[Host, don't like Gu Xun'er? She's a top-tier heiress! Just say the word, and I'll arrange everything for you!]
"Hah! Who do you think you're fooling? Let me ask you this: can I actually complete that lousy simulation of yours?"
Xiao Chen curled his lip. Who didn't like beautiful women? If you didn't, you weren't a man.
But then again, there was no way he could complete the system's simulation. What was the point of trying?
Faced with Xiao Chen's doubts, the system fell silent. Just as he thought it had finally quieted down, that mechanical voice rang out in his mind again.
[Beep! Simulation difficulty detected as too high. Changing simulation rules... Permission request in progress... Request approved... Simulation rules modified!]
[The first simulation won't be scored and is guaranteed to yield a golden reward!]
The instant the rules changed, Xiao Chen understood what they meant. As long as he changed the simulated character's life trajectory, he would receive a golden trait as a reward—in other words, a guaranteed prize!
What more was there to say? He was going for it. Without another word, Xiao Chen called out to the system in his mind. "System, start the simulation. Simulate Gu Xun'er!"
[Simulation started. Simulated character: Gu Xun'er]
[Year One]: You were born into the Ancient Clan on the Dou Qi Continent. As the daughter of the Ancient Clan Chief, you were found to possess an exceptionally pure bloodline as soon as you were born. Your father was overjoyed and even sealed the fourth-ranked Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame from the Heavenly Flame Ranking inside your body.
[Year Two]: The energy contained within the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame was far too violent. Your frail meridians couldn't withstand it, so you could only strengthen your body with medicinal baths and pills, gradually adapting to it!
[Year Three]: Every day, you practiced controlling the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame. The rest of your time was spent taking medicinal baths and cultivating. This dreary life continued... until...
[Year Four]: Your father took you away from the Ancient Clan and brought you to the Xiao Family. You heard him say that the Xiao Family had once belonged to the Xiao Clan, one of the Ancient Eight Clans. You were puzzled. How had the descendants of one of the Ancient Eight Clans fallen so far? Your father didn't explain your question, but instead gave you a task... After arriving at the Xiao Family, you met an interesting boy. He took you to watch the sunset. It was the first time in your life you'd ever watched one, and you didn't know how to describe what you were feeling...
"An interesting boy? Does that mean me?"
Xiao Chen stared at the words scrolling across the system's screen and froze. He hadn't expected to appear in the simulation.
[Year Four, Month Seven]: Your relationship with Xiao Chen grew ever closer. When you watched the sunset, you always liked to lean against his shoulder and daydream. That day, after watching the sunset, Xiao Chen walked you back to your room. You lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Your mind was full of Xiao Chen's face. Hugging your blanket, you rolled around on the bed...
[Beep! The simulated character has reached a pivotal moment in her life. Immersive simulation activated!]
The next moment, Xiao Chen's vision went black. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself lying on a soft, comfortable bed.
Judging by the decor and the fragrance of incense lingering in the room, this clearly wasn't his room.
"Wait, what? System, you never said anything about an immersive simulation!"
Xiao Chen got up and walked to the mirror. Looking at the delicate face reflected there, still a little chubby with baby fat, he could only grumble in exasperation.
Just then, a series of clicking sounds came from outside the door. Hearing them, Xiao Chen knew exactly what was happening.
The system had just said that the simulated character, Gu Xun'er, had reached a pivotal point in her life. The person coming had to be Xiao Yan.
As for Xiao Yan's behavior, Xiao Chen could only say it was downright sleazy. A man pushing thirty when you added up both his lives, sneaking into a little girl's room in the middle of the night and feeling her all over—if that wasn't sleazy, what was?
Xun'er was only four. If this had happened on Blue Star in his previous life, he'd have gotten at least three years, right?
At the thought, Xiao Chen's expression darkened. "So you like picking locks, huh? You like feeling up little girls, do you?" He turned to the desk, grabbed a book, and hefted it in his hand to judge its weight. Then, moving quietly, he crept to the door, planning to give Xiao Yan a little surprise when he opened it.
"Click!"
The latch slipped free, and the door was pushed open from the outside. Seeing this, Xiao Chen couldn't help thinking, "With a skill like that, even if Xiao Yan couldn't cultivate and got kicked out of the family, he could still make a living!"
The instant the door opened, Xiao Yan, who had been brimming with excitement, felt his hands and feet turn cold. It was as though all the blood in his body had frozen. "Uh... what if I said this was a misunderstanding? Would Miss Xun'er believe me?"
Xiao Yan stared helplessly at Xiao Chen, who stood expressionless in the doorway.
But Xiao Chen didn't give him a chance to explain. The moment Xiao Yan opened his mouth, the book in Xiao Chen's hand shot out with a sharp whoosh.
"Thud!"
The force was just right—not enough to do any real damage, but enough to leave him dazed. The book smacked Xiao Yan squarely in the face. His vision swam with stars, and his head spun so badly he nearly toppled over.
Apparently realizing that "Miss Xun'er" was furious, Xiao Yan stopped trying to explain and turned to run.
"Ling Ying, if you let him get away, I'll have Father skin you alive!"
Her icy voice brimmed with anger. Xiao Yan felt every hair on his body stand on end as a sense of danger unlike any he'd ever felt closed in around him.
The next moment, Ling Ying appeared in front of Xiao Yan and clamped a hand around his throat. "You brat, how dare you trespass into the young lady's room? You've got some nerve!"
"Senior! Senior! This is a misunderstanding. I only wanted to test whether Dou Qi was present!"
Sensing the terrifying Battle Qi surging from Ling Ying, Xiao Yan panicked completely and hurriedly explained why he had come.
"Hah! You wanted to test for Dou Qi? And how were you planning to do that? Let's hear it!"
Xiao Chen didn't care what Xiao Yan's intentions were. This was only happening in the simulator; it hadn't really occurred yet. But a breezy "misunderstanding" wasn't enough to make it all go away.
The thought that Xiao Yan might feel him all over made his skin crawl. And remembering that this was simulated Xun'er only made him angrier. If he didn't make Xiao Yan suffer a little today, then he'd wasted his whole second life.
"I..."
Xiao Yan clearly knew what he'd been planning to do. He stammered for ages but couldn't come up with a coherent explanation. In the end, he seemed to give up and lowered his head.
He was convinced that "Miss Xun'er" wouldn't kill him.
After all, this was the Xiao Family, and Gu Xun'er was only a guest. Even if he really had done something wrong, it should be up to his father, the clan chief, to deal with him.
And how would Xiao Zhan punish him? At worst, he'd get a beating. What he'd done really was out of line, so a little pain was only fair.
Thinking back, he didn't even know what had gotten into him a few days ago. It was as if he'd been possessed, to come up with such a ridiculous idea.
PS: I'm neither bashing nor defending Xiao Yan. What he did was definitely out of line, so I'm just giving him a little lesson!
Before you continue