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Chapter 35: Walking into the Trap
🕑 Added 2025-03-03 11:27:45 +0000 UTCChen Hour, Eastern Hall of Jixian Pavilion.
Mei He stood a foot away, gazing intently at the painting hanging in the corner of the Eastern Hall.
The painting depicted a winter scene.
The vast expanse of the world lay under a thick frost, draping all things in white. The contours of the mountains stretched and undulated beneath the snow-laden pines.
Amidst the mountains, a lone figure stood.
Dressed in crimson, they were the only touch of color amid the black mountains and white waters.
The artist had painted with bold, fluid strokes, each line decisive. Yet, the single drop of vermillion on the mountain peak, as if hesitant to fully capture the spirit of the figure, betrayed a moment of doubt.
Mei He traced the snowy strokes on the scroll, memories of a winter a century past resurfacing in her mind.
The winters on Bixue Peak were always long.
Her master had once stood atop Bixue Peak, gazing down at the world below, and asked, "Yizhu, why do you cultivate the Dao?"
At the time, Mei He was still young. Hearing Yue Qianqiu call her courtesy name, she laughed and replied, "Naturally, to seek enlightenment through the beauty of the world—fine wine and fair maidens."
Yue Qianqiu had cast her a dispassionate glance and remarked, "What a crooked path."
"This is my own path," Mei He had countered with a grin, watching her master's ethereal figure ahead. Then she asked, "And what about you, Master? Why did you enter the mortal world? Why do you cultivate?"
Yue Qianqiu turned, her gaze resting on some distant point.
She stared at the drifting clouds for a long time, yet with the same detachment she viewed everything in the world. From beginning to end, she merely observed, as if those clouds were simply meant to be there.
At last, she withdrew her gaze and said, "No reason. I entered the world because I did not understand it. I pursued the Dao because I was ignorant."
A hundred years had passed, and the world had changed.
After Yue Qianqiu's death, Mei He had shed her reckless ways, gradually becoming the gentle and compassionate Sect Leader Mei of today.
She withdrew her hand from the painting.
She recalled how, over a century ago, she had still been known as "Young Master Mei" of the Mei Manor.
That day, clad in a light fur coat, she rode through Yue City on horseback.
On the Xuanhe Feixian Bridge, songstresses waved their crimson sleeves, calling her name.
She cupped her hands in greeting and replied with a bright laugh, "The night is long, but I must take my leave for now. We shall meet again another day, ladies."
The Tianshui Secret Realm was rich in spiritual energy and home to rare treasures and beasts. Yet, in itself, it was not particularly remarkable. This year's opening, however, had drawn exceptional attention for another reason.
According to Meng Ruo, the Sect Leader of Tianyin Pavilion, she intended to place the late Sect Leader Yan Haiyao's lifelong masterpiece, Jinse, within the Yunxian Cave of the secret realm.
Any disciple who discovered Jinse would have the opportunity to study its unparalleled techniques and inherit his legacy. Thus, countless sects had sent their most outstanding disciples, all vying for that single scroll.
At that moment, Ji Rong was watching the fish swimming in the stream. With a swift stroke of her sword, she skewered a carp with precision.
Out of sheer fastidiousness, she tossed the fish aside and crouched down to wash her sword.
As she cleaned the blade, she mused: Jinse is a divine-tier manual with a drop rate of 0.001%. These people really think they can outsmart the game's developers and get their hands on it? What a joke.
Ordinary unlucky players entered secret realms just for fun, digging up a few spirit stones, gaining some experience. No one seriously expected to stumble upon a top-tier technique.
As she ridiculed the notion, Ji Rong momentarily lost focus and accidentally cut her hand on the sword's edge, leaving a thin line of blood on her palm.
Blood dripped into the stream. The previously tranquil fish suddenly turned frenzied, dozens of them swarming toward her wound in a frenzy.
Ji Rong, having finished washing her sword, raised an eyebrow as she observed the cluster of carp.
Well, this is convenient.
Might as well catch them all in one go.
Gu Baiyi stared at the bamboo basket filled with fifteen fish. Adding the one clenched in Wuyan's mouth, the total came to exactly sixteen.
After a long silence, she remarked, "Senior Sister, you and I can both sustain ourselves without food. There's really no need to catch so many fish."
Ji Rong couldn't be bothered to explain the bizarre circumstances that had led to this bounty. Mostly because she didn't fully understand them herself. She simply said, "They threw themselves into the trap."
Gu Baiyi pondered for a moment but still failed to grasp her meaning.
So she merely smiled and agreed, "Well, it's not like we have too many."
Then, she picked up the bamboo basket she had woven days ago and began processing the fish one by one.
Since she carried no blade, she used her sword instead, scaling the fish with the edge, prying open their gills, and removing their innards with practiced ease.
After extracting the guts, she made a precise cut on both sides of each fish and pulled out the fishy-tasting tendons.
Ji Rong watched Gu Baiyi's efficient movements, her eyelids twitching.
Using an invaluable, game-exclusive Hanshui Sword for such a mundane task? This was sheer blasphemy.
Gu Baiyi's fish-preparation skills were remarkably proficient.
She scored the fish backs and tails, placed spirit herbs beneath them for seasoning, and skewered three of them on branches. Then, she stacked firewood, murmured a fire incantation, and began roasting them.
As for why an unseasoned fish with no salt somehow ended up golden and crisp, mouthwatering even, Ji Rong figured it had to be preordained by the game developers.
Everyone knew the protagonist's survival skills were always maxed out. Why? Because of the protagonist halo.
In-game logic dictated that whenever the heroine was near water, fish would spawn. Rabbits too. And despite the most basic ingredients and lack of proper seasoning, the protagonist somehow always managed to whip up gourmet-level dishes, rivaling master chefs.
Don't ask why. It's just how things worked.
As Ji Rong silently mocked this absurdity, Gu Baiyi had already finished roasting three fish.
She put out the fire and handed one to Ji Rong with a smile. "We don't have much food. Please make do, Senior Sister."
Ji Rong accepted the fish. The golden, crispy skin looked rather appetizing.
Game logic never fails me, protagonist-cooked fish is always delicious.
Yet, the moment she took a bite, all her expectations shattered.
Gu Baiyi noticed Ji Rong's slight frown and asked, "Senior Sister, is something wrong? Does the fish not suit your taste?"
Ji Rong endured the completely unseasoned fish, its bitter herbal undertones blending with the bland flesh, an experience that could only be described as... unpalatable.
So, when fed to the love interest, it’s a delicacy. But when it’s for the villain, it’s just natural, unseasoned fish.
Maintaining a neutral expression, she swallowed the bite and calmly said, "No, it's quite good."
Gu Baiyi eyed her skeptically. "Really?"
"Mhm."
"But just now, Senior Sister..."
"What?"
"You didn’t spit out any fish bones."
"..."
Ji Rong fell silent.
The sheer trauma of the taste had made her forget to spit out the bones.
Surely she wouldn’t go down in history as the first villain to be taken out by a fishbone?
Fortunately, she hadn't eaten too much, so aside from feeling a bit unsettled, everything was fine.
Gu Baiyi stared at the grilled fish in her hands, took a slow bite, and chewed.
After reaching the fourth level of Yu Fei, her sense of taste had dulled significantly. She honestly couldn't tell if the fish was good or bad.
Was it really that awful?
She lost interest in eating and handed the remaining fish to Wuyan.
Unexpectedly, Wuyan hesitated at first, testing it with a paw, but then picked up the fish and started eating it with great enthusiasm.
Ji Rong watched this unfold and became even more convinced, her Junior Sister’s cooking seemed to discriminate against humans but not against beasts.
Back when she played through this storyline, the heroine and Qiu Sushuang had supported each other all the way, sharing affectionate moments and cozy cooking scenes. There was absolutely no indication that the heroine had ever cooked anything inedible. It was all sweet moments, practically a live-action sugar fest!
But now, as she looked at the endless dark forest and the fish bones Wuyan spat all over the ground, she felt a deep sense of desolation.
Where was the sugar from her game? Where did it go?
Ji Rong's expression cooled, her heart felt just as cold, and the grilled fish in her hands became even less appetizing.
On the other side, Gu Baiyi noticed Ji Rong holding her fish with a trace of displeasure between her brows. In a soft voice, she said, "The ingredients here are lacking, and there's no seasoning. The food doesn’t taste great, I’ve made you suffer, Senior Sister."
Ji Rong thought, It’s not suffering, just that there’s no sweetness at all.
So she simply replied, "It's fine, it tastes good."
She wasn't lying. She was pretty sure only her fish was bugged, missing the protagonist’s halo, which was why it tasted so bad.
But Gu Baiyi stared at Ji Rong’s slightly furrowed brows and the way she lowered her head to take a bite of the fish, and was momentarily stunned.
Ji Rong ate with an elegant posture, lips glistening as she chewed. It made one feel the urge to take a bite themselves.
Gu Baiyi pursed her lips at the thought and turned her head slightly to the side.
Half a cup of tea later—
Ji Rong finished her grilled fish. Looking at the bare stick in her hands, she thought that the heroine really had it rough. Not only could she not romance any girls, but she was also forced to cook for a villain. Truly pitiful.
With that in mind, she took out two embroidered handkerchiefs from her sleeve, one to wipe her own mouth and the other, which she casually handed to Gu Baiyi.
Her reasoning was simple, wiping your mouth after eating was basic etiquette.
But Gu Baiyi, staring at the handkerchief embroidered with delicate plum blossoms, found herself dazed.
A memory resurfaced.
In her past life, after breaking ties with the Wan Jian Sect, she had seen such a handkerchief before.
It had been past midnight, with phoenix flowers scattered across the ground.
The seventh stage of Red Lotus had flared up, the agony of a thousand ants gnawing at her heart spreading through her body.
She had sat on Phoenix Terrace, raising Yushang in a toast, savoring the pain as she drank alone under the moonlight.
The pain had reached its peak. She collapsed onto the terrace, fingers tearing at fallen phoenix petals, the liquid trickling from her lips uncertain, was it blood or wine?
In the haze of her consciousness, a snow-white figure approached, carrying a faint scent of cool plum blossoms.
Under the moon, the figure seemed like a dream.
Cool fingertips lifted her chin, gently wiping the blood from her lips with an embroidered handkerchief.
Gu Baiyi never saw who that person was. But it had been a long, long time since anyone had treated her with such tenderness.
So she whispered, "Why are you doing this?"
The person's voice was cold. "No reason. I just have mysophobia."
Gu Baiyi had frowned slightly. She wasn’t entirely sure what mysophobia meant, but she could guess, it probably meant they found her filthy.
She had wanted to see the woman’s face clearly, but her eyelids had been unbearably heavy. All she could make out was the plum blossom embroidery, each petal distinct, carrying its own charm.
When she awoke from her hangover the next morning, the phoenix flowers were still there.
But the demon hall was empty.
As if it had all been a dream.
…
Ever since Ji Rong had handed Gu Baiyi that handkerchief, she felt that the crazy protagonist’s gaze toward her had grown even stranger.
She even suspected that her own impeccable manners had somehow made Gu Baiyi suspicious of her.
【Dear host, you’re overthinking. Also, you’re not as civilized as you think. Would you like me to replay your past behavior for reference?】
Ji Rong: Heh, no need.
Just as Ji Rong was mentally sparring with the system, Gu Baiyi looked toward the misty forest ahead and asked, "Senior Sister, if we want to reach Yunxian Cave, we have two paths: 'Muyunjin' and the other is 'Leihuojian'."
Ji Rong recognized this part of the storyline.
Back in the game, the default route was Duanyan Mountain, which then led to a fork in the road.
In her reckless youth, she had failed to understand the importance of grinding for experience and had foolishly chosen Leihuojian, a path devoid of monsters. As a result, she missed out on all the loot and level-ups from Muyunjin.
She trusted that Gu Baiyi wouldn’t waste such an opportunity, so she said calmly, "Either is fine. You choose."
Unexpectedly, Gu Baiyi’s brows curved slightly in a smile as she said, "Then let’s go to Muyunjin. The scenery is beautiful there."
Ji Rong: "?"
Scenery?
Beautiful scenery???
