The Great Soul Arena wasn't that far from Shrek Academy, and before long, they arrived while chatting.
Before dismissing them, Flender reminded the seven kids:
"What happened today was an accident. Try not to tell anyone about it."
It was very late. Everyone nodded and soon went to rest.
"Yaaawn..."
In his room, Lu Ma stretched. He'd been playing for three hours since he got up.
He hastily saved the game without selecting the "skip this night" option, then simply closed it.
Then he stood up and walked around for a bit. When he returned to his seat and picked up his phone, its lock screen was crammed with notifications.
15:57
Friday, June 21
[wx: 99+ unread messages]
[pdd: 3 shipping updates]
[zs Bank: Learn about "risk assessment"...]
[(27) missed calls]
"Hmm..."
Lu Ma didn't unlock his phone right away. Instead, he studied the notifications on the lock screen with a grave expression.
His eyes lingered on the missed calls. Twenty-seven of them had really startled him.
He quickly ran through his recent schedule in his head, but couldn't remember making any important plans for these three hours.
Never mind. He'd find out as soon as he opened them.
Lu Ma couldn't be bothered to think about it. He unlocked his phone and opened the call screen.
Of the twenty-seven missed calls, three were from "spam callers." The other twenty-four were from a contact named "Boss Sima."
This "Boss" wasn't actually his boss at work, but a fairly wealthy friend of his.
"Did something happen to Boss? But no, that can't be it. These calls came in five minutes apart, so it probably isn't anything serious... Is he losing it?"
Lu Ma was a little puzzled. Then he opened wx, and all the 99+ messages were from the pinned contact "Boss Sima."
When he opened the chat, he found a few cat stickers saying "I'm angry."
He scrolled up. It was mostly a flood of stickers, with the occasional message like "You done yet?" and "What should we eat?"
"So nothing's wrong."
Lu Ma's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, settled. He then started writing up his report on the next day's gameplay and sent it to Dolphin Head.
As soon as he sent it, his phone rang—
"Boss Sima"
Even through the screen, Lu Ma could feel a chill.
Should he answer?
As he thought about it, his hand accidentally hit the answer button.
Five seconds passed. He didn't say a word, and neither did Boss Sima.
Another ten seconds passed. Boss Sima hung up.
Twenty seconds later, his wx started getting bombarded.
[Location: Fate Farmhouse Restaurant]
[Come here, now.]
-
Ning Rongrong opened her eyes and found herself in the little bed in the girls' dormitory.
It was just getting light. Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing were both still asleep.
She moved her fingers.
Good. He was gone, and she had control of her body again.
Having already experienced breaking free of the control once, Ning Rongrong handled it with ease this time, without losing control of her emotions.
Her emotions were remarkably steady. So steady, in fact, that she clearly remembered this was the ninth day—the ninth day since she'd been controlled.
On the seventh day, she had joined Shrek Academy and slipped out at night to search for treasure chests. On the eighth day, she had suffered through a near-death ordeal to get herself a decent Soul Ring and an apparently useless Soul Bone. That night, she had even taken down a monster...
It was probably a monster, anyway.
Ning Rongrong thought back to that person's monstrous appearance. It was hard to call him human.
She closed her eyes and sorted through her thoughts again, as scenes from the past few days swirled through her mind.
She quietly got out of bed, made it up, and carefully left the dormitory. She took in the world around her, while reminding herself of the rules.
"First, the control can't be detected, and it's difficult to remove."
"Second, the controller's hobby is opening treasure chests. I can't use the things he gets from them."
Ning Rongrong paused. Her Martial Soul appeared in her palm.
"I remember the chant for that special Soul Skill is... 'The Seven Treasures turn, revealing their glaze; the Seven Treasures have names. First: Trapped Beast'?"
She said it uncertainly. But as soon as the last word left her lips, the first level of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda emitted a purple light.
It wasn't very bright—not even as bright as it had been when Zhao Wuji used it. The purple glow was just strong enough for her to see.
"Good. At least I can still use Soul Skills. I remember its effect is to absorb and reflect attacks... I wonder how it'll work when I use it. I'll try the third Soul Skill too. The Seven Treasures turn, revealing their glaze; the Seven Treasures have names. Third: Poison."
The third level of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda released a multicolored light. This was what the pagoda looked like when it released a Soul Skill normally.
The light gathered over Ning Rongrong's body, and she felt a refreshing sensation.
The Soul Power cost was manageable.
Ning Rongrong dispelled the Soul Skill and added a third rule:
"Third, I can use the Soul Skills the controller obtains as usual."
"Fourth, after the controller leaves, I should have a fairly long stretch of freedom. My guess is at least five days."
After repeating all four rules, Ning Rongrong nodded in satisfaction. Then she propped her chin on her right hand and started thinking again.
"So, how should I get along with my classmates?"
Back at the sect, driven by her anxiety and the elders' indulgence, she had gone straight to Ning Fengzhi and the others to try to solve the problem. But she had failed.
Now she wasn't at the sect, and the dean wasn't nearly strong enough to solve her problem of being controlled. She had no choice but to go along with it.
Knowing that the person would control her again before long, should she follow her own nature or the way he acted?
Ning Rongrong thought it over and finally came to an answer.
She would live according to the controller's behavior. Otherwise, if she acted too differently from him, her companions might notice something was wrong.
Then she'd end up being the "weirdo controlling Ning Rongrong."
It wouldn't be possible to uncover the truth, though at most they might question her. But that person had the ability to turn back time. Faced with such a situation, he would surely rewind time without hesitation to the right point—for example, this morning.
Then all her efforts would be for nothing.
At the thought, Ning Rongrong shook her head hard.
Rather than follow her nature completely, she'd rather quietly leave behind traces of her existence. That way, perhaps she'd have a chance to turn the tables in the future—a chance to break free from that person for good!
"So while pretending to be him, I need to find something he'd never do that still seems reasonable... Got it. He doesn't seem to do any serious cultivation or training!"
Ning Rongrong had come up with an idea, but her raised eyebrows soon sank again.
Cultivation was too slow. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to stand the contrast if she trained on her own.
"So I'll start by running. Get some exercise."
Ning Rongrong shook her head, feeling rather helpless. That was what being controlled was like: the controller only needed to consider how to maximize his gains. He didn't have to care about her mental or physical state. She had a lot more to consider.
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