MORIC - Chapter 114
Chapter 114: Is It a Crime to Flaunt Your Wealth?
When Chi Yueshan's part-time job in Mechanical City came to an end, she planned to treat Wen Xinghuo to a meal.
As she was sending a message to Wen Xinghuo, Xi Zhoumeng was staring at her light screen.
Chi Yueshan: "Are you jealous?"
It wasn't long before the new semester began, and the list for the practical training had already been released.
Chi Yueshan still had a mechanic's certification exam to take and was swamped with work, so much so that she even handed over her treasured notebooks to the "idle person" to look at.
It was unclear if Xi Zhoumeng, who was so enthusiastic about learning languages, had managed to figure anything out.
In any case, this person was ridiculously clingy when she wanted to be.
If Xi Zhoumeng were a long-haired animal, Chi Yueshan would probably be covered in fur by now.
Xi Zhoumeng scoffed, "Do I look like the type to get jealous?"
She answered casually, one hand admiring her newly bought jadeite bracelets. They were clearly high-end goods, making a crisp sound when they clinked together.
It always made Chi Yueshan think of other things.
This person wouldn't even take off her bracelets when lifting her legs, and they had dug into Chi Yueshan, who was still sore from it.
Chi Yueshan nodded. "What else?"
Xi Zhoumeng propped her face in her hands and looked at her. "Then can you let me come along?"
Chi Yueshan hesitated. "The places we go are all cheap. It'd be awkward for you to just sit there and not eat."
Xi Zhoumeng pursed her lips. The next moment, she adopted a whiny, theatrical tone she must have picked up from somewhere. "I'm just a cast-off wife, and you're a heartless… Hiss, that hurts."
Chi Yueshan had pinched her arm.
Xi Zhoumeng: "I'm afraid you two will get drunk again."
She had no right to say that. The incident of buying a whole pond of geese was still brought up by Xi Li, becoming one of Xi Zhoumeng's running jokes.
Chi Yueshan: "We won't drink this time."
Xi Zhoumeng: "Then let's go somewhere else. My treat."
She sat up a little straighter. The newly bought rocking chair swayed, burying her face in her soft chest. Chi Yueshan let out a "Hey."
Xi Zhoumeng said muffledly, "It just so happens I have something I want to ask in person."
Wen Xinghuo was also working herself to death. Perhaps she had been worrying too much lately, as she looked much thinner and had even developed a kind of slender, refined charm.
Xi Zhoumeng chose a restaurant she had recently invested in, a high-rise building that offered a full view of the Third Ring's scenery.
The kind with a view of the royal palace, convenient for Wen Xinghuo to gaze upon it and think of a certain someone.
Xi Zhoumeng and Chi Yueshan arrived first. Xi Zhoumeng was already arranging to get back the few dresses she had left with Xi Yang.
After all, they were for Chi Yueshan, and it wasn't right to just leave them there.
Xi Yang was reluctant and even egged Xi Zhoumeng on to design a few more for her wedding.
The word "wedding" seemed to strike a nerve with Xi Zhoumeng, making her feel uncomfortable all over.
The spot on the back of her neck where her gland had degenerated ached faintly, like her unpredictable emotions, threatening to stir up something else along with it.
That's not good.
We're having a serious conversation here.
She touched her pheromone patch, and with her other hand, she purchased another expensive necklace that made Chi Yueshan's heart ache.
Even though they were together now, Chi Yueshan still couldn't get in sync with this person's spending habits.
When Wen Xinghuo arrived, Chi Yueshan was the first to let out a "wow."
Then, Xi Zhoumeng finally looked up.
She was also a little surprised. "What's wrong with our Xinghuo? Is lovesickness this dramatic?"
Her tone was probably too sarcastic, as Chi Yueshan nudged her with an elbow.
Wen Xinghuo: "No."
She looked travel-worn, carrying a large bag, and had taken off that thing on her forehead.
Her demeanor seemed more composed.
Chi Yueshan: "Senior, have you been busy lately?"
Wen Xinghuo: "Very busy. Your Xi Zhoumeng had me look for something, and I even made a trip to the Lower World."
She said it in a deadpan manner, but the phrase "your Xi Zhoumeng" hit a spot with Chi Yueshan, making her subconsciously glance at Xi Zhoumeng.
A little… embarrassed, sob sob sob.
My useless thing is so embarrassing.
The young miss, who had just eaten a cherry, let out a "hey." "Didn't I pay you?"
Wen Xinghuo: "Thank you."
Chi Yueshan grew even more curious. "What did you two trade?"
Wen Xinghuo took something out of her bag. It was all blueprints, looking like she had drawn them by hand.
Xi Zhoumeng finally sat up a bit straighter. Before she could reach out, Chi Yueshan let out a sound of surprise. "Isn't this that dilapidated bridge in District D of the Lower World?"
The blueprint was very large when unfolded. Wen Xinghuo didn't say anything; she just poured a glass of water and drank it silently.
Xi Zhoumeng wasn't in such a hurry. Having a bit of a conscience after all, she said perfunctorily, "You've worked hard."
Wen Xinghuo shook her head. "It's what I should do. You don't have to pay me."
Xi Zhoumeng: "I paid you according to your hourly wage at the boxing ring. No need to be polite, it's not like I'm short on money."
Chi Yueshan: Can this person not show off?
She unfolded the paper. Just by looking at the floor plan, she could recognize many familiar terrains.
Wen Xinghuo looked at Xi Zhoumeng and said, "It's just as you said."
Chi Yueshan grew even more curious. "How did you find out?"
Xi Zhoumeng reached out and put an arm around Chi Yueshan's shoulder. "My girlfriend, of course."
Wen Xinghuo looked at Chi Yueshan in surprise. "You knew all along that there was something wrong with the Lower World?"
Chi Yueshan understood then. Xi Zhoumeng had been busy these past few days, with no time to act like her usual carefree self. She was clearly analyzing the things Zhou Fengqin had left behind.
Xi Zhoumeng: "She had a master who was very formidable."
She rarely praised people, as usually no one was more outstanding than her, so her compliments carried a lot of weight.
Wen Xinghuo lowered her head to get something else. "This is the empty shell I found."
She took out a transparent jar. Xi Zhoumeng frowned. "Don't show it to me."
She even exaggeratedly hid behind Chi Yueshan.
Even if it was just an empty shell, not a complete specimen, the thing was still disgusting beyond measure.
Chi Yueshan suddenly lost her appetite.
Xi Zhoumeng: "We're eating. Did you really have to take it out right now?"
Wen Xinghuo: "Sorry."
Xi Zhoumeng was used to this person's ways. She took a deep breath.
"Let's eat first, we can talk later."
But during the meal, it was inevitable that they would talk about these things.
Especially since two of the three people at the table were from the Lower World.
Chi Yueshan hadn't been back, but she was very curious how Wen Xinghuo could still recognize the way. She asked, "Haven't you been back for many years?"
Wen Xinghuo: "Occasionally, I have part-time jobs for transport, so I go sometimes."
Chi Yueshan was still looking at the map Wen Xinghuo had drawn. The Capital Star wasn't that big. The dividing line between the Upper and Lower Worlds was said to have suddenly appeared in the year the Secondary Differentiations began.
From then on, humanity's wars ceased, and instead, they had to fight against those ugly creatures that had suddenly appeared.
Alphas distinguished themselves, mechas came into being, and Omegas became a rare species.
The quality of education in the Lower World was worrying. History was always taught with perfunctory documentaries by the teachers. Chi Yueshan attended for a short while before choosing to self-study without any hesitation.
Focusing entirely on the Guyun Academy entrance exam questions.
Xi Zhoumeng had never been to the Lower World, but she had seen documentaries. One had to pass through a long tunnel and then arrive at the checkpoint to the Upper World.
The time and place were completely fixed, and identity verification was required every time.
"I remember you have to apply, right? How do you two travel back and forth?"
Wen Xinghuo did high-paying, shady jobs. Chi Yueshan had also revealed that she had come over once.
It was all smuggling.
Wen Xinghuo said as if it were a matter of course, "Anything can be done with money."
Chi Yueshan nodded like a pecking chicken. "Exactly, exactly."
Xi Zhoumeng stuffed a spoonful of jam into her mouth.
"What's on both sides of the tunnel?"
Wen Xinghuo didn't know how to describe it, even though she had traveled back and forth many times.
But she still remembered the feeling of being taken through the tunnel to the Upper World for the first time.
Chillingly cold.
Both sides were made of reprocessed granite, carved with stories from a distant past, presented as bas-reliefs.
Alpha warriors fighting the Zerg with their flesh and blood, the birth of mecha pilots, the combination of industry and technology, the retreat of the Zerg.
The Zerg went from being evenly matched at the beginning to later having regular Zerg Tides.
It was entirely a testament to humanity's glory.
Wen Xinghuo recalled that tunnel, but she always felt…
"I always feel like I'm being watched."
Chi Yueshan said the words she wanted to say for her.
The Omega girl was completely different from when they first met. She pushed Xi Zhoumeng away in disgust and took another sip of water.
"It's very cold."
"But I was smuggled through. That tunnel was probably an old, abandoned one that those people reopened. It didn't have the magnificent bas-reliefs mentioned in the documentaries, just defective ones."
"Later, after I got into Guyun Academy, I didn't have to be smuggled anymore. The official tunnel is much more spacious, and the lights are very bright. There's nothing to be afraid of."
After saying that, Chi Yueshan added, "I wasn't very scared, it's just, um… too cold."
She even glanced at Xi Zhoumeng.
Xi Zhoumeng propped her face in one hand, her light screen displaying photos of the tunnel.
"It's been too long. I remember the change in government also happened in the years the Zerg retreated, right?"
It was unclear who she was asking, but the other two at the table weren't very good at this subject.
Chi Yueshan gave a vague "mhm," planning to look it up secretly later.
Xi Zhoumeng sighed. "So troublesome. I originally just wanted to set Wen Xinghuo up on a date."
How did I end up getting involved in such a big mess?
Even if she didn't say the rest, Chi Yueshan could guess what she wanted to say.
Xi Zhoumeng really knew how to enjoy life. She acted as if she were born to have nothing to do with all this fighting and killing. The change of dynasties wouldn't stop her from living a life of hedonism.
But as it happened, only the few of them knew about this matter right now.
And as it happened, Sheng Yangkui could not die.
If it was the same as the last life, wouldn't all their efforts be for nothing?
【Xi Zhoumeng: The plot is already different from the original work. So it doesn't matter if I don't follow the main storyline, right?】
【Xi Zhoumeng: Are you trying to electrocute me?】
But the system seemed to have disappeared.
Xi Zhoumeng sighed, feeling that the little thing that had accompanied her for so many years also had its secrets.
Could it be that there were many systems in the world, and they had to socialize?
Or was it auto-repairing again, and would turn into something useful when it was done?
Xi Zhoumeng always felt that this thing's flustered and angry appearance was a bit like the Chi Yueshan beside her.
But Chi Yueshan was sitting right next to her, alive and well.
Then what was the system?
Chi Yueshan felt her skin crawl under her gaze and let out a "hey." "Why are you so insistent on setting Senior Wen up? What will happen if she doesn't fall in love?"
Wen Xinghuo was numb. What Sheng Yangkui had said about the previous life had scared her.
Killing the queen, beheading.
She really couldn't imagine that day would ever come for her.
At that time, Sheng Yangkui's consciousness had been completely eroded, with only a tiny bit of her own feelings remaining.
Which also perished with the beheading.
So in Sheng Yangkui's past life, did that thing die, or did it find another host?
Wen Xinghuo frowned, eating her steak with such deep-seated hatred that it seemed like this was her last meal before execution.
Xi Zhoumeng propped her face in her hands and said with a grin, "She'll die if she doesn't fall in love. Just like me, without you, I'm just a walking corpse."
Chi Yueshan was so grossed out by the cheesiness she felt a little like throwing up.
Xi Zhoumeng laughed out loud, picked up the blueprint, and carefully examined the dividing line.
If those Zergs were all hibernating in this place before the Zerg Tides, then it was no wonder the Lower World was so desolate.
No sun, not a blade of grass grew.
But what about other star systems? Not every planet was divided into an Upper and Lower World. Could it be that the Capital Star had something that specially attracted the Zerg?
If the queen of every star system was a puppet, assuming the Zerg's queen was in the R-Galaxy, if the queen of the R-Galaxy died, would it all be over for good?
This meal left Chi Yueshan a bit dispirited. When it was time to go back after eating, she didn't say much.
Instead, it was Wen Xinghuo who, when they were parting ways, very solemnly said "thank you" to Xi Zhoumeng.
Xi Zhoumeng, while grabbing hold of the dazed Chi Yueshan, said, "If you want to thank me, then you can do the charging-into-the-fray kind of work."
Wen Xinghuo nodded. "Of course."
There was a child selling flowers on the roadside. Chi Yueshan saw a child who looked a little familiar.
It seemed to be the one from when Xi Zhoumeng was selling flowers.
She broke free from Xi Zhoumeng's hand and walked over.
Xi Zhoumeng: "Where are you going?"
Chi Yueshan: "To buy something."
Xi Zhoumeng smiled as she watched Chi Yueshan's back.
"Wen Xinghuo."
The Alpha standing beside her was suddenly called out. She was stunned for a few seconds before responding with a "mhm."
"If something unexpected happens during the practical training, you have to help me protect Chi Yueshan."
Wen Xinghuo looked at Xi Zhoumeng in astonishment. "But this time, we weren't assigned to the dwarf planet from the last life."
Xi Zhoumeng was still holding the map. She had no interest in taking the box of bugs back, but she tightened her grip on the thing in her hand.
"Do you believe in fate?"
Wen Xinghuo shook her head.
Xi Zhoumeng: "I still do."
She rarely had such profound moments. In Wen Xinghuo's impression, she was always carefree.
"Since in your wife's past life both Chi Yueshan and I died, this time, even if we're lucky enough not to die, it will be exchanged for something else."
"Do you remember when we were in the second year of Deya Middle School? Back then, you were shot between the eyebrows by A'Fu's arrow, and I blocked it for you."
Of course Wen Xinghuo remembered. That year, Xi Zhoumeng took a half-year leave of absence for that reason. It coincided with her differentiation, and she didn't appear for almost ten months.
"Didn't you still get grazed by an arrow in the temple at the hunting grounds later on?"
Xi Zhoumeng chuckled. "I heard that arrow was blown by the wind."
Wen Xinghuo touched the scar on her temple. Compared to the one on her eye, it wasn't very serious.
But at the time, it caused a huge sensation, and everyone said she was going to die.
Xi Zhoumeng: "Maybe that was the price."
She was clearly smiling when she said this, but Wen Xinghuo felt that she wasn't happy.
Her beautiful eyebrows knitted together, as if she had thought of something bad.
But Chi Yueshan was already running over, holding a cluster of blooming yellow roses, rushing towards Xi Zhoumeng.
Xi Zhoumeng sighed again. "It doesn't matter. I'm experienced."
The me of now is different from the me of any lifetime, any space.
I have a moon rushing towards me.
Xi Zhoumeng said another goodbye and went to meet Chi Yueshan.
The language of yellow roses has nothing to do with romance, and isn't even beautiful.
But to the two of them, it was deeply meaningful. Constantly passing away represented constantly possessing, which could also be considered everlasting.
Wen Xinghuo watched as Xi Zhoumeng pulled Chi Yueshan, flowers and all, into her arms.
For a moment, she had the illusion that this scene was not easily achieved.
The next second, Wen Xinghuo smiled and turned to disappear into the crowd.
Chi Yueshan: "So many people are watching."
Xi Zhoumeng: "It's rare for you to be willing to spend money on me. What's wrong with letting people see?"
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