“Qing Shi!” Lu Fengmian called her name with a bit of embarrassed annoyance.
Qing Shi lowered her head and bit her on the shoulder. “I saved Mianmian just now, shouldn’t I be given some reward?”
She asked softly in Lu Fengmian’s ear, her breath spilling across Lu Fengmian’s skin.
Lu Fengmian felt as though she was about to be cooked through.
This fellow knew full well that she had no resistance to her beauty, and was doing this on purpose!
Both embarrassed and annoyed, Lu Fengmian finally grabbed Qing Shi’s hand and bit it hard.
Qing Shi was not angry at all, but rather asked her with a smile, “Does Mianmian want to make this mark remain permanently?”
“Not allowed.” Lu Fengmian’s teeth ached with urge. She definitely wouldn’t reward this person who lacked a sense of propriety. She had clearly said she was only giving her a chance, not that they were together.
Qing Shi gently turned Lu Fengmian around to face herself. Lu Fengmian took one glance at the scenery beneath the water ripples and hurriedly closed her eyes.
“You-”
Qing Shi held her hand, placing it against her body. “Does Mianmian not like it?”
Lu Fengmian was truly on the verge of tears. If she didn’t like it, would she be in such torment?
It was precisely because she liked it that it was tormenting.
Yet she couldn’t bring herself to say it, for she indeed liked Qing Shi’s beauty and body, but she also knew clearly that she did not possess the kind of love Qing Shi longed for.
Lu Fengmian could not bring herself to enjoy someone’s body out of greed for beauty when she couldn’t offer the love the other party desired.
“Ah Shi, stop messing around.” Lu Fengmian’s voice even carried a few hints of pleading.
Qing Shi lowered her eyes slightly, suppressing the gloom deep in her heart. Sure enough, she couldn’t act in too much of a rush.
“Fine then~” Qing Shi let out a huff, and then obediently carried Lu Fengmian back to the shore.
Lu Fengmian opened her eyes, seeing Qing Shi already fully dressed, whereas she herself was still wearing nothing at all.
“Turn around, you’re not allowed to look,” Lu Fengmian said to Qing Shi fiercely.
Qing Shi obediently turned around, though turning around truly held no real meaning for her.
Lu Fengmian put on the clothes Qing Shi had prepared for her, and only after dressing properly did she have the mind to look at her surroundings.
It was a very fine place with great scenery, surrounded by pear trees planted all around, pear blossoms like snow, floating into the hot spring.
Beside the hot spring was a small house, with a path extending from outside the courtyard leading all the way to the hot spring.
It was like a small valley.
“Where is this?” Lu Fengmian asked curiously.
“A blessed land in the Mortal Realm, located above a spiritual vein. The spiritual energy here is abundant, and for Mianmian to soak in the spiritual spring daily will benefit your body, making it suitable for cultivation,” Qing Shi explained to Lu Fengmian.
Lu Fengmian froze slightly. “You searched for it specially?”
Qing Shi tilted her head. “Shouldn’t I? I can’t heal Mianmian’s body directly, and can only condition it slowly through cultivation. To cultivate, one naturally needs to find a better place.”
“My body is just a setting, you don’t need to.”
“It’s not a setting, Mianmian.” Before Lu Fengmian could finish, Qing Shi had already interrupted her, and then said with a sigh, “It’s not just a setting, silly, it genuinely exists. When searching for this place, what I thought of was letting you cultivate your soul, but just now I realized that wasn’t the case.”
Qing Shi’s words made Lu Fengmian’s brain almost crash again. “Wait a minute.”
[System, come out!] Lu Fengmian summoned the system.
[I’m here, what’s up?]
[What’s going on with this body of mine not being a setting?] Lu Fengmian was furious, wondering why this dog system was hiding things from her again.
[Ah, it really isn’t. Host, didn’t you read the task agreement carefully? It was written in the agreement that accepting the mission to save this world would automatically convert your digital body into a real body, so that after the task is completed, if the host wants to stay here, you can stay naturally.]
Lu Fengmian: …
[If I didn’t notice it, shouldn’t you remind me? Such an important matter.] Lu Fengmian was truly at a loss for words.
[Sorry, I forgot.] The dog system fell to its knees to apologize quite quickly.
[Since you gave me a body, why couldn’t you give me a better one!] Lu Fengmian refused its apology and started scolding it directly.
[It’s like this, it was also written in the agreement that in order to prevent the host from being passive and lazy, the starting condition isn’t very wonderful, but as the host’s task progress increases, your physical fitness will also improve. Once the host completely finishes the mission, you will possess a healthy and complete body and soul.]
Lu Fengmian really wanted to swear at it.
[Can you guys be any more of a trap?] Lu Fengmian was truly angered to no end.
[How can this be called a trap?] The system intentionally acted cute.
[Can I breach the contract now?]
[You can, but breaching the contract now isn’t as simple as mere death. The host has to endure the punishment for breaching the contract first before you can die.] The system informed her truthfully.
[Damn you.]
[Host, I don’t have an uncle.]
Lu Fengmian: …
What trash deity, knowing only how to trap people every single day.
[Then if I listen to Qing Shi and cultivate properly, will it be useful?]
[Mm… a little bit, at least you will possess stronger strength.]
Lu Fengmian understood, which meant it was of no great use.
What a massive trap.
She had to suffer in the world outside the game, and she had to suffer here too.
Why on earth did she have to be reborn for this ordeal? It would have been better to just die directly.
[With strength, can I pick a fight with you high gods?] Lu Fengmian asked through gritted teeth.
The system thought for a moment before answering her question: [If your strength is strong enough, it should be possible. Host, your hopes might be slim, but Qing Shi actually has quite a good chance.]
Lu Fengmian was speechless once again.
On what grounds were her hopes slim? Was this appropriate?
Qing Shi was created by her, so how could she be inferior to Qing Shi?
As if knowing what she was thinking, the system said: [Host, it’s different. When Qing Shi awakened, she was already a demi-god body and the ruler of this world, but host, you are merely a mortal body. Even if you created this world, the operation and evolution of the world have nothing to do with you.]
[Therefore, you don’t possess half a bit of Heavenly Dao fortune on you.]
Spoken like this, it even carried a few hints of disdain.
Lu Fengmian’s teeth ached with urge. [Fine then, if you’re so capable, why do you still need my help to promote the evolution of the world?]
[Host, I’m not clear about what specifically happened, but the High God said that taking this quest won’t leave you at a loss, and you’ll even be glad you took this quest in the future.] The system spoke with a shameless air.
Lu Fengmian roughly guessed that she might have had some past history with this world and Qing Shi.
However, every time she saw the system speak like this, her teeth still ached with urge, feeling the painful sensation of doing forced labor.
Furthermore, since the High God knew all this, it also implied that the system binding with her was a premeditated affair.
All that talk about picking her out of countless souls because only she was the most suitable one was utter nonsense.
Seeing Lu Fengmian’s expression gradually turn to one of gritting her teeth, Qing Shi reached out to hold Lu Fengmian’s hand.
Her tone carried a few hints of unease. “If Mianmian doesn’t want to cultivate, then forget it, it doesn’t matter.”
At worst, she could just expend another half of her power to ensure Mianmian’s divine soul would not scatter.
Qing Shi calculated in her heart, wondering if Lu Fengmian truly didn’t want to cultivate at all, what methods she could use to preserve Lu Fengmian.
She certainly did not want Lu Fengmian to leave her, nor did she want her to die.
However, Lu Fengmian would definitely not allow her to use special, unrighteous means, so thinking it over, it seemed the only way was to share half of her own cultivation with Lu Fengmian.
At worst, she could just cultivate properly again in the future.
As if knowing what was on her mind, Lu Fengmian turned her head and looked at Qing Shi with a half-smile.
“Oh, if I don’t want to cultivate, will you allow me to die?”
Qing Shi didn’t want to lie to her, even knowing that Lu Fengmian’s words were definitely baiting her.
She shook her head gently. “Not allowed.”
Lu Fengmian didn’t want to scold her, but merely let out a sigh. “Are you silly or what?”
“Besides, when did I ever say I didn’t want to cultivate?” Lu Fengmian looked at the courtyard nearby, walking over slowly as she spoke.
Qing Shi followed behind her, saying with a bit of delight, “Mianmian is willing to cultivate?”
“To be able to live forever without dying, who wouldn’t be willing?” Lu Fengmian said lazily.
Qing Shi watched her sit down on the recliner in the courtyard, and immediately sat down on the small stool beside her.
Placing several secret manuals in front of Lu Fengmian, she asked, “Which kind does Mianmian want to cultivate?”
Looking at the secret manuals she brought out, Lu Fengmian couldn’t help twitching the corners of her mouth. What on earth were all these?