Chapter 113 113 "The host's mission is to form a partnership with the target person..."
Ling Yue Xianzun kindly arranged for them to have a viewing platform, and afterward, he sent a message asking about it, but she had ignored it. Su Xiaoyuan felt a little guilty, thought for a moment, and replied, "I'm sorry, Senior Brother. I went to bed as soon as I got home last night and missed the message. The fireworks were beautiful last night, and thanks to Senior Brother for inviting us to the viewing platform, we had a great view."
A moment later, the communication mirror made a ding sound, and the other party's message had arrived: [No problem.]
Su Xiaoyuan couldn't help but admire the boss, who was even better than ordinary people in replying to messages.
Just as I was thinking about it, another message came: [Are you feeling better?]
[I feel much better now. I can attend classes as usual today. Thank you for your concern.]
[Don't force it.]
[Okay, thank you, brother.]
[No need to be so reserved.]
[Okay, okay.]
Fu Tingyun looked at the lines of beautiful handwriting and could almost hear the tone of her voice as she spoke these words. She was so cautious and polite that it sounded a different kind of coldness.
Only by comparing can we realize how obvious the difference is between how she treats him and how she treats the puppet.
Last night, he had made up his mind not to disturb her and let her enjoy her birthday. The cakes and fireworks were prepared for her. As long as she could eat and see them, it didn't matter whether she knew who made them or not.
But when the voice and tone of the disguised puppet communicated with her, he still couldn't help but pass on the message to her.
He didn't ask for too much, he just hoped that she could reply to him with a few words after the interrogation was over.
However, he waited in front of the communication mirror all night, but did not receive a single word.
This result was not unexpected. No one knew her fear, resistance, rejection, disgust and aversion better than him.
Fu Tingyun put away the communication mirror and lay down on the Xuanbing bed.
A moment later, his soul was already in the body of the puppet thousands of miles away.
The wing boat has arrived at the waters where Xuanzhou and Yingzhou meet. He had just confirmed Xiahou Che's whereabouts last night and expected to find his residence within half a day and catch him in the trap.
Just as he was thinking about it, the communication ring rang.
Fu Tingyun looked at the simple and plain ring on the puppet's ring finger, and suddenly had the urge to take it off and throw it into the surging river below.
But he did nothing, just quickly adjusted his breathing and answered the message - Su Xiaoyuan had classes in the morning, and the message must have been urgent at this time.
"What's wrong, Xiaoyuan?" he asked in a deliberately calm tone.
"Fu Tingyun, where are you? I seem to hear the sound of water."
"I'm in Liuzhou, and the waters nearby are very turbulent."
Su Xiaoyuan said "Oh" and asked, "When will we arrive at Jukuzhou?"
"We expect to cross the border of Juku Island tomorrow, but it will take two or three days to reach Shiwumen." Fu Tingyun had already memorized the fake route and itinerary by heart, and was familiar with the seasonal scenery along the way, so he would never be exposed.
"It takes so long." The girl said in a depressed tone.
"I'll be back as soon as possible."
"No, no," Su Xiaoyuan said quickly, "Be careful on the road and don't rush."
"good."
Fu Tingyun could tell she was hesitant to speak, and guessed she had something difficult to say, so he asked, "Xiaoyuan rarely sends me messages in the morning. Is there something wrong?"
Su Xiaoyuan then said: "...Actually, I have something I want to ask you."
Fu Tingyun remained calm: "Xiaoyuan, don't be shy. Just ask me. I will tell you everything I know."
"Um... do you know if Immortal Master Ling Yue has anything he likes or can use?" Su Xiaoyuan finally asked.
Fu Tingyun's breathing tightened, and he managed to keep his voice steady: "Why do you ask this suddenly?"
Su Xiaoyuan quickly explained: "He helped us book the viewing platform for the fireworks display yesterday, and he also gave me some cakes. I wanted to give him a gift to express my gratitude."
Fu Tingyun was like being poured with a basin of cold water, and the boiling blood in his head calmed down. What was he fantasizing about? She asked about his preferences and was eager to give him a gift, naturally because she wanted to repay him.
The reason why I don't want to owe him a favor is naturally because I don't want to have anything to do with him.
"No need to return the favor," he said.
"Huh? Why?" the girl asked in confusion.
"It's just a small favor for him. He probably gave you the cakes because he didn't want to eat them himself," Fu Tingyun said calmly. "Besides, he doesn't need anything."
"You can't say that," Su Xiaoyuan said, "I still have to thank them."
"Xiao Yuan, just give me anything."
Su Xiaoyuan felt that the puppet's tone was a bit sour. "What's wrong with you? Are you unhappy because I want to give a gift to Ling Yuexianzun?"
Fu Tingyun's voice was slightly cold: "He is not worth your bother."
"Are you jealous, Fu Tingyun?" Su Xiaoyuan wanted to say that she didn't mean anything else, but the words were on the tip of her tongue and she couldn't say them.
Was she really just returning a favor, with no selfish motives at all? Returning the favor today after helping yesterday would actually seem awkward and disrespectful. She was eager to learn about Ling Yue Xianzun's preferences, ultimately because she wanted to know.
The puppet was silent for a moment, then said calmly, "Should I be jealous?"
Su Xiaoyuan's breathing stopped and her heart almost stopped beating.
How come this puppet can even solve the fatal questions without any instruction?
She stammered guiltily, "I just don't like owing favors to people, especially since he's my teacher..."
Puppet: "Xiao Yuan, when you go shopping next time, just buy him something."
Su Xiaoyuan didn't dare to be so disrespectful: "Isn't there anything he likes?"
The puppet said without hesitation: "No."
"You don't have any hobbies or anything?"
"He's a boring guy," the puppet said indifferently, "He doesn't like anything except practicing Taoism and swordsmanship, and he can't do anything else."
After a pause, he said, "If Xiao Yuan just wants to return the favor, just buy him something. If you have other intentions, it's not too late to prepare it carefully."
Su Xiaoyuan: "...Let me think about it again."
"good."
After disconnecting the voice transmission, Su Xiaoyuan somehow thought of the fate of Ling Yue Xianzun who died young, and felt a little sad.
She had always known that Ling Yue Xianzun would die at the age of twenty-one, but when she didn't know him, it was just a fact that had nothing to do with her. However, when she thought about it recently, it felt like a stone was stuck in her heart, and the weight of this stone was increasing day by day, causing her heart to ache slightly.
She sat on the bedside in a daze for a while, until the cube puppet came and knocked on the door with breakfast, and then she came to her senses.
No, she found that she was thinking about Ling Yuexianzun more and more frequently recently, which was not a good sign.
When she was in the Yunyu Sect, the elders often reminded her that sexual intercourse is a self-serving business that harms others and that the most taboo in her line of work is to become attracted to the person she is sexually intercourse with, as that will only affect her speed in achieving sexual perfection.
But it is easier said than done, especially since she is naturally soft-hearted and has a strong ability to empathize, so it is really difficult for her to put aside her emotions and distracting thoughts.
When she changed her clothes after breakfast, she specifically lowered her head to look at the mole on her heart. She thought that since she had been focusing most of her attention on Ling Yue Xianzun recently and neglected the puppet, the mole would fade. However, it did not become lighter, but turned visibly redder.
Su Xiaoyuan covered her clothes, ran to the bookcase, and took out the color gradation card she made from the drawer.
This was specially made by her for the Gu mole. It is divided into twenty color levels, from light flesh pink that is almost indistinguishable to the naked eye to scarlet, with five points for each level. By comparing it with the color of the Gu mole, one can roughly judge how much she feels about the puppet.
Su Xiaoyuan compared and found that she had almost risen two levels in the past few days, from sixty-five to seventy-five.
Why did her attention shift to Immortal Master Ling Yue, and why did her feelings for the puppet deepen?
Is it like some scumbags who treat their wives better after cheating because of guilt?
Su Xiaoyuan changed her clothes and put the color cards back into the drawer. Suddenly, she saw a half-used sketchbook at the bottom of the drawer. It was the one she had brought into the secret realm before.
She hasn't used this book since Jing Ling disappeared and has kept it in a drawer.
She hesitated for a moment, opened the notebook, turned to the page with Fu Shiyu's portrait, and suddenly felt a pang of palpitations.
Her poor painting skills did not do justice to Jing Ling's beauty, and could not reflect her charm, but when she saw this painting, the memories that she had deliberately suppressed surged out from the bottom of her heart like a tide and filled her eyes.
She quickly closed the sketchbook, shoved it hastily back under the drawer, and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
The time was too short for her to forget Fu Shiyu, but she clearly had an inexplicable feeling towards Ling Yuexianzun, not to mention that she had a puppet man with a stable boyfriend - as evidenced by the Gu mole.
Is she really a scumbag who falls in love with every man she meets?
Why? Her parents have been loving each other for decades, so she shouldn’t have that gene.
Just as I was thinking about it, I suddenly heard a "ding" sound in my ears.
Su Xiaoyuan subconsciously looked at the communication mirror, and then realized that the voice came from her head.
It's the system.
"Hello host, long time no see."
Because the system had never accompanied her when she was groping for survival in the alien world, and had never provided any help when she encountered difficulties and asked for help, Su Xiaoyuan had no closeness to the system, especially after it gave her poison last time, she became even more subconsciously nervous and alert.
"Why did you suddenly come online?" Su Xiaoyuan asked.
"Congratulations to the host for entering Taiyan Sect. You are one step closer to your goal." The system's tone was much more polite than the previous two times. I wonder if it was because she had completed her stage goal.
But this utilitarian behavior only made Su Xiaoyuan more repulsed by it.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
"The host has already met Immortal Venerable Ling Yue. I suggest you speed up your strategy to become his companion as soon as possible and complete the mission..."
"Wait," Su Xiaoyuan was surprised and interrupted quickly, "What do you mean by becoming a Taoist couple? Before, you only talked about collecting essence, but never mentioned becoming a Taoist couple?"
"I'm afraid the host has remembered it wrongly," the system said, "The host's mission is to form a Taoist partner with the target person and absorb their essence during their first spiritual intercourse."
"Impossible! How could I remember something like this wrong?"
Before she finished speaking, a large amount of densely packed text appeared in front of her eyes and scrolled slowly.
"Host, please read this. This is the agreement you signed with the system. It clearly states that in addition to obtaining Yuan Yang, there is also a supplementary condition for completing the mission. This is to become a Taoist partner with the target person and obtain their Yuan Yang during their first spiritual intercourse."
After scrolling through several pages, Su Xiaoyuan finally discovered a line of inconspicuous small print in the middle of the appendix, which stated the supplementary conditions mentioned by the system.
"You deliberately wrote it in the appendix, and the font is so small. Isn't this a scam?" No matter how good-tempered Su Xiaoyuan was, she couldn't help but get angry.
System: "This contract was signed by the host personally. The system assumes that the host has a clear understanding of the contents of the contract."
Su Xiaoyuan simply had no place to complain: "Are you really not lying? Can you really send me home?"
"As long as the host completes the above tasks, this system will send the host back to the original world according to the contract and continue the original life."
"Leave this contract here. I'll go through it again carefully from beginning to end," Su Xiaoyuan said, showing some rare thoughtfulness. "I won't do anything for you before then."
System: "Host, please wait a moment. I need to apply to the higher authorities."
"Then go and apply." Su Xiaoyuan said unhappily.
System: "Host, please hurry up and capture the target character to avoid exceeding the time limit."
"Oh, right, I have something to ask you," Su Xiaoyuan said, "Why did Immortal Ling Yue die? When, where, and how did he die?"
The system alerted: "Host does not need to know, just complete the task before the deadline."
"What's the deadline?"
"After checking, the host's remaining time is 265 days, 12 hours, and 7 minutes."
"Is the mission deadline the same as Immortal Lingyue's death date?"
System: "Sorry, the host lacks relevant permissions."
"You want me to help you with something, but you don't tell me anything," Su Xiaoyuan said angrily, "Forget it, if I can't go back, then I can't go back. I won't do your task anymore."
System: "Host, please wait a moment..."
"Are you applying again?" Su Xiaoyuan was unusually tough. "Go tell your superiors that I must know the date, location, and specific cause of Ling Yuexianzun's death, otherwise I will go on strike."
Su Xiaoyuan waited for a few minutes before the system finally spoke: "The host's application has been approved. The target's death date is undetermined. The final deadline for death is 265 days, 12 hours, and 3 minutes later. The place of death is the Chaos Domain. The specific cause of death is the backlash of the Soul Seal."
"What do 'undetermined' and 'final death date' mean?" Su Xiaoyuan was puzzled.
System: "This means that depending on the situation, the date of death may change, but death will definitely occur before the final deadline."
"What is the backlash of the Soul Seal?" Su Xiaoyuan asked again.
The system checked the permissions and replied, "It can be considered as a destructive device set in Ling Yue Immortal Venerable's soul by his master, Xuji Daojun, before his death."
Su Xiaoyuan's heart felt as if it were suddenly gripped by a large hand: "Why would his master do such a thing?"
System: "Because..."
As soon as the system answered with two words, a sharp alarm suddenly sounded in Su Xiaoyuan's mind.
[System abnormality warning...]
[Activate self-protection device...]
[System shutting down...]
Then there was a "swish" sound, and everything fell silent.
"System, are you still there?" Su Xiaoyuan asked.
No response at all.
Su Xiaoyuan then remembered that she had forgotten to ask the heroine. Immortal Ling Yue did not come to the rescue in the secret realm, and the second meeting between the heroine and Bai Yueguang did not happen. She didn't know whether the main storyline had collapsed.
I don’t know what caused the system anomaly just now, how long it will take to fix, and when the system will appear again.
I must remember to ask clearly next time.
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The author has something to say: The continent names in the article come from "Records of the Ten Continents in China"
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