Chapter 18: Mayumi speaks the cruelest words with the sweetest face.
The White Bone Scholar knew very well that if he didn't show more sincerity to Yu Naixin, he would never be able to gain even a moment's trust from her.
The most difficult part of getting Yu Naixin to accept the jade pendant that had determined his fate was to hand it over to her willingly.
In order to win the heart of this female guest from outside, the White Bone Scholar had indeed prepared several different plans long ago, tailored to the different personalities of the female guests.
But he never expected to meet someone like Yu Naixin.
All previous plans and schemes had to be scrapped. The White Bone Scholar was heartbroken, but he was still unwilling to give up.
He could only grope his way to finding new methods.
Once you start talking, it's not hard to bring up many things.
Just like in the simulator, the White Bone Scholar told Yu Naixin that the Cocoon Village had angered the Mountain God nearly a hundred years ago, and that after the Dense Fog Heavenly Punishment descended, the Cocoon Village cut off all channels of communication with the outside world, and its resources became extremely limited.
The White Bone Scholar explained to Yu Naixin everything, including that all the flames in Cocoon Village were a gift from the Mountain God, enabling the villagers to survive the long nights, and that every fifteenth of the month, a young and beautiful girl had to be sacrificed to the Mountain God as a bride to ensure the divine fire would continue; otherwise, the entire Cocoon Village would perish in darkness.
As for those who deliberately intimidated Yu Naixin, put pressure on her, and forced her to rely solely on her own words, Bai Gu Shusheng didn't say a single one of them this time.
Yu Naixin raised an eyebrow.
That bastard really knows how to play favorites.
He used to coax and scare her when she was silly back then, but now he's honest and frank with her who's living her own life.
He was deferential at first, then obsequious; a fence-sitter flaunts his power!
Since the White Bone Scholar was so cooperative, Yu Naixin didn't hold back. She asked him all sorts of questions, such as the location of the wedding ceremony being the altar directly north of Cocoon Village, and the population of Cocoon Village, thus aligning the information she had obtained in the simulator with the current situation.
Yu Naixin also casually asked, "Where is your hometown?"
The information from the fox demon priest was limited. The paper doll boy only gained sentience on the day the Cocoon Village was sealed off. The White Bone Scholar was the first person to mention what was happening outside the Cocoon Village, and Yu Naixin was genuinely interested in it.
The White Bone Scholar said he was "traveling to take the exam from another place," so could there be a wider and more complete world outside the venue of this program?
The scholar, who had previously been completely open with Yu Naixin, suddenly fell silent upon hearing this question.
“Hometown…” The ghostly blue flames in the white-boned scholar’s eyes dissipated, and he murmured the words Yu Naixin had asked, as if he had fallen into a state of considerable confusion.
In the end, the White Bone Scholar could only shake his head apologetically at Yu Naixin: "...I'm sorry, Miss Yu, it's been too long, I can't...remember anymore."
However, he quickly added, emphasizing, "But I can remember that it was a beautiful village nestled against the mountains and beside the water."
"My parents, brothers, and sisters are all extremely good people—kind, warm-hearted, hardworking, and simple. For years, they have worked tirelessly from dawn till dusk to support my education..."
"I have brought all the spare money from my family with me to take the imperial examination. I must pass the exam to repay the sacrifices of my parents, brothers, and sisters! Only then can my family live a good life! Only then can I have money to treat my parents' back pain!"
As he finished speaking, the White Bone Scholar seemed to have received some immense mental stimulation, his tone becoming increasingly frantic: "I must pass the imperial examination! I must successfully take the exam! I must leave Cocoon Village!! At all costs!!!"
Unlike the fanaticism he displayed when dissecting Yu Naixin's entire skeleton in the simulator, the White Bone Scholar now went to the other extreme, appearing extremely repressed.
He could no longer maintain his human form; every bone in his skeleton, devoid of flesh and blood, trembled, conveying unspeakable pain.
Yu Naixin took a leisurely sip of the hot water in her earthenware cup and said lightly, "But didn't you say that Cocoon Village has been sealed off by the mountain god for almost a hundred years?"
"With so much time having passed, even if you manage to leave Cocoon Village, you'll have already missed the exam."
Yu Naixin coldly looked at the skeleton scholar: "Your family members have long since turned into a handful of dust, haven't they?"
No matter how pitiful a hateful person may be, she, as the victim, will not feel any sympathy.
[I thought this newcomer was deliberately spending time alone with the skeleton to try and woo the male guests one by one, like she did with the paper doll before. But is she trying to win over the male guests or just make them hate her?!]
Does she even remember this is the skeletons' home turf?! Is she really that eager to die?!
Holy crap, this newbie's gaze is incredible! It's like he's looking at trash with such cold indifference, yet tinged with a hint of pity—it's so captivating!
[This female guest uses the sweetest face and voice to say the cruelest things—the contrast is just too great! It's impossible not to be captivated!]
I've started to want to know her name... I hope she's alive enough for me to find out!
As Yu Naixin finished speaking, it was as if something had suddenly pressed the pause button on the White Bone Scholar. The entire skeleton stopped trembling immediately, and the flesh on the skeleton was restored to its original state in an instant.
He sat quietly opposite Yu Naixin in his living form, a trace of confusion still lingering on his face: "...Hmm?"
Then, as if nothing had happened, the White Bone Scholar spoke in a gentle voice: "Cocoon Village has more than nine hundred households, totaling about three thousand people."
【…Huh? Did I just get stuck?】
[How could the live stream of "Heartbeat 1000%" possibly lag...? It's because this skeleton crossed the line with the production team. Since he's still inside the village, he has no way of knowing what's happening outside.]
[Tsk, it's happening again. Every time I see this, I just want to say how boring it is.]
Yu Naixin tilted her head.
The words spoken by the White Bone Scholar were the last things he said before she asked the question, "Where is your hometown?"
All memories related to the topic of "hometown" seemed to have been erased from the White Bone Scholar's mind, leaving only the past and the future.
It can be described as a seamless integration.
When the White Bone Scholar said he couldn't remember his hometown, Yu Naixin was wondering whether it was because the White Bone Scholar himself had forgotten due to the passage of time, or whether the "Heartbeat 1000%" program team hadn't set up so many details for him, or whether the White Bone Scholar had some kind of restriction related to his authority and hadn't met the unlocking conditions yet.
So Yu Naixin tried to probe with words and confirmed that it was the last possibility.
The fact that the White Bone Scholar behaved as if he had been formatted to factory settings is the most compelling evidence.
This terrible dating reality show treats both outsiders like her and insiders like Bai Gu Shusheng equally unfriendly.
Yu Naixin acted as if nothing had happened and continued chatting along with the White Bone Scholar: "Cocoon Village is quite large."
The White Bone Scholar said, "Before the Mountain God unleashes his divine punishment, the population of Cocoon Village will be even greater."
Yu Naixin remarked with emotion, "It's not easy to have such a large population after almost a hundred years."
The White Bone Scholar chuckled: "Thanks to the protection of the divine fire, the villagers need not worry about being swallowed by darkness as long as they are within the range illuminated by the divine fire."
"What would happen if you were swallowed by darkness?" Yu Naixin asked curiously.
The White Bone Scholar replied, "Darkness is the agent of divine punishment. Ordinary people like villagers are not within the range of the divine fire's illumination. Any part of their body that enters the darkness will be swallowed up and disappear like a drop of water falling into a fire."
Oh, just like how the paper doll boy devoured her, right? Yu Naixin understood.
"But you, the paper doll tailor, and that priest seem to be exempt from this restriction?" Yu Naixin asked.
The white-boned scholar nodded: "That's exactly right."
"I and those two are all people with spiritual power. With spiritual power protecting us, we can walk normally in the dark."
“If an ordinary person is in close proximity to us, they will also be spared divine punishment.”
Yu Naixin finally understood why she was unharmed despite being exposed to darkness more than once during the simulator: it turns out these three bastard male guests could also be used as torches.
"What exactly is spiritual power?" Yu Naixin blinked. "Can I have it?"
Besides hoping to unlock higher-level permissions to sell in the system store, is it possible that she could directly learn how to acquire spiritual power from people who already have it on the show?
“Spiritual power…” The white-boned scholar pondered for a moment, somewhat embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Miss Yu, this question is too profound for me to answer.”
"However, in my experience, the moment you possess spiritual power, it will be like a newborn baby knowing to cry, knowing that you have spiritual power."
What nonsense are you spouting?
Yu Naixin smiled and continued, "You want to eat my flesh and blood so that your spiritual power can undergo a qualitative change, thereby breaking through the mountain god's restrictions and escaping Cocoon Village?"
The skeleton scholar nodded: "Exactly—"
The White Bone Scholar's voice abruptly stopped.
He realized what question Yu Naixin had asked this time.
Previously, he had always answered whatever Yu Naixin asked, and the questions were all ones he could answer, which had become a bit of a habit. He never expected that Yu Naixin would suddenly ask such a... deadly question in the same tone as before.
The ghostly fire in the White Bone Scholar's eyes flickered. He steeled himself and looked at Yu Naixin, a faint hope in his heart that Yu Naixin hadn't taken his half-truth seriously.
However, what he saw was Yu Naixin staring at him with a smile, revealing two small dimples.
Last time in the simulator, it was the White Bone Scholar who deliberately set a trap, lowering Yu Naixin's guard through casual conversation.
This time, however, it was Yu Naixin who took the initiative to set a trap, using the same method, waiting for the White Bone Scholar to fall into it.
Treat them as they treat you.
"Oh dear~" Yu Naixin's tone rose, full of joy, "I heard you~"
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