Tit for Tat

"Chen Xi, you will die in the most miserable way three days from now."

"I know." Chen Xi replied with composure, "Wu Xin will peel off my skin and continue living as me, right?"

Lin Yue applauded her: "Truly calm, as expected of you, the future Succubus Queen."

?

What kind of title was that?

Lin Yue did not realize how much of a shock the title she had made up on the spot for the sake of persuasion had given Chen Xi, and she continued speaking.

"Following my instructions is the only way among your many choices to survive." The girl crossed her arms, looking as if she had her completely figured out.

The black-haired girl stepped forward, raising an eyebrow: "I refuse."

"You..." Lin Yue, who had been so confident just a moment ago, was suddenly speechless.

How could she not accept?! Was her attitude a bit too fierce?

The blonde girl appeared calm on the surface, but cold sweat was already breaking out on her back; if this alliance failed, she would have to waste another chance at Regression.

[Erosion: 36%]

After the last time Regression occurred, that negative curse had surged by nearly 20% in progress.

Watching Lin Yue still pretending to be calm, Chen Xi felt a trace of amusement in her heart.

Scare you to death! That'll teach you to make up random names.

Seeing Lin Yue sweating profusely, Chen Xi stopped while she was ahead and said: "You are too weak."

"Following instructions is impossible; at most, we can form an alliance."

"You intentionally brought me here for this reason, didn't you?" Chen Xi's gaze became aggressive, almost forcing Lin Yue into a corner.

"The fact that you have also been implanted with threads by Wu Xin."

Hearing her say this, Lin Yue breathed a sigh of relief; she had been worried that Chen Xi wouldn't even agree to cooperate.

"Yes," the blonde girl replied helplessly.

"What form does the prophecy take?" Seeing the girl soften, Chen Xi began to play along with her act.

Lin Yue heard this and spoke with feigned seriousness: "Images of the future flash through my mind from time to time."

"Just now during class, I saw the scene of you dying at the hands of Wu Xin."

Chen Xi nodded: "Anything else?"

Thinking that Wu Xin might be eavesdropping, Lin Yue spread her hands: "Nothing else."

She would certainly tell Chen Xi the key information at the appropriate time.

"How disappointing."

Hearing these words, Lin Yue wanted to retort, only to realize it wasn't Chen Xi who had spoken.

The two looked toward the source of the voice in unison; threads danced wildly, and Wu Xin emerged from within them.

"I was actually a bit tempted to change my target for possession."

She stared at Lin Yue and shook her head slightly: "Disappointing—so disappointing—"

Seeing this ability of hers, Chen Xi thought to herself that things were looking bad; in that battle, Wu Xin had likely not shown her full strength.

Ignoring this suddenly appearing nuisance, Lin Yue turned her head and continued:

"She will only make her move after you reach the First Order, and she must defeat you in a scene resembling a theatrical performance, so you don't need to worry about her launching a sneak attack."

Hearing this, Wu Xin, who had been laughing and joking, saw her expression darken.

Since the other party clearly knew she possessed prophetic abilities, there was no longer any need for emotional pretense.

Chen Xi's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

As expected of the original female lead; even when facing death, she could still extract such important information.

Seeing that both of them were ignoring her, Wu Xin sneered.

Not wanting to make a fool of herself, she transformed into threads and left the equipment room.

A moment of verbal triumph meant nothing; the wails before death would naturally be the best revenge.

"Let's go too." Unlocking the door, Lin Yue took a deep breath of fresh air.

Although she had happened to regress to the same period, there were still some subtle differences in this cycle compared to the last.

In the last cycle, there was still half a class left, but in this cycle, it was already the final few minutes of class the moment she woke up.

This resulted in the rain already falling from the sky before the two could even leave the teaching building.

At the main entrance beneath the building, a cool breeze carrying the scent of damp earth blew into Lin Yue's nose.

In the massive teaching building, only the two of them remained standing under the eaves to avoid the rain.

"It's raining. Did you bring an umbrella?" Lin Yue asked, knowing the answer.

Chen Xi did not reply, simply pulling out an umbrella in silence.

Lin Yue consciously stood by her side: "Mind if I squeeze in?"

"If I said I did, could you conjure up an umbrella?"

"Obviously not."

Chen Xi opened her umbrella, and Lin Yue immediately ducked under it.

Due to the difference in their builds, Chen Xi had to hold the umbrella high to keep her arm from brushing against Lin Yue's head.

The two of them moved in sync through the rain, inching forward like a caterpillar for a few meters.

Seeing that Lin Yue had no intention of speaking, Chen Xi couldn't help but ask: "Why did you choose this spot?"

As for the time when the Rain Lord would appear, there was still plenty of it.

In the previous cycle, the two of them had chatted in the noodle shop for a full half hour before the rain disaster began, so there was no need to worry; they could waste time however they liked and still make it in time.

"No reason." Lin Yue continued to inch forward.

"If I had to say, perhaps it makes it easier for me to perform a prophecy?"

Chen Xi was amused by her nonsense: "What kind of connection is that?"

Lin Yue looked thoughtful: "Probably the connection between honey and bread."

As she spoke, she suddenly linked her arm with the black-haired girl's.

"You..." Startled by this move, Chen Xi instinctively shook her left arm.

"And what does this have to do with prophecy?" she asked in a low voice.

Chen Xi lowered her gaze, but in the end, she did not pull her hand away.

Lin Yue gripped her left wrist tightly, secretly pressing even closer: "It's more important than the last one; it's the connection between milk and bread."

"Student Chen Xi, you wouldn't want me to fail my prophecy over such a small matter and end up dying at the hands of Wu Xin, would you?"

Hearing this declaration, Chen Xi said nothing more.

She was afraid that if she kept arguing, Lin Yue would start spouting nonsense about needing to press even closer to successfully perform the prophecy.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're very forward?" she pointedly reminded Lin Yue.

Hearing her say this, Lin Yue realized that the Chen Xi before her had already had her memories wiped, and her behavior just now had indeed been too abrupt.

"I..." She unconsciously loosened her grip on the wrist she had been holding.

The rain fell harder, and to keep their shoes from getting wet and sticky, Lin Yue secretly used shadow tentacles to coil around the ground beneath their feet.

Noticing her small movements, Chen Xi stopped teasing her.

"Let's drop the subject, Lord Prophet; tell me what we should do next."