056. Dressed Like a Lady All Day? [Extra Update]
==============================
As soon as Lin Nan got out of bed, he regretted it.
Sure, his moral compass had taken a nosedive over the past month, and he had been pushing the boundaries of decency with each challenge. But even so, he couldn’t bring himself to do anything too outrageous.
In a moment of impulsive confidence, he crawled out of bed, ready to take action. But as soon as he set foot on the floor and caught sight of the bewildered Chen Yao, his adrenaline fizzled out like a soda left open too long.
Forget it.
What if, even after unlocking the magic, he still had his little buddy down there? Would he still be considered a man? And what if, in the future, there was a way to go back to his original self? Wouldn’t he just be digging his own grave?
With an awkward shuffle, he returned to his seat, pretending to pour himself another glass of water, as if he hadn’t quenched his thirst yet.
Plus, he had already tried all the magical unlocking methods he could stomach: cross-dressing, a cheek peck on a guy, being cuddled for twenty minutes… Though those made him blush, they were just minor nudges at his boundaries. But the next magic was a whole different ball game.
Chen Yao, on the other hand, felt that strange shiver fade away. Looking around in confusion, he couldn’t pinpoint the source of the chill running down his spine.
Peeking at Lin Nan from the balcony, he noticed Lin Nan’s pallor had shifted from ghostly pale, thanks to his stomach ache, to a delightful blush that made him look almost cute. The dark circles under his eyes were getting a tad puffy too.
If viewed from the front, Lin Nan’s face had some masculine features due to various reasons, but at the end of the day, it was still an oval face. Viewed from the side, lit by the light, half his face could easily be mistaken for that of a female star.
After pondering for a moment, Chen Yao finally asserted, “You look like that Japanese… Saito Asuka?”
“What?” Lin Nan turned back in confusion at Chen Yao’s mumblings.
Unfortunately, his side profile had now turned into a full-frontal view, and the flaws in his facial structure suddenly became apparent. Just moments ago, Chen Yao thought Lin Nan was as pretty as a celebrity; now it seemed his face was merely a smidge on the feminine side.
“Nothing,” Chen Yao said, still pretending to be angry as he looked down and took a puff of his cigarette.
Lin Nan feared the smoke would waft into the room and disgustedly slammed the back door shut.
The insulation work had been decent these past few days, and with the help of his temperature-regulating magic, Lin Nan’s stomach pain felt less severe, or maybe he was just getting used to it.
One hand cradled a heat pad over his belly while the other held a cup of hot water. Sitting at his computer, Lin Nan found himself doing nothing, but the pain made him squint in discomfort.
After about ten minutes, Chen Yao walked back in, reeking of smoke.
Lin Nan turned to him, noting this guy seemed to have calmed down.
“I can’t be bothered with your thoughts,” Chen Yao crossed his arms, standing behind Lin Nan with a sigh. “But if you get into trouble, remember to tell me. At least saying it out loud will lighten the load.”
Initially, Chen Yao planned to adopt the tough-love approach, insisting Lin Nan get diagnosed and resolve this issue once and for all, since gender was no joke. But when he saw Lin Nan’s reddened eyes, his heart softened.
“Talk to your family during the New Year,” he concluded, reckoning that if Lin Nan had endured like this for eighteen years, what was a few more months?
“Yeah,” Lin Nan replied apathetically.
Chen Yao couldn’t help but grind his teeth in frustration. It was Lin Nan’s own problem, yet he had to be the one to worry and nudge him forward—it felt like the emperor was calm while the eunuchs panicked!
With a roll of his eyes, he headed back to his seat. “Let’s duo queue!”
“Can’t play, my stomach hurts…”
“Never knew you had such troubles before.”
Chen Yao remained skeptical about whether Lin Nan’s stomach pain was related to “Aunt Flo,” considering who gets their period at eighteen? Lin Nan had identical thoughts at the back of his mind.
But there was someone who could verify.
Grabbing his phone, Lin Nan opened WeChat and found a girl he had added during a previous gathering, courtesy of Tu Junhui.
Although they’d never chatted before, Lin Nan guessed it should be Li Na.
“Li Na, I need to see you. Come to my dorm.”
“OK!”
Since he knew Li Na was from another world, Lin Nan always found it strangely amusing how she communicated in English.
After their arrangements, he shut his laptop, grabbed his phone, and hurried out the door. Just then, Chen Yao, who had returned to his seat, turned around in confusion and asked, “Aren’t you in pain?”
“Emergency,” Lin Nan replied, just as a sudden, sharper pain hit his lower belly, startling him into stopping in his tracks while cautiously clutching his stomach.
“Why not let me go?” Chen Yao, seeing Lin Nan’s delicate demeanor akin to a fragile flower, chuckled, “Don’t be stubborn, you look ridiculous.”
“Seriously, I just need to meet someone.”
“Can I come too?”
Better to keep the magic business under wraps.
Lin Nan shook his head, slowly opening the front door and stepping out of the dorm.
Chen Yao looked puzzled. He had considered himself one of the closest people to Lin Nan over the years, but after the National Day holiday, he realized this guy might be harboring some big secret.
As Lin Nan stepped outside, he spotted Li Na waiting for him downstairs.
“Where have you been these past few days?”
Before Lin Nan could even blink, Li Na launched into a barrage of questions, scolding him like a wife chastising her late husband.
Lin Nan was completely bewildered, not sure where all of Li Na’s energy was coming from, but he didn’t have the luxury of worrying. He needed something from her.
“Can you help me check something out?” Lin Nan found a flowerbed to sit on, looking up at Li Na who stood in front of him. “My stomach’s been hurting these days. It can’t be your magic, can it?”
“Must be Aunt Flo visiting,” Li Na crossed her arms, looking annoyed. “I told you ages ago.”
Once Lin Nan confirmed his suspicions, he nodded thoughtfully and then asked, “Will it affect my body?”
“You need a Purification Magic to clear out the residual bad bl**d in your body,” Li Na plopped down next to Lin Nan, tilting her head as she looked at him. “At least you thought to ask me. Otherwise, you’d be on the brink of keeling over in no time.”
Lin Nan was taken aback; he hadn’t expected to need magic for this.
He recalled Lilith’s wisdom and quickly identified the magic Li Na mentioned.
In the world of magic, Aunt Flo had little impact on Lilith. With a monthly dose of Purification Magic, she’d avoid any bleeding while her good constitution meant that for Lilith, it simply translated to a few days of elevated emotions every month.
It seemed like sanitary products would go out of business in that world within three days.
The name of the magic was simple enough: Purification.
However, while the unlocking conditions for previous spells involved a lot of very personal trial and error for Lin Nan, this one broke all his limits like a wrecking ball, making it completely unacceptable.
“Dressed like a lady all day?”
Finally calm and no longer in the mind of “whatever,” Lin Nan realized he still had to resort to magic…
