Chapter 10
After sending it out, the person who offered the luck would experience a period of misfortune due to the loss of their own fortune.
But Li Qingran didn’t think much of it. Regardless of whether her senior needed this meager luck, all she hoped for was their safety.
Using a secret method, she sealed the luck into a talisman. Her complexion visibly worsened, but she smiled brightly.
“Let’s just place this talisman on the table for now.”
Li Qingran bowed her head in reverence to the ceiling, not caring whether her senior could hear her; she believed they surely could.
“Junior Qingran is grateful for your care, senior. My injuries have healed, and feeling unable to repay you, I’ve specially crafted this talisman as a gift! Though it’s a small token, it carries my sincere heart… I hope you won’t think poorly of it.”
After speaking, she lowered her head, her eyes nervously darting up to glance at the talisman on the table.
One second, two seconds, three seconds.
Swish—!
The talisman vanished.
Her senior accepted her gift!
Li Qingran’s heart soared with joy, a smile breaking across her face as she bashfully said, “Thank you for not thinking poorly of my clumsiness, senior, heh heh.”
After a night of hard work, her injuries just healed, she was already exhausted in body and mind.
Turning back to her bed, drowsiness washed over her.
For the first time in half a month, she lay on such a soft bed, and the sleepiness quickly crept into her mind.
Yet, she still stared at the ceiling, struggling, and drowsily murmured.
“Good night, senior…”
…
…
“Song Jiaojiao, you’ve made quite a bit of progress in your cultivation lately, haven’t you? You’re already at the ninth level of Qi Refinement? Just in time, I have something for you to do.”
“What is it?”
“Help me kill Li Qingran!”
“Huh? Kill Li Qingran?! Are you still hung up on that?”
“Hmph, so what? Li Qingran’s reputation in the sect is already in tatters; her death wouldn’t matter. She deserves it! Besides, if you handle it cleanly, you can easily pin her death on the beasts in Wànqīngshān… Be a good girl~ If you do this well, I’ll get you a Foundation Establishment Pill.”
“Foundation… Foundation Establishment Pill? Okay, okay! I’ll get you good news!”
…
…
The next morning, before dawn.
The first thing Chen Huai’an did was start up his “Electronic Girlfriend.”
【You have 131 days left to live.】
“Seriously?!”
What kind of game starts with a line like that?
He knew he had a terminal illness, but what kind of game predicts when he’s going to kick the bucket?
Ridiculous!
However, Chen Huai’an quickly realized that this must refer to his ‘senior’ character in the game having 131 days left to live. But since it’s a game, there would surely be a corresponding solution later on.
“Tsk, just when my relationship with Li Qingran is getting better, my senior is about to die, and then they want me to spend money to extend my life?! I see through your money-grabbing schemes!” Chen Huai’an sneered coldly.
Then another prompt popped up.
【Due to your divination of heavenly secrets, you have suffered a backlash from the heavenly path, resulting in a loss of luck.】
【Today's divination: Li Hexagram - Minor Auspicious - Suitable for marriage, avoid mountain climbing.】
【Tomorrow's divination: Zhen Hexagram - Ominous - Suitable for cleaning, avoid mountain climbing.】
“Wow, they even calculated that?” Chen Huai’an scoffed, “I’m already half a foot in the underworld; what’s there to avoid?”
Besides, with a terminal illness, every day should be a day of great misfortune. Clearly, this game is just randomly calculating; who would believe it?
However, Chen Huai’an had a bit of interest in these mysterious things.
So, driven by curiosity, he looked it up: the Zhen Hexagram signifies thunder and corresponds to a person’s feet. Generally, if the Zhen Hexagram appears with ominous signs, it’s not advisable to travel. Ominous is easy to understand; great misfortune means death, while ominous indicates serious injury, like losing limbs.
What are they saying? If I go climb a mountain, I could get struck by lightning?!
He checked the weather forecast.
For the next two days, the weather near Léi Shān was over thirty degrees Celsius. Where would he find rain?
He closed the two prompt boxes, as they were blocking his view of Li Qingran’s beautiful sleeping face.
Li Qingran was indeed still asleep, her sleeping posture serene, not having moved an inch all night. Yet, for some reason, her complexion didn’t look too good. Last night, after finishing the Léi Shān guide, he went to bed without paying attention to her condition. But before sleeping, she was still meditating and cultivating. It must be said, this girl was truly dedicated, practicing whenever she had a moment, like a perpetual motion machine.
He gently touched Li Qingran’s face and checked her information.
He noticed an additional debuff: loss of luck.
“Strange, could my divination of heavenly secrets affect Li Qingran too?” After thinking it over, that seemed to be the only explanation.
【Status: Sleeping.】
【Current Affection Level: 25 (Respect).】
【Affection Level reached 25, triggering a small gift.】
【Your electronic girlfriend ‘Li Qingran’ has prepared a small gift for you, which has been delivered.】
“Gift system, huh? That’s quite common.”
Chen Huai’an nodded thoughtfully, but after searching for a long time, he couldn’t find Li Qingran’s gift in his game inventory.
There was no email system in this game.
This game was extremely pay-to-win; it wouldn’t just give out hundreds of draws at launch.
“It’s probably not refreshed yet,” Chen Huai’an speculated.
Some small games operated like that.
Announcements update quickly, while item updates lag behind. Perhaps by eight or nine in the morning, it would be available.
Just then, there was a sudden knock at the door.
Confused, Chen Huai’an went to open it, but found no one outside.
As he was about to close the door, he glanced down and spotted a small delivery box, about the size of a palm.
“Hey? I didn’t order anything, and who delivers packages at five in the morning…?”
He picked up the box.
There were no delivery company logos or tracking numbers on the label.
Only a line of small, neat characters:
…
…
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Chapter 11: The Scent of Li Qingran!
“Ah?”
Chen Huai’an was completely dumbfounded.
Wait, it really got delivered?
Do small games operate like this?
And this game is definitely run by hackers; isn’t this solid proof? They opened his box directly!
Most people would react with fear in such a situation.
But Chen Huai’an wasn’t afraid; he had nothing to lose. If worse came to worst, he’d just die. What was there to fear?
“Hey! You guys must be hiding in the hallway, right? Come out and talk! Can’t you make this game less pay-to-win? I really don’t have much money!” He shouted into the dark hallway, his voice echoing back without a response.
“Fine, if you won’t come out…” Chen Huai’an shrugged and slammed the door shut.
He knew these hackers wouldn’t show themselves; he was just testing the waters.
“I want to see what’s going on.” He sat on the sofa, opening the box, curiosity still piqued. Since the other party went through the trouble of sending a custom item made by a game character, it must mean they were quite invested in this game, so the quality of this gift should be high!
Inside the box was a square pouch, resembling a sachet.
It was exquisitely crafted, but when Chen Huai’an turned it over, he couldn’t help but twitch his lips.
The pouch had three traditional Chinese characters written on it—Chen Huai’an.
Below it was a line of small text: Safe and Sound.
Clearly, this was a talisman, but the writing on it…
Chen Huai’an thought he had better handwriting when he was in elementary school.
It looked like it was scratched out by a dog, all crooked and messy. The craftsmanship might be exquisite, but the moment he saw the writing, it lost all its charm.
“But what’s inside?”
He tried to open the pouch, but the material was sturdier than he expected, and he couldn’t tear it open. So, to get a preliminary idea of what was inside, he leaned in to sniff it.
What a surprise.
A faint, delicate fragrance rushed into his nose.
Not sweet, not cloying, elegant and understated, with no hint of aggression, like a girl quietly expressing her longing.
He couldn’t quite place the scent, but Li Qingran’s image naturally appeared in his mind.
He even had the illusion that this was the very scent of Li Qingran!
“Oh my, what the heck!”
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