Chapter 28. Drunk at the Banquet, Night...
There was a gentle knock on the door three times.
Lin Xiaoxiao didn't put down her book, and said softly, "Come in."
Sister Luo deftly pushed open the study door and saw Lin Xiaoxiao nestled on the small sofa, still in the same position as more than an hour ago, reading a book, with a somewhat helpless expression.
Sister Luo asked softly, "Miss Lin, if we don't start preparing now, it might be too late."
Lin Xiaoxiao nodded, holding the sleeping Nine-Tailed Fox in her arms, her gaze still fixed on the old book in her hands: "Wait a moment, I have a few more pages, I'll finish reading them soon."
Thirty minutes later, Lin Xiaoxiao went back to her room with Sister Luo to change into her evening gown.
After changing into her evening gown, Lin Xiaoxiao sat down and let the makeup artist do as she pleased, but her mind was preoccupied with the bits and pieces of information she had gathered from books over the past few days:
{Strange Tales and Amazing Events: Chapter 121: February 12th, Cataclysmic Calendar 2236. A lucky individual, formerly a craftsman, transformed into a powerful combatant overnight. In an interview after achieving fame, he stated that his successful transformation was due to a dream in which he saw a goddess…}
{Folk mythology: Legend has it that countless gods exist in this world. If you are willing to wholeheartedly believe in a particular god, He/She will eventually descend upon you and fulfill all your desires.}
{Mythological Legends: Legend has it that in the early days of the Cataclysmic Era, many people saw gods and received from them items, skill books, and professions that allowed them to defy fate; some of the more familiar gods include: the Sun, the Moon, Night, Life, Destiny, Luck... (and so on, omitting the names of hundreds of gods)}
...
Most books describe gods in a story-like manner. Although there are religious organizations about gods in the Dragon Kingdom, most of them are relatively small.
Unlike other countries, where a city may have hundreds of religious groups that resemble cults.
Lin Xiaoxiao happened to see the name of the Goddess of Fortune in these books.
After several days of hard work, apart from the name, no other information could be found, as if the gods in the book were really just legendary figures.
If Lin Xiaoxiao hadn't witnessed it with her own eyes, she would have suspected that the deity was just a fictional character in a story.
Unfortunately, she had seen them before, and the titles and buffs on the panel clearly indicated that gods existed in this world.
The coolness on her collarbone made Lin Xiaoxiao, who was lost in thought, shiver unconsciously.
Sister Luo's voice was apologetic: "I'm sorry, Miss Lin, is there something you're not satisfied with?"
Only then did Lin Xiaoxiao see herself in the mirror, with her exquisite makeup, neatly styled hair, and looking like a female celebrity. A look of amazement flashed in her eyes, and she gently touched her cheek with her lace-gloved hand.
I never knew she could be so radiant and beautiful.
Sister Luo carefully fastened the clasp of the ruby necklace, checked it carefully to make sure it wouldn't fall off, and then took out a brocade box containing a special prosthetic limb from the box behind her.
Upon opening the box, the prosthetic limb inside felt and looked just like a real leg, but the maker had drawn a pattern on it in red and black, resembling an engraving.
On its own, it seems quite strange, but when paired with Lin Xiaoxiao's black off-shoulder tulle dress with a tight top and flared bottom, it feels like the finishing touch, as if it were deliberately arranged.
Lin Xiaoxiao took the prosthetic leg from Sister Luo, bent down to put it on, and then fastened the leg ring, completing the entire look.
The red tail climbed onto Lin Xiaoxiao's shoulder, its floating tail resembling a fluffy red flower drifting in the wind, cleverly becoming part of the overall look.
There was a knock on the door, followed by the assistant bustling inside pulling it open.
Xiao Weizhi entered wearing a black satin suit, her hair combed back, gold-rimmed glasses, and light makeup.
Hearing the sound, Lin Xiaoxiao turned to look at him, her lips, which were covered in glossy lip gloss, pursed slightly, and then, by adjusting her skirt, she avoided Xiao Weizhi's gaze.
When Xiao Weizhi saw Lin Xiaoxiao's actions, the amazement in his eyes faded, and he lowered his eyes to hide his emotions. The corners of his mouth, which had been slightly upturned, were now pressed into a straight line.
He approached, bent down slightly, and extended his hand to Lin Xiaoxiao: "Let's go."
Lin Xiaoxiao reached out and took Xiao Weizhi's arm to stand up, then followed him step by step out.
The two looked so harmonious from behind; you could tell they were a perfect couple just by looking at them. This prompted the makeup artist, Sister Luo, and others in the room to whisper among themselves, praising them: "They're such a good match, and their heights are perfect too..."
The flying car was already waiting at the door. Xiao Wei supported Lin Xiaoxiao with one hand and helped her lift her slightly long skirt with the other, carefully putting her into the car before going around in a big circle to get in from the other side.
As soon as the car door closed, Xiao Weizhi's communicator rang with its familiar ringtone.
As soon as the communicator connected, Wang Hao's loud voice boomed, "Boss, have you arrived yet? We're here."
When Lin Xiaoxiao heard Wang Hao's voice, she remembered Wang Hao's impatient personality. He had made a lot of jokes because of his impatient nature before.
A smile involuntarily crept onto her lips. Noticing Xiao Weizhi's gaze, she turned her head away slightly with her gloved hand to shield herself.
Xiao Weizhi withdrew his gaze and said calmly, "On the way, we'll be there in twenty minutes."
After the call was disconnected, the car fell silent for a moment.
The driver in the car felt a chill run down his back. He gradually increased the pressure on the accelerator, shortening the journey from over twenty minutes to less than twenty minutes.
When Xiao Weizhi, arm in arm with Lin Xiaoxiao, stepped onto the red carpet and entered the banquet hall.
The driver seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and happily drove the car to the parking lot to wait for the banquet to end.
Lin Xiaoxiao walked down the red carpet arm in arm with Xiao Weizhi, who deliberately slowed his pace. Her eyes kept looking around, and the red tail on her shoulder was also moving in sync, its little head turning back and forth to look around.
The venue was not as opulent as one might imagine; because it was the First Conference Hall of the Imperial Government, its interior decoration was remarkably simple. [The First Conference Hall was built 368 years ago in the autumn.]
Apart from the new red carpet on the ground and the temporary colored lights hanging on the wall, many of the flowers, plants and trees in the roadside flower beds are probably older than Xiao Weizhi.
But today, all the invited guests tacitly wore gorgeous gowns, making this rather simple venue look like a star-studded press conference.
As soon as they entered the venue, Xiao Weizhi led Lin Xiaoxiao leisurely toward a relatively secluded corner, which was the unspoken meeting place for Longya whenever they came to the First Conference Venue.
Cheng Cheng was wearing a pure white, tight-fitting, trailing gown, with a white feather ornament on her head. She looked as delicate and beautiful as a pure white gardenia. When she turned around and saw Lin Xiaoxiao, her eyes widened slightly, and she exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, Xiaoxiao, you look so beautiful today!"
Lin Xiaoxiao looked at Cheng Cheng with admiration and said in a gentle voice, "Sister Cheng, you look beautiful today too."
The two girls held hands, shook off their respective male companions, and went to the side to whisper to each other.
Just as Lin Xiaoxiao and Cheng Cheng were talking, Xiao Weizhi turned to Chen Feng and asked, "Who else has come?"
Chen Feng skillfully began announcing the team names: "Similar to before, but several new teams have joined recently, including: Rising Sun (the original male and female protagonists' team), Waves, and Dark Sentinel..."
Xiao Weizhi's eyes darkened for a moment, and he lowered his voice to ask, "Xuri? Whose relationship is it?"
Logically speaking, the Rising Sun Squad's current D-rank rating is not high enough to warrant accepting the invitation to the first meeting venue at this time.
Chen Feng glanced at Lin Xiaoxiao, who was chatting with Cheng Cheng, and lowered his voice to answer, "It was Wang Xudong who vouched for them, and that's how they got the invitation."
Xiao Weizhi scoffed. It seemed that he hadn't done much for Wang Xudong lately, and he even had the leisure to vouch for other D-level teams.
While Chen Feng and Xiao Weizhi were talking, the others didn't go far. Instead, they stood nearby chatting idly.
Time quickly passed to 8 p.m., and the banquet officially began. Xiao Weizhi took the initiative to extend his arm to Lin Xiaoxiao: "Let's go."
As the captain of Dragon Fang, he has to show up at certain times to perform some social obligations.
Helpless, Lin Xiaoxiao let go of Cheng Cheng's hand and instead took Xiao Weizhi's arm, following him away from the quiet corner.
As Lin Xiaoxiao left the corner, she realized just how 'good' Xiao Weizhi's interpersonal relationships really were.
As he walked toward the center, many squad leaders would come up to him and raise a glass in greeting.
After several sips of the wine, even though it was only 5% alcohol, Lin Xiaoxiao's face was flushed with a distinct red hue.
The team captains were standing on the left side of the meeting room, near the stage.
Gu Qingqi, dressed in a custom-made cyan-blue gown, was accompanied by a beautiful woman in a blue dress, exuding an intellectual and gentle charm. She smiled and raised her glass to Xiao Weizhi, saying, "Weizhi, you're a little late today."
Xiao Weizhi led Lin Xiaoxiao closer and gently touched the wine glass in Gu Qingqi's hand with his own. The glasses clinked together, making a crisp sound.
He raised his glass and took a sip, then whispered to Lin Xiaoxiao beside him, "Gu Qingqi, the Tiger Roar Captain you met before, and the woman next to him is his fiancée, Wen Feifei, the proprietress of the Scarlet Appraisal Center."
Then he introduced her to Wen Feifei: "This is Lin Xiaoxiao."
Wen Feifei remained calm on the surface, but when her gaze fell on the red tail on Lin Xiaoxiao's shoulder, her evaluation of Lin Xiaoxiao rose to a new level. She smiled warmly and raised her glass: "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Lin."
Lin Xiaoxiao raised her glass in response: "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Wen."
It turns out that this is the top appraiser with great potential that Xiao Weizhi mentioned: Wen Feifei - currently a (diamond-level) [lifestyle] item appraiser. As the third daughter of the Wen family, she did not choose to work in her family's auction house, but instead chose to open her own appraisal shop called 'Scarlet Appraisal Center'.
After taking a sip of fruit wine, Lin Xiaoxiao's blush deepened, and she took the initiative to start a conversation: "Ms. Wen, I have long admired your name and have always wanted to find an opportunity to get to know you. I hope there will be a chance to cooperate with you."
Lin Xiaoxiao didn't say anything. She still had a batch of unidentified pet eggs waiting to be identified.
Wen Feifei smiled politely and gently: "It's my honor. And what you mean by 'cooperation' as Miss Lin mentioned?"
And so, the two women let go of their male companions' arms and went to the side to talk.
Just as the two girls were clinking glasses, Gu Qingqi leaned over and nudged Xiao Wei with his elbow, then lowered his voice and asked, "I heard you had a fight with Xiaoxiao. It's not shameful for a grown man to give way to his woman."
Xiao Wei slapped Gu Qingqi's hand away and glanced at him coldly: "So gossipy, you must have a lot of free time?"
At this moment, a middle-aged man with gray hair, wearing a black uniform and round glasses, walked onto the small stage of the conference hall with a microphone and a stack of papers.
Everyone present stopped exchanging pleasantries, quietly looked towards the small stage, and waited for the middle-aged man to speak.
Then the sound resounded throughout the entire venue:
"Hiss—hiss—cough cough, welcome all professionals to this raiding feast. Teams with an A rating or higher are required to join this mission, while teams with a B rating or lower can choose whether to register..."
[The "Conquest Feast" is a banquet held by the highest combat department in the capital city to recruit new young professionals to help complete missions in S-rank or higher dungeons where there are too many monsters.]
"The mission objective is to assist the sixth and seventh level powerhouses in conquering this secret realm and capturing its core; the mission location is: the S-rank secret realm that appeared half a year ago: [Yan Yan Two Realms]..."
"The allocation pattern is as follows: ...departure time ...meeting point ...Finally, I wish all of you professionals good luck in your martial arts! Please feel free to use the remaining time. I have important matters to attend to, so I will take my leave now."
The middle-aged man stood on the stage, without uttering a single wasted word. He fluently and concisely followed his script, quickly explaining the mission requirements, location, environment, and content within half an hour.
After saying that, he left the banquet with his secretary.
The five people who had originally agreed to have dinner together (Xiao, Gu, Chen, Lu, and Pei) had to postpone their meeting. The order to launch this attack left them with only five days to prepare, during which time everyone had to prepare their own supplies.
Moreover, Lin Xiaoxiao was already clearly drunk, and she was only able to stand steadily on the spot because of Xiao Weizhi's large hand around her waist.
After sending messages to his companions, Xiao Weizhi left with Lin Xiaoxiao, who was clearly drunk.
Neither Xiao Weizhi nor Lin Xiaoxiao noticed that several pairs of eyes filled with jealousy were staring intently at their departing figures.
When Fei drove home, Lin Xiaoxiao had already fallen asleep in her seat.
Xiao Wei carried Lin Xiaoxiao out of the car in a princess carry and walked from the gate to the small building where they lived. The bright moonlight shone on them, and their intimate actions made it seem as if the cold war between the two had never happened.
Lin Xiaoxiao wasn't completely drunk; she was still somewhat sober.
With her eyes closed and her head resting on Xiao Weizhi's shoulder, her breath carrying a distinct hint of alcohol, she mustered her courage and asked softly, "Xiao Weizhi, may I ask why you were angry that day?"
Xiao Weizhi paused for a moment, then continued walking in, the sound of her leather shoes tapping crisply on the stone floor.
After a moment, he replied softly, "Because of the location and content of your mission."
Lin Xiaoxiao had been overthinking things these past few days. She thought that Xiao Weizhi felt her identity and abilities were unsuitable; she also thought that he regretted it... but she never thought that this was the reason.
She opened her heavy eyelids and murmured in confusion, "Why are you so angry about the mission?"
Xiao Weizhi placed Lin Xiaoxiao on the small brown leather sofa in her room and asked Sister Luo and the others who wanted to come in to help Lin Xiaoxiao change her clothes to leave first.
He loosened his bow tie a little, his eyes filled with complex emotions, and stood a meter away from the small sofa.
Looking down into her watery, puzzled eyes, he sighed softly, "Perhaps it's because I betrayed my childhood beliefs. I wasn't angry that day; I was just adjusting my emotions."
Betraying childhood beliefs? Adjusting emotions? What does this mean?
Lin Xiaoxiao could understand the meaning of each word individually, but when put together, it left her a little confused.
Xiao Weizhi took two steps closer and knelt down on one knee in front of her, placing his hands on either side of the sofa to trap Lin Xiaoxiao inside. He tilted his head slightly, meeting her gaze, and said in a warm voice, "My childhood dream is to annihilate all the secret realms and restore this world to the peaceful state it was before the cataclysm."
"According to current information, the fastest formation of a secret realm takes three to five years, while the slowest takes hundreds or thousands of years. The conditions for its formation are known on the surface..."
Lin Xiaoxiao then realized that the vortex of the mission that day was a necessary condition for the formation of the secret realm, and that she had even personally planted the seeds of the tree demon clan into it, which was why Xiao Weizhi couldn't control his emotions.
If the pioneers encountered such an incident, they had to report it to the capital government, who would then send someone to handle it; if they failed to report it and were discovered, they would face severe punishment.
However, 99% of the people in this world, even if they live their entire lives, cannot foresee a forming secret vortex. They can only roughly understand what it looks like from the descriptions in the book (this vortex has a self-hiding mode).
Unfortunately, when Xiao Weizhi was a child, he had seen the forming secret realm vortex when he went out with his elders to broaden his horizons, which is why he recognized it at a glance that day.
Lin Xiaoxiao's face turned deathly pale, her eyes widened, and she unconsciously bit her lower lip. She didn't know that it was a secret realm that was forming; she thought it was just an ordinary mission.
Her voice was hoarse: "So, you're going to send me to the Imperial Capital Law Enforcement Bureau?"
Seeing Lin Xiaoxiao's expression, Xiao Weizhi guessed that Lin Xiaoxiao did not know what the vortex was.
He smiled slightly, reached out and pinched her chin, gently pulling her lower lip, which had been bitten white, freeing it. He shook his head and said, "No, I can't bear to see you suffer like this."
You can't bear to see her suffer? What do you mean?
Lin Xiaoxiao stared blankly down at Xiao Weizhi, her mind, clouded by alcohol, unable to process what was happening.
Xiao Weizhi stared into her eyes for a long time, his expression serious, and said, word by word, "Lin Xiaoxiao, I like you!"
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Author's Note: Hmm, Xiao is going to be direct now. Because he's discovered that Xiaoxiao is like a quail; unless he pushes her a little, she'll always stay in her comfortable nest and won't want to come out.
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