VAP - Chapter 152
Chapter 152: The Intersection of Illusion and Reality (17)
Ji You’s gaze followed the trajectory of the soul fragment’s return, her eyes filled with reluctance. The left side of her face read, “I’m not done yet,” while the right side read, “I want more.”
It was as if she were watching a scoop of sweet ice cream being taken out, dangled before her eyes, and then sealed back into its small, exquisite packaging, hidden from her view. How could anyone bear that!
Yue Du’s hands itched, and she ruffled Ji You’s hair. “Why are you so greedy?”
Ji You leaned in, letting her do it. “Because Sister is really sweet.”
Having her soul described as sweet on multiple occasions made Yue Du a little curious about what her own soul might taste—or rather, feel—like.
She opened the System Store, navigated to the Food section under Daily Necessities, and said, “Take a look. See if there’s anything with a similar taste. I’ll get it for you to satisfy your craving.”
But Ji You had no intention of browsing the store page. “It’s one of a kind. You won’t find it.” Before Yue Du could ask again, she began counting on her fingers. “First, it’s mead, then white peach and freshly ripened cherries. Finally, it’s little rose, sweet milk, and mint. Cool and sweet. I remember it very clearly.”
As she spoke, her gaze wandered from Yue Du’s clear, deep amber eyes to the tie on her chest, then slid down to her almost translucent toes, before returning to the tips of her hair, which were steeped in the coolness of a summer night. Each shift of her gaze seemed to correspond with every item she had listed.
Yue Du hesitated and shifted back a little. “...?”
Rose was one thing, but adding “little” to it gave her the distinct impression she was being flirted with.
And would a mix of so many things actually taste good? Please don’t let beauty be in the eye of the beholder when it comes to food, thank you very much!
A moment later, Yue Du said, “So, you can taste such a complex flavor profile.”
Ji You nodded and explained, “Actually, I can smell it too, but tasting it is more accurate.”
Yue Du, intrigued, started naming things. “High-level Scarlet Beasts?”
“Braised meat in soy sauce. The one I ate last time was braised meat in chili soy sauce.”
“Ordinary Scarlet Beasts?”
“All sorts of stir-fried dishes, I guess. Some are really bad, like they’re undercooked.”
Yue Du was thoroughly enjoying this little food quiz game. In the end, she couldn’t contain her curiosity. “What about Wen Yilan—”
Ji You’s expression was indifferent, her words sparse. “Ash hawthorn.”
Ash hawthorn, also known as gray-skinned hawthorn, was a specialty of this small world. It looked like a large, grayish-blue lightbulb and tasted as sour as a lemon.
It was a completely undisguised personal bias.
Yue Du: “Hahahahahahaha.”
Ji You had just attacked an innocent private chef with the coldest expression and the most concise description, feeling no psychological burden whatsoever. After a few seconds of staring, she joined her sister in a fit of laughter, only willing to clarify after a good while.
Wen Yilan clearly tasted like jujube cake!
As for Jealousy? Sorry, Sister, I can’t taste my own flavor. It probably doesn’t taste good, since jealousy is so toxic.
Jealousy, in the mental space: ? When you fought me and used your devour ability, you looked like you wanted to bite my head off. Have you forgotten?
Ji You pretended not to hear, her expression unchanging.
This was the first time Yue Du had chatted with Ji You like this under the covers since she had come of age. They had done it before, but it was more like a parent telling a child a bedtime story, or a sister talking to her younger sister about life and dreams.
This time was different. The bodies pressed close under the blanket sent a secret signal of intimacy, but there was no restlessness, only a gentle, flowing warmth.
However, it was impossible for it to be just warmth all the time.
The next morning at breakfast, Ji You sat at the table with unusual enthusiasm. She kissed the two clear pools of mead, tasted the white peach and cherry one by one, her slender fingertips tracing over the solidified layer of cream, and toyed with the petals scattered over the milk, easily crushing out their juices.
This breakfast lasted a long time. Finally, amidst her sister’s protests to eat less and stop, she gently lifted her head and licked the fresh rose juice from the corner of her mouth.
She even had a justification. “I can’t find it in the store, so I can only come to you for an authentic dessert. Hmm, would Sister like a taste?”
Yue Du’s voice trembled. “...No, thank you.”
An adorable, innocent child? She was an innocent child, my ass!
When Jealousy emerged again, the first thing she did was look at Yue Du and sigh softly.
Yue Du was not startled awake. A sigh from a host she trusted completely wasn’t enough to disable her sleep mode. She just unconsciously buried herself deeper into Ji You’s embrace, her long, gentle breaths falling on the patch of cool, pale skin below Ji You’s collarbone, a sensation that was felt very clearly.
Ji You stopped sighing and began to brush away the messy strands of hair from Yue Du’s face, revealing the quiet, sleeping features of one side of her face.
Her gaze was heavy, still tinged with the anxiety, jealousy, and wild thoughts that came from spending so much time in the mental space watching herself and her sister be intimate. But the motion of tidying her sister’s hair was gentle, no heavier than a falling feather, and certainly not enough to wake the system.
After doing this, Ji You stared at Yue Du without blinking, like a reclining statue carved from white marble, her breathing so light it was almost inaudible.
Yue Du had set her wake-up time for an hour later, and she did indeed wake up at that exact time.
The moment she opened her eyes, she met a pair of deep, dark pupils. Yue Du was startled for a moment, but quickly recovered and asked in a low voice, “Have you been awake long?”
Ji You said, “It’s fine, not too long.”
Yue Du knew then that it had actually been quite a while.
Ever since her hosts had, one after another, earnestly sworn never to hide anything from her again, their speaking styles had changed significantly—
If it was something certain and unimportant, they would answer directly with a yes or no, and maybe throw in some coquettishness.
If it was something they didn’t really want to talk about, they would become ambiguous, either saying “it’s fine” or “it’s nothing.”
Yue Du shook her head, shifted up until her head was level with Ji You’s, and leaned over to peck her on the chin. Then, as if nothing had happened, she got up to get dressed, covering the red marks scattered across her upper body.
Ji You cast a gloomy glance at her but had no choice but to get up and dress as well. She had marks on her body too, but they were fewer and lighter, and with her strong self-healing ability, they had already mostly faded.
Gluttony was Gluttony, after all. Her biggest flaw was her love of nibbling and biting, practically capable of writing “This person is mine” with teeth marks.
And Jealousy was Jealousy, after all. Seeing another version of herself’s declaration of possession, she couldn’t help but act up, vowing to conquer more territory, preferably enough to write “Clearly, she’s mine.”
The result was suffering for Yue Du. On the days when the host’s consciousness was handed over, one mark would appear before another had faded, making it seem as if she were indulging in revelry day and night. It wasn’t that her body couldn’t take it, but it was psychologically daunting.
In the end, she could only console herself: the host just came of age. Wanting to bite people, being competitive, and enjoying seeing people unable to take it and beg for mercy were all normal phenomena. It would get better as she grew older.
She selectively ignored the fact that her hosts who were hundreds or thousands of years old hadn't been any better.
This morning was fine. Ji You chose to bide her time, partly to act obedient and partly because it really wasn’t a suitable time.
They were not currently in the stronghold where they had originally settled, but in a temporary traveler’s lodging in a small stronghold on their way north to the Northern Stronghold. They were already very close to their destination.
Yue Du and Gluttony had stayed here for a day, originally planning to set off this morning. Jealousy knew the schedule, so she didn’t cause trouble. After getting ready, she stole a kiss and then sat quietly next to Yue Du, eating breakfast.
Half an hour later, the two stood at the stronghold’s exit to register.
This time, they didn’t disguise themselves or register with false identities, even though a wanted poster for them, issued by the Ji family, was plastered on the wall nearby.
But it would be a miracle if that wanted poster ever led to their capture.
Not long after the first version of the wanted poster was issued, the Ji family realized that Yue Du’s appearance in the Northern Stronghold had been a disguise. Only then did they find people in the strongholds along the way who had an impression of her and create a new wanted poster based on their verbal descriptions. Unfortunately, the portrait was so distorted that even if Yue Du stood face-to-face with it, a bored bystander wouldn’t recognize her.
As for Ji You, it was even more of a long shot. How old was she when she left the Northern Stronghold? She hadn’t even fully grown. The Ji family attached a picture of her mother next to the little girl’s portrait, hoping that a passerby might identify her through the resemblance between mother and daughter.
They would never have imagined that the grown-up Ji You bore less than a twenty percent resemblance to Miss Ji. Her face had always been her own, uninfluenced by her parents’ lineage.
The only problem was her signature wine-red, wavy hair, which was truly conspicuous. In the past few days, Gluttony had kept her hair in a bun and worn a hat, looking sharp and capable. But today, that wasn’t necessary.
The power of illusion was right there. Even if Ji You walked around with her long, wine-red hair swaying, passersby would only see a black ponytail tied at the back of her head, swinging back and forth as she bounced cheerfully beside Yue Du.
Illusion was truly an essential skill for home and travel—convenient and easy to use.
Yue Du marveled once again.
Speaking of which, the Ji family was really persistent, not giving up on the bounty hunt even after several years. When Ji You was still living in the treehouse outside the stronghold, they paid her no mind. But once she was gone, they started to care, as if they valued her so much.
According to Jiang Yao’s intelligence, they even updated the wanted posters with new paper every year and reissued them. That was why the posters they saw along the way looked so new.
Part of the reason Yue Du was taking Ji You to the Northern Stronghold this time was because of the Ji family.
Several months ago, the Main System had issued another main quest: Explore the mystery of Ji You’s birth.
Did Ji You know her own life story? She did not.
Yue Du had reason to believe that little Gluttony had unconsciously devoured a batch of external dangers while still in her mother’s womb, allowing Miss Ji to escape back home.
By the time the host could perceive some of the outside world, Miss Ji had long since been reunited with her family in the Ji household. How could she possibly know anything about the mystery of her birth?
So, to find out what else had happened back then, they had to find Miss Ji, and while they were at it, deal with the Ji family’s problem—consider it a kindness for the paper resources they wasted reprinting the wanted posters every year.
The two left the stronghold and stopped once they were out of sight.
Ji You closed her eyes, leaning leisurely against Yue Du’s side, and extended her ability in all directions. Before long, a relatively clean and good-looking Scarlet Beast came galloping over. Judging by its size, it was just right for two people to sit on its back.
Its scarlet eyes were vacant, clearly lost in the illusion Ji You had woven, completely unaware of its impending fate as a mode of transportation.
When Jealousy traveled, she liked to find Scarlet Beasts for transport. These creatures usually relied on illusions to prey on humans, and now they were being driven by an illusion to serve as mounts. After the ride, they might even be dismantled for useful resources. It was tit for tat.
Ji You carefully laid out a brocade cloth as a saddle, helped Yue Du onto the horse… onto the Scarlet Beast, and casually changed the illusionary scenery. The Scarlet Beast broke into a gallop with its six hooves, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The scenery by the roadside flew past. Yue Du wrapped her arms around Ji You’s waist, her cheek pressed against her straight back, watching the passing landscape with a casual air. Occasionally, she would look ahead.
Suddenly, she paused.
Not far ahead was a Scarlet Beast lair, shaped like a twisted tower. It was the very one she had paid special attention to when she first came looking for Ji You.
Back then, she had thought about leading a fully armed team of hunters to conquer it after reaching the Northern Stronghold. But once she got there, all her attention was on the pseudo-pitiful Ji You, and she had no mind to spare for such things.
Looking at it now, the lair’s exterior hadn’t changed much. There were no Scarlet Beasts around, only the one they were riding, carrying its two passengers as it galloped through an illusion.
Yue Du poked her host’s lower back and pointed towards the lair. “Ah Jiu, do you have any memory of this place?”
Ji You said, “No. What’s wrong?”
Yue Du said, “It’s close to the Northern Stronghold and looks quite imposing. It fits the aspirations of a chuunibyou-stage girl for heroic deeds like bravely eliminating Scarlet Beasts and destroying their lairs. Maybe Miss Ji and her teammates came here back then.”
“She wouldn’t,” Ji You said flatly. “Miss Ji’s naivety has its limits. She wouldn’t dare approach a place that so clearly spells a one-way trip.”
Yue Du: “Is that so…”
As they spoke, the lair was left behind, shrinking in the distance as the Scarlet Beast galloped on, until it finally disappeared from view.
The poor Scarlet Beast laborer ran for hundreds of miles without rest, finally stopping on the afternoon of the next day, its breath faint. During this time, the two cruel humanoid creatures on its back ate, drank, and flirted, stopping just short of sleeping against each other.
When they finally arrived outside the Northern Stronghold, Ji You dispelled the illusion. The Scarlet Beast snapped out of the false scene, dazed. It sensed the danger from the people before it but was too exhausted to even think about running.
It was a blessing in disguise. Yue Du didn’t dismantle it into chunks of meat and various useful parts.
She felt that this Scarlet Beast had it rough. More importantly, it was low-grade, so harvesting its resources wouldn’t be worth much. Seeing how it was panting as if it were on its last breath, she decided to let it go.
“Goodbye,” Ji You said. She casually removed the brocade saddle, finding it too dirty to bother taking back, and tossed it forward, covering the Scarlet Beast’s head.
The Scarlet Beast struggled to shake off the saddle, then trudged away without a backward glance. If it had been a more intelligent Scarlet Beast, it probably would have viciously retorted in its mind, “Hope to never see you again.” But alas, it was not.
Ji You, however, was in a good mood. She quickened her pace to take her sister’s arm, smiling as she described the Scarlet Beast’s look of utter despair. The two of them built their happiness upon the Scarlet Beast’s terror.
A short walk from here was the place where Yue Du had met Ji You a few years ago, the treehouse where Ji You had lived for several years.
The treehouse hadn’t been torn down, but it had been weathered by the elements and was no longer habitable. Even if it were, it couldn’t accommodate Ji You, who had shot up and grown into a young woman.
Ji You looked up at the high branches and said wistfully, “Sister, do you know why I kept jumping down for you to catch me the first time we met?”
Yue Du: “Hmm?”
She was about to say she didn’t know, but then she suddenly froze.
The one controlling the body back then… seemed to have been little Gluttony?
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