Chapter 34: How is it? Does it feel comfortable to touch?
Lu Yibei finally managed to calm down the emotionally volatile Ahua and coaxed her to try to approach Jiang Li. Turning around to look at the bruised Liu Banxian, she couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
“Hey, Banxian, it’s been so many years, and you are still so reckless with your words? Haven’t you been beaten enough over the years? You really should change a bit.”
In her impression, Liu Banxian’s fortune-telling was very accurate, and he had certainly been beaten quite a lot.
Originally, in a harmonious, law-abiding country like Z Country, typically, when facing an elderly person like Liu Banxian, even if one felt angry, they wouldn’t easily resort to violence.
But Liu Banxian was always getting beaten by his clients. The problem was that he was too accurate in his predictions, and almost every time he only had bad news to share, saying things like “bl**d disaster” or “bad luck”.
Not only did he never have good words to say, but even when clients asked him for ways to resolve their issues, he mostly replied with “Can’t resolve it, no hope, just wait to d*e.”
Clients would hold their anger and leave, only to turn around and face major misfortune.
Those with better tempers would only complain behind his back, “He’s a bystander in distress.”
For those with violent tempers, they couldn’t help but treat him like a “crow’s mouth,” showing him a little color to see.
People like Ahua were already considered rational; they only argued with Liu Banxian for a few moments, and as for him stumbling and falling down, it was no one’s fault.
And there were plenty of worse cases, with crazies wielding knives and setting fire to houses.
“Come on, put some ice on it first?”
“Hiss—!”
Liu Banxian took the ice pack Lu Yibei handed him and placed it on the bruise at the corner of his eye, inhaling sharply, then muttered, “Change? What should I change? If I see that a client has a disaster, if I don’t tell them, that’s my fault. If I tell them and they can’t think of a way to resolve it, that’s their problem.”
“Hmph, can’t pull out a turd, blame the latrine!”
“Even if I’m dead and nailed in a coffin, I’ll still shout out with a decaying voice… Ouch, be gentler!”
Lu Yibei forcefully tore the adhesive off Liu Banxian’s face, rolling her eyes, “Since you’re so insistent, I wish you good health and longevity.”
Lest one day you get beaten suddenly and d*e… Lu Yibei added silently in her heart.
Liu Banxian sensed the deeper meaning behind Lu Yibei’s tone and silently sighed, saying sagely, “Girl, you don’t understand. My master told me this when he passed down this craft.”
“Our sect, when fortune-telling for others, can only foretell bad things, not good ones, otherwise it won’t work!”
Lu Yibei looked at Liu Banxian out of the corner of her eye and said softly, “I think your sect is probably dwindling in numbers, right?”
“How do you know?” Liu Banxian’s eyes lit up, patting his thigh, “Could it be that you understand divination and geomancy?”
“I’m not too familiar with divination, but…” Lu Yibei pouted, “Based on what your master said, it’s hard not to have dwindling numbers.”
Using this approach to fortune-telling, people like Liu Banxian, who are resistant to being beaten, would eventually get beaten to d*ath… Lu Yibei thought to herself.
Seeing that Lu Yibei no longer spoke, Liu Banxian fell silent for a moment, his eyes rolling around, and he smiled, “By the way, girl.”
“Look, you don’t lack bargaining chips now. You’ve taken me for a big profit, and I have nothing to repay you with, how about I tell your fortune?”
Upon hearing this, Lu Yibei felt a chill in her heart and hurriedly stopped him, “No, no, I prefer to, um… explore my fate and experience life on my own.”
To this day, Lu Yibei still didn’t know whether Liu Banxian’s predictions were accurate or curses, so it was better not to test it.
“However…” Lu Yibei’s mind flickered with Jiang Li’s image, her brows slightly furrowing, she asked, “What you just said about my friend being close to d*ath, is that true?”
“Is there any doubt?” Liu Banxian straightened his back confidently, “I never make mistakes. If I say she’s going to d*e, then she’s definitely going to d*e.”
It really sounded like a curse; all the beatings he had taken over the years were not for nothing… Lu Yibei thought to herself, then asked, “Is there any way to save her?”
“Of course there is!”
Upon hearing this, Lu Yibei’s eyes brightened, and she pressed further, “What way?”
“How would I know?” Liu Banxian shrugged, “If I knew how to resolve disasters, I wouldn’t be taking so many beatings.”
Lu Yibei, “…”
That made a lot of sense and was completely unarguable.
It seemed that I would have to figure something out myself; I couldn’t just…
Watch her d*e, could I?
Just as Lu Yibei was contemplating, Ahua, who had gone to try approaching Jiang Li, returned with an anxious expression.
Lu Yibei walked up to Ahua and asked, “So, did you see her?”
Ahua shook her head, looking despondent.
“The lady has issued a challenge to the Big Boss and is now in the independent lounge on the third floor, guarded by many bunny girls outside!”
“I was stopped before I even got close to the door. They said the lady doesn’t see outsiders…”
At this point, Ahua paused, looking at Lu Yibei with a pitiful expression, “Do you think the lady really doesn’t remember me anymore?”
“That question can be resolved face-to-face, can’t it?” Lu Yibei shrugged.
“Hmm?” Ahua was taken aback, weakly saying, “But how do we ask? I can’t even see my lady.”
“Well…” Lu Yibei rubbed her somewhat throbbing temple, lowering her head and pacing back and forth, occasionally glancing at Ahua, appearing deep in thought and hesitant.
After a moment of silence, she seemed to have made a significant decision and abruptly looked up at Ahua, asking a rather perplexing question, “Would you mind dressing up as a bunny girl once?”
“Ah? You mean…” Ahua’s eyes widened suddenly, looking up and down at Lu Yibei in surprise, “Are you planning to disguise yourself as…”
“Shh—!” Lu Yibei made a silence gesture, interrupting, “Just keep it in your heart; do you need to say it out loud?”
Deciding to do such a shameful thing took a lot of courage, okay?
If you say it out loud, and I get embarrassed, I might just give up, Lu Yibei thought.
Ahua nodded, still somewhat shocked, looking at Lu Yibei with an odd expression, “Will this really work? What if I get exposed?”
Although there was no explicit rule in the Entertainment City stating that dressing up as a bunny girl for capers would have what consequences, it also wouldn’t end well just thinking about it.
“Of course it won’t work…” Liu Banxian interjected from the side, “Although the Entertainment City doesn’t prohibit guests from wearing bunny girl outfits, those bunny girls don’t have any special certification, but their existence itself is quite special. It’s easy to distinguish between someone disguised and the real thing with a bit of careful observation.”
Lu Yibei tilted her head and asked Liu Banxian, “How so?”
“Isn’t it simple?” Liu Banxian pointed to a bunny girl passing nearby, “Look at her ears and tail; they’re real, they’re growing on her, and they can move. That’d be hard to mimic, right?”
Lu Yibei, “…” Not particularly hard; I’ve seen ones that look almost exactly the same.
Ahua followed Liu Banxian’s finger to look at that bunny girl, observing her for a while before sighing, “It really seems like that. Wang Buliu, it looks like your method won’t work!”
“…”
Lu Yibei opened her mouth, just about to say something when her coat began to rustle.
Seconds later, a pair of cat ears popped out of her hood, and a fluffy cat tail emerged near the hem of her outfit, swaying in front of Liu Banxian and Ahua.
Coat: No one can say that the great witch can’t do it!
Although I may not be able to help with other things, I must uphold her face!
(｡•ˇ‸ˇ•｡)
Lu Yibei facepalmed, “Let me explain, actually I…”
Liu Banxian patted Lu Yibei on the shoulder, saying sincerely, “No need to explain; I understand. Young girl, having a bit of a girlish heart is perfectly normal!”
“Right, exactly!” Ahua grabbed one of Lu Yibei’s hands sincerely, saying, “Wang Buliu, I’m counting on you to see my lady!”
Lu Yibei, “…”
————
Ten minutes later.
Dream Come True Entertainment City, on the third level, hallway outside the VIP lounge.
The decor here is not as gaudy as the ostentatious main hall. Each corner’s details have been carefully designed and considered, lending an air of solemn elegance and providing guests here a relaxing experience on both visual and sensory levels.
The “VIP lounge” is open to clients with chips over ten million. It has top-notch sound insulation, equipped with spirit energy-assisted massage devices and various entertainment facilities, and one can even book girls from a partner establishment for a starting price of ten thousand chips per hour.
Of course, this is similar to the carriages Lu Yibei and company had seen in the city outside the Entertainment City, only premium players can enjoy such luxuries, making the experience extraordinary.
Walking through a closed corridor, it widened ahead. The walls near the m hall were replaced by single-sided glass floor-to-ceiling windows, providing a panoramic view of the entire hall.
After Jiang Li rang the victory bell for “first prize,” the whole hall burst into cheers, colorful and glowing fireworks floated in the air, resembling summer fireworks or flocks of colorful butterflies.
Inside the hall, someone stood on a gaming table spraying champagne around, unfamiliar men and women leaned against each other dancing a close dance, and someone even dashed onto the stage, tearing off a samba dancer’s feather skirt and putting it on themselves, twisting their body.
In contrast to the revelry in the hall, the guests on the corridor leading to the VIP lounge were much more subdued. They had mostly already become familiar with each other, gathering in small groups to chat, occasionally breaking into cheerful laughter.
The serving bunny girl waitresses discreetly brought fruit platters, snacks, and drinks to the guests and then stepped aside, only coming forward when guests signaled for service.
At that moment, a rather small bunny girl, compared to the majority, expressionless, walked through the corridor toward the deeper VIP lounge.
Although her figure didn’t stand out as much as the other bunny girls, appearing quite youthful, no one found anything unusual about her.
After all, she was dressed in the same red backless fitted outfit as the bunny girls in the Entertainment City, complemented by fishnet stockings and a striped vest. Even her white ears and tail swayed gently in rhythm with her footsteps, just like the other bunny girls.
The process of infiltrating the VIP lounge was much smoother than Lu Yibei had imagined, thanks to the coat’s superb mimicry of the bunny girl attire and the busy atmosphere generated by the revelry.
The entire staff on the upper three levels of the Entertainment City was busy, and no one paid too much attention to the movements of any particular bunny girl.
Following the room number given by Ahua, Lu Yibei moved forward and soon found herself at the door of the VIP lounge number 48 where Jiang Li was, raising her hand to press the doorbell.
“Ding-dong—ding-dong!”
As the doorbell rang, the small devil sculpture placed on the door wiggled, opening its eyes and locking onto Lu Yibei’s face with a pair of crimson pupils.
————
Inside VIP lounge number 48.
Jiang Li, having shed her powder-pink gown and still not changed into her regular clothes, was sitting in front of the vanity mirror in a bathrobe.
In the mirror, the girl with silver hair was wearing an updo, her face a bit haggard, resembling a delicate willow in the wind, sharing a certain beauty with the likes of Xi Shi and Lin Daiyu.
Staring at the mirror for a long time, she undid her hair bun and instinctively called out, “Ahuan, help me do my hair again…”
Before she finished speaking, she remembered that Ahua was no longer by her side, prompting a silent sigh.
Just then, the doorbell rang, followed by a distortion of light and shadow in the mirror. When the image in the mirror stabilized again, a youthful bunny girl appeared in her view.
She looked somewhat familiar, where had she seen her before… Jiang Li thought silently, softly saying, “Is this the service I booked earlier?”
“Uh…” The bunny girl outside the door froze for a moment, glancing around as if searching for the source of the voice, then replied, “Yes.”
Jiang Li frowned slightly, “I remember I booked a water bath SPA treatment. Why did you come empty-handed?”
The recent battles had pushed Jiang Li’s body and mind to a very fatigued state.
This time, she didn’t rush back to Nowhere Land, just wanted to take advantage of the ongoing revelry outside to rest for a while, adjust to the best state, and then challenge the Big Boss.
The bunny girl outside, “…”
————
When Lu Yibei heard Jiang Li’s voice coming from that little devil statue, her brow uncontrollably raised slightly.
SPA, water bath, therapy… there’s actually such a good thing?
After surviving for so long, I finally reached the point where a welfare chapter appeared?
It seems she doesn’t recognize me; in this case, would taking advantage of her be too much?
Lu Yibei pondered, silently pulling out a bottle of Alchemical Potion from the pocket of her little jacket.
This was a potion made from the leftover ingredients of the Complete Potion, and due to the addition of black pearls, it did have a beautifying effect, making it quite suitable for pretending to be essential oil.
After taking out the potion, Lu Yibei pretended to be flustered, hurriedly apologizing in hopes of blending in.
“I’m so sorry, I forgot; I only brought the essential oil. I’ll have my colleague…”
“Forget it, just come in!” Jiang Li calmly interrupted, and as soon as her voice fell, the heavy door of the lounge opened with a “click!”
Lu Yibei, “…”
The door opened just like that?
So, today’s girls outside have no self-protection awareness at all.
What happens when they encounter a bad person like me?
Grumbling inwardly, she tightened her grip on the crystal vial containing the half-transparent light blue liquid, shifted her body, and walked into the room.
As Lu Yibei entered the room, Jiang Li looked her up and down, puzzled, “Haven’t we met somewhere?”
“Uh… yes!” Lu Yibei nodded, not looking Jiang Li in the eyes, “I’ve served you before.”
“Oh…” Jiang Li nodded thoughtfully and then skillfully directed, “Since you don’t have the tools, let’s go to the sauna first?”
“While we’re in the steam room, help me with a massage, and then use the essential oil for my back afterward.”
Lu Yibei, “…” Wait, leader? Are you serious? You really don’t recognize me?
Seeing that Lu Yibei hadn’t moved after a while, Jiang Li tilted her head at her, “Is there something wrong?”
Lu Yibei shook her head, “No, no.”
Jiang Li slightly nodded, “Then let’s go?”
As she spoke, she walked toward the sauna room in one corner of the lounge, entered, dropped her bathrobe, and lay down on the massage table. Immediately, a small wooden door opened in the wall beside her, flinging out a clean white bath towel that gently draped over her.
Lu Yibei followed Jiang Li into the sauna room, looking at the graceful body hidden beneath the towel, gulping hard, only feeling overwhelmed.
Even though they had come this far, backing out at the last moment wasn’t very gentlemanly, but…
I don’t know how to massage!
“What’s wrong? Do you need to prepare?”
“No, it’s not that.” Lu Yibei timidly responded, stepping closer to Jiang Li and closing her eyes, carefully extending her hands to rest on her shoulders.
In that instant, the unique sensation of the girl’s skin transmitted from her fingertips made Lu Yibei involuntarily sigh inside.
So smooth, so soft, so firm, so comfortable!
Her smooth and delicate skin was dotted with beads of water, soft yet slightly resilient, making it irresistible to touch.
Feeling the slightly strange sensation of fingers gliding over her back, Jiang Li furrowed her brows slightly, turned her face to glance back, and, upon seeing the bunny girl with her eyes tightly shut, she was momentarily taken aback.
What does this mean? Blind massage?
“Do you dare to open your eyes?”
“Not dare!”
I’ve already touched, and now you want to see? That’s a bit too much, Lu Yibei thought.
Jiang Li, “…” This bunny girl feels a bit strange.
“By the way, what’s your name? Weren’t Lantis and Xianghe the ones who often served me before? Why is it you today?”
Hearing Jiang Li’s inquiry about her name, Lu Yibei cracked her eyes open slightly, tentatively saying, “I… I’m called Wang Buliu; you probably haven’t heard of me?”
Jiang Li frowned.
Wang Buliu? That name sounds familiar; I must’ve heard it somewhere.
But why can’t I remember?
This feeling… Could she be someone I used to know very well, and I’ve forgotten all about her?
As she pondered, Jiang Li suddenly felt a rush of fragmented memories flooding her mind.
Pain… my head hurts so much!
Fragments of bizarre and strange whispers quickly flashed before her eyes, making her head throb painfully, as if a thousand steel needles were piercing into her brain.
In a daze, her vision distorted again, and then she heard a familiar voice ringing in her ear.
That person gently told her, “Little girl, don’t be afraid; I’m here to save you. Those bad people have been taken care of.”
“…”
“Little girl, are you worried that you’ll end up crippled and can’t get married? If so, I’ll take care of this for you.”
“…”
“Little girl, don’t misunderstand; I’m not saying you should marry me. I mean, I have a son about your age. If you really can’t get married in the future, you can just settle for him!”
“…”
Aren’t these exactly the words my benefactor said to me?
Why are these memories surfacing now?
Jiang Li thought in confusion, her gaze locking onto the moment her benefactor handed her a bowl of steaming instant noodles.
Just as she thought the memories were about to end, more images suddenly appeared in her mind, as if memories of her benefactor were somehow, for some wonderful reason, continuing to stretch in another direction.
Soon, she saw in the images a rather expressionless yet inexplicably annoying boy, looking at her and saying something.
“Leader? I realize you actually look quite nice when you’re not angry; uh, when you look at me like this, it’s not so nice.”
“…”
“How about it? Isn’t our family’s special instant noodles quite fragrant?”
“…”
“My home is in Huacheng; I’m not going anywhere!”
“…”
“Shut up, like you would care about someone like me!”
Wang Buliu, Wang Buliu, Lu… d*mn, she is Lu Yibei!
Why is she here?
Didn’t I exchange all the memories of everyone else? Why do I still remember her? I obviously only kept memories of my mother, Ahua, and the engagement!
Wait, she once made that instant noodles, lives on Mudan Street; could it be…
In that instant of guessing in her mind, Jiang Li’s cheeks flushed a cherry pink, her heart pounding, but she quickly calmed down, suddenly asking, “Mudan Street’s Yan Zu, your technique is pretty good!”
“How is it? Does it feel comfortable to touch?”
“That’s a definite yes! With your figure, it’s so… Wait, what did you just call me?” Lu Yibei gasped, opening her eyes to see Jiang Li’s darkened expression, her pupils contracting.
In Jiang Li’s icy gaze, Lu Yibei saw…
“Oh? Since it feels so comfortable, do you want to touch a little longer? [Heart emoji]”
Lu Yibei, “…”
d*mn, reading words and emojis from her gaze, and feeling the sense of hidden daggers and fishing law enforcement, what on earth is this!?
