid—must be pretty capable, huh.
Lemon was the same way; rarely attending classes, but teachers never complained.
“So, can you tell…” she asked, “what I’m most troubled about right now?”
“Well, let me try, Miss Yuan Xiaoling.”
Fang Hui sat up straighter and stared intently at the blonde maiden for about half a minute before saying, “You want to help Bai Ling resolve some emotional issues, but you’re unsure exactly where the problem lies.”
Yuan Xiaoling’s eyes lit up, “Wow, that’s impressive, you really figured that out.”
Good grief, the psychology teacher is indeed a psychology teacher.
In fact, if Bai Ling were here, she’d sense the faint ripple of Mental-type Spiritual Power that flashed through the car just now. Not much, but enough.
Yuan Xiaoling wasn’t concerned about such details and followed up, “Since that’s the case, can you help me observe if Bai Ling has recently shown signs of… hmm, troubles, confusion, or losing direction in life, etc.?”
She had already planned that if she couldn’t figure it out in a few days, she’d ask Gu Hui for help, using her Mind Listening ability to hear Maiden Bai Ling’s troubles. Now, with the help of a psychology teacher, it’s even better—saturation-style assistance can never be too much.
Xiaoling couldn’t help but marvel, those whose names contain ‘Hui’ are truly wise and graceful.
“…I’ll do my best,” Fang Hui replied.
With that answer, Yuan Xiaoling’s mood brightened, and she opened the window to enjoy the scenery outside. Surprisingly, despite the dilapidated housing, this area away from the city center looked quite picturesque and natural.
Especially the lush tree rows about a hundred meters away at the intersection. At first glance, they seemed freshly grown, as they hadn’t noticed them when the car drove in.
Emmmmm, were they really newly grown?
Yuan Xiaoling blinked her eyes, pinched her cute little chin, and observed carefully for a while, feeling something odd.
“Fang Hui Teacher, were there already such rows of trees when we arrived?”
