Snow White's Revenge

(This chapter is free.)

Hearing that Alice could use Mind Reading, Chen Rui could not help but turn pale in shock. Does that mean she knows everything? Including the Super System and my transmigration?

"Don't worry." Alice smugly watched his stunned expression. "My Mind Reading is still too weak. It can only tell whether you're lying; it can't read your specific thoughts. For example, I can't tell that you have a crush on Jia."

Hearing that she could not read his specific thoughts, Chen Rui immediately breathed a sigh of relief and began to doubt whether Alice truly possessed Mind Reading. As for her remark about him having a crush on someone, there was no need to explain. Jia truly was a seductive enchantress who could charm men to death without batting an eye. Not to mention that she would never fancy him. Even if she did, he absolutely could not take the bait for the sake of his life. The ultimate realm of becoming human jerky was better left to someone else.

"Enough! Mind Reading consumes too much mental energy. Every time I use it, I need to rest for several days. I can't be bothered to use it on you." Alice stretched lazily. "I'm so tired. It would be nice if someone told me a story."

The biggest layabout was actually claiming to be tired? Chen Rui privately scorned Alice's work ethic. Still, whether Mind Reading was real or not, it was better to believe it existed than not. This little girl was a little witch, so it was best to placate her first.

Thus, Chen Rui told the little girl an enhanced comedic version of The Demon King and the Princess. This boring little story suited her tastes perfectly, and her big eyes shone brightly as she listened. Yet when she heard that the Demon King had "committed suicide" at the end, she showed dissatisfaction and strongly demanded that the protagonist be changed into an evil human hero and a kind witch.

Chen Rui scratched his head. He was now Aldas's "apprentice," which meant he had joined the Demon Realm. That probably made him a traitor to humanity. It was all because of this miserable soul transmigration. If he were in the Surface World now, he might already be thriving. At the very least, he could have used Arthur's identity to live as a rich second-generation heir.

However, this was the Demon Realm. He could only find a way to preserve his life first. Perhaps he would still have a chance to escape back to the human world. When that day came, maybe he could tell the little girl solemnly: "Sorry, I'm an undercover agent."

Just then, Jia returned carrying a basket full of fruit. Green Dragon Fruit resembled dried walnuts somewhat, though they were much larger, with thin skins and fragrant flesh. Chen Rui tasted one. It tasted a little like pistachios and a little like macadamia nuts, making it impossible to stop eating. No wonder the little girl had insisted on coming to Blue Wave Lake.

Not long afterward, Athena also returned to the hilltop, carrying several fish and two goat-like animals that had already been skinned and cleaned. The fish had been caught in a mountain stream. The water in Blue Wave Lake was too poisonous for any living creature to survive.

"Strange. I haven't come here for only two months, but there seem to be far fewer animals nearby." Athena looked puzzled. "This is all I managed to get today. I don't know if it'll be enough to eat..."

Six fish and two "goats" were not enough? Chen Rui was stunned. There were only four people in total—three women and one man. Were they all gluttons?

Athena and Jia worked quickly. They soon chopped the food into pieces, threaded it onto iron skewers, cleaned everything, and started a fire. The warmth was wonderfully comfortable.

When it came to grilling the food, Chen Rui finally showed off his skills. Although he was a shut-in, he had lost his parents early and was highly capable of taking care of himself. Back in university, he had even earned the nickname "Little Food God."

The little girl had brought a complete set of seasonings. Chen Rui had already gained some understanding of those strange ingredients while sorting them earlier, and after a little experimentation, he quickly got the hang of them. Once they tasted Chen Rui's grilled fish, all grilling duties fell upon him. Even Jia began to view him in a new light. The little girl shamelessly declared that she had only brought Chen Rui along because of her keen eye, while Athena said nothing and devoured food at a frightening speed.

Only then did Chen Rui understand why Athena had said there might not be enough food. Judging from her exaggerated eating habits, all this food might not even be enough for her alone. During the time Alice spent talking, Athena had already swept the food off the plates like a whirlwind. Alice had been a step too slow. Seeing the freshly grilled fish skewers in Chen Rui's hands, she was about to rush over and snatch them, but after noticing his strange look, she finally felt a little embarrassed and said, "You eat first. Make some more for me later."

It was rare for the little witch to show a conscience. Chen Rui smiled and shook his head before handing them to her. Alice gave him a sweet smile, took them, and continued gnawing away.

The atmosphere reminded Chen Rui of the times he had gone on barbecuing trips with close friends during university. Unfortunately, life was like a phone call: either you hung up first, or the other person did. His life on Earth had already hung up first. Whether those close friends or that girl from back then, he would never see them again.

After taking a few bites of grilled fish, Alice noticed his distracted expression and threw a Green Dragon Fruit at him. It struck him right on the head. She laughed. "Chen Rui, I never expected your grilled fish to be this delicious. I might consider making you this princess's male pet."

Chen Rui had just picked up the Green Dragon Fruit and taken a bite. Upon hearing that, he nearly swallowed the shell too. Did this little girl even understand what "male pet" really meant?

Athena was entirely focused on the food and did not react at all. Only Jia gave Chen Rui a warning glance without speaking. Apparently, she was already accustomed to the little girl's habit of saying shocking things. After eating for a while, under Alice's threats and temptations, Chen Rui was forced to change careers from chef to storyteller and began telling another story.

The story Chen Rui chose was the universally known Earth tale Snow White. Yet as soon as he finished, Alice scorned the Queen, the story's great villain. Her verdict was that the Queen was too stupid, especially with that poisoned apple. Snow White actually spat it back out after eating it? If she were the princess, that Snow White girl would never have escaped the palace in the first place. Not only that, she would have poisoned the prince too, seized that kingdom, unified the two nations, and left her name in history.

What Athena disliked most was the protagonist, Snow White. The Swordswoman's idea was that even if the Queen possessed magic, Snow White could have learned swordsmanship! Even if she lost and fled into the forest, she should have captured and enslaved the seven dwarves. Then, at the critical moment when the Queen was about to forcibly marry the prince, the heroine could save the man, fight a bitter battle, kill the Queen, and finally retreat into the mountains with the prince to create a passionate legend of swords and magic.

Jia also offered her opinion. Since the magic mirror said Snow White was the most beautiful woman, why did she not use seduction to charm all the men in the kingdom into dealing with the Queen together? At the very least, she should have seduced the prince into starting a war between the two nations and brought disaster upon a kingdom with her beauty.

Sweating profusely, Chen Rui summarized the three versions. One was the Empress version, represented by Wu Zetian, with an eighty percent resemblance. One was the heroine version, represented by far too many characters in wuxia novels, making the resemblance impossible to calculate. The last was the enchantress version, represented by Daji and Baosi, with a ninety percent resemblance.

After Grandmaster Wu Cheng'en, Grandmaster Hans Christian Andersen was once again moved to tears. Just as Chen Rui was feeling ashamed, the three women unanimously demanded that he retell the story.

The story was already finished, so how could he rewrite it from scratch? Pressured into an update, Chen Rui racked his brains and finally altered the ending, producing a clumsy sequel: At the critical moment, Snow White knew the apple was poisoned, but deliberately ate it to deceive the Queen. Later, she pretended to be mad and foolish while secretly accumulating power. She then seduced the prince of a neighboring country with her beauty and ultimately joined the forces of the forest and the prince to turn the tables and destroy the Queen in one stroke.

This simplified Hamlet-style sequel still could not satisfy everyone. They pointed out many idiotic parts, but it barely passed. Chen Rui wiped the sweat from his forehead and secretly swore that if he could return to Earth, he would definitely post more encouraging comments when reading novels on Qidian. Being an author was not easy.

The three women leaned together, still wanting more, especially Alice and Athena, who occasionally teased and played around. Chen Rui did not dare interrupt them. For safety's sake, he kept far away from the three women and continued focusing on his proper work as a chef. As a novel lover, he remembered at least eight hundred stories, if not a thousand. But these three witches were too difficult to deal with. If every story turned out like Snow White, he would be exhausted just thinking about it.

By the time the meat was grilled, the three women seemed full and did not come over to snatch it. Huddled together, their voices grew softer and softer until they gradually fell silent. Even Alice, the most active of them all, was quiet. They seemed to have collapsed onto the ground and fallen asleep.

The beauties were asleep, while the wolf—no, the man—was still awake. Could he do something?

Chen Rui firmly shook his head. It had to be that scheming princess trying to pull some seductive prank again. Knowing her figure was not impressive enough, she had dragged Athena and Jia in to put on a show. If he made any rash move, even if he merely tried to escape, he would fall into their trap. The best method was to wait. Once the little girl lost patience, the scheme would collapse on its own.

Come to think of it, the little girl's acting was not very good. Her breathing was too steady, making it far too artificial—a common flaw of the academy school. Athena was no better. Her pose was too unconventional, tightly hugging that sword. Poor Allen was truly pathetic. A man was inferior to a sword—no, a demon was inferior to a sword. The most convincing one was the Succubus maid. That raised backside pose was far too alluring. This time, the little Golden Man award went to classmate Jia.

As Chen Rui evaluated them with the professional eye of a shut-in, he gradually sensed that something was wrong. He put down the grilled meat and stood up. At that moment, the four tamed Triangular Giant Rhinoceroses began to grow restless, snorting heavily.

A notification began to sound in Chen Rui's mind. The Super System's activation progress was automatically increasing. It was slow at first, then faster and faster—%, 30%... It actually shot all the way up past 80%!

Even the many poisons in Aldas Laboratory had only raised it to less than %, so why was the poison here so terrifying that it could make the system's progress surge like this...

The Super System's accelerated activation progress should have been a good thing, but when Chen Rui's gaze swept across Blue Wave Lake below, tranquil as a mirror, he suddenly thought of something. Cold sweat instantly broke out across his body.

A breeze passed by, and a short-haired man suddenly appeared beside Chen Rui, holding several grilled meat skewers and eating them with relish.

The man had jet-black hair, brownish-yellow skin, and a fit body. He wore a strange dark robe, and strings of bizarre symbols seemed to surround him, emitting a faint glow.

"You've come."

The question startled the man, and he asked in return, "You know me?"

Chen Rui tilted his chin toward Blue Wave Lake and asked tentatively, "Poison Dragon?"

"You should address me as 'Great Poison Dragon' or 'Lord Poison Dragon.'" The man grinned, revealing rows of gleaming white fangs.