Chapter 134: The Heavenly Secret Returns
A young man's heart yearns for answers in the night, but words fail him, and tears flow in vain. His deepest sorrow has nowhere to go; as night falls, the tower stands empty, bathed in the sunlight.
When Xie Huailing woke up again, she was alone in the bedroom. The bed on the left was empty. The real owner of the house had long since disappeared.
Where he went didn't really matter to her, as long as he didn't die at an inopportune time, that was all she should think. But then, unrelatedly, she recalled the dilapidated temple, and some things from even further back in her memory, things she shouldn't have remembered long ago, floated up again. Xie Huailing stared at the empty left side, and after about two or three seconds, she looked away.
She got up. Staying in the house for another day was impossible; she didn't have that much time. After a maid helped her with a quick wash and toilette, she needed to go back immediately to see Bai Feifei again, discuss the details of her disguise with Shen Lang, and perhaps ask him how he had explained things to Zhu Qiqi. Busy, constantly busy—even her leisure time spent watching flowers and playing with birds was almost covered in cobwebs; when she was truly busy, she was like a spinning top.
Even if Xie Huailing were to compete with Su Mengzhen to see who is busier, the outcome would be uncertain.
Before leaving, however, she asked one more question to the maidservant who was serving her, "Have you seen the young master? What did he go about?"
The maid dared not raise her head, but fortunately her voice was not timid and could be heard clearly: "Replying to the young mistress, the young master got up at Chenshi (7-9 AM) and then went to attend to the matters that the mistress had instructed."
So they went to make masks. Xie Huailing nodded to herself, having already guessed it; some people probably hadn't slept all night. But asking further would only make him smug, so Xie Huailing didn't say anything more. After instructing the maid to tell Wang Yunmeng that she was leaving, she took Shaman and left the house.
After returning to the courtyard where she was staying, Xie Huailing's first action was to go find Bai Feifei.
The girl, who had just finished a fierce battle, was in her room. Although she was ostensibly Xie Huailing's maid, Xie Huailing did not treat Bai Feifei like a maid. Instead, he found an excuse to give her a separate room, just like himself. This made it easier for Bai Feifei to do many things that needed to be done discreetly, such as what she was doing now: changing her dressing.
"Did I disturb you?" Xie Huailing had just opened the door when she saw this and was about to leave again.
Crimson blood trickled from between her fingers. After the white bandage wrapped around half her arm was removed, the mottled and gruesome wound was revealed. It was undeniably ugly, even appearing to conjure up a false sense of pain, as if a closer look would reveal the raw flesh and the stark white bone. Yet, the person with this wound seemed completely unaffected. She appeared to feel no pain at all, or perhaps she felt ashamed to cry out in pain, uttering not a single groan.
Upon hearing Xie Huailing's words, she finally reacted. Her hands continued moving, and her expression remained unchanged. She said, "If you disturb me, I won't let you in."
Is it serious?
"Minor injury."
Minor injuries, everything is minor. Who knows, there might be more wounds like this than just this one. But having already won, getting Bai Feifei to admit her true injuries would be harder than climbing to heaven, especially in front of Xie Huailing. She would only say, "I had your subordinates send the head over. This injury is nothing, it won't delay the plan, everything will proceed as usual."
With her so resolute attitude, what could Xie Huailing say? She was well aware of how important killing Chai Yuguan was to Bai Feifei.
So she stopped paying attention to her injury and instead looked at her still somewhat pale face, like the white edges of a fine piece of jade after it has been chipped. She suddenly said, "Be careful of Wang Yunmeng."
Bai Feifei rolled her eyes and asked, puzzled, "What's wrong with her? Is she planning to make her move ahead of schedule?"
"No." Xie Huailing shook her head and said, "She pays close attention to you. She even asked about you yesterday, asking if the person who was going to be sent to his death was my subordinate surnamed Bai. I said no, and you don't have the surname Bai, but Huai."
She then spoke a few more words, exchanging statements with Bai Feifei. The instant she heard her surname, Bai Feifei looked away, her gaze drifting to somewhere before flashing back, her expression becoming even more obscure. Xie Huailing thus understood even more clearly that this was most likely another entanglement related to Chai Yuguan.
"If she does anything, don't interfere." After saying that, Bai Feifei seemed to realize it was too harsh, so she changed her words and softened her tone, "Don't get involved. It's none of your business. There's no need to worry. At a time like this, even if she finds out, what can she do to me?"
Bai Feifei didn't say anything more; she had her own little room in her heart. A little earlier, on that snowy day at the Golden Wind and Drizzle Pavilion, lying side by side, talking to each other, Xie Huailing heard her say that the future story would only begin after Chai Yuguan's death, and that the room's doors would only open on the day Chai Yuguan died.
Before this, given the opportunity, she might have confided in Xie Huailing. But as their relationship grew closer, Xie Huailing became the one she absolutely refused to talk to, no matter what.
Xie Huailing sighed softly, almost inaudibly, and replied, "I understand. Do you need my help changing your dressing?"
This is just picking a fight. Bai Feifei glared at her and said, "Stop causing trouble and go away."
.
Before they could exchange more than a few words, Shaman came and dragged Xie Huailing away again, taking her straight to the reception room. Although there were no guests, there was a mountain of documents. She didn't need to read them, but she had to listen to them.
Shaman's throat was dry from talking, and Xie Huailing, rubbing her temples, finished tidying up before dark. There were still about fifteen or fifteen minutes before Shen Lang and Zhu Qiqi returned, and the human skin mask hadn't arrived yet. It was a rare moment of free time, so Xie Huailing told Shaman she needed to rest for a while and not to come to her bedroom. Shaman had seen how hard she had worked lately, and compared to her usual laziness, she had been worried about Xie Huailing's condition. Seeing that she wanted to rest, she naturally agreed without hesitation.
Xie Huailing was able to return to her room alone. Her thoughts drifted and wandered. She thought she should take a nap first, so that she could at least feel better.
However, fate is unpredictable. After she returned to her bedroom and sat on the bed, she heard something making a random, erratic noise coming from the suitcase where she had put her luggage. It seemed to be just frantically and futilely bumping around.
It was a small wooden box, about half the height of a child, too big for anyone to fit inside, so Xie Huailing wasn't worried about what was inside. Besides, she knew what was inside; only one thing could make such a noise.
No, it's not a thing; she didn't really want to treat it as a thing.
Xie Huailing lay back softly, letting the thing bounce inside the wooden box for a long time, the sound rising and falling, continuous and incessant, like the waist drum of Ansai; until it was weak and exhausted, like a person about to die. Only then did she pull up the bed curtains, get up, and walk lightly to the wooden box.
Honestly, I didn't want to see it at all. Thinking this, Xie Huailing still opened the box, and then opened the small wooden box at the bottom.
The black mechanical cube, unseen for half a year, hadn't even had a single layer of paint peel off; it was so shiny it could reflect a mirror. The dark screen and soft glow remained unchanged, and thanks to Xie Huailing's outstanding personal abilities, the battery indicator in the upper left corner was still at 100%. However, Xie Huailing's six months of sleeping at the bottom of the box had tempered its temperament considerably. For example, this time, after causing a ruckus, it didn't dare to type a single word, and its voice was completely hidden, as if it regretted its antics immediately.
Xie Huailing lifted it out with two fingers. Her disdain was always palpable, and now it was even more intense: "Haven't you ever taken a customer service class? Let me speak first?"
The system, which didn't actually exist, trembled. The cursor jumped nervously twice, but ultimately, fear overcame it, and it quickly typed out a line: 【...Hello, host. It's been half a year since we last met. Is there anything I can help you with?】
"I have no intention of using it as a decorative vase." After saying that, Xie Huailing put it back into the box.
The system, already worn down by confinement and devoid of any temper, had no intention of resisting. But this time, it truly had something to say. It struggled in her palm like an eel thrown into a hot pan, fearing its host would lose her temper again. While struggling, it flashed its words with a dying-looking intensity: 【…Host, this time I can truly help you! I've loaded a brand new module, made it compatible with other systems' functions, and expanded the shop. Please grant me access, and I can show you!】
Here's the thing: after signing the contract and being thoroughly criticized for her handwriting, Xie Huailing decided to shut down her mental access based on the principle of "out of sight, out of mind." This is why the system can only attract her attention by making a sound.
She didn't want to believe a word it said, but she figured she could wait and see. If it was useless this time, she would throw it into Tianquan Lake when she returned to Bianjing, since it wouldn't get wet anyway.
The system felt a chill run down its spine and fell silent.
Even after Xie Huailing granted it access, it didn't dare to speak. Instead, it tried to win Xie Huailing's sympathy by acting cute. It selected an adorable cat head as its cursor to guide Xie Huailing to the highlighted shopping mall area in its mind.
The system, eager to prove itself, rattled off: "[Host, since you bound yourself to the system, your task completion efficiency has consistently ranked among the top, and you've consistently been number one among all similar task performers. This section shows all the points you've accumulated, totaling 10,560 points. You can use these to purchase items in the shop and exchange them for services from me.]"
Xie Huailing then asked, "What services do you offer?"
System: [Beauty, health, and skincare...wait, please don't close this, I haven't finished! Please check out the shop first, I've really updated it with many useful items!]
Having said that, to avoid another six months of separation, the system worked faster than the wind, instantly pulling out an item and proudly introducing it: "[This is the item I selected after analyzing your various data, with a 100% compatibility with you. Please take a look.]"
So Xie Huailing believed its nonsense and took a look.
[Item Name: Calligraphy Practice Book for Elementary School Students]
[Function: Through continuous, repeated, and persistent effort, it enables the user's handwriting to reach the level of a first-grade elementary school student.]
[Description: This is a product of a programmer's hangover revenge on society after failing in blind dates, losing all his hair, being manipulated by his boss, running out of savings, and facing unemployment. It should have been deleted, but due to some kind of perverse sense of humor (or perhaps the incredibly low work efficiency of headquarters), it hasn't been deleted yet. I really don't understand why it hasn't been deleted. Does anyone actually need it?]
[Price: 0 (Because buying this feels like losing something more important, so I'm not charging money.)]
Xie Huailing: "..."
Xie Huailing: "…………"
[Host? Host?! No, don't close! I have more!]
The data-driven life form, oblivious to social niceties, delivered a devastating blow. Seeing that it had not only failed to impress its host but had also backfired, the system, noticing its host's face turn red instantly, nearly burst into tears.
It frantically pulled out another prop: "[There's also this, 99% compatibility, what do you think?]"
Xie Huailing believed it again and looked at it a second time.
[Item Name: Star Absorbing Technique Pro Max Plus Exclusive Edition.]
[Function: After marking the opponent (the unit that was previously damaged by the user's attack, and is also the unit that was previously damaged by the user, is considered the marked unit), you can briefly absorb the opponent's martial arts for thirty seconds. This is not limited to internal energy. The amount absorbed depends on the user's tolerance; it is very possible that not a single bit will be absorbed. During these thirty seconds, neither party can move.]
[Introduction: Coming and going in a hurry, wishing we could never meet again; love and hate in a hurry, everything goes with the wind... Wait, is that the wrong theme song? At headquarters, another programmer is hungover again!]
Price: 1000 (limited to one purchase).
The system, full of anticipation, asked: "How is it, host?"
"Well, if your programming department is doing this well, it looks like it's doomed."
[…Please don't worry about these things. I assure you, the other staff are quite responsible, uh, sometimes. What do you think of this prop?]
"It looks pretty good, but why is the compatibility with me 99%? Where did the remaining 1% go?"
[You cannot use this item directly; you can only use it on your teammates because I'm a decorative character.]
Xie Huailing had never been so speechless in his life.
She exclaimed, "You should just fire your entire programming department. If I had written this kind of incompatible code when I was fifteen, I would have jumped into the river by 10:30 in the morning."
The system chuckled awkwardly twice, then belatedly fell silent.
Out of fear, the cute cat head turned into a tearful cat head, shrinking into the far corner of the screen, trembling: [Please, please don't lock me up anymore.]
But instead of the expected cold and ruthless shutdown of permissions by Xie Huailing, which would have it discarded from her brain like garbage, it heard a reminder:
[You have purchased the item "Star Absorbing Technique Pro Max Plus Exclusive Edition," and points have been deducted.]
The system looked up blankly. Xie Huailing had already opened the page and was checking the criteria for judging teammates. She didn't even look up, her finger tapping on several names again and again, finally stopping between "Su Mengzhen" and "Bai Feifei". Without making a selection, she clicked the "Use next time" button.
"Don't just stand there, I have another question for you," Xie Huailing said. "What exactly are the health and wellness services you offer, and can they be offered as a gift?"
Although the system was momentarily stunned, its eagerness to generate revenue quickly prompted a response: "Health maintenance services are services designed to preserve the host's health. In exchange for the host's points, the service repairs the host's body. Once used, it cannot be interrupted until the host's body is fully restored to a healthy state. The specific number of points required depends on the host's individual physical condition. It's a model of collecting points while simultaneously repairing the body. As long as the host has enough points, I can even revive you from the brink of death."
Regarding gifts, all services in this system can be gifted.
They don't say important things early, and they bring up unimportant things later.
Xie Huailing understood the situation and secretly noted it down. Meanwhile, the system looked at her, glancing left and right, before its tearful cat head darted back to the center of the screen: [Host, aren't you going to hold me accountable?]
"What, you have some kind of special fetish too?"
If the system had a face, it would instantly turn red from head to toe, arguing: "My factory settings and learning modules don't include this kind of content. I'm sorry, but I still can't provide any assistance to you."
Xie Huailing shrugged and replied indifferently, "There's no need. I wasn't expecting anything from you anyway, so it doesn't matter whether you're here or not."
She doesn't need it either.
————————!!————————
If nothing unexpected happens, this will be the second-to-last appearance of the little good-for-nothing (whistling).
I only found out yesterday from the comments that Jinjiang has banned me! Oh dear, my birthday week has just been revealed so adorably...
But thank you all for wishing me a happy birthday!
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