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

Chapter 173: Chapter 173: Cannot Force Entry

Song Jiulai was watching the players shoot the breeze.

Suddenly, she felt a chill on her wrist.

A chill—

’Huh?’

Her eyes shot open.

’Where’s the scorpion that was on my wrist?’

She couldn’t put the scorpion in her inventory, so she’d been keeping it out in the open.

The creature was bizarre and had a taste for human blood, so she didn’t dare let it run around.

"Where’s the scorpion?"

Song Jiulai subconsciously asked the system.

The system said, "It just crawled off. I saw you didn’t react, so I assumed you were letting it go out to play."

Song Jiulai: "..."

Even when not in a dire situation, a person can still experience an emotion called despair.

For example, when Song Jiulai was faced with a system like this.

Seeing the disbelief on Song Jiulai’s face, the system continued to display its corruption as a new-age digital parent: "Ah, isn’t it normal for kids to want to go out and play when they get older?"

This made Song Jiulai tremble with anger.

"What do you mean, ’older’? It was only born a few days ago!"

Song Jiulai shot up and dashed to the door. "Which way did it go?"

It wasn’t that she was afraid something would happen to the scorpion, but that it would provoke one of the NPCs, who would then discover she was its owner.

’What if I get implicated?’

The unreliable system suggested, "Doesn’t it have a telepathic link with you? Why don’t you try sensing it?"

The scorpion did indeed have a slight mental link with Song Jiulai, but it only gave her a vague sense of its location.

However, if she quieted her mind and focused, she could hear some fragmented words.

"So big..."

"Smells so good..."

"They smell so good... Want to drink..."

That last sentence sent a shiver down Song Jiulai’s spine.

She immediately tried to command the scorpion in her mind: ’You stop that right now!!’

’Wait, doesn’t this scorpion drink blood with its tail?’ she thought.

"...Stop your stinger... stop your tail—it doesn’t matter, just shut down every organ in your body! If you dare take a drink, I’ll turn you into dried scorpion jerky!!"

The scorpion actually went silent.

A moment later, another thought came through.

"So mean, so mean..."

Focusing on the faint response, Song Jiulai pinpointed the scorpion’s location.

However, standing at the target location, she was momentarily at a loss.

The scorpion was in the master’s courtyard—the place where Qin Yongkang lived.

This was the place Little Cui had explicitly forbidden them from entering.

The tallest mansion on the estate was decorated with lanterns and streamers, and its red lanterns were lit even in broad daylight.

On the path leading to the master’s courtyard stood a gate separating the courtyards, where two guards were stationed. They stared at Song Jiulai.

"What are you doing?"

Song Jiulai gave an awkward laugh. "Nothing, I’m just looking around."

"This isn’t a place you should be. Leave, now."

The guards were nowhere near as good-natured as Little Cui. They treated all the guests with the same impatient and cold attitude. "Get lost."

Song Jiulai wasn’t about to get into a fight with the guards. As she prepared to leave, a blurry image suddenly appeared in her mind.

"Ah—"

"Damn it, where did this bug come from?"

She heard a woman’s sharp rebuke, and the image of a slender, pale wrist flashed before her eyes, as if swatting at something.

Then, Song Jiulai heard a thought.

"Fragrant, much more fragrant than before..."

Song Jiulai: "..."

The system said hesitantly, "It’s probably not talking about you, right? Kids say the darndest things, don’t take it to heart..."

Unfortunately, Song Jiulai didn’t have time to bicker with a scorpion.

She found that the blurry image was becoming clearer. A wide swath of scenery flashed by, as if viewed through a filter with a shaky camera.

Moreover, Song Jiulai saw the view from behind the guards; she could even see the figures of the two guards at the gate.

Then, with a prick on her wrist, the scorpion quickly crawled back.

The vision in Song Jiulai’s mind vanished. She saw the guards’ frowning, wary expressions. "You’re still here? What do you want?"

Startled, Song Jiulai snapped back to reality and said at once, "I’m leaving right now."

When she got back to her bedroom, she picked up the scorpion to examine it.

The scorpion’s enormous tail swayed, and it looked rather sluggish.

Song Jiulai frowned. "Did I just see through its eyes?"

System: "Looks like it."

Song Jiulai said in surprise, "It has that kind of ability?"

It had no Spiritual Energy, yet it possessed such a miraculous power.

’The vision appeared after it stung—’

Song Jiulai shook the scorpion. "Who did you just sting?"

The woman’s voice in the vision had sounded distorted, so Song Jiulai didn’t know who it had stung.

But it was somewhere in Qin Yongkang’s residence.

The female residents in there were unlikely to be simple folk.

The only one Song Jiulai knew was Qin Yongkang’s maid, Little Cui.

The scorpion didn’t answer.

Only its thoughts kept coming through.

"So dizzy, so dizzy... sleepy..."

With that, its head tilted, and it fell asleep on Song Jiulai’s wrist again.

Song Jiulai: "..."

’What kind of freakish creature is this?!’

Just then, Xu Qingchuan from the room next door returned.

Xu Qingchuan had come here specifically for the role of the ’bride’.

Seeing Song Jiulai, he lifted his gaze to look at her and sneered. "You went to the main courtyard just now?"

Song Jiulai looked at Xu Qingchuan thoughtfully. "Brother Tiegen, you really have eyes and ears everywhere."

’We can’t use Spiritual Energy freely in this instance, yet he knew I went to the main courtyard right after he left the room. It seems these Cultivators have quite a few tricks up their sleeves.’

Xu Qingchuan didn’t mind Song Jiulai’s subtle jab, but the name "Brother Tiegen" made his eyelid twitch.

He didn’t bicker with Song Jiulai. Instead, he said, "I advise you to give up on trying to scout the main courtyard. No one is allowed in before the official wedding."

Song Jiulai just smiled sweetly. "Brother Tiegen, we’re just dealing with a bunch of mortals. Why don’t the two of us team up and try to break into the main courtyard to gather information?"

Her suggestion seemed plausible, but to her surprise, Xu Qingchuan gave a strange smile. "Sure. You can give it a try tonight."

Of course, Song Jiulai was just bluffing.

This was a mortal world, but none of the Cultivators who entered planned to force their way in with Spiritual Energy, which meant there was a trap.

Just because she didn’t know anything didn’t mean she would act recklessly.

Since the main courtyard was off-limits, she definitely wouldn’t try to barge in.

’—Unless someone else leads the way.’

Seeing that he hadn’t fallen for her trick, Song Jiulai could only say with regret, "If that’s the case, then I’ll give it a try tonight."

A glint flashed in Xu Qingchuan’s eyes.

He didn’t quite believe Song Jiulai would go, but she was a reckless newcomer who probably didn’t know that by staying here, she’d become one of the candidates for the bride.

’What if she actually goes?’

Just then, a few servants came out from the estate, handing something out.

Spotting Song Jiulai and Xu Qingchuan, they came over and said, "Honored guests, the weather has been poor the last couple of days, and insects have been spotted around the estate. Little Cui asked us to hand out these Insect Repellent Bags. Please remember to place them in your rooms to avoid getting bitten."

Xu Qingchuan was confused but accepted it politely. "Thank you for your consideration."

Song Jiulai, however, scratched her cheek and accepted the bag, feeling a bit guilty.