VAP - Chapter 29
Chapter 29: The Sleeping Beauty Whose Words Are Law (28)
When Qi Jiu said this, everyone in the protagonist's group was stunned.
While same-sex attraction wasn't unheard of these days, hearing such an announcement so suddenly still came as a subconscious shock.
Yue Du, however, wasn't surprised in the slightest.
The young miss really never passes up an opportunity to tease me, does she...
With that thought, she stepped forward and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Ah Jiu likes to joke. We're just friends."
Qi Jiu leaned against her shoulder, lazily drawing out her words. "Ehh—was I wrong? A female friend is a girlfriend, isn't it?"
Yue Du was helpless. Seeing that her host's playful mood wasn't about to end, she said indulgently, "Alright, you're right."
Qi Jiu giggled.
The expressions on the faces of the protagonist's group grew complicated. "..."
Seeing their intimate posture, maybe they really were a couple?
Girls could be very close with each other—that's what best friends were for, after all—but they usually wouldn't make jokes like this.
A couple. Confirmed!
Xing Qingcang, however, was different from his teammates.
He was, one might say, completely clueless when it came to matters of the heart. He believed whatever Yue Du said. And though he didn't understand what was so funny about the joke, he still said politely, "Haha, you're very humorous."
Yue Du replied on Qi Jiu's behalf, "Thank you."
Chatting aside, there was still business to attend to.
Qi Jiu needed to subdue the black tiger that had tried to eat the little girl to complete her mission, while Xing Qingcang needed to bring the black tiger back to the S-City military district.
Mutated creatures had caused immense casualties among humans, but they weren't entirely without benefits. They were an excellent source of food, and eating them could even enhance one's Esper Ability.
This black tiger was probably enough to feed ten able-bodied men for a month, and its bones, blood, and sinews were all precious materials for research.
S-City was determined to acquire this black tiger.
However...
After all, it was Yue Du who had subdued the black tiger, so the right to decide its fate was naturally hers. How could the protagonist's group have the nerve to snatch prey from a young girl?
"We really need it," Xing Qingcang said. "Name your price."
Qi Jiu didn't speak, merely nuzzling against the crook of Yue Du's shoulder.
Only the two of them knew they were engaged in a private conversation. Even outside the mental space, a system could still communicate with its host in this manner.
"You talk to him." Qi Jiu seemed utterly uninterested. She had no desire to deal with other people; it was far too dull.
Yue Du thought for a moment. "They really need that tiger. As long as our request isn't too outrageous, they should agree. But then again, Ah Jiu, what is it that you want?"
The question stumped Qi Jiu.
With her Esper Ability, there was basically nothing in this world she couldn't obtain.
As for things that didn't exist in this world, the system store most likely had them, and there was no way Xing Qingcang could procure them.
So what was the point of naming a price?
The young miss made a swift decision. "Then let's not bother talking to them. We'll finish the mission, wipe their memories, and leave."
Yue Du replied, "Alright."
And so, Qi Jiu walked up to the black tiger as if no one else was there.
The tiger was still unconscious and motionless. Qi Jiu, of course, had no patience to wait for it to wake up naturally. "Get up," she said coldly.
The black tiger's eyes snapped open. If one looked closely, one could even see the utter confusion in them.
But it quickly realized its predicament. With a yowl, it scrambled to its feet and crouched low, letting out a growl. "Roar—"
Qi Jiu lowered her eyes, her gaze chillingly cold.
Back when she hadn't yet learned to restrain the aura of her Esper Ability, no mutated animal had dared to approach her.
If Qi Jiu had unleashed her aura without reservation when facing the black tiger earlier, it never would have had the chance to see her as prey. It would have likely tucked its tail and fled at the first possible moment.
Too lazy to say anything more, Qi Jiu simply released her aura, which was enough to force the mutated black tiger to lower its massive head, its body trembling uncontrollably.
"Do you submit?" Qi Jiu asked softly.
What could the black tiger do? It lowered its head even further, letting out a whimper of submission. "...Oof."
If it had known, it wouldn't have come out hunting today. Wouldn't it have been better to stay in its cave and have a nice, long nap!
As expected, the mission completion notification chimed.
With a weary expression, Qi Jiu withdrew her gaze and said to Yue Du, "It's settled. Let's go back."
Before Yue Du could respond, Xing Qingcang asked in bewilderment, "What's going on? Student Qi Jiu, is your Esper Ability beast taming? But that can't be right, you just teleported here..."
Professor Xing, ever obsessed with his research, felt he had discovered the truth. "Which one of you is a dual-ability user?"
Yue Du replied, "Frankly, even if one of us were, asking like that isn't going to make anyone want to tell you."
Someone please give this male lead a bit of emotional intelligence.
Xing Qingcang realized she was right and immediately apologized. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me."
But as he spoke, his eager gaze kept darting toward Qi Jiu, clearly having already decided that she was the dual-ability user.
Qi Jiu had no intention of dealing with him. She turned to the protagonist's group and spread her fingers.
"Erase all their memories of me from today," Qi Jiu said.
The mission was complete, so there was no reason to stay. Whoever wanted the black tiger's carcass could have it; it wasn't as delicious as the meat from the system store anyway.
The Word Spirit ability activated.
The expressions of the protagonist's group went vacant. Among them, a small, petite girl actually resisted for a few extra seconds, trying to fight against the power that was stripping away her memories.
But it was clearly all in vain.
A moment later.
Xing Qingcang was the first to recover from the dizziness. He instinctively raised his head, on guard, only to find a black tiger lying motionless on the ground before him, while his companions were still dazed behind him.
Xing Qingcang was silent for two seconds, then suddenly pulled his phone from an inner pocket and checked the time.
They had started fighting the black tiger at ten in the morning. The struggle had been long, and everyone had sustained some degree of injury. They had even been prepared to sacrifice a team member to take down this beast that had harmed so many people.
But it was now ten-fifty. Subtracting the time they had spent fighting, something else must have happened in the interim.
How else could he explain the black tiger's sudden, inexplicable listlessness, or the fact that his companions also seemed to be in a trance?
Just as he was speculating, the black tiger seemed to realize that the most terrifying big shot had left and wasn't coming back. It immediately sprang to life and bounded away.
Xing Qingcang yelled, "Where do you think you're going!"
The members of the protagonist's group, recovering one by one, shouted, "Stop it! Create an opening for Professor Xing to capture it!"
A chaotic battle ensued, and Xing Qingcang finally had no more time to ponder that question.
But a seed of doubt had been planted in his heart.
A few days ago, hadn't there been a report from G-City about an esper with a strange ability, one who could steal time and erase memories?
Back at Qi Jiu's home.
Two beautiful figures suddenly appeared in the living room.
The moment she was home, Qi Jiu leaned lazily against the sofa, expertly settling into the most relaxed posture possible.
She opened her arms, a smile in her voice. "Housekeeper, won't you perform the duties of a bolster pillow for me?"
Yue Du habitually started to step forward, then abruptly stopped.
She looked at Qi Jiu, and for some reason, she was reminded of her host's earlier joke.
No.
Observing her host's expression, Yue Du spoke up. "Next time, you'd better not make that kind of joke."
Qi Jiu paused, then looked up. "What joke?"
Yue Du said in a nonchalant tone, "The whole 'girlfriend' thing. It's not a very good joke; it's more awkward than anything."
Qi Jiu frowned. "You think that was a joke? It was clearly a statement of fact."
Yue Du was speechless. "..."
Seeing her host's rare, serious expression, Yue Du could finally be certain that something was truly different from what she had originally assumed.
Yue Du asked tentatively, "You like me?"
Qi Jiu stated as if it were a matter of course, "Isn't it obvious? In the whole world, I only like you. Everyone else is boring."
Hearing the first half of the sentence, Yue Du's heart leaped into her throat. But upon hearing the second half, she breathed a sigh of relief. Her heart settled neatly back into place, no longer suspended in mid-air.
"That's not the kind of 'like' I'm talking about," Yue Du explained. "If you think everyone else is uninteresting and only find it fun to pass the time with me, that just means you see me as a friend. That's not the same as the 'like' between lovers."
Qi Jiu said, "Oh, is that so?"
Yue Du nodded. "Yes, it is."
Qi Jiu retorted, "The hell it is."
Yue Du was speechless again. "..."
At that moment, Qi Jiu was leaning against the sofa, her posture the very picture of indolence, yet the light glinting in her deep black eyes was incredibly sharp.
"That tone of yours... you're trying to coax me like some child who doesn't understand anything," she said with certainty.
Yue Du found it hard to defend herself. "This is just standard counseling on romantic relationships!"
"Still won't admit it? Isn't counseling for children?" Qi Jiu laughed.
"There are adult classes, too..." Under Qi Jiu's heavy gaze, Yue Du's voice trailed off. She finally sighed. "If you're certain, then should I take this as a confession?"
Qi Jiu said, "I'm certain."
Yue Du replied, "Then I'm sorry, but I refuse. I'm straight."
Qi Jiu tilted her head. "You've liked someone before?"
Yue Du remained calm. "I haven't liked anyone, I'm a system, after all. In the future, I'll find a system I like. You see, Host, you might not know this, but we systems as a race... we're born with our settings locked to 'straight.' We're straight for life. It can't be changed."
Qi Jiu laughed, exasperated. "Go on, keep making things up. I'd like to see what else you can come up with."
Yue Du protested, "You can't just say I'm making it up simply because you're unfamiliar with the system race!"
Qi Jiu replied, "Heh."
The rejection was completely unexpected. Yue Du's slick move of blaming her entire race perfectly derailed Qi Jiu's domineering-CEO-style confession script.
Qi Jiu lowered her eyes.
Perhaps it was the atmosphere, but this gesture, which on any other day would have simply looked weary, now seemed somewhat innocent and dejected, enough to make one's heart ache.
Yue Du sighed. "Why bother? You like girls, and there are plenty of beautiful girls out there. Why cross species just for fun?"
Qi Jiu said sullenly, "I'm not human, either."
Yue Du countered, "But you're not a system."
Qi Jiu had no way to refute that point.
To be honest, she had originally planned for a slow-burn approach—boiling the frog in warm water, so to speak. It was considered the most effective method, far more reliable than a sudden confession.
The problem was, Yue Du wasn't the kind of person who could be boiled in warm water!
The moment something went wrong, she would immediately retreat behind a safe line. If things reached that point, there would be no room left to maneuver at all.
Besides... she herself wasn't the patient type. The restraint she had shown these past few days was more than enough.
"Aren't you afraid I'll use my Word Spirit ability?" Qi Jiu asked softly.
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