VAP - Chapter 60
Chapter 60: The Supreme Sage Hopelessly Obsessed with Beauty (19)
For reasons beyond their control, the Dharma Saint and the System’s shopping trip was forced to a halt.
They dodged the intense stares of the crowd and shook off the sneaky figures trying to follow them, finally stopping in a deserted, dark alley nearby.
Yue Du said, still shaken, “Let’s just go back. This is drawing too much attention.”
—It felt just like the old days, exactly like being hounded by paparazzi while accompanying a popular celebrity under her management. Except those paparazzi were ordinary people; they didn’t have mages’ scrying and tracking spells or warriors’ formidable stamina.
Nai Yin said, “We’ve already come out. How can we give up so easily? A moment ago, you were complaining about me being a shut-in. Now that I’m not, you’re the one who’s unwilling.”
Yue Du suddenly had the urge to roll her eyes, but she suppressed it and gently coaxed, “Actually, I quite admire your calm and steady demeanor back in the Dharma Saint’s castle.”
Nai Yin fell silent.
A moment later, she let out a cryptic, cold laugh. “Because that would make me more like your former host?”
Yue Du felt wronged. “…” How did this get brought into it?
She had mentioned Qi Jiu to Nai Yin before. It had started as a casual remark, but the moment Nai Yin heard the name, she had frowned and asked, “Was she your first host?”
Knowing she couldn’t deceive her, Yue Du had admitted it honestly.
Nai Yin had then said, “You weren’t at all surprised that I’m different from the Nai Yin Galor in your script. Is it because her situation was the same as mine?”
Yue Du had nodded again.
“Does she look a lot like me?”
A silent admission.
“And you said there are several of ‘me’, scattered across different worlds?”
Another silent admission.
“She liked you too, right.”
When Lord Nai Yin had reached this point, her dark eyes were like the continent’s deepest abyss. Set against the faint red at the slender corners of her eyes and the beauty mark, she looked both terrifying and alluring.
Had one not seen it with their own eyes, it would be hard to believe that two such disparate qualities could merge so perfectly in one person.
This time, Yue Du couldn’t just give a silent admission. She shrugged and said in a relatively lighthearted tone, “It sounds like your tastes are quite consistent.”
“More or less, since we’re all ‘me’,” Nai Yin had said, then paused. Her tone shifted into a heartfelt accusation. “Wait, what do you mean ‘our tastes are consistent’? Just listen to yourself! How much of a scumbag can you be!”
It did sound pretty scummy. Yue Du was speechless.
But aren’t you all the same person?
Nai Yin took a sip of black tea to calm down. After a long moment, she said sullenly, “You didn’t say yes to her, right.”
Yue Du shook her head.
“Then I feel a little better.”
After that, Nai Yin had asked what kind of person Qi Jiu was, and then never brought the matter up again.
Who knew she would dredge it up again today?
Yue Du’s mind raced for a solution, even as she cursed herself for being such a scumbag.
Unable to come up with an effective strategy, she could only try to placate her. “Don’t say that. There’s no point in comparing since you’re the same person. You’re the best. How about this, let’s keep shopping, but maybe you should cover your face to avoid any more disturbances?”
Nai Yin refused to use a disguise and rejected the idea of a large hood to cover her face. “How could I possibly let you see me looking anything less than beautiful?”
This was the self-discipline of someone obsessed with beauty!
Yue Du could only express her understanding.
In the end, Lord Nai Yin used an invisibility scroll on herself and followed the System closely as they continued their shopping.
With her host invisible, Yue Du continued to stroll. She could feel a hand holding hers, but when she turned, there was only empty air. The air tickled her palm, then slowly intertwined their fingers, and finally let out a very soft, low chuckle.
To be honest, the sensation was indescribably strange, and it carried a secret thrill.
Well, as long as the host is happy.
…Yue Du thought, her ears turning red.
For the next few days, neither of them returned to the castle.
Nai Yin seemed determined to shed her “shut-in” label, vowing to drag Yue Du across all the famous scenic spots of the Ayers Continent, including natural wonders, ancient ruins, and places of concentrated magic accessible only to practitioners.
The snowfield magic dragon was tragically relegated to being their tourist mount, flying them around day after day, angry but not daring to voice its complaints.
For the first few days, Yue Du quite enjoyed this mode of travel.
This world was different from the two she had stayed in before. It was founded on magic and boasted natural landscapes and architectural styles she had never seen. Who wouldn’t love such novel and magnificent sights?
However, after more than ten days, Yue Du had had enough. No matter how interesting the sightseeing was, it couldn’t extinguish her ambition to be a salted fish. Thus, Yue Du earnestly expressed her desire to return to the castle and laze around.
Nai Yin said gently, “Tired of having fun already?”
Yue Du said, “…I’m a bit tired. Let’s continue some other time. Besides, don’t we have to go stop the male and female leads from falling into danger?”
Nai Yin said, “Hmm, you’re right.”
Yue Du breathed a sigh of relief.
The next plot point was, naturally, the first meeting between Abio and Lorins. To be more precise, it was the part where, after meeting, they were hunted by a common enemy and, in their desperate flight, stumbled into an ancient ruin from which no one had ever reportedly emerged alive, thereby obtaining a powerful cheat ability.
They had no intention of preventing the two from meeting.
If they wanted to stop Abio from obtaining the important treasure, they just had to take it first. But Lorins wasn’t an item; she was a person—a bird-person was still a person, with a mind of her own.
They could guide her away from Abio this time, but what about the next time, and the time after that? Were they supposed to rely on the black-feathered crows to constantly monitor their movements?
You can be a thief for a day, but you can’t guard against one for a thousand. Perhaps the analogy wasn’t perfect, but the sentiment was right: how could they possibly watch over these two every single day just to prevent them from meeting? Wasn’t that exhausting?
Besides, the reason this was a major plot point wasn’t Lorins’s appearance, but that incredibly useful cheat ability.
So, it didn’t really matter whether they stopped them or not.
On the day of the plot point, Nai Yin gripped Yue Du’s hand tightly. This time, she didn’t intend to ride the magic dragon; instead, she opened a spatial passage directly from the castle.
The moment she entered the passage, Yue Du instinctively closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she was already in Dylan Canyon.
Dylan Canyon was their destination, and it was also where the male and female leads first met.
The scene of their first meeting was quite cliché, but it was described beautifully in the original novel.
Not far away, the practitioners’ conference was in full swing, but this particular spot was difficult to navigate because it was filled with flowering trees, so few people came here.
Lorins was perched in a Miro flower tree like a bird. Her loosely tied bun came undone, and the hair tie fell, just as Abio, who had also come over for a stroll, happened to pick it up.
He looked up and gave Lorins his signature bright smile. “Is this yours?”
Lorins said, “Yup.”
With that, she leaped down lightly, her unbound hair rising and falling behind her like the great wings of some golden bird.
Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she walked up to Abio, laughed heartily, and said, “I could’ve gotten it myself, but thanks anyway, bro.”
Abio: “…You’re welcome.”
That’s right.
The first meeting of the male and female leads took place in a romantic setting, yet it failed to inspire the slightest romantic notion.
Lorins was an orphan, adopted by an old mercenary as a child, and she grew up in the Red Moon Mercenary Group. Warriors made up a large portion of the mercenaries, and all of them were hearty, generous, and paid little mind to trifles.
Growing up in such an environment, the amnesiac young queen of the Bird Tribe, despite her stunning figure and naturally beautiful features, couldn’t conceal her… roguish air.
Simply put, Lorins grew up to be a complete tomboy. When she first met the male lead, and for many years after, she and Abio were the purest of sworn brothers—the kind who would die for each other.
How pure was their friendship?
So pure that the girls pursuing the male lead never saw Lorins as a threat!
So pure that the male lead even had the time to play matchmaker for Lorins!
So pure that when they later slept together by accident and were discovered by their mutual friends, those friends flat-out refused to believe it, assuming they were seeing things, hearing things, or hallucinating—
“Impossible, those two are bros!” their friends declared in unison, expressions identical.
This is what the original author said during a discussion with the screenwriter: “If it weren’t for that accident, Lorins would have been Abio’s best bro for life. No one can deny that.”
Yue Du: “…” Sigh.
So, if the male lead hadn’t been reborn, stopping them from going from bros to lovers would have been the easiest thing in the world.
All she had to do was make sure that “accident” never happened.
The problem was, the male lead had now been reborn and most likely already saw Lorins as his lover in his heart. That doubled the difficulty.
So why did he have to be reborn?
So annoying!
Yue Du stood at the entrance to the practitioners’ conference inside the canyon, feeling the air beside her tirelessly tickling her palm again. She had no idea what expression to make.
In the end, she could only let out a long sigh.
…Host, you’re annoying too.
Nai Yin: Hee hee.
At that same moment, outside Dylan Canyon.
At the western entrance, Lorins was laughing and joking with her friends from the mercenary group as they entered the canyon.
Her feet, clad in tall black boots, made a crisp sound as they stepped onto the canyon’s damp earth.
Meanwhile, at the eastern entrance, Abio disembarked from a carriage behind another student.
The students of the Royal Academy had come to the conference as a group.
A number of instructors accompanied them, responsible for the students’ safety while also exchanging their own experiences.
“Let’s head in,” one of the instructors said.
Abio followed in silence.
The old grandpa in the necklace, who had been looking around aimlessly, was startled when he suddenly saw his disciple’s face. “Abio, what’s with that nostalgic and emotional expression?”
Abio said, “…Sigh, you wouldn’t understand.”
The Dharma Saint’s soul retorted, “What’s there not to understand!”
Abio didn’t answer. He looked up at the sky, his expression profound.
Finally, we’re about to meet.
His best bro, his inseparable confidant of a hundred years—Lorins Phoenix!
Unaware of what was going through the male lead’s head, Yue Du had already found and was staking out Lorins.
The main purpose of the practitioners’ conference was, well, to exchange.
The first and last days were dedicated to sharing experiences among fellow practitioners, with some well-known figures giving lectures.
The two Holy Days in the middle were for sparring; solo matches and team battles would all take place then.
—In reality, it was just an upgraded version of the continent-wide youth elite tournaments common in fantasy settings.
Today was the first day of the conference, the time for sharing experiences. Stalls selling potions, weapons, and natural treasures were everywhere, and the crowd was immense.
The members of the Red Moon Mercenary Group were bored and started browsing the venue. Lorins was currently with a few other girls, bent over a small stall looking at weapons.
She picked up a greatsword that looked incredibly heavy, completely at odds with her slender frame.
Then she swung it with a powerful whoosh, the very image of a fierce female warrior.
The girls beside her cried out in admiration, “Lorins, ahhh!”
“Our vice-captain is so awesome!”
“That blade is perfect for you!”
Lorins lowered the blade, lifted her chin, and smiled. “I think it’s pretty good, too. I’ll take it.”
Yue Du: “…”
She is pretty cool. Definitely looks like the kind of woman who’d become bros with the protagonist.
The air—or rather, Nai Yin—squeezed her hand unhappily. “You’ve been staring at her for so long. You haven’t looked at me at all.”
Yue Du explained insincerely, “It hasn’t been that long. Besides, I can’t see you even if I wanted to.”
Nai Yin: Puffs up with anger like a blowfish.
Meanwhile, Lorins, having bought a weapon she liked, browsed a few more stalls. Seemingly finding nothing else of interest, she said to the girls beside her, “I’m going to take a walk. You all can keep looking.”
“Let’s meet up under the tallest flagpole later.”
“Got it.”
Yue Du watched the female lead head toward the Miro woods and said to her host, “Shall we follow?”
Nai Yin said, “Oh? So just watching from here isn’t enough? Now you have to follow her?”
Yue Du said helplessly, “Stop messing around. What if something unexpected happens?”
Nai Yin huffed but agreed nonetheless.
Although the venue was extremely crowded, thanks to Nai Yin’s spell, practically no one came near Yue Du.
A strange empty space formed around her, yet no one found it out of place.
“I can’t help it. If people get pushed too close, they’ll notice I’m invisible here.”
Thus said Lord Nai Yin, who would rather go through the trouble of being invisible than wear a hooded mask or simply use a disguise. “Of course—I also can’t tolerate them crowding around you, my little cutie.”
Yue Du: “…Oh.”
In any case, thanks to this spell, Yue Du easily kept up with Lorins.
What happened next was almost identical to the leads’ first meeting in the script, except Lorins’s hair tie didn’t fall, as she had deliberately tightened it before trying out the sword.
With no hair tie to pick up, Abio calmly walked forward as if he had just happened to notice the Bird Tribe Queen resting in the tree. “This is a great place to steal a moment of peace,” he said.
Lorins said lazily, “Oh, I think so too.”
“Mind if I stay here too?”
“Suit yourself.”
Abio climbed up another tree.
There was a reason they were able to become sworn brothers and bosom friends; the two were similar in many ways. Before long, they were chatting away happily.
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