Lin Zhenzhen fell seriously ill after returning home.
She stayed alone on Tianfeng Peak for more than ten days, spending her days either sleeping or spacing out.
The system was afraid that its host would become stupid from staying in this little world, so it tried every day to make her happy.
That day, it saw a corny joke and excitedly shared it with Lin Zhenzhen.
[A mushroom was walking down the street when an orange bumped into it. The mushroom angrily shouted, "You blind fool, go die!" And then the orange died. Do you know why?]
Lin Zhenzhen: ......
[Because the bacteria wanted the orange to die, the orange had no choice but to die. Hahahaha, that's so funny.]
If you really have nothing to say, you can shut up. There's no need to awkwardly try to make conversation with me.
[Waaaaah, I just thought you were so bored being all alone here.]
Lin Zhenzhen rested her chin on her hand and looked out the window in front of her.
The heavy snowflakes twirled and fell, like tiny white sprites dancing freely in the air.
The peach tree in the yard had several branches broken off by the weight of the snow, and it stood there pitifully and comically like a matchstick figure.
It's beautiful, but it's also damn cold.
Lin Zhenzhen felt that she had been frozen silly, the kind of physical silencing. Her brain couldn't function, she was listless, and she was often in a daze.
She doubted she would survive the winter.
The system sensed Lin Zhenzhen's dejected thoughts and started shouting and yelling recklessly again.
[Waaaaah, Host, don't think like that! Our mission isn't finished yet! We can't skip our little world; if we fail, we'll have to start all over again!]
Lin Zhenzhen certainly knew all this.
We've wasted ten years here, incurring such a high sunk cost with no results.
She's practically lost money hand over fist, how could she possibly be willing to accept that?
The system was still sobbing: "[If this mission really fails and we have to replay this small world, what would you do?]"
Lin Zhenzhen sneered: "Is there even a need to say it? Of course, on the day we first met, I would pin Yan Feichen down on the bed and do something to instantly increase his level of disgust."
After all, for Yan Feichen, it's much easier to gain affection than dislike.
It wasn't until evening that the sound of heavy footsteps on the snow could be heard in the yard.
A few seconds later, the door was opened from the outside.
Two small gadgets flew past Lin Zhenzhen's eyes like whirlwinds.
Upon closer inspection, she realized that they were actually two baby firebirds.
"Isn't it a bit too stuffy in here?"
As he spoke, Yan Rui took off his heavy coat and casually draped it over a chair next to him.
"I'm afraid of the cold, you know that."
“I know.” Yan Rui poured himself a glass of water naturally. “But burning high-grade spirit ore all day long for warmth is a bit too extravagant.”
"Oh." Lin Zhenzhen turned her head away. "Although the funds for Cangyan Mountain are now managed by your peak, my food, clothing and daily necessities are all covered by my senior brother. You don't need to worry about it."
Yan Rui chuckled and put her water glass on the table: "So generous? Then please pay me back for the money I spent on gathering information for you."
Lin Zhenzhen immediately wilted. She softened her tone and looked somewhat pitiful: "Why are you, a grown man, so petty?"
"Only now, at a time like this, do you remember you're a man?" Yan Rui shook his head, took a yellow cloth bag out of his pocket, and threw it on the table.
"The admission ticket, the odor-eliminating talisman, the mask—everything you need to enter the ghost market is inside."
"You found them all so quickly?" Lin Zhenzhen picked up the storage bag and carefully checked the contents.
Yan Rui changed the subject, saying, "It did take some effort. It's just a pity that you probably won't be able to go this time."
Lin Zhenzhen looked up: "Why can't I go?"
"The ghost market opened three months earlier than usual, right when it's at its coldest time."
"I dare not take you down the mountain in this weather. If we are unlucky and something happens, the sect leader will hold my master accountable."
Actually, weather was a secondary factor; there were other, more important reasons, which Yan Rui didn't mention.
"Huh? Why did the time suddenly change?"
Every year in the fourth month of the lunar calendar, a ghost market is opened to select a lord, a tradition that the demon race has continued for thousands of years.
Changing the date at the last minute is unheard of.
Yan Rui paused, tapping his fingers lightly on the table, as if considering how to explain the matter.
"There's been some news circulating in the Demon Realm lately, I don't know if you've heard about it."
Lin Zhenzhen turned her head away: "In Cangyan Mountain, besides you, is there anyone else I can get information about the Demon Realm from?"
Yan Rui raised her head, seemingly trying to observe whether her expression was genuine.
Lin Zhenzhen met his gaze without fear, her eyes clear and bright, appearing truly open and honest.
After a moment, Yan Rui finally spoke: "A month ago, Yan Feichen left the Ten Thousand Zhang Demon Cave."
"This rescheduling may be related to him."
Lin Zhenzhen slowly uttered an "Oh".
"That's it?" Yan Rui knew that the entanglement between the two was far more complicated than outsiders knew. "Don't you have anything else to say?"
"That's amazing. You managed to change the opening time of the Ghost Market all by yourself." Lin Zhenzhen smiled. "No wonder you came from Tianfeng Peak."
"...What I mean is, Yan Feichen will most likely go to the Ghost Market, so if you go, you might run into him."
The implication is that you should just behave yourself and give up.
Lin Zhenzhen shrugged indifferently: "So what if we run into each other? We can always catch up later. Anyway, I'm not his master anymore. Let's go our separate ways. Nobody should bother with anyone else."
Yan Rui frowned: "If we really run into him, I'm afraid I won't be able to protect you."
There's no need to be afraid; there's absolutely no way to protect them.
Even though Yan Rui is from a branch of the demon race, the suppression of bloodline is something that is innate.
Moreover, Yan Feichen had spent ten years struggling in a place like the Ten Thousand Zhang Demon Cave, and had probably already developed a ruthless nature that killed without blinking an eye.
If the Yan Feichen 1.0 who used to fawn over Lin Zhenzhen and call her "Master" was now the Demon King version of Yan Feichen 2.0.
"I don't care, I'm going!" Lin Zhenzhen started to throw a tantrum.
Yan Rui's attitude was also firm: "I said no, and that means no."
Lin Zhenzhen repeated, "Are you sure?"
"Um."
Lin Zhenzhen stood up and shook her skirt.
"Alright, since that's the case, then I can only go and tell Peak Master Su. Some of his disciples, though they look very proper, are actually lecherous scoundrels who like to peep through windows at night to watch their masters bathe."
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