The dim environment deprived people of most of their vision, as if time had been turned back to the days when their vision was impaired.
The clean scent of soapberry, like tiny white flowers blooming in the dampness, landed faintly yet distinctly on Xu Shiyue's nose.
This is the scent of Lu Shizhen.
And the hand that was resting on her waist also belonged to this person.
A car drove past the intersection, stirring up a breeze that carried dampness and a slight chill, which suddenly swept through the area.
The dim light barely illuminated the narrow intersection, reminding vehicles that this was a no-passage zone, and the person standing in this secluded path went unnoticed.
In the damp and dimly lit environment, there was a contrasting fragrance, along with a subtle sweetness.
Ambiguity always spreads under these circumstances.
The sudden pull made my heart race uncontrollably, and the rapidly closing distance brought me into contact with warmth.
Xu Shiyue was suddenly embraced by Lu Shizhen from behind, never expecting her to act so suddenly and proactively.
It was quite a coincidence that Lu Shizhen did this.
Lu Shizhen usually goes directly to the designated taxi stand after getting off the plane, unaware that each elevator around the airport corresponds to a different underground parking lot.
The rattling sound of the suitcase wheels reflected the owner's confusion. Lu Shizhen looked at the navigation in her hand, feeling a little bewildered.
She originally wanted to send Xu Shiyue her location so she could come find her, since having a driver would be more reliable than her in terms of finding the way.
At that moment, the fire escape light flickered as if it had short-circuited, brushing past Lu Shizhen's line of sight.
Then, in the instant she looked over in a daze, the light froze completely.
It was as if he was deliberately making her look at him.
Looking at the map on her phone, Lu Shizhen realized that this seemed to be a shortcut to the entrance where Xu Shiyue was. So she mustered up her courage and took the shortcut along the dimly lit path to find Xu Shiyue.
The suitcase was a bit heavy, and the dimly lit road was a little scary.
With Qiuqiu not around, Lu Shizhen was incredibly timid; it would be a lie to say she wasn't afraid.
The thought of meeting Xu Shiyue soon was just too much to bear.
So my steps became lighter.
Finally, a bright light appeared in the distance, and the wind from the passing traffic lifted Lu Shizhen's skirt.
The damp gloom was mostly blown away by the flowing wind, and the exit she needed to reach was just ahead!
As Lu Shizhen walked out, she thought of sending Xu Shiyue another location.
But suddenly he stopped in his tracks.
The wind stirred up by the traffic flowed through the dimly lit underground parking lot, and a figure walked in the distance in the faint light.
The hem of the old-fashioned cheongsam swayed slightly with her quickened steps, the light fabric edged with dark red, and the barely visible floral patterns bloomed brilliantly on the dark black background.
Lu Shizhen thought that if it weren't for an excessively powerful aura, it wouldn't be able to suppress such a rich and dark floral pattern.
But the person wearing this cheongsam was Xu Shiyue.
Just a face with its hair disheveled by the wind was enough to overshadow this profusion of flowers.
Beneath her jet-black curly hair were a pair of deep red lips. She appeared aloof and arrogant, yet the color of her lips exuded a powerful aura. She was alluring and graceful, yet unapproachable.
The surrounding lights were dim, and cars kept passing by her.
From a distance, he looks like the protagonist who stepped out of an old Cantonese movie.
Lu Shizhen knew that Xu Shiyue had dressed up specially to pick her up.
And now, in order to find herself faster, she got out of the car that was blocking the way outside.
This time, however, it wasn't her who found herself.
Instead, he found her himself.
Lu Shizhen pulled Xu Shiyue, whom she had just pulled into her arms, and turned her around: "Didn't expect me to be waiting for you here, did you?"
Xu Shiyue was naturally surrounded by Lu Shizhen, and they nodded to each other as their eyes met: "Yes."
After saying those two sentences, a look of grievance appeared on Lu Shizhen's face.
She rested her chin on Xu Shiyue's shoulder, taking advantage of the situation: "I thought Miss Xu would arrive a long time early to greet me, and I felt incredibly guilty. I didn't expect it would be me who came to greet Miss Xu, and we even walked quite a distance together."
"Sorry, the meeting has gone on for a while..."
Xu Shiyue was speaking softly when she was suddenly interrupted by a soft sniffing sound coming close to her face.
Lu Shizhen frowned slightly, turned her head from resting on Xu Shiyue's shoulder to face her, and said, "You smoked?"
Xu Shiyue paused, her gaze pausing, a rare hint of guilt creeping into her eyes.
She did smoke, and she felt guilty because she knew it wasn't a good thing.
But by the time she realized she was smoking, it was already very late.
Over the years, that binding and seductive force has tried to control Xu Shiyue many times, but has almost never succeeded.
This was the only thing Xu Shiyue miscalculated.
That was an unfillable void in Xu Shiyue's heart, within which the ashes of the burnt-out ash drifted ethereally.
Whenever the night was deep and quiet, and her longing was intense, this stuff became a "good medicine" to numb her and allow her to fall asleep again.
Then, during the daytime, at a time when the pressure was high...
Slowly, slowly, this thing seeped into her life.
"I...uh..." Xu Shiyue pondered how to explain, but as soon as she uttered the first word, her lips were suddenly sealed shut.
The last person to be so unguarded was Lu Shizhen, but this time Lu Shizhen became the one who set the trap.
Her lips, which were about to speak, provided the opportunity for a sneak attack, and Lu Shizhen easily leaned in and kissed her.
The kiss was gentle, but more than that, it was intense.
Lu Shizhen cunningly pried open Xu Shiyue's teeth and began to slowly penetrate her mouth.
The mild, refreshing fragrance, wrapped around the minty tobacco, was all rolled up with that person's gentle touch.
The person kissing seemed to want to take all these flavors away, sweeping deeper and deeper inch by inch.
Oxygen, occasionally carrying lukewarm moisture, slipped through the overlapping gaps and entered Xu Shiyue's mouth.
She had never felt that a kiss could be so deep and alluring. Lu Shizhen had taken and given so much from her, making her tongue go numb and her legs feel weak.
Lu Shizhen then took the opportunity to support Xu Shiyue's waist.
The thin, light silk fabric felt warm to the touch.
The fabric was slightly cool, and the soft, delicate flesh felt like pearls against Lu Shizhen's palm, warm and carrying a fragrance like blooming flowers.
As she breathed in once more, Lu Shizhen slightly raised her eyes.
Xu Shiyue was lost in the kiss she was receiving, the broken, cool light scattering in her eyes, making her look pitiful yet incredibly alluring. The cheongsam gave her an aloof and cold feeling, yet she herself shimmered with a broken appearance.
In an instant, Lu Shizhen seemed to see the image of Xu Shiyue from the book she had imagined.
Lu Shizhen learned about Xu Shiyue's smoking habit when she read the original text.
In the past, she only thought that such a powerful and terrifying person, when smoking, let down his guard, and his broken and languid appearance was very alluring.
But now she feels that such beauty comes at the cost of her health.
Moreover, for her, the most important thing in life is to stay healthy; she knows all too well the importance of a healthy body.
Lu Shizhen kissed Xu Shiyue's earlobe and whispered in her ear in Cantonese, "Miss Xu, do you know that smoking shortens your life?"
Xu Shiyue's breathing was not steady, and Lu Shizhen's somewhat awkward pronunciation could not be heard.
She understood what Lu Shizhen meant, her misty eyes lingering on Lu Shizhen's face, and replied in Cantonese, "Then I'll have to trouble Teacher Sixteen to help me quit in the future."
Xu Shiyue's Cantonese is clear and cold, and perhaps because of uneven breathing, her voice also carries a hint of gentleness.
Strands of hair fell down and brushed against Lu Shizhen's nose and cheeks, carrying a faint fragrance that made her feel as if she were being bewitched.
The touch was gentle and tender; the hand resting on her waist gave a light squeeze.
Lu Shizhen lowered her eyes and embraced Xu Shiyue, asking in agreement, "Then we should decide whether this is a punishment or a reward?"
However, neither of these are true.
“A contract,” Xu Shiyue replied, then tapped her feet slightly and kissed Lu Shizhen’s lips.
She used to smoke because it numbed her longing, but she knows she doesn't need to anymore.
She has been consciously restraining herself from this matter these days, and she doesn't mind Lu Shizhen helping her.
They were even pleased.
When Lu Shizhen and Xu Shiyue came out of the passage, the rush hour had already passed.
When the driver picked up the two and left the airport, the traffic had already cleared up.
As Lu Shizhen got into the car, she felt that the driver was glancing at her with a strange look every now and then.
She couldn't help but mutter to herself that Xu Shiyue was a rather unsuitable driver, and had no choice but to pick up her phone to avoid this awkward situation.
But at that moment, her movements completely stopped.
A vibrant red was reflected on the screen.
It's the kind of striking red that you can clearly notice even without a camera lens; it's the kind of red that you can tell at a glance where it came from.
"..."
An overwhelming sense of embarrassment washed over Lu Shizhen.
She realized that she might have wronged someone.
Suddenly, Lu Shizhen didn't know where to put her hands or whether she should wipe off the lipstick on her lips.
After a pause, she simply put her phone in her pocket and, as if burying her head in the sand, turned to look at the scenery outside the window.
The spring atmosphere here is even stronger than last time I came.
Lush greenery covered the deserted suburban roads, and weeping willows swayed in the wind.
"Sizzle—"
Just as Lu Shizhen was using the warmth of spring to heal herself, she suddenly heard the long-lost sound of the system starting up.
The mechanical voice, as always, was devoid of emotion, yet it struck Lu Shizhen like a thunderbolt: [Detection indicates the host has severely disrupted the protagonist's emotional arc. The action was proactive and egregious. Punishment will begin in five seconds. Punishment duration: ten minutes. Punishment level: One. Countdown: 00:00:5]
"...?!"
Lu Shizhen was completely stunned.
What shocked her was not that the main system had punished her again, but the sudden, unannounced, and direct nature of the punishment.
This airport is a newly opened airport in S City last year. It is located in the eastern suburbs, with few buildings and a relatively spacious layout.
Lu Shizhen stared out the window at the endless expanse of undeveloped greenery, and for a moment, she couldn't think of any other cause besides natural disasters...
Just then, a fully loaded truck drove through the greenery on one side of the small intersection toward us.
It looked like it was going quite fast, and its turn signals were flashing as if it was about to turn.
But for some reason, its curve was very small and very sharp at that moment.
It's like something happened to the car, or...
The main system is controlling it, making it rush towards the only car on this road!
The countdown ticked away in Lu Shizhen's ears. She realized that the driver of the car she and Xu Shiyue were in was clearly also being controlled by the main system.
He anticipated the arrival of the large truck, but turned the steering wheel to the right.
According to a person's first reaction, when encountering such a situation, one should turn in the direction that best protects oneself. Since the driver is sitting on the left, his first reaction should be to turn the steering wheel to the left.
However, the main system wants to protect the protagonist, and punish Lu Shizhen, so the car has to swerve in the opposite direction to the left side where Lu Shizhen is located.
Even if the driver tried to swerve, the car wouldn't be able to avoid it, and the truck would crash into the rear of the vehicle, killing Lu Shizhen instantly.
She would also use her own death to create a perfect protective shield for Xu Shiyue, allowing her to survive.
Before the protagonist's colossal, predetermined path, anyone else is as insignificant as a speck of dust, easily crushed by this damned fate.
As death drew ever closer to landing, the countdown ended.
As with every punishment in the past, her legs were taken away by the main system.
Her thin body suddenly felt incredibly heavy, and Lu Shizhen's panicked mind was filled with a sense of powerlessness.
She had just kissed the girl she liked, and they had only recently reunited. She desperately tried to live, but her body became increasingly unable to move.
Actually, protecting Xu Shiyue would be a good way to end things.
That's right, that's right...
A sudden gust of wind ruffled Lu Shizhen's hair, and she began to recall her eulogy amidst the turmoil.
No matter how calm she was, she was still unwilling to accept it. The repeated "that is" was like a stuck gear, filled with resentment and stuck in Lu Shizhen's heart.
Yeah, I really fucking want to kill the main god...
Just then, Lu Shizhen suddenly felt a force pulling her.
She then realized that the biting wind was because the right-side car door had been opened at some point.
"Stay strong and protect your head. I'll always be by your side."
Xu Shiyue's voice clearly reached Lu Shizhen's ears, as calm as if she had foreseen this accident orchestrated by the main system.
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