VAP - Chapter 61
Chapter 61: The Supreme Sage Hopelessly Obsessed with Beauty (20)
Yue Du and Nai Yin watched for as long as the other two chatted.
This time, they were even more cautious. With their exquisite concealment abilities, neither the sharp-intuited Lorins nor the old man in the necklace—whose spiritual level was that of a Dharma Saint—detected anything amiss.
As she watched, Yue Du raised an eyebrow in surprise. “The male lead’s expression… it doesn’t seem right.”
“How so?” Nai Yin asked.
“If Abio has memories of his past life, why isn’t there the slightest hint of love in his eyes when he looks at Lorins? Is his acting just that good?”
It couldn’t be that they’d spent so much time together in their past life that their feelings had worn down to nothing, could it?
The System’s perspective function was powerful. Even from a distance, the micro-expressions on Abio’s face couldn’t escape Yue Du’s observation and analysis.
That was why she was so puzzled.
Nai Yin watched nonchalantly for a moment before suddenly saying, “Perhaps there was never any love to begin with.”
Yue Du turned to look at her.
Nai Yin blinked. “Hm? What is it?”
“…Nothing,” Yue Du said.
No love… In other words, in Abio’s memories, Lorins wasn’t his lover, but his best friend, his brother?
Otherwise, there was no explaining why he’d come to the Miro Woods at the right time for a “chance encounter” with Lorins.
Over on the other side, Lorins resonated with the male lead’s views on the warrior’s philosophy. She pounded her left fist into her right palm.
“You’re right! A warrior’s strength lies not only in offense but also in defense! We trained hard to become this powerful not to pick fights with mages. I have no idea what those guys who hate mages are thinking all day!”
Abio smiled. “I knew you’d understand what I mean.”
“Hey, it’s not a matter of understanding or not. I’ve felt that way for a long time,” Lorins said.
After they spoke, they both shared a knowing smile.
“It was great talking to you. I’m definitely making you my friend,” said Lorins.
“The honor is all mine. I’m sure you’ll be a respectable and wonderful friend,” Abio replied.
Then they gave each other an air high-five.
The two exchanged names and identities. Since their warrior ranks were the same and their apparent strength was similar, they agreed to have a proper spar on the warrior’s stage in a few days.
The loser would have to treat the winner to a meal—the all-you-can-eat kind!
After making their bet, seeing that it was getting late, the male and female leads went their separate ways to find their respective friends.
Leaving Yue Du to watch, the corner of her eye twitching.
If the male lead was really just acting, his skills had to be superb.
“Mhm,” Nai Yin hummed.
“Wait, let me sort this out,” Yue Du said.
Yue Du organized her thoughts.
In the original plot, the incident that caused the sudden shift in the main characters’ relationship was a reckless, impulsive woman—Abio’s maidservant.
She was in love with Abio, so she mixed an aphrodisiac secreted by a certain magical beast into his wine. Most common love potions could be detected by magic, so to avoid having her plan fall through, she had specifically chosen this little-known substance.
Then, she waited gleefully for Abio to drink the wine.
However, life is unpredictable. Abio was unexpectedly injured soon after and stored the wine away. The maidservant waited and waited, right up until she was killed by an enemy seeking revenge, and Abio still hadn’t touched a single drop.
She must have died with regrets.
Abio, unaware of the maidservant’s intentions, invited Lorins over for a drink after he recovered. They drank and chatted, and as their spirits rose, they even began to spar.
Gradually, the aphrodisiac took effect.
In truth, this magical beast aphrodisiac shouldn’t have been so potent for humans. The problem was… of the two people who drank the wine, one was the Queen of the Bird Tribe in human form, and the other had gained a dragon’s bloodline from a scale gifted by the Dragon Tribe.
As they fought, their minds grew hazy.
When they woke up, both the man and woman were wracked with guilt, their thoughts perfectly aligned: I could sleep with anyone, but not my own brother!
From that point on, their relationship as best friends slowly began to change.
But even calling it a “change” was strange. Late in the story, the two still seemed to interact like best friends, making many readers of the original work wonder if it was actually a no-romance, friendship-focused story.
Now, the reborn Abio treated Lorins like a brother. Either the accident from their past life was gone, or he had decided that this time around, he only wanted a brother, not a lover.
After sorting through her thoughts, Yue Du rationally leaned toward the former explanation—after all, Lord Nai Yin was a major variable. But in her heart, she felt the latter also made a lot of sense.
She told her host this, and Nai Yin replied, “Isn’t that great?”
Either way, it meant the mission was thoughtfully completing itself without them having to interfere.
“That’s true, but—” Yue Du began.
She watched their retreating figures. There wasn’t a hint of romance between them; it was pure, platonic camaraderie. If one had to force a male-female dynamic onto it, the best they could come up with was brother and sister.
—Or rather, older sister and younger brother. That felt even more fitting.
“Still worried?” Nai Yin asked.
Yue Du fell silent, lost in thought.
A breeze swept past.
A Miro petal drifted from a branch, twirling down to land on Yue Du’s head. It trembled in the gentle breeze but stubbornly refused to fall off.
Nai Yin drew near and plucked the petal from her hair.
Lost in thought, Yue Du didn’t pull away. Her body’s instincts had long since grown accustomed to her host’s touch.
After all, she had been a blood-supplying machine for two years. Whether she was still devoid of feelings, however, was now debatable.
Nai Yin smiled faintly.
After a moment, Yue Du sighed. “Did you get any notifications about the mission’s progress?”
“Mm, no,” Nai Yin said.
Normally, the system would send a notification when a key plot point was averted. It made no sense for it to be dead silent when it seemed completely impossible for the main characters to fall in love.
“So we can’t let our guard down yet,” Yue Du said, her expression growing determined. “Nai Yin, have you ever played matchmaker?”
“…”
Of course, Nai Yin had never done any matchmaking.
Neither had Yue Du.
In fact, back when she was human, some scumbags in her circle who were fond of preying on young starlets had approached her, asking if she wanted to play matchmaker for them.
Yue Du would politely decline with a smile, thinking to herself, You have the nerve to call pimping ‘matchmaking’? A real matchmaker would be weeping in her grave.
Setting aside those unpleasant memories, the bottom line was that neither of them had any experience.
The black-feathered crow was sent to follow the oblivious Abio, while Yue Du, under her host’s powerful concealment, tailed Lorins around the venue.
This kind of conference was a stage for the younger generation. Truly powerful individuals rarely attended. Most of the lecturers were great mages, with the highest rank being Grand Magus.
—She wondered what their expressions would be if they discovered the number one Dharma Saint was present.
Just as she was thinking this, she felt something cool and silky press against her lips, carrying a sweet fragrance.
“Try this,” Nai Yin whispered in her ear.
Yue Du subconsciously opened her mouth and bit down.
“Tsk, you bit my hand.”
The one who’d been bitten laughed, sounding particularly delighted.
Yue Du silently loosened her jaw, holding only the crispy, fragrant cube of food between her lips. She reasonably suspected her host had deliberately chosen such a small item to feed her.
“Little Rose, your thorns are sharp again,” Nai Yin said.
“A little bite like that couldn’t have broken your skin, could it?” Yue Du retorted.
The person behind her paused, then let out a soft sigh.
“But it pierced my heart,” she said mournfully.
“…”
You drama queen.
She decided to stop talking altogether.
Behind Yue Du, the invisible Lord Nai Yin watched as a faint blush spread from the System’s ears to the nape of her neck, and a satisfied smile graced her lips.
She lowered her gaze, brought the fingertip she’d just had bitten to her crimson lips, and licked it with the tip of her tongue.
I need to hurry.
My patience is about to run out. So please, hurry up.
The next day, the sparring matches between practitioners of the same rank began.
Mages fought mages, warriors fought warriors, and summoners fought summoners. The winner of each category would then face the other two winners to determine the top three.
“Want to go up and have some fun?” Nai Yin asked.
Yue Du thought for a moment before saying seriously, “I only have one summon.”
Her only summon, Nai Yin, replied, “That’s right.”
High-level summoner Yue Du retorted, “So you should be asking yourself—do you want to go up and have some fun, Lord Dharma Saint?”
Of course, that was impossible. Although Nai Yin was a shut-in who rarely left her castle, quite a few practitioners knew what she looked like.
The strongest Dharma Saint appearing at the conference in her vampire form would be a bombshell sufficient to throw the entire empire into chaos.
“You could participate in the mage division.”
“…”
“Anyway, your Esper Ability—” At this, Yue Du heard Nai Yin click her tongue in displeasure, likely recalling the host Yue Du had when she first acquired her powers. “—has fluctuations that are roughly the same as magic. I doubt these half-baked practitioners will be able to tell the difference.”
Yue Du was tempted.
She had almost no real combat experience, and this was indeed a good opportunity.
And so, it didn’t seem particularly out of place for Yue Du, a summoner by trade, to step onto the mage’s stage and fight using her Esper Ability.
Her Esper Ability wasn’t flashy like magic; it consisted of practical fireballs, water orbs, metal blades, wooden vines, and earth walls.
She couldn’t use metal or wood here, but the other three elements were more than enough.
So, Yue Du began to fight happily.
Her host, hidden below the stage, cheered her on telepathically. “Yue, take that guy down! The rose crown of victory will surely be yours!”
“…Thanks,” Yue Du said, throwing a water orb.
“Why thank me?” Nai Yin replied, her smile blooming like a flower.
The moves of her Esper Ability were simple but powerful, and Yue Du advanced to the next round.
Her opponent was familiar: the “intruder” she had met in the Dharma Saint’s castle. He was the unlucky young man who had tried and failed to attack her with wind magic, exposing himself in the process.
Nai Yin had said his name was Alex, and that he was the grandson of a Grand Magus?
The boy was the illegitimate son of a great Grand Magus’s daughter. Having grown up in the slums, he was used to hearing the common folk’s theory that the Dharma Saint was a devil.
That was why, after being accepted back into his family, he had relied on the various scrolls his grandfather gave him and, with the fearlessness of youth, disguised himself as an apprentice servant to infiltrate the castle and investigate the number one Dharma Saint.
The moment Alex saw her, he exclaimed in shock, “You!”
“Yes, me,” Yue Du replied, giving him a sympathetic look.
The kid was so foolish. If he had just asked his grandfather, he could have learned some truth about Nai Yin and would have been warned never to provoke her.
But instead, Alex had insisted on sneaking into the castle, gotten caught, and had to be bailed out by his grandfather.
He must have gotten a terrible beating. Sigh.
While sympathizing with him, Yue Du knocked him off the stage with a fireball.
Alex stood below the stage, his face a mask of bewilderment.
After a moment, watching Yue Du already engaged in battle with her next opponent, he walked away, utterly dejected.
He was still muttering things like, “I must be dreaming.”
“I should have demanded a higher ransom from his grandfather,” Nai Yin commented.
In the end, Yue Du actually managed to become the winner of the high-level mage division with her simple and brutal fireballs.
Of course, this was also because the male and female leads were both in the high-level warrior division—Abio had already advanced from the mid-level.
He and Lorins fought with all their might. Although he had a century of experience, Lorins was stronger, and her speed was inhumanly agile.
The Queen of the Bird Tribe was no joke.
In the end, she won by a narrow margin.
“You’re really good,” Lorins said.
“You too,” Abio replied.
Both of them knew the other hadn’t used any killing moves. It was just a spar, after all. If they used their ultimate techniques, could they still be good buddies afterward?
After the battles within each class, it was time for the three champions to face off.
And so, Yue Du and Lorins finally came face-to-face.
…on the sparring stage.
“…”
Get instant access to all the chapters now.
Comments
Post a Comment