Isn't This a Game? Why Are You All Cultivating for Real!

Chapter 172: Chapter 172: Village Massacre

After moving into the Qin Mansion, Song Jiulai saw that she wasn’t the only one.

The Cultivator from this morning who had planted something to trick Little Cui had also moved in.

Little Cui had told her so.

She had been assigned the room right next to his.

After showing Song Jiulai in, Little Cui gave her a few words of advice: don’t go near the Main Residence of Qin Mansion, but feel free to wander around other parts of the estate. Then, she left.

The male Cultivator waited until Little Cui was gone before stepping out.

He looked at Song Jiulai, his brow furrowed in slight displeasure. Then, he sneered, "I didn’t expect to find a fellow Daoist who had the same idea as me—volunteering to die."

"What?"

Song Jiulai was momentarily stunned. "I just didn’t have anywhere to live, so I asked her to find me a place. How is that related to volunteering to die?"

"You don’t know?"

To her surprise, the male Cultivator looked at her with utter confusion. "Which Sect are you from? Didn’t they tell you about the general consensus before you came in? That anyone who stays in the Qin Mansion until the final day is guaranteed to be chosen as the bride?"

"..."

’Holy shit!’

The System added, ’Holy shit, what a rotten stroke of luck.’

Song Jiulai didn’t dwell long on the shock of her guess—that they were really choosing a Cultivator to be the bride—being correct. She immediately asked, "Is it too late for me to leave now?"

"It’s too late." The male Cultivator gave Song Jiulai a dismissive once-over and suddenly smirked. "But it doesn’t matter. You most likely won’t get picked. You’re not as good-looking as I am."

Song Jiulai: "..."

’Seriously, dude? Do you have any idea how hurtful that is?’

’Besides, does that mean Qin Yongkang isn’t picky about gender?!’

Still, Song Jiulai understood the implication behind his words.

’Being chosen as the bride must be fraught with peril.’

’The other Sect Disciples hadn’t moved in; they were clearly avoiding this place like the plague.’

’Yet this man had moved in voluntarily.’

Song Jiulai was even more surprised. "You’re that selfless, fellow Daoist?"

The male Cultivator scoffed. "What do you know?"

’Of course it wasn’t selflessness. It was about seeking fortune in the midst of danger.’

’The bride’s role was the most dangerous, but if he could find what he was looking for, that identity also offered the most direct path.’

’This male Cultivator was simply confident in his own abilities and was eyeing the prize in this little world with greedy ambition.’

’The others might have known his purpose, but given their different Sect affiliations, most just assumed he was courting death.’

’But for someone like Song Jiulai to barge in so cluelessly was still a surprise.’

’He was a little suspicious as to how Song Jiulai could be so ignorant, but he figured her Sect might just have neglected to mention it.’

’The idea of someone entering a Secret Realm by exploiting a bug was, after all, rather far-fetched.’

She hadn’t expected to step on a landmine right off the bat, but Song Jiulai wasn’t too afraid.

She, too, believed in the principle of seeking fortune in danger. Besides, since this handsome big bro thought his own chances of being chosen as the bride were so high, she figured she’d just stay out of it.

"Right, right. I’m Wang Abei. And how should I address you, fellow Daoist?"

’Song Abao was still a wanted man, so she could use a new name now that she was in a female body.’

"Wang Abei?"

The man repeated the rather nonchalant-sounding name. He could tell at a glance that Song Jiulai wasn’t being truthful, so he offered an equally perfunctory, made-up name in return. "Li Tiegen."

"Brother Tiegen! It’s an honor to meet you!"

He had just made the name up on the spot, but hearing Song Jiulai announce it with such solemnity made the male Cultivator grind his teeth. He was suddenly mortified.

’What if people from other Sects saw this?’

’This Wang Abei didn’t recognize him, but there was no guarantee others wouldn’t.’

’When they start calling him "Tiegen," what would become of his reputation?’

’Unfortunately, words spoken are like spilled water; it was too late for regrets.’

So thought Xu Qingchuan.

Mortified, Xu Qingchuan had no desire to chat any further. "For the next few days, let’s just pretend we don’t know each other, to avoid arousing the suspicion of the Qin Mansion’s residents."

Song Jiulai was a little disappointed; she had been hoping to ask for more intel.

’Unfortunately, if she kept pretending to be completely clueless, the holes in her story would be too obvious.’

After entering her room, she found that although she could still use her Spiritual Energy—and despite now possessing a Sea of Consciousness and the ability for her Spiritual Sense to perceive things outside her body, a feat beyond her current realm—she still felt as if she were blindfolded in this little world.

She couldn’t see or hear anything clearly.

’Wait a minute!’

Song Jiulai suddenly remembered the scorpion on her hand!

She looked down. The stinging pain was long gone.

The scorpion had indeed stopped sucking her blood.

Its entire body was clinging to the inside of her wrist, its enormously long, venomous tail draped over her arm as if it were asleep.

It looked a bit like a 3D tattoo on Song Jiulai.

’No inner voice, either.’

’It eats its fill and then just goes to sleep?’

’Was this useless piece of junk really worth her spending a massive amount of energy to break down?’

System: ’It was created by breaking down half my energy. I will not allow you to call it useless!’

Song Jiulai: ’...’

System: ’Like me, it can now communicate with you telepathically. Think of it as our family’s newborn baby. Can’t you, the mother, have a little more patience? I know it’s a bit ugly and doesn’t conform to your human aesthetic standards, but doesn’t it take after you?’

Song Jiulai: ’...You’ve lost your mind.’

Song Jiulai figured the System was probably communicating with too many players at once, and now its data had crashed, making it a little psychotic.

Fortunately, however, she was a tolerant host and didn’t mind the System’s occasional freak-outs.

There was nothing to do in the guest room, so she decided to go out and scout around the Qin Mansion.

The Main Residence was off-limits, which obviously meant the problem was in the Main Residence.

Of course, Song Jiulai wasn’t reckless enough to go looking for trouble.

However, Song Jiulai soon returned empty-handed.

She had discovered that, with the exception of Little Cui, everyone in the Qin Mansion was like a mute. No matter what she said, the servants completely ignored her.

It wasn’t out of fear, just complete and utter indifference.

The only effect this had was that, despite the festive lanterns and colorful banners decorating the Qin Mansion, the vast residence gave off a grim and gloomy air.

’It’s giving off some serious horror-world vibes.’

Song Jiulai could only return to her guest room.

With nothing else to do, she decided to kill time by watching some TV shows and checking the Sect channel to see what crap everyone was talking about.

Opening the Sect chat channel had been a good decision. At least here in the Otherworld, Song Jiulai could still feel the family-like warmth of the Blue Star people.

[Zhen Weida: Man, I gotta put my career on hold for a few days. I have to go back to my village for a matchmaking meeting, so I can’t log into the game.]

[Su Daqiang: Why? How can a matchmaking meeting be more important than the game? You’ll be gone for days. Do you have any idea how much progress you’re gonna lose?]

[Zhen Weida: What’s gonna happen? You think you’re gonna go from the Qi Refining Middle Stage to the Late Stage in that time?]

[Qi Dazuo: Why do you have to go to a matchmaking meeting? How old are you? Just don’t go back.]

[Zhen Weida: My mom just wants me to go back and meet the girl. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just come back. Sigh, my parents are getting old, I can’t just refuse to go. There are too many relatives in the village, and they’ll gossip behind my back. I don’t want my mom to have to deal with people pointing fingers.]

[An Xiu: Massacre the village.]

[Han Tian: ?]

[Zhou Nvzi: ?]

[Xue Yao: ?]

[Gu Yunxi: ?]

[Honghuang: lol]

[Zhen Weida: .....]

Song Jiulai: ’...’