VAP - Chapter 145
Chapter 145: The Intersection of Illusion and Reality (10)
With the list in hand, Yue Du didn't linger. She took Ji You's hand and prepared to leave.
Jiang Yao called out leisurely from behind her, "In such a hurry to leave? Not even going to catch up?"
Ji You paused for a moment and turned her head, shooting a veiled, sharp glance at Jiang Yao. Yue Du casually patted the top of her head and said, "What's there to catch up on? You're just trying to find different ways to pry information out of me."
Her intentions exposed, Jiang Yao muttered, "...It's not like I could get anything out of you anyway."
Without turning back, Yue Du waved a hand. "Forget it. It can't be kept secret anyway. You'll all hear the news soon enough. If you're still interested in cooperating then, help me look into the Ji family's recent situation at the Northern Stronghold."
Only after the two figures—one tall, one small—disappeared out the door did Jiang Yao scoff. "Still keeping me in suspense! So secretive."
The more she thought about it, the more curious she became.
Jiang Yao's intense curiosity, and her knack for satisfying it, was what had led her so far in the information broker business. She mulled it over for a long time before ultimately deciding to wait patiently for the news to come to her.
Two days later, a report landed on Jiang Yao's desk: several factions had secretly traded for the bodies of high-level Scarlet Beasts.
Jiang Yao compared the report page by page, confirming that the factions involved matched the list she had given Yue Du. Only then did she lean back in her chair and let out a soft breath, thinking to herself what a grand move it was.
During that time, people from two or three of the factions came to probe for information. Jiang Yao simply feigned ignorance. They didn't seem to hold out much hope, and after a few perfunctory exchanges, they left in a hurry.
Jiang Yao understood perfectly well that another crucial part of being a successful information broker was not to speak carelessly and to know when to keep one's mouth shut.
She knew this better than anyone.
Jiang Yao sat alone for a long time before letting out a soft sigh. She put on her glasses, opened the intelligence dossier on the Ji family of the Northern Stronghold, and began to read through it, word by word.
A day later, Yue Du received the intelligence report from Jiang Yao. It was meticulously organized and detailed, a clear sign of the effort put into it.
"It's news about the Ji family," she told Ji You.
The little host's face clearly read "not interested," but she still asked, "Are they making a big move?"
Yue Du said, "Not exactly, but the Ji family seems quite concerned about you. Not long after we left, Jiang Zheng died. It was an 'accident' they arranged."
Jiang Zheng was the man responsible for monitoring Ji You and delivering her daily necessities; Yue Du had followed him to find her.
The news of Jiang Zheng's death was mentioned only in passing in the dossier. The person who reported the intelligence probably didn't know why the Ji family would target such an insignificant figure and had simply recorded every detail, large or small.
Ji You sneered upon hearing this. "He deserved it."
Yue Du wholeheartedly agreed. Jiang Zheng was a classic bully who preyed on the weak and feared the strong. The Ji family might have treated Ji You coldly, but they wouldn't have been stingy with food and supplies. Yet, what actually reached Ji You was coarse and inedible. Jiang Zheng must have skimmed a considerable amount for himself.
His greed was insatiable, and he failed to distance himself when he sensed danger. In the end, he was silenced. One could only say he reaped what he sowed.
Yue Du continued reading, her eyebrows raising when she saw that the Ji family had issued a bounty.
Without a doubt, the bounty was for her.
Yue Du had briefly interacted with Jiang Zheng before. With the Ji family's resources, it wouldn't have been difficult to pry information from his lips and then use the stronghold's entry and exit logs to identify her.
However, Yue Du had used a simple disguise at the time, and aside from truthfully registering as an ability user, all the other information she provided was fabricated on the spot.
With incorrect information, the Ji family couldn't find her. The portrait used for the bounty was also of Yue Du in her disguise. Trying to find someone based on such a notice was like looking for a needle in a haystack—it was bound to fail.
Ji You, watching from the side, remarked, "I haven't seen any bounty notices in the stronghold."
Yue Du said, "Oh, the leader of our stronghold has some friction with the Ji family. He probably chose to ignore their bounty."
That was one of the reasons she had chosen to settle in this particular stronghold in the first place.
After this brief exchange, Ji You yawned, looking bored. "Alright, Sister, don't pay any mind to those people. They aren't worth our attention."
"We should still be careful. Even if the bounty isn't posted in the stronghold, with their influence, they'll find their way here sooner or later."
"Then let them come find me. If anyone dares to disturb us, I'll teach them a lesson, one by one. Hmph, the Ji family are all cowards..." As she spoke, Ji You grabbed Yue Du's slender wrist and shook it gently. "Can we just ignore them, please?"
Yue Du couldn't help but smile. "Whatever you say."
Aside from Jiang Zheng's death and the bounty, there was nothing else in the report worth noting. Yue Du casually tossed the dossier aside and went back to lazing about.
For the past few days, the two had been lazing around their residence in the stronghold. After all, Ji You's appetite had shrunk dramatically, and the supplies they had traded for were plentiful. There was no need for them to go out hunting every day.
Since they didn't need to struggle for survival, what could be better than relaxing at home?
Yue Du selected a movie from her database and began playing it in her mind, not forgetting to ask Ji You, "Are you sure you don't want to watch?"
Ji You: "I don't."
Yue Du sighed, gently stroking her little host's long hair, and gave up trying to persuade her.
This wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation. On the very first day of their lazy life, Yue Du, who was at heart a modern person, had started seeking out some mental entertainment.
Her database contained thousands of holographic films she had saved from the interstellar world. With their brilliant plots and outstanding characters, they were an essential commodity for anyone living the lazy life at home.
But in an era without internet, let alone proper equipment, these holographic films could only be played inside Yue Du's mind. Ji You couldn't see them—unless she allowed Yue Du to enter her mental space.
Yue Du didn't understand why Ji You refused.
Ever since her host had woken up, her appetite had shrunk and her temper had shortened, but her insistence on keeping her mental space sealed was as firm as ever. Her resolve was even greater than Sheng Xuejiu's had been.
The first time she was refused, Yue Du had been incredulous. "If you can't combine lazing around with mental entertainment, then what's the point of it?"
Ji You had explained that she could still entertain herself. "I can create illusions to watch."
A true case of directing, acting, and entertaining oneself.
Yue Du had to admit she was impressed. "Are they good?" she asked casually.
A smile touched Ji You's lips, and her voice was bright and clear. "They're a decent way to pass the time. But as long as I'm by your side, Sister, I'm happy even if we do nothing at all."
She looked at Yue Du with wholehearted, single-minded focus. Her gaze was deep and lustrous, as if her eyes had no room for anything else. It was an intensity of focus that didn't belong to a child.
Pulling her thoughts back to the present, Yue Du's attention was no longer on the film. She glanced to the side and saw her little host leaning quietly against her.
Ji You held a snack in one hand, eating it slowly and methodically, while her other arm was looped through Yue Du's. She ate so quietly she was nearly silent, her movements minimal, making her the perfect, soft, medium-sized body pillow.
Ji You immediately sensed Yue Du's gaze and turned her head, asking softly, "Sister?"
Yue Du paused the movie in her mind. "Are you...?"
Ji You understood what she meant and shook her head.
She wasn't creating an illusion for herself. She was simply leaning against Yue Du, letting herself sink into the peaceful leisure of not having to think about anything at all.
How could so-called mental entertainment ever be more satisfying than quietly feeling the presence of the person beside her?
Yue Du, however, was thinking of something else. She knew that this version of her host had no memories from outside this world. Aside from her immense power, Ji You was just a child.
And children, naturally, don't like to be ignored by adults. Her host was probably sulking right now.
"Then let me see it. I want to see what the illusions you weave are like."
Yue Du voiced the idea anyway.
Across from her, the girl with jet-black eyes suddenly looked up, a bright light flashing in their depths.
The illusion Ji You wove was like an upgraded holographic film. Yue Du didn't activate the Silent Watcher, completely abandoning all resistance and allowing the gentle power to permeate her data core.
Her first thought was that illusions could, in fact, affect a System.
Her second thought was one of sheer amazement. The illusion was so realistic it was as if she had been instantly transported to another place; everything she saw and heard felt genuine.
Fortunately, if one calmed down and observed carefully, it was still possible to spot some minor inconsistencies. A person with a strong will and a keen eye might not be trapped by it.
Yue Du was so absorbed in her analysis that she was completely unaware she had been genuinely deceived by Ji You's illusions before—and more than once.
Ji You was a most cunning hunter. Faced with a legitimate opportunity to pull Yue Du into an illusion, she deliberately created flaws simply to lower her prey's guard.
As it turned out, she succeeded. Yue Du didn't suspect a thing. She was already unguarded around her host, and now, immersed in the splendor of the illusion, she felt nothing amiss.
The corners of Ji You's mouth lifted quietly, but before a satisfied expression could form, her brow suddenly furrowed.
—"What are you doing?"
A voice in her consciousness asked. It was a serious question, posed with childlike simplicity.
Ji You's smile vanished in an instant. She replied in a voice identical in tone to the one that had questioned her, "It has nothing to do with you. Since you've eaten your fill, just go to sleep quietly and don't interfere with my time."
"But you can't lie to Sister! You can't deceive her!"
"Is that so? You've never lied? I suppose you've told her everything about your abilities, then?"
After a brief, suffocating silence, the voice replied, lacking confidence, "I—I'm just not telling her for now. I'll explain it all later."
Ji You just laughed. "And who isn't?"
The voice on the other side rose in anger. "You lie more than I do!!"
"The pot calling the kettle black. Only a child would care about such a minor difference in method. As for me, I only care about the results."
Just as Ji You had said, the owner of the voice she was conversing with was, without a doubt, a child. Its emotions were still nascent, it understood nothing of methodology or rhetoric, and so it had been a step behind from the very start.
It didn't know how to refute Ji You's argument. After a moment of repressed silence, it said in a low, cold voice, "I'll be watching. If you go too far, I'll eat you... even if you taste terrible."
Ji You sneered. "Let's see if you have the ability first."
What does it know besides eating? A juvenile thing, ignorant of anything beyond this world. She really didn't want to admit that this was also a part of her.
In the invisible coliseum, 【Jealousy】 and 【Gluttony】 were at daggers drawn, as if they would pounce at the slightest opening to drive the other from the field and claim the spoils of victory for themselves.
—But in the end, they each took a step back.
When Ji You looked up again, not a trace of the gloom remained in her dark eyes. She walked over to Yue Du with a light step, her face a picture of pure, carefree innocence.
Then, she was contentedly patted on the head by her sister.
This was a perk one could only enjoy by being on the outside,
she thought to herself.
It was a month later when Yue Du received her next mission.
The mission parameters were simple: she was to raise Ji You. Once her little host successfully reached the age of eighteen, this stage of the mission would be complete.
After hearing the instructions, Yue Du turned to look at Ji You. Ji You, who could also hear the Main System's voice, looked back innocently before breaking into a wide, happy smile.
Yue Du: "..."
Even if the Main System hadn't said anything, she was going to watch her host grow up anyway. Besides, Ji You could take care of herself just fine and didn't need raising at all—she could probably even support Yue Du.
This mission was basically an excuse to slack off!
Yue Du's gaze shifted to the nightstand, where the dossier on the Ji family still sat. It hadn't been touched in a month and was now covered in a thin layer of dust.
She had originally thought this mission would be related to the Ji family. Wanting to understand their attitude after Ji You's "disappearance," she had asked Jiang Yao for the information to prepare in advance.
But the mission turned out to be completely unrelated. If she didn't know that the Main System was incapable of probing the internal affairs of a small world, Yue Du would have thought it was just messing with her.
Ji You was oblivious to her System's complicated feelings. She was focused on something else entirely, her eyes shining as she said with conviction, "That means you'll stay with me until I'm eighteen. You won't leave, right?"
Yue Du nodded, and Ji You threw herself into her arms with a cheer.
As expected, a host in her juvenile stage was still a host.
Yue Du couldn't help but think of Sheng Xuejiu. There had been two missions—one to take control of the Federation, the other to rule the Empire. Both were world-shaking objectives that had to be completed within five years, yet Sheng Xuejiu's first reaction both times had been, "My System can stay with me for another five years," rather than any concern for the mission itself.
From beginning to end, the only thing she cared about was Yue Du.
Yue Du's heart softened, and she gently stroked Ji You's wine-red hair. Ji You buried her face in Yue Du's embrace, but her joyful smile slowly faded, replaced by cold calculation.
Eighteen. She was eleven now. That left seven years.
And half of those seven short years had to be shared with that foodie kid who understood nothing. No matter how she thought about it, she couldn't accept it.
...She had to fight for it.
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