Disguise Mask

"Just 1,200 more survival points, and I can do another ten-pull. I think I've already made seventy pulls so far. Thirty more, and I'll be guaranteed a red card."

"Red cards aren't as good as gold ones, but they must be a hundred times better than purple cards."

"I wonder what red card I'll get and how it'll improve my abilities."

As Zeng Shen thought about it, he began considering how to tell Li Yuqing in a couple of days that he wanted to travel around other cities.

Before long, the enticing aroma drifting out of the kitchen made his stomach growl.

He promptly got up and washed up.

When he finished and came out...

Xiao Ai and Xiao Di had already set three stir-fried dishes and a small pot of rice porridge on the living room table.

"Master, breakfast is ready." Xiao Ai untied her apron and walked over with a smile.

Zeng Shen nodded, sat down on the sofa, and accepted the bowl of porridge Xiao Di had served him. Picking up his chopsticks, he ate while chatting with the two women about their plans for the day.

A little while later...

Breakfast was over, and Xiao Ai went to wash the dishes.

Zeng Shen took Xiao Di to Spatial Warehouse No. 1 and began their sparring session for the day.

"Xiao Di, I won't use any abilities this time, so don't go easy on me," Zeng Shen said.

"Understood, Master." Xiao Di nodded and raised both fists in front of her, ready to respond.

Zeng Shen immediately sprinted toward Xiao Di and launched a flying kick the moment he drew close.

But Xiao Di merely sidestepped. Before he could react, she reached back, seized his arm, and gave it a sharp pull followed by a shove.

In an instant, Zeng Shen was knocked to the ground.

Xiao Di gave him no chance to fight back. She swiftly straddled his back, grabbed both his arms, and twisted them behind him, pinning them firmly against his back. No matter how hard Zeng Shen struggled, he could not break free.

[During the host's battle with believer Xiao Di, he remained as immovable as a mountain. Divine rank experience +5.]

Hearing the system notification, Zeng Shen blushed as he struggled fruitlessly.

Wasn't the system being a little too generous?

What did it mean, immovable as a mountain? He'd been taken down without putting up a fight.

Seeing that Zeng Shen had stopped struggling, Xiao Di released him and helped him up.

"Master, did I hurt you?"

"No." Zeng Shen shook his head. "I just didn't expect you to be so fast. You're as fast as I am with a twofold agility boost."

"Master, I was actually moving at my normal speed. You felt I was fast because the moment you moved, the mechanical core in my head had already run over a hundred simulations. That tiny movement of your shoulder told me exactly how many meters away you would be when you launched your flying kick."

"So that's how it works." Understanding dawned on Zeng Shen. "In other words, you subdued me without even showing your real strength."

Xiao Di nodded slightly.

"All right, sparring with you like this is just asking for a beating. Unless I use my abilities to move faster than your body can react, I can't beat you.

"But if I use my abilities, I only get one experience point."

As he spoke, Zeng Shen took Xiao Di back to the bedroom. Then he left Good Fortune Residential Complex with her and Xiao Ai, who both needed to arrange identification documents.

He had barely climbed into the RV when Li Yuqing called him on WeChat video.

Seeing the call, Xiao Ai said considerately, "Master, it's Mistress calling. She'll probably want to talk to you for quite a while, so we'll take a taxi to the dance hall in the south of the city ourselves and find someone to arrange identities for us as overseas businesswomen returning to China."

Zeng Shen agreed. "All right. I've heard the people down south like preying on other crooks. You two be careful."

"We will."

Once Xiao Ai and Xiao Di had left...

Zeng Shen sat down in the RV and answered the video call. Li Yuqing appeared on the screen wearing a short white blouse.

"Hubby, hubby! Our short video just passed review, and it already has loads of comments!" Li Yuqing said with a smile.

"What are they saying?"

As Zeng Shen asked, he started the RV.

Li Yuqing said happily, "Lots of people are asking what movie the trailer is for and why they can't find it online. Some are even asking which actresses played the Golden-Robed Fairy and Su Daji."

"Haha, how's our follower count?"

Zeng Shen smiled.

"In just this little bit of time, we've gone from zero followers to fifteen hundred, and it's still climbing..."

"Looks like our debut was a success."

"Exactly, hubby! At this rate, we'll soon get recommended to users in our region..."

While chatting with Li Yuqing on video, Zeng Shen collected all the survival points around the residential complex. Then he parked at the Lihuo Martial Arts Hall and got out with his phone.

Seeing him get out, Li Yuqing asked curiously, "Hubby, are you going somewhere?"

"I'm going to train at the Martial Arts Hall for a bit," Zeng Shen said.

"Oh, you're going to work out. Then I'll catch up on some sleep. Tonight, let's book a private room at that new restaurant downstairs and celebrate."

"Sure."

Zeng Shen ended the video call with Li Yuqing and entered the Lihuo Martial Arts Hall to earn points.

By the time he had collected all his daily survival points...

His survival points had reached 11,780.

He could do another ten-pull.

But he did not draw right away.

Instead, after teaching Li Yuqing and Liu Tongtong the self-defense moves he had learned from Li Zhiyuan that day, he went with them to a nearby restaurant to celebrate.

Soon, more than ten hearty dishes were served at the table in their small private room. A large platter of grilled oysters was still cooking and had yet to arrive.

"This much?" Zeng Shen asked in surprise.

"We're celebrating today, hubby. Eat plenty."

"What are we drinking?" Liu Tongtong asked.

Li Yuqing said, "I remember hubby isn't much of a drinker, but he likes sweet fruit wine. I'll have the server buy two cases of the kind he likes."

Zeng Shen had intended to refuse, but hearing that it was neither baijiu nor beer, he said, "One case will be enough."

"It's fine. If there's any left over, we can put it in the car and take it home."

"All right."

Soon, the server brought a case of fruit wines in assorted colors.

Li Yuqing quickly filled everyone's glasses and said:

"Hubby, Tongtong, let's finish this glass to celebrate Like Family Studio's successful debut!"

Li Yuqing raised her glass, and Zeng Shen raised his as well, clinking it against both women's glasses.

"Cheers!"

After a glass of fruit wine, the three of them found more and more to talk about.

They talked about practically everything, from the studio's future development to their school days, and even how Li Yuqing and Liu Tongtong had first met in kindergarten.

Zeng Shen enjoyed the atmosphere too. Or rather, learning that a catastrophe would strike in a year had profoundly changed his outlook.

That made him treasure these peaceful days with Li Yuqing all the more.

That night, the three of them kept eating until eleven thirty.

Once Liu Tongtong had drunk a bit too much, she really knew how to keep things lively. Before they knew it, the three of them had finished two cases of fruit wine.

The fruit wine tasted sweet and smooth, barely seeming alcoholic at first. But as they ate spicy food and time passed, its delayed kick gradually caught up with them.

Zeng Shen had not actually drunk that much, just a little over four bottles. But he had a low tolerance and was usually drunk after two, so he soon became completely muddleheaded.

"Server, the bill, please."

Holding his dizzy, aching head, Zeng Shen went to the counter and paid by card. Then he returned to the private room, put his arms around the equally tipsy Li Yuqing and Liu Tongtong, and made his way to the studio entrance, where he pressed his hand against the smart lock.

Ding-dong.

The door opened.

Li Yuqing and Liu Tongtong had babbled drunkenly the whole way.

When the door opened...

Li Yuqing asked through bleary eyes, "Hubby, are we home?"

"We're home." Zeng Shen shook his head, struggling to focus as he held the two women clinging to him and walked through the doorway.

Just as they stepped inside...

Leaning against Zeng Shen, Liu Tongtong half-opened her lovely eyes and asked, "Now that we're home, what are we doing?"

Zeng Shen kicked the door shut. Holding the two women as they swayed against him, he stood there thinking for a long time before saying:

"Sleeping."

"Right, we're home, so let's sleep." Li Yuqing rested her head against Zeng Shen's arm, her red lips slightly parted. A strange, inexplicably excited look suddenly appeared in the bright eyes of her flushed face as she slurred, "Hubby, can the three of us sleep together tonight?"

"Sleep together?" Zeng Shen murmured. The secret he had discovered about Li Yuqing two days earlier suddenly surfaced in his mind, and, for some inexplicable reason, he said, "I don't mind. Ask Tongtong."

A silly, drunken smile spread across Liu Tongtong's alluring face, and a flicker of excitement suddenly appeared in her eyes.

"Sure, let's sleep together. And let's take everything off first."

"Exactly."

"Come on, let's go sleep in the bedroom."

In his muddled state, Zeng Shen did not even know what he was saying. All he knew was that after he lay down and closed his eyes, four small hands seemed to start tugging at his clothes. Then he felt as though he had sunk into a pool of lava before the alcohol finally swept him into complete oblivion...