0090: [...]
It must have been bewitched just now to think that Li Yuheng had any profound thoughts.
…
Shu Bai's small figure walked through the dark corridor and arrived at a secret room in the deepest part of the castle.
Madam Bai was elegantly sipping her black tea when she saw him enter, and her red lips under her mask curled up slightly.
"Little Bai Bai~" She put down her teacup, her voice so sweet it seemed to drip with honey, "You miss your sister so soon?"
Shu Bai walked up to her expressionlessly, waved his hand, and black mist instantly enveloped the entire room, blocking out all possible prying eyes.
"Why not kill him?" His voice was icy cold, creating an eerie contrast with his youthful appearance.
Madam Bai blinked: "Kill who? That handsome guy who's holding you?"
"He's not a player."
"Oh?" Madam Bai rested her chin on her hand with interest. "Then who is he?"
Shu Bai stared at her coldly: "Variable."
"Unexpected changes..." Madam Bai suddenly chuckled, her fan swirling open. "I thought it was your little boyfriend~"
"...Are you looking for death?"
"Oh, don't be angry." Madam Bai calmly fanned herself. "I just think... the way he holds you is quite harmonious."
“Harmony?” Shu Bai’s voice was filled with suppressed anger. “He’s someone who suddenly appeared, and he can’t be killed.”
Madam Bai paused, her fan still. "What do you mean?"
“I killed him ten times on the plane. Each time he came back to life and retained his memories.”
Madam Bai's expression finally turned serious beneath her mask: "You mean... he, like us, won't have his memories erased?"
Shu Bai paused for a moment, then said, "It's different. We are dungeon bosses, he is... unknown."
The room fell silent for a moment, with only the occasional soft crackling of the flames in the fireplace.
“Interesting…” Madam Bai suddenly laughed, “After all these years, a real variable has finally appeared.”
She leaned closer to Shu Bai, her voice extremely low: "Little Bai, aren't you curious? What if he really could break the cycle..."
Shu Bai suddenly looked up, a strange light flashing in his dark eyes.
"You want to use him?"
“It’s mutually beneficial, isn’t it?” Madam Bai straightened up, gently waving her fan. “Anyway, you can’t kill him, let alone me. How about… we cooperate?”
A cold smile, incongruous with her age, appeared on her pale face: "Cooperate? Let him continue to pester me?"
"Pfft—" Madam Bai couldn't help but chuckle, "Aren't you quite adorable like this? What's wrong with letting someone pester you?"
A black mist suddenly rushed towards Madam Bai, but she nimbly dodged it to the side, snapping her fan shut.
"Okay, okay, I won't tease you anymore." She raised her hands in surrender. "Seriously speaking, I think he might be the opportunity we've been waiting for."
Shu Bai withdrew the black mist, his eyes shifting between light and shadow.
What are your thoughts?
Madam Bai smiled mysteriously: "Let nature take its course. Since he's so... uh, so 'enthusiastic' towards you, why not just let him continue following you?"
Her pale face instantly darkened.
"Don't rush to refuse," Madam Bai said seriously. "Think about it, if he can truly break the cycle, what is this sacrifice?"
"Sacrifice?" Shu Bai sneered. "You call this a sacrifice?"
"Oh, it's just getting hugged by a handsome guy~" Madam Bai resumed her nonchalant tone, "So many people would love to do that!"
Shu Bai turned and left.
"Wait!" Madam Bai called out to him, "What are you planning to do with the second dungeon? Let him clear it?"
Shu Bai didn't even turn his head: "I'll handle it."
"Little Bai Bai~" Madam Bai suddenly raised her voice, "Would you like your older sister to teach you a few tricks for dealing with men?"
Her answer was a door slamming shut.
Madam Bai shook her head, picked up her teacup again, and a meaningful smile appeared on her lips beneath the mask.
"How interesting..."
However, before she could finish speaking, the door was pushed open again.
Shu Bai stood at the door, glanced at her expressionlessly, and said coldly, "Don't ask me such stupid questions next time."
"...?"
Madam Bai was startled and before she could react, the door slammed shut again, leaving her sitting alone in the same spot.
She suddenly remembered something and chuckled softly.
"How many times has this happened? Every time it's the same question..." She tapped the rim of her glass lightly with her fingertips, her tone teasing. "Why are you shy this time?"
But no one answered her.
Madam Bai gently swirled her teacup, the black tea creating ripples in the bone china.
She gazed at the flickering flames in the fireplace, her thoughts drifting back to that blood-red hall from long ago.
At that time, she was just an ordinary player, standing nervously in the Crimson Hall like everyone else, listening to Westwind explain the rules of the game.
However, she didn't hear a word Xifeng was saying at the time.
Because that brooding, handsome guy was just right for her taste.
Her dull, gray-blue eyes, her lifeless expression, and that "I don't want to go to work" attitude were exactly what she was looking for.
Just as she was captivated by his good looks, her clothes were suddenly tugged, and a little boy appeared silently beside her.
"Do you want to be the first dungeon boss?" The little boy's voice was colder than human.
She chuckled, squatted down, and pinched the little boy's cheek: "Little one, you've been watching too many cartoons, haven't you?"
The little boy let her pinch his cheeks expressionlessly, his dark eyes staring straight at her: "Answer me."
"Okay, okay~" She treated it like children playing house and casually coaxed, "Of course I want to! Being a boss is so cool, you can do whatever you want~"
She thought it was just a joke.
It wasn't until the first copy began that the little boy took her hand in the dark.
“Remember your choice,” he said.
The next second, she had a dinner knife in her hand, and the little boy, holding her hand, stabbed it hard into the chest of the first dungeon boss, "Lady White".
Blood splattered on her face, warm and sticky.
“From today onwards, you are Mrs. Bai.” The little boy’s voice rang in her ears. “Remember, this is your own choice.”
When she came to her senses, she found herself wearing the "White Lady's" gorgeous dress, a silver mask on her face, and holding a blood-stained silver knife in her hand.
And on the ground lay "her corpse".
…
Who would have thought that a casual reply would turn her into a dungeon boss?
She later learned that all players who died in the game would be reborn in the next round, but their memories would be completely erased.
Only dungeon bosses and game guides retain memories.
She, too, was once a player, struggling unknowingly in this cycle of reincarnation, dying and being reborn, dying and being reborn again, endlessly repeating the cycle.
Until... the appearance of Shubai.
Madam Bai sighed softly, pulling her thoughts back to reality.
She put down her teacup, her fingertips gently stroking the edge of the mask. After hesitating for a moment, she slowly removed the exquisite silver mask.
Beneath the mask was a face covered in hideous scars.
The scars, varying in depth, resembled marks from repeated cuts and healings inflicted by a sharp weapon, almost completely obscuring her once beautiful face.
She walked to the dressing table, looked at her terrifying reflection in the mirror, and a bitter smile appeared on her lips.
"Tan Wantang..." she murmured her name, her fingertips touching the mirror, "27 years old, likes black tea and roses, hates rainy days..."
This is a task she must do every day.
Remind yourself who you are.
In this endless cycle, memory is the easiest thing to be distorted.
She didn't want to lose herself and ultimately become nothing more than a part of the game.
So she used the most extreme method to carve her name and identity on her face.
"She used to be a piano teacher... now she's the first dungeon boss, Lady White."
The woman in the mirror gradually hardened her gaze.
“I am not an NPC, not data, I am Tan Wantang.”
She took a deep breath, put her mask back on, and turned to walk towards the window.
Outside the window, the blood-red moonlight enveloped the castle, and the roses in the garden swayed in the night, as if silently telling a story.
“Uncertainties…” she murmured to herself, “I really hope this time… will be different.”
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