Chapter 16
Lin Queli was dumbfounded.
A hug, ten points?!
What kind of huge pie had fallen from the sky!!
But it was also reasonable. After all, a hug was difficult to begin with, and he hadn’t even successfully hugged him this time, it was just an “accident”…
It really was an accident!!
Before Lin Queli could even rejoice, he was terrified and wanted to get up. His hands were now subconsciously propped against Helan Xue’s chest, preventing his entire upper body from pressing against him.
Seeing the condensation around Helan Xue intensify and his expression become even more terrifying, Lin Queli quickly propped himself up to get up. But it would have been better if he hadn’t. With this push, his foot, which was caught in his robe, lost its balance, and he fell again.
Great, now his entire upper body was pressed against him.
“…!!”
When Lin Queli’s head rested on Helan Xue’s chest, he heard Helan Xue’s steady heartbeat. He thought to himself, so this snowman has a heartbeat too.
Oh wait, of course a living person has a heartbeat!
At this distance, Lin Queli also smelled a faint scent of grass and wood on Helan Xue, clear and elegant like an orchid. He sniffed, wanting to investigate further, but the next moment, Helan Xue’s brow twitched, and with a flick of his sleeve, he directly threw him onto the bed.
“Whoa!”
Lin Queli was so dazed from being thrown. He propped himself up on the bed, struggling to get up, but because he had been knocked down and his lower body was stuck in the dress, he couldn’t get up for a while. He pouted and said, “Why is Shizun suddenly so fierce? Is it because this disciple lost his footing and tripped on his clothes and fell?”
Helan Xue paused.
Lin Queli became even more righteous, with a hint of grievance. “Is this disciple to be punished for losing his footing… Why does Shizun see this disciple in such a way? This disciple was sincerely trying on this wedding dress, and now I can’t get up…”
Helan Xue looked at the person lying on the bed like a dead fish, indeed unable to get up. After a moment of pause, he helplessly reached out, pulled him up, and took off the wedding dress.
“This matter, This Venerable will consider it…”
Lin Queli couldn’t help but secretly rejoice, and even couldn’t resist turning his head to snicker.
—I misjudged you.
Helan Xue: “…”
Helan Xue said coldly, “You’ve tried it on. Blow out the lights.”
“Oh!”
Lin Queli happily put away the wedding dress. Anyway, this back and forth had earned him a total of… 20 points!
That made a total of 60 points. He had already reached his initial goal. At least now he could exchange for some life-saving spells.
After putting away the wedding dress, Lin Queli blew out the lights and snuggled into the soft couch to sleep.
Helan Xue sat in meditation on the bed, it was unknown whether he was sleeping or cultivating.
In the middle of the night, Lin Queli groggily opened his eyes. His soft couch was right by the bed. He blinked, and vaguely saw on the open window a woman’s ravaged and festering face, her bloodshot eyes staring fixedly at him.
Lin Queli couldn’t catch his breath, and he felt his heart stop.
Then, the woman’s messy, flea-infested long hair reached in from outside the window, about to stab him.
“…!!”
Lin Queli opened his eyes again. He looked at the empty window and realized that it had just been a dream.
The surroundings were silent. Lin Queli subconsciously turned his head to look for Helan Xue’s figure. Only after seeing the person sitting in meditation like a rock did he completely relax and calm his heartbeat.
Lin Queli curled up in the quilt again, but he couldn’t fall asleep.
If a ghost really came, Helan Xue and the bracelet should be able to detect it, right?
But if it was just him dreaming about what he had been thinking about during the day, how could there be such a clear ghost face in his dream?
The more Lin Queli thought about it, the more scared he became. He thought for a moment and then crawled to the side of Helan Xue’s bed.
Having learned his lesson, he was afraid of being choked or thrown away by Helan Xue again, so he only dared to sit on the floor by the bed, his upper body leaning against the edge of the bed to sleep.
He felt Helan Xue’s presence close by, praying that he wouldn’t be thrown away by Helan Xue, and barely fell asleep.
A moment later, Helan Xue opened his eyes and saw Lin Queli wearing his thin undergarment, sleeping in a strange and uncomfortable position, leaning against the edge of the bed.
After a pause, Helan Xue reached out and scooped Lin Queli up. The fabric of the undergarment was almost non-existent, and he could feel Lin Queli’s soft and somewhat cold skin.
The next moment, Helan Xue saw Lin Queli’s breathing suddenly become heavy, and a suspicious blush and shyness appeared on his face.
Helan Xue raised an eyebrow.
He really is a naive child. He talks a big game, always thinking of ways to entangle himself, but when it really happens, he gets scared. Even just trying on a wedding dress made him so nervous.
Lin Queli kept his eyes tightly shut, trying his best to pretend to be asleep, but he wasn’t very professional. After all, his fingers were subconsciously pinching Helan Xue’s arm, as if he were too nervous and afraid that Helan Xue would go back on his word.
Helan Xue placed Lin Queli at one end of the bed.
Seeing that Lin Queli was still holding onto him, Helan Xue said in a low voice, “Let go. Go to sleep.”
“…!”
Lin Queli pretended that his hand went limp and rolled himself into the comfortable and reassuring quilt, falling asleep with the scent of grass and wood.
…
The next day, Lin Queli started to get ready early in the morning.
Bored while waiting for his makeup, Lin Queli silently called out to the System.
He had earned another 10 points after sleeping with Helan Xue last night. Now he had 70 points, exceeding his goal!
That meant he could exchange for an item!
【50 points can be exchanged for a beginner-level spell disguise item, 100 points can be exchanged for an advanced-level spell disguise item! Host, you can now exchange for the beginner-level one. After exchanging, you can use beginner-level demon spells without being discovered!】
Advanced spells included teleportation and large-scale attacks.
Beginner-level spells included small-scale attacks, fire-starting, self-defense… not as good as advanced spells, but better than nothing.
Lin Queli gritted his teeth. “Exchange.”
His goal all along had been to exchange for spells to survive the upcoming grand competition.
【Exchange complete! Host’s points -50】
【Host’s remaining points: 20】
【Host’s debt: -480】
Lin Queli: “…”
I’m in debt in another world.
Sob… this is such a sad account balance. It feels like all my hard work was for nothing.
“Aiyo, Young Master, don’t look so sad. A bride can’t have a long face, it’ll give you away!”
Wang Fang pinched Lin Queli’s cheek playfully.
Only the village chief’s family knew about the fake bride. The villagers and the Demon Clan thought that the village chief’s distant niece was really getting married to the next village. They all came to give gifts to the village chief, and the sedan chair and bearers were also ready outside.
The village chief gave all these gifts to the cultivators as a form of gratitude.
At this moment, Wang Fang was combing Lin Queli’s dark hair into a woman’s style and inserting a hairpin. “The cultivators went to the ancient road where the wedding procession must pass early in the morning. I heard they even attracted the Demon Clan, and the two sides started fighting! It’s said that the cultivators chased the demons all the way to the deep mountains. I don’t know what the situation is now. Those demons are cunning, and there are many hiding places in the deep mountains!”
Lin Queli nodded. The plan was proceeding as scheduled.
If someone was getting married and the Myriad Sword Sect did nothing, it would be too suspicious. Now that the Myriad Sword Sect had pretended to be lured away by the Demon Clan, the Demon Clan would definitely think that this female ghost could do as she pleased, not knowing that the bride was not a real bride, and the Myriad Sword Sect had not really left.
After the makeup was done, Wang Fang’s eyes widened. “Although I expected it, it’s still stunning… You’re more beautiful than all the girls I’ve ever seen!”
The person in the bronze mirror had heavy makeup on. The long eyelashes adorned the eyes that were like autumn water. The blush under the eyes and the small nose made him look even more pitiful and moving. Since the blush was heavy, the lips were not heavily decorated, but their natural plumpness was enough to make one’s imagination run wild.
With such a face, plus the gorgeous wedding dress and phoenix crown, it was not an exaggeration to say that he could topple cities and nations. But this city-toppling beauty did not have a trace of aggression, but was rather cute and bright, making one want to protect him.
Lin Queli gave a dry laugh. “Really?”
“Absolutely!” Wang Fang said, “Anyone who sees you will think you are a peerless beauty from somewhere!”
Lin Queli thought to himself, it’s a good thing Helan Xue and Qiansui didn’t see me like this, or it would be too embarrassing.
He had been a little reluctant to leave the room, but fortunately, Wang Fang put a veil on him, and after putting it on, no one could see what he looked like.
Lin Queli relaxed a lot and got into the sedan chair with Wang Fang’s help.
The fake groom who came to pick up the bride was the village chief’s son. He was a little disgusted at the thought of a fake marriage with a man. He didn’t even come to see him or participate in the discussion. Now, he didn’t even plan to help Lin Queli, just got on his horse.
The wedding procession left the village with gongs and drums and headed for the ancient road.
It would take three hours to get to the next village, Zhaoming Village. On the way, the sky became a little chaotic, and night gradually fell. The surroundings became quieter and quieter. Lin Queli sat in the sedan chair, feeling the bumps of the chair, waiting anxiously.
But there was no movement at all along the way.
Lin Queli asked the groom through the curtain, “Young Master… where are we?”
No one answered.
Lin Queli scratched his head. This young master didn’t seem to like him and hadn’t spoken to him all the way.
But after Lin Queli asked, he looked down and saw that the bracelet on his wrist was starting to glow.
…?!
Lin Queli took a deep breath and remained still.
The light from the bracelet became more and more obvious. Lin Queli hid it in his sleeve and warily observed his surroundings.
The sedan chair was still bumping along, and there was no movement outside…
Swoosh—!
But when Lin Queli looked up, he saw a black shadow flash across the top of the sedan chair through the veil.
He quietly lifted the curtain to look out, and his heart sank.
Outside was not the ancient road, but a path in the deep mountains. In front was a temple emitting a green light.
Even more terrifying, the bearers outside had turned into faceless, white-headed ghost messengers.
Lin Queli leaned against the sedan chair and swallowed hard.
…When were they swapped out!
Lin Queli didn’t quite understand what was happening, he only knew that the situation was not good now.
He didn’t know if Helan Xue and the others were nearby.
Lin Queli lifted the curtain again to look, but when the curtain was lifted, what was revealed was a white eyeball and half a ravaged face.
“What… are you looking at?”
The newcomer let out a cackle.
“…!!”
Lin Queli jumped back in fright. Then the entire sedan chair was overturned, and he fell to the ground in a pathetic state. He saw that he was surrounded by a dilapidated temple with a faint green light, and in front of him was the same female ghost from his dream last night.
“Beautiful… so beautiful…”
The female ghost studied Lin Queli, her head twisting into a strange shape. “If I use this human skin, my husband will definitely not betray me… hehehe…”
Lin Queli’s soul almost flew out of his body in fright.
He now understood why the not-so-good-looking brides in the village had been eaten before, and the good-looking ones had disappeared. It turned out that they had been taken away by the evil ghost to have their skin taken!
But he was still wearing a veil now, how did the female ghost know if he was good-looking or not?
Lin Queli trembled as he tried to get up and escape, but his leg was entangled by the female ghost’s hair.
Seeing the female ghost float towards him, Lin Queli said, “I-I’m a man, I’m useless to you!”
“A man… hehehe, that’s fine too… you look no different… from a woman.”
Lin Queli: “?!”
Why does it feel like I’m being insulted!
Lin Queli struggled to crawl forward, his voice trembling. “Have you heard of Taxue Xianzun? I-I’m his disciple, he’s coming to save me soon!”
“Hehehe… he can’t save you, he can’t save you! He was clearly by your side last night, but you still entered my illusion…”
The female ghost smiled and pinched the hem of Lin Queli’s wedding dress. “As long as I have a wedding dress, I can become a bride, hehehe…”
Lin Queli’s face was pale.
This female ghost used the wedding dress as a medium to drag people into her illusion. They had already met last night. No wonder the female ghost said he was good-looking even though she couldn’t see his features now.
If he fell into the evil ghost’s illusion, outsiders really couldn’t get in… so what should he do now?
Lin Queli trembled like a leaf.
“Hehehe, don’t be afraid… it’ll be over soon…”
A green light appeared on the female ghost’s hand, but just as it was about to touch Lin Queli’s face, before Lin Queli could even fumble to learn a spell from the System, his bracelet suddenly burst into light—
“Eek, ah, ah, ah, ah—!”
Frost and snow fell around them.
