VAP - Chapter 27
Chapter 27: The Sleeping Beauty Whose Words Are Law (26)
The first thing Yue Du did after entering her new body was to raise her hand, pull the down quilt over herself, and wrap herself up tightly.
Her host's light laugh came from beside her. "Still shy, are we?"
Yue Du was silent, giving her a subtle glare. "..." Not everyone is as thick-skinned as you, Host!
Wrapped in the quilt, Yue Du sat up in bed.
The sensation of having a physical body again was strange. Compared to the weightless lightness of being data, the heavy feeling of inhabiting a shell made her feel more secure.
Suddenly thinking of something, Yue Du hesitantly raised her right arm, her gaze falling on her wrist.
The skin there was pure white, like cream, with the faint blue-green of her veins visible beneath.
For a moment, she couldn't quite describe her feelings. Yue Du closed her eyes and exhaled. The sense of bewilderment lasted only for a moment; when she opened her eyes again, she was as calm as ever.
"Do you need me to get you some clothes?" Qi Jiu asked.
Yue Du replied, "Yes."
She had fully expected Qi Jiu to use her Word Spirit ability to simply move an item of clothing over. Who would have thought that the young lady would actually stand up herself and walk briskly toward the wardrobe.
Before long, Qi Jiu returned, carrying a long dress.
Aside from her school uniform, Qi Jiu's clothes were almost exclusively dresses. The reason was simple: they were convenient to put on. All you had to do was pull one over your head.
And the dress Qi Jiu had brought over was clearly her own—one she had worn before.
Yue Du's expression was complicated. "For me?"
Qi Jiu tossed the dress lightly onto her lap and raised an eyebrow. "Who else? Am I supposed to wear it?"
"But—but you've worn this before!" Yue Du exclaimed.
"Of course I have. In fact, there isn't a single item in my wardrobe that I haven't worn. What, do you have a problem with that?" Qi Jiu said, lowering her lashes and affecting a blank, disappointed expression.
Yue Du was speechless.
It was true. This young lady, Qi Jiu, was different from the usual sort. She was too lazy to go shopping and completely lacked the air of a legendary wealthy heiress.
The whole "wear an outfit once and throw it away" or "a massive wardrobe stuffed with gorgeous gowns, tags still attached" cliché? It simply didn't apply to her.
But even so, Yue Du was certain Qi Jiu was just using this as an excuse.
There was no way she didn't understand what Yue Du meant; she was just deliberately playing dumb.
What could Yue Du do? She was helpless. Stuck with a host who loved to tease her system, what could she possibly say?
Grabbing the light-colored dress, Yue Du turned to her host and smiled. "I'm going to change now."
Qi Jiu continued to play dumb. "Then go ahead and change."
Yue Du didn't say anything, but the curve of her smile widened.
"..." Qi Jiu probably realized that if she kept teasing, her system would actually explode, so she relented. "I'll go to the living room and get something to eat."
With no one else around, Yue Du finally relaxed and hurriedly slipped on the dress.
Hmm, it seemed a little tight in the chest.
Thinking about Qi Jiu's figure...
On second thought, it was better not to.
It only took a dozen seconds or so. Yue Du got out of bed and walked to the living room, still getting used to the unfamiliar sensation of her feet on solid ground.
Qi Jiu was reclining on the sofa. The snacks on the coffee table were untouched, so it seemed her excuse about getting something to eat was just that—an excuse.
Yue Du sat down beside her.
Qi Jiu immediately slumped sideways as if she had no bones, pressing her cheek intimately into the crook of Yue Du's neck and letting out a contented sigh.
"You're warm," she murmured.
Slender, fair fingers traced a path up her side, coming to rest precisely on her neck, a place where the pulse of life could be clearly felt. "And a heartbeat."
Her fingertips paused there for a moment before continuing upward to cup Yue Du's elegantly shaped jaw, turning her head. "And breath."
Qi Jiu's smile grew even more dazzling. "This is just wonderful."
The corner of Yue Du's eye twitched. "...Is that so."
That subtle feeling of being flirted with returned.
Qi Jiu nuzzled against her shoulder, closed her eyes, and her breathing gradually steadied and deepened.
Yue Du sensed something was off and carefully turned her head to look at her.
Had she fallen asleep?
Used as a pillow, Yue Du didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Oh well, let her sleep.
Yue Du gently shifted into a more comfortable position, leaned back against the sofa cushions, and fell asleep for the first time in three years.
Life with a physical body was far richer for Yue Du than the monotonous days she had spent in the mental space.
The dining table was laden with plates of exquisite dishes. Porcelain bowls held steaming sweet congee and savory broth, and the light green Jade Stem rice glistened, each grain distinct.
These were all top-tier dishes from the System Store. In the past, she could only watch Qi Jiu eat them; now, she could finally sit at the table herself.
Yue Du was utterly content.
Qi Jiu sat across from her, resting her chin on one hand and watching with a smile.
Yue Du looked up. "What is it?"
Qi Jiu said, "I seem to recall—which system was it that told me they could be my omnipotent butler?"
Yue Du thought for a moment, recalling the promise from over two years ago. "Ah, that would be me."
Asking which system, as if she's ever met any other!
"So you do remember. That's great," Qi Jiu said. "Time to fulfill your duties as a butler."
Yue Du had a bad feeling. "Such as?"
"Feeding me, for instance." Qi Jiu pointed to the silver spoon in front of her.
"...I don't recall that being part of a butler's duties."
"A true butler must perfectly fulfill all of their master's requests. A trivial matter like feeding me is nothing."
In truth, a butler's duties were to assign, supervise, and inspect the work of all the service staff in a residence to ensure the entire household ran smoothly. But that job description clearly didn't apply to Yue Du—after all, there was no one else here besides the mistress of the house.
For Yue Du, a more accurate title would have been a personal attendant.
But whether butler or attendant, she was supposed to satisfy the requests of the mistress of the house.
Fine, she would feed her.
Regardless, Yue Du was grateful to Qi Jiu. Whether it was completing missions or accumulating points, Qi Jiu was undoubtedly the main force, while she, at most, could only look up information.
Although this was a little hard to get used to for Yue Du, who, as a former agent, was accustomed to taking charge of everything herself, she had to admit that being carried to an easy victory by an expert felt pretty good.
She always said Qi Jiu loved her leisure, but in reality, she was the one who had been slacking off this whole time...
At this thought, Yue Du sighed, but her expression softened.
She picked up the spoon, scooped up some sweet congee—just the right amount so it wouldn't spill—and brought it to her host's lips.
Qi Jiu opened her mouth without ceremony. "Ah."
A bite of vegetables was brought to her, and she ate.
A spoonful of broth was brought to her, and she drank.
A meatball was brought to her, and she ate.
After three years of companionship, Yue Du knew Qi Jiu's tastes like the back of her hand.
But Qi Jiu had no intention of being fed the entire meal.
"Ah." She, too, picked up her chopsticks and offered a piece of food to Yue Du's lips. "Do you like this one?"
Yue Du hesitated. "Are you feeling all right?"
Qi Jiu, who was too lazy to even lift her own chopsticks to eat, was actively serving her food?
Has she been possessed by something strange?
Qi Jiu seemed to understand her unspoken question. Her eyes darkened slightly as she repeated, "Do you like this one?"
A shiver went down Yue Du's spine. "I do!"
Then she carefully ate the food her host offered.
Satisfied, Qi Jiu withdrew her hand.
As Yue Du chewed and swallowed, she stared in horror at the smiling Miss Qi.
...This host must be broken!
In the strange, cloying atmosphere of "you feed me a spoonful of soup, I'll feed you a bite of food," Yue Du found it increasingly difficult to swallow. Finally, she had to call a halt. "Excuse me, I'm full."
"You're full already?" Qi Jiu asked.
Yue Du nodded sincerely.
"A cat eats more than you do," Qi Jiu remarked.
Yue Du didn't bother to argue. She suspected the "cat" Qi Jiu was referring to was a big cat, like a tiger.
Qi Jiu let her off the hook and picked up a pair of chopsticks herself. "If you don't want to eat anymore, then fine."
"Those are—" my chopsticks, Yue Du thought.
Qi Jiu glanced up. "Hm? Still here? Do you want to continue feeding me?"
Yue Du silently closed her mouth, deciding to pretend nothing had happened.
The daily life of the host and system consisted of eating, sleeping, scaring the chaos faction, and playing gomoku.
Playing gomoku was Qi Jiu's new way of passing the time.
At first, Yue Du had tried to use a downloaded gomoku AI data package to play against Qi Jiu, but after getting caught, she never dared to do it again. She could only rely on her human mind and give it her all.
In their gomoku matches, the loser was responsible for carrying the winner back to bed.
What a terrible punishment.
Yue Du had originally thought it was just another one of Qi Jiu's lazy schemes. Since the body provided by the system seemed to be quite strong, she hadn't paid it much mind.
But in the end, their win rate was an even fifty-fifty.
Lying in her host's arms, Yue Du began to question her existence as a system. "Qi Jiu, did you really try your best? You didn't go easy on me, did you?"
"What did you just call me?" Qi Jiu asked.
Yue Du immediately corrected herself. "Ah Jiu!"
Qi Jiu nodded, then said, "I didn't. This is my actual skill level. What good would going easy on you do me? Would I deliberately lose just for the sake of carrying you?"
Yue Du fell into deep thought. "..."
Although it didn't seem in character for Qi Jiu to be willing to carry someone, the whole thing was too suspicious. Yue Du reserved the right to remain reasonably skeptical.
While the two of them were living a comfortable life, the outside world was anything but peaceful.
Nature was fair. Although the mutated flora and fauna lacked human intelligence, their strength surpassed that of human espers.
Moreover, they seemed to be in a constant state of frenzy. Even once-docile pets would bare their fangs at their owners.
Most importantly, the number of mutated creatures far exceeded the number of human espers...
Compared to the casualties caused by the mutated creatures, the wanton slaughter by the chaos faction was no longer a major concern.
As early as a month ago, the higher-ups in Shengjing had swiftly launched rescue operations. Search-and-rescue teams conducted a city-wide sweep, transporting any civilians they found to the Shengjing Military District—the safest area in the city so far.
Nearly every city was doing the same.
A search-and-rescue team had, of course, come to Qi Jiu's residential complex.
Before they even entered the gates, Yue Du had detected their presence and asked her host if she wanted to go with them.
Of course, the question was merely a formality. They both knew they had no intention of leaving.
No place was safer than home, a space enveloped by the power of Word Spirit.
So, as the search-and-rescue team looked for survivors, Qi Jiu sat in the dim living room with the lights off, quietly listening to their movements.
There were very few survivors in this complex. It couldn't be helped; the landscaping was too lush, which meant there was also an unusually high number of mutated creatures.
Qi Jiu paid no attention to the situation nearby and naturally had no intention of offering a helping hand.
In the end, the search-and-rescue team left through the main gate with the survivors. Qi Jiu stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, watching them depart with indifference.
"The mission to subdue twenty members of the chaos faction is complete," Yue Du said. "The Main System probably won't issue any new missions for a while."
Qi Jiu lazily tapped her left fist into her right palm. "That's great. Since there are no more missions, we'll just stay home."
—Until the arrival of the second wave of the Recovery Mist.
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