Chapter 35: I Bet with You!
Luxianbei stared blankly at Jiang Li, with both hands suspended in mid-air, not knowing where to place them for a moment.
“……”
She clearly didn’t recognize me at all at first, so how did she suddenly become so certain of my identity?
It can’t be that some strange switch was triggered when I gave her a massage, right?
There must be something fishy about this…
Just as Luxianbei was lost in thought, Jiang Li sat up, using one hand to hold the bath towel against her chest, revealing her swan-like long neck and exquisitely delicate collarbone.
She glanced at Luxianbei with her eyes slanted, calmly saying, “Have you looked enough? If you’ve seen enough, turn around; I’ll change clothes and slowly chat with you.”
“Uh… okay…” Luxianbei stammered, obeying Jiang Li’s instruction and turning around. Almost immediately, she heard the sound of fabric softly rustling behind her.
That slight rustling was faint, yet it was like a devil’s whisper, each sound tugging at Luxianbei’s nerves.
“Don’t peek…” Jiang Li reminded her at the right moment, her tone carrying a hint of warning.
“What do you take me for? How could I peek? Even if I wanted to, I’d do it openly.” Luxianbei declared proudly.
In a state of urban legend transformation, saying such things felt empowering!
“…” Jiang Li slightly parted her lips, shaking her head ambiguously.
However…
There’s a term in psychology called the forbidden fruit effect: the more something is prohibited, the more people want to try it.
Driven by this psychological effect, Luxianbei secretly turned her head, stealing a glance behind her, and then she saw the black sun totem tattoo on Jiang Li’s smooth, fair back.
The moment her vision swept over that tattoo, a sudden, intense pain shot through her brain.
Her eyes felt as if something was burning them, the pain unbearable, yet Luxianbei couldn’t help but want to stare at that tattoo.
The tattoo seemed to be calling out to her, urging her to see its form clearly and imprint its shape in her mind.
That tattoo contained a bizarre power!
It drew one into a certain hidden temptation, making it impossible to extricate oneself.
Immediately after, she saw a dilapidated passenger bus quietly lying in the pouring rain.
The rain curtain connected the heavens and the earth, the flames on the bus being extinguished repeatedly by the rain, yet keep reigniting.
In the night, the peaks resembled silent, dark giants; through the pale mist in the mountains, a twisted, eerie, colossal figure, resembling a mountain, could be seen drawing closer.
That figure, seemingly walking out of a nightmare, didn’t appear human, yet it struck one as terrifyingly perfect.
Perfect to the point of fear!
Screaming.
High-pitched screams erupted, as if many were suffering torment.
All survivors from that horrific accident, whether human or urban legend, were cowed by the imposing figure, screaming in terror and fleeing in all directions.
However, amidst this chaos, there was one figure moving against the crowd, gradually approaching the massive figure.
Strong and brilliant light gathered between his hands, looking like a spell formula, yet far more chilling than any Luxianbei had ever seen.
The light of that spell was too bright, too brutal.
And the figure illuminated by such light appeared as if a deity had descended.
The scene Luxianbei was seeing abruptly stopped, as if a powerful and bizarre force was forcefully pulling at her consciousness, extracting that memory away.
For a moment, her brain seemed to short-circuit, stopping its function, with a buzzing sound in her ears.
Just as her consciousness began to grow hazy, the voice of the proxy player sister suddenly rang in her ears.
“If you ever get the chance to see Jiang Li n*ked, be sure to pay attention to her chest, abdomen, and back; take a look for any special marks or symbols.”
“……”
“If Jiang Li really does anything harmful to you, you must, no… I implore you, don’t k*ll Jiang Li.”
“……”
“If possible, take Jiang Li away too…”
These were the words the proxy player sister had said when they met in a dream.
At the time, Luxianbei had no idea what the proxy player sister meant by those words, thinking it was a kind of dark humor, not taking it too seriously.
After all, she thought she might never have a chance to see Jiang Li n*ked in her life.
Was this what the proxy player sister meant?
So her superior indeed had an unmentionable connection with the Solar Eclipse Society?
Though somewhat surprised, it wasn’t a big deal… At worst, it was nothing…
Luxianbei thought, as her vision blacked out, stumbling a few steps before slamming against the wall with a “bang!” and softly sliding down to the ground.
Hearing the commotion behind her, Jiang Li abruptly turned around and, upon seeing Luxianbei’s appearance, her lips twitched uncontrollably.
There was Luxianbei leaning against the wall, her big eyes wide open, bl**d trickling from her eyes and nostrils, slowly flowing down.
Luxianbei really didn’t peek, but it seemed she genuinely looked openly, and then ended up with bl**d leaking from all seven orifices?
Had she been too excited, or was it…
Was it that I have a husband-killing appearance or something?
Jiang Li tilted her head in confusion and quickly put on her clothes, stepping forward to check Luxianbei’s breath and carotid pulse. Upon confirming that Luxianbei’s vital signs were fairly normal, she breathed a sigh of relief, bent down, and picked her up gently, placing her on the massage table.
At that moment, the doorbell to the break room suddenly rang, followed by the voice of a bunny girl from a little devil statue in front of the sauna room.
“Hello, Miss Jiali, I’m Xiang He; the service you booked is ready. May I come in now?”
“……” Jiang Li glanced at Luxianbei, who was unconscious and in visibly poor condition on the massage table, rubbed her slightly swollen temples, and calmly said, “You can come in; I’m in the sauna room.”
As soon as her voice fell, the door to the break room opened with a “click,” and a tall bunny girl, pushing a finely crafted silver-laden cart, walked in and paused at the doorway of the sauna room.
“Miss Jiali, shall we begin now?”
The bunny girl, who received a dress from Jiang Li, appeared particularly enthusiastic.
“No need, you can take care of her.” Jiang Li said indifferently.
While speaking, she pointed to the massage table in the sauna room, at which point the bunny girl noticed a “colleague” lying on the table.
“Okay, Miss Jiali.”
The bunny girl responded and pushed the cart into the sauna room, coming to the side of the massage table. Upon seeing Luxianbei, who was leaking bl**d from all seven orifices, her expression instantly went out of control.
What on earth? What happened? Is she still alive? How did it end up like this? What should I do?
With a head full of question marks, the bunny girl trembled and turned around, her gaze crossing the main hall of the break room toward Jiang Li, who was resting on the sofa, looking panicked.
Noticing the bunny girl’s gaze, Jiang Li raised her head and tilted it slightly, “What’s wrong? Is there an issue?”
“N-no problem!” the bunny girl stammered.
“If there’s no problem, then go ahead and take care of her, okay?” Jiang Li said, casually picking up a magazine from the coffee table and flipping through it.
The bunny girl retracted her gaze, turning back to Luxianbei on the massage table, gulping hard, and slowly extending her hands.
She had long heard that some guests have deviant fetishes and enjoy torturing bunny girls; could it be that Miss Jiali…
Forget it, forget it; I can’t dare to speak more about this, nor can I ask too many questions—I should just finish my work and run away as soon as possible, the bunny girl thought anxiously.
————
After an indeterminate amount of time, Luxianbei woke up to find herself lying on a soft bed.
Opening her eyes to the antique ceiling, her head felt hazy; the beaded curtain swayed, and there were some afterimages, as if she had just recovered from blindness.
“Miaomiao Sauce? Leader? Jiang Li?”
Luxianbei called out a few times, but no one responded.
“Strange, where did everyone go?”
Muttering to herself, her mind suddenly flashed back to the vision she saw when focusing on Jiang Li’s tattoo, and another wave of pain struck her brain, making her expression grow serious.
The burning passenger bus in the vision was unmistakably the one she had been on during her accident.
She recognized the panicked fleeing spiritual ability users and urban legends; she had memorized their faces while going through the list provided by the urban legends chat group earlier.
And that divine-like silhouette, although she recognized it as her father, felt simultaneously familiar yet foreign.
After all, in her perception, her father was still an unsuccessful writer and an excellent chef. While she later learned he might be a fairly competent spiritual ability user, he was nowhere near that level of strength.
That type of spell formula… without an A+ or even higher spirit energy fluctuation level, it probably couldn’t be executed, right?
What was that gigantic, giant-like presence?
According to the information gathered in the urban legends chat group, her father was killed by a group of spiritual ability users and urban legends, but if the vision she just saw, like the previous ones, was a projection of something that actually occurred, it was clear that her father’s opponent was an even more terrifying presence.
Those who she thought were the culprits, the spiritual ability users and urban legends, fled like startled sheep before that existence.
Luxianbei slightly reflected and pondered the vision that appeared after she saw Jiang Li’s tattoo, suddenly feeling an incredibly surreal and utterly helpless sense.
If the targets for revenge were just a few super-powerful top-tier spiritual ability users and urban legends, she believed she could think of a way to k*ll them in a short time.
However, if the target became a terrifying existence akin to calamity, she wouldn’t know how long it would take to seek revenge; it would be long enough to frustrate her.
A target reachable by tiptoeing or jumping is a goal, but an unreachable one high above will only cause one to lose motivation.
This wasn’t her old habit of cowardice resurfacing; she really longed, very longed, to avenge her father, truly missing him.
But if she died, that would probably truly mean the end.
“d*mn it… this mess is ruining my character’s image, making me look like a tortured soul!”
Luxianbei grumbled, forcibly pulling herself out of that low state, and then recalled the words from the proxy player sister before she fainted, a playful smirk appearing on her brow.
The proxy player sister must be worried that I might mistake my superior for a member of the Solar Eclipse Society just because of her tattoo and deal with her as one of my father’s enemies, that’s why she said that, right?
But I’m not her, not an idiot!
Wouldn’t I ask directly? Luxianbei thought.
Just as she was thinking this, Jiang Li’s voice came from behind her.
“Awake? Then let’s talk?”
Luxianbei stiffened momentarily, turning to Jiang Li, and sat up straight, “Uh, okay, let’s talk…”
Jiang Li slightly nodded, sitting down opposite Luxianbei.
“Shall I go first?” both spoke in unison.
“……”
After a brief silence, they again spoke in unison, “Then you go first…”
“……”
【Are you going first or am I?】 Luxianbei shot Jiang Li a glance.
【Either is fine, but I have many questions for you, and you must have many questions for me too. How about we have an honest session? A Q&A doesn’t sound bad, does it?】 Jiang Li responded with her eyes.
【No objections, then it’s settled! I’ll go first!】
【Mhm mhm [heart emoji]】
The two exchanged silent glances, communicating with their eyes about the speaking order. After confirming, Luxianbei shrugged her shoulders and posed her question.
“That tattoo on your back is…” Luxianbei began, her gaze drifting to Jiang Li’s back.
Jiang Li cast a sidelong glance at her back, then calmly looked back at Luxianbei, “You saw it, right? I was once kidnapped by the Solar Eclipse Society as a test subject when I was young; later, thankfully, I was rescued.”
Luxianbei nodded, indicating she understood the origin of Jiang Li’s black sun totem.
See, wasn’t that easy to figure out?
If one doesn’t ask and the other doesn’t respond, with no trust, it would form a vicious cycle, leading to growing distance… Isn’t this a plot only found in melodramatic youth fiction?!
Of course, based on the proxy player sister’s repeated behaviors, Luxianbei speculated that things might not be so simple, and there was a high possibility they would still clash for other reasons in the future.
But at least now, it had a good start. Luxianbei thought carelessly, throwing in a sarcastic remark, “You must be very grateful to that person who saved you, huh? Didn’t you offer yourself in return or anything?”
“I did,” Jiang Li said flatly.
“……” Luxianbei felt an inexplicable tightness in her chest.
“However, I couldn’t find him afterward; I was stood up,” Jiang Li replied nonchalantly, as if discussing something trivial like an order gone wrong.
Yet for some reason, Luxianbei felt Jiang Li had been staring deeply into her eyes when speaking, almost as if waiting for something.
After a long while, seeing Luxianbei didn’t react, Jiang Li sighed silently, “Your first question is over; now it’s my turn, right?”
Luxianbei shrugged her shoulders, “Feel free to ask.”
“Very well.” Jiang Li nodded slightly and fixed her gaze on Luxianbei’s eyes, “Then, I want to ask, did your father ever mention an arranged marriage to you when you were young?”
“Of course, more than once!” Luxianbei replied somewhat proudly. “He always told me I had a fiancée who was incredibly cute and had a very docile character…”
At this point, as she looked towards Jiang Li, she suddenly found her gaze avoiding her again.
Jiang Li furrowed her brow, appearing distracted as she glanced around.
It seemed she had long since noticed something shortly after entering the Siye Society, yet if that were the case, why hadn’t she identified herself to me? What was she waiting for?
As Jiang Li contemplated, the moment of pause for Luxianbei was over, and she continued speaking.
“However, I always felt that arranged marriages were unreliable; which family still engages in that nowadays?”
“So I decided at a young age that when I met my fiancée, I would spend some time with her first. If I felt it was right, then we could discuss the next steps.”
“If she wasn’t willing, I couldn’t force her, right?”
So that’s why? Jiang Li nodded thoughtfully.
Seeing Jiang Li nod, Luxianbei felt she had acknowledged her thoughts, “Then it’s my turn? I want to ask… Are you about to d*e?”
“……” Jiang Li hesitated but nodded, “Hmm, soon, or I might not if I can win.”
“I know; I heard from Ahua.” Luxianbei pouted. “You’re gambling against the big boss of the Entertainment City, right? Wanting to beat him to shut down that city, am I right?”
“You’ve met Ahua? That explains it. I was puzzled about how she came to the third floor,” Jiang Li nodded.
“You’re really a fool!”
How could an A-Class Spiritual Ability User possibly win against an ancient destroyer?
They can play a few tricks, and you wouldn’t know how you died. Luxianbei thought.
Suddenly hearing Luxianbei use a curse word, Jiang Li looked up, saw the anger in her eyes, froze for a moment, then turned her head away like a child who committed a wrong.
“It really is quite foolish, but it’s something I must accomplish alone…”
After all, it’s just the hatred left behind by my father; how can I drag Ahua and Luxianbei into this?
However, before the final gamble, finding my betrothed is indeed a joyous thing! Jiang Li thought happily.
“Not anymore!” Luxianbei said seriously. “Now this is our matter!”
Jiang Li fell silent, watching Luxianbei’s profile, her heart racing.
“Actually… we haven’t… you don’t need to…”
“Not yet to that extent?” Luxianbei frowned, displeased. “Saying that really hurts.”
I clearly have already considered you a good friend; why do you treat me like an outsider… Luxianbei added in her heart.
“I’ll tell you, Liu Banxian is exceptionally accurate with such matters; he said you’re going to d*e, and if you go this time, it probably will be a one-way trip. I can’t watch you d*e in vain.” Luxianbei slammed her hand on the table.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Li’s heart felt as if it had been struck by something, beating more violently, and she sensed her body—no, her whole world was quivering, disorienting her.
When faced with a crisis, which girl hasn’t fantasized about having a prince charming swoop down from the heavens and resolve everything decisively?
Even a girl like Jiang Li, who could slay urban legends and calmly play mahjong in a pool of their bl**d, had her fantasies too.
“Besides, this isn’t just for you; it’s also for myself, for all the urban legends and spiritual ability users in Huacheng. This is a noble cause benefiting all of Huacheng!” Luxianbei declared passionately.
“You don’t know; those outside urban legends constantly infiltrate Huacheng through the giant-train, causing chaos. I’m almost fed up with it!”
Jiang Li, “…”
She thought the prince she had been longing for had arrived, but instead, it was a high monk from the East Tang Dynasty who jumped down…
“You have to agree, or I’ll bet with you, win all your chips, and prevent you from going to Nowhere Land!” Luxianbei said.
“Fine!” Jiang Li replied.
“Ah? Fine what?” Luxianbei was taken aback, focusing on her, slightly stunned.
At this moment, Jiang Li lifted her chin slightly, arms crossed over her chest, giving her a glance that seemed to declare her d*ath sentence, coldly saying, “I said, I bet with you!”
Luxianbei, “……”
d*mn, what the hell is this? Wasn’t everything fine just now?
How did this woman turn against me faster than flipping a page in a book?
What step went wrong?
